Queer baiting is not a thing unless there is monetary gain being made and a product is being marketed with the promise of queer representation where there actually is none (ex. Old school brobly (gross), Disney movies promising gay characters, basically the entire CW network, Rainbow capitalism, etc.)
Dream and George (to my knowledge) have never tried to actually make money off of the ship. They've made jokes. They flirt. They hint. They're HUMAN. They're allowed to. It is nobody's business what they do and how they interact. Whether or not a relationship is real/could be real doesn't fucking matter. Humans can interact how humans want and goddammit a healthy, loving, affectionate friendship between two men should be allowed to exist anyway.
And if they do end up together- FUCKING FANTASTIC. It's still no one's business.
There is simply so much gatekeeping on identity it's crazy. That's a whole other thing, but still true.
holy shit i was reading about this topic tonight and do you know the amount of celebrities who have been forced to come out because the other option was getting canceled for "trying to profit off their queer fans"?? it's disgusting.
on the dream and george topic i think it's laughable how the people outside of the fandom have this distorted image of what dream and george actually are. if you knew even a little bit of background you'd know that it's all a fun back and forth dynamic between them and their fans (i'm sure there's people out there who take it seriously, but for the most part? we're all just having fun). and it's SO sad to see those people completely drag their beautiful friendship through the mud almost to the point of devaluating it. just because they're pressed that two guys are clingy and flirt? hello who doesn't flirt with their friends. i tell my friends i'd fuck them all the time.
yes their flirty nature attracts some of their audience. but no, people don't tune in because they expect dream to crash george's bedroom, take his shirt off and slobber all over george's face. also, no, they're not flirty to do us all a favor. they're flirty because they're annoying. (in all seriousness, it's just the way they are with each other because yes, a lot of friendships ARE like that.)
and like you said even if something DOES happen literally no one (no one!!!!!) is entitled to comment on anything regarding their relationship. their feelings are theirs only and only for them to figure out. the second one of them says 'hey im not comfortable with this anymore' we're all fucking out of here. because WE do understand that adults have stuff to figure out sometimes and we respect that.
antis just so desperate to find something strong enough to cancel them for good man :/
A.N. Hello! I, once again, cannot figure out the read more option, so I apologize for that. Hope you like it!
submitted by @kraken45
(xplrvibes note: omg, this is amazing! I love this so so much and it just really put a smile on my face and actually made me feel so much better! it really hit the spot! the characterization of both boys and their relationship, and Jake’s relationships with them as well, was so perfect! (special shout out for throwing cryptocurrency in there lol) anyway, everyone read this and give @kraken45 all the kudos! thank you so so so much and ily you for this!)
Colby had just had a really fucking bad day. A bad week, honestly. He couldn’t really pinpoint why. Couldn’t pinpoint when the bad started and when he’d gotten so grumpy. It seemed to kind of melt into his natural state of being this week. And here he is. He’s been sitting in bed for the past three hours, desperately trying to work up the motivation to do anything. He already felt like a failure. He’d slept through his own merch drop, which he had been really excited for. The merch was sick and it was a drop he was really proud of, but he could not get himself to care. He was scaring himself. Why was his mind doing this to him? He was on track to have the best year of his life. Why did he feel like absolute shit for literally no reason?
He wasn’t the only one to notice either. Jake had promptly told him to “fuck off until he got his head out of his ass” when he’d snapped yesterday. To be fair, he had deserved it. He was being short with the people who didn’t do anything wrong other than exist in the same space as him. That’s why he was holing up at the moment. He didn’t want to snap again. The last thing he wanted was to bother people and bring them down with him. His friends were too good for that. He, however, probably deserved this. He was sure he had done something wrong at some point in time and this was karma coming back to bite him in the ass. Honestly, it very well could have been karma from the killing best friend prank video again. While he and Sam had agreed on it, he had no idea how badly Sam would be affected. He had felt horrible ever since.
Stop it. He thought to himself. I cannot go down this again.
