They tell me I’m already a Nerdfighter. Who’s “they,” you ask? Well…all of you. Most of you. Well, no, technically all of you are Nerdfighters as well, but I mean more as if…hmmm. A lot of you, both in person and online, have told me that I was a Nerdfighter. I was told that I significantly decreased the amount of worldsuck in…well, the world, I suppose. And then they would speak to me in what amounted for a foreign language and I’d scratch my head and think, “Am I seriously getting too old for the Internet? Have I lost the finger on the pulse of the youth of the web????”
I didn’t actually think that second part because…no one says the “web” anymore except for my racist aunt. Hmmm. I should make her a Nerdfighter, too. That’s a different post, though! This post is my attempt to finally sit down in front of my computer and attempt to discover just exactly what a Nerdfighter is, what the initialism of DFTBA stands for, and why it is that so many of you folks are in love with making this world…well, less suck and more awesome.
(A note about this process: My wonderful friend Jessica (evocativecomma in the comments, tzikeh in most places on the web) is responsible for the massive, holy, and epic guide that I used to find all these videos and maintain some sort of structure in the process. This could not have happened without her.)
The first thing I decided to do was go right to the beginning: Hank Green’s very first video to his brother. The Brotherhood 2.0 project is something that…jesus, it’s so brilliant that I don’t understand how it hadn’t been done by January 1, 2007. But the idea is clear: two brothers will communicate through YouTube video blogs and the rest of us will watch. I apologize right now for writing that sentence and making it sound so very, very dirty. That’s not what I meant to do, but it sounds so perfect that I’m going to leave it up.
By the time I watched John’s first reply, I was excited to see the silliness develop. From John’s goof about Hank’s real age (don’t worry, John, I do this with my own mother all the time SORRY MOM), to Hank’s obsession with EYECEPTION (he is a PROPHET), to the explanation of the Yeti complete with the shaking bush demonstration, it’s clear that these two brothers were close, but wanted to become closer than before. And that’s something I’m fascinated by, as a professional community manager and as someone who’s currently creating through the medium of the Internet. I can remember not even conceiving of the concept of meeting another person through the Internet, let alone getting closer to them in the process. I remember the episode of The X-Files called “2Shy” scarring me for many years, as I believed that the people on the opposite end of all online dating services were poetic monsters obsessed with sucking the life out of me.
Now it’s 2011, and both boyfriends I’ve ever had I met online. I have been part of the same forum for nine years (and it’ll be a decade in six months). My core group of friends are all from that forum. The Internet has enabled me to travel, to make friends, and now, I’m pursuing my dream of being a published writer because of it. The significant ways in which our culture has changed because of the Internet are evident right here in Brotherhood 2.0. There’s a certain voyeuristic fascination with watching these two brothers communicate with one another, and it stops feeling that way when it becomes apparent that there are lots and lots of people joining in.
I should back up at this point, because while Brotherhood 2.0 is how this all started, it’s not quite a good explanation for what a Nerdfighter is, why on earth that I should become one. Or…rather…I suppose I am one, but I just need to embrace it. So, what the hell is a Nerdfighter?
OH THEY MADE AN FAQ VIDEO FOR IT? Oh, I love FAQs. I have written so many of them over the years. And it was this video that, first of all and most importantly, helped me learn what the HELL all these terms meant. So that’s what worldsuck is! So I like to yell about WORLDSUCK often! IT’S WHAT I DO. And that’s why Maureen Johnson says IN YOUR PANTS so much on Twitter. Oh god the world is starting to make so much more sense. It’s sort of like how I’m finally getting to things in Homestuck that help me comprehend the million references to that comic online. Sort of, I say, because I still don’t understand most of it. Well, now I understand Cosbytop, and I sort of feel like that’s all I need to truly get Homestuck.
