#you don't want someone upset and doing tasks/interacting with customers and also

[wizardnuke]

as someone who trains new hires at my place of work. that's not how u train or treat new people. god bless.

thrilling update to the quitting walmart/getting a new food service job. i had a four hour panic attack at the fucking sandwich assembly station, clocked out for my lunch, called my walmart manager, asked if i can cancel that whole two weeks/quitting thing, she said yes, and i am now overdue for going back to this other place and im simply not going in god bless.

[snapscube]

In Dawntrail did you enjoy a different character playing the main role, or do you prefer when the player character is leading the narrative?

this is definitely a major point of contention in the fanbase rn and i can generally see valid feelings/criticism on both ends of the spectrum. i myself do fall somewhere in between the most extreme takes on this. i won't go into too much detail about actual events but ill tag this as spoilers anyway just in case. ok so my thoughts are:

firstly, i like Wuk Lamat a lot. i don't think she deserves even half of the pure unfiltered ire that she is receiving from a large subset of the community rn. the amount of people who have already turned being a wuk lamat hater into an advertised personality trait really frustrates me. i really enjoyed seeing her personal journey through the story and i was overall very satisfied by her inclusion. however, i do not think the story was perfectly paced or balanced, and i definitely do understand where people are coming from when they say that they could have used a little less of her in the forefront. honestly it did kind of ultimately disappoint me that we missed out on a lot of potential interaction/development with someone like Krile, who in spite of being promised a big breakout role in this expansion still somewhat felt like a SLIGHT (i have to stress slight) afterthought. she did get some notable moments of development and emotion, but i feel like there could have been more.

okay but, your question is about our role as a player in the narrative. i hold the opinion that for THIS EXPANSION SPECIFICALLY, the warrior of light taking somewhat of a narrative backseat actually made a ton of sense and fit the themes of the narrative as well as the promise of a somewhat breezy summer vacation for our heroes. now, i will say this: i really do not agree with the idea that the WoL should be in a mentor role indefinitely because our story is done developing and we need to give the spotlight to "the next generation" of heroes in the world. i appreciate the SENTIMENT of this, but like for me personally.... i don't want Pella's story to be done, yknow? i definitely would be disappointed if this was the DE FACTO role she played in every expansion past this. but i don't even think that is factually what's going to happen. we're currently in a setup phase! and, again, bringing it back to this narrative and the themes within, a lot of Dawntrail about the experience of entering unfamiliar places and learning about the customs and the traditions of people already within it to best help them without unwelcomely trampling on their culture in the process. i think a story like that is the PERFECT time for the WoL to take a bit of a backseat. wuk lamat is also somewhat unfamilar like us yes, but Tural is still her home and she is about to be tasked with leading it. i feel like centering our character in that equation would feel.... really disingenuous? it was kinda frustrating sometimes when it felt like hey.... there's a situation happening right now that can be solved by skilled combat and you have a literally god killer standing right here doing a frown emote, but at a certain point i could chalk it up to growing pains or necessary suspension of disbelief in the interest of the overall emotional hook of the narrative. a lot of those moments could be explained away with enough thought about the character motivations and culture at play, though sometimes it does feel like a stretch. again, far from a perfectly written MSQ. it starts slow and it's messy and it throws a LOT of stuff at you that doesn't always pay off like you expect or want. but i dunno! i think we're gonna see some really interesting stuff come to the forefront in the future, and i think especially now knowing that much of the playerbase thought we took TOO much of a backseat here CS3 will probably adjust their focus accordingly next time. so i can't be too upset really about the stuff i wasn't into. the rest of it was great imo!

[madamepestilence]

I live in TN, which is an almost guaranteed Red State. Is there anything I can do in the leadup to the election?

