#i'm lucky to be relatively well-off financially

[verdanturfwind]

Everyone should wear a mask to protect others and that's something I wholeheartedly agree with, but to say people who stopped wearing masks these past couple years eugenicists and lazy is disingenuous. Laziness is not the root of the issue here. The issue is that N95s - the main mask that protects people - are expensive and rare as hell! Stores have just straight up stopped selling them, and people have to spend loads of money to keep others safe. And no, most people can't just stay home - we're living in an economic crisis where people need to work and build community to survive.

Capitalism is, once again, the problem. Absolutely mask up in the best way you can, whether that's buying expensive N95s or even just a few handmade reusable cloth masks. Protect your community and neighbors. But don't blame said neighbors in the process. Focus on supporting endeavors that provide people free masks!

[thelaurenshippen]

this is a genuine question not at all meant as a rude gotcha, but I feel like I've seen lots of people cite the relatively low barrier of entry as a huge advantage of podcasts as a medium, "if you have access to decent audio tech you can make a podcast" etc etc. So where does the need to sell a script come in? Is it a financial thing, and IP thing, something else?

this doesn't read like a rude gotcha at all, it's a really good question! there is a much lower barrier to entry when it comes to podcasts compared to tv, film, theater, etc. (though not as low as writing a book if we're talking about hard resources - you can technically write a book with just a laptop and a dream and then self publish! though as a writer who has written a lot of scripts and four books (3 published) writing a book is a much bigger psychological burden imo lol).

the need to sell a script, for me, is entirely a financial thing. if I had the money to produce podcasts at the level I want to entirely independently, I would! I know how to do it! but, unfortunately, I really only have the funds to produce something like @breakerwhiskey - a single narrator daily podcast that I make entirely on my own.

and that show is actually a great example of just how low the barrier is: I actually record the whole thing on a CB radio I got off of ebay for 30 bucks, my editing software is $50/month (I do a lot of editing, so this is an expense that isn't just for that show) and there are no hosting costs for it. the only thing it truly costs me is time and effort.

not every show I want to make is single narrator. a lot of the shows I've made involve large casts, full sound design, other writers, studio recording, scoring, and sometimes full cast albums (my first show, The Bright Sessions had all of those). I've worked on shows that have had budgets of 100 dollars and worked on shows that cost nearly half a million dollars. if anyone is curious about the nitty gritty of budgets, I made a huge amount of public, free resources about making audio drama earlier this year that has example budgets in these ranges!

back in the beginning of my career, I asked actors to work for free or sound designers to work for a tiny fee, because I was doing it all for free and we were all starting out. I don't like doing that anymore. so even if I'm making a show with only a few actors and a single sound designer...well, if you want an experienced sound designer and to pay everyone fairly (which I do!), it's going to cost you at least a few thousand dollars. when you're already writing something for free, it can be hard to justify spending that kind of money. I've sound designed in the past - and will be doing so again in the near future for another indie show of mine - but I'm not very good at it. that's usually the biggest expense that I want to have covered by an outside budget.

but if I'm being really honest, I want to be paid to write! while I do a lot of things - direct, produce, act, consult, etc. - writing is my main love and I want it to be the majority of my income. I'm really fortunate to be a full-time creative and I still do a lot of work independently for no money, but when I have a show that would be too expensive to produce on my own, ideally I want someone else footing the bill and paying me to write the scripts.

I love that audio fiction has the low barrier to entry it does, because I think hobbyists are incredible - it is a beautiful and generous thing to provide your labor freely to something creative and then share it with the world - but the barrier to being a professional audio drama writer is certainly higher. I'm very lucky to already be there, but, as every creative will tell you, even after you've had several successes and established yourself in the field, it can still be hard to make a living!

anyway, I hope this answers your question! I love talking about this stuff, so if anyone else is curious about this kind of thing, please ask away.

[monstrousproductions]

hi! hope you're having a good week. i absolutely love your podcast, it's one of my all time favourites of all time :) feel free to disregard this question, but are you comfortable disclosing, however vaguely, how much money the podcast made you? if it made you money at all, i have no idea about the costs involved in running a podcast. but yeah i love our presenter so much, i already know i'm going to miss new monstrous agonies drop day once it's over!

Thank you so much, I hope you're having a lovely week as well! And thanks for your kind words about the podcast - don't tell anyone but it's one of my all-time favourite too 😉

Your question got away from me a little, so my apologies if this is way more detail than you were looking for! But I think in audio drama in particular, and in creative industries in general, we really don't talk about money enough! If any other creators want to chime in, I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences!

The cost of running a podcast like MA is very low in terms of actual cash. Aside from the first lot of equipment I bought - a mic, an audio interface, a mic stand and some cables, all coming in at about £180 total - any money I've spent has been on nice-to-haves rather than absolutely necessary outlays, like upgrading my mic set-up and building a little IKEA-hack recording booth over the summer, or paying for a domain name and email.

All this to say, my costs are a little higher than they need to be because I'm bougie 💅😌 If you're wondering what the hard, necessary costs of running a show like MA would be without those choices, it's really very low once you've got a semi-decent mic and built your recording booth blanket fort.

As for how much money it's made me, accounting for those expenses which off the top of my head I'd round up to about £1000, then MA has made me approximately £3000 since November 2020 - obviously with fewer people on the Patreon etc at the start, and more now. I'm sitting at about £250 a month from Patreon right now, which is absoutely incredible to me, and makes up a decent chunk of my actual living expenses. Thank you, everyone who pledges! 💖

However, the main thing I think people forget when they're thinking about money and podcasting is that old adage, time is money. I'm a freelancer and I work from home, so I can be very flexible about when I do MA work and when I do paid work. But the time I spend in the booth recording, or editing episodes, or even on social media (hello!) is all time that I'm not spending on actual billable hours.

Personally, that works out fine for me. I'm outrageously, stupendously lucky in terms of my financial stability, and am in a position where I can say, yeah, I'll work part-time for money and spend the other hours in the week making a podcast, knowing that the vast, vast majority of my audience isn't going to be able to/want to support me financially. (For context, MA is sitting at around 350,000 total downloads right now. If everyone gave me £1 every time they listened to an episode..... 😅)

Also, MA is a relatively time-cheap show to make. I spend about a day writing, and then the actual recording, editing and posting might take another 6hrs total? So two "lost" paid working days a week, basically.

But like... have a wee think about how bare bones MA is. Up to 50% of each episode could be written by submitters, and the rest is very formulaic and easily repeatable. It's a single voice production, with a couple of scraps of music and no sound design whatsoever, if I can help it! And the episodes themselves are only 15 minutes long, cutting all your recording and editing times right the way down.

So, let's say you're a podcaster who doesn't have the freedom and flexibility that I do with regards to your day job, and you don't have the comfy cushion of savings to cover upfront costs, and you don't live somewhere with a low a cost of living as Belfast, and you want to make a show that isn't so (intentionally!) stripped back and minimal... 😬

People like to say that podcasting has a really low barrier for entry and that's true to an extent - "all you need is a mic". But I think we do everyone a disservice if we don't look seriously and honestly about the financial costs involved - including time spent on unpaid work!

