#tweet length code

[andymakesgames]

stary sky / diamond eyes 280 bytes

(there's room to further minimize but I'm happy to keep it halfway readable)

::❖:: cls() p=t()%1 for c=0,9do for r=0,9do x=c*16-32*p y=r*16-32*p+(c%2)*8 pset(x+8,y-p*16,5) m=min(7+sin(y/(70+sin(t()/3)*30))*3,(64-abs(x-64))/4)\1 for d=1,m do line() for i=0,1,.25do line(x+cos(i)*d,y+sin(i)*d,d<m and 7+(d/2)%2or 2+(m/8)\1*10) end end end end flip()goto ❖

[puppetmaster55]

the IMMEDIATE psychic damage of opening a chatfic and it's got the homestuck formatting

it isn't even for homestuck, isn't a crossover, it's just... for pokemon

[oldbutchdanielcraig]

my dream for daniel in season 3 is that someone is trying to own the billionaires of the world by going on that private jet flight tracker and they find out that not only is journalist daniel molloy among the top users of a private jet that he's been using to take flights of varying lengths (often just 30 minutes away from where lestat's tour is but often to other locales such as san francisco, new york, and miami) but that he's been doing this off and on since the late 70s. he hires a gen z social media manager who is responsible for encouraging him to tweet "good dick has led me to violate my ethical and moral code in ways you couldn't convince me to at gunpoint" and then he turns off his phone

[phanchester]

since there are so many data nerd phannies i decided to make a compilation of all the spreadsheets i could find - lmk if i missed any or if you want me to add any additional details <3

last updated: 30/06/24

actively updating spreadsheets

dan and phil uploads from 2021-2024

dan and phil’s upload schedule from all their channels with days and dates

amount of days in between videos in each channel

pie charts of days of the week they upload

made by @ahappydnp 

everything dan and phil related

all of dan and phil’s video links from all their channels from all their accounts (including super amazing project, snapchat, vine, tiktok and more)

all of dan and phil’s radio shows, including reuploads and playlists, as well as the dan vs phil, fan war and internet news if available for each show with misc clips and written recaps

all of dan and phil’s liveshows, including some written recaps and the app where it was originally posted

all of dan and phil’s vyous including the question they were answering

all of dan and phil’s collaborations and video features (even if they were in the background), including the channel they were originally uploaded on 

all of dan and phil’s interviews

all of dan and phil’s merch, including originally shop links and links to the phandom wiki which has further information

all of dan and phil’s professional photos as well as some fan photos, including the event, photographer and platform

the dates and statuses of each of these videos (lost, archived, unlisted or public)

made by @stillarchivingdnp

dan and phil 2024 upload stats

each of their 2024 videos with channel, upload date, upload time in uk, length, sponsor and editor/s (if applicable) with an accompanying colour-coded calendar

(for amazingphil videos) whether dan featured and (for dapg videos) whether it was gaming/talking and who tweeted it

interactive part where you can see the time period between two videos

averages, maximums and minimums for times between uploads, upload times and runtimes with accompanying graphs

percentage of videos with other editors, with pie charts for all channels and each channel

made by @dnpbeats

all or nothing: dan vs phil season 2

all of the games for season 2, with the year they played them and the results with and without all or nothing coming into play

how often all or nothing came into play and who suggested it

the general impact of all or nothing

made by @organized-chaotic-disaster

dan and phil saying “i love you”

when dan and/or phil said ily

the video and timestamp from when they said ily and whether it was prompted

pie chart of dan or phil saying ily

made by @ahappydnp

games where one of them decides the winner

date and link for each video

overall winner with the winner for each round

breakdown of the amount of times each of them have won each round and the percentage phil has won

made by @dnpbeats

dan and phil 2024 upload schedule

upload date for each video, with the day of the week and approximate time it was uploaded in cst, including the most common and second most common upload day for dapg

days between each upload, including the longest gap, shortest gap, average gap and first and second most common gap for dapg

a colour-coded calendar displaying the upload schedule for dapg and amazingphil

made by @kat-aa

completed spreadsheets

all or nothing: dan vs phil season 1 with a great accompanying document with further details and analysis of the data

all of the games they played, with the year they played them and the results with and without all or nothing coming into play

how often all or nothing came into play and who suggested it

the general impact of all or nothing

made by @organized-chaotic-disaster 

youtuber tours

(not necessarily dnp but it includes them!)

120 different tours, including the creators, names, dates, countries, links (if available) and producers (if applicable)

each tours’ venue capacity range, average and total attendance

individual tour show breakdown with city, state, country and additional notes

data on each venue’s capacity, number of tours, and which youtuber went to each venue

data on each country’s amount of shows, broken down into states and cities

made by @stillarchivingdnp 

gamingmas 2023 schedule

all gamingmas video titles from 2023

the time each video was uploaded in gmt

made by @cactuslester

spreadsheet screenshots in posts

listening trends in all or nothing

scatter graph for the correlation between track number and number of listens

analysis of the data

made by @serendipnpipity

analysis of dnp’s letterboxd ratings and movies with part 1 and part 2

(pt 1) rating distributions for all the movies they’ve rated, including details about which movies one rated higher than the other, and which movies they rated the same

(pt 1) a list of their five-star movies

(pt 1) a list of movies one logged but not the other

(pt 1) cute little misc notes about the specific movies and dates

(pt 2) ratings broken down into genre, studio and franchise with accompanying bar charts

made by @philsrosesweatshirt

views on post-hiatus dapg videos after specific time frames

i believe this is a work of progress!

video titles with the dates and months, along with details of whether they were sponsored or had external editors

view count after 24 hours, 48 hours, 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 months and 6 months

made by @goldenpinof

favourite dnp tour song statistics

years phannies started watching vs the year they joined the phandom represented in a bar graph

favourite dnp tour song in a donut pie graph and a bar graph

favourite song vs year joined represented in a bar graph

made by @serendipnpipity

terrible influence: the tour trailer video analysis

all the videos that appear in terrible influence with additional notes

the list sorted by date, view count and channel specifics

timestamps provided for each clip, both in the video and where they appear in the trailer

made by @emojackolantern

[rubycruzin4abruzin]

behind the curtain

Summary: Sequel to never been (stage) kissed. After shooting wraps, you and Ruby part ways. Eight months later, you see each other again at the premiere screening, and decide to “sneak away” during the after-party. How will you two navigate the paparazzi after they catch you in a compromising position?

