#threadreaderapp

[pandemic-info]

Some personal observations on the characteristics of people I know who are continuing to take as much care as possible to not get Covid (in no particular order): a short 🧵

1. High impulse control 2. Personal experience of serious illness 3. Strong internal locus of control 4. Non-conformists. Often a personal history of non-conformity going right back to adolescence. Yet... 5. Paradoxically, strong moral code; belief in ethical duty to the greater good of society. 6. Well-informed. 7. Rational; aware of their own cognitive biases. 8. Methodical 9. Adaptable 10. Emotionally stable 11. Comfortable with uncertainty 12. Pragmatic 13. Intuitively understand risk/benefit analysis 14. Disciplined

Old thread by @brownecfm on the bird site; Thread Reader link so you don't have to go there:

See also: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1389672/full

[dropoutdottv]

Update on Dropout production (courtesy of @samreich)

From ThreadReaderApp:

Dropout is back in production. 🫡 Details below. 👇 As I mentioned, Dropout is not associated with the AMPTP, who negotiates on behalf of the majority of studios and streamers. But truthfully, there's no such thing as a "struck company." There are instead "struck contracts" and "not-struck contracts." We assumed Dropout's contract - the New Media Agreement for Non-Dramatic Programming - was struck because it wasn't specifically on a list of non-struck contracts. After speaking at length with our lawyers and with SAG, turns out that is not the case. So, Dropout can return to business as usual. And because our shows were never struck, talent can go back to promoting their Dropout appearances. 🎉 SAG's decisions are in part strategic. Small streamers like us continuing to work while the major streamers cannot gives us a competitive advantage and puts more pressure on them to make a deal. 😎 But make no mistake about it: We continue to support our striking performers and their cause. - Between Dropout and me personally, we have donated $20,000 to the Entertainment Community Fund. - If anyone doesn't feel comfortable working with us or promoting their work during the strike for whatever reason, we respect that position. - While we already pay above minimums, we will continue to go above and beyond to reward and protect our performers *and* crew members, and plan to put even more of our money where our mouth is before the end of the year. Dropout fans, thank you for your support and solidarity during this uncertain time. Keep supporting the Entertainment Community Fund - - as well as the pet projects of your favorite creators. And with that, it's back to work. ⛏️

[grompf3]

Partage de contenu entre réseaux sociaux

Autrefois, il y a longtemps, il m'arrivait de publier de longs fils sur Twitter. Ça prenait du temps.

Et je savais que ce contenu serait facile à partager. Même en dehors de Twitter.

Vous connaissez l'histoire, Elon Musk a racheté Twitter et en a fait une plate-forme de propagande haineuse. Ce qui a poussé beaucoup de monde à investir des alternatives. Dont votre serviteur.

J'avais déjà un compte Mastodon. Et je suis allé du côté de Threads et de Bluesky.

En plus le fonctionnement de Twitter a changé.

Alors on débat beaucoup de s'il faut quitter Twitter, et de quelle est la meilleure alternative, etc.

J'aimerais parler d'une autre question. Quelle est la meilleure plateforme pour partager du contenu accessible à toutes et à tous, sans avoir besoin d'être abonné à un réseau social particulier ?

Twitter

Je vais commencer par Twitter. J'ai de la peine à dire "X".

Aujourd'hui un fil Twitter n'est pas lisible aux non-abonnés. 1 tweet isolé, oui. Mais pas un fil. Donc, si vous passez des heures à rédiger de longs fils, avec plein de GIFS pour illustrer, plein de liens, etc, ce n'est accessible que pour les abonnés Twitter.

Si vous êtes connectés à un compte Twitter, faites l'essai. Ouvrez un fil (celui-ci par exemple) dans une fenêtre de navigation privée (ou dans un autre navigateur web où vous n'êtes pas connecté). Et vérifiez. Vous ne voyez que le 1er tweet du fil.

Alors vous allez peut-être me dire qu'il y a Threadreaderapp qui permet de partager un tel fil. OK. Mais pour générer une page avec cet outil, il faut être abonnés sur Twitter. Donc, vous devez, vous, penser à générer une telle page.

Et si dans votre fil, vous avez inclus des liens vers d'autres fils Twitter, et bien c'est mal barré : ces fils ne seront pas lisibles pour qui n'est pas connecté à un compte Twitter.