Whenever he was alone, he had a tendency to fall into a pit of self-deprecation that took days to climb out of. He would sit and stew and go over the things he’d done wrong in his life and just beat the proverbial shit out of himself until something shook him out of it. That something was usually Sam, but he was away with Kat this weekend. Which, good. Sam and Kat needed an awesome weekend away. There should be nothing stopping them. Colby refused to allow himself to be that thing. Ever, for anyone. Colby needed to learn to be able to pick himself up. He was in his mid-20’s. He should be better than this. Sam wasn’t his mom, and damn it, his mom shouldn’t even be responsible for this. He should be able to be an adult without someone forcing him to be. He felt useless. He felt dependent. He felt alone. How does one feel dependent and alone at the same time? Don’t ask Colby. That’s a fact he can’t figure out either, but it’s how he feels.
Wringing his fingers together in a nervous tick, he decides to text Jake and apologize for snapping. He really didn’t mean to hurt anyone. It just seemed like he managed to, no matter the circumstance. No wonder he went up in his room all the time. He knew most of the people in his life just tolerated him. They weren’t affected in the slightest whenever he would leave, and he knew that. That’s why he always did. He needed to be alone and no one wanted to be around him, so he left.
Colby sighs loudly and sinks farther down into his sheets. He closed his eyes and willed himself to find motivation. He’d already let Sam and the label down once today, he needed to not do it again. He willed his legs to move. They didn’t. He willed any feeling that wasn’t this drowning sensation. He pressed his hands against his eyes, hoping the metal chill of his rings would make him feel. It didn’t. All it did was frustrate him. He wanted to cry, but he knew he wouldn’t. Tears never came when he needed them to. He just laid there, stuck in the never-ending spiral of attempting to force a feeling until he got angry he wasn’t feeling it until a series of dings rang through on his phone.
He sighed again. Just as he’d expected, his manager was ripping into him for not being on time for his merch drop. She said the expected, but then dropped a bombshell at the end and called him unreliable. That stung. He’d always prided himself on being the one to always come through for people. His friends could count on him to hype them up and support them, through thick and thin. He was a rock. He was reliable. Apparently not. He typed out an apology, though he was having a hard time getting his hands to cooperate with his brain. He wanted to tell her he knew. She should just represent Sam and convince him to go solo. He knew he was holding him back. Life would be so much better, for everyone, if he could either get his shit together or get out of the way. His hands trembled as he typed and deleted and retyped and finally just settled on “I’m sorry.”
She wasn’t going to like that, he was well aware, but there was nothing else he could do. She wasn’t there to listen to his sob story of how he couldn’t get his brain to understand how fucking priviledged he was. She was there to help him sell merch and he was supposed to announce it. He didn’t do it. Well, technically, he did do it, but not the right way. None of the fans cared. He’d been promoting all week and they knew the second Sam dropped something, he would too. But that didn’t make him feel any better. It was just another example of how he relied on Sam to carry him through. Maybe he was unreliable, but Sam made him think he was.
He really was lucky. Sam was everything he wasn’t, and better at the things he was. Sam was smart, Colby was not. Sam was quick-witted, Colby was not. Sam could maintain a healthy relationship, Colby could not. Any amount of kindness or comedic ability or anything like that Colby had, Sam had it too. Colby could not understand why Sam wanted him around some days. He knew Sam wouldn’t be where he was without Colby, but now that he was here, Colby wondered how much more Sam could do on his own. He wouldn’t have to drag Colby around all of the time and hold him accountable.
Any other day, Colby would know all of these thoughts were absolute bullshit. He and Sam were friends and that’s what made their content connect with people. Their bond was evident and was in no way one-sided, Sam had told him that plenty of times. There were ample videos on Sam’s personal channel that stated this as fact. Logically, Colby knew that. That didn’t stop these intrusive thoughts from pushing him farther into his sheets.
He felt like he was at war with his own head and he could only play defense. Any sound or word said to him was a hit for the offense and there was nothing he could do about it. Which is why that would be the exact moment two separate texts would ping across his phone screen at the same time. One was from Jake and the other from Sam. Great. Two people he absolutely did not want to interact with right now. He could not handle one more passive-aggressive message that was likely in Jake’s text or expression of disappointment that was likely in Sam’s because the damn offense didn’t need any more ammunition. He gave them enough as it was, so he did the only logical thing and tossed his phone to the other side of his bed and put his pillow over his head.