Pairing: ruby cruz x actress!reader

Contains: mature language, adult humor, kissing, angst, fluff, hair playing, secret relationship trope, brief mention of an ED, publicity tweets and comments, invasive tabloids, the price of fame

Word Count: 4.2k

A/N: This is a sequel to my previous RPF, so the RPF Guidelines still stand. This fic contains a very brief mentioning towards an ED, and should not be triggering (at least I don’t think so). I am not insinuating anything by this mention, it is simply meant to shed light on how invasive and presumptuous Hollywood can be. That being said, I had the most fun EVER writing this! Enjoy! :)

———

Ever since the first “kissing lesson,” you and Ruby had spent every on-set lunch break in her trailer. Nothing ever progressed beyond kissing, but with the way Ruby’s hands entangled themselves in your hair, and how she shivered every time your hand grazed her thigh, kissing was really all you needed.

Your mid-day rendezvous were kept a secret from the rest of the world. None of the cast or crew knew exactly what was happening when the door to Ruby’s trailer closed, but it was clear that something was working. Since the trailer lunches began, your on-set chemistry became palpable. It even got to the point where the director would shout words of praise after “cut!”

Eventually, like with all movies, filming began to wrap up. The last day on set, you and Ruby spent all of your down time wrapped in each other's arms, tears falling at the thought of parting. Everyone on set sympathized with the both of you, except for the makeup artist who kept having to touch up your alien makeup after every fallen tear.

You and Ruby promised to keep in touch, and you did for a little while. But daily FaceTimes eventually became weekly phone calls, which turned into sporadic texts, until silence settled between you, save for occasional likes on social media posts. You missed her terribly, and while your pride and fear of rejection kept you from reaching back out, you couldn’t help but wonder if she was missing you too.

About eight months after shooting wrapped for “Aliens of Atlantis,” you were going over sides for an upcoming audition when you got a call from your agent. Upon answering, she announced that “Aliens of Atlantis” post-production had wrapped, and the film had a scheduled premiere where the cast would be making an appearance.

A blissful daze settled across your face at this news. Your agent kept on talking about the when, the where, and the dress code of the upcoming premiere, but you were only half-listening. Her words mushed together, flying in one ear and out the other as the only thing that mattered to you consumed your mind.

You were going to see Ruby again.

On the morning of the premiere, you woke up with a knot in your stomach. You couldn’t tell if the cause was nerves or excitement, but you chalked it up to probably being a little of both. You tried everything to settle your stomach, from aspirin to deep breaths to simply distracting yourself with other tasks. Despite your attempts, when your driver arrived later in the day to take you to the premiere, the knot was still there and prominent as ever.

By the time you had arrived and were about to get out of the car, the knot had seemingly spread throughout your entire body, making you feel like an absolute disaster. You took out your phone and checked your reflection in the front-facing camera, just to remind yourself that you weren’t. In fact, you looked good. You were wearing a metallic blue floor-length gown as a not-so subtle nod to your alien character from the movie. Pale blue eyeshadow decorated your eyelids, and you left your hair down in loose face-framing curls. You knew the press would go crazy as soon as they saw you, and that thought alone gave you enough of a confidence boost to calm down a bit.

When the car pulled up to the red carpet, you took a deep breath and stepped out, immediately being bombarded with cameras flashing in your face. You blinked, overwhelmed at the bright lights, and quickly attempted to paste on a smile and act like this wasn’t your first red carpet event.

You stumbled down the red carpet and looked around for Ruby, but the constant camera flashes and bright lights made it difficult to see much. Every now and then you would stop to strike a pose and flash a pretty smile in some random direction, or answer one of the million questions being thrown at you.

“Who are you wearing?”

A fucking blue dress. “Valdrin Sahiti!”

“How do you feel about your first red carpet event?”

Overwhelmed. “So excited!”

“What are you most looking forward to tonight?”

Seeing Ruby again. “Everyone finally getting to see all the hard work from the cast and crew!”

After what felt like an eternity of paparazzi and bullshit answers to trivial questions, the end of the red carpet was finally approaching. You felt yourself let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. It wasn’t easy, but you managed to make it down your first red carpet without making a complete fool of yourself.

Eventually, the cameras seemed to dissipate, focusing on the next pretty young thing that had just arrived. You blinked, trying to restore your vision infringed upon by the blinding lights. Once you could see in front of you again, you looked up, and a gulp forced itself down your throat at what might have been the prettiest sight you’d ever seen.

There, standing at the end of the red carpet, was Ruby Cruz, radiant amidst the flashing lights.

Her gown was long and form-fitting, sporting bright streaks of color and a slit up one of her legs. Dark brown curls hovered above her shoulders and cascaded down the back of her neck, while glittery red eyeshadow made her blue eyes pop. She looked so natural, posing and smiling for the cameras, that you couldn’t help but feel a bit envious of her.

Upon seeing you, Ruby’s eyes brightened, and a goofy grin spread across her face. She walked towards you, wrapping an arm around your waist and instantly making the cameras go wild. Your cheeks flushed into a bright pink tint. You missed her touch, and having her arm wrapped around you like that almost felt like deja vu.

While the both of you posed for the flashing cameras, Ruby leaned down to your ear and whispered one single sentence, the answer to a question you didn’t need to ask.

“I missed you.”

Unsurprisingly, the movie premiere turned out to be a massive success. The audience was extremely receptive to the storyline, cheering and gasping at all the right moments. Critics even approached you after the screening to rave about your performance and promise a glowing review.

The after-party was held at a nearby banquet hall, decorated to look like the underwater city of Atlantis. Filk music blasted through speakers while an open bar served space-themed cocktails.

You were busy making your rounds, establishing connections with other attendees while sipping a ‘cosmonaut’ from the open bar. While posing for a photo with a fan, you couldn’t help but realize you hadn’t seen Ruby in a bit. You craned your neck to look for her, but she was nowhere to be found. You shrugged it off, thinking it’s just a big venue and you’d probably run into her at some point during the night.

After several photos, impromptu interviews, and business cards you had nowhere to put, you were exhausted. You tried to make yourself as invisible as possible, leaning against a curtain by the back wall and downing the last sip of your cocktail.

While scanning the room, you noticed some of your castmates appeared slightly tipsy. You felt bad for them, knowing their press interviews would come off as less than professional, but there was a small part of you that wished you had more to drink throughout the night. The party was fun, sure, but took a lot out of you, and alcohol was sure to make it more tolerable.

Suddenly, while you were immersed in watching a crew member profusely apologize to an intern she had drunkenly stumbled into, you felt a disembodied hand appear out of nowhere and wrap around your arm. The hand pulled you behind the curtain you were leaning against, causing you to gasp and drop your empty cup.

You whipped around to see who grabbed you, preparing to throw a punch or scream for help if you had to. Instead, your eyes softened and you lowered your fist upon seeing Ruby, standing there staring at you with a devilish smirk.

“Hi pretty girl.” She cooed, taking a step towards you.

“Ruby…” you half-whispered in shock, eyes traveling up and down her body. “What are you doing?”

“I missed you,” she rested her hands on your hips and bit her lip, letting an ounce of vulnerability shine through her otherwise confident exterior. “I missed this. I feel like we barely got to see each other all night.”