Bref, tout votre taf abattu sur Twitter n'est réellement accessible qu'aux abonnés Twitter.

Bluesky

Ce réseau social a ma préférence... Pour l'instant. J'ai fini par y retrouver une bonne partie de mes contacts de Twitter. Et plein de gens se mettent à y publier du chouette contenue.

Et le réseau semble avoir été bien conçu.

Et pour le partage ? Et bien ça va.

Faites le test (si vous êtes connectés à Bluesky, ouvrez ce lien depuis une fenêtre de navigation privée).

Seul souci : avec un long fil, il y a un moment où il faut cliquer sur "poursuivre le fil de discussion" pour voir la suite.

Et puis vous pouvez choisir aussi de paramétrer votre compte de manière à ce qu'il ne soit pas consultable pour celles et ceux qui ne sont pas connectés. C'est un choix. Si vous faites ça, vous ne serez accessibles que pour les gens qui ont un compte Bluesky.

Je rajoute encore que sur Bluesky, même si vous n'êtes pas connecté, vous pouvez voir les réponses, consulter les profils, faire une recherche, etc.

Bluesky a un défaut lorsqu'il s'agit de partager un fil sur Twitter : ça ne génère pas de miniature. On voit juste un lien. Ce problème n'apparaît pas quand on partage un lien Bluesky sur Threads ou sur Mastodon.

Mastodon

Alors, Mastodon, je ne me fais guère d'illusions sur la capacité de ce réseau à toucher le grand public. C'est un peu compliqué, l'absence d'algorithme est présentée comme un plus, mais ça rend quand-même la consultation moins conviviale, etc. Ça n'a pas été prévu pour devenir mainstream et ça restera un réseau de niche. MAIS...

...pour partager un fil, c'est le top. Aucun souci.

Voyez :

Rien à redire, c'est lisible, c'est pratique.

Et sur Mastodon, on peut aller jeter un œil aux réponses, au profil de l'auteur, etc.

Threads

Threads aurait pu se positionner en alternative à Twitter. Mais de ce que je vois, du moins dans le monde francophone, ce réseau est en train de passer à côté d'une opportunité, pendant que Bluesky progresse.

Et pour partager du contenu ailleurs, si les gens ne sont pas abonnés ?

Et bien ça va.

J'ai même l'impression que c'est plus facile de lire ce fil en étant non connecté à Threads que depuis mon compte (seuls les 16 premiers messages apparaissent et je dois cliquer sur le 16ème message pour voir la suite, quand je lis en étant connecté).

Là aussi, vous pouvez voir les réponses et consulter mon profil, etc.

Et publier un billet de blog sur Tumblr ?...

Ça avait été la première option que j'avais envisagée : publier des billets de blog et les partager sur les différents RS.

Et c'est lisible. Il faut juste faire attention à la manière de partager le lien pour que ça soit consultable pour les non-abonnés (posez-moi la question si vous voulez des précisions).

Tumblr a un gros désavantage : peu d'échanges ici-même. Les gens utilisent ce réseau pour partager des photos, etc. Pas pour débattre de l'actu. Et la forme ne correspond pas au modèle "Twitter like".

Et puis rédiger sous forme de fils, en alignant les multiples messages, c'est différent d'un texte, même illustré par des images et complété par des liens. C'est pas la même écriture, c'est pas la même lecture.

Mais bon, gardez en tête que la possibilité existe. Tout comme d'autres types de petits blogs (Medium, etc.), voire un vrai blog complet (Wordpress, etc.).

Et si on ne choisissait pas ?

C'est plus ou moins la solution que j'ai choisi : ne pas choisir. Ou pas trop.

J'ai un compte gratuit sur Buffer.

J'y ai connecté mes comptes Bluesky, Threads et Mastodon. Et je fais des fils. Alors il y a des limites. Il faut parfois prendre le coup (je suis dispo si qqn a des questions).

Mais ça me permet de publier un même fil sur 3 plate-formes à la fois (limite maximum de l'option gratos).

Fedica permet aussi de faire des trucs du genre, avec d'autres limites.

Pourquoi ne pas plutôt me faciliter la vie en choisissant 1 plateforme, en y publiant mon contenu, et, ensuite, en partageant mon lien sur les autres RS ?

Parce que ça ne marche pas.