Exhaustion rammed into him like a train. He felt stupid, once again, as he had done literally nothing all day. There was no reason to be tired. But, fighting crusade against one’s own amygdala can take it out of someone, so he decided to cut himself some slack and go back to sleep.
About two hours had passed, which Colby had spent in a restless, anxiety-ridden half-sleep where any slight change in temperature would force him to either curl up or chuck the sheets in a haphazard fashion. He had just reentered his lucid state when a blaring ring brought him fully back into reality. He audibly groaned into his pillow and reached for the phone. His ecstasy in receiving yet another phone call about his missed drop from management was understandably low at best, but he looked at his phone and was surprised to see Sam’s name and picture displayed instead, indicating he wanted to FaceTime. Colby weighed his options. He, in no way, wanted to see Sam right now. Or rather, he didn’t want Sam to see him. Sam knew his habits and these days spent in the anxiety cavern weren’t new, so he would know something was up. On the other hand, if Colby didn’t answer, he would know Colby was either hiding something or sleeping…
Colby hoped he would think he was sleeping as he let the call time out. He felt bad for ignoring Sam, but he’d rather ignore him than worry him while he was out with his girlfriend for some much deserved alone time. Colby wondered what he wanted.
Well, dumbass, if you would have answered you would know. His inner voices were bullying him again. Colby just shook his head and shoved it back between his pillows. He sat there for about ten minutes or so, pressing the fabric into his head, willing himself to go back to sleep so he didn’t have to deal with this reality until that obnoxious ringing shrieked out again.
“What the fuck?” Colby asked out loud, refusing to look at the phone’s image and declining. He was in even worse shape than a few minutes ago, somehow, and he was not in the mood to talk to anyone. Sam never called twice, so Colby wasn’t concerned it was him and anyone else was not on his priority list at the moment. He went one step further and turned the phone off. Any conversation anyone was going to have with him right now would be unproductive, so he refused to have any. Colby decided sleeping obviously wasn’t working, so he sat up to make a move for the shower.
He stretched his stiff limbs and slowly rose, his back cracking with every inch higher he stood. Damn, he felt old. He slowly made his way to his dresser and decided old XPLR joggers and a hoodie was good enough. It took an unprecedented amount of time to get those things out of the drawer. Colby felt like he was wading through molasses and any form of movement was met with some invisible resistance that he couldn’t seem to break. In no world should someone as healthy as him get winded from picking out clothes, but that’s what happened.
Fuck, I need to go outside. He thought to himself. This room could not be helping his mental state, so a walk was the only form of action he could think to take.
After my shower. He thought again. His actions were interrupted by a small sound on the other side of his room. His head whipped around far too quickly for someone who had no water in their system, and as his eyes refocused and reoriented, he wondered if he’d even actually heard the sound at all. It was so small and tentative he thought he’d made it up. He didn’t hear anything for a solid ten seconds, so he made his way into his bathroom to gather the things he needed to shower. He closed his bathroom door slightly behind him and started looking for his shampoo. His other bottle had just run out, so his head was under the sink when he swore he heard another sound out in his main room. He stopped moving again, listening. There was silence again. Colby swore he was going crazy. He then heard what he recognized as knocking become more frantic as Jake called his name and tried to open his door. He must’ve forgotten to lock it because two seconds later, Jake was bounding into the room at the same time Colby was reentering and they nearly collided.
“What the fuck, Colby? Are you okay?’ Jake asked, concerned, grabbing Colby’s shoulders and shifting him around to get a good look at Colby’s face.
“Yeah…? Why wouldn’t I be?” Colby questioned back, genuinely confused. Jake gave him a hard look.
“Why haven’t you come out at all today? Why have you been ignoring calls and texts and shit? You’ve been acting weird all week.” Jake shook Colby lightly, trying to force him to look him in the face. Colby turned his head to the side instead.
