Vlogbrothers - Tumblr Posts
every time i feel so humiliated that i consider quitting my job and moving to another state, i remember that hank green has a story so embarrassing that john won’t let him tell it, and then i feel a little better.
Optimism is Not Insane (by vlogbrothers)
This is what gives me faith in the Path.
Just move to the internet! It's great here. We get to live inside where the weather is always awesome!
John Green
Swindon Town Swoodilypoopers
So, over a decade ago, I wrote a fic.
This fic was about a fictional version of Swindon Town’s football club, wherein the two star strikers were both named John Green, as played by John Green on FIFA, streaming on YouTube. It’s exactly as weird as it sounds, you just kind of have to lean into it.
It is probably one of the more niche fics on the internet, and I really couldn’t explain what drove me to write it other than a persistent nagging in the back of my head that compelled me to put it to paper. I’m lucky enough that other people in this strange corner of the internet also found it, and loved it, and shared their love of it with me. It means so much to me when it still gets the occasional comment on Ao3.
All of which is to say, when @roseowlia reached out to ask whether they could bind a copy of it, I was extremely excited about the idea, especially if they’d be willing to also make a copy for me!
It arrived today and oh my it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen!
For many reasons, this fic holds a very special place in my heart, and I’m so touched that it stuck with other people too.
I recognize that it is most likely no longer his 41st birthday, but I do quite like this gifset.
*Googles his birthday* Ah, I see that it is in fact shortly after his 42nd birthday! I didn’t realize it was so close to mine. Heeey he turned 42 on the 24th--happy inverse golden birthday, John!
Anyways I think I’ve been slowly becoming a Nerdfighter. I don’t know if I fully qualify as one yet but I’m getting close. It’s an awesome fandom name, by the way :)
Happy 41st birthday, John Green!
Thank you for being awesome!
In one of John's (OP's) vlogbrothers' videos, you talked about Paul Farmer's saying of an H of G—a hermeneutic of generosity. That was my introduction to the concept, but it has helped me so much in these situations where we realize how little information we have about each other and how many gaps we are filling in.
I do my best to fill in the gaps in a way that is generous to the other person. Not to say I get it right every time, but I try. And I'm not always conscious of the gaps I'm filling in, I'm aware. But when I am, I try to do so generously. So thanks for that, John. And thanks to Paul Farmer, for that and everything he did to make the world better in his life.
one thing we forget about people on the internet is that we know almost nothing about them. Would i know if somebody's kid has congestive heart failure? Only if they tell me! Would I know if somebody is experiencing severe mental health problems? Only if they tell me! Would I know if someone has cancer? Only if they tell me!
This is a weird thing about being online. We can know a lot about someone--this person is a Christian, and a father of three children, and married to that person, and likes Cheerios--but we only know what they told us, which is--of course--almost nothing.
And yet, human pattern-makers that we are, we inevitably fill in the gaps in information with assumptions that are based on whether we kinda assume the best of someone or kinda assume the worst of them. Like, I do not imagine that Elon Musk came home from his hard work making everyone's life worse yesterday and held a sick friend's hand as that friend died--but of course that's possible! I don't know!
This happened to me a lot when I was on tumblr the first time. People often filled in gaps by assuming the worst in me, and that's fair enough, I guess. These days, people tend to (although not exclusively) fill in the gaps by assuming the best of me. But both are assumptions informed by extremely limited information, which is almost impossible to remember in the daily grind of Internet Life.
My submission for the Pizzamas Fan Art Contest!
Doodle of Hank Green because reasons
In celebration of pizzamas coming up next month, I present low quality pizza john with pizza potato. I feel like its giving pepa pig for some reason? If I have time i may try to diy a shirt out of it lol. DFTBA
Pizza Potato. Becuase hope is still the correct response to the miracle of dog consciousness.
I have been really enjoying learning illistrator, and drawing many many dogs.
Hank Green, I’m sorry I cried on you.
This the DFTBA poster I had signed at LeakyCon Portland this summer by Hank (John had pre-signed it earlier, being on paternity leave at the time.).
I never thought I’d be one of those people who lose it when they meet a celebrity, but when Hank began signing for me, I just completely lost it. I was grinning like an idiot, but tears poured down my face. Hank was incredibly sweet. He asked me if I was alright, and gave me a hug.
Nodding, I blubbered, “Thank you for helping me be okay.”
It wasn’t all I wanted to say, but I think it summed it all up nicely.
I don’t have a really dramatic story, but I think what I have experienced is common of a lot of Nerdfighters. I was introduced to the Vlogbrothers at a really critical point in my life. It was the beginning of high school, the beginning of when I really started figuring out who I am, and (more importantly) who I want to be.
Over the ensuing four years, I watched a lot of my friends struggle with self-esteem, popularity, peer and sexual pressure, and confusion over what they wanted to do with their lives. I fear that, if I hadn’t had such a strong force for good in my life as the Vlogbrothers, I would have ended up as a very different, and much more screwed up, young person. I’m not going to say that for me it was all smooth sailing – far from it – but I did come out the other end whole and healthy, physically and mentally. And I think a big part of that was due to my being a Nerdfighter.
I’m not even a particularly active member of Nerdfighteria, but just by passively observing, I’ve absorbed values that will remain with me for the rest of my life. I’ve gained respect for myself, and my abilities, whether or not they’re “cool” or “practical.” I’m learning to think of other people complexly, and to respect their abilities and beliefs. I’ve got an open mind, hungry for learning and willing to adapt to and accept new situations and information. And I have developed a passion for life, in all its varied splendor, that will burn brightly until I die.
I’m leaving for college tomorrow, and this poster is coming with me, to remind me of the values of Nerdfighteria, and to remember the journey I’ve already completed, and the one that lies ahead of me. And, of course, so I never forget to be awesome.