At the moment, Dr. Jill Stein is still working on gaining ballot access in Tennessee, but she is rather close, with 150/275 ballot petition signatures, meaning you can help get into contact with more people in Tennessee to sign ballot petitions

As the state of Tennessee doesn't allow photocopies, the Green Party recommends you contact Beth Dachowski directly at edachowski@bellsouth.net or (615) 500-8026

She has a Tennessee ballot access website here

You can find Tennessee volunteer information and donation information here

She also provides a website detailing how to register to vote in Tennessee

There is also an official Green Party of Tennessee website

Given that your state is a Republican state, people in Tennessee fighting for a free Palestine and a better US have multiple tasks:

Convert existing Democrats to vote for Dr. Stein instead. In the event that she doesn't gain direct ballot access, use mail-in written votes to bypass polling centre restrictions, which are generally exclusively Republican and Democrat

Your single most important task is the spread of information to and spurring to action of people who normally don't vote. Convince non-voters to actually vote in this election, teach them that their votes are not useless (worst case scenario, these votes will show up in the popular vote, voicing that there is in fact demand for someone other than current dominant parties), and directly assist them in voting

If you have the capability, especially given the SCOTUS just ruled that arresting homeless people isn't cruel or unusual punishment somehow, do your best to grant homeless people housing (while 70% of homeless people are employed, you need an address to get a job, a bank account, voting access, etc.) and help them vote for Stein. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES USE HOUSING AS LEVERAGE AND THREATEN TO REMOVE IT. ENCOURAGE AND TEACH BUT DO NOT THREATEN. WE DO NOT NEED AND WILL NOT USE THE WEAPONS OF FASCISTS.

Additionally, if you work in a public space where you frequently interact with customers, you can leverage your position as a point of rapid spread of information. Customers will generally be upset about something - how little they make, how expensive things are now, car-dependent infrastructure, pollution, climate change, etc.

Republicans are also not unconvertable. I personally come from a place where I've seen multiple people with alt-right tattoos (remember y'all, they use more than just swastikas), but that's certainly not all of them.

Bigots are the base of both major parties now, but many are just moderate white people that don't want to come to terms with internalized racism.

Use politically charged language that appeals to them, like discussing how Biden and Trump's policies are an attack on traditional values or damaging the economy.

They suffer under capitalism just like the rest of us, and ironically I've seen a lot of Republicans that actually just want socialism, they just don't have the education (and that's not an insult, I just mean they've been misled and are missing crucial context) or experience to understand the root of the problem is the socioeconomic system, not minorities.

Most importantly, after this election, do not give up here. Keep fighting. If protests suit you, then protest. Make sure to participate in gubernatorial (state governor) and local elections and convince others to do the same.

Spur socialists to run for gubernatorial and local positions (many of them literally just have an age restriction and I've seen multiple states with no gubernatorial term limits).

Read the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and help learn what class consciousness is. I personally recommend the all-time classic The Communist Manifesto. Das Kapital is a bit obtuse to understand and is broken into multiple parts so I would recommend a clif's notes of it.

I also recommend studying the later actions of Martin Luther King, Jr. (he may have been homophobic but his contributions to black rights are undeniable, and he was assassinated because his later contributions were literally advocating for socialism) and Malcolm X.

If you're looking for some socialist YouTubers, I recommend Balkan Odyssey (a Balkan Communist),

Hakim (an Iraqi socialist),

NonCompete (an American(?) anti-fascist),

and Yugopnik (a Slavic socialist).

If you'd like more general BreadTube (leftist YouTube) that isn't entirely focused on socialism, I recommend Any Austin (doesn't explicitly mention socialism, but his choice of words and analysis of video games shows a strong leftist influence),

Folding Ideas (an Albertan documentarian who appears to have taken an interest in internet activities recently)

hbomberguy (a self-described gaming YouTuber who may be the only man on the planet eligible for the title of world-famous detective),

Innuendo Studios (responsible for the series teaching how the alt-right works and recruits people, The Alt-Right Playbook),

Jacob Geller (a Jewish video essayist often covering existential topics with socioeconomic context),

Philosophy Tube (a transfem professional political philosopher),

Shanspeare (a video essayist who breaks down the spread of fascist ideologies, especially in internet spheres),

and Tom Nicholas (a British political, historical, and cultural video essayist)

Education of class consciousness, the spread of information, and working class solidarity and organization are the key pillars to improving ourselves

We can do this

[tittyinfinity]

Ok this is kind of a personal post but I'm putting it here in case anyone else relates

ADHD/autism related

Kinda long

Things that should have pushed me to get autism & adhd diagnoses a lot sooner:

Multiple stims throughout my whole life, but I've held onto one specific stim since childhood which is tapping things in a very specific pattern

Every social interaction is like a test that I have to "study" for – practicing every interaction in my head, thinking of all the possible things they could say and how I should respond without looking weird; closely paying attention to a person's each movement and tone of voice change in order to figure out which script to switch to; mirroring people because I don't know which social cues are acceptable to which people

Weird kid of every friend group that people only pretended to like because sometimes I was funny – always hearing that people are talking behind my back, boys making fun of me to my face while admitting to having a crush on me but not pursuing it because their friends would make fun of them

Embracing being ~*rAnDoM!!*~ as a preteen and doing things like yelling nonsense in the hallways with my other (now also diagnosed autistic) friend and wearing things that specifically pissed the other kids off

Oh so everyone else doesn't feel existential dread whenever they have to do one task? You're telling me people can have the motivation to complete a task before the very last minute when it's an immediate threat??

I'm really good at paying attention in class! All I need are my color coded pens of different thicknesses and my multiple colors of highlighters so that I can picture it in my mind (holy SHIT I had like 10-15 writing utensils on me at all times)

Wow I'm so so smart and at the top of my class!! ......oh I was just really good at standardized testing. Oh. Wow. I'm not smart outside of school. Shit.

HOW do people not feel emotion SO INTENSELY I just don't understand how people can just be OKAY WITH THINGS

"They overreact every time they get upset" "they're a crybaby" "it's not that big of a deal" yeah those were actually full on meltdowns! Yeah maybe it wasn't normal for me to be screaming and groveling over "minor" things!

I am walking out of this job right now because all of the noises and sounds are Too Much and I am having a panic attack at my desk. This must be because of the panic attack disorder I was diagnosed with

I can FEEL noises. Why can I feel them. Especially mouth noises. I grew up I a family with vocal/tongue/throat stims and I've had to wear headphones or put my head under a pillow bc while they can't help it, I also can't help that I have a physical response to it and it makes me want to explode. Repetitive noises and certain tones also drive me INSANE

No matter what you are not going to make me eat certain textures

Can't wear a bra or normal underwear without being aware of it all day bc it's all I can feel

Okay I'm going to start this task now. I mean now. Okay now. How about at 3. Oh it's 3:02, how about 3:30. Okay 4.

I am SO OBSESSED with this one thing that my entire life is going to revolve around it until it wears off for the next thing

Why do I feel like I'm so much further behind all the other adults at my age??? How have I not figured it out yet???

"The kid who asks too many questions" (especially at church)

I'm not going to follow this rule if it's not logical to do so

Having to fake a smile and engage in small talk with someone I don't know well makes me physically angry. Like not just annoyed. I want to explode and I want everything to explode with me

On that note: customer service jobs are worse than hell

I got so distracted with what I was doing that I've been doing the wrong thing this whole time

How many times can a person walk into one of their old classrooms and sit there before realizing they're not in that grade anymore

I've been talking to this person for an hour and just realized that I know them

I introduced myself to this person and they said we have met many times before

I can vividly remember every time I've missed a social cue and keep it stored in my brain so I can reference it for future situations. Also thinking about it makes me want to die

The same song/phrase has been on a loop in my head for a week straight now

Not everyone thinks in patterns and numbers specifically??

Nobody Fucking Tell Me What To Do

I very much also need people to tell me what to do because I fucking forget

(This stresses me out very much)

Idk if this has anything to do with it, but drugs affect me differently than others. My pain medication makes me energized and focused while making others drowsy. I can function and focus better after smoking weed. The only thing that fucks me up is alcohol, but anything else I've ever tried has made me feel more "normal" while everyone else around me is having a great time (I won't touch hard drugs because of this – I'd get addicted to meth or heroin extremely easily)

Apparently hypermobility can be an adhd thing? I got the record for the sit-and-reach test at all my schools and have always been able to touch the ground flat handed without bending my legs or stretching. I can also put my legs behind my head.