“I know, I’m sorry. I… I don’t really know what’s going on. I’ve felt fucking weird all week, but it’s just been bad the past two days. I felt bad for yelling at you yesterday, so I figured it’d be better if I just stayed away until I figured out what my problem was. I haven’t been able to do that, yet.” Colby chuckled dryly, Jake obviously finding no humor in the words. Jake still didn’t let Colby’s shoulders go, opting to squeeze them tight instead.
“Brother, you’re all good. We all act up sometimes. I said that in the text you didn’t read,” Colby turned away, embarrassed. Jake shook him again, a sign to look up. Colby did this time.
“Listen, dude, we’ve all got shit days. We just wanted to make sure there was nothing immediately wrong.”
“We?” Colby asked. Jake rolled his eyes, moving his hands to Colby’s upper arms.
“Sam called me panicking for the last five minutes. He noticed you promoted the merch late and then dropped off Earth for several hours and didn’t answer when he called like four times and was declined three times. And when I told him you weren’t answering me either, he thought you’d had a heart attack or some shit. I told him like 12 times you were fine, but you know how fucking momma bear he gets over you.” Colby cringed slightly. In trying to avoid causing Sam stress, he’d accidentally caused him a hell of a lot more. Colby did know about the random protective hair Sam had for him, he just tended to forget about it as Sam was more aloof than Colby was. Colby was very upfront about his emotions and it’s never been hard to know what he’s feeling, but Sam had always been more neutral. He hid his true feelings well from everyone else, but Colby knew his ticks.
For example, Colby knew when Sam’s left hand was on his hip and he was leaning on something with his right, he was pissed, even if his voice was level. He knew that a glance to the left at some dude making eyes at Kat was pure jealousy, even with a smile on his face. He knew that if Sam grazed his hand lightly on Colby’s shoulder after he’d just done something dangerous, it meant to never do that shit again, even if he was laughing. Sam was often subtle in his displays of emotion, but that didn’t make those feelings any less real. Which is why Sam actually making Jake go check on him was more concerning. He must’ve really freaked him out. Colby should have known.
“Damn it. I was trying to do the exact opposite.” Jake tilted his head slightly in acknowledgment, nodding lightly.
“I know, but that shit didn’t work. Call him real quick and tell him your heart’s still pumping. He’ll chill once he knows you’re not dead or actively dying. Then shower because you smell like shit and then play smash with me. I’ve wanted to play all day but you’ve been busy making yourself into soup apparently. Then if you’re lucky, that’s not the only smashing you’ll get tonight.” Jake winked and smacked his ass lightly as he ran out of Colby’s door. Colby cringed and laughed, forever amused by his friend’s ability to make anything sexual.
Colby lifted his arm and sniffed, wondering if it was really that bad. The room instantly spinning was a good enough answer. He made his way into his room and switched his phone on, dreading the texts and calls he’d receive once it came back on. Sure enough, there were 3 unread messages and three missed calls from Sam. He quickly went to the messages and sent Sam a quick explanation of what happened. Well, he basically said he’d been sleepy all day and turned the phone off in an attempt to go back to sleep, which wasn’t untrue, but not the full truth either. He just wanted Sam to forget about him for the weekend and have fun. Sam did not take the bait.
“Alright sure,” Sam’s reply read, “you can say that. Listen, brother, I know you’ve been in a weird funk the past few days. That’s why I got so worried when you didn’t answer. I know nothing was happening, really, but you’ve probably been stuck in your own head all week. I fucking hate when you get stuck there and try and get out alone. You’re a strong person, but you can only see things the way your brain will let you. And lemme tell you, that fucker is lying sometimes. I have no clue what’s going on up there, but lemme say this, you’re fine. People like you. People wanna help you when your days are shit. Don’t isolate yourself. Go downstairs and play smash with Jake, he’s been bitching all day. Also shower, you probably smell like ass.”
Colby cracked a little smile at that. They really did spend too much time together. Another text came in before he could respond.
“Also I swear to God if you try to sit there and say sorry 12000 times I will knock your teeth out through this phone. Just stfu in advance. Threat stands if you ever ignore me again.” Colby laughed out loud this time, as he read over his unsent reply that started with “I’m sorry…” These two really needed to spend more time apart. Or maybe less, if today was any indication of how things would go if they were separated for more than a day.