Si, sur un rs, mettons Bluesky, je partage un lien vers un contenu publié sur un autre rs, mettons Mastodon, les gens sur Bluesky vont peut-être partager le message et le liker. Mais ça aura moins de succès. Et ils ne vont jamais partager le lien Mastodon lui-même. Ça ne prend pas. Et puis si je publie un fil sur Mastodon, les gens vont pouvoir répondre précisément à tel message, ou repartage tel autre message. Les interactions ne sont pas du tout les mêmes.

Avec tout ça, je vais sans doute laisser dormir ce compte-ci, sur Tumblr.

Ce que je viens de faire, c'était surtout un bon exercice pour vous montrer. Des petits billets de blog comme ça, facilement partageables, c'est pas mal. Vous pouvez tester, et peut-être que vous y trouverez votre compte. Mais c'est pas comme interagir directement sur d'autres RS.

Et à moyen terme, vous me croiserez plutôt sur Bluesky, tout en flânant régulièrement sur Threads et Mastodon.

...Et si vous publiez encore régulièrement sur X, posez-vous la question de comment prendre le large, même si ce n'est pas complètement. Ce réseau pue, Elon Musk en fait un outil au service de projets dégueulasses et y interagir contribue au succès de ces projets.

Je ne jette la pierre à personne, moi-même j'y partage encore du contenu (je vais y partager ce billet de blog), même si je n'y interagi plus.

Et cessez de vous faire des illusions sur "mener la bataille culturelle sur Twitter"...

[wmproprt]

Thread by @KanekoaTheGreat on @threadreaderapp

"Dr. Robert Malone highlights Dr. Peter Hotez's role in funding coronavirus gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, his ties to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and his advocacy for censoring opposing scientific views."

@RWMaloneMD @joerogan

[lightelfearthling]

One of the best threads ever about the horrors of Islamic supremacism past and present!!! My advice, unroll them with the XTwitter @threadreaderapp, bookmark it and subscribe to the author's posts on it and on his account's timeline!

[olplus]

Conférence de Presse de Vincent Ponsot (via @LeProgresOL sur X) Threadreaderapp

[cyberbenb]

How is the Russian Terrorist regime changing since the failed Wagner Mutiny?

One step closer to regional military autonomy towards the central power.

https://threadreaderapp-com.translate.goog/thread/1684134749617418240.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US

[horizon-verizon]

Apparently, the orig poster of that thread anon sent deleted their entire account, so you have to see what they wrote HERE on threadreaderapp.

I read this thread that I found quite interesting if you want to check it out

https://x.com/darksvster/status/1817785978708480244

Rhaenyra is in a way turning into a cult leader a la Paul Atreides, believing herself to be the prince who was promised, recruiting smallfolk who have nothing to lose and sending them to their deaths to fight in her name, its a very prevalent theme actually. The dragon keepers being appalled by the massacre this will cause but her insisting on it, its a descent into self glory and obsession. The more she gets closer to the Iron Throne the more it corrupts her which is why I’m absolutely sure they will include her getting cut as soon as she sits on it. Let’s face it, as much as I hate to admit it, misogyny isn’t a main theme in HOTD.

When I heard Ryan described this scene as cult behaviour and Rhaenyra acting as a “pastor”, my mind went straight to the Shepherd (a strong follower of the Faith of the Seven), they’d be the different sides of the same coin, Rhaenyra brought down these gods, here they slaughtered the smallfolk but at the Storming of Dragonpit, it’s the smallfolk destroying them.

And if you take into consideration that the prophecy was proven false in GOT and how HOTD is trying to hammer down the idea that monarchies and especially Targaryen ones are terrible, it leads you to the idea that anyone who thinks them selves as the savior is a false prophet. Viserys told her about the prophecy to make her pursuit of the throne more legitimate and peaceful, however it ended up making her more unhinged because she now believes herself a prophet when its all a farce, neither she nor her descendants will be the saviors IN SHOW LORE (please don’t misunderstand me, I know that in the books, the prince that was promised and Azor Ahai are Daenerys and no one else).

Didn't watch the episode, so this is pretty helpful and explains a lot why I kept seeing Rhaenys-cult leader in my Twitter timeline. How interesting...

Always remember that Condal came from a Catholic school (I also did but you don't see me trying to make a canonically family/woman who never really had much enthusiasm for religion religiously cultish...)