If I go through a major life or routine change I am fucking useless and mentally strained until I adapt to it

Me and my cats are Same

Half of my day is spent looking for objects I've misplaced

Well I'm on this website and that's a symptom too

[purplestarlight9847-blog]

The Hidden Demands of Retail Work: What Customers Don't See

We've all been there—standing in line at a store, impatiently waiting for service, wondering why everything seems to be taking so long. But behind that counter is a retail worker juggling far more than meets the eye. Having spent years in retail myself, I've experienced firsthand the complex and often overlooked demands that make up a typical shift. This post pulls back the curtain on what retail work really entails.

The Emotional Labor Tax

Perhaps the most exhausting aspect of retail work isn't physical—it's emotional. Retail workers operate under an unspoken mandate: leave your personal problems at the door and smile, no matter what.

When a customer snaps at you over something entirely beyond your control, you swallow your natural reaction and respond with practiced courtesy. When someone insists store policy doesn't apply to them, you navigate that confrontation while maintaining professionalism. This constant emotional regulation is draining in ways that those who haven't worked retail can barely comprehend.

The emotional demands intensify during the holidays when tensions run high and patience runs thin. A retail worker might console an elderly shopper struggling to find the perfect gift for a grandchild, then immediately pivot to defusing an angry customer upset about a sold-out item—all while maintaining the same pleasant demeanor.

The Physicality Nobody Talks About

Retail work is surprisingly physical. Many shifts involve 8+ hours of standing on hard floors with minimal breaks. Workers routinely lift heavy inventory, climb ladders, crouch in awkward positions to stock lower shelves, and walk several miles per shift across sales floors.

During busy seasons, a retail worker might unpack and shelve hundreds of items, rearrange entire sections of the store, and still be expected to look presentable for customer interactions. The physical toll compounds over time, leading to chronic foot, back, and joint pain that many workers simply accept as part of the job.

The Cognitive Juggling Act

Behind that seemingly simple transaction is a worker simultaneously:

- Memorizing constantly changing promotions and policies

- Troubleshooting technical issues with registers or scanners

- Mentally tracking inventory locations across the store

- Processing returns according to specific procedures

- Watching for potential security concerns

- Remembering which customers need follow-up assistance

All while being interrupted every few minutes by new customer requests. This mental multitasking requires significant cognitive bandwidth that rarely gets acknowledged.

The Impossible Time Management Challenge

Retail workers often receive contradictory directives: provide attentive customer service while also completing task lists designed to fill an entire shift. Managers understandably want both done well, but the reality is that busy customer periods make completing assigned tasks nearly impossible.

Many retail workers end up feeling perpetually behind, trying to catch up on inventory management or display setups during brief lulls in customer traffic. This creates a constant low-grade stress of knowing there's always more to do than time allows.

The Skill Set That Goes Unrecognized

Despite perceptions that retail is "unskilled" work, successful retail employees develop impressive abilities:

- De-escalation techniques that would impress hostage negotiators

- Memory systems for tracking complex inventory arrangements

- Psychology insights from thousands of human interactions

- Problem-solving abilities honed through daily troubleshooting

- Communication skills that bridge diverse personalities and needs

These sophisticated interpersonal and organizational abilities rarely appear in job descriptions but make the difference between functional and dysfunctional retail environments.

The Schedule Instability

Retail schedules often change weekly, making it challenging to plan personal lives. Many workers don't know if they'll work mornings, evenings, or weekends until schedules post, sometimes just days in advance. This unpredictability affects everything from childcare arrangements to education pursuits.

During holiday seasons, extended hours might be mandatory rather than optional, requiring workers to adjust family traditions and personal plans around store needs.

When Everything Goes Wrong At Once

The true test comes when multiple demands collide—when a register malfunctions during a rush while a new employee needs guidance, a customer has a complex return, and the delivery truck arrives early. In these moments, retail workers perform a kind of workplace triage, prioritizing urgent needs while trying to keep everything else from falling apart.

These high-pressure situations require quick thinking and calm decision-making that would be impressive in any professional context.

Moving Forward with Empathy

The next time you shop, consider the complex ecosystem operating behind that simple transaction. The person helping you isn't just ringing up items—they're balancing competing demands while trying to provide good service.

A little patience and understanding goes remarkably far. Retail workers aren't asking for special treatment—just the basic respect their challenging work deserves. And for those making employment policies and management decisions, recognizing these hidden demands could lead to more sustainable working conditions and ultimately, better customer experiences.