I’m off topic again. That happens. Did you know I’d never seen “Accio Deathly Hallows”? Not even once? I had caught up on a lot of Harry Potter stuff I’d missed from fandom since I came into the party way late, but this video slipped by my radar. As I understand it (thanks Jessica!), this video was one of the big moments in the Vlogbrothers world, when the Harry Potter community discovered the brothers and things sort of exploded. WHICH I CAN RELATE TO VERY, VERY, VERY MUCH. It’s like that fandom has the singular ability to just take a person and make them a Very Big Thing in a matter of days.
But what I’m discovering about Nerdfighteria leads me to discovering things I can compare to myself. I know now that this all happened over time, that there was no singular point when this was suddenly all just made into Nerdfighteria. (Well, to be fair, there is a Very First Video that has John using the term “Nerdfighters” to describe the viewers.) This has all been gradual, organic, and a long evolution of a community that’s grown since those first days in 2007. But it’s easy for me to look at what I’ve done here on this fine Internet and see the similarities: I do something wonderfully pedantic and repetitive every weekday, sharing my thoughts to a bunch of strangers that initially just made up my friends; things grew very slowly until the Harry Potter fandom found me; everything exploded in excitement and I suddenly had terms and phrases associated with me and then my face was on stuff, and now I’m writing eBooks and running my own websites and WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED. I mean seriously, how did this happen? Perhaps one day I’ll have to sit down and write out my own timeline and my own FAQ for this community….hmmm. Now I am full of ideas.
I also came to learn that, like my own community, I have a lot to go through. Well, more than my own, I suppose. There are four years worth of videos in the Nerdfighteria world. How am I supposed to get a grasp on all of the things they’ve discussed? What are generally accepted to be the best videos of the bunch? Can I make a Nerdfighter video? SHOULD I MAKE A NERDFIGHTER VIDEO? Of course I should, and now thoughts are flowing through my brain. But I took the advice of the VlogBrothers themselves and starting going through the 20 recommended videos on their YouTube playlist. Like anything this detailed and large, it’s hard to still know everything without sitting down and spending days watching this all. I think half the fun of this post is going to be seeing what all of you recommend, what you think is important to understanding the Vlogbrothers and Nerdfighter culture. I actually know that a lot of you have actually attended and/or organized Nerdfighter gatherings! PLEASE TELL ME ABOUT THESE!
Yet out of everything here, the silly videos, Song Wednesdays, Questions Tuesdays, the hilarious Blend/Wax/Failed Cat Lick punishment, and the unbelievable number of explanations for DFTBA, what impresses me most about Nerdfighteria is the ability of this group of people to try and decrease the amount of worldsuck that exists. Now that I know that Nerdfighters never take the day off, I also know that the Green brothers and, by that extension, the massive community that’s sprung up around them, have helped other people and organizations doing some pretty spectacular things. First of all, the Foundation to Decrease Worldsuck is a pretty ambitious, but it’s that sort of ridiculous hope for the world that makes me feel all fuzzy inside. I love that these two brothers have utilized their “powers” to raise money. In fact, I just watched this video, in which it appears that Nerdfighters voted with donations on whether Hank should keep his facial hair or not. (I’m glad he kept it, it looks great on him.) I mean…I know from doing my own fundraising for charities and doing non-profit work how incredibly hard it is to mobilize any monetary funds, especially in the last few years of the recession.
But they do it. I know I have a lot more to learn about Nerdfighters and about John and Hank Green, and I definitely need to make some sort of Nerdfighter video soon. I should shoot for becoming a secret sibling, no? In the meantime, I know that the next three to four weeks will help that because, starting tomorrow, Mark Reads Looking For Alaska is going to take place right here on this blog. I have never read a word of John Green’s, and I’m excited to see why so many people love this book and are a fan of this author. As a important note: Nerdfighters, please be extra careful not to spoil this book for me or anyone else, which includes linking to any videos from the Vlogbrothers, especially the I AM NOT A PORNOGRAPHER one, which I am told has a huge spoiler in it. We use rot13.com to discuss spoilers here on the site, so if you must discuss any point in Looking For Alaska, use rot13.com to cypher your comment.
