Based on a true story of something that happened to me last night:
Truth is stranger than fiction
-dnf fluff and humor, sfw, 1183 words
No freaking way.
George shook his head in disbelief. His hands trembled slightly as he looked back over his shoulder to check for traffic. Seeing none, he drove away from what had to have been the strangest encounter in his life.
He couldn't wait to tell Dream.
Sapnap too, but Dream first. After all, if he told Sapnap first, the guy would definitely run to Dream and tell him before George could.
And this was one story that he wanted to tell Dream himself.
Laughter crept up inside George's chest, tickling each rib one at a time like climbing a ladder. When there was nowhere to go, he let it all loose, laughing as he turned into the subdivision. Tears had collected in his eyes by the time he'd turned onto their street, and when he pulled into the driveway, his stomach hurt from the constant spasms of laughter.
George put the car into park, cut the engine, and just sat there for a while, trying his best to even out his breathing. He needed to stop laughing if he was going to be able to tell Dream what happened.
Deep breath in. Exhale. Repeat.
A few rounds of that and he finally felt calm enough to go inside.
George unbuckled his seatbelt and he'd barely had a chance to shut his door after opening it before the door into the house opened.
“George,” Dream said, taking a cautious step forward. “Are you ok? You were out here for a while.”
Are you ok?
George couldn't help it, doubling over in laughter.
“What the…” Dream crossed his arms, confusion and a hint of hurt etched on his features. “What the hell is wrong with you, George?”
“I'm…I'm sorry Dream,” George composed himself enough to reply. “I'm ok, I promise.” George gave Dream’s shoulder a quick pat as he walked past him into the house. With a shrug, Dream followed him, all the way into the empty living room. The sounds of Valorant drifted from upstairs and George smiled. With Sapnap in his office, he'd have no interruptions.
“So,” Dream plopped down onto the sofa, then patted the cushion beside him. “How was your first time driving alone? And at night too. Anything interesting happen?”
“Funny you should ask that,” George giggled, then cleared his throat as he sat beside Dream and turned to face him. “Because the most insane thing happened to me on my way home from the gym.”
“Well, you obviously didn't get into an accident,” Dream said. “The car’s still in one piece. Wait, you didn't get pulled over for speeding, did you?”
“Yes, and no,” George replied.
Dream looked even more confused now. “What do you mean, yes and no?”
George wiggled a little, knees tucked underneath him while he bounced in place. “I got pulled over, but not for speeding.”
“Oh my God, George, you ran a red light, didn't you?” Dream slapped his palm to his forehead. “I knew it was a bad idea for you to get your license, being colorblind.”
“I didn't run a red light,” George bit his lip, the edges of his mouth stretched so tight his cheeks were starting to hurt. “I actually did the exact opposite.”
“The exact opposite,” Dream leaned back and scratched his head. “George, you're not making any sense.”
George took a deep breath, pausing for dramatic effect before excitedly launching into his story. “So I was sitting at this light when it was still red, the one right after you get off the freeway, and I guess I was daydreaming and didn't notice when it turned green until someone beeped their horn behind me. So I looked up and it took me a few seconds to figure out what color the light was, since I still get confused with green and yellow.”
“George,” Dream deadpanned. “You know green is on the bottom, and yellow is in the middle and red is on top.”
“Well yeah, smarty pants,” George rolled his eyes. “Of course I know that now, but the horn got me all flustered. Anyhow, once I realized it was green, I went and l thought everything would be ok until these lights and sirens turned on behind me. And I was so confused, Dream! Like, I knew I hadn't run a red, and I hadn't been speeding before that, but I pulled over, and after a while the police officer walked up to my window. So I rolled it down, and this cop - who was kind of cute by the way - he looks me in the eye and tilts his head all concerned and says 'hey, are you ok? You were sitting at that green light for a while.'”
An incredulous smile tugged up the corners of Dream's lips. “You mean -”
“Dude pulled me over for sitting at a green light too long,” George barely got the words out before he started laughing again, and it wasn't long before Dream joined him. Soon their laughter escalated to the point where they were both clutching their stomachs with one hand and leaning on others shoulders with the other.
“So…” George squeaked out between giggles. “I told him that I was a little distracted… and that I'm colorblind… and he let me off with a warning. But getting pulled over for that is so…”
“It's so you,” Dream replied. “Only you could get pulled over for something as asinine as that.”
“Right?” George turned around and leaned back against the sofa cushion.
They both sighed, coming down from the highs of their laughter while the ceiling fan spun in a lazy circle above them. After a while, George caught motion out of the corner of his eye and glanced over to see Dream lifting his head off the back of the sofa.
“Wait,” Dream said. “You said the police officer was kind of cute?”
George glanced at him for a moment, blinked twice, and then grinned.
“Yeah,” George fully turned to face him. “But he wasn't as cute as you.”
With that, George leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss onto Dream's cheek, successfully short-circuiting his best friend’s brain long enough to stand without Dream lunging for him.
Damm, he really was adorable.
“Anyhow, gotta shower,” George took a few steps towards the stairs, then paused and turned towards Dream's room. In Dream's current state of shock, George would have plenty of time to shower in Dream's bathroom instead of his own cramped one. Then he could borrow one of Dream's hoodies afterwards.
He only made it through the main door of Dream's suite before he heard his best friend's familiar voice behind him. “George, you get back here!”
One long shower and several kisses later, (kisses that definitely weren't just on Dream's cheek) they both lay curled up in Dream’s bed, soft music playing through the speakers in the mattress.
George sighed as he snuggled into Dream's chest and started to drift off to sleep while Dream pressed a lingering kiss to his temple.
“i’ll just stay forever” “we should build houses with tunnels that are connected to each other” “my friends aren’t in england” “what do i look forward to the most? just existing, the three of us, all the time” “nowhere is good without anyone” “orlando feels more homely to me”
Many of you have most likely seen this post (x) detailing how to spot a smear campaign. But, recognizing the signs is difficult for many who are already entrenched. With OP’s permission (x), we’ve gone through the 7 major steps of a smear campaign and documented how this situation is a smear campaign designed to unjustly hurt a victim.
How to spot a smear campaign
Victim’s “crimes” (x)(x) are enlarged: even small missteps are treated as if only the worst person on the planet would do such a thing
Accusations against the victim are a reach, aka, victim did ‘this little thing’ but it actually means they’re a misogynist/pedophile/Tr*mp supporter/homophobe (x), even when the victim’s actions never conformed to those crimes (x)(x)
Victim’s actions are misinterpreted (x) in the worst possible way: anything the victim has done was taken as an offense and intentions are read as hostile and manipulative, regardless of how clear they are (x)
Victim’s actions have been taken out of context (x); ie, victim said something cruel to someone (x), but they take out the context of the victim being abused, threatened, forced into defense mode (x) and finally attacking out of desperation (x) to defend themselves (x) and get free
Victim commonly gets provoked into giving a bad reaction (x), (anyone gets defensive if they’re accused of the crimes (x)(x) they never did, or simply triggering insults until they snap), and the reaction has always been the new ‘proof’ that the victim is in fact, evil and guilty
A lot of pressure has been put on fans to react ‘correctly’ to the smear campaign; if fans don’t accept to demonize the victim at once, fans get scrutinized, shamed for their lack of morality, told that they support all these horrid things and that they are just as despicable (x)(x)
Trends of people have banded together based on their demonization (x)(x)(x) of the victim; they’ve set a standard where you’re accepted and welcome if only you also will demonize and hate the victim, and if you don’t, you’re blocked, cast out, and accused of causing harm
Over 20 sources from this week alone depict how Tommy and Tubbo are heading a smear campaign against Dream.
This is most likely not intentional. The initial smear campaign is suspected to have started in 2021 by an alt-right chat room (x). But, their actions are negligent and hurtful to an undeserving person. Their disregard for the consequences of their actions have led to threats against Dream and Dream fans and family.
This is not okay.
So, how do you prevent it from happening again?
Do not fall for smear campaigns.