Colby replied, “Okay, okay, I got you. I apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused. (Not sorry) but I’m gonna shower and kick Jake’s ass. Nothing will clear a funk quicker than that. Thanks a lot, brother. Really not sure where I’d be without you, so love and appreciate you like always. Snc v the world brother. Now ignore me for the next three days and have fun!! Seeya monday bitch!”
“Cut the mushy shit brother, I ain’t a little bitch like you. I will be happily ignoring your existence until then.” Sam replied, but quickly added “i’m just kidding ily2, please fucking text me if you need something for the love of god. Snc v tw” with a gif of a koala sending a virtual hug attached.
Colby hearted the gif and sad reacted to the first message as he chuckled to himself and headed towards the shower. Sam knew just what to say, just like always. After he had showered, Colby went downstairs and played at least thirty more rounds of Smash than he’d intended to, and since he and Jake were him and Jake, the loser ended up doing punishments. That’s how he’d ended up with a spatula-shaped bruise on his asscheek and nearly choked to death on his water as he watched Jake Naruto-run into the Traphouse inflatable dog and fully disappear. He hadn’t felt this light all week. He felt like himself again. Thank god. Who knew all he would need is a video game and a text? The rest of the night went about as one could expect with ½ of the Trap boys getting drunk off of White Claws and wine, so one could just describe it as a night of wonderful TikTok content.
As the weekend progressed, Colby felt his motivation return. He reposted plenty of merch orders, which were not affected by his sleeping in, and got a ton of work done. He was actually neck deep in an article about cryptocurrency when Sam’s Tesla pulled into the driveway. Colby didn’t noticed as he continued to read about this strange new currency, when his door flung open and he jumped ten feet out of his chair.
“Sam, you dick!” He shouted as Sam doubled over, laughing hysterically. “How fucking rude. I haven’t seen you for four days and the first thing you want to do is kill me?” Sam walked over to his desk, still laughing. He wiped a tear from one eye and wrapped his other arm around Colby’s shoulders, bending it and putting Colby into a weak headlock.
“Nah, brother, there are way more interesting ways if I wanted to do that.” Colby snorted, looking up at him in fake offense while trying to pull his arm down.
“I should have known all of those nice words were fake. You just wanted my guard down, you bitch.” Colby joked back as Sam tightened his arm, messing up Colby’s hair with his other hand.
“You finally fucking caught on, good for you.” Sam patronized as Colby tried to slap his hand out of his hair when Sam suddenly stopped and wrapped both his arms around Colby’s shoulders. “Don’t ever shut me out again. I will break down those damn walls with a sledgehammer if I have to. I fucking love you brother, don’t forget that.” Sam punctuated his statement with a tight squeeze of his arms while Colby smiled wide, leaning his head into Sam’s shoulder. Colby knew his friends had him, through good days and bad. He just needed a reminder sometimes.
“I love you too, Sam. Expect the exact same.” Colby stated, looking him in the eyes and patting his arms. Sam nodded and squeezed him one last time before letting go and ruffling Colby’s hair again with both hands, completely annihilating any styling that was left after the first assault. He turned on a heel and ran out his door.
I will say, at the very least, techno is back this month. I am happy about that. It does also seem like Karl is doing alright as of now, since he’s taken some time off and just been with the beast crew (which I forgot about somehow lol yeah Chris Tyson would absolutely brain someone for that boy) so he’s got that. And I do think dream is slowly learning coping mechanisms. It doesn’t make being the fuckin lightning rod of hate any easier, but at least he can rest a little easier knowing a lot of it is people blowing things way up, you know? Bc at the bottom of the whole thing there still is a valuable lesson and perspective that needs to be listened to, but most people don’t have to fuck up in front of millions of people. I hope he knows that most people know that at least. And it doesn’t invalidate the lesson either. If anything, it just buries it and that’s the saddest part.
smallest fucking victories i hope he really sticks around for long :D i heard he's got a new video coming out very soon 👀
and yeah lmao same i forget bby karl is Actually part of the mrbeast crew sometimes. so there you go, he's got them and sap (and i have to say having the mr beast crew on your side is a huge victory with the whole being experienced in game and knowing how to deal with hate).
