Mousey-brand handkerchiefs: everyone who uses them swears by them.
Something was off. No—terribly off. Somebody dig deeper!
So the netizens started tracing the timeline the fan had given for the night they'd run into Ollie Blake, and what they found was interesting.
That fan said they saw Ollie at 10:25 p.m. The clickbait account's photo timestamp showed 10:47 p.m.
It's only about ten minutes' walk over to the Lumin Club if you head straight there after meeting him. Fine. But that night Ollie didn't just meet one fan. Two other people posted selfies with him later on Instagram.
They hadn't just recognized him—Ollie was one of their idols, too.
What happened was, the first fan had teased him, threatening to send the picture of him sneaking food to Caleb Ross. Ollie said, jokingly, "If you have other favorite stars, give me their signed photos and I'll trade them for my 'evidence.'" And then—amazingly—he actually pulled those signed photos out.
Not one or two different favorites across three fans, but three—three different stars—and he had photos for all of them. One of them was even Zane West, who hardly ever does signed photos.
Is this real?!
Why do you all spoil him so much?
Why does he have so many signed photos!!!
Those autographs that could sell for hundreds at the flea market are being used like napkins?!!!
None of that was the main point. The important thing was the timestamps: the other two fans' selfies with Ollie were at 10:58 and 11:19 p.m. That meant he could have stayed at the Lumin Club for, at most, ten to fifteen minutes. There was no way he could have been there and still taken a photo at 10:58 with someone else.
So the question became: what kind of financier could he have been seeing that could be dismissed so casually?
He'd gone without preparation—no gifts, reeked of barbecue, looked like he'd ducked in to say hi to some elder at the club and then immediately left to keep eating. The original fan's joke that he looked like the kid sent to carry someone's coat fit perfectly.
"I give up. You love eating that much? You really just popped in to say hi and turned right back around? I bet they didn't see him afterwards because he realized he didn't have enough signed photos on him, so he slipped into a private room…"
"How absurd that he's carrying around that many signed photos! I'm actually jealous. Why is everyone so nice to him? I want those autographs, Ollie, Ollie—be a good boy and give me one, please!"
"Is anyone else terrified he's about to tank another stream after this? Hahahaha he looks so happy eating. Can't you at least change your hair or wear a hat? Do a little disguise! Are you afraid Caleb will see you in the news and not recognize you?"
"Same. First photo he's holding a skewer, second he's clinking dried squid with a fan, third he's tucking into a street-side steak. How is he this darn down-to-earth? How much did he eat that night, Caleb? Caleb, are you okay? Still no public statement—you not mad?"
"Fifteen minutes is enough to see a financier. Why can't you just say hi? No one says you have to do anything."
"There's no evidence he was seeing a financier. Are you the one who raised the doubt? Prove it. And if he'd done something dodgy, who would stand there on the club steps so casually? Where did you find your astroturfers—at least make the smear believable."
"There must be astroturfers. How else would such a minor thing blow up so fast? And it's still the top trend—Shane Keane must have pulled strings. If you're hunting dirt, at least find something credible. The guy raids restaurants at midnight—when would he have time to arrange financiers?"
"Honestly, I feel like he's the kind of person who'd drag a financier out for midnight snacks with him…"
"Don't say it. Don't even say it…"
Caleb Ross was about to lose his mind. He knew Ollie had gone out that night. Ollie had told him he got a message from the Supernatural Affairs Bureau and had to help with a mission.
A "mission" that meant going to the food court and stuffing his face?!!
Ollie!!!
Because this was supposedly a Bureau-issued task and the Supernatural Affairs Bureau only got involved when weird stuff was happening, Caleb hadn't pressed for details. He hadn't expected that this dumb hamster would get photographed by a clickbait account at the worst possible moment and be dragged into a trending pile-on fueled by Shane Keane's camp.
Caleb studied the photo. The Maybach in the background was very expensive. He'd always suspected Ollie might be some small scion from a prominent family, so it was plausible he was just sent to greet an elder.
He didn't know whether Ollie had his own hidden phone—he'd texted him, but there was no reply.
Ollie's fanbase was generally mellow, but that calm came from the fact that he'd spent nearly three smooth years in the industry without major scandals, not from low fighting spirit.
Once people suspected Shane Keane's side had used Ollie to drown out that other actor's trend, old resentments and new grievances boiled over.