Rhaenyra never tried to build any sort of cult around herself or dragons

dragons always choose their own rider, so the dragonkeepers protesting Rhaenyra having lowborns have access to dragons is more classism than religiousness still wouldn't make any sense besides bc 1) they'd be going against their dragon-gods' wishes/authority 2) there's no proof of them even coming from Valyrian families... unlike in the orig lore, in the show they seem to be randos who can speak Old Valyrian and have ritualistic practices concerning dragons as literal gods/reps of gods

Old Valyrian dragonlords were never particularly religiously "devoted" or defined themselves through gods even with them having their own gods as they had a multireligious state in Old Valyria....at least comparatively to other peoples, inlcu the andals, who are actually the ones who you'd say were religiously cultish with their carving Seven symbols in their foreheads and later talking something close to Manifest destiny to explain how/why the fled Essos (when it was more liekly bc of the Valyrians)

the dragonkeepers have never in all of history been in the authority to deny a Targ anything based on any sort of separate and independent authority OR religious beliefs bc their role was just to guard dragons/their eggs/their lairs

AND

that he's mainly trying to create a story he's always wanted to see as a fan of GRRM's work (BigThink article):

So, yeah, all this matters for the exact direction you predict and I dislike this concept.

[arcticdementor]

I think I've had discussions w/enough Boomer-tier Trump supporters who believe the 2020 election was fraudulent to extract a general theory about their perspective. It is also the perspective of most of the people at the Capitol on 1/6, and probably even Trump himself. 

…

Here are the facts - actual, confirmed facts - that shape their perspective: 1) The FBI/etc spied on the 2016 Trump campaign using evidence manufactured by the Clinton campaign. We now know that all involved knew it was fake from Day 1 (see: Brennan's July 2016 memo, etc). 3/x

These are Tea Party people. The types who give their kids a pocket Constitution for their birthday and have Founding Fathers memes in their bios. The intel community spying on a presidential campaign using fake evidence (incl forged documents) is a big deal to them. 4/x

Everyone involved lied about their involvement as long as they could. We only learned the DNC paid for the manufactured evidence because of a court order. Comey denied on TV knowing the DNC paid for it, when we have emails from a year earlier proving that he knew. 5/x

This was true with everyone, from CIA Dir Brennan & Adam Schiff - who were on TV saying they'd seen clear evidence of collusion w/Russia, while admitting under oath behind closed doors that they hadn't - all the way down the line. In the end we learned that it was ALL fake. 6/x

At first, many Trump ppl were worried there must be some collusion, because every media & intel agency wouldn't make it up out of nothing. When it was clear that they had made it up, people expected a reckoning, and shed many illusions about their gov't when it didn't happen. 7/x

We know as fact: a) The Steele dossier was the sole evidence used to justify spying on the Trump campaign, b) The FBI knew the Steele dossier was a DNC op, c) Steele's source told the FBI the info was unserious, d) they did not inform the court of any of this and kept spying. 8/x

Trump supporters know the collusion case front and back. They went from worrying the collusion must be real, to suspecting it might be fake, to realizing it was a scam, then watched as every institution - agencies, the press, Congress, academia - gaslit them for another year. 9/x

Worse, collusion was used to scare people away from working in the administration. They knew their entire lives would be investigated. Many quit because they were being bankrupted by legal fees. The DoJ, press, & gov't destroyed lives and actively subverted an elected admin. 10/x

This is where people whose political identity was largely defined by a naive belief in what they learned in Civics class began to see the outline of a Regime that crossed all institutional boundaries. Because it had stepped out of the shadows to unite against an interloper. 11/x

GOP propaganda still has many of them thinking in terms of partisan binaries, but A LOT of Trump supporters see that the Regime is not partisan. They all know that the same institutions would have taken opposite sides if it was a Tulsi Gabbard vs Jeb Bush election. 12/x

It's hard to describe to people on the left (who are used to thinking of gov't as a conspiracy... Watergate, COINTELPRO, WMD, etc) how shocking & disillusioning this was for people who encourage their sons to enlist in the Army, and hate ppl who don't stand for the Anthem. 13/x

They could have managed the shock if it only involved the government. But the behavior of the corporate press is really what radicalized them. They hate journalists more than they hate any politician or gov't official, because they feel most betrayed by them. 14/x