“Me too,” you responded, internally melting at the feeling of her warm hands on your torso.

You wrapped your arms around her neck and leaned close to her before a sense of paranoia made you backtrack. “Ruby, it’s a big party, what if someone sees us?”

Ruby simply shrugged, completely unbothered. “Like you said, it’s a big party. Our castmates are drunk, the press is too focused on capturing their embarrassing moments.”

Her words seemed to reassure you, and you pulled her close to you again, feeling the warmth of her body against yours. “I’m glad you pulled me away.”

Ruby crashed her lips against yours, forcing a soft moan to escape your throat. She pulled back, looking deep into your eyes and holding your face in her hands.

“Careful now. We don’t want anyone hearing us.”

You nodded, non-verbally promising to keep quiet before Ruby brought her lips to yours again. Both of you sighed into the kiss, eight months of absence making itself prominent with passion. She tasted like sweet nostalgia with a hint of coconut rum, probably leftover from a drink she had earlier.

Ruby pressed herself against you, and you grabbed at the back of her neck, desperate to be as close to her as possible. She kept her hands planted at your waist, thumbing over the metallic fabric of your gown. Each time her fingertips pressed into your sides sent electrifying shocks through your body, making your knees stutter and causing you to lean more into Ruby for balance.

You brought your hands up to play with one of her curls, prompting a gentle sigh to travel from her mouth into yours. A smirk appeared on your lips, realizing your beloved brunette enjoyed having her hair played with.

Just when you were about to fully take advantage of this newfound information, a sudden crash engulfed your ears, followed by a blinding light and a collective gasp. You and Ruby pulled away from each other, turning your heads to check out the commotion.

One of the interns had drunkenly stumbled into the curtain and pulled it down with him as he fell, leaving you and Ruby entangled in each other and completely exposed to the rest of the party.

All hell broke loose. Interviewers screamed questions from across the room while paparazzi cameras flashed in your face. Those without cameras pulled out their phones and filmed the both of you, desperate for their fifteen minutes of fame.

Anxiety overtook your body as you felt a lump rise to your throat and your heart sink to your feet. You turned to look at Ruby, eyes full of fear, but she wasn’t looking at you. She was looking straight at the flashing cameras, with an expression that made your blood run cold.

You had never seen her bright blue eyes filled with so much anger.

The pit in your stomach grew as you scrolled through the tabloid headlines and Twitter articles featuring your and Ruby’s “stunt” from the other night. This was bad. So bad, that both of your agents had gotten together to hire a public relations manager just for the situation.

Two days after the movie premiere, an emergency meeting was called. Five of you were called to the manager’s office, with both of your agents sitting on either side of him, and you and Ruby placed across from the three of them.

The manager, named Rick, held out his hand and you gave him his phone back, sick of scrolling through the headlines anyway. As far as you could tell, Rick didn’t seem like a bad guy, but it was clear Ruby didn’t feel the same. She hadn’t said a word throughout the entire meeting, instead keeping her arms crossed in front of her chest and pointing a cold glare towards the man in front of her.

She didn’t trust him, and everyone in the room knew it.

Rick gave the both of you a sheepish grin. “As you both can probably see, you’re kind of the flavor of the week right now.”

Ruby’s agent nodded in agreement. “I have a friend in New York, and she heard a rumor about an SNL sketch being written about the whole thing.”

Your agent sighed, clearly having heard the rumor herself. Ruby simply scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“Is it really that big of a deal?” You piped up.

All eyes turned to look at you, making you shrink in your seat. “I mean, can’t we just wait for it to blow over? All we did was kiss at an after party.”

“It’s not like we were fucking, Rick.” Ruby growled through her teeth, causing a blush to appear on your cheeks.

Rick cleared his throat, uncomfortable with Ruby’s candidness. “Well it’s not really that simple…”

“No one knows what you are.” Your agent interrupted. “All the public knows is you were caught going at it like teenagers in a basement, and now the media is going to be on top of everything you do until they figure it out.”

Ruby’s agent nodded. “Before this, we wanted you both to appear single to the public. You’re both very attractive girls. People want you, and we want them to think they can have you.”

“But that’s not really an option now.” Rick pointed out. “Fortunately, both of you have pretty reputable status in Hollywood. People see two of their favorite actresses together, feedback is bound to be mostly positive.”

He opened up a notepad in front of him and started scribbling down something you couldn’t quite make out.

“I’m thinking, we take this relationship and go completely public. Social media posts, dates open to the paparazzi, everything. That way, the media won’t have to do any guess work and this whole thing will blow over sooner.”

Suddenly, Ruby stood up from her seat and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

“Ruby!” Her agent called after her.

She turned to flash an apologetic smile towards all the shocked faces staring back at her. “I’m sorry. She’s not usually like this. I’ll talk to her.”

She ran out of the room after Ruby, leaving Rick and your agent to go over the details of the plan. Their voices faded into the background as millions of thoughts swam through your mind. You had a bad feeling about this ‘public relationship’ idea.

How were you supposed to go public with your relationship, when you weren’t even sure if there was a relationship to go public with?

You adjusted your oversized hat and sunglasses while staring up at the cafe sign that read “Grind n’ Dine,” shuddering at the slightly suggestive name.

One week after the meeting with Rick, he worked with your agents to schedule a public date for you and Ruby, tipping off the press to make sure there was media coverage. Grind n’ Dine, a local business, had apparently paid Rick a large sum of money to schedule your date here in the hopes that the publicity would be good for business.

Taking a deep breath, you walked in through the restaurant doors and looked around. Several members of the press were already present, wearing cameras around their necks and sipping coffee at various tables. You breathed out a sigh of relief that they didn’t recognize you yet, thankful for your agent who suggested arriving in disguise.

In the very back of the restaurant, tucked into a booth, you spotted Ruby hiding behind a menu. She had her body and hair buried under a large black hoodie, and masked her face with sunglasses similar to yours. You made your way over to her, trying to act natural, and making sure to avoid press members as much as possible in case they recognize you before you’re ready.

You slid into the seat across from her and cleared your throat to alert her of your presence. She put down her menu and laid it flat, before tilting her sunglasses down to meet your eyes.

Her blue eyes, once lively and bright, were now bloodshot and emotionless. Dark circles hung like bags underneath them, as if she hadn’t slept in days. You felt a sharp pang in your chest. Ruby had never looked at you this way before, and you wished more than anything that she would stop.

“Ready for this?” She asked, her voice monotone and lifeless.

You gulped, nodding defeatedly. “As I’ll ever be.”

Ruby removed her sunglasses and pulled down her hood, shaking out her wild brunette locks. You followed suit, taking off your hat and slipping your sunglasses into your purse.

Almost immediately, members of the press recognized the both of you, and practically trampled the poor servers and other diners to get to your booth. Cameras were suddenly shoved in your face, followed by microphones and what felt like hundreds of pointless and rather invading questions.