So I guess I’m a Nerdfighter now, aren’t I? Huh. That’s pretty cool.
MARK READS LOOKING FOR ALASKA.
damn Mark, it's usually you who is unprepared, but you caught me COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY UNPREPARED THIS TIME. i mean, you're still unprepared and all that because you are FOREVER unprepared…. but you know…..
I AM SO EXCITED. although I did get up early and everything to have my review ready for LOTR….. BUT I FORGIVE YOU.
WHY HAVE I NEVER HEARD OF THIS???? I feel so small. Oh lord, this is going to take awhile for me to catch up, isn't it?
Me too! I have never heard of nerdfighters and I thought I lived on the internet! So much catching up to do… Wow, I think this is the first time I'm commenting on Mark Reads while I've been reading along for quite a while now.
Oh god I feel the same.
Same here. it's like I wasn't invited to the party. 🙁
You are now! WELCOME TO NERDFIGHTERIA, and DFTBA!
Me, too. 🙂 But–hey!–it's something new to learn about! (Gets ready to check out vids.)
Mark, Mark, you don't even know how excited I am about this. I'm also kind of a new comer to nerdfighteria, and I've only read one John Green book. It wasn't Looking for Alaska, but now I have a perfect excuse to buy it! Yay!
Anyway, WELCOME.
I thought markreads would be on LotR next. I has the sadness.
Mark likes doing smaller projects in between bigger projects to break them up.
He's already started the bigger project of Lord of the Rings though, by reading the Hobbit.
Er…..*shrugs*
Maybe because the Hobbit is technically a prequel? IDK. Maybe Mark is just really excited about Nerdfighteria.
WELL I DON'T HAVE TO LIKE IT 😉
YOU MUST, FOR I CONTROL YOUR MIND.
*MUAHAHAHAHA*
You are like me. I looked up how many chapters were in Looking for Alaska and apparently there are only two? So I was like WELL I HOPE THIS ONLY TAKES TWO DAYS THEN. Even though I know it's going to be more like The Book Thief and will be broken up randomly.
But now it is like double torture because I don't know how long it is actually going to take and have no way of preparing myself for the wait. SO NOW IT IS I WHO AM/IS/ARE NOT PREPARED.
Nothing that was written first can be considered a prequel. 😉
Me too. :'(
Same here! *saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad* I had been so excited to start in on it!
Me too. I will live. But I is sad.
Same here, mostly because I've never heard of Nerdfighteria, and I was super excited that Mark would be reading LOTR soon.
So, I got so upset on having to wait so long for Lord of the Rings that I spoiled myself for the whole plot of Looking for Alaska. Oh, you're going to have fun with this one.
Mark, you're like a little doe looking out into the great big world of frolicking!
My suggestion is to watch at least 1/2 of the videos from B2.0, and then you'll pretty much know what you need to know. I watched every video from 2007 to 2009 when I started, and it was an overwhelming week, but awesome. I can't believe that was two years ago. But really, the first year is all you need to 'get it,' and then the rest has just been their finding themselves in the world of longevity.
If you're interested in any specific recommendations, any video where John reads from his books or talks about his books or talks about other people's books, any video where Hank explains something, and any "Thoughts From Places" videos tend to be my favorites. Also John's hankgames Swoodilypoopers videos are quite nice.
Side note: Looking for Alaska!
I became a fan of you and Nerdfighteria around the same time and this is making me so freaking happy. John and Hank have made such an impact on my life and I'm really excited to see you get into Nerdfighteria.
Also, I totally called that you were going to read Looking for Alaska when you said your next book had something to do with a Colonel.
If there was any book that was acceptable in delaying you reading LotR, it would be Looking for Alaska!! I'm so excited for you! Welcome to Nerdfighteria!