EXACTLY THOUGH people take a great learning opportunity and turn it into a very overwhelming experience that contributes absolutely fucking nothing to his personal growth. except maybe some trauma and anxiety. so good job twitter people
You know what I saw that lowkey irritated me and I'm wondering if I'm in the wrong here?? I saw some person comment on Instagram (which I should never read lmao) that was going in on Techno for a "homophobic joke " (which as a lesbian, I can tell you was not fuckin homophobic lol) and saying they didn't care about the money he raised for the Trevor Project during MCC and that they wanted an apology and I was like ???? What kinda backwards ass???? Like, I would much prefer direct charity and action like he did over some empty ass words? Am I crazy or does that seem slightly selfish? Like, I understand wanting an acknowledgment of the thing but... it seems out of turn to say you don't care about a 5 figure donation to a charity dedicated to helping LBGTQ+ folks... and instead you want a notes app screenshot... idk. Don't feel obligated to answer this I was just so taken aback that I needed to write something about it lmao. (Also, maybe once July hits dnf may give us some goddam peace because oh my god the past 24 hours have been Insane.)
ah ah ah i might get into some shit for saying this but you know what <3 it's been over a year since my last tumblr controversy i think we're due for another one.
FUNNY you bring this up because i was thinking the exact same thing after mcc. it's SO ridiculous how the internet does not Know the meaning of growing up and moving on. redemption simply does not exist for them.
first of all, okay, i am not a lesbian but i am a very proud bi that dates girls exclusively, and i don't think the comment was a big deal either. i understand the people who want an apology, i do! but, let's be real here, if techno were to acknowledge it one good 70% of the response would be 'that's not enough' 'pr work' 'ok lesbophobe' so like? what's even the fucking point.
from one "problematic" cc to another, one of my favorite things that dream has said is that sometimes bringing up negative stuff only makes it 100x worse and i agree. if techno lives by those words i applaud him.
another thing that i think is really funny is the timestamp of the events. bro it was a tweet from YEARS ago. what was he? 17? i was a fucking dick at 17, ask anyone. i'm not saying it's okay, or that it was okay back then. i'm just saying i'm not that person anymore?? imagine this was real life right. imagine the situation: this dude comes to school one day and decides to make a tasteless joke. 5 years later he's so eaten away by guilt he shows up to that very school, calls for everyone's attention, stands on top of a table, and apologizes for the joke that he made 5 years before. just imagine the reactions. they'd take him to the hospital.
the internet standards are so ridiculously high and stupid and double standarded that it gives me a headache. anyway! no i don't think you're in the wrong either, i totally agree with you. people's talent of focusing in the wrong things all the fucking time is astonishing.
(also yes dnf brainrot i need a break <33 don't think we're getting one though i feel like the meetup is closer than we think bdjej)
ok but seriously how light is colby bc i swear I've seen him get thrown at least 10 times and it's never by someone who's like... buff as hell. Like, I'm not saying alex isn't strong, but it was literally /effortless/ wtf
i KNOW right i thought sam was supposed to be the 'tiny' one??? either alex is deceiving thousands of people or colby is actually THAT light.
to be honest i wouldn't be surprised. he's got a very toned body but he's got a small waist and his shoulders aren't very broad either. obviously sam is shorter and have an even more petite frame, but colby might not be that far off.
listen you have no clue how happy i am you are also on a mcyt arc bc i have never felt so represented. it's such a guilty pleasure but i cannot help it my dude. if you ever wanna send me a message and discuss... pls feel welcome loooool (i miss techno with my whole damn heart pls come home)
WHERE IS HE ACTUALLY he literally just went inactive out of nowhere
i don't even know how i ended up here???? i was minding my business sticking to corpse only and then........ i don't even play minecraft????? i used to make FUN of my best friend for playing minecraft. this is life throwing karma at my face.
we shall wear or mcyt arc proudly i've decided <3. i'm so happy i can share this with you too 💀 i'm definitely messaging you after the mcc this saturday ahdhsjw i feel like i should be rooting for the green team but sapnap and punz............. my beloveds