All this to say, I am so enormously grateful to everyone who is able to support MA financially, whether that's with the occasional fiver on ko-fi or a regular pledge on Patreon. It really does all add up, and it makes a real, genuine difference to my daily life. £250 a month is more than I hoped to make, and I'm really thankful for everyone who has contributed.

And if you do have an extra couple of quid burning a hole in your pocket, do consider supporting the creators you love 💖🥰

[snowmuttgetsweird]

5/12/24, late morning

How about something a little more positive while I wait for my mom to give me the okay to call her for mother's day?

I love my day job! I'm a TCG guy more than anything, hobby-wise, so exploring board games as a sales person has been intimidating, and I frequently feel like I'm underperforming even when my coworkers tell me I'm doing great and that I'm providing skills the crew doesn't have otherwise, but it's a wonderful job. It's relatively low stress, there's ample opportunity to steal extra shifts which makes up for the middling pay, and a (generous) employee discount for arguably my most expensive hobby (ironically Digimon is one of the cheapest TCGs out there) is a godsend.

On quiet days, I'm frequently treated with an opportunity to learn a new board game. Last week I learned Wingspan, a few days ago I learned Wyrmspan, and just yesterday I learned Scout. I've even had opportunities to play multiple games before they were even available to the general public like Gloomhaven Buttons & Bugs and Star Wars Unlimited! So far almost everything that I've played I've enjoyed a lot too.

It might not be the highest paying job, but it's very easy, the staff and management is super laid back and grounded, and I get to learn board games. I literally can't think of anything wrong with that. It's the kind of job that makes me WANT to do my best, so I frequently go above and beyond the level of effort I'd normally exert for other retail jobs I've had.

Besides all that, it might have literally saved my life. Art is cool, but it doesn't pay that well- especially at the level I'm at. This day job being my primary flow of income with art being supplemental has been very good, and I'm very lucky that my patrons and followers are willing to be so patient with me while I find my footing.

I know I've said so before, but I feel like this year I've really got a great chance at succeeding financially. Last year I only had my day job since September, so for 8 months I had to earn a bare minimum of about $1800 a month through art alone so I could set aside 20% for taxes and still pay rent. This year, my day job and Patreon more or less cover rent for me, and everything I make through art is technically "gravy." Right now, all of that is going toward paying off money I owe to my roommate for covering most of our utilities by himself, but once that's all paid off and I'm consistently making enough to keep up with paying half of those bills, 30% of whatever I make through art will be set aside for taxes from now on, regardless of how much I make since I'm not trying to hit a specific threshold for rent, and then the rest can become SAVINGS! The key now is to calculate the average cost of our bills and utilities so I can try to make sure I make MORE per month than what I owe so I can catch up to the ongoing fees. I'm pretty optimistic about that.

BOOKS! As you know, I've been reigniting my love for reading since a little before I moved to WA- mostly because it's cheap (I've fallen in love with my local discount book shop's clearance racks), and it's a great way to fill in dead hours and lunch periods at the day job and quiet evenings at home when I'm done with art. Especially now that it's warming up, sometimes I like to head outside for a walk and then settle down and read in the park. Once in a while I treat myself to a milk tea or something too.

I finished The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon, and I loved it. I'm probably going to give it a second read because I think there were some parts I may have ADHD'd through and not quite absorbed, and the sequel should be out sometime this year too. I got The Archive Undying as a birthday gift last year, so the sequel might be the first brand new book I'll have purchased in a while lol- I'm super excited.

My friend that let me borrow Legends & Lattes picked up a copy of the prequel, Bookshops & Bonedust, which he let me borrow before he started reading it himself, and I devoured it. Much like the first, it's a super cozy little read- not much in the way of substance, very little in the way of world building or complex character relationships, etc, but rich in comfort and good feelings.

Right now I'm working on a collection of Lovecraftian/Cosmic Horror short stories called Horrors Beyond: Tales of Terrifying Realities, and I found a couple more books from my local discount book store I'll tackle after that: What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson (honestly I did not know this was a book first- shame on me) and The Star Fraction by Ken Macleod. I got them both off the clearance rack for just a little over $5 bucks in all!

I'm also experimenting with audio books. While I'm doing relatively mindless logistics stuff at the day job, I'm listening to audio books in one ear of some things I've read a while ago, but since kinda forgot. My mom was always a huge Anne Rice fan and had proudly collected the entirety of her works, and so I read a handful of books from her library growing up (my personal favorite of what I've read myself actually being Cry to Heaven). One I remember reading but not really enjoying much was actually the first book in her Vampire Chronicles, Interview with the Vampire. I'm not a big Louis fan (I'm more in the Lestat camp myself) and found the book as a whole kinda dull, mostly due to Louis' weak and winging personality, but I've since decided to give it another shot as an audio book, and it IS at least better than I remember giving it credit for. I still don't care for Louis though, lol. I prefer to read myself, but audio books are nice just to keep my brain going with something in the background while I'm doing something otherwise fairly mindless, like alphabetizing and rearranging miniatures or beautifying shelves of product.

GAMES! Not a TON to talk about here tbh. I've mostly been playing FF7 Rebirth, and it's been... Good...? I finally beat it on Normal after about 150 hours trying to exhaust every sidequest and minigame as much as possible, and I've since begun my Hard mode NG+. The story is great, there are a couple parts I'm not fond of that feels like Nomura is just Kingdom Hearts-ing all over FF7, but it's good overall and the gameplay feels really good. The most frustrating part of the game by far is just all the minigames- mostly that in order to completely beat them all, you have to do them PERFECTLY- it's very unforgiving.

Gotta go for now. Talk later. :)

[frogsandfries]

I'm so exhausted.

Okay, look, I know I seem to be expressing a lot of physical exhaustion lately, but this is more in regards to my increasing exhaustion with what the internet has become: One giant, inescapable, smothering advertisement.

I probably only want to cry about it right now at this very moment because I'm so tired, but I mean, honestly, if I'm not crying over it, I'm seething over it.

So you, a corporation, you don't want to pay your employees fairly or properly, and you then expect people who can barely afford their rent, never even mind their stupid health insurance or any of the other expensive life necessities, you really expect them to turn around and spend every last of their five remaining dollars on your piece of cheap shit instead of a cheap loaf of bread which will at least allow them to get through the next few days??? Unlike your stupid foot soak boot things, hey epsom your tired feet while you clean your apartment after work--multitask, grind, hustle!! But also, treat yo'self and self-care.

There's no fucking point in having fucking adblock, because when I go to research how to get better at my hobby, google wants to shove a dozen more products that I neither need nor want down my throat. The only way to improve a fucking smart phone is to make it a better shopping device. "Hey look, do you see something irl, maybe during your vacation or just out and about for the day, and you need to buy it right fucking here and now?? Buy our fucking phone because it will help you have fifty afterpays instead of the usual five that you're constantly balancing at any one fucking time."