I know you've heard of Alex Day, but just in case you don't know… him, his roommate Charlie McDonnell, and 3 other guys (Liam, Edd, and Michael) have a band called Chameleon Circuit that writes songs about Doctor Who! They recorded under Hank's DFTBA Record Label. Charlie and Alex also have awesome YouTube vlogs too! They are the reason I discovered the Green Brothers and Nerdfighteria. So, if you have time, you should watch some Alex and Charlie videos too.
[youtube PKK-yIrMNUg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKK-yIrMNUg youtube]
And her, I present, Charlie plays "Exterminate, Regenerate". Not my favourite of the Chameleon Circuit songs, but he plays it on a ukelele, is a link directly to the rest of his videos….and c'mon, this is all pretty awesome.
I am so excited for you! You are so not prepared for it and I really can’t wait 😀
An awesome set of videos is the stuf that Shawn has done (unculturedproject) on youtube. It really shows what people can do when they come together in a community- especially the entire internet as one 🙂
Swwwweeeeettt.
Well, this was utterly unexpected, but pretty awesome. I've yet to read any John Green, so I suppose I better! This is so pretty clearly a community that describes you, Mark, that I'm suprised you hadn't found it before.
Now, DFTBA!
I don't know what this is, but I like it.
"It’s like that fandom has the singular ability to just take a person and make them a Very Big Thing in a matter of days."
*smirks* Oh, HP fandom. So, basically, you know you've made it on the Internet when the HP fandom takes notice of you, huh? But yeah, I think that's because the HP fandom is just so fucking BIG, you know? I don't think there exists a corner of the Internet that doesn't have an HP fan lurking around. 😉
This is unrelated, but I have some rage. Because in a debate class we just had a Harry Potter vs. Twilight debate and their opening argument was "Twilight has sparkles so it's better" and I tried to argue that it was a fallacy but we had to TAKE TURNS so i could not argue any of their points until they had twisted it and contradicted themselves to try and make themselves sound better graaaaaahhhhhh rage.
Twinkles = better?!?!??!?!!?! Oh my!
That's a very poor argument. Had I been the teacher I'd fail them.
Is that really the best they can say about Twilight? I bet I can spin something better if I try.
Proper debate format does involve taking turns. The good news is that if they shot themselves in the foot on their turn, you can use yours to argue for your point instead of against theirs.
URGH, I used to hate that in debate classes.
'Because it is' IS NOT AN ARGUMENT.
Unfortunately the person arguing against me was a friend, so I couldn't tell her how rubbish she was at debate. :/
This is when it gets fun to do debating at university level. Because you don't have any of that teenage angst any more and your friends are confident enough in themselves to be able to hear that they are, in fact, shit at debating.
Though it usually does lead to further debating. And alcohol.
John Green feels that the question of whether Twilight or Harry Potter is better is a question wrongly asked. His point was that they don't even try to accomplish the same goals, so you can't really compare the two. (Though HP is clearly better.)
[youtube PkoBoF9FDXg&NR=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkoBoF9FDXg&NR=1 youtube]
I just thought I'd throw that in there since we're talking about Nerdfighteria and all.
HELLO FELLOW NEWCOMER TO HOMESTUCK! I just started reading that too, and any references to it that I now understand make me excited.
I mentioned this in the spoilers blog, but I’ve always been a bit afraid of reading John’s books because I love the Vlogbrother videos and was worried that I’d HATE his books and then I’d be filled with shame and would never be able to participate in Nerdfighteria again. At least now I have an excuse to just get over my ridiculousness and finally read one of John’s books! Although, what if my lotr disappointment takes over and ruins Finding Alaska? O_O Reading should not cause this much anxiety! Unless it’s supposed to.
Ok, so Tumblr kindly informed me Looking for Alaska was the John Green book with a character called The Colonel in it, so it's been in my Kindle library since Saturday. I had never even heard of John Green, what have I been doing all these years?
