#i tag that a lot but

[batbeato]

How rich do you think the Ushiromiya Family is (at least, as a front)? From what I can tell by the power of the internet, one of the wealthiest men to exist in the 1980's (to '87) was Yoshiaki Tsutsumi with a net worth around $20 billion.

Considering Kinzo was renowned for both wealth and business acumen, it could be somewhere around there - not including the ten tons of gold, since that's a mere rumor for the public. I think at some point Eva mentioned several ten billion yen (so 20 billion or upwards) in assets, even if said money wasn't actually liquidized and just on hand to draw out of a bank (a.k.a Krauss probably hadn't gotten the chance to spend it all away yet). Not sure exactly how that converts to dollars, but Kinzo would be at the very least a millionaire?

I read somewhere that he made a lot of his money via investments in post-war industry and ferrying supplies to...someone(pretty sure it was the US, since Japan was still under occupation?) in preparation for the Korean War.

On wikipedia, this time period (1940's to the early 1990's when Japan's economic bubble popped) is known as the Japanese economic miracle. Wikipedia isn't the best source to look at, but it's a start on researching it and pondering the growth of Kinzo's wealth.

Likewise, how wealthy do you think the branches of the family (Eva, Rudolf, and Rosa) are, even in the face of their financial struggles?

Since, I don't think we ever get numbers on the money Rudolf needs for the lawsuit, or the amount Rosa needs to pay the loan and possible interest - I'm not sure about the other aspects of her business, since she did have the money to have vacations with various boyfriends, so it may have been doing well? Just not well enought to handle the loan?

And Eva + Hideyoshi really only need to worry about buying stocks back, not their finances. Similarly to Krauss and the embezzlement of Kinzo's money but not all the assets, they don't have the liquid cash / assets on hand to pay off the various issues they're dealing with.

Hm... To be honest, I've just never really thought about it much. Trying to fathom the level of wealth they have is tough. I feel like Kinzo's kids come off as millionaires, where they're very wealthy but not about to commission private jets for what would be 3 hour drives - that sort of super excessive expenditure you get when you're so wealthy money no longer has meaning. They're wealthy, but not so much that they can do whatever they want (as evidenced by all of them Needing Money Right Now).

Rosa in particular feels like someone who... doesn't have that much money on hand. Her business also isn't doing that well. She does spend a lot on Maria sometimes, and also spends for her getaways with boyfriends, but she's in debt. Also, she... doesn't hire someone to just, look after Maria? It could be a pride or secrecy thing more than a financial thing, though... But considering that Jessica probably had private tutoring, George had tons of tutoring and special programs, and Ange is also mentioned to be in cram school (she knows division. she is SIX.) and Maria seems to have none of that... It could reflect on Rosa trying to raise Maria as a "normal child" with less of the pressures that her siblings put on their children, but could, again, be financial hardship preventing her from doing that.

I guess when you add a bunch of millionaires together, plus the incredible amount of money and assets that Kinzo has put together over the years, you end up with billions. At the very least, post-1986 Eva comes off like a billionaire, especially with how she recklessly does the same stuff Kinzo did to put together vast amounts of money and wastes it on pretty much whatever she thinks will make her feel better (it's mentioned that she got into sketchy new religions/cults/whatever). I wouldn't know nearly enough about the Japanese economy to be able to put together any sort of ballpark estimate, though.

[sirompp]

hi. i made some images.

feel free to take them and use for whatever you may need them for. no credit required

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

License to Kitty.

[brawnie]

*grabbing mlm shippers by the shoulders* guys nobody needs to be the twink. nobody needs to be the sub. nobody needs to be the femboy. they can both be big fat hairy men who bask in each others masculinity or they can both be unspeakable monstrous creatures with inhuman genitalia it’s okay I’m holding your hand. Let me show you the way

[noelledeltarune]

EVERY SINGLE DAY there are MILLIONS of characters in their late 20s who get falsely accused of being father figures to teenagers when in reality the description of "weird older cousin" or "step-sibling that moved out before you were born" is 1000000x more apt

[inkskinned]

i got rickrolled today but it didn't work because i have adblocker installed, so youtube just told me i violated the terms of service. yesterday i was trying to edit a picture as a joke for my girlfriend, and google made me check a box to prove i'm human because i wasn't "searching normally".

it isn't just that capitalism is killing fun and whimsy, it is that any element of entertainment or joy is being fed upon by this mosquito body, one that will suck you dry at any vulnerability.

do you want to meet new friends in your city? download this app, visit our website, sign up for our email list. pay for this class on making a terrarium, on candlemaking, on cooking. it will be 90 dollars a session. you can go to group fitness, but only under our specific gym membership. solve the puzzle, sign up for our puzzle-of-the-month-club. what is a club if not just a paid opportunity - you are all paying for the same thing, which makes you a community.

