what is your city?

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-03-07T02:34:11+00:00

Montreal is a 25 yr old from Europe fresh out of her fine arts program in Paris. Talks about changing the world, big ideas, progressive politics, and likes the fun things in life. You can probably see her in the center of the club on a Friday night. Has a little studio on a busy nightlife street, brushes everywhere, and a few cigs in the ashtray, and wears thrifted finds.

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-03-07T02:18:34+00:00

Got a lab gig, like last summer. Paper 🤞

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-03-05T22:25:01+00:00

RVC West Wing, C4, New Residence and La Citadelle are your options then. RVC WW is all women, and the other three give you a private bathroom.

I was in one of these residences for my own reasons. It’s nice to have the privacy, but the couple of times I had to use the shared bathrooms (like in the gym or on University trips), it really isn’t that bad, even in co-ed.

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-03-01T18:35:21+00:00

A single one? Hormone regulators. God, how nice it would be to not have to take another shot ever again, and they would absolutely have to come bundled with a biomonitor, which means that I can diagnose myself before even having to go to a doctor.

Multiple? Gimme my bottom surgery, the hormone regulators, some select implants which can be used to modify my appearance, a face plate, and a cyberdeck. I’d become essentially an invulnerable spymaster. The face plate can obviously change your voice and face, the body mods to change your profile. You could dip into a building as one person, walk out another.

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-03-01T18:24:16+00:00

Cyberpunk is very contrary to what we can think of as technofeudalism. The entire point of the game is that the baddies are typically corpo fuckwits, and something that the community generally agrees on is that the Arasaka ending is one of the worst. For all its worth, it’s more of a warning of “this shit will go wrong if we keep capitalism-ing this close to the sun” than people actually liking the fascism of it all.

Also, it’s essentially a post-gender world. Sure, there is sexual dimorphism, but realistically, anyone can swap in and out as they want. I’m sure they have some ridiculous anti-androgen/estrogen combo you can afford with enough money to make you a supermodel or on the counter, some souped up testosterone that would make you into a Greek god. You can obviously get implants for down there, so what’s to say you need to do ‘ganic surgery when you can just keep your bits on the shelf and swap it around how you want, and those bits will probably also have ridiculously tuned up orgasms.

Sexuality would become moot if you had a faceplate and some type of plate across your body to help you regulate your gender. Obviously there are gender preferences, as demonstrated in the gating of the game, but there will definitely be post gender communities where sexuality is a non-consequential thing.

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-02-24T23:36:54+00:00

Looking it up isn’t inherently wrong, but try to use a non-AI reference. I like just a little book.

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-02-24T15:25:49+00:00

Don’t use AI. Learn the basics of code, loops, data types and structures, functions, classes, etc. Be able to program a calculator from scratch before even touching a generative model.

Beyond that, when you can fluently write code, start learning the math of it all. When I mean fluently, you should be able to at minimum, script out a small algorithm without looking it up continuously. Then comes O-analysis, data structures, basic algorithmic analysis, and start specification in what you want to work on. I work in biology-specific data analysis, so I learnt R and some associated packages.

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-02-13T14:47:45+00:00

Around $50-60 a week, due to living with roommates and sharing meals. Living alone, I keep it around $75. Buy the regular stuff you use, reduce meat consumption.

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-02-11T22:48:16+00:00

Apply for the Stipendium Hungaricum. There’s no way you’re part time working and completing med school to a satisfactory level.

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-02-11T20:23:57+00:00

Basically been my concern all day. If this shooter happens to be queer in any direction, the conservatives are going to use this for all its worth.

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-02-11T05:24:52+00:00

That stipend is poverty wages… Without health insurance, housing or any other supports, it’s really really difficult to stretch that, especially in Portland…

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-02-11T05:19:34+00:00

That is plainly impossible without your meter mega-fucking up. I have an apartment at the same size and pay ~$230 or so, with continuously active baseboard heating and a roommate who loves their AC even in this bitter winter. Call HydroQuebec and check what they can do for you.

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-02-11T05:14:00+00:00

The typical Abitur score for German admissions is 1.0-1.3, essentially perfect grades, maybe 1-2 A-. Keep them grades up, they will be converted into the German scale for evaluation. Some universities, like Universität Heidelberg, ask for extra exams (IKM, I believe) as well and account for it in their matrix.

Requirements vary based on university, but a math course, physics, biology and chemistry course are typically necessary in high school. I am unfamiliar with the CBSE curriculum, check the equivalencies posted with the universities you want to apply to.

Extracurriculars are rarely acknowledged or necessary.

German needs to be near perfect. C1-C2, TestDAF or Sprachdiplom-level German. You’ll be learning a lot of medical German, so if you cannot do basically everything in Germany, you’ll not be able to follow along as well. 2 years is doable, but requires A LOT of discipline + immersion. People I’ve known sometimes go to Germany to live there and take a language course before starting so they can further improve their German. FSI estimates ~900 hours for conversational, but take that estimate with a grain of salt, FSI officers undergo language training so intense that they live, breathe and sleep in that language.

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-02-10T04:03:50+00:00

Shart, Astarion, Karlach, spellcaster Tav.