As someone who used to be curious to learn, I still remember when the internet was seen as a way to exchange knowledge and information, and sure, if you're really, really good at using the internet, or if you're incredibly resourceful, and lucky, and maybe find a group on like Discord or Reddit or maybe Facebook, full of people who share your general interest, and maybe they have the knowledge you're asking for readily at hand.

But it's bullshit. The more and more ads in a row, video after video, song after song, that I have to wade through to get to the information that I came here for, the less interested I am in things like Youtube for information and learning. I really have cut myself off from learning, because increasingly for years, it's been harder and harder to actually use the internet to learn anything.

The internet has become a giant screaming relentless bright flashing fucking billboard advertisement and I'm just so.......done.

Look, frankly, I miss having books in my home. Books aren't very reasonable for lugging about the country to your next couch. But that lifestyle is behind me. Books don't constantly advertise at me. The index in the back of the book doesn't make me watch a fucking ad to figure out how I'm supposed to be doing this next part of my project or how I can up my skill at this thing I'm trying to learn or improve at.

And whenever the hell I decide to leave my meat-suit, donate my books to a library if no one in my family wants them.

I'm just so fucking exhausted. I'm doing relatively financially okay right now. I have money to pay my bills and feed myself and still grab a couple things most paychecks. It is currently often a choice between improving my household or taking care of my physical body, or taking care of my emotional well-being, but that's fine. A privilege, really, compared to the places that I've been.

But I don't have the buckets of disposable income that the internet seems convinced that I do.

The internet was supposed to be a beacon of information sharing and a new fucking era of communication.

I don't think anyone foresaw it being a capitalist hellscape. It feels like I can't move through reality or cyberspace without being screamed at on all sides to spend out every last dime on things I don't want, don't need, and am extraordinarily NOT interested in.

I'm so exhausted. I'm so sick to my bones, my guts, my soul.

The thought of escaping into the mountains, becoming a hermit, never to be seen again, becomes increasingly appealing.

[stupidphototricks]

I've been in the workforce for 30 years now, and I feel done. Mentally ready to retire. Unfortunately I still won't be financially ready to retire for probably more than ten years.

My Dad was about my age when he took an early retirement offer from his company, after it had been acquired. And honestly thank god that he was able to do that, because he and my Mom got to have a good 15+ years of travel, hobbies, and volunteer work that they loved before they started dealing with health problems in a major way.

I'm the primary breadwinner of my family, by a lot. I have a kid in college who may well go on to grad school and in any case is unlikely to be able to fully support themself right off the bat. (No judgment at all, things are tough.)

I don't hate my job. It's a good job and I'm lucky to have it. I'm very, very grateful to have the life of relative ease and comfort that I have.

But odds are (and trust that I'm doing everything I can to weight those odds in my favor) I will start sinking into the mire of hereditary age-related health problems right about the same time it becomes financially possible for me to retire. And that's the best-case scenario where I don't lose my job before then, which would put a big financial strain on everything. (I don't have any illusions that I could get another similar-paying job at this point, given my age and lack of skills and contacts.)

And whatever, it is what it is. But my advice to my kid and all of the younger generation out there is, don't put all of your career eggs in one basket. That doesn't work anymore. If you can, keep taking online courses after you graduate. Do freelance work. Explore other interests than what you majored in in college. If you have to keep working for pretty much your whole life, and I'm sorry but you probably will, mix it up! Try to have something to pivot to if your chosen career goes away or if you get tired of it. 40 years is a long time, I'm just saying.

[colorcodedbeanies]

S1E5-"Gray Matter"

"Why is he doing this? What is he, like, 8 years old?" will go down in history as the one time I was rooting for Walt and Skyler's marriage. If they could be bitchy about parties forever I would find a place for them in my heart. Also, a shorter one this time, mostly because a lot of the major themes are going to be coming up a lot more prominently in future episodes and I want to give myself some fresh things to say.

With both Walt and Jesse we get this theme of ego in relationship to class, work, and money. For Walt, this theme is obvious, turning down an unbelievable offer from the Schwartzes just to hold onto some idea of dignity. For Jesse, its smaller, and perhaps even a little more understandable. Admittedly the signspinning job is probably not optimal from a financial perspective. But finances aren't something Jesse cites. At a fundamental level he views the job as beneath him. I'd argue that for both of them this has a lot to do with their vision of what an adult man does. For Walt, a proper adult man doesn't rely on handouts to provide for himself and his family. For Jesse, a proper adult man works an adult job and makes adult money. Both of these characters are reaching desperately for an idea of respect that just isn't available to them.

Vince Gilligan described this episode as the point where the show finally clicked for him, because its the first time Walt is making a concrete choice about his life of crime that can't be argued to be circumstantially forced on him. For me, what's most interesting is how close he was to taking the offer. He hems and haws about personal issues but there seems to be sincere regret in his eyes. Until Elliot mentions health insurance and he realizes he knows about the cancer. This is part of a running theme in this episode: Walt cannot tolerate being thought of as sick. We'll get the tragic backstory reason for this later but I think it's worth noting: this is internalized ableism and it's going to be coming up a LOT in this episode

I wanna be careful here: Walt would be well within his rights to refuse treatment. At the end of the day, it's his own body. I have one relative who's been in treatment for cancer 8 times, and nearly all of them have involved some kind of chemo. It's a miserable process, and if it seems unlikely to extend your life it makes sense that you might not want to go forward. Marie brings up a worthwhile point here, some people don't want to spend their last days being picked at by doctors. I want to be as clear as possible I'm not casting moral judgement on anyone's decisions regarding their treatment and health.

HOWEVER. The objections that Walt raises have a lot of uh. Implications, for anyone dealing with any kind of chronic condition. He speaks with horror of becoming something artificially alive, despairs at the idea of needing to be cared for and cleaned up after. At the top of his concerns is being too sick to work, too sick to do the things he believes a husband and father should be able to. Junior and Hank both say the quiet part loud, Hank by positing that Walt wants to die "like a man" and Junior by rightfully pointing out that everything Walt's describing is his lived experience. It's a point I don't often see brought up. Walt's greatest fear is to live the way his son does. Honestly, one of the things that may have changed his mind is realizing Skyler would wind up needing to care for him anyways as his body deteriorates.

Speaking of Junior, the attempt at buying beer is interesting for this analysis for a couple of reasons. One, on any other night Hank might be the one doing the arresting. Junior explicitly only got off easy because he has a male authority figure to show up for him and talk him out of any trouble. Had he not been that lucky the implication is he would've had more serious consequences. Class, support, and (I'd argue) white privilege got him off that night with a warning

Two, this is tied back to when Hank and Marie thought he might be smoking pot. This time it's undeniable. Junior has been caught seeking out a substance, one that it is illegal for him to have and one with ties to addiction. However, where weed is cause for a scare tactic, Hank doesn't bat an eye at the attempt to get beer. He's more upset that by calling him and not Walt, Junior is subverting the traditional family hierarchy. No one feels the need to scare Junior straight about the dangers of alcoholism. In fact they bounce right back to discussing Walt's potential slip into the life of a junkie, Skyler recounting with horror "He said he liked it!" while DEA agent Hank giggles about how he didn't think he had it in him ("it" being a thing he has sent multiple people to prison for in his career)

Marie for all her problems is the funniest bitch alive

Jesse is making his attempts to grow up here, and when he tries to grow up he starts behaving more like Walt. I don't think I have to say anything else for that fact to be devastating.

