Just some dudes playin' w/ balls

But me and Cuppy still need help for our go fund me pretty badly.

We're still in the process of having me diagnosed with whatever is causing my serious physical illness, and I'm still in the process of being declared unfit for work. And this won't be done till late October at the earliest.

I don't have a large income. Especially not one to take care of all the traveling on top of everything to go to doctors.

I also have a ko fi if yyou want to give us a bit to work of off for the day to day life.

Also because it apparently is needed to mention.

WE ARE NOT PALESTINIANS

We still need so many signatures. Damn. So. Many. Signatures.

We need 1M signatures and there's only 100k.

If just like 15% of the people going to these big prides voted, I think we would be already over the million votes...

We still really need money, I keep getting more sick.

It's so bad that I can barely even be transported by car because the changes in speed makes it feel like my head is collapsing in on itself.

But also walking leaves me so exhausted I can't comfortably stand up. I have been pretty much bedridden for weeks now, and my assisted living home isn't accomodating my needs at all.

They're supposed to be providing food, but since I have allergies. They don't actually make sure I can eat it. So we've had to order take-away, which is obviously kinda expensive.

I'm still trying to get medical staff to listen to me, I have gotten blood work done to see if any of my hormone levels can explain my illness, and from what I can see, it doesn't explain anything.

I also have a doctor's appointment this monday after having had to wait all month for it.

So please help us out, we still haven't been able to work on getting any further with marriage approval because of how sick I have been. We also need to have a diagnosis worked out for the approval anyway.

We genuinely have no way of making this all work out without help.

I'd like to remind that we're trying to get them established in Denmark.

They are here now, but we still need a lot of money to buy food and other things we need to live, as well as to pay the fees for family reunification.

so if anyone could donate to helps us out, either via the gfm, or via my ko fi

My mom is also essentially leaving me to fend for myself despite my serious disabilities.

As it stands right now, we only have about a month to get it all worked out. And if that doesn't work, I can't help Cuppy in any way.

I'd like to remind that we're trying to get them established in Denmark.

They are here now, but we still need a lot of money to buy food and other things we need to live, as well as to pay the fees for family reunification.

so if anyone could donate to helps us out, either via the gfm, or via my ko fi

My mom is also essentially leaving me to fend for myself despite my serious disabilities.

As it stands right now, we only have about a month to get it all worked out. And if that doesn't work, I can't help Cuppy in any way.

And that would make it basically impossible for Cuppy to be allowed to stay here.

I'd like to remind that we're trying to get them established in Denmark.

They are here now, but we still need a lot of money to buy food and other things we need to live, as well as to pay the fees for family reunification.

so if anyone could donate to helps us out, either via the gfm, or via my ko fi

My mom is also essentially leaving me to fend for myself despite my serious disabilities.

As it stands right now, we only have about a month to get it all worked out. And if that doesn't work, I can't help Cuppy in any way.

In which I talk a little bit about the hole I’ve been in for a hot minute—and what I want to do to dig out of it.

Hey y’all,

For the second time in a few years I’m starting a GoFundMe. This time, though, it’s not for the site, at least not explicitly. It is to help me get out from under the weight of debt that I’ve been carrying for more than a decade at this point, but which has finally gotten so bad that it’s affecting everything from my sleep patterns to my overall mental health and ability to do the thing that you likely already support me for: this website. 

If you’ve been wondering why the posting has decreased here, or reduced in quality, or why we started 2024 off publishing other writers and then just as suddenly stopped doing that again, this is why: I am out of money, I am in debt, and it feels like I’m living every day in pure, basic survival mode. 

This GFM, in which I’m asking for $10,000, is a moonshot, a Hail Mary. I don’t expect it to raise anything; it will be the last time I ask the Internet for money, whether it works or it doesn’t. If it works, obviously it’ll mean I’ll be able to post more and maybe my mental health will improve and I won’t feel like every moment is a countdown to a terrible ending, and I’ll be able to think of compelling angles to talk about video games again. If it doesn’t work, maybe I’ll figure something else out. Bankruptcy, probably. I don’t know. 

I hate doing this. I hate being in this position. I hate that I’ve already asked for money this year and people have been extremely generous and it just feels like all that generosity just went into a hole. I wish I had something to show for that generosity, or proactively for anything I gain from this campaign. So, if there is something you want me to cover or talk about or look at in exchange for your support on this campaign, just shoot me an email with proof of your donation, no matter how small. It’s [email protected]. I can’t promise I’ll write a bunch of magnum opuses at your request but I will do what I can just simply to show appreciation for your support. 

Anyway, this feels bad to me and I’m already starting to regret it, so I’m going to wrap this up by saying thank you in advance and I owe you my life. I wish that was figurative.

Edit: here is the text of the GFM I posted. 

Hi y’all,

My name is Kaile Hultner. I am an online cultural critic who has been running the video game criticism website No Escape since 2019. My work has been featured in other places like PC Gamer, Polygon and Bullet Points Monthly. And like a lot of people, I have been deeply in debt for years. 

Debt is a very strange phenomenon. As anthropologist David Graeber demonstrated in his book Debt: The First 5000 Years, it is a phenomenon that imparts a kind of moral valence on a person; whether or not that person can pay their debts is a sign of their trustworthiness or virtue as a member of polite society. Yet you can’t go without debt: at some point, at least in the United States, you have to pick up a form of debt – credit – to establish your credit score, without which you can’t rent an apartment, buy or lease a car, or, in some cases, even get a job. Being debt-free can harm this score, as can having a credit history that is “too young.” 

I’ve been in debt for a long time. I’ve been managing my debt for over a decade. Every year for the last six or seven years in particular it feels like I’m losing progressively more and more ground. Seven years ago I had a car; I could do things like deliver Uber Eats and DoorDash and make extra money whenever I ran out. It broke down in my driveway in 2022 and I couldn’t afford to take it to a mechanic to get it fixed. I sold it for $200. I haven’t been able to replace it. I don’t know what I’ll do if I ever need a car for anything. Luckily my day job is WFH. 

Recently, I’ve been fighting with my old bank over charges it erroneously applied to my account in excess of $1000, causing it to go deep into the negatives. I’ve been slowly, slowly digging myself out of that hole thanks to some close friends and some very kind folks who follow me on the Internet. But it’s caused other debts to exacerbate. And tonight I realized that I am at the end of my rope. I can’t do this anymore. I won’t sit here and say that I’ve done everything right; certainly, more than one bad decision made out of desperation has put me here. I won’t make excuses for that. But I’m tired of being here, in this position. I’m tired of waking up in the middle of the night with heart palpitations because I got an alert from my bank that I’m in the negatives. I’m tired of getting emails and phone calls from debt collectors. I’m tired of living in basic survival mode with no discernible path forward. I’m tired of being tired, of not having the energy to be creative and do the work I’ve built an online presence around for five years. And paradoxically, I’m tired of asking people on the internet for money. 

So I’m going to ask people on the internet for money, one final time. 

I’ve set the goal at $10,000. This is far more than I’m honestly expecting to get, but if I get even a fraction of that I could finally obliterate my debts in a meaningful way. I do have specific milestones that I basically need to meet, otherwise this GFM doesn’t hit its maximum effectiveness, but otherwise the sky is the limit. If I reach the whole amount… I don’t really know what I’ll do. Cry, maybe. 

Milestones – bolded are high-priority

Milestone reached! $750 – gets my old bank account out of the negatives. Eliminates one vector of harassment, allows me to close that account and move on. 

Milestone Reached! $1800 – does the above and allows me to fully pay any late or past-due loan payments missed as a result of the bank issue.

$6000 – does the above and allows me to fully pay off all installment loans 

$8000 – does the above and allows me to pay off any remaining debts. 

$10,000 – does the above and allows me to start saving. 

$10,000+ – basically a moonshot, I have no idea what I’ll do with extra. 

I fully do not expect you to donate to this. There are people trying to escape genocides, much more abject poverty, crushing medical debt, and so much more that feel – at least to me – so much more worthy of your attention and money. But just know that if you dodonate something, you have my undying appreciation. I will quite literally owe you my life. 

I’m going to post this now before I get too emotional or lose my nerve entirely, but again: thank you. Even if all you do is read this. 

I wanted to go ahead and let this whole thing rest for a day but now is a good time for an update! This is the material effect y'all have already had on my life thank you so much:

FIRST MILESTONE: $750 - pay off my bank after their bullshit stunt last month. This has been done! I no longer have to worry about getting sued by a bank in Kentucky for something the bank caused! (long story.)

SECOND MILESTONE: $1800 - pay any late payments and fees incurred during the bank's tantrum. This has also been accomplished! I managed to get everything paid down to current. Hopefully this will stop the constant calls from debt collectors (It will not, but I can dream).

THIRD MILESTONE: $6000 - pay off all installment loans. We're really fucking close to this one! With what I've already gotten I'll be able to pay off several of them completely.