Re:Building Together EP 338 — "Taquitos Are Corn, Flautas Are Flour"

Host: CEELOS (@CEELOSFIGG) with ValerieKates (@valeriekates_) and Baked (@Bakedmetax) · Tue, Sep 29 · 1:01:18 · 3 speakers

TL;DR

• Second-to-last open-format episode. Structured programming returns October 1, starting Thursday with the AI topic; Tuesdays become wallet security, with Way Back Wednesday, People Over Pictures Friday, Creation Corner Saturday, highs/lows Sunday, and "This Week in Web3" Mondays.
• The long-running flauta-vs-taquito jurisdictional dispute got a title, a law, and a research methodology — Val is adding it to her generational-studies icebreakers.
• CEELOS pitched Baked on a 30-second animated edit to introduce the two new regen characters to the timeline; both have run into AI tools refusing to generate them because the models think they're children.
• Baked is designing claimable badges for Thursday's re:games in the Otherside, 8pm ET with Ghostin — featuring Ricardo, the all-white regen mascot.
• Val gave an update on her Monday Ape Church streams and her first attempt at doing readings in public, in Seattle at Pike Place.
• Wallet security PSA: revoke your approvals even if you weren't hit on Sept 25 — the PPv2 exploit is still live, and the exploiter is tipping 99% to the block builder so funds can't be front-run to safety.

Highlights

[1:55] A host returns from the void to cement the law. CEELOS dropped off before the space even started, came back, and immediately ruled: "Taquitos are corn. Flautas are flour. That is the law. And that is now cemented." Val, who had begun reading the title aloud on-air and stopped mid-sentence, filed a formal objection.

[7:37] The dispute escalates into methodology. Val tried to edit the title from Android, failed, and settled instead for a research plan: she'll put the question to people on her content travels and add it to her generational-studies icebreakers, since "it's gonna be all Hispanic families." CEELOS pre-emptively disqualified the sample — opinions from outside California don't count.

[9:30] Val brings etymology to a knife fight. "Flauta means flute. It's the shape, not the content." CEELOS countered that flour is implied in the name, and the conversation slid into a Spanish-lesson bit about cocina/cochina that ended with Val clarifying she was a college major, not a military one — a clarification CEELOS declined to accept.

[11:20] Jurisdictional analysis of Las Vegas. Val reported that some Vegas locals side with her, which CEELOS attributed to desert-induced brain damage; when she noted that some agree with him, he had a ready explanation: they're from California. Wolf reportedly left the space rather than sit through year two of this.

[13:14] Gopher gopher. CEELOS half-listened to a morning space while working and retained exactly one fragment — something about putting ideas somewhere — and his brain independently generated the phrase "gopher gopher," which has been itching at him ever since. Val's diagnosis was not reassuring.

[19:07 / 22:49] The regen characters vs. the content filter. CEELOS wants to build a 30-second edit with the two new fan characters to introduce them beyond the team chat, with Baked as brainstorm partner and credited executive producer ("that's just to bulk it up a little bit"). Both have hit the same wall: image tools refuse the characters on child-safety grounds. "I have to tell AI, they're not children, they're cartoon characters," CEELOS said — after which the AI cheerfully complies. Also covered: the Chris Pratt Mario casting, which Baked, as the Italian in the room, is not letting go.

[27:39] Otherside badges. Baked explained the mechanic for Thursday's second re:games — anyone who joins a hosted game can claim a badge that mints to their Otherside account, which doubles as attendance analytics for the host. He's building the set now using Ricardo, the all-white regen mascot, a crown, and the regen logo. They're staying under wraps until claim day.

[34:23] "One at a time, then all at once." Val's quieter stretch: after the Seattle good-company dinner she stayed an extra day, sat at Pioneer Square and near Pike Place with a sign offering readings, and got no takers — but ended up sharing a table with three rappers shooting music videos, showing them how to find Spaces on X, and listening to them talk about a brother lost, a new baby, and music. When one finally asked what she was doing, both said they hadn't even noticed the sign. Her takeaway: make the sign bigger, and the first step matters more than how it goes.