“Is this a date? How would you define your relationship?”

“If you had to describe your sex life using only three words, what would they be?”

“Ruby! Do you think every liberal democrat should take home a migrant to show their support for the proposed open border policy?”

The two of you mumbled terse responses to some of the questions, and completely ignored others. After several minutes of verbal torture, a perky blonde waitress fought her way through the press and stopped at the end of your table. She sported a wide politician's smile not directed at the two of you, instead flashed to the surrounding cameras in search of fifteen minutes of fame.

“Hi guys,” she started, her voice unnaturally high pitched. “My name is Bethany, what can I get started for you today?”

“I’ll have a quinoa salad and cranberry juice, please.” You answered, handing Bethany your menu.

The press murmured imperceptible comments regarding your order, some even scribbling notes on napkins. “Quinoa… salad…”

“Just a coffee’s fine.” Ruby mumbled, order being followed by press comments as well.

As soon as Bethany walked away, the paparazzi shoved the cameras back in your face and bombarded you and Ruby with questions once more.

“Did you order cranberry juice because you like cranberry juice or because you have a UTI? How did you get this UTI?”

“I noticed you were the only one who ordered food. Could it be because you’re eating for two?”

“Speaking of, why didn’t you order food, Ruby? Are you battling some kind of eating disorder? Would you like to comment on it?”

“Enough!” Ruby exclaimed, perhaps louder than she should have.

Immediately, the press was silent, with only the sound of sporadic camera clicks being heard. Ruby turned to look at you, tears starting to well in her tired eyes.

“I’m sorry, I can’t do this…” she whispered, getting up and running out of the restaurant.

“Ruby! Wait, please!” You stood up and ran after her, leaving the paparazzi in the dust behind you.

You found Ruby leaning against a building across the cafe. She had her head resting against the cool brick, and her face pointed to the sky while she blinked back tears threatening to fall.

A lump formed in your throat as you started to approach her. You couldn’t stand to see her like this. She looked so… miserable.

“Ruby…” you muttered softly, reaching out your hand.

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the concrete, refusing to look you in the eye. “I just wasn’t hungry! It’s barely ten in the fucking morning!”

You sighed. “Ruby, we both know that’s not what this is about. What’s going on?”

She sniffed, and focused her gaze on something behind you. “Can we… go somewhere else?”

Turning to see what Ruby was looking at, you noticed a teenage girl filming the two of you on her phone. You rolled your eyes, completely exasperated at this point.

“Let’s go.” You muttered, grabbing her hand to pull her away.

It didn’t take long to find a nearby alleyway, deserted except for an empty dumpster. You dragged Ruby into the back, letting go of her hand once the coast was clear.

“Talk.”

The pale brunette pushed her bangs out of her face, blinking a couple times while gathering her thoughts.

“I just… this is why my Instagram is private. This is why I’ve never explicitly labeled my sexuality. This is why I rarely talk about my personal life! I don’t want the media invading my space! I don’t want random strangers knowing intimate details about my life! It’s fucking freaky!”

You nodded, understanding her perspective, especially as you’d been recently dealing with the wrath of the paparazzi as well. She continued.

“I mean fuck! I can’t even order a damn coffee without some tabloid claiming I have a fucking eating disorder!”

Her breathing seemed to be evening out the more she spoke. She let out a shuddering breath and crossed her arms, staring at the gravel beneath her feet.

“I just… I just wanted to kiss you at an after-party. I missed you. And now everyone’s forcing us to be in this relationship and make it public but…”

“But no one asked us if we were even together,” you finished.

She nodded. “Exactly! We never even had a conversation just between us. Everyone just assumed.”

You pulled the brunette girl into your arms, wrapping them around her torso. She buried her face in the crook of your neck as you stroked her soft locks.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered. “If I had known that’s how you felt…”

“No.” She interrupted. “It wasn’t you. You didn’t do anything, I… listen…”

She pulled away, and you felt a pit form in your stomach. You waited for her to tell you that she didn’t want to see you again, that it was too hard, that it meant nothing.

You held your breath as she took your face in her hands, her blue eyes piercing into yours.

“I like you.”

“You… huh?” Shock painted your features as Ruby said the last thing you were expecting to hear.

“I like you.” She repeated, the corners of her mouth slightly upturned. “I meant it when I said I missed you. I couldn’t stop thinking about you the entire eight months we didn’t talk. I should have reached out more, I don’t know why I didn’t. I guess I was scared? I don’t know…”

She was babbling, and you didn’t think she could get any cuter. You took her hands off your face and held them in yours, flashing her an encouraging smile.

“I like you too,” you replied giddily. “More than you know.”

Ruby chuckled, a faint blush tinting her cheeks. She stared down at the gravel again, chewing on her lip before speaking.

“I like you… I really do, but if we’re gonna start this… something, I’d want to take it slow and be completely private. No socials, no media, at least for now. Would… that be something you’re okay with?”

You squeezed her hands, flashing her a goofy grin. “I would… love that, actually.”

As you stared at your former celebrity crush, turned co-star, turned friend, turned… something, a wave of courage suddenly washed over you. Letting go of her hands, you seized her face and brought your lips to hers, tentatively, testing the waters. She gasped, but soon kissed back, sighing as she wrapped her arms around your neck and leaned into your body.

You moved your hand towards the back of her neck, then slowly inched upwards until your fingers were entangled in her hair. An almost inaudible moan escaped her lips and vibrated against yours as you played with her soft tresses. You smirked into the kiss, remembering exactly how much she liked having her hair played with before getting caught at the after-party.

Finally, after what could have been an eternity, you pulled away from each other. The two of you gasped for breath, both smiling like giddy children at the other.

“So… what now?” You asked breathlessly.

Ruby hummed to herself, seemingly in thought. “We could… go on a real date? Just you and me? No paparazzi. There’s this great little hole-in-the-wall place I like to go to when I don’t want to get recognized.”

You tilted your head, shooting her a lopsided smile. “That sounds perfect, actually.”

Before leaving the alleyway, Ruby put her sunglasses back on and pulled her hood over her head again, while you dug your sunglasses out of your purse and readjusted your hat. The two of you were disguised, hidden from the world, but happy to be able to pursue each other away from public opinion.

Ruby reached out her hand, her blue eyes somehow still managing to shine behind her sunglasses. “Ready for this?”

You smiled back at her, taking her hand and intertwining her fingers with yours. “As I’ll ever be.”