The usually gentle fans suddenly flipped. They threw support behind the minor actor's defense posts, spammed hashtags, and within twenty minutes pushed down the astroturfed black PR against Ollie.
Because Ollie always came off as a lovable goof who trended over silly things, his public goodwill was strong. People were jealous that he had so many signed photos from other stars, and that jealousy made the original supposed dirt seem even less credible later on.
In the end, the fake black PR only made everyone wonder how many famous people Ollie actually knew, how much backing he had.
Only a stubborn remnant of Shane Keane's followers kept propping up the black PR post, trying to prove it was feasible to meet a financier in a quarter of an hour.
"Everyone's defending the 'meeting an elder' theory—fine, then who's this elder? Who actually goes to the club doorstep for a last-minute meeting?"
Just when it seemed the incident would fizzle and attention would swing back to Shane Keane, someone unexpected stepped in and pushed the post back to the top of the trends.
Zane West (verified): Big bro // Everyone's saying he went to see an elder…
Instagram exploded.
Who was Zane West? He and Julian North had taken the Best Actor award in consecutive years—Zane was a top-tier actor. He'd said recently that after finishing his last project he planned to step back from the industry and join the family business. Julian North had just announced a return, so the tail of that trend was already musing about two kings not crossing paths.
Now, because Shane Keane had dragged Ollie into the mud, Zane West had to wade in. People had long suspected Ollie had more backing than just Starline Entertainment—turns out his connections might be bigger than anyone guessed.
"No way—Zane West is Ollie's brother? Holy crap, Ollie, look at you."
"No wonder Zane's autograph showed up among Ollie's photos. Zane barely signs anything—so he must be his brother. No wonder he's spoiled."
"But why different last names? Zane and Ollie have different surnames. Also, no one's really dug into Zane's background, and Ollie's mystery was still intact."
"Maybe one follows the dad's name, the other the mom's? Zane has another brother, right? All their names are two syllables—makes sense."
"Huh? Zane has another brother? I don't remember that."
"Oh, Autumn Xu mentioned it once—she filmed with Zane, they gamed together. One time Zane's other brother logged in on Zane's account and wiped them in-game. She scolded Zane, then realized it was a misunderstanding. Classic gaming crew behavior."
The whole thing left netizens and Caleb a little stunned. Ollie had claimed he was an orphan adopted by his "uncle," Ned Blake. So where did a real, older brother suddenly come from?
Among the little monsters who'd grown up with Ollie, there were many. The one closest to him had been Zane's younger sibling, Ezra West—a snow-white little fox.
When the Fae began getting legal household registrations, Zane—who was already planning to go out and seek his fortune—had the only full legal human identity among them. Ned Blake and his kin mostly stayed at home, but they knew Ollie would need a proper identity if he ever left the mountains. So legally Ollie was registered under Zane's name as a younger brother.
Zane had truly treated Ollie like his own brother.
When Ezra was small he'd been mischievous—this little fox ran all over the hills, grabbed the tiny grey hamster Ollie when Ollie was barely old enough to need nearly round-the-clock care from Ned, and snuck him home in his bushy tail.
Ned had just nodded off, then woke up frantic to find his son missing. Ezra—nicknamed ZeeZee—didn't care at all about the big white tiger barking around; he came home triumphantly announcing to his brother that he'd found a little brother, and that the wild fox would never be without a sibling again.
Zane didn't know what to think at first. When he saw the peacefully sleeping little hamster—eyes half-closed—he alerted Ned. Ezra adored Ollie and refused to give him back. Only when Zane took Ollie as his brother did ZeeZee let Ollie return to Ned.
After that, ZeeZee visited Ollie every day. The two were inseparable—sunbathing on the lawn together. Even the fiercest beasts calmed watching them. Zane remembered the day he left the mountain to make his way in the world: it was a warm, bright morning. The white fox and the tiny grey hamster lay on the new cement roof Ned had built, soaking up the sun. When Zane prepared to leave, the little hamster crawled onto the white fox's head and the two paw-waved at him. They were sad, but they controlled themselves and didn't chase after him.
Zane glared back with his spirit-sense and caught the white fox wiping away—well, tearing up over—the hamster. The poor little hamster flailed his short legs, trying to escape, but he couldn't resist a paw much bigger than his whole body.
Any sadness at parting evaporated in an instant.