If a large number of people agree that a person is the worst, but their story is exaggerated, out of context, sounds fictional, and doesn’t show any proof, and the people switch from being enraged to eager, doubt it. Participating in a smear campaign will help the abusers isolate and abuse someone, and you do not want to be a part of it. They will also smear anyone who stands up to their abuse, so you’re helping the abusers to create a place where pointing out abuse gets you cast out of the community
In the case of Dream, refrain from making false posts about Dream. Even jokes, like those made by Harry, Ainsey, and Tommy, have led to child endangerment. Call out creators for their misbehavior: educate them on why a joke is in ill-tase. And, if they don’t respond, boycott their content. There are lovely creators who are making great series you can watch right now (like Hermitcraft, Empires SMP, etc). Make your voice heard by taking away their voice.
In Tommy’s video, he said he can admit when he “[fucks] up.” If that is true, he should apologize for, whether intentionally or unintentionally, engaging in a tactical scheme to hurt a person. The same goes for Tubbo and his fans. Recognize the actions you’ve caused. Realize what your words do. Apologize, and move on.
We thank you all for educating yourselves: have a good night :)
Sorry, I’m hung up on this. Having previously been in a relationship where healthy communication, empathy, and basic human decency were treated like privileges and withheld constantly and continuously, the whole “communication is a privilege” rhetoric can get fucked. No one owes you anything, especially if you’ve done them harm, that is a very fair and reasonable stance. However, to claim that communication is a privilege is to treat it like an advantage, a power—a power that others do not have, an advantage over others, and that’s just not it.
You cannot demand communication whilst withholding it. You cannot speak over others, then demand that your voice be heard. You cannot demand a boundary be respected if you do not respect it yourself. You cannot consistently disrespect the personhood of others and demand respect in return. You cannot tout that a behavior is wrong and immoral, then engage in that same behavior under a guise of moral superiority and integrity.
I’ll say it again. You cannot hold others to standards that you do not hold yourself to. You cannot expect the respect of others who you do not give respect to. You cannot demand communication whilst withholding it from others. Empathy is not a privilege. Respect of personhood is not a privilege. Communication is not a privilege. These are not privileges. They do not give you power. They do not give any advantage. They are a right, a basic human right, because all humans are deserving of empathy. All humans deserve to be respected as people. All humans deserve communication with others.
If you think these are privileges, I suggest taking a look at yourself and then giving some consideration to why exactly you’re able to view them as such.
ah how can I possibly ever leave like, whenever I feel like my interest might be fading the craziest thing happens and I get attached to Dream even more and feel like I did hard drugs or something. At this point I think I’m trauma bonded to this dude playing minecraft and to all of you and I don’t think I can ever leave
I'm so sorry but my tolerance for this shit is getting so thin
after years of grooming jokes and accusations about pedophilia and things where we had to really question whether we were going to continue to be fans of this man--and mounting evidence got thinner and made less and less sense--it's really hard to sit back and watch people shit talk him with literally NOTHING
They can't substantiate anything. They can't give examples. They certainly aren't relying on him for monetary reasons right now (except how, you know, they can't keep his name out of their mouth for content purposes), so surely they aren't scared to show the proof, right?
No. They're idiots and clearly doing this for clout purposes and to stir drama up and to make us watch their stupid videos to run their numbers up.
If Dream is a bad person, for real, then i'll unstan him. I've unfollowed people before that i used to really enjoy (shane dawson, david dobrik) and i'll do it again if I need to, but all this whispering and rumor mongering is fucking stupid and needs to stop.
My new thing, when i see a clip of tommy or jack or whoever talking shit, is to feel sorry for them.
Imagine not being able to do anything on your own and having to rehash stuff that happened years ago to have something to talk about on your own goddamn podcast. Didn't Tommy do stand up? I wouldn't know, I didn't watch it. Maybe talk about that. Expand more on that. Try to get a career out of that going. Stop focusing so much on someone else and run your own shit because I guaran-damn-tee you that Dream was not thinking about you when he was making the titan project.
If you can't find anything else to talk about on the podcast that literally no one asked for, then maybe don't have a podcast. it's as simple as that
the election results are going to take a few days. The world is going to be very tense. I want you to take all the things you like to do to distract yourself and splurge on them. I want you to go eat your favroite foods and spend time with friends. I want you to do what you gotta do to make sure you can make it through the week.
There are people out there who want you to survive. There are people out there who are just as scared as you are.
theartofmadeline
yousharknotpass
vaporwave
areudirty
annaxmalina
gummygunk
pixelskylines
