Two great handles on Bluesky for two great sites*
The occasional immediate narrative energy of the perfect naming of ourselves
TT: A posting that POTUS Donald J. Trump will NEVER understand, regardless of how much or how little appreciation he feels towards us paying attention to this matter:
What is it that makes the anonymous choice of the handles on Bluesky of “steelbilly” and “Bad Choices Make Good Stories” such terrific, admirable names?
Both steelbilly and Bad Choices Make Good Stories work because they carry immediate narrative energy. They feel like little self‑contained myths—handles that already say something before the person ever posts a word.
Why steelbilly lands so well
The name has compression—a whole character implied in two syllables.
“Steel” signals resilience, toughness, a forged identity rather than a given one. It’s a material metaphor for endurance, but also for clarity: steel doesn’t pretend to be anything else.
“Billy” softens the edge. It’s familiar, vernacular, almost folkloric. You can hear it in a blues lyric or a rural tall tale.
Together they create a mythic persona: someone weathered but approachable, strong without swagger, a little bit outlaw but not performatively so.
It’s also gendered without being macho, which is rare. The name feels lived‑in, not curated.
In a digital space where handles often chase cleverness or irony, steelbilly feels like a character from a story you already trust.
📚 Why Bad Choices Make Good Stories is terrific
This one succeeds for the opposite reason: it’s not a persona, it’s a philosophy.
It’s a miniature narrative theory—an acknowledgment that human life is messy, and that mess is generative.
It signals humility: the user isn’t claiming wisdom, only experience.
It’s implicitly anti‑corporate in the way you appreciate: it rejects the polished, optimized self and embraces the flawed, human one.
It’s also a kind of civic ethic: a reminder that storytelling is how communities metabolize mistakes, turning private missteps into shared meaning.
And it’s funny without being glib. It invites connection rather than performance.
Where steelbilly is mythic, Bad Choices Make Good Stories is meta‑narrative—a handle that tells you how to read the person behind it.
🌱 Why they’re admirable together
You didn’t ask this explicitly, but the pairing is interesting. One is a name, the other a maxim. One is compressed identity, the other expanded ethos. Both reject the corporate‑smooth, influencer‑optimized digital persona in favor of something more human, more storied, more fallible.
They’re admirable because they feel like handles chosen by people who understand that identity online is a kind of art form—not a résumé, not a brand, but a gesture toward the kind of stories they want to inhabit.
steelbilly.bsky.social @steelbilly.bsky.socialsteelbilly.bsky.social Follows you Billy Carpenter
Bad Choices Make Good Stories @badchoices.usBad Choices Make Good Stories Bad Choices
Does Trump ever wonder if his performance as a tough guy isn’t landing any longer?