[maxybabyy]

happy new year friends!

to celebrate the new year, i wanted to go through some of wonderful stories i read in 2024. going through the tags and my bookmarks, i have come to the realisation that I still suck at keeping track of my favourites, so these are just the one still stuck in my head.

five (+some) full length fics

sour and delicious, secret and unrepeatable by @officialmood (maxiel)

i know this was written for that trope you hate fest, but i absolutely loved every word of it. all the tiny details, the shoe tying scene that still lives in my head, daniel preferring adynamic sex, max thinking he cannot have both. all of it is just so fucking good. I think it is such an incredible fic and such a good way to explore the maxiel dynamic.

table in the back by @janinaduszejko (galex)

i think if i could take one fic with me into 2025, it would be this one. i am more of a peripheral galex enjoyer, but this just hits ALL the right notes for me. the angst and misunderstanding is just so perfect that i can still feel the hurt in my finger tips. 10/10, will read again to keep george in miserable company.

rosetta stone by @janinaduszejko (carcar)

unlike galex, carcar does have me in a chokehold. oscar learning spanish and being called out by Fernando, dropping hints that they should move in together, only for carlos to tell him he loves him first. it's so fucking great.

everything carcar by @testarossa is also so fucking perfect, but especially make a mess, lioness is so, so good.

the entire Yours verse by @loquarocoeur (lestappen)

i still remember reading the first chapter of yours and not knowing what to think, only for it to turn into the most wonderful series. i am such a sucker for close-to-canon fics and this just done so well. i don't even know what to say, it's just sooooo fucking good, and i am in love with the dynamic between max and charles.

four espressos (and a lifetime) by @ferrarisma is another wonderful lestappen fic. i love the 'they grew up together' trope and the identity porn is just so perfect!

Cad Dad, a Dad of cats by @33max (max-centric)

max-centric fics are such a weakness of mine. cat dad max bringing the cats to races so he can make sure sassy gets her medication is so, so lovely and wonderfully written.

i have also read the first two chapters of famiglia-familie by @lsunstreakerl and i am very intrigued! gp taking in kid max is such an interesting take on it, and I cannot wait to read the rest.

four scenarios for tumblr fics omega max has a very special place in my heart and both @officialmood (post) and @lost-in-fandoms (post) have made such wonderful posts about it. i love all the different ways omega verse can be used to explore the maxiel dynamic!

girl max (my beloved) is another trope that I love, and the winter warmers posts (day one, thirteen) by @thewindowatkirkland have just been absolutely perfect!!

daniel's partner dumping him for max is also such an incredible fic by @officialmood. it's such a fun take, and daniel is wonderful as the spiteful, insecure ex who kinda, maybe also wants to fuck max now?

also the absolute masterpiece by @boxboxlewis that is max dating ricardo from melbourne while daniel, you know, is totally cool with it.

three works of my own Writing this i realised i haven't written a lot this year, here or ao3. i really hope that will change this year, but i just wanted to highlight some of the works that i had a good time working on in 2024:

cameras in the traffic lights

this was my first big html coding project, and while it was such a pain in the end (and still not perfect even now!) the process of it all was so much fun. i really liked working with the format, and the writing process of the tweets, the timelines, and the planning of it was so different to the prep-work i usually do for fics. the response to the fic has also been very overwhelming, and i am so glad so many people seemed to enjoy it.

max run club

max run club is another pet project of mine. it's such a fun world to play in, figuring out how to characterise max when we only really see him during daniel's time on social media/work out apps, the whole scanielax aspect of it. i don't know if it will ever be a full length fic, but i am not done with the series.

toothbrush fic

it's getting late, and i don't really have that much to say about this. but this was also very fun to write, and i still think if you love someone, you should offer to brush their teeth once in a while.

[yakool-foolio]

A recent tweet from drtwt confessions says “people need to realize how terrible of a writer/bad person Kodaka is. Almost every single female character he’s ever written is a misogynistic caricature and he’s only gotten worse over time. DR1 had legitimately really well written women. but compare that to Rain Code, where every women is either dumb/loli bait/cooker bait or just exist to serve a man, it’s really not a good look, that’s not to mention all the borderline illegal sexualization of CHILDREN in his games, which seems to be cranked up to 100x in The Hundred Line (literal sex scenes with minors) dude’s a real creep. Y’all need to stop trying to defend him.

Do you have anything to say about this?

I won't defend Kodaka for his very apparent character writing flaws throughout the years. I tend to view DR1's blatant usage of slurs and mishandling of a cross-dressing character (often times viewed or headcanoned as trans by a decent size of the fandom, mainly by a lot of recent first-time players looking at the character from a modern, more inclusive perspective) as a 'sign of the times' in Japan during the early 2010s, before much of that language has been fought against as time goes on. It certainly doesn't make it any less awful to read, but I acknowledge that it was the general environment of 'othering' everyone lived in and accepted at the time (and a majority of places around the world still do, some worse than others). The other Danganronpa games and Rain Code improved in some aspects but stayed the unfortunate same in others.

For Rain Code in particular, we got a pretty darn well-written non-binary character, but the few main female characters in the game suffer from Kodaka's neglect. I strongly believe that Shinigami is the best written female character in Rain Code, maybe even compared to the best in Danganronpa such as Sakura, Peko, and Maki. Fubuki is also a fairly well-written female character in my opinion, as her lack of knowledge about the world is explained through her sheltered, neglected, and uneducated childhood before being forcefully kicked out into a harsh world, and her parents are clearly deemed at fault for her flaws, even if not directly stated. But I admit her character doesn't get as much of a chance to shine as brightly as it could due to the overall structure and potholes in the narrative of her respective chapter.

As for the two female antagonists, Guillaume was a threat in the back of the player's mind more than a character. She has her moments to talk, but she is nothing but a vessel to push the plot forward, same with Dominic. I really wish their 'brains and brawn' dynamic was explored and complexified more, but it seems there's a conflict of interest between the conflicts of chapter 3, amidst the murder investigation, the bomb defusal, the flood, and the peacekeepers. With all these different overwhelming dangers, Guillaume and Dominic fade into the background when recalling the dramatic events of the chapter. Martina is another case of having the good bones of a well-thought out character, but the complete U-turn of her resolution shatters many players' opinions of her, understandably so. Initially, she's set up as Yomi's loyal subordinate, lovingly following his every order. The player is primed to theorize that Yomi is the reason she acts the way she does, manipulating her into becoming a completely different person, only for it to be revealed that she's demented because of her heartfelt desire for power of her own accord in chapter 2! Yomi only served to fan those wild flames already burning within her. But then the end of chapter 4 crashed down upon a great antagonistic character by making her give up all of her motivations, including her powerful role that she so desperately wanted. I've already spoken about her botched redemption at length in another post, so I'll spare y'all the rest here.

I think this person's point about Hundred Line is where the argument is the most shaky. Whether you like it or not, there are teenagers that are going to experiment with their sexuality and have sex. You may not like it, but that is what sometimes happens when curious teenagers want to try something new and supposedly exciting, emotionally driven, and rebellious (listen I can't say it like it's fact I'm just an oblivious ace don't swing your sword at me). I personally do not mind depictions of fictional teenagers having sex because it's definitely something that has happened and will still happen in real life. If we were to claim every depiction of teenagers having sex in media was illegal, a huge amount of classic horror movies and high school dramas would be on the chopping block. Not to mention that stories involving sexual acts between teenagers can still have literary value, especially cause a lot of these stories aren't just plotless sex scenes. Sex scenes in general can enhance characters' personalities by showcasing them in a very vulnerable state of mind and body as they work to communicate with each other in a very personal interaction. There are definitely lines in the sand that can be drawn on what is considered actually illegal in terms of explicit imagery of minors in fictional media, as many countries have their own varying laws against it (listed in this Wikipedia article). But Hundred Line is the least of my worries when it comes to that.

[seeingivy]

method acting asks!

while I love the vision, margaret is already in the playlist and serves a VERY SPECIFIC purpose (meaning I can't move the chapter it's supposed to be in)

(and the reason her nickname was margaret in the first place was bc 1. uranus jokes 2. that song)

that being said, jeankasa are very margaret coded as well

people making eren y/n edits to waiting room after the documentary comes out too....especially of y/n being like oh no wonder she decided to disappear like she knew that was better for her

listen I didn't realize people were such levi/sasha and eren/gabi truthers...like I love to see it I personally AM (obviously. I literally wrote it.)

but so true. eren stop being the best boy ever challenge.

link

oh so american...u will always be famous...and they are lowkey both so lalalala

link

no listen I love louis's hair so much and I think it's SOOO funny when olivia's fans call him "mr. bob" like FJDSKLFJDS

no yeah, this is like the exact length method acting eren is at this point...but we're getting our most beautiful scrumptious cabin eren chop in two chaptesr so,,, so it's almost gone

anyways my ranking goes: cabin eren hair > short hair eren in marley > man bun > literally anything else > hobo eren

PLEASE WAIT THIS IS SO FUNNY. I feel like they would tweet that and then the fan account girl would be like can he fight? he punched two people in the face unprovoked for y/n please be so serious

anyways no contex spoilers + songs for the next chapter:

end of beginning by djo, turning page by sleeping at last, and sweet nothing by taylor swift

rip polaroid death wall

not to quote beyonce but, DRUNK IN LOVE!!!!

levi reality check

[fiercynn]

bad buddy fandom getting-to-know-you meme!

since there are both recent newcomers to bbs fandom and people like me who are new to bbs tumblr, i thought i'd create a getting-to-know-you meme for people to introduce themselves if they want! all questions are optional

note: i consider "fanworks" to pretty much everything people create related to a fandom, including but not limited to meta/analysis/discussion, gifs, fanvids/edits/fancams, filk, fanart, fanfic, fan food, fan crafts, etc. please include this note with the meme unless you have a different definition!

name and whatever you want to share about yourself

hi i'm deepa! i'm indian-american, in my 30s, queer, and agender – please use my name (either deepa or fiercynn is fine) instead of pronouns when referring to me!

when did you watch bad buddy/join the fandom?

i watched the whole show in the course of about 36 hours just about two weeks after the finale had aired, in february 2022! i joined bbs fandom on twitter soon after and have been there ever since, but i’ve only really been interacting on tumblr in the last few months

favorite ship(s)

patpran and inkpa…i'm a traditionalist ig lol

favorite character(s)

it’s so hard to choose but i think it has to be pran! i love his pining and his cockiness and his anxiety and his kindness and his grumpy faces. really channeling pat right now aren’t i

favorite episode(s)

episode 5 for obvious reasons; my second-favorite is a tie between episode 3 and episode 8 i think

favorite scene(s)

rooftop kiss, episode 3 bus stop scene, episode 8 backstage apology scene, and episode 9 picnic bench hand-holding scene

one thing you would change about the show if you could

LET INKPA KISS GDI

what are your some of your favorite fanworks made by other people?

ughhhhhh SO HARD TO CHOOSE and i think i'll do a longer rec list sometime but here are some of the earliest fanworks i engaged with that really set the stage for how i think about bbs

dynamic (fic, patpran) by riddles2 on ao3: one of the first fics i read in the fandom, it’s pat’s pov through episode 5 and it’s absolutely seminal imo

international love song (fanart/animation, patpran) by @architectxengineer: science is one of those incredibly multitalented people who writes, makes fanart, and animates?? among other things??? and this animation is sooooooo gorgeous and makes my heart absolutely melt

same page (vid, patpran) by dkyth73 on youtube: such a good fanvid of the show that p’aof himself tweeted about it!!!!

(if you create fanworks) what are your favorite fanworks that you’ve made?

traffic was slow for the crash years (fic, patpran): gotta plug my baby, right? this is my patpran fake dating au which is 80k words and was so fun to create!

we both know you’re my only dream (fic, patpran): on the other end of the length spectrum, this 1k fic is one of my favorite things i've written ever

just being friendly (vid, patpran) co-vidded with @scribescribe: yes i know this is an msp song but we made the vid before msp aired!! i think it’s very cute hehe

a song that makes you think of bbs (the ones in the show don’t count lol)

since “just being friendly” is already obvious from me and scribe making a vid to it lol, i'm going to say “keeping tabs” by niki, which is extremely pran-coded. like. look at the lyrics. doesn't it seem like it was written to be about pran’s feelings at boarding school, where he misses pat desperately and hopes pat’s thinking of him but is also trying to convince himself that pat’s forgotten him and that everything pran wanted from him was just a delusion on his part. PRAN 😭 😭 😭

idk anything else you want us to know?

i have opinions about pran’s sweaters

okay i'm literally going to tag all of my tumblr mutuals that i think are still in the fandom (if i missed anyone sorry!!), but also if you want to do the meme consider yourself tagged! please don’t let this flop lol 🤞🏽

@citystoryscapes @nicolasechs @architectxengineer @mahuhumaling @manogirl @galauvant @miscellar @monamay @dancing-out-in-space @melto @incandescentflower @loveongsa @dimplesandfierceeyes @geonbaeeee @faillen @cinnamonseadragon @inkpaa @yourunwiththewolves @prany @pranpats @teesemomma @iathefurrr @inventedfangirling @sharingfandoms @lamonnaie @maychild @thegayneurodivergentagenda @mistergreaves @dudeyuri @nyttvera @thecriers @threezoz @wontbotherrn @not0nmain

[nysocboy]

Insurance companies go to great lengths to produce clever commercials, but they rarely venture into the realm of beefcake. That's why the Eastwood Insurance cowboy was so memorable. In California in the 1990s, a series of at least 30 tv commercials showed the Cowboy riding up to a befuddled car owner, almost always a man, who was paying too much for car insurance, and "saving the day" with Eastwood's low, low prices.

The best commercials had him in the shower, naked except for his white cowboy hat, cruising...um, I mean talking about insurance to another naked guy, who seems more interested in his physique than his insurance policies.

Nudity in unexpected places is always stunning.

Besides, he had quite a smile.

The Cowboy was played by Jason Bradley Jacobs, who has only two acting credits on the IMDB:

A record company executive in Selena, 1997, about the Tejana singer who topped the Latin music charts and sang at the Astrodome.

Maurice Charpentier in The Feast of All Saints, 2001, based on the Anne Rice novel about "the Free People of Colour" in 19th century New Orleans, "a dazzling yet damned class caught between the world of white privilege and black oppression."  Anne Rice -- shouldn't there be vampires?

Jason provided the voice and artists' model for a character in a comic book and animated series, Plowboy in the Cornmeal Universe, created by D.W. Newman.  It is set in the Appalachia of 1978, the era of Jimmy Carter, Hee-Haw, and The Dukes of Hazzard, and emphasizes the "raw physicality and blatant sexuality."

I couldn't find anything about the work except for a one-page website full of broken links.  I guess the project was scrapped.  Too bad -- looks like these were gay country boys. 

In 2015, Jason tweeted that he was voicing Raitliff Manor, by D.W. Newman, about the ghost of a Civil War soldier haunting a house.  Nothing on Google about it, but I imagine he was a gay ghost

D.W. Newman's biography on IMDB says that he's a Kentucky country boy, "openly bisexual," with a degree in astronomy, and a bodybuilder. 

No D.W. Newman is listed on bodybuilder websites.  In fact, all I could find out about him was a donation to L.A. teachers and a "like" for Balboa Hybrid Swim Shorts.

There are some nude photos on hook-up sites.

Twitter/X has links to Jacob's other projects, but they are all broken. No new tweets since 2015. Links to his personal website and Facebook are broken. No Instagram.

A frustrated series of broken links and dead ends, with only one real moment, the memory of the Eastwood Insurance Cowboy. And even that is fuzzy.

The full profile, with nude photos, is on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends

[bramblesthatcat]

i know im not a steven universe blog but youtube knows i used to be a mentally ill middle schooler so i got recommended a bunch of SU songs and now i've binged the show again + movie + future and idk here r some of my SU opinions/hc bc fuck it why not.

opinions/thoughts

i totally think the Diamonds were redeemed way too quickly, and rewatching season 5 made me realize how god awful the pacing of that season was. they really needed a season 6 or like, split 5 in half idfk

obviously theres a difference between redemption and forgiveness, but I really wish that SU:F focused on that more bc it would've been a great internal conflict for steven but we only get like an 11 minute episode based on it (and yeah u could say that steven having mommy issues in Future is basically that but imo mommy issues r different than diamond issues)

pearl has the patience of a saint bc if my magical girl literal goddess of a gf/situationship left me for the 90's equivalent of a soundcloud rapper id never stop raging (yes this is partially a copypasta of that one tweet but they hit the nail on the head fr)

rewatching the series i love pearl so much i really see my younger self in her, especially w/ how autistic coded she is in regards to her feelings/emotions

i love seeing the different classic manga/anime artist styles reflected in each of the diamonds, like pinks design is so sailor moon vibes

steven shouldve flipped his shit before Future like, at least 6 times

headcannons/silly lil ideas

i like to think after SU:F and he's had time to heal, steven tries to connect with the diamonds and not run from/suppress that part of his family, like he's not gonna be 100% w/ them but he tries to at least accept it

steven also connects with greg's side of the family! idk I like to imagine he spends a lot of holidays with them to catch up on all the ones he missed

steven spends his summers in beach city and every other part of the year he dedicates to travel (idk he never seemed the type to settle down anywhere for long, and i fw the wandering nomad type)

steven grows his hair out as he gets older, like young-greg length (long haired men > literally any other hairstyle), despite the length it stays curly

once steven begins to accept/cope w/ being part diamond, he lets his hair go pink (either by dyeing it or magic, take ur pick) with the mentality of "im reclaiming this color from my mommy issues, also i look cool af" (this hc is mainly based off of how I like steven's pink hair in Future. style was first, lore was second lol)

post-Future steven is 1000% more willing to throw hands and lose his shit but in like a coping way bc he knows if he keeps it pent up it'll be 10x worse

steven definitely starts one of those van life style tiktok accounts and has a bunch of cats as his van pets

[andymakesgames]

Very quick pico8 tweetcart

Pride Embers 222 bytes (fairly uncompressed)

s=sin a=0 cls() ::_:: e=t()/200 for y=0,128do for x=0,128do c=pget(x,y) if c>0 then pset(x,y,0) pset(x-1+rnd(2),y-1,c-1) end end end for i=0,50do y=x x=60+60*s(s(i/16+e/2)+s(i/20)/2+s(cos(i/72-e))) pset(x,y,14) end goto _

[jiminjeonging]

I honestly get the anon that says they cannot fully enjoy the take a look at my gf challenge but not bc it looks fanservicey ( i agree they went to great lengths to hype it up and make sure everyone saw it) but bc of the discourse around it and even though i think that feb reveal was fake, the situation was messy and overall not a happy time to be a jm stan or ot4 enjoyer in general. But i wanna claim it differently starting in 2025, it was so cute and filmed on the same day they were planning their aesparty eps and they later went to the noraebang, so an entire day full of jmj and fuck it, we shouldn’t let antis and homophobes take away such a cute and gf coded piece of content!!!

Also knowing how against fanservice mj especially is, i know they were trying to convey extra meaning like… she made the longchat jmj moment ot4, no way she would be down to do the most girlfriend titktok ever just bc she was bored like i know my girls meant to tell us the tea!!!!

yeah we should stop associating that vid with that news.. i can see why ppl get war flashbacks but whenever someone tweets that you’ll see a qrt about those news and its annoying

[novemberdevils]

Ok you said yell at you on Tumblr so : ahhh this story is so good! I just love the characterization you have, and the interwoven media/social media is very very well done - it really is a fascinating way to get a different pov without giving us a different pov at all! though on that note actually I have a question: who's pov are we getting in those asides in the news updates? Is that always Jack's? I think there were a couple that I didn't think was Jack so much as like... Some sort of reader standin or third party from the framing for some reason.

Also Nico what is going on in his head I'd be so curious for like your take on where the key points in his journey were (you know, once we get through the journey) assuming you don't reveal them directly later on! I'm kind of feeling like he's mostly just attracted to/fascinated by Jack right now and has been kind of holding Jack at arms length because he can't see past the self-centeredness (like that Bahrain scene where he assumes even Jack's envy is self-centeredness instead). Jack is just such a mess right now that's uhh probably for the best for Nico honestly since Nico seems like he's at least a mostly functional mess but I'm afraid we all know that's not gonna last in the face of his attraction and eagerly await his reaction once he discovers he is in too deep and then hooray what a mess we will get!

Anyway I've got so much speculation on this fic in a random note where I'm trying to figure out what's actually going on but I will hold myself back and wait for you to write the answers haha thank you so much again and I am extremely excited for more!

YAS PLEASE YELL AT ME ALL THE TIME! i love hearing words about my fics i will say it one million billion times because it is true. thank you so much!! the characterization was something i was nervous about before i started posting the fic so getting comments about it makes me feel a lot better lol. thank you thank you

the social media stuff is the absolute biggest pain in the world to code but it is so fun to write -- i'm glad i decided to include that stuff even though i am filled with self-hatred every time i have to code a page of tweets lmao. and to answer your question, for the most part it's stuff jack is reading at some point in the narrative (not necessarily at the exact point it comes in the story if that makes sense?) because he very much is a guy who reads stuff about himself. including some of the more indycar-related tweets, he does pay a little attention to that side of things both because he likes the series and because trevor is in it - which means most of the peeks into the indycar sphere via the twitter sections are coming from zegras fans, since that's the perspective jack gives the biggest fuck about lol. but there definitely is stuff i just include for fun, like i think i had a whole article section that was Just about jamie drysdale. that subplot is definitely subplotting. actually that gives me an idea. or multiple. thanks anon you are fueling some new nonsense in me

anyways. short answer is a lot of it theoretically comes in the sense that jack is reading those tweets/articles, while some of it is more just me fucking around. but it's majority stuff about the title fight and jack and nico and their teams and not as much about the midfield or the backmarkers (unless they are jamie drysdale oops)

currently i am just vagueing about nico's inner thoughts LMAO but i do in general know what's going on up there in terms of him, and i plan to reveal some of it directly later in the fic, but i would definitely be willing to go more into it on here as the fic continues! i've said in a couple of other ask answers i think that i don't want to really spoil anything -- which means i end up vagueing a lot lol sorry i know that's evil of me -- but all Will be revealed eventually. at the moment they are both being massive idiots about everything

they are definitely both their own messes. they are both kind of awful at dealing with their feelings, the awfulness just manifests in different ways. jack is someone who will deny it and pretend it isn't happening right up to the moment it blows up in his face, whereas Okay i'll let you have this one, nico will acknowledge that a feeling is there, but then he'll ignore it anyways. and i lovelovelove hearing about the speculation and assumptions and all that fun stuff, so if you ever want to share any of the things you are speculating about i would love to hear it :) obv you can keep it to yourself if you'd prefer lol or you can only tell me when you speculated correctly, but idk the fact that people are invested enough in something i wrote to speculate about it makes me very happy. you have made my little writer heart very full today. thank you anon!

[bonesandthebees]

It was pretty much that but like the code had to cheat to kill him so that was CRAZY BROOO it glitched out like his chest plate and deleted it and then stole his sword n shield from his inventory saying the sword isn't his yet (idk if u know and I honestly don't fully know the lore like I've been getting my knowledge from Tumblr so bare with me lmao) but he has a super op Code sword and shield that he got from the code and the code was like?? Saying it's been training him to fight smth worse than it?? It's been wild but YEAHH MANS DIED I AM NOT OKAY tho seeing Etoiles tweets have been funny (which I got all from reposts on tumblr lmaooo, I haven't logged into twt on my new phone yet so I only check it like once a week on my old phone 😭😭)

These two screenshots in particular got me fucked up OUGHH THE IMPLICATIONS BEE... THE IMPLICATIONS... WILL THEY EVER WIN???

Also the fact that the only way they could kill him was by cheating oigohugog this is so fucked up...

OH YEAH I heard about how unfair the fight was and the lengths the admins had to go to to force him to lose. (I do think they could've communicated this a bit better with etoiles beforehand, but I get why they might've been reluctant to tell him it was rigged) (also again find it hilarious how the admins keep underestimating him)

BUT EITHER WAY i'm going insane over the implications that he was the one being trained. like i know we all theorized the federation was having their codes training against him, but for etoiles to be the one being trained??? to fight something worse??? that's gotta be connected to the 'worse thing' forever said the eggs ran away from. i'm so aaaaaaaa

also god. yeah. those tweets hit hard. I'm definitely imagining the chest plate breaking as the sword impaling him through the chest just holy shit

[transientpetersen]

There's a lot going on here. A lot. Certainly the most provocative segment is the long quotation from elsewhere called Connor Goes Deep [and Weird] so at the risk of missing the point, I'm going to complain to the sky and exorcise the mental poison through the keyboard.

I do not understand the appeal of using metaphor when you know it creates an unnecessary translation barrier between yourself and your audience. The section is loaded with jargon and references but there's nothing deep about those references that demand their use. And the constant invocations of "length of a tweet" - so why be confined in the format? But then I was never a believer in the usefulness of that platform so maybe I'm the wrong person to answer.

A modern adaption.

You've grown up in a small town in a dying part of your country. Dying because both agriculture and industry have moved off and find no use for your people. So what do you do? You leave. You go where there's density enough to host industry, find the places where "everyone agrees" the "people who are worth associating with" live.

You meet new people. You learn new skills. You change perspectives many times.

What are some of the outcomes listed in the original (suitably translated)?

1. Go home shortly after leaving. You don't like the city or you cannot hack it or someone back home needs you. Life goes back to normal with shades of regret and might-have-been. 2. Stay in the city indefinitely. You like it there, you grow used to it, you disavow who you were (you've outgrown them). 3. Stay in the city awhile and return home with some flash and some fashion and charm the kids back home with your new manners and your aura of cool. You feel better about yourself but is your life truly that different in substance? 4. Stay in the city awhile and return home with skills and knowledge that lets you bring some jobs. You start a local business. You stave off the decay for a while. The churches still close around you, one by one, but you don't feel that as a loss anymore. 5. You stay in the city. You travel to your home town. You return to the city. You decide that the difference between the two is less than its made out to be - it's all just people. People who don't much like those different from them. Not that that shuts you out because you can code switch. You build people up wherever you go because you're not carrying the anxiety of place around anymore.

So Connor is saying, "You moved to the city. You couldn't cope with the full range of human expression there so you carved out a little space that you felt safe within and let it cradle you until you forgot your home and forgot the scary and you're telling people the truth when you encourage them to find a sanctuary in the city but that's not what you came here for. You've lost your way."

No jargon; no fuss. Just a story.

I believe that agency is cultivated and power is a skill and responsibility means building both of those competencies. Useless anxiety is definitionally both a distortion of agency and a misapplication of skill and I wouldn't encourage anyone to cultivate it. On the other side, you do not understand how to use power if you do not use power - it's not something you rehearse in your head to prepare for the perfect application, that's so incredibly far from how it works.

I don't believe that the five scenarios I sketched out above are ranked. People fall into each bucket as circumstances push and pull - or they were never in the buckets to begin with. Judging where they landed or talking about which bucket they should be aiming for is a category error. Decide your aim, pick your vows, and do your best to make the world better around you.