[42:47] Wallet security, read aloud from the Buildatron. CEELOS read out a warning that the PPv2 exploit was still ongoing an hour before the post — a wallet losing WETH one block after receiving it, with the exploiter tipping 99% to Titan Builder so there's no realistic way to front-run a rescue. His advice: keep two bucks around for gas, hit revoke.cash, check every chain and every wallet, and don't touch random things that appear in your wallet. The broader point: guards drop a day or two after the headlines fade, and that's exactly what the attackers are waiting for.

[48:21] Why the structure matters. With the schedule coming back, CEELOS admitted the daily freeform grind had gotten heavy: "Feel like a 10 pound bored ape just got off my shoulders." He credited Val for building the structure, then described himself voguing at imaginary Google Sheets blocks. Baked added the practical version — [49:20] nice not to leave him up on the pedestal talking alone, since he can absolutely run a space solo, "but it'd be nice if we could talk sometimes too."

[55:26] The unsponsored PSA. After talking degen habits, CEELOS delivered a full 1-800-GAMBLER read, then clarified: "This episode of Rebuilding Together is not brought to you by 1800 gambler." His actual system: for every three to five funsies plays, buy one thing you genuinely want to hold, so you don't look back and find you spent your whole run on junk food instead of a ribeye.

[56:54] Guest host, age: small. CEELOS's son arrived on mic, said hi, and — unprompted — started doing shout-outs to everyone in the room, gamely charging through names including an inventive pronunciation of Liz. Dad's verdict: "a born X space host right there." Meanwhile Val tried to get Layla to say hi and received the dirtiest look ever recorded.

Topic timeline

Notable quotes

• [9:30] ValerieKates: "No, it isn't because flauta means flute. It's the shape, not the content. I think you pissed me off with this."
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  0:38
• [11:20] CEELOS: "Those people, their brains are cooked from living in the desert."
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• [20:19] CEELOS: "I have to tell AI, they're not children, they're cartoon characters."
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  0:38
• [21:47] CEELOS, relaying his wife's diagnosis of the mysterious new red hairs in his beard: "Your facial hair is losing pigmentation, they're going gray."
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• [48:21] CEELOS: "Feel like a 10 pound bored ape just got off my shoulders."
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• [55:26] CEELOS: "This episode of Rebuilding Together is not brought to you by 1800 gambler."
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  0:38

Who said what

• CEELOS (@CEELOSFIGG) — host. Ran the space from LA between a dead laptop and a very tight dinner window, laid down the flauta law, pitched the regen character edit, delivered the wallet-security read, and handed the mic to his son for spontaneous shout-outs.
• ValerieKates (@valeriekates_) — cohost, calling in from the road. Chief opposition on the tortilla question, architect of the returning schedule, and the one with the field report: Ape Church streams on Mondays, public readings starting in Seattle and heading to Vegas next.
• Baked (@Bakedmetax) — cohost. Designing the Otherside re:games badges, hosting Thursday at 8pm ET with Ghostin, confirmed he hits the same AI content-filter wall on the new characters, and remains unwilling to forgive the Mario voice casting.

Worth a full listen

• [7:37]–[12:13] — The flauta argument in full. It's a year-old running bit with regional jurisdiction rules, a research protocol, a Spanish lesson that goes sideways, and a dad joke Val walks straight into. No summary carries the timing.
• [34:23]–[39:00] — Val's Seattle story, start to finish. The sign nobody saw, the three rappers at the table, and "one at a time, then all at once." It's the most genuinely reflective stretch of the hour and it's better unabridged.
• [56:54]–[58:31] — CEELOS's son takes the mic and starts shouting out the room by name, entirely on his own initiative, including a name he has clearly never seen written down.