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thewales · 1 month

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Pendejos todos.

The disproportionate way in which everyone – fans, detractors, and the press – have handled the issue of the Princess of Wales and her children's photo, along with her announced withdrawal from public life, is a disturbing reflection of the current state of social media and the disconnect that exists between these platforms, common sense, reality, and respect for privacy.

Since that January 17th, when Kensington Palace announced that the princess had undergone surgery that would keep her away from the public eye for a considerable time, a kind of collective frenzy was unleashed. It was as if permission had been granted to unleash the contained stupidity that had somehow been latent in society. Detractors rejoiced as if they had won the lottery, while some fans suddenly felt insecure about the uncertainty of the future. Meanwhile, the press, which had been holding back its claws, now seemed like a rabid animal eager to break free from its chains.

As the days passed, the madness took over social media even more. The most absurd theories found an echo online, demands for proof of life became louder and more absurd, and empathy for the right to privacy seemed to fade in the face of media exposure's voracity. Many completely forgot that behind the tiara, there was a woman with rights.

It's ironic that in an era where the fight for justice and gender equality has become so vocal on social media, we forget that Catherine, before being a princess, is a woman who deserves respect and protection. She's criticized for her apparent perfection, as if being flawless were a reason for reproach rather than admiration. Contemporary feminists seem to have lost sight of women who choose to keep their private lives out of the media frenzy, preferring instead those who constantly present themselves as victims, repeating the same victimizing discourse over and over again. It seems that only those who fit into that mold are worthy of protection and solidarity.

But then, the palace published a photo. And the little restraint that the press had, broke. Not to mention the fans. What may have been an attempt to appease the masses and counteract the absurd game of the press and the public, ended up fuelling the flames of controversy. It's true that the palace and the princess herself made mistakes, but the disproportionate reaction of the press was equally regrettable.

We live in a world where 95% of people on the internet edit the photos they upload. In this context, it's difficult to discern what is real and what is not. In the realm of celebrities, this practice is even more common. The difference is that they not only edit minor details, but also alter their faces and bodies, and this seems to be accepted without question. However, the same press that feeds on these images and agencies like Getty, AP, REUTERS, etc., decided to remember their lost ethics and set an example with the mistakes in photo of the Princess of Wales and her children, which is absurd.

They are talking about not being able to trust the palace anymore, they have accused Catherine of thousands of stupid things and the saddest thing of all is that they are doing it at a time when Catherine is recovering from something that was clearly serious. Does her mental health not matter? Do Catherine and her family really not deserve privacy? Is society really that rotten?

It's easy to think that they don't pay attention to social media, but at the same time, it would be naive to believe that they have no idea what is being said. How could they not when it's everywhere?

The question I have been asking myself for a few days now is, was all the uproar made by the press, the agencies necessary? Will ALL celebrities be treated the same way? Will ALL publications uphold this ethics from now on? Or will this special treatment only be given to William and Catherine?

The answer for me is obvious. I don't know about you.

The palace was clear from the beginning about when the princess would return to public life, how long she would be in the hospital, and requested, from the beginning, respect for her privacy. However, no one seemed to care. Now everything is out of control. Fans look for scapegoats when they are also part of the problem. The press pretends to be judge, victim, perpetrator, and defense at the same time, and the haters... well, they continue to be the same miserable ones as always.

The fans, or those who claim to be, have also lost control. Instead of keeping calm and simply waiting, they have become increasingly insecure. They discuss diagnoses, talk about conspiracy theories, and, basically, have become what they claim to hate. And they do it all at the same time. Sad reality.

Although I am a fan of William and Catherine, I recognize that their mistake was foolish and amateurish but at the same time, as a person with more than one neuron functioning in their head, understands that the reaction all this has generated has been disproportionate, absurd, and stupid.

There are things happening in the world millions of times more important and serious to be wasting time on such insignificant things like this.

It saddens me that Catherine's name has been mentioned so many times on the internet for the wrong reasons. It's sad that she and her family are the favourite punching bag of many.

The press finally found something to criticize the Waleses about, after more than 20 years.

It would be interesting to see the actions that Kensington Palace takes regarding its relationship with the press, particularly when it comes to personal and private matters. It will be interesting to see if they will release photos for Prince Louis' birthday and if the agencies that are now hitting their chest with morals and ethics will be allowed to use them.

It will be interesting to see what happens when Catherine eventually returns to public life.

The only thing that became clear to me a few days ago, is that the society we live in today is hypocritical and annoying. The press, despite pretending otherwise, has lost all semblance of impartiality and objectivity. Although it's hard to believe they ever knew what that was. And the fans... often end up being the worst enemies of their favourites.

#i really dont care if you dont think like me #the prince of wales #the princess of wales #all this is ABSURD #this is not a crisis #ans if you think it is you need to touch some grass

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felassan · 1 year

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Some more possible scraps of interest from possible DA:D leaks on Reddit, from another Reddit user, under a cut due to DA:D spoilers:

first, the usual set of disclaimers that should be kept in mind with all leaks: might not be real, unable to verify at present, sometimes leakers think they’re right about things but are unintentionally incorrect or got some wires crossed, games change a fair bit between development phases and final release, the opinion-based stuff is completely subjective, take with grain of salt etc.

I tried to gather comments together in bundles where it would make sense (if on the same or related topics).

They commented on the timepoint of development that their information is from, saying "It's up to date." and that they played much more recently than last October. Someone asked "Alright so this is like alpha or pre-alpha video right? Which means what we see is subject to drastic change." (basically asking if they played the same build as the Reddit leaker who shared screenshots/gif) and they said "Ehh, that would be based on how soon it’s released. Because I’ve playtested it recently, and if that video is old, then they’ve changed essentially nothing about it and probably don’t intend to lol." "Between when your comment was first written and now, I’ve learned enough to be convinced that it was indeed from at least a year ago, so you were right. I’ve just played a much more recent version." "Nope, completely different. But I read through it thoroughly just now, and that person is right. Based on the write-up [Insider Gaming report], it is pretty old. They’re talking about missing textures and placeholders. In my playthrough, they could’ve told me the game was done and I would’ve believed them. Definitely wasn’t from the same test." So it sounds like folks leaking played different builts/different playtests at different times.

Someone asked a bit more detail about what playtesting involves and they replied "Certain part of the game. I played specific missions, story missions, so I wouldn't know anything about the sidequest fluff." "I played in the middle because that’s how most controlled tests for games work. You almost never just hit “new game” and start from the beginning."

Reddit user: "Rook is the name of the protagonist. Like “Inquisitor” was in DA:I." Someone speculated that Rook would be a fridged prologue companion like Jenkins Masseffect (F) and they replied "As someone who has played the game, don’t try your hand at the lottery for a while lol."

Reddit user: "Grey Warden isn't the class" [of the character seen in some of the screenshots] "I’m not confirming or denying the existence of different origins, but “Grey Warden” was not the class."

Reddit user: "I've played it. You can't directly control party members. A more apt comparison (and it's extremely weird that they didn't reference this [referring to the first Insider Gaming report] considering it's another bioware franchise) is Mass Effect. It's exactly like ME's wheel where you hold RB or whatever it was, and choose what ability they use." "They can always change it, but I've played it and unfortunately, I can confirm. I personally don't care as I never switch to companions in games where you can anyway, but it's exactly like ME in that aspect."

Reddit user: "Given the timing, I'm 99% sure his source is someone I played with." "Nothing in the leak that was stated definitively is incorrect." [referring to the first Insider Gaming report]

Reddit user [re: combat]: "I've played it, and tbf, it was closer to XV than to say, DA:I" "Combat felt like Andromeda with melee weapons. Take that for what you will lol." "XV was in reference t the combat wheel. It wasn't over the top at all though, it played like a typical action game (ie not teleporting everywhere)." "I've beaten all 3 [existing DA games] and have played Dreadwolf. It's nothing like the other games. It's action combat. Grounded though, not in a fantastical way like DMC." "I don't remember a wheel in XV, but then again I havent played it in a long time. What it is exactly like though (and them not using this descriptor makes me feel like they don't play bioware games) is Mass Effect. I've played it. The wheel is exactly like the ME games."

Reddit user [re: combat, when someone was asking about hack 'n' slash]: "It's more like Inquisition, although I wouldn't describe it as either. Plays like an action game." "What they meant [in the Insider Gaming article] is that it plays like an action game. So not like any of the DA games" "I described my playtime to friends as "Andromeda but melee"." "I thought it was fun. Funner than the DAs of the past. However I never really took advantage of all the tactical options in Bioware games, so if there's someone who is looing forward to that, they'll probably have significantly less fun than I did." They also confirmed the existence of skill trees, a map, choosing the PC's class, companions who used classes and jumping & a jump button. They said that there are 4 ability slots ("I was only ever able to use 4."). There's blocking but not parrying. Stats are levelled up automatically like they are in DA:I, so no skill points to allocate manually. "I’ve played it with 3 companions and 4 skills."

They confirm the following infos from the first Insider Gaming article:

- "The game still lacks features;" The game is missing voice lines and has a lot of placeholder text. - "Dreadwolf has a lot of similarities with previous games in the franchise;" AND "You can recruit members to your team"; The article basically just describes a Dragon Age game. ***POSSIBLE SPOILER*** "It’s understood that you’ll be able to move from your hub to missions by passing through a mirrored portal." - "You cannot control your team members, but you can issue commands to cast abilities;" Key word here is currently perhaps - "Combat will be hack n' slash-like and will be like Final Fantasy XV;" The article did not say it's hack n' slash like FF15, but the combat wheel itself is more like FF15 (I never played FF15 so I don't know if it's a time-slow type ability wheel or what).

and added on this topic, "I can confirm 75% of what that person has said, and the other 25% I just never experienced. Don't know why they would lie about it." "Unless they change it in the future, you can't directly control companions." "I've played it and can confirm everything in that article except for the release date and multiplayer stuff. You cannot directly control your companions, and its full hack and slash" "Other than what I didn't experience (multiplayer/hub) it's all true. Down to the part about a 1/10th of the lines not being recorded yet." "I can confirm almost everything in that leak." "Multiplayer I didn't experience, nor did I experience the hub world that was described, although the portal thing is true." "The hub thing he described, I never played, but I did use the portals he was talking about." They also commented on the missing voice lines, "It's implemented, they're just not all there yet. During my playthrough Id say maybe a 10th of the lines were missing, and a good amount of the monster sounds." "Oh for sure, it’s definitely not a mess at this stage. On the contrary, the environments are pretty beautiful. Only things that were missing were a few audio clips."

Reddit user [re: mirrored portrals and an open world]: "I can't confirm the existence of one, I could've just never experienced it from my time with the game, but I myself never played anything that could be considered open world. Funny enough, I never thought about that until your question just now. But it would make sense from what I played."

Reddit user: "Combat's are great, cutscenes' are decent. Best ever as far as Bioware is concerned (which should be a given). What's not great are the facial animations. Granted the game isn't done yet (and might be far from done, who knows), but as of rn, it's Andromeda 2.0"

Reddit user [re: not controlling party members]: "It's true." "Unless they change it sometime before release, which I doubt, I can confirm that you cannot." "I can confirm. You can't directly control them." They also commented that companion control felt like Mass Effect.

When someone said "i hope they don't mean a real "action" combat, and it would still have those Dragon Age" they replied "That's exactly what they mean." Someone mentioned no party member control and hack n slash, FF combat and they replied "Can confirm, both are true. I wouldn't say "will be like XV", and technically that's not what he said either. What he meant was that it's more of an action combat, not that you'll be teleporting around." Someone asked if it compares to Elder Scrolls and they said "Uhhh, yeah I guess. I usually play Elder Scrolls in first person, so that comparison would be kinda weird to me, but third person elder scrolls I guess would be more accurate than any of the past DA games. ES combat has no weight to it though, and this has weight. For real, it plays like Dark Souls games if you took out the invincibility frames and all the things that make them "hard"."

Someone asked about the party size, and they replied "Yeah, 2 party members and then a third based on what mission you're playing. Weapon wheel to control 3 abilities each for the two companion's you've brought and then 4 of your own abilities." "Now I will say, Idk how far I was into the game, so it's possible that it'll eventually open up to 3 of your choosing, but I played multiple missions and the third person was whoever you were helping at the time." "It’s still 4 [party members in total, so PC+3]."

Someone asked about what's happening to Solas and they replied "I have no idea lol. He was mentioned in passing seeing as he's the big bad now, but I never saw him or anything." "in Mass Effect for instance right? WHat Sovereign was up to wasn't described in every main mission. It wasn't even described in most of them."

Reddit user: "The look of the hair was pretty damn good I will say, the physics of it though, I didn't really pay attention to. Everything about the graphics looked sufficiently next gen, except for the facial animations. They're still Andromeda level, maybe a step up." "Everyone else's hair is great. Your character's hair is...decent." "Graphics are sufficiently next gen except for facial animations. They were the one stand out." "Movements are less stiff feeling, even when people are still. Animations and movement are better as well. They were satisfying to me, but of course, that’s subjective." "visuals and performance were pretty solid from my experience. That could obviously change though."

On facial animations someone asked them "You said that facial animations were only a bit better than those in Andromeda, but how do they compare to Inquisition? Because I think in Inquisition they were somehow better or at least didn't stand out that much like in Andromeda, despite the latter being newer game. I think I'll be okay with them being just a bit better than in Inquisition" and they replied "I’m looking at clips of Inquisition now and I think you hit the nail on the head when you said “at least didn’t stand out as much” because tbh, Inquisition and Andromeda weren’t that far apart in that aspect, they were definitely made using the same process, but Inquisitions somehow don’t stand out as much. Idk whether it’s because a lot of the people talking aren’t human or what. But it looks more like that than Andromeda. But because technology has gotten better, it looks better than both. I guess the conclusion is it still has that stiffness that both of them have, where it looks a couple steps removed from a robot that gets told to move pieces of their face X way at X time, but then at the end come back to Z position. So I guess I’d say the faces look and move like an HD Inquisition. I would’ve compared it to that instead of Andromeda, but I never realized they were so similar until you pointed it out lol."

Reddit user: "Yup, a KO for you is game over." [a KO for the PC]

Reddit user: "The maps feel like they could've came from DA:I design wise."

Reddit user: "It feels the same but different. I know that's an incredibly bs non-answer but it's true. It feels like a 2023 Bioware Dragon Age. For better or for worse. Anybody expecting DA:I 2 will be disappointed." "It'll probably be worth it [the wait] in the sense that DA fans will find it passable. But at this point (keep in mind the game still isn't done) it's not something that feels like it took 10 years to make or anything. Which is probably due to them reportedly restarting development multiple times." "I'd say most things about the game definitely feel more like Andromeda then DA:I" "If they keep it pretty much the same as my playtest, average players will be happy, but people who play Dragon Age games specifically for the Dragon Age gameplay probably won’t be. It’s completely different."

Someone asked about whether it answers DA lore questions, and what the storytelling/spread of storytelling is like and they said "I was dropped in and out of missions, so idk, but I will say it has A LOT of story elements from DA:O" and then "Same answer"

On characters they said "I didn't spend a significant enough amount of time to make that call [whether they're as interesting as the chars in DA:I. they're quirky though" "I think the character designs are sick, but that's completely subjective." "I wouldn't say I had enough time with the characters to get emotionally invested." Also someone asked if the characters are 3D, realistic and complex and they replied "Stereotypes unfortunately". Someone asked how the dialogue compares to ME:A, expressing the opinion that their "biggest issue with MEA was the MCU-esque style of writing that made the dialogue sound like it was ripped from bad tumblr fanfics. I couldn't take most of the cast seriously because they sounded more like caricatures than real characters." They replied "😬 bad news my man. What you just described is exactly how I would describe it.

Reddit user [re: armors]: "Im not sure how to answer that. Nothing really stood out, if that helps. But then again, idk what parts of the game I played. Could've been closer to the beginning where you just get the plain stuff."

Someone asked them "was the camera a tight over-the-shoulder cam like Andromeda, or was it more zoomed out / character centered like DAI / other 3rd person games?" and they replied "Zoomed out, but then tight when you use the weapon wheel (which youll be using a lot)" The other user asked if it was like Mad Max, and they said "Actually that's not a bad comparison. Picture the camera a bit further out though." On tac cam, they said "I was part of the leakers playtest. As of now, there is literally no tactical camera, but like you said, who knows if they’ll add it sometime before release. Just don’t get your hopes up."

Someone asked them "Does it feel like a medieval fantasy game still? It looks so sci fi to me, like the eluvians are shitty Rick and morty style portal guns all of the sudden. Does the neon purple take away from that feeling at all?" and they replied "It didn’t feel sci-fi to me but it sounds like you’re referring to a deeper level than just baseline aesthetics, and for that I think it’d be subjective. If you’re not though, no it still felt distinctly fantasy. Some parts more medieval than others." Someone also asked about warriors breaking stuff in the world, mages restoring terrain and rogues picking locks and they replied "Let’s just say…the game doesn’t play in a way that requires those anymore."

Reddit user: "Map design was one of the best parts, and boy were they gorgeous. The greenery specifically was the only thing in the game where I was like "This is exclusively next gen, like they couldn't have done this on last gen"."

Reddit user: "I thought it was fun, but I mean fun is subjective. Things were changed about the series that some long time fans will hate and some people who never liked Dragon Age will now love, such as the lack of tactical options." "I thought the combat was fun, but fun is subjective ya know? For instance, you guys already know that all the tactical stuff is gone, and for someone looking for that, they wouldn’t find it fun. I guess the takeaway could be that it’s by no means bad. Footage and screenshots are real. That’s 100% the game."

Reddit user: "I’ve played it. Recently. And all of the things people are giving the “year old” line in reference to are still the case. So the likelihood of them being changed are very slim."

Someone asked them "Hello! Could you share (or hint in some way) if some of the characters from previous games will make an appearance? (Beside Varric and Solas, obv). Some old leaks implied Bioware considered dual protagonist at some point, so I'm wondering if it turned into something. Or, at least, any mentions about Inquisition?" and they replied "[besides Varric and Solas] Literally the only people I saw/heard about lmao, sorry. I also never experienced anything regarding dual protagonists."

Someone asked them "Did it look to be anywhere near close to done??? I mean it's kinda a dumb question because on one hand I think you may have only played a certain area... On the other though I don't know anything about why you playtested, nor do I want to but, I am interested in knowing more about the overall size, comparison of detail to say like anything new gen, and whether or not they incorporated newer tech such as haptics, adaptive triggering, graphic upgrade and is the story intriguing or pushed... You know.". They replied:

"No no, that’s not a dumb question at all. Tbh, they could’ve said it was releasing at the end of the year and I’d believe them. The only thing I could see that wasn’t finished were the voice lines, and not even that many weren’t recorded. Maybe 1/10th. Graphics were superb except for the facial animations (and given Andromeda, that might just be how they’re going to stay). Controls were solid, enemies were solid, abilities were solid, UI and menu all looked unique and finished. General gameplay was in a finished state. Had a couple glitches here and there but nothing that couldn’t easily be ironed out.

[re: about the overall size, comparison of detail to say like anything new gen] From what I played, it seems more instanced than open world like DA:I, so I can’t really compare it in size, and obviously the previous 2 games have been outclassed in terms of technology.

[re: whether or not they incorporated newer tech such as haptics, adaptive triggering] Not that I saw, but idk if that’s the type of thing they’d incorporate anywhere before near the end of development. You sound like you’d have a better idea of that than I would though.

[re: graphcis upgrade] Graphics are for sure upgraded. The flora in particular I would say wouldn’t have been able to be created before the PS5 gen. It’s that good. Environments, clothing, faces were up there as well (clothing and faces could’ve been better with your character, but everyone else’s were next gen).

[re: is the story intriguing or pushed] The thing about judging a story is that even the most interesting ones fall flat if you experience it out of order (unless that’s the author’s intention), which I did. Even with putting bits and pieces together from what the characters were saying, I really felt nothing because I was coming in mid storyline."

[source] <- read the comments in context for them to make the most sense ofc :)

Edit - Update:

New comment of interest from the user (thanku @ladymacbethsimp for letting me know!). Someone asked them "can you attribute a single emoji to every companion you saw? like an out of context spoiler kind of thing". They replied "Hmmm I can try…" and posted these three emojis/series of emojis:

The screenshots I have included here are screenshots of the same comment from 2 different devices side by side, as emojis/emoji groupings can change appearance depending on OS etc.

so.. elf man of color, red hair woman and woman mage?

#dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age: dreadwolf spoilers #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #bioware #video games #long post #longpost #mass effect #mass effect: andromeda #solas #ladymacbethsimp

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fantasygerard2000 · 1 month

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Magnifico Almighty

There's this discourse in Wish that gets some viewers riled up, in which is that Magnifico has a point and that he's the real hero of the story. I am generally against this, largely because I'm just indifferent about the "villains doing bad thing for good reasons" shtick that has gotten old after overstaying its welcome since Thanos stank up the villain writing department, and in some cases some of the people who state that are totally not racially motivated.

With the case of Magnifico having a point that not all wishes should be granted, it would've prove he has a point, if the movie actually showed us an example.

That's the thing, the movie never presents an example of a bad wish and all people got is Magnifico's word for it.

In context, Magnifico doesn't want to grant Asha's grandfather's wish because and in his words "it's too vague". It's this vagueness that people run with and easily conclude with assumptions that he is correct in some way that generally doesn't prove he had a point. He sites that Sabino wants to inspire the next generation, which he concludes would lead to a rebellion that will destroy Rosas. However, with further context that Magnifico selfish tyrant, in his view, Sabino would inspire his own subjects to rebel against him, and therefore destroy not his kingdom, his rule as its king.

This discourse also ties in with how Asha is vilified and labeled selfish for wanting to grant all the wishes. The thing here is, she doesn't. She never said she wants all the wishes to be granted, she wants them returned. Asha was in agreement with Magnifico until he refuses to grant her grandfather's seemingly harmless wish on his 100th birthday, which she kindly asked him if he could consider and apologizes for. She is even in agreement with him that dangerous wishes can be stopped. Her point is that if Magnifico doesn't want to grant most if not all of the wishes, he could just return them and encourage the people to put in the effort to achieve their dreams themselves. If Magnifico was just as benevolent as people say he is, there wouldn't be a system of him hoarding there wishes in the first place.

Another contender is the comparison to the movie Bruce Almighty, to which is just a surface level comparison. In the film, Bruce is given God's powers but must also do God's job, which includes granting prayers. Taking the lazy route, Bruce nonchalantly says yes to the wishes which leads to the town going in chaos. However, this is the part where things get muddy. A lot of people use this moment in the film to compare Wish's nonexistent bad wish cautionary warning, but they either forget, missed or straight up omitting the other reasons why this happened. The town's biggest game winning which leads to fans rioting, everyone winning the lottery and because they all won, they have to split the money which gives them less than what they wanted, also causing a riot, and the asteroids Bruce recklessly cause causing people to believe the rapture is upon them.

In Wish, the wishes are returned to the people because they have the power to achieve them. The wishes are not just magical stuff that gives people wealth and power, they're goals and aspirations. With Magnifico taking away one's wish, including the memories of said wish, they're aimless and lose their ability to achieve a dream they cannot recall, and only need to rely on Magnifico to achieve said dream.

Comparing Bruce to Asha is just silly to me when Bruce is more comparable to Magnifico; both are given strong godlike powers with Magnifico wanting the masses to praised him as one; both are lazy and use said powers for their benefit. And the kicker is that Bruce learned to care for others and uses his powers to help them instead.

The consequences of the granted prayers is not on the citizens, it's Bruce's. And the consequences of Rosas not needing a system that selects few wishes to be granted is not Asha's, it's Magnifico's.

There's this line in Bruce Almighty said by God to Bruce which is perfectly applicable to Wish and how if you were to rewrite Wish that's not just yourself projecting into Asha to ship yourself with golden Jack Frost, make one about Magnifico becoming the benevolent king he wants to be.

"People want me to do everything for them, and what they don't realize is they have the power. You want to see a miracle, son? Be the miracle."

#disney wish #wish movie #wish 2023 #wish king magnifico #king magnifico #wish rewrite #magnifico #disney magnifico #bruce almighty

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let-me-call-myself-olga · 1 year

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Why I don't like the self-proclaimed-SHSL-Hope trope that Danganronpa has going on[SPOILERS]:

Something that Danganronpa does and that genuinely annoys me is the trope where someone from the killing game takes the role of SHSL Hope as a way of self-love[Naegi Makoto for THH, Komaeda Nagito for GD and K1-B0 for KH], so I decided to make a commentary on my dislike of it.

The main reason why I generally don't like it is because of the route it takes when it comes to the motive behind:

The problem that these characters have in common is their lack of self-worth that ultimately leads them into taking leadership as a form of giving themselves any kind of value.

It all started with Makoto that, unlike his counterparts, is given the suggestion of becoming SHSL Hope by Kirigiri Kyoko as she believes the reason why he came to Hope's Peak is to put an end to the SHSL Despair. The decision of taking on the title has it's roots from his first title of SHSL Luck which he was given after winning the lottery. His negative view of himself further develops as he finds himself 'surpassed' by his classmates as well as 'guilty of their deaths' [the Danganronpa 3 anime verifies this statement in the despair arc]. The true reason why he takes the title of SHSL Hope is to prove to himself that he is able to 'make up' for his classmates deaths[by taking full responsability of his class and all that happened during the killing game], rather then to bring everyone hope(which is still a motive of his, but in this case he is FORCED to show everyone hope).

In Nagito's case, the motives behind his actions are easy to point out. His self-hatred first occurs with the title of SHSL Luck[as both he and Naegi question the logic behind it, making both feel like frauds] as well as when we are presented with the fact that his life is expected to end in less than a year[stated in his FTE's]. This makes Nagito think that he is worthless and that he should be used by the others as a stepping stool, making him 'take the title' of SHSL Hope as a way of giving himself a reason to believe he is worthy of something.

With K1-B0 the lack of self-worth comes from his title of SHSL Robot, as he feels dehumanized, feeling which, unlike his counterparts[which would supress/agree with it], he tries to adress by helping the masses learn about 'robophobia'. In chapter 6 K1-B0 is willing to take on the burdens of SHSL Hope and destroy himself and the academy just so that he can feel as if he did something of worth, unlike the other chapters.

It is heart-breaking to see these characters in such a light, but I shall move forward and tell you who I think embodies the title of SHSL Hope best out of the three protagonists left: Hinata Hajime, Akamatsu Kaede, Saihara Shuichi.

In my opinion, Saihara Shuichi is the one that is able to seize the title, for I find him and Kamukura Izuru closest to a Yin-Yang relationship, their opposing tropes being united by their complementary personality types.

The reason why I think that the other two aren't able to reach the title is because of Kaede's selfish reasoning[forcing Shuichi into a promise he can't keep in a attempt to free everyone] and Hajime's intent of becoming SHSL Hope as a coping mechanism against self-hatred[same case as Makoto, Nagito and K1-B0].

After Kaede's death, Saihara takes on the role of a bledding heart hero, opposing to Kamukura's emotionless anti-hero status, in order to help everyone get out of the killing game. As Saihara tries to create the perfect path, Kamukura destroys in order to find it, Saihara's seemingly selfish act proving itself as selfless and Kamukura's seemingly selfless act proving itself as selfish. It is all a battle of Hope and Despair, a battle between a man from which everything was taken and a man to which everything was give, the one thing that Saihara is able to achieve and that Kamukura isn't being happiness.

Despite the differences, the two of them find common grounds, both being introverted men whose lives are purely controlled by the wishes of certain people close to them[Kaede and Junko]. Both are expected to take burdens too hard to carry and lead everyone to a brighter future, point from which their paths part, trying to reach for opposite ends of the spectrum untill they converge at the middle into the final answer: hope and despair have to coexist in equal amounts so that humanity can truly thrive.

In conclusion, I dislike this trope because of the fact that it doesn't evolve the characters in any way, only leaving them in a miserable light even if that isn't needed, which is proven by the(possible, but sadly not cannon) dynamic between Shuichi and Izuru.

#danganronpa #makoto naegi #naegi makoto #nagito komaeda #komaeda nagito #k1 b0 #kiibo #keebo #And at the end #shuichi saihara #saihara shuichi #izuru kamukura #kamukura izuru #Not tagging Kaede and Hajime cause their sequence is really brief #hope yall like this #New tags #Destiny sure likes to spit in Saihara's face #and I hope that this version is accurate enough #thank you to everyone that pointed out my innacuracies

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collapsedsquid · 2 years

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The United States has institutionalized the mass shooting in a way that Durkheim would immediately recognize. As I discovered to my shock when my own children started school in North Carolina some years ago, preparation for a shooting is a part of our children’s lives as soon as they enter kindergarten. The ritual of a Killing Day is known to all adults. It is taught to children first in outline only, and then gradually in more detail as they get older. The lockdown drill is its Mass. The language of “Active shooters”, “Safe corners”, and “Shelter in place” is its liturgy. “Run, Hide, Fight” is its creed. Security consultants and credential-dispensing experts are its clergy. My son and daughter have been institutionally readied to be shot dead as surely as I, at their age, was readied by my school to receive my first communion. They practice their movements. They are taught how to hold themselves; who to defer to; what to say to their parents; how to hold their hands. The only real difference is that there is a lottery for participation. Most will only prepare. But each week, a chosen few will fully consummate the process, and be killed.

#tries to make it catholic rituals but mind leaps to YA fiction

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seasurfacefullofclouds1 · 1 year

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this mv reminded me of walls videos!! i love bigger than me (pretty landscapes iceland is so beautiful) and out of my system's vid is like everything it should be can't imagine a better one but i loved that this one was story driven like the others. what is your favorite music video so far sea?

The narrative video is Louis’ specialty, always beautifully thought out and cinematically gorgeous.

The Silver Tongues music video especially gives dignity and humanity to a difficult subject. Remember this tweet?

The video definitely gives pause to lyrics that fans might interpret simply as about Louis’ childhood, hanging out with his friends, making amateur music / bad jokes / working class social philosophy, drinking and racing in the streets.

The music video’s themes of darkness, isolation, loneliness, and being trapped in a class system where the poor are homogenized— living not only in similar house but identical rooms, where people’s individuality and feelings are unnoticed behind identical curtains and mass-produced gewgaws and collectibles— gives meaning to weight to the need to “get high on the amber waves” (drink alcohol), “going deep for the ones who do the same… settle in for another heavy one.”

Louis’ song is a form of solidarity. Louis and the people in the video are saying to each other, “I know nobody understands/ me like you do.” Not that no one understands the situation, but no one understands the inner turmoil— the private feelings.

The working class youth can sometimes break out of the system, but only through extraordinary luck— Louis by entering a singing contest, his friends through world-class talents in sports like boxing (David Allen) or football. They must win a lottery against terrible odds, and even then, they are judged more harshly for not being the “right sort of person”: they smoke, they drink, they dress a certain way, they hang out in pubs, they drive certain cars. And their accents immediately give them away as not posh, from the wrong part of the country.

Even now, the UK media still treats some celebrities from the working class (like Louis) with a classist condescension. Louis is often assumed not to be capable of writing his own songs, not intelligent enough to have led One Direction, not knowledgeable enough to be aware of pop music history or to choose his inspirations. The biases are never stated outright, but often implied. It makes me laugh that Louis says he doesn’t include Easter eggs in his lyrics, because there are plenty of statements in his narrative music videos.

In the FitF era, I’ve loved every single music video. The unifying factor for me is how utterly beautiful, elegant, intelligent the videos are. Not a shot is wasted. The filmmakers take advantage to edit every second of the videos precisely and beautifully; the lighting and colors are exquisite. They are a revelation to watch.

#silver tongues mv #louis tomlinson

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servin-up-surveys · 1 month

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survey #203

Who has made the biggest sacrifice for you? My mom, for sure.

Who is the most overbearing person you know? Our landlord/family "friend." It's hard to call her that by now.

Do you still remember your first kiss? I do.

Are you happy with where you are relationship-wise now? In general yes, but I do wish Girt and I had more time with just each other, not sharing houses with parents. I do sometimes wish we had our own place already, but I'm also very understanding of why we don't, both from my side and his. Sometimes I just get impatient and feel like I don't get to be a real adult.

How many kids do you want to have? Realistically none, there is a thick-ass book of reasons why I should not have a child.

Have you ever purposely given someone the wrong number? No.

Who’s the last person you smoked weed with? I've never smoked anything.

Are you currently wanting any piercings or tattoos? Permanently.

Who is the person you have hurt the most? I'm going to assume Sara, but I have no way of knowing that for sure.

Who is the person that has hurt you the most? Jason. Sara's right behind him, though. She's SAID more hurtful things.

Who’s the last guy to give you roses? Girt.

Did your parents do drugs when they were younger? I'm aware that Dad did while he was with Mom but before us kids were born.

The first thing I’d do after winning the lottery is… Buy Mom a house that's perfect for her.

The videos that always make me laugh are… Game Grumps ones.

One of my favorite writers is… Margaret Atwood. I'd like to read more of her stuff.

One of my favorite singers is… Freddie Mercury, RIP king.

What’s a favorite hobby of yours? RP. I want to branch off to more animal RPs, I've just had trouble finding places that aren't overly complicated or are my style.

I think a good source of therapy is… Journaling.

A friend who I can always be myself around is… I feel zero shame being fully myself around Tez and Mazzy. I think it's important to mention here that I KNOW I can be 100% myself around Girt, I'm just so wildly afraid of rejection/judgment/being seen as "weird" that I'm still sometimes needlessly hesitant. I've gotten better about it, though.

Something helpful to lose weight is… Not a very helpful response, but real talk, the most reliable "how to" I've found is to be in a good mental health state. My heaviest era took place during my saddest, and my healthiest weights post-initial mass weight gain came from periods where I was mentally well. NO, you do NOT need to be "okay" to lose weight, I'm just saying historically, that stood out for me.

A fear of mine is… Aside from the answers I normally give, for some variety, slugs. I'm very afraid of them just because of their sliminess and general texture. I will scream if I see one, and will NOT touch something one is on, even though I know how stupid that is, it's like I expect them to bolt up my arm when they're fuckin slugs, bro lmao. I want to overcome this fear, I actually think visually slugs are quite cute, and they're also helpful organisms that are just so harmless, but I'm so freaked out by them. It's funny, I'm not scared of snails at all; it's like put a shell on their back and suddenly the cuteness overrides the "ew slimy" reaction.

If you knew me well, you’d gift me… Anything meerkat-related, for sure. You could literally gift me a single Mountain Dew Voltage and I'll deem you a saint, haha.

Who is someone you’ve been enjoying watching on YouTube recently? I've actually been watching some Good Mythical Morning again! I'm wondering if perhaps my hyperfixation is cycling back around, haha. Maybe I just have three of them that rotate in my head like a rotisserie chicken.

Who was the last of your friends to have a baby? I think Bethany?

Which family member did you get your height from? My mom.

Which TV channel did you watch the most as a kid? Animal Planet.

Who is your favorite cousin? I don't have a favorite cousin.

If you had to choose a country to live in besides your own, which country would you choose? Probably Canada. Sucks major ass that you can't have hognose snakes as pets there, but.

Do you think you look better with long hair or short hair? Short.

What did the last mask you wore look like? It was an oxygen mask lmao

Have you ever ridden in an ambulance? I officially have now as of the second asthma attack.

What color was your nursery when you were a baby? I didn't have my own nursery that I remember. I had a crib in my parents' room, at least in the house we moved into when I was like, two. I don't remember the house I was actually born into whatsoever.

When is the next time you will attend a family reunion? Where will it be? We don't have these.

Do you like cereal? What would you consider your favorite kind of cereal? I do. I think the chocolate Krave is my favorite.

What’s your favorite lollipop flavor? Strawberry or watermelon.

Who did you last hold hands with? My boyfriend.

What sounds help you sleep? Rain on the window. A fan.

Do you have a loud or more soft laugh? LOUD bitch I am a hyena

Do you like to dip your fries in a frosty or ice cream? No, I don't get the appeal of this.

Cookies or brownies? Brownies.

Are you a fan of musicals? I'm really not.

Have you ever stargazed with someone? Yes.

What color is the vehicle you ride in most often? White.

What’s your favorite kind of pasta? Just ordinary spaghetti with meatballs.

Would you say you’re a condescending person? Not at all.

Have you ever mowed a lawn? No, that is not a chore I ever want to have.

What’s the last song you listened to? Pretty sure it was "Back In School" by Mother Mother.

Are you content with your social life? No. I wish I had a few more friends and did more things with these people.

Have you ever had edible flowers? I've had honey from honeysuckles.

Do you read other people’s survey answers? I read my friends' answers. And of course sometimes when copying surveys from randoms, I can't help but read some of their answers just because my eyes naturally graze over the words, but I don't pay real attention.

Do you work better alone or in a group? ALONE. I was one of those students in school that was often allowed to work alone when things were meant to be group projects; my teachers liked me and also had faith in my ability to deliver, so they respected how I was comfortable working.

What are 3 essential items you won’t leave the house without? My phone and inhaler are the only real musts. I carry my wallet in my purse too (where my phone and inhaler are too), and it has important cards in there, such as my blood type in case of some wild emergency where I need a blood transfusion and I'm nonresponsive.

Do you enjoy spicy foods? I do.

What is something you want to be remembered for? I advocated for love and peace and kindness towards our planet and all that live in it.

Do you like pickles? I love dill pickles.

What is something you take a lot of pictures of? MY CAT lmfao deadass

What is your favorite thing about the beach? Being in the water. I'm one of those people that love being smacked (but not totally abused lol) by the waves, being tossled a bit and stuff. If reminds me how small I am, how inconsequential my ass is in the giant scope of the universe and even just this single planet. It's VERY freeing from anxiety, I just feel very peaceful when I'm in the ocean. I hate the salty wind, I hate the yucky sand and walking through it and having it stick to your wet body, but being in the ocean is an S-tier experience for me.

Are you afraid of snakes? Not at all, snakes are some of my favorite animals on the planet. Like sure, I'm going to be respectful to venomous species and give them space, but even those I'm not properly "afraid" of.

Do you think frogs are ugly? No, they're cuties!

Name three things that you find refreshing. A nice cold drink, a cool breeze, and the taste of mint.

What is your favorite vegetable? Broccoli or well-prepared green beans.

Do you own any succulents? No, just fake decorative ones. I'd kinda like to try taking care of a real succulent, so long as it was hardy. I don't have full faith in myself with taking care of plants.

What is your least favorite shade of green? That like, puke green color. bleh

Do you like olives? No.

What are three of your favorite insects (or insects that you think look cool)? Butterflies, moths, mantises. I wanna mention ladybugs too, they're so cute, but I think they've gotta come in 4th place.

Would you ever dye your hair green? I have done this before, like a mossy green color and I loved it.

Are you a tea drinker? I hate tea. Any kind I've ever tried.

Do you like mangoes? So I'm funny with mangoes. Mango flavor? It's one of my favorites! But the texture of real mangoes is so fucking repulsive to me, I can't eat them. I was SO disappointed when I tried one the first time.

What’s your hair texture? It's VERY thick. Smooth, I guess. Mostly straight, mild waviness.

Do you play games on your phone? Yeah, I enjoy PokemonGO, DragonVale, Dragons of Atlantis, and Amaru (it's a self-care pet but has "game" traits to it).

Is acting something you’d enjoy? Are you convincing? No, I would feel VERY uncomfortable.

In what ways are you immature? I am very attached to/reliant on my mother.

Are the Olympics something you get into? Not at all.

Chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla milkshake? Chocolate or vanilla, depending on my mood.

What’s something or someone you’ll always defend? Gay rights. Access to safe abortion. Equality of all sorts. Lots of stuff.

#survey #surveys #personal questions #personal surveys #random questions #random surveys #questionnaire

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dollops-of-delusion · 1 year

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okay, so let me see if i got this right (very long synopsis of everyone's current state in jjk in no chronological order, MAD SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY):

-> initial rules the gang is trying to make happen in the culling game, for reference. 2 has already been completed. 3 is now able to be done w/out the rule (not implement by maki zenin), find out more about that later. 4 still imperatively needs to happen

megumi, itadori, and co have found the angel who can remove cursed techniques. she's the same deal as sukuna where there's thing thing residing in her (a species called "God".) the angel agrees to unseal gojo in exchange for the gang helping her destroy the cursed spirit known as "the fallen." the fallen is sukuna, aka itadori. kill itadori and sukuna = free gojo

itadori is totally chill with this plan and as soon as all the rules they are trying to implement in the culling game (to save megumi's sister and other citizens) have been passed is totally willing to kill himself to unseal gojo bc he's self-sacrificing like that. the angel DOES NOT know he is sukuna yet. itadori is keeping that a secret for now

megumi is NOT chill with this plan bc he explicitly does not want itadori to die and that has been established as a primary motive for him for the past oh, i don't know, 209 chapters.

the gang (not just itadori megumi and co, the gang scattered all across the centers collectively) has enough points (400+) to implement all their rules

megumi knows itadori will absolutely take the big sleep if given the opportunity, it is assumed he's going to try and prevent that

tengen IS EVOLVING. kenjaku did his whole crazy fight thing with choso and tsukumo and came out on top, just barely. mofo managed to escape a black hole. kenjaku managed to get into the star mergy chamber thing where real tengen resides to force tengen to evolve into something less sorcerer and more cursed spirit. he did this to aid his plan to make a lot of non-sorcerers cursed spirits instead so he can create some machiavellian cthulu like terror shit by merging tengen w all these cursed spirits

tsukumo's cursed technique, mass, is revealed. she dies trying to defeat kenjaku (also becomes black hole temporarily)

kenjaku confirms itadori's mother was a sorcerer with an anti-gravity jujutsu technique.

choso is dead (????)

kenjaku geto itadori's mom og kamo noritoshi weirdo thing has involved the united states military in this whole ordeal by revealing the world of cursed spirits to the president. the us military take this as tengen doing them and the world a favor by presenting them a clean, renewable energy source through jujutsu sorcerers, who are by majaority japanese. the us is racist and corrupt and decides to kidnap japanese people who have cursed energy to expirement on. they willingly enter the culling game centers to do so.

the latest chapter (i can find at least), 209, ends with megumi itadori and co running into the us military and megumi realizing they are NOT here to save citizens. megumi wants to know wtf is up

relating back to the last point, tengen is actually using the culling game and exploiting these us military people to speed up the culling game's progress, creating a manifest of cursed energy powerful enough to create machiavellian tengen cthulu like thing as previously mentioned. not clear on how the military is doing that or helping tengen's plan at all but tengen used that same logic of concentrated cursed energy to incentivize them to start kidnapping sorcerers.

hakari and panda team up with lighting boy (hajime koshimo, a reincarnation) and manga boy (charles bernard) after hakari manages to absolutely decimate them both in fights using his weird manga lottery technique (don't even ask.) HAJIME KOSHIMO ALSO WANTS TO KILL SUKUNA. this group of individuals is off to do that, ig??? panda and hakari still have allegiance to the itadori megumi and co tho

note that both the angel and hajime koshimo want sukuna dead.

maki embraces her new toji lifestyle, her and noritoshi (present day, cool noritoshi yk the one that wants to be the kamo head whatever with the blood technique, NOT kenjaku) team up. they fight the cursed spirit version of naoya zenin bc maki's mom killed him without using cursed energy. APPARENTLY the rules in jjk is that you should always kill a jujutso sorcerer w cursed energy otherwise they will def come back as a disgusting looking cursed sprit

maki and noritoshi (who got a hairstle upgrade btw) run into sword guy and sumo guy who help them defeat naoya. their names are atsuya kusakabe and rokujushi miyo, respectively.

maki, now with a physicality equivalent to that of toji fushiguro, can enter and exit culling game borders willingly, removing the need for that rule to happen before the gang can rescue megumi's sis and save the world and stuff. witch girl from tokyo school knows that, somehow? her names momo nishimiya. she tells hakari this information, but megumi itadori and co does not know yet as of chapter 209

this group of cavaliers is off to regroup w the rest of the bros, i'm pretty sure

yuuta went off and proved his mettle in sendai city against the 4 pillars (reincarnated cursed spirits and sorcerers) that had the most points in the culling center. he gained 200 points with that whole ordeal, and is now off to regroup with the others i think. he left 2 pillars alive, sky girl and cannon dude.

yuuta's in it to kill kenjaku b4 gojo gets unsealed so he doesn't have to put his teacher through the pain of killing his best friend again

#jjk spoilers #jjk manga spoilers #jjk manga #jujutsu kaisen #deluge: jjk #this took #way #too long #to write #jjk recap #tw caps #tw swearing #tw bold #tw italics

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criterionfilms · 1 year

Video

youtube

Buddy Duress is Back

Good Time’s Buddy Duress is back in Mass State Lottery (2023)

#mass state lottery #buddy duress #good time #criterion

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ausetkmt · 11 months

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MarketWatch: Would reparations cause unwise spending? Studies on cash windfalls suggest not.

The perception that people often succumb to misfortune and bad decision-making after suddenly receiving large amounts of cash isn’t based in fact, researchers said in a report published Thursday by the Roosevelt Institute, a progressive think tank.

That means potential reparations payouts to Black Americans are unlikely to result in reckless spending, financial ruin and reduced labor productivity, the report’s authors wrote after undertaking a review of prior research concerning consumer behavior after lottery windfalls and inheritances, as well as more minor cash transfers through tax refunds and guaranteed-income programs.

“There’s what we really describe as kind of an urban myth … that people who receive lottery winnings squander the money very quickly,” reparations scholar William “Sandy” Darity, a Duke University professor of public policy and economist who co-authored the report, said in an interview. “The best available evidence indicates that that’s not the case.”

Whether Black residents and descendants of enslaved people in the U.S. are owed reparative payments has been debated for centuries. But as the country has grown more economically unequal while a stubborn racial wealth gap persists, the reparations movement has picked up traction.

In California, a first-of-its-kind state task force on reparations approved a slate of recommendations for lawmakers this month that, if implemented through legislation, would potentially provide hundreds of billions of dollars in reparative monetary payments to Black Californians to address harms caused by factors including racial health disparities, housing discrimination and mass incarceration. San Francisco, which has its own reparations task force, is also considering one-time reparative payments of $5 million for eligible people.

Read more: California task force approves sweeping reparations potentially worth billions of dollars

Still, detractors say that granting reparations to Black Americans — as was done for Japanese Americans incarcerated in internment camps during World War II and, on a state level, for survivors who owned property in the town of Rosewood, Fla., before a race massacre destroyed it — is unwise.

Some argue that giving people reparative payments without requiring certain parameters or personal-finance courses could result in irresponsible spending behavior, or that reparations proposals are themselves racist in suggesting that Black people need “handouts.”

“‘One of the important things that lottery winners do with the money is that they frequently set up trust accounts or the equivalent for their children or their grandchildren.’”

— William ‘Sandy’ Darity, a leading reparations scholar

The authors of the Roosevelt Institute report, for their part, said the assumption that Black Americans would be unable to handle sudden windfalls is rooted in racism — noting the racial wealth gap wasn’t created through “defective” spending habits but through policies that pumped money into white households, including unequal land distribution and subsidies for homebuyers.

“Widely held, inaccurate, and racist beliefs about dysfunctional financial behavior of Black Americans as the foundation for racial economic inequality leads to a conclusion that monetary reparations will be ineffective in eliminating the gap,” they wrote. “According to this perspective, if eligible Black Americans do not change their financial mindset and behavior after receiving financial reparations, the act of restitution will be empty.”

How people spend lottery winnings and inheritances

Even so, there’s not really “any carefully drawn-out study of what has happened to folks who have received reparations payments,” Darity said. It’s “impossible to understand” the impacts of such programs, because there haven’t historically been “systems in place that give money directly to individuals” — allowing “anecdotal cynicism and urban mythology” to drive the narrative, the report’s authors wrote.

“The best that we could do is try to think about other types of instances in which people have received windfalls where there has been some follow-up on what the consequences have been,” Darity said.

To see how people really react when they’re granted new amounts of money, the authors examined outcomes both from people who had received “major” windfalls — ones that immediately and majorly change a person’s wealth status, like winning the lottery — and “minor” windfalls, or those that affect a person’s income but don’t meaningfully shift their wealth status, like the stimulus checks doled out earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Darity, who directs Duke University’s Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity, worked alongside the report’s lead author, Katherine Rodgers, a former research assistant at the Cook Center who currently works as a senior associate at the consulting firm Kroll, as well as Sydney A. Grissom, an analyst for BlackRock. Lucas Hubbard, an associate in research at the Cook Center, was also an author of the report.

They found that while a person’s behavior can vary based on the windfall amount and how it’s framed to the recipient, as well as their previous economic status, their reactions tend to buck stereotypes.

For example, only 11% of lottery winners quit their job in the findings of one 1987 study that examined 576 lottery winners across 12 states — and none of the people who got less than $50,000 left work, according to the Roosevelt Institute report. However, people were more likely to quit their jobs if they won a sum worth $1 million, had less education, were making under $100,000 a year, and hadn’t been in their job for more than four years.

Studies of lottery winners in other countries have found similarly muted labor responses, the report said. A separate U.S. study from 1993 of the labor effects on people who had received inheritances ranging from $25,000 to $150,000 or more also found that only a “small but statistically significant percentage of heirs left their jobs after receiving their inheritance,” with workers most likely to leave their jobs if they got a big payout.

But it’s still “less than what the stereotype would say,” Hubbard said in an interview: 4.6% of individuals quit their jobs after receiving a small inheritance of less than $25,000, compared to 18.2% of workers who got an inheritance of more than $150,000, he noted.

Instead, studies have shown that people who get windfalls may be more likely to become self-employed, participate in financial markets, save, and spend money on necessary goods like housing and transportation, the report’s authors wrote.

“One of the important things that lottery winners do with the money,” Darity said, “is that they frequently set up trust accounts or the equivalent for their children or their grandchildren.”

Small windfalls, including those offered through monthly checks from guaranteed-income pilot programs, have also been shown to be used for essentials like food and utilities without negative effects on employment. The framing of the money received can also have an effect on how it’s spent, the authors said: People who get a payout from bequests or life insurance tend to have more negative emotions about the money and will use it for more “utilitarian” purposes, according to one 2009 study.

From the archives (March 2021): Employment rose among those in California universal-income experiment, study finds

Reparations wouldn’t unleash ‘flagrant spending,’ researchers say

Despite their findings, “windfalls are not magical panaceas for all financial woes,” the authors emphasized.

For example, a 2011 study cited in the report found that among people who were already in precarious financial positions, lottery winnings delayed, rather than prevented, an eventual bankruptcy filing. Another report from 2006 found that “large inheritances led to disproportionately less saving,” the researchers noted in the Roosevelt Institute report.

“Research over the past two decades has demonstrated that their bounties are not limitless, and, crucially, that informed stewardship of received assets is still necessary (albeit, not always sufficient) to achieve and maximize long-term financial success,” the authors wrote.

But they added that reparations, particularly if “framed not as handouts but rather as reparative payments” to Black Americans, would not unleash “flagrant spending on nonessential goods” based on studies on windfalls, and could instead improve recipients’ emotional well-being and financial stability.

“Of course, the merits of making such payments should not be assessed solely on the basis of the anticipated economic effects,” the authors said. “Moreover, using the absence of evidence of this type as a justification for delaying reparative payments, such as those to Black descendants of American slavery, is inconsistent with the fact that other groups previously have received similar payments in the wake of atrocities and tragedies.”

From the archives (January 2023): How to pay for reparations in California? ‘Swollen’ wealth could replace ‘stolen’ wealth through taxes.

#Would reparations lead to irresponsible spending? Studies on other cash windfalls suggest not #new report says #reparations #Black Economic Disinfranchisement #wealth gap #american wealth gap #Black Wealth Gap

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