[ovaryacted]

Awwwe nic, I just saw your rant. I'm so sorry you're going through a rough patch. People truly underestimate how time consuming a nine to five job is. We want you to know that you shouldn't feel any pressure from our side, we'll read whatever you write and whenever you write, even when we have to wait for it. Don't overwork yourself because that'll help no one. Now I do understand all the frustration and dread you're feeling if you want to write but just can't. Trust me, I've been there. I am there. With college and me being a procrastinating little piece of shit, I haven't written anything in ages, even though writing is my truest passion and I wish I could be an author some day. The dread felt when you're stopped from doing things you want to do over an extended period of time is so valid. Now, this little ask of mine can't magically make you a few more hours to spare nor can it make your job any easier, but I hope you at least feel heard. Take your time, write when you have time for it. Even five minutes, just put something in that word document - that's better than nothing. You'll continue later. It'll help with the feeling of depression to at least type something, even if it's just one paragraph. And when it comes to feeling like it's a waste of time, I don't think there's a writer in the world ho hasn't felt that at some point. We see you, and we know how much hard work you put in to give us those yummy fics. Know that your following is standing right behind you and we'll eat up whatever you put out there. As someone who's been writing since I learned how to hold a pencil, I can tell you that the feeling sadly never truly goes away. But it comes less often and becomes easier to deal with. And, If you really need something to keep you going, know that hundreds, if not thousands of people would be really sad to see you go if you decided to give up on the blog. I don't know how much this helped, or even if it helped at all, but the point of the story is that we're here for you, no matter what. Love you pookie, take care!❤️❤️❤️

-🌑

This ask made me emotional in the morning, and I’ve been reading it over and over the past few days. I’ll admit, I’ve been in a rough patch for like a month, I genuinely forget how my mental health can get around January-February, which are relatively rough months for me in general because that’s when my depression spikes the most. I guess it’s a combination of the pre-birthday blues and the existential dread of getting older lmao, but idk it’s always a stressful time for me and it’s been that way since I was 16. My home life is also not the best right now, which just stresses me out more cause now I’m stressed at work and at home thanks to my inconsiderate family. (Eldest daughter things feel me?)

Honestly, I’m really thankful I have a 9-5 job and a good one at that, it gives me financial stability I’ve never had before. It’s also a job I prayed for, in the field I studied and with reputable nice people. I got very lucky, especially with the current economy in the US dealing with hyperinflation and how hard it is to get a job right now I’m very grateful. But it is a busy job, I mean I work with people who are essentially government agents and have ties to the FBI so I have pressure to do well at work. I did underestimate the amount of time I’ll have for myself working a full time job, especially after coming from a shitty part time job I had more time to do things throughout the week. I feel like I took all that free time for granted, and at least when I was in college I had several days off, now I only have like 5-6 hrs after work plus the weekend to myself and the cycle gets exhausting at some point. Usually when I come home, I have the mentality and the creativity to want to write, but lack the energy. Literally the moment I rest on my bed, I just put on Netflix and doze off, or won’t have enough brain power to make cohesive ideas so I end up hating what I write or starting over (which has happened so far). So I have the weekend to relax and write, but now I have to start studying for a big legal exam later on in the year which is my ticket to law school for 2025. I just have a lot going on right now and to prep for (adulthood I guess).

Believe me, I’m trying, and I want to create, I’ve been writing since I was 12 so this is a hobby and a skill I want to build up. I’ve been taking some time out every day to just write stuff out, and so far it’s worked. And with asks, I use the morning and my lunch break to prepare responses and edit them at home to post when I have time. I just want to upload multiple things at a time, and then I get indecisive about what to start, and end up posting nothing lmao. Plus with all the bs going on in the tags and the fandom in general, it’s annoying the hell out of me cause it’s just constant drama. But I appreciate your kind words honey, I always do, they’re encouraging and make me feel better. Adore you, I hope you’re having a good day though and taking care of yourself. ❤️‍🩹

[invisible-goats]

Fr thank you for your post, it's something I genuinely struggle with. I grew up with bailiffs and repo guys at my door every week because my single mother couldn't afford to put food on the table every day let alone pay our bills. We lived in a council house and were homeless for a while.

I grew up and got incredibly lucky and have a comfortable salary now (not rich, but about average for an office worker). And it feels like my brain is still in survival mode. When I was little, making the wrong financial decision, even for something as small as buying dinner, could be life or death. And I don't think that fear ever left me.

I try to be generous where I can because I know people who aren't as well-off as me. I get gifts for my friends and surprise them by paying off bills they're worried about sometimes because I wish someone had been there to do that for me in the past. But there's always that thought in my head telling me I need to keep everything I earn because being poor is dangerous.

Unlearning that fear is part of the issue for me. It will never override my compassion but it's difficult to remember where I am now. Because my brain still thinks I'm in poverty. I still don't eat every day, purely out of habit, because I'm scared of spending money on food even though I now have plenty.

I'm totally not conservative, I'm just traumatized and trying to adjust to the "okay I have enough money to survive and also help others with" mindset

I never had it that bad, thankfully. Went from a middle class childhood with relatively left-leaning parents, to years on benefits but managing if we were very careful, to now starting to save for a house deposit, but those few years made me so scared, especially knowing how easy it would be to end up back there, or worse (especially given we're both disabled).

But now I sometimes have a tenner in my wallet I can give to a homeless person, and I do it, because that's a person too.

[johnwickfucker]

sorry but i have to dump my thoughts about glass onion somewhere (spoilers below the cut!! and this is genuinely Long and unorganized)

so the movie was.... fun. it was a good time to watch and i liked the twists and the way that the audience got the truth in fragments up until the end. and then it ended and i now have questions that aren't going to be resolved in a good way because their answers can't be gleaned from the movie (as far as i know after seeing it once)

what the fuck was andi/cassandra doing in that company? how was it successful? Yes, she got screwed out of the company and what she was "owed" by miles (and then her friends). but presumably, had that not happened, she would have been as financially successful as miles. she took a stand against him selling Klear and... that makes her... totally good and sympathetic? also her sister helen is a teacher and good person and cared a lot about her, so... ok. she's the sympathetic billionaire for the sake of the story.

still, miles is meant to be sort of an elon musk stand-in caricature. owner of Company and a promise to save the world. what the fuck did the company actually do and what was andi presiding over up until she was cut out of the company, if we're meant to apply some real-world knowledge of "billionaires get where they are by screwing over other people and profiting off of exploited labor and environmental destruction"? i'm not trying to attack only andi as a character, especially when compared to the shithead friends she had (miles chief among them). but i Am bothered by the fact that the maximum enjoyment of miles' destruction and helen/andi's revenge working out mainly hinges on seeing andi as a good person whose cause was a completely worthy one.

also, the. the explosion at the end. helen didn't know just how bad that would be before throwing the Klear and somehow everyone got out of that relatively unscathed. when there was an explosion that turned glass fragments into projectiles. and a bigass Explosion that happened at all. i thought everyone in the glass onion was fuckin Dead but plot armor for everyone involved is fine, i guess. and derek's body got left in there to burn with everything else and no one mentioned it.

so yeah, the movie was OK. not Bad, had some great acting especially on janelle monáe's part, and had pretty good cinematography with some fun shots. but to me, the reason "knives out" works so well is that marta is super compelling when contrasted against the crappy rich family benefitting off of harlan's success as an author. you feel good when she comes out victorious at the end because someone deserving and kind and hard-working received recognition for it. "glass onion" added in andi, a billionaire(?) or at least multimillionaire, as a character to be rooting for second-hand via her nice, 3rd grade teacher sister helen, and the "lesson" of the movie was like. look how awesome it is when the stupid billionaire's stupid fortune goes up in flames. which is fine! it's fun seeing a grossly rich guy get what's coming to him. but when the story's Alternative (had miles not killed andi and the evidence come forward) is that andi would have gotten the company and continued running it, amassing a fortune of her own, it feels like you're having to buy into the "wealthy people got there from hard work and intelligence" bit to feel truly upset about miles doing what he did. when the whole point of His character is to show that sometimes obscenely wealthy people are just stupid, immoral bastards who get lucky.

so... yeah 🤷‍♂️ the movie's big Thing being "rich people bad and will fuck each other over" being in conflict with "but this one rich person genuinely did work hard to get there and only ever tried to help her friends until they betrayed her, And Also those friends may or may not receive their comeuppance? idk lol" makes for a movie that wasn't very satisfying for me :/

[tombeane-blog]

The Smoking Lamp Is Lit

"So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner pies, And we walked off to look for America" Simon & Garfunkel - America

I was in Safeway the other morning and a guy in front of me was buying a pack of cigarettes. It cost $12.

Which got me thinking.

Dying from a lifetime of smoking is now financially out of reach.

And it dawned on me… The poorest and most vulnerable among us can no longer afford to die from smoking!

Only the rich can still die from lung cancer. (lucky bastards!)

"Yeah Vern, whatcha got?" "Jeez, that's sounds ominous Tom. How much DOES it cost?" "Vern, If you have to ask, you can't afford to die that way. So sit back, fire up that last Marlboro and listen while I pontificate."

Unless we get in front of this looming national tragedy the poor will only be able to die from smoking if we initiate massive government cigarette subsidies.

After all, if health care should be free, why not the cost to need health care? Two sides of the same coin. It only makes sense.

But, I'm afraid those heartless bums in Washington don't have the platypus eggs to get this sorted out.

So my advice to the poor and middle class is to sit down in a room with your physician and your financial advisor (new career path -Finician?).

Your LBTQ+3x*4y Finician will help you determine a cost effective way to die based on your life style choices and your projected economic status.

I know we all pine to smoke cheaply for 70 years and then kick off like John Wayne. But what used to be a sensible dying path is now out of reach for most.

Like many others, I smoked a pack and a half for many years.

You could buy a pack of smokes out of a vending machine located in every store, movie theater and strip club in America for a measly quarter .

So my habit was about 37 cents a day. (Probably less since I could get whole carton for $1 when I was in the Navy.)

My Anthropic/Chat/GPT/A.I. assistant calculated that the average age of dying from lung cancer is 70.

So let's do the cost-of-death-math for a typical smoker who began puffing at the age of 16 and ascended to that Golden Cloud at 70 screaming in agony.

70-16=54 years. 54*365*37 cents=$7,292.70

The average smoker could die from lung cancer for only $11.25 a month. Very very cost effective.

But what if a 16 year old started smoking today. 70-16. Still 54. But… 54*365*18 dollars equals a whopping $354,780! What the blazing blue bells of Hell is that?

My solution: Since the government ain't gonna' help, they should start teaching teens in high school about the relative costs of various ways of dying. (Give good info to the youngsters and I'm sure they'll reach the right conclusions. It worked for sex and abortions and drugs so it should work just as well here.)

Tell 'em: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos can afford to die this way. You can't. Don't smoke. Not cost effective. Instead, when you reach 70 buy yourself a $99,000 Cartier watch and a 2024 $255,000 McLaren GTS. (626 Horsepower. 0-60 in 3.1 seconds.) Drive it around a year or two. Have fun. You saved for it and you deserve it. Head to U.S. 101 in California. Crank it up to 203 mph. Fly gloriously off a cliff - Thelma and Louise style.

You will still have $780 to leave to your ungrateful heirs. The future cost of a pack of Marlboro's.

Make Speech Free Again

[foster-the-world]

No more curls

Warning: This is a lot of words about my son's haircut. Feel free to skip. It helped me to get my words out.

I had to take the girls to their activity so my husband took my son to get his hair trimmed. This was after I noticed he needed a haircut, found the barber and made the appt to fit my husbands schedule. He had them chop off all of his curls. I know it's absurd but I was really sad. I loved his curls. My husband has heard me say at least 500 times I love his curls. This is his third hair trim so he knows what it looks like afterwards. He was mad that I was mad. We fought. It was partially about the curls but of course in marriages its always the underlying things. How did he not know that i'd be annoyed? Does he not listen to me at all? He never ever would notice any of the kids need haircuts, or new clothes, or their face washed before they leave the house, or baths, or lotion every day because they have eczema. Let alone do the research to find the barber, find the lotion that works, etc, etc. In six years of having children he hasn't bought a single outfit. I've spent hundreds of hours on the internet figuring out how to care for black hair. We are white parents to black children - we cannot have them looking dirty/unkept when they leave the house. That is both of our responsibility.

It also adds another thing to the list of things I can't ask my husband to help me with. It doesn't help that I went to our rental home and found ten late payment noticed in our mailbox. It was for three bills that are overdue and we got several notices for each. One of which was our electricity bill on the rental house. It was ten days from being turned off. Rentals account for roughly 40% of our income. It's the only reason we can get by while I'm in school. We cannot afford for the lights to go out on a renter. Not that we didn't have the money to pay. He just doesn't organize himself to pay things on time. To him, it's not a big deal. You pay the late fee and move on. Not that we can afford late fees. Countless time we've talked about how paying bills on time and being financially responsible is important to me. I can't take over everything he does wrong. I already do much more than my fair share. I pay all of our city bills. He's supposed to handle the Upstate bills. The money comes from joint account.

Luckily, we communicate pretty well. So once we cooled down/put the kids to bed we had a decent conversation. I'm tired of being the competent one. He's tired of feeling afraid that I'm going to be mad that he's doing things wrong. I can understand his feelings and he can understand mine but we don't know how to get past it. He does want to do more but can't seem to handle more. But I don't want to get stuck with it because I'm competent. I'm exhausted. He's exhausted. Some things require money which we are short on these days. I know it's all relative and we are lucky to have all we do. If I wasn't in school we could hire out some of the things I take care of. Some of the things are hopefully related to this stage of life with young kids. We are both overwhelmed. A full time job for him, nursing school for me, a rental home to manage, three young children, foster care stuff. Again, I know some people do much more and have many more children but it still feels like a lot to us.

Anyway, call me superficial but I'm still bummed about his hair. The perfect curls may grow back but I'm not sure. I think his curl pattern may change as he gets older. In which case it would have changed anyway but the baby curls would have lasted for a long while. My husband said he didn't know that. Of course, he doesn't know that because he hasn't spent endless amount of time learning about black hair. Of course, baby boy is still very cute. He has a perfect face. He remains perfect. The older ladies at daycare were also not impressed. They understand my sadness - which made me feel better. They didn't even want me to get him a trim.

[thesaltyoncologist]

Let's talk money...

I've got a little more time to be a regular human being these days, so I've been trying to fill the gaping hole in my knowledge that is personal finances. I know the very basics. I'm relatively good at budgeting. I got even better at budgeting with my YNAB account. I was lucky in that my dad set me up for success as best as he could. He stressed the importance of building credit, never running a credit card balance, protecting my credit score, spending less than I earn, and having an emergency fund. Unfortunately, I was a much better academic student than financial student.

It's taken me a while, but the entirety of my debt is educational debt. This is a recent development. It has taken me a collective four years, but I just paid off my credit card in full last month. No car loans currently. After I sold my junked out jeep before fellowship, I've been driving my parents' old (but paid for) Corolla. I recognize that I'm lucky to have this option. My contributions towards my retirement have been... sparse. I only started during fellowship because they provided 5% matching. I take this money off the top of my earnings and don't look at it. I find that's usually my best approach to savings... set it and forget it. Never see the money. As soon as I figure out how to get my account unlocked, I'll start showing that balance as well.

So, here it is... my starting point. I'm in a better position than most thanks to family support and my future earning potential, but I've still got a big hole to dig myself out of before I'm even poor.

EDIT: I should add that the $15k in my savings account and the final payoff of my credit card and loan #1 was made possible through a $20k signing bonus.

[creepinginyourheartbabecomeonnow]

TW COVID, TW DEATH, TW SICKNESS, TW PREGNANCY, TW RELATIONSHIP ABUSE, TW POVERTY, TW HOMELESS

Remaking my story time post while I wait to be interviewed!!!

So I'm Alex, I'm a 25 year old Filipina mom of two and a daughter. My parents used to be OFWs and I have three younger brothers who are all still minors (16, 12 and 9). I used to be an engineering student but I didn't get to finish because life happens.

I used to be in a relationship with this guy that was so abusive physically, mentally and sexually to me. The whole time we were together I felt nothing but pain. I remember feeling stuck and lost all the time. I didn't know how to escape especially when I didn't have any family close to me. I didnt even have friends because he isolated me so much.

2019 he got me pregnant with our first son. He left and abandoned me.

2020 My whole family came home from Doha to the Philippines to visit me and their first grandchild. They were supposed to only stay for a month.

COVID19 became a pandemic, lockdowns on every country started to become implemented and my family who were supposed to only stay a month is now currently here for 2 years.

My dad who was our only financial support that time got fired and we quickly went through our savings and even mine.

We became homeless that fast, we had to give up our house to the bank.

The first time we became homeless, we all lived in my sedan together with my baby. We all cramped in there just to have shelter.

My abusive ex got hold of us and offered my family shelter in his house. I didn't have a choice then but to accept it. My family were starving and getting sick. In exchange for staying in his place and food, he demanded I sleep with him whenever he wants just so he doesn't kick us out. I agreed just to let my family stay safe for a while whilst I look for a job.

I landed a job and I started earning a little again but my ex started to get aggressive and so I had to take my family out of there, I told my dad I couldn't take it anymore and told him everything. We did try to report my ex to authorities but the case never progressed.

We found a small place we can afford with my salary and we started living there.

March 2021 happened. I give birth to my second son. I didn't know the entire time that I was pregnant. I didn't have any prenatal checkups. It was a cryptic pregnancy and the father is still my ex.

I was devastated with the situation I didn't know how to go on from there but I'm lucky to be with my family who helped me take care of them while I work.

I eventually got infected with COVID from work. I had to stop my training period and isolate. I was isolated and sick for two weeks but I got infected again from the barangay nurse when she checked on me and so I had to be isolated for another two weeks.

I got laid off from my job because I was gone for too long and this happened even before I got my first salary.

We became homeless for the second time.

We did then find a long lost relative of ours, my dad's half sister whom he never told us about. She took us in and everything was starting to look up that time. I found a job as a dishwasher at a restaurant and I do a sideline with being a Grab driver (Grab is like an Uber).

Things were going well for months now.

January 2022 and my entire family got infected with the variant Omicron. Me, my parents, my sons, my brothers and even my aunt.

My sons and dad were put into hospital care because they had the worse cases while the rest of the family stayed at home.

We did get better but my aunt who we thought was doing the best out of us, didn't make it. She passed away from the variant and other underlying issues.

She was only renting her house and didn't have any other family other than us. The landlord knew we were blood related so he demanded we pay him the damages left on her place. We left the house because it was too expensive for us and we paid the damages (if you remember me and my old blog, it was a very stressful time. My father and I got detained so many times).

We become homeless for the third time. And I had to give my sons up for adoption. They're not with me anymore but im hoping soon I could save up so I could get them back again and provide a better life.

Recently we found a place to stay and we just moved in the other day.

The house is still very dirty, we have nothing on us when we moved in. Only the clothes we have on. We still need a lot of help especially now we have a new problem with the bank regarding our old house we gave up last 2020.

We also need a lot of help with food, bills, medicines and supplies. We also still need spare clothes and necessities.

I'll be for sure making a lot of posts, so please help us out by reblogging and sharing my posts, it will be huge to us. Thank you!

[dxmedstudent]

Hi! I'm sorry for asking a silly question but what was your first summer as a med student like? Finals have just ended here at my school and I have no idea what to do with myself for the next two months before the next academic year begins.

