dirtybirdy

Brennan Lee Mulligan's anti-capitalist origin story

(Link at the top and bottom)

In the the most recent Fireside Chat for World's Beyond Number (episode 7 "Kahuna", available on their Patreon), Erika prompts Brennan to talk about "that crazy Christmas party you went to".

Brennan recounts an experience from when he was struggling to get by as a young performer/writer in New York City. His day job was as a caterer, and they had been hired to cater an ultra-wealthy NYC Christmas Party. It's full of details of gross decadence, but focuses on on what affected him the most:

"The thing that really fucked me up [about that party was that] I was at a period in my life [living] in New York where I was like 'Yea, I'm really hungry and scared all the time, but I'm living the bohemian dream! I'm a struggling artist! When I go out on the weekend and I'm dancing with my friends, no one will ever feel the depth of joy I feel [because it comes from] struggling and grinding out here with my friends."

"[Then, at that Christmas party,] I saw those rich heirs and heiresses dance... and they were having a better time than me, and it wasn't close! I watched these rich people dance with the most reckless abandon, and their faces [wore an expression reflecting that] 'We're having a great time, uncomplicatedly! We're not examining this! It's so fun!'... and then I heard my stomach [growl]."

(Edited for clarity out of context. Please forgive me if you find the edits to be excessive.)

You can listen to the whole chat on the World's Beyond Number Patreon. It's $5 and they have only the one tier. If you're a fan of collaborative storytelling, it's worth at least one month for the Children's Adventure prequel campaign.

THAT SAID, he also wrote a fantastic short story about this experience that you can read on his website for free (linked at the top and bottom). If you've read this far, you should give it a read. Until the Fireside Chat, I wasn't sure if the story was a work of fiction or if it was inspired by something real.

the narrator is operating under the constraint that they can only use words "god" has already spoken, "god" is aware of this and says the 'Time flies' sentence on purpose in order to give the narrator the pieces they need to voice their complaint; "god" has constant access to the narrator's thoughts, and answers them as though they're having a conversation between equals, but clearly absolutely dictates the terms under which the narrator can speak. it becomes obvious as the scene continues that the narrator is silently screaming and that the request being denied may be a request for death, but is at minimum a request for some acute suffering to be stopped