Anyway, I'm excited to be starting a new book (and a whole world apparenty, I don't know how I'm going to catch up on all that), so I might forgive Mark for delaying LOTR, which I need like air, but whatever.
Also, like notemily said, there are no chapters, so I didn't know where to stop. Oops.
A-another month before LOTR? Wh-why? I don't understand. I shall express this in smileys, and then in gifs in reply to this.
:S 😐 =/ 😡 o.0 🙁 :'(
<img src="http://i39.tinypic.com/2ewl54n.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
<img src="http://i39.tinypic.com/2wgyzk2.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
<img src="http://i40.tinypic.com/2r6z4ph.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
<img src="http://i39.tinypic.com/egcqd1.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
<img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/2d9e3gx.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
<img src="http://i41.tinypic.com/29e0ftt.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqcb801KlU1qdwptv.gif">
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lno6u2Z40U1qak3zr.gif">
<img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_locmq2qWGM1qa5i13o1_500.gif">
hhmmm, I don't have that many crying gifs, I have to rectify that situation.
There should be plenty of crying gifs for Lost, because Jack cries ALL THE TIME. His tears have their own fandom name. Jears. Someone post a comment full of Jears gifs.
Your wish is my command.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/BeBtD.gif" title="Hosted by imgur.com" alt="" />
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/PI5FK.gif" title="Hosted by imgur.com" alt="" />
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/AMh8Y.gif" title="Hosted by imgur.com" alt="" />
Bonus gifs of other Losties jearing:
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/9a6Bq.gif" title="Hosted by imgur.com" alt="" />
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/485kN.gif" title="Hosted by imgur.com" alt="" />
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/b7gWT.gif" title="Hosted by imgur.com" alt="" />
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/NRecL.gif" title="Hosted by imgur.com" alt="" />
Beautiful. xD
…ilu
Perfect gifs are perfect.
Looking at these again and holy crap does Nestor Carbonell have gorgeous eyelashes. I'm always amazed.
He says people always think he's wearing a lot of makeup, but that's just how he looks.
I saw an interview with him one time and he told a story of how his mother's friends always gushed over how long and thick his eyelashes were and it gave him (in his words) a sort of complex and he tried to cut them off when he was maybe like six.
Actually, in one of the special features they did a close up of his eyelashes because he wanted to prove he didn't wear eyeliner, and they actually had to put some sort of concealer on them because they were even MORE distracting without it. He's been getting that question asked though from his Suddenly Susan days. Some even think he's tattooed it so it looks like he wears eyeliner. Ridiculous.
Here's a little skit they did joking about how frequently he's asked that question at a comic-con:
[youtube Ecri6ozbApY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecri6ozbApY youtube]
"This is cobalt. I asked for onyx. I only use onyx!"
Sadly there's not a video of really good quality–the one that's slightly clearer has someone laughing really loud and it's very grating.
Have some more!
<img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/zv3o7q.gif">
<img src="http://i41.tinypic.com/29m7vqe.gif">
<img src="http://i41.tinypic.com/24es8r6.gif">
<img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/2yni0s6.gif">
<img src="http://i42.tinypic.com/2mcc6k6.gif">
I'll need to remember this thread for future crying gif needs. 😀
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/TnThN.gif" alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />
That would really be Stephen Colbert's reaction too haha
That gif of Stephen Colbert reminded me of this one of Boo from Monsters Inc.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/8dpjt.gif" alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />
Omg thanks! *updating gif folder*
MARK. STEPHEN COLBERT WOULD WANT YOU TO BE READING LORD OF THE RINGS.
I have a feeling Beorn is not Stephen Colbert's favorite character.
Stephen and Neil Gaiman discuss favorite characters of LotR in this this interview.
Spoiler warnings apply, of course.
Oh God he's got passages memorized…
I love him.
No… not sad Rory- I thought I was a reasonably well-balanced person who would not go in tears over the delay. Now I see that gif. Not good. *dashes off to torture myself w/ GWW yet again*
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/bWOