u/WorldIsYoursMuhfucka

Give me all your thoughts, y'all. I don't have much time to write these days because of the job but I always absolutely adored critical theory in my university days, and it would be nuts if I eventually wrote a book about it. Below is just a preface, but I will do more spare time research as time obliges. This would mostly be a philosophical memoir to my mom, a person I loved very much. I think I could focus on the poverty affecting single mothers, which, ya know, is all of us these days.

Good preface for a draft?

Title: "Dialectics of Waitress Bitches with Razors under their Tongues who Raise Gay Sons"

>On day one, I was born to a waitress without knowing there was a countdown to life. I was not yet aware of poverty, murder, corruption, or the constant demon in the back of your head. The one that whispers relentlessly into your inner ear: you will die if you don’t do something right now.

At birth, I couldn't speak English or any other language. I was infinitely human, and in no way human at the same time. Yet, there I went, breathing the oxygen we all share regardless.
Then, I was raised by a mother who killed her body in labor just to feed me. Through her, I became aware of critical theory as a permanent, if part-time facet of my innermost psychology.

The poor die young, ugly, and without care. This is the greatest crime we are capable of. The true depth of this disgust lies somewhere on a mountain, undiscovered just yet. Our entire society has committed this crime. It will always haunt a conscious mind.

My preface exists on these pages solely to convince you that you are worthwhile, and that you deserve the greatest of care. I offer this apology to your situation as a human being, despite having no involvement with you. My wish is for you to know the love that all human beings deserve.

And, bam—let’s get to the hardcore Marxism.

They've made some of the best video games of all time and really do tend to put a lot of effort into their games. Todd Howard and the core staff get so much flack and it's like damn they're trying lol.

76 did piss me off when it came out, but the rest of their main games draw in millions of players every year. Most game studios are terrible, like, there are many thousands of video games out there and they're mostly dogshit.

TES? Original to them, they've been innovating in games for decades now. In the 90s they had a procedurally generated game that spanned continents, it boggled peoples' minds back then.

Fallout? They did it a lot better than the original developers, I'm glad they bought the franchise and turned it into something millions of people enjoy.

Starfield? Badass game with some flaws, one of or perhaps my favorite game of all time. I would have preferred a darker tone but like, it's fine for a game to not always be super dark?

Even 76 isn't bad for what it is. Plenty of people enjoy multiplayer games -- I do not personally -- but they kept putting in the work and it's legitimately one of the better multiplayer games out there now, with a super kind community. Cash grabby game sure but that's always your choice to make. Also there aren't many games based in the South and they seem to have tried to respect West Virginia culture as best a video game can, it's an interesting setting.

Even them supporting paid mods isn't that bad to me. They need money to pay their employees and contractors. It's a business, imagine going to work for them and they said well have no money because our games are free. Not how it works at all. Most paid mods are like... $3. Who really has the time to complain about something that costs $3?

Similar idea with Ubisoft, they're not run as well operationally as Bethesda I don't think but Assassin's Creed has been going for a long time now and those games are some of the best games I've ever played. I get so stoked when a new Assassin's Creed game comes out. You can slowly climb a pyramid in Origins and Bayek is one of the most well respected characters in gaming for how much empathy he was treated with. Odyssey was an absolute romp and was made with love. Even Valhalla is better than like 99% of games, and that was kind of a slog but I thought they treated the middle ages with respect. I've played all the older games too, they were pretty good for what they were trying to be.

These games are meant to be a hobby, they aren't trying to solve cancer. When I see people just totally shit on this hobby company I'm like... why? Most companies just try to fuck people over, at least they give you something fun to do, and people in the past would have been in awe of these kinds of games. People used to spin wooden wheels for fun a hundred years ago, now we can travel to ancient Egypt or Japan for next to nothing or travel to 1000 planets in space. Gamers should be a bit more grateful while allowing for criticism.

I always thought Dialectic of Enlightenment, Racecraft, and Willing Slaves of Capital were super impressive. I don't read much anymore but used to devour Verso books.

I really like Jack Luna, he seems like a great genuine guy lol.

He just said "if you know anything about me you know I've also taken 200 hits of acid and I'm fine." I was like get 'em Jack.

The episode about Dean Corll was actually enraging...

Entirely agree with a lot of the criticisms of this game, but since 2023, I don't think I've played any other video game more often. So incredibly much work was put into it and sometimes when I'm feeling down or just have free time I go to Titan and just kind of ponder the dust. That feeling of loneliness is something they captured really well (I do wish they had a radio station, not having that is something I won't forgive them for lol).

Starfield has some of the best visuals I've seen in gaming. Not all the time, for sure there is some Bethesda jank, but when they get it right they get it right. Just walking through a massive spaceship I put time and effort into building, looking at all the textures and features, feeling like I'm in space... like come on lol. Then traveling to a distant moon and seeing an eclipse fall across your eyes in real time over a mountain while solar radiation burns over you... the first time I saw that I was like oh.

The tech behind Starfield is really cool too, they did not mess around with the math governing the universe. Highly impressive, it's just something most players don't notice.

High hopes for a long future for Starfield, it is so unfairly maligned as a bad game when it's just misunderstood.

Will preface this by saying I'm not super judgmental about people just living their lives, maybe the bathroom is a bit dirty, whatever, I don't care about that stuff that much. Not a clean freak, not super dirty, kind of in the middle myself, it's fine. But oh hell let me tell you about my old roommate.

This man shit up the toilet in a straight line like he was shitting out of a hand-held super-soaker. HIV-positive too, which I generally try to be understanding about, but not when he SHIT fluids in a goddamn vertical line straight up that toilet. Not in the bowl, I mean, on the outer parts and left it there. And oh fuck he loved roaches being in the apartment, I imagine they were his friends at this point, because he never did anything to get rid of them. Did he talk to them at night? Who knows!

Dildo attached to the shower wall I'd have to dodge. We were both gay dudes so like whatever but why you got a dildo on the wall I can't walk past man? Who keeps a dildo on their shower wall, whether man or woman? Just attached? That's your private thing, take the motherfucker down and clean it. Man.

His bed was black. Turn that motherfucking cover over, and the bed fabric was black. Just dark as fucking filthy night y'all. I said oh.

He'd told me he'd sucked hundreds of dicks. Now, I am sex positive, I certainly enjoy it myself and don't think there's anything wrong with sex whether gay or straight, but maybe he shouldn't be sucking hundreds of dicks if most of his roommates are actual roaches crawling all over his walls? Don't you have priorities man? Can't you fix this horrible shit first before engaging in military operations? I love the gay community because we're awesome but goddamn?

I was shocked. I was so shocked. I hope he's doing okay now because when I fled that apartment, I was not.

Happy Friday!

I will preface this by saying I am not a scientist and am just happy with an everyday living wage. Very much pro-science and secular, but what I studied in school may not be what you folks studied. I was writing poetry while you folks were probably writing biological studies.

Is genomic testing exploding right now? I've worked in admin roles for pharma/insurance and healthcare for a while, and just joined a genomic testing company that seems to be on fire right now. The stock is going crazy, with numbers to back it up.

Super impressed with them so far. What they do matters, unlike most companies in the US. It's life-saving shit.

What do y'all think about the future of genomic testing? I know the human genome was only mapped in 2003 and we seem to have come so far since then, with a great deal ahead of us as a species.

It's exciting.

2026 is a hell of a year. Earlier this year I was unexpectedly laid off, which sent me absolutely spiraling, and I just started a great new job this week exactly when I needed it. But damn that was rough and I'm aware the job market is thoroughly tough right now.

Yesterday my 63 former coworker and close friend got fired. She'd worked at that company for like a decade. The job was honestly extremely stressful, I know because I used to do it too before I rage-quit years ago, but at her age she was hoping to work there until she could qualify at 65 for social security to at least give her some buffer.

How can I help her? It is really hard to find a job at that age, and I don't want her losing her house or having to move in with her adult kids because I get the sense they'd resent her. She's a smart lady but probably isn't going to be great at navigating the current job market, which I know is pretty much universally hell right now. I don't think she really has anything saved for retirement, unfortunately. Maybe some savings but not really enough to sustain her for long without working.

She is older but is pretty young at heart -- I'm 34 and we talk as if we're both my age, so she doesn't come across as elderly or anything, she's just older, has basic computer skills, is in good health overall.

Her experience is in healthcare / insurance which luckily is pretty good about not being ageist.

Should I just scan job boards and send her links to help her out?

So I started work this week. Going great. Company is legit as fuck and does amazing, cutting edge, life saving testing in biotech. Already passed the background check after some confusion about my old paystubs, fine, I worked with them.

Background check company sends me an email just now saying they're reporting an adverse "criminal or public records event" to my employer. Instant heart attack.

I floated to the fucking ceiling and just talked to myself saying what, what? Yesterday they asked for an image of my master's diploma despite them already verifying it through a clearinghouse. I'd pulled the report, they already had it cleared, but whatever, fine, I keep it behind me and this morning they said OK the picture worked.

I checked the new report they sent me. Literally no changes from the last one. No criminal events whatsoever. Nothing changed.

I chatted them up. The agent said "the issue is we couldn't find your middle name on public records, don't worry this is very common, it gives a lot of people heart attacks." Omg, dafuq?

I am so done with them lol.

My go-to meal from Aldi besides their steak packs is their ciabatta, which I toast with mayo, swiss, turkey, spinach, and black olives using an air fryer. It is so good and costs next to nothing per sandwich. I asked AI out of curiosity and it said it comes out to about $1.85 per sandwich and it's better than most fast food you could get to me.

It's nice despite being a heavily discounted grocer they still offer people good food instead of universally concentrating on over-processed crap. I'm glad they're growing across the country. Their food has gotten a lot better over the years, too, I remember them around 2008 and their offerings weren't the best.

Now it feels like a mini-Italian grocer. Produce isn't the best I know but it's serviceable and they aren't price-gouging the shit out of everyone.

I just got the email with the tracking number for my work equipment.

I cried so hard and just screamed. Ah, man. Two months ago I was in the hospital thinking I was going to be homeless and now I'm going to be making good money helping out cancer patients fight against insurance, fully remote. This solves literally everything in my life.

I wiped the tears from my face and told all my friends.

Oh God, man. Do not let life get you down. You all deserve jobs.

Y'all, let me tell you about my landlord. Now, I always pay my bills on time, I mean I try my best. Recently I lost my job and was in the hospital. It was all kinds of fucked up. Really bad situation but I start a new job soon that will cover all my bills.

My landlords literally drove out and got my dog out of the pound and delivered him to me as soon as I got out. They brought me a gourd from their garden. Asked me if I was going to Pride this year.

Today I told them my work start date was delayed by a week (my background check was delayed but that finally cleared). That lady literally said "I know you will pay your rent. Don't worry. Just keep us up to date on things." I absolutely broke down crying, just slick tears all over my face.

People can be good, y'all.

Ramen is seriously my favorite invention ever. My friend sent me some money to get my grass cut and to buy some food until I start my job (love her, she also said a vape is necessary, and I will pay her back manifold) so I decided to buy a ton of ramen from Dollar General. For reference, last year I sent her a thousand bucks when I was doing better free of charge because she needed it, so this is just how we are.

Ramen is so good. I grew up on it and always loved it, but seriously, you can get so many meals out of ramen. You can doctor it up any way you wish but just pouring a noodle cup into a bowl and slurping it brought me so much joy. Hot damn, I love ramen and bet y'all do too. It is my favorite poverty food.

Mmmmmm.

Need I say more?

This is one of the best hip hop albums out there.

Do people still listen to this? It's a shame Ras Kass could never really get his career together after this, but this shit right here is legendary. So many good songs that sound amazing like thirty years later.

Ordo ab chao. The Evil That Men Do (one of my favorite songs ever). His legendary diatribe against white people.... and I'm white.

Imagine how stellar Ras would have been if his albums continued to hit like this? Crazy good stuff.

"I mastered the art of hatred... none of these cults want us to be up."

"Alone, no role models..."

I felt those lyrics in my soul, y'all.

This morning I about had a heart attack after the background check company sent me an email and said they're sending an adverse remark to my new employer. Now, this is a job I desperately need, and it's a good company that is nationally remote, so I contacted them immediately. Essentially they said the paystubs I sent them from my last two employers didn't cover enough time... I had even sent them a copy of my The Work Number report because I wanted to make sure they knew everything on my resume was accurate. They said no, they've already sent it to the employer, so I'll just have to contact them.

I was like WTF? You're going to make me homeless (been unemployed for a couple months and I am surviving on unemployment, which is almost nothing in my state). I don't drive due to autism so I couldn't even do gig work in the meantime or I would have. I was honestly outraged and scared. They said the employer doesn't use The Work Number.

Luckily I did contact the employer and they sent in a ticket to their HR and said they actually do use The Work Number. Literally a few minutes later I got an activation email from them and called them back. They said now that I'm activated we're all good and we're now past the background check stage. I should be able to start work next week, thank God.

But how important is this to HR people in general? Like, how hard are you on background check discrepancies? Do you trust background check companies? Based on what this place told my new employer it looked like I only worked for a few months at these places despite working at them for years. Everything else came back clean, no crime or anything, but it made me furious that they wouldn't allow me to send them anything else. Don't they have to give you a chance to send in information?

Hi folks, I'd like to ask you for opinions on what might happen for being late on my Five Lakes settlement agreement. I had 4 accounts with them, paid two of them off, and was making pretty solid progress on the other two which are for higher amounts. The creditor is Capital One and I've heard they can be pretty aggressive, and I don't want to be sued or garnished because I just can't deal with all of that. I've read that garnishment is like 25% of your income which would jeopardize my ability to pay my other bills like rent. My credit went from poor to fair recently, I think my score is 625 right now so I have seen improvement over time and would like to keep it that way.

The amounts are for $4750.28, settled for $2517.65, and the higher amount is for $11940.37, settled for $8394.08. So far I've paid $1748.75 and $650 on the lower amount.

I was let go from my job a few months ago and just recently am starting new work next week, so I can resume trying to make my payments. My question is if I'm late does it break the whole agreement and does Capital One just say F this and sue me?

Also for the higher amount, Five Lakes let me know they had demanded I pay $4000 all at once, which I had planned to but life got in the way and I had to move which wound up being so expensive so I couldn't pay that deposit. I could only pay the previously agreed amounts.

These aren't life changing amounts necessarily, I'll be making about 52k a year with my new job so I can pay a reasonable amount if I'm frugal. Just curious what to expect. This is the only debt I carry besides student loans which I'm current on and I've had them deferred during my period of unemployment, and a few small payday loan apps that are only a few hundred dollars which I'm not super worried about. I have a two year lease on the house I'm renting so my priority is rent, but I shouldn't need my credit to go be good for anything for a while and will probably renew living here anyway so if my credit score does tank I guess it's okay, but I'm really worried about one missed payment breaking the agreement and them suing me.

I was recently hospitalized and the psychiatrist told me you most definitely are on the autistic disorder spectrum. This really helped me because I thought I was just weird, and in constantly not melding well with people over my life I just developed a "don't give an F" attitude that got me through some things but also held me back in some ways.

I don't drive and apparently not driving is really common in autistic people. I've lived in different cities independently, so it's not like it's profound, but I feel way less weird about not driving now that I know it's common. Apparently like half of us never even get a license. Cool, you don't need one nowadays so I was born at the right time. I don't process sensory information that well, even when I worked in a drive-through restaurant it was so overloading I couldn't think, but I found remote work eventually and consistently was a top performer there. The idea of driving a car seems like a death sentence to me because I I know I would crash out because I'm not good at spatial coordination, like at all. I'm just not.

Apparently autistic people do better working over the phones or over text based communication, but don't tend to do so well working in person. Voila, that's me. When I hang out with friends in person, I mean people I truly trust, I talk to them like we've known each other forever and have no issues, but with people I don't know that well already it's really hard for me to gauge them. Work is stressful by nature so the idea of being stressed out around strangers has always made me so tense.

It makes sense for my degrees, too, which are in literature. That's naturally a more isolating thing to study and is literally text-based. The school I got my master's at is jokingly very autistic too, the things they study are pretty out there but intensely fascinating. Rather than rely on everyday religion like most people I got a chance to study things like humanism and trace how how it developed from earlier religion, but is not as binding or limiting to what defines a "good" person. Not being political with this observation.

I'm also gay so not fitting in socially already really helped me get used to that aspect of myself. People are going to think I'm weird anyway because I'm autistic, might as well add that bit of spice too without being ashamed about it my whole life.

So, cool. Glad I actually have a diagnosis now. It's not something to hold me back and frankly I'm *usually* doing better than a lot of people I've known, it really does something to build resilience in you provided you keep going.

So my start date was just moved back a week. Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful to even have a job coming up because otherwise I would have been toast and on the streets. It will be enough to pay all of my bills which is all I need.

Bills pile up, Unemployment Insurance does not cover enough to live, you can't afford to do anything. It's rough. Now I get to sit here another week with nothing to do except be on Reddit since it's free.

Nabokov Dies Again

"I petted his dick all morning listening to essays about Assata Shakur and Plato, ate breakfast, listened to some 90s hip hop and proceeded to shoot myself in the face with an old .38 special I inherited from family after he went off to work. I did not die because I was not able to, nor was it my time. When he found me, he did not know what to say, but he had always been short on the lip and lovelier to hold than to speak to."

Folks, I genuinely love this game so don't take it as an attack, but obviously The Great Serpent is just a metaphor for the Unity.

Even in our own real history Serpent folklore references the Oroboros, which is a snake eating its own tail. It is a metaphor for time repeating itself for forever. Similar to Nietzche's yarn about what would you do with your life if you had to live it over and over again. Love of fate, ie, you will live your exact same life over and over again so you'd better love it. Amor fati. Choose well.

Starfield has some philosophy behind it. It is not particularly well done, but I kind like that it said humanity will prevail in this context.