The idea that the press is driven by ratings/sensationalism became untenable. If that were true, they'd be all over the Epstein story. The corporate press is the propaganda arm of the Regime they now see in outline. Nothing anyone says will ever make them unsee that, period. 15/x

This is profoundly disorienting. Many of them don't know for certain whether ballots were faked in November 2020, but they know for absolute certain that the press, the FBI, etc would lie to them if there was. They have every reason to believe that, and it's probably true. 16/x

They watched the press behave like animals for four years. Tens of millions of people will always see Kavanaugh as a gang rapist, based on nothing, because of CNN. And CNN seems proud of that. They led a lynch mob against a high school kid. They cheered on a summer of riots. 17/x

They always claimed the media had liberal bias, fine, whatever. They still thought the press would admit truth if they were cornered. Now they don't. It's a different thing to watch them invent stories whole cloth in order to destroy regular lives and spark mass violence. 18/x

Time Mag told us that during the 2020 riots, there were weekly conference calls involving, among others, leaders of the protests, the local officials who refused to stop them, and media people who framed them for political effect. In Ukraine we call that a color revolution.

…

Then you get the Hunter laptop scandal. Big Tech ran a full-on censorship campaign against a major newspaper to protect a political candidate. Period. Everyone knows it, all of the Tech companies now admit it was a "mistake" - but, ya know, the election's over, so who cares?

…

Think back: Stories about Trump being pissed on by Russian prostitutes and blackmailed by Putin were promoted as fact, and the only evidence was a document paid for by his opposition and disavowed by its source. The NY Post was banned for reporting on true information. 24/x

The reaction of Trump ppl to all this was not, "no fair!" That's how they felt about Romney's "binders of women" in 2012. This is different. Now they see, correctly, that every institution is captured by ppl who will use any means to exclude them from the political process. 25/x

And yet they showed up in record numbers to vote. He got 13m more votes than in 2016, 10m more than Clinton got! As election night dragged on, they allowed themselves some hope. But when the four critical swing states (and only those states) went dark at midnight, they knew.

…

Media & Tech did everything to make things worse. Everything about the election was strange - the changes to procedure, unprecedented mail-in voting, the delays, etc - but rather than admit that and make everything transparent, they banned discussion of it (even in DMs!). 28/x

Everyone knows that, just as Don Jr's laptop would've been the story of the century, if everything about the election dispute was the same, except the parties were reversed, suspicions about the outcome would've been Taken Very Seriously. See 2016 for proof. 29/x

Even the courts' refusal of the case gets nowhere w/them, because of how the opposition embraced mass political violence. They'll say, w/good reason: What judge will stick his neck out for Trump knowing he'll be destroyed in the media as a violent mob burns down his house? 30/x

It's a fact, according to Time Magazine, that mass riots were planned in cities across the country if Trump won. Sure, they were "protests", but they were planned by the same people as during the summer, and everyone knows what it would have meant. Judges have families, too. 31/x

Forget the ballot conspiracies. It's a fact that governors used COVID to unconstitutionally alter election procedures (the Constitution states that only legislatures can do so) to help Biden to make up for a massive enthusiasm gap by gaming the mail-in ballot system. 32/x

They knew it was unconstitutional, it's right there in plain English. But they knew the cases wouldn't see court until after the election. And what judge will toss millions of ballots because a governor broke the rules? The threat of mass riots wasn't implied, it was direct. 33/x

a) The entrenched bureaucracy & security state subverted Trump from Day 1, b) The press is part of the operation, c) Election rules were changed, d) Big Tech censors opposition, e) Political violence is legitimized & encouraged, f) Trump is banned from social media. 34/x

They were led down some rabbit holes, but they are absolutely right that their gov't is monopolized by a Regime that believes they are beneath representation, and will observe no limits to keep them getting it. Trump fans should be happy he lost; it might've kept him alive. /end

[showcontrols]

has anyone made the mangoball fic into a pdf yet or am i gonna have to do this myself

[wmproprt]

What's remarkable about the document is that it's an explicitly ideological vision. Its scope extends far beyond criminal violence—it encompasses online speech, education, gun control, even election participation.

It's a strategy to suppress not just individuals, but IDEAS.