Hello! Not a silly question at all. I can’t remember my first summer as a med student. That might be because I was already a student for 3 years beforehand, so all the years merged into one! If anything, my summers were shorter in med school than in a ‘normal’ degree. Imagine having 3-4 months to kill! It can be hard to know what to do with yourself after spending all year working hard; the lucky thing is now you can choose what activities to fill your time with! I’ve just answered a similar ask with some ideas, but really it’s about what makes you happy. I don’t believe people should spend the entire summer studying; though if there’s any homework set, it makes sense to do it. Lots of people get summer jobs for financial reasons, and that’s not a bad idea, but it’s not something you have to do. Two months is a good time; there’s time to pick up any hobbies you’ve been considering, do some travelling, pick up a course on something you like. Even if you can’t afford to do much, you can still just take the time to enjoy things you’ve wanted to do but put off. I do recommend making a plan to *do* stuff, though, because otherwise the days kind of merge together into nothing. If you aren’t working, then you’ll still want to plan your life around stuff that you want to do. Try to wake up at a reasonable plan. Try to plan activities for your day; even if it is ‘read then play a video game’. Go for lots of walks, take up running or yoga or whatever activity suits you, but make sure that you plan exercise into your time. If you usually neglect your nourishment, then maybe it’s a good time to research some recipes and learn to expand your cooking; it’s easy to fall into a cooking rut when we are busy. So whilst you are free, learn from any good cooks in your life or look up simple, nutritious recipes. If you’re like me, your room and life might become a tip during exam time. Now that that’s over, it’s the time to spring-clean your life. For me, August is my New Year period; because doctor life is like school in that the year ends in August. So it’ll be a time when you reflect on what you’ve achieved so far, and what you want to do for the coming year. Take that time to reflect, too. In reality, most people are limited by what they can afford financially, but even if you spend that time simply catching up on hobbies and meeting up with friends, then it’s time well spent. Thinking back, the first summer of med school was one of the most special summers because I spent a lot of it chiling out with friends, going to see new thigns and making up for the stress of exams and all the times I’d not been able to do stuff during the year. Your friends won’t all be free to hang out forever; eventually people will move to different areas, or settle down, or get busy jobs, so it makes sense to take the time with friends and family now whilst you are all relatively free. I miss those days; it was so much easier to get everyone together.

Hope this helps!

[simkjrs]

Hi please PLEASE talk to me abt the socioeconomic state of japan in bnh verse I am SO interested to hear ur thoughts? I'm a poli theory major and let me tell u im a SLUT for fic that deal w the political/social repercussions of fictional happenings

sure thing! 

disclaimer: i only just graduated high school so i’m pulling all of this out of my ass one semester of macroeconomics i took in senior year. feel free to add onto or correct any of this 

edit: if anyone wants to use this for reference when writing boku no hero japan, feel free! i’d appreciate any credit, but it’s not necessary. 

--

what really got me thinking about the socioeconomic state of boku no hero japan was probably the difference between orudera junior high (bakugou and izuku’s school) vs. yuuei, both of which are in the same city, musutafu. orudera junior high gives off the feeling of a school that’s a bit run down; not terrible enough that it obstructs the kids’ education, but enough that you think the school probably can’t afford to keep it in good repair. 

here’s a screenshot of bakugou and izuku’s classroom:

and then here’s izuku’s desk, which has details indicating that it’s in slight disrepair: 

if you go back through the chapters and look at the setting at yuuei, it’s spic-n-span. just super clean and well-kept. it’s an entire world of difference… so already there is this huge disparity between the junior high school in izuku’s neighborhood, and yuuei, which is a 40 minute subway ride away (chapter 3).

makes sense that yuuei would be so nice and expensive if it’s the most prestigious hero academy in the country, right? but there’s more details too, like this brief exchange between bakugou & iida right at the very beginning: 

bakugou’s resentful comment about iida being an “elite” really only makes sense to me in the context of economic disparity. let’s infer that soumei junior high is better funded, better equipped, better everything in general. of course bakugou will resent iida for that, especially coming from the more ill-maintained orudera junior high. the difference in their economic status is already apparent. 

this isn’t even going into the difference between yaoyorozu’s incredibly rich status vs the rest of the class vs uraraka, who has decided to become a hero because she wants the financial security, and who also lives in an apartment by herself and skips meals to save on money. so even within the class itself there’s a huuuge difference in economic status. 

you could just think of it as the individual circumstances of the characters, but i think it’s more of a systematic problem – see, again, the difference in infrastructure quality between the different schools (the public school is not doing so great but yuuei is doing fantastic). maybe the city is poor, or maybe all of its funds go towards repairing the constant property damage from villain attacks, or maybe there’s just some areas they don’t care to maintain. either way: just by traversing different parts of the city you’ll probably see big differences in how well the neighborhoods are kept. 

and now, for a different question: if this is the golden age of peace, why are there still so many villain fights? 

looking at chapter one (the first villain we see is a guy who stole a purse and then tried to fight back when he was caught) and chapter 115 (villain activity increases sharply after all might’s retirement), i feel like… these attacks are driven by financial need. look at this: 

a group of adults gathered to commit crime… just to steal a register from a convenience store. that’s such a small sum of money! but they were so elated to get just that amount. it seems like the kind of thing that would happen if you were strapped for money, right? 

and then the villain from chapter 1: why would he fight so hard just because he got caught stealing a purse? he stopped the trains, for pete’s sake. all i can think is that a) he needed the money he’d be able to get by selling the purse, or b) he knew he wouldn’t be able to afford the fines, and that’s why he fought. 

maybe i’m reading too much into this, but based off these crimes, plus the other details provided above, i really feel like there’s a growing problem in boku no hero japan where there’s an increasing disparity in wealth. 

another thing to consider: in the golden age of peace, you’d have to be pretty stupid, pretty reckless, or pretty desperate to commit a crime where heroes frequent. (or you’re a black market dealer and/or evil.) if you’ve got an increasing number of people who are poor, who are dropping from the middle class to under the poverty line, or who have no upwards economic mobility, then you’ve got plenty of people desperate enough to try some petty crime for the sake of just a bit more cash for rent this month. that would be enough to explain the frequent villain fights that heroes get into – which are common enough that people will stop by and watch the show on their way to work. (chapter 1) 

this is really just a theory… but what could you use to explain why there’s a growing number of people struggling to make ends meet? 

here’s some factoids about japan (this article is from 2016): 

its real wages were falling, and as such, had weak domestic consumption; people buying less & saving more, or people just not having the money to spend in the first place, resulting in less money circulating in the economy and causing the economy to slow down. efforts to stimulate wage growth in 2015 did not make it down to the workers 

there was an increasing number of people with non-regular jobs, part time jobs, etc. as opposed to full time jobs, so they couldn’t get the financial security of a full time job (source)

one in six people in 2014 were living in relative poverty. this rate is higher among single mothers and among middle aged men without families, i believe. 

japan was like, 39th of 41 developed countries in terms of child poverty (the higher the number, the worse it is). something like that

this is despite japan having a high labor participation rate and a low unemployment rate, and also a low violent crime rate 

basing boku no hero japan off of actual real world japan’s current economic problems: we could surmise that, in boku no hero japan, although nominal wages are rising, real wages are falling; infrastructure spending is poor and disorganized, geared towards repairing villain-inflicted property damage and not enough towards everything else; and people are finding difficulty holding onto jobs (as seen with uraraka’s parents) and are forced into low-paying, part-time work, and may find themselves struggling with debt. 