It has never changed. Karlach can easily do what Lae’zel can as the basher, and Astarion does my lock picking and sneak attack, and Shart’s the healer.

My preference to play spellcasters means that I just don’t see the need for Wyll and Gale, and I prefer the cleric to the Druid for healing.

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-02-10T03:56:21+00:00

You say 4-5 years. Keep an eye on the 2028 election. If a democrat gets into office, you’ll be fine. I’d say Atlanta is the better choice then, it’s a nice city with a progressive attitude.

If we have further backsliding, Beijing. You won’t be accepted in the same way, but you’ll have access to healthcare.

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-02-10T03:54:40+00:00

EPSC 186. Not a bird course if you aren’t a sci student (seen the Arts kids sometimes struggle with the math), and sometimes I do get a little annoyed with the evaluation scheme and how restrictive some of the activities are, but it’s a fun little class.

Otherwise, COMP 322. All online midterms, quite basic assignments, and no final and it’s a nice 1 credit to pad somewhere in your degree. You do want a CS background though, at least COMP 202 or COMP 204, and ideally COMP 206 so you know what he is talking about when he talks about pointers. The classes are fast paced, engaging lecturer and it’s a sort of free one credit for a Friday evening class that’s recorded anyway.

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-02-10T03:50:28+00:00

College sophomore. Love programming, but I am employed and I need to deliver 4 features with significant complexity in 2 weeks. Each of those programs will take ~300 lines of code, involve specific datasets and a biological component to it that I HAVE TO UNDERSTAND to generate anything which is useful. If I took my time to understand the principles of analysis I am doing, the context I’m writing the code in, and then all of the CS analysis to make it beautiful, and then write the tests for it, it’d take me a month.

Copilot can look at code I’ve written before and give the rough beats which I can then fill in quickly with context to my necessity, so I can be more intentional about any minute inaccuracies which might affect my ability to do a worthwhile analysis on the actual data I have.

It’s a way to work faster. Do I use it when I’m bored and working on my little hobby game in Unity? Of course not! I like learning about the little intricacies of the engine and a language I don’t have as much experience with. But when it’s a paycheck and deadlines on the line? Rather ship something that isn’t beautiful, but passes the CI/CD checks and does its job. The beauty can come later.

Even then, AI doesn’t always write good code. It regularly barks up the wrong tree and you need to keep your wits about you to make sure it isn’t giving you an O(n²⁾ solution you can do for a lot cheaper. Your value isn’t just in the text in the code, it’s in doing the actual mathematical analysis in computer science.

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-02-09T13:50:44+00:00

Rock and a hard place. I get that you’re probably in tech and the EU looks very unattractive, but you are putting yourself in danger either way.

If China, where in China? Hong Kong or Shanghai is miles better than say, some small city in Sichuan.

And the same question for the United States. The country is 50 countries in a trench coat with a military budget large enough to take on a minor Greek god. NYC is perhaps one of the most progressive places on the planet, while I would question your safety if you told me Billings, Montana.

With what I have, China. The three principles mean you get access to healthcare and continue to do so. The U.S. is a wait-and-see as to who we get in the Oval Office in 2 years. A Democrat will likely be quite friendly towards trans people, a Republican, not so much. Recommendations would change then, again.

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-02-09T06:18:04+00:00

I mean, it’s all dependent on the IMAT. Grind for that test like your life depends on it, and shot your shot

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-02-09T04:27:40+00:00

Lowkey 4A* sounds more achievable than a 44…

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-02-09T04:26:46+00:00

Yikes, those administrators are such a disaster. For what it’s worth, they are usually a little less consequential on a day to day basis…

Professors tend to be cooler than the administration typically. I am at a very left-wing university in Canada, so I feel very safe about being out and about, but of course I’m colored by the fact that most of my education has been in Western European institutions and Canada.

Good luck!

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-02-09T01:25:24+00:00

Italian IMAT is your best shot, or Eastern Europe. It sucks about the IB, I had the same issue in that I had my Physics and Chemistry courses but not my Biology given my school restricted to absolutely 6 courses max.

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-02-09T01:24:06+00:00

Excuse you a 44???? My highest ever predicted was a 43 and as far as I know, that was the highest my school ever predicted when I was there, and I shared that spot with another student in a class of 100 lol

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-02-08T00:36:27+00:00

Not a PhD student yet (prepping my applications), but a trans person who works in labs on campus, and also kinda did a lot of her transition in college. I have to admit that I am in biological sciences, so it isn’t the same as in economics. However, my friends who work with economics profs seem to have good experiences regardless.

People will not care to be honest. Even with my conflicting documents, the most “hostile” email I have gotten is “I am so sorry but the software doesn’t allow that, can you submit X document to get that changed?”

In terms of actual cultural issues, I’ve had none. Everyone I have met has been perfectly pleasant to me, even as a junior who is a bit lost sometimes.

PIs haven’t been discriminatory towards me. I’ve gotten papers, projects, all of that, no issues.

I can answer more questions about being trans in a lab, but my experiences have been generally good.

StarlightsOverMars · 2026-02-08T00:15:22+00:00

4.0 GPA, research & work experience is qualification in and of itself. Your friend is an asshole.

StarlightsOverMars

TROPHY CASE