Retail work shapes those who do it, often developing resilience and people skills that serve them throughout their careers. It's demanding work that deserves to be seen for what it truly is: a complex dance of physical, emotional, and cognitive challenges performed daily by millions of workers worldwide.

[blacktobackmesa]

Why SpeedrunStreamer!Bubby?

So, if you’ve read the Streamman series or seen my posts, you’ll know that I decided that after being extracted from the game and starting a new life in a custom program, Bubby starts doing speedrun streams on Twitch. This may seem like a strange character choice, especially when Bubby’s not exactly the character most closely tied to video games. As such, I thought I’d share some details about where this concept came from and how this goes down.

Canon Basis

Bubby may not talk about games and game culture all the time, but he's not completely tech illiterate. He's one of the few characters in HLVRAI who uses the term "pog" in its modern context (though both characters do so incorrectly)

Pertaining to speedrunning: the Rocket Launch scene. We don't know exactly what Bubby sees when he takes the rocket into "outer space", but given the outcome of Coomer clearing the skybox earlier, it can be inferred that Bubby catches a glimpse of what's outside of the map. Unlike Coomer, however, Bubby doesn't respond to this with outward fear. In fact, he's fascinated, and chooses to "go back" for another look. Game breakage does not upset him, it just makes him curious.

"I need to perfect my run."

Extrapolation

After living in the facility for ?? years with a constant schedule and job to do, Bubby's going to need to occupy his time now that he's more or less retired. He loves trains, so he's probably one of those guys with a model railway in his basement, but he's also got a hunger for learning new things and accomplishing great tasks.

One of the ways he's coming to terms with being an AI is by taking advantage of what he can do that someone not living in a computer can't. It doesn't come as naturally to him as it does to Benrey and G-Man, who can more or less warp reality, and he doesn't have the same knack with computers as Darnold.

Then one night when they're all watching shit together Gordon shows them the notorious Super Mario 64 Watch Out for Rolling Rocks 1/2 A-Press explanation video. The flood of technical terms and methods makes Bubby feel like he did when he was on the rocket, and he needs to see more. New Obsession Unlocked

Bubby is used to attention. He doesn't need to be the center of the world all the time (though he definitely did when he was younger) but he's accustomed to being in groups. Now he's living in a neighborhood with a small handful of people. He needs interaction with other people, but there just aren't really other people around. Joining an online community lets him talk to people, and doing so by setting up a twitch channel means he can interact with people on his own terms by showing off doing things he likes.

Gotta make money to buy new games somehow. Plus he wants to feel like he's living independently and making his own living for once

Results

Depending on the game Bubby will do his runs either playing traditionally or by physically inserting himself into the game ACAB Stream-style. Both require very different skillsets and a lot of practice! He gets the best viewership for the physical ones, but they're a lot more taxing on him so he chooses them carefully.

Darnold does producer work for him. Look he's the Computers Guy and it's neat work.

He's set a couple WRs in various categories. Unfortunately, he does not qualify for most leaderboards, as it's up for debate if his runs count as scripted or tool assisted. Since, y'know. He's a program.

"Tool assisted? The fuck did you call me?"

As a workaround he made his own category, Bubby%. This has not been accepted by many leaderboards since competition is nonexistent.

He recognizes that many of his viewers are there for the novelty of watching someone they don't perceive as human play video games. Sadly, he's used to that sort of perception, but at least that means it's not a deal breaker.

For every person who sees him as a curiosity for being an AI, there's at least one other who sees him as a curiosity for being over 65 and playing, like, Super Metroid and Spelunky. And another viewer who thinks he's a vtuber hoax but likes the content.

Not all of his streams are speedruns, he does some casual stuff too. Sometimes he'll fuck around with party games with Coomer or do gmod stuff with Benrey.

He didn't tell Gordon about his channel for several months. Not for any personal reasons, he just likes to have secrets.

His chat has a running joke of speculating when he'll finally stream Half Life. He cracks a lot of jokes about it, but he's never going to do it. That experience is something extremely personal, and he's not going through it for someone's entertainment. Not again.