#so as a result post-zz Rupert would be nastily immunocompromised

[suddenfossilfightersheadcanons]

280-Character Rebellion: Rupert’s Twitter and Instagram

Rupert opened his Twitter account when he was 13 years old. He’s said it’s his, but initially, it was really just an outlet for FossilDig to advertise itself with a human aftertouch. Rupert spent three years posting nothing personal—though his victories would be plastered across screens as bountifully as his father’s products, they would rarely be showcased in an emotional light. This was an account designed to mask the inhumanity of a corporation, rather than grant it the heart it didn’t have—hence, Rupert’s real voice was muffled by his practiced condescension and unflappable sangfroid.

But following ZZ-as-Joe’s defamation of Dina, things changed. Rupert posted the first tweet he’d ever forgone his father’s approval for, expressing his belief in Dina’s innocence and decrying the putative Joe Wildwest’s speech. Overnight, hundreds of thousands of FossilDig consumers and fighters globally were exposed to a scandal on little Caliosteo. The media went wild. #DinaIsInnocent trended on Twitter hours after the tweet’s release. Interviewers lined up to badger Rupert into explaining his position. Marcus Harrison was utterly furious—this wasn’t a political account, after all, but an advertising account. Rupert, determined to shed his status as a chattel, refused to take the tweet down. Hence, the CEO found himself at a crossroads: for if he ignored the post, the media would notice Rupert’s rebellion against his father. Denying or contradicting it could only serve likewise. Hence, in spite of his dislike for Dina, he could do naught but release an official statement supporting Dina’s innocence.

Whilst his father was distracted with the Twitter scandal, Rupert opened an official Instagram account (@RupertHarrison, as opposed to his personal account, @MapoMapusaurus) without alerting his father to the fact. Though used as a celebrity platform, it’s entirely divorced from company initiatives—having been established during the ZZ/Dina palaver, his first posts were used to showcase his finals match against Dina and then express her innocence. Additionally, he created a highlights reel of the Cup, showcasing the more personal aspects the tournament. Early uploads included photos of the boulder outside Krakanak (‘For all the hardship that taught us all to count our blessings, thank you’), of Todd with a miraculous fossil cleaned perfectly (‘You proved yourself tenacious in round 1, and you’ve only gotten more tenacious as the weeks have gone on’), of Joanie and Princess Pooch at the end of Round 3 (‘We certainly came home surprised a few weeks later... power to you two’), and of his embrace with Dino at the end of the semis (no captions, just raw emotion). Additionally, he’d regram Pauleen’s posts in bulk, and put out the odd political statement. By the end of the week, he’d garnered 5000 followers; in a month, that number had tripled, and his father had caught wind of the whole affair. Though Marcus Harrison was horrified, there was nothing he could do—to this day, he ignores the account as much as possible.

Rupert continues to post frequently to this day, uploading new content near-daily. Amongst other things, he’s used the account to clarify his relationship with Dino (dating), explain that he got possessed by ZZ (and reassure the general populace that for all the health problems that came with such, he’s alright, if immunocompromised), and spam the great unwashed with aesthetic pictures of Mapo. More recently, after the sobering headline that he’d been admitted to the ICU for COVID-19, he uploaded a photo of himself in Icegrip Plateau with the following caption: ‘I live, I thrive’. However pale and haggard he appeared, fans went wild with relief and joy.