but you're like me, i know it - you're careful, you try the library meetings and the stuff at the local school and all of that. the problem is that you kind of want really specific opportunities that used to exist. you are so grateful for libraries and the publicly-funded things: they are, however, an exception - and everything they have, they've fought tooth-and-nail to protect. you read a headline about how in many other states, libraries have virtually nothing left.

do you want to meet up with your friends afterwards? gift your friends the discord app. you can choose to go to a cafe (buy a coffee, at least), a bar (money, alcohol) or you can all stay in and catch a movie (streaming) or you can all stay in bed (rent. don't get me started) and scream (noise complaint. ticket at least).

you want to read a new book, but the book has to have 124 buzzwords from tiktok readers that are, like, weirdly horny. you can purchase this audiobook on audible! your podcast isn't on spotify, it's on its own server, pay for a different site. fuck, at least you're supporting artists you like. the art museum just raised their ticket price. once, they had a temporary exhibit that acknowledged that ~85% of their permanent art galleries were from cis white men, and that they had thousands of works by women (even famous women, like frida! georgia o'keefe!) just rotting in their basement. that exhibit lasted for 3 months and then they put everything away again.

walmart proudly supports this strip of land by the street! here are some flowers with wilting leaves. its employees have to pay out-of-pocket for their uniforms. my friend once got fined by the city because she organized a community pick-up of the riverfront, which was technically private property.

no, you cannot afford to take that dance class, neither can i. by the way - i'm a teacher. i'm absolutely not saying "educators shouldn't be paid fairly." i'm saying that when i taught classes, renting a studio went from 20 bucks an hour to 180 in the span of 6 months. no significant changes to the studio were made, except they now list the place as updated and friendly. the heat still doesn't work in the building. i have literally never seen the landlord who ignores my emails. recently they've been renting it out at night as an "unusual nightclub; a once-in-a-lifetime close-knit party." they spent some of those 180 dollars on LEDs and called it renovating. the high heels they invite in have been ruining the marley.

do you want to experience the old internet? do you want to play flash games or get back the temporary joy of club penguin? you can, you just need to pay for it. i have a weird, neurodivergent obsession with occasionally checking in to watch the downfall and NFT-ification of neopets. if i'm honest with you all - i never got into webkins, my family didn't have the money to buy me a pointless elephant. people forget that "being poor" can mean literally "if i buy you that toy, i can't afford rent."

you and i don't have time to make good food, and we don't have the budget for it. we are not gonna be able to host dinner parties, we're not made of money, kid. do you want some kind of 3rd space? a space that isn't home or work or school? you could try being online, but - what places actually exist for you? tiktok counts as social media because you see other people on it, not because they actually talk to you.

there was a local winter tradition of sledding down the hill at my school. kids would use pizza boxes and jackets and whatever worked, howling and laughing. back in september, they made a big announcement that this time, rules were changing, and everyone must pay 10 dollars to participate. when im not scared shitless, i kind of appreciate the environmental irony - it hasn't gone below 40. so much for snow & joyriding.

i saw a bulletin for a local dogwalking group and, nervous about making a good first impression, showed up early. the first guy there grimaced at me. "sorry," he said. "there's a 30-dollar buy-in fee." i thought he was joking. wait. for what? the group doesn't offer anything except friendship and people with whom to walk around the city.

he didn't know the answer. just shrugged at me. "you know," he said. "these days, everything costs money."

[tentacleteapot]

solved the paradox of the ship of Theseus btw!! turns out the answer was “it depends”. hope that helps, have a good weekend everybody!

[adriles]

they are Cancelling me for dealing with my grief as best i can . also for the vicious war Crimes

[moxie-girl]

im so normal abt sibling relationships in media i swear

[nuvamata]

(link to original)

[clay-pidgeon]

“we need more evil female characters” you guys cant even handle a traumatized teenage girl making a mistake

[oasisr]

after hearing "simply having a wonderful christmas time" by paul mccartney 74 times while working in retail, I came to the conclusion that they shot the wrong beatle

[hansoeii]

crowley

[be-afraid-ofart]

[solidwater05]

Apparently this needs to be said so

Forgetting things is morally neutral! Memory issues are morally neutral!

You're not a bad person if you...

forget things quickly

forget people

can't remember entire stages of your life

can't remember important things

can remember some things very well and forget other things all the time

can't remember things (or anything!) about your interests

forget to eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, etc

forget to reply to texts

remember things and immediately forget them again

can't remember birthdays, events, etc

frequently answer 'I forgot' to questions

can't retain new information

forget things you used to know

only remember things when it's too late

have vague, distorted and/or unreliable memories

depend on others to know how an event you were in played out

have other symptoms that are worsened by memory issues and vice versa

... and anything else I might have missed!