oh, and here’s a quote from the guardian (jan 2017): “experts say programmes to help needy children are underfunded and held back by bureaucratic inefficiency and political apathy.” 

so it’d actually be quite viable for boku no hero japan to be doing quite badly, economically, and to be struggling with wealth inequality and other super fun things like that. 

boku no hero japan is also like centuries in the future, one where villainy is commonplace, so it’s not a surprise that people’s response to struggling to make ends meet would be “well, i have a pretty good quirk. if i’m lucky, i think i’ll be able to steal some cash, and i’m desperate enough to do it, too.” SO, my personal guess, is that this is a biiiig portion of the crimes that heroes fight. 

i mean, it doesn’t really make sense for villains to do so much… villain-ing… when there’s footage almost every single week of the heroes taking down yet ANOTHER criminal. why do they keep coming out of the woodwork? why’s there still enough criminals to keep all the heroes in business? ‘cause they’re desperate and need the money, probably. which is understandable. so even if you eliminate a villain, you haven’t addressed the economic problems that drove them to become a villain in the first place; hence, there’s always someone else rising up to take their place. 

on that note, let’s take a closer look at the hero industry! 

in chapter 1, horikoshi gives us a brief history of heroics. quirks emerged, the government wasn’t sure what to do to combat quirk-related crime, heroes emerged, and heroes eventually became sanctioned by the law. and when that happened: 

so that’s pretty cool! seems like heroes aren’t specifically a government institution, but they are affiliated with & rewarded by it. makes sense, since heroes have to work closely with law enforcement on some matters, anyways. heroes =/= police only because heroes are specifically there to combat quirk-related crime. 

but times have changed since then, as shown in the latest manga chapter: 

“it’s all about entertainment and approval ratings and whatnot.” 

we know from the stain arc that heroes are still paid by the government: 

‘given my status’ – in other words: his hero ranking? popularity? how respected he is as a hero? hmmm. 

uraraka’s mentor that arc explains that heroes are sort of “paid on commission” by the number of crimes they can resolve, but said commissions usually get sent their way by the police: 

but to get your name out there (both to the police and to the public), and to become higher ranking in the popularity polls, you need to cultivate a public image, too. get yourself some attention. 

so to cultivate a public image, one thing that heroes can do is to conduct a fight in a public, open space where anyone can see. apparently this happens often enough that izuku would actually regularly run into one of these fights on his way to/from school, and would stay to take notes and learn from them. villain attacks are ALSO frequent enough that apparently all might keeps arriving at yuuei late because he stops to help out: 

in other words, villain attacks and fights are a regular, almost quotidian experience. more on that in a sec. for now, just think about how the heroes benefit from public fights: they get to show off, and their fights are broadcasted, and they can get a boost in their rankings. fighting against a villain, they don’t just have a motive to do their job and save people; they have a motive to grab the spotlight and show off. popularity boost! we actually see this happen in chapter one, when mount lady leaps into kamui woods’ fight and defeats a villain in one kick. 

so, as a citizen, you may be grateful to the heroes for saving people – but you might resent them for turning these situations into a spectacle for showing off. incidents sometimes turn into competitions between heroes. if you take that a step further, you might think some of the heroes are only helping because they want to look good. and hey, that’s not the kind of person you’d want to entrust your life to, right? 

because heroics is now partially driven by entertainment and image, heroes are all forming their separate hero agencies to try and differentiate themselves. for example, this list: 

while they work together to fight crime, they have to battle for popularity and attention… they probably even have to vie for commissions/crime cases from the police. they all need to make themselves stronger, cooler, & a better choice than the other hero agencies. it’s something of a conflict of interest. you can imagine sometimes that gets in the way of cooperation (i.e. endeavor’s forever grudge against all might. y’all should read the illegals spin off.) 

and if you’re battling for popularity and attention… it would also make sense for you to center your hero office somewhere with lots of crime, and lots of people to see you fighting crime. right? urban centers would provide plenty of both. what about slums, and the underground, and the outskirts, then? these are places that news reporters and cameras can’t reach easily – and possibly might not want to travel to at all. these are also places where passersby and onlookers might run away instead of praising you. you won’t get a lot of return (in terms of publicity) by working here. so if you’re business-minded… you’re not going to conduct your hero investigations here. 

i mean, yuuei even has a business department. heroics is a business. you make money off of this, and you have to sell your image to the police and the public. if you focus more attention on places that are profitable to you, then the other areas lose. there’s no way around that. 

so poor neighborhoods, bad neighborhoods, camera- and television broadcasting-inaccessible places get the short end of the stick. the heroes don’t go here as often, because it’s not profitable. (well, the heroes probably come down here if they get a police commission. but where are they if a spontaneous crime happens, hm?) meanwhile you turn on the t.v. and you see like five heroes show up at one battle downtown, which is complete overkill. you’d feel pretty resentful, right? do the heroes think your area of residence isn’t worth protecting, just because it doesn’t get them as much attention? do the heroes think it’s okay to just ignore your area of residence? fuck that, right? heroes are supposed to serve the public, and you’re still part of the public too, right? 

that’s gonna build up more resentment between bad neighborhoods & areas v.s. the areas that heroes frequent (often urban, downtown, lots of people to witness their good deeds). and it definitely builds up resentment towards heroes who aren’t so discreet about the money-making aspects of their businesses. 

like: all might sells merchandise. okay, understandable. present mic has a radio show (which probably gets paid to run advertisements). okay, that’s pretty cool! but then you get things like this: 

a hero using their public service, publicly paid hours… to shoot a commercial and make themselves a little bit of cash on the side. if you’re in one of those areas that heroes don’t frequent so often – wouldn’t you be pretty furious to find out that the person who’s supposed to be fighting crime in your neighborhood just made $500,000 by filming a commercial instead? 

you’re going to turn on the television and see ads with pro heroes in them – pro heroes who used their public service hours to do something for their own profit. this isn’t to say that heroes can’t film commercials, or make money on the side. if they’re helping people, it’s great that they can make a living! but they’re making that living by pandering to the entertainment industry when they’re supposed to be… you know… helping people. even kendou (in the picture above) comments that it’s not very hero like. the next page, momo replies that this aspect of the hero business is ‘unavoidable.’ ads, entertainment – it’s all part of the hero industry now. 

and they don’t feel that good about it. 

if all this conjecture is true, then – as grateful as people are to the heroes – they might be quite critical of the hero industry itself, and the heroes that embody the worst parts of it. i’m not surprised that there are a whole bunch of people who feel “othered” by heroes, and by society as a whole. 

like… that’s no excuse to be a villain. stop that. but it would certainly be a reason for people to dislike the hero industry. AND it would explain why it is that stain’s ideology resonated so deeply with other people. 

AAAAND that’s basically the rundown of what i think the socioeconomic state of boku no hero japan is like. sorry this was horribly long