Senator @Eric_Schmitt on @threadreaderapp

@DNIGabbard

[iamvictoriaanne]

A great Father’s Day story

[roxytonic]

what is the mangoball "cheater cheater" fanfiction? (a personal overview)

hi everyone,

lately a very specific social media AU DreamNotFound fanfiction on Twitter has been making the rounds. i'd like to make an introduction to the work based on my observations--i don't think we've seen anything like it so far, barring highly textual chatfics and the like.

at the time of this writing, i've caught up to entry #108. the author is prolific!

so what is this fanfiction?

the fanfiction is called "Cheater, Cheater" and is written by the ostensibly single author, mangoball (mangobaii in typing). it revolves around George as he breaks up with Sapnap and hits a rebound and potential relationship with Dream. it includes plenty of side characters, including but not limited to, Karl Jacobs, Quackity, Corpse, Wilbur Soot, and Tommyinnit.

you can find it on twitter here, but i highly recommend using the ThreadReaderApp page instead for full-size images:

what works about the fanfiction?

unofficially categorized, the story itself is a comedy-satire slice of life with a few blips of absurdity. off the top of my head, mangoball writes in references to DreamSMP and surrounding MCYT, and there are some fourth wall breaks, which are all framed in an absurd way.

in the story, the side plots corresponding to the side characters are just as vibrant as the one around George's fallout with Sapnap and his later rebound to Dream. not spoiling them, but they're fun. the story events themselves are moderately simple--the bulk of the work is made up of character interactions, which, as we find, range from globally yassified characters to complete divergence from individual personalities.

i think the reason why the mangoball fic works is because it's a nice convergence of comfy things under a very thin, easy-to-read format. if we actually go to the thread, we see that it's 100% composed of phone-sized screenshots of messages. there's not much text with each tweet in the thread, so it's short and digestible.

therefore, both the form and the function of the story work together to create a double-whammy of a very light read.

what does it's potential categorization as a light read pose for it as a work?

i don't think there is any problem with light reads in the fandom. it's optional reading, and if you do wind up reading it, you'll blitz through it easily. stan twitter will obviously take well to it since the characters are yassified, though budding readers might find it accessible too.

however, there are a few flaws i want to point out:

1. it's vaguely formulaic and/or familiar to me. i mean, given enough time and effort, i could deconstruct the humor (absurd claim to another person + agreement from the other person? further OOC-ness?) but generally speaking it's content and tropes don't "feel" new. i don't know what specifically i've read that would cause this familiarity, though. (on the other hand, this means that it's going to be a safe read.)

2. i feel like i have to suspend my disbelief a bit higher. this is more of a personal issue, so you might fare better than i have, but generally i feel like i'm a fly on the wall looking in. i haven't felt that in a while so it took me a few minutes to settle into the groove of it and start rolling.

3. this somewhat ties into point #2: the author needs to be very judicious about how they use the fourth wall break and self-references to absurdity. off-hand jokes are super obvious, because there is such limited text/narrative bandwidth to the individual screenshots. fourth wall jokes can tire out quickly, and at worst, fail to suspend the reader's disbelief.

i remember seeing one character call attention to their collective habit of narrating what they're doing ATM (because there's no italicized text or stage text in the work, it's all dialogue). it's funny for sure, but it drags me out of the story because it's too true. suddenly i'm thinking, "wait. why isn't there flavor text and italicized descriptions and videos of things happening IRL?" (there is some audio and a few pictures but that is not the bulk of the work.) if the characters know their narratological limitations, it becomes uncanny.

4. you're probably not going to find powerful themes and motifs. we have no idea what's intended or not. on the other hand, if you're going by "Death of the Author", then all bets are off.

note that i said "themes and motifs"--things we can extract and synthesize from the text. the wonderful @bothersome-edgar has made some great strides on identifying and categorizing key aspects of the characters, and i highly commend him for doing so. check out his work here: https://bothersome-edgar.tumblr.com/post/669498983742324736/putting-this-here-so-i-know-what-to-write-tomorrow

what other thoughts do i have?

i really love BadBoyHalo and Quackity in this story. i totally relate to BadBoyHalo's awkwardness when interacting with people online (i don't sound like i'm 50 years old though!!!) and his latent craziness, though i'm not violent. Quackity is the anchor that keeps the story and character interactions from flying apart from the absurdity of it. he's realistic, and reacts to the craziness in the story realistically.

Karl is growing on me and George is just really fluttering around. like a moth. and Dream is a lit Ruben's tube matched to dubstep. love is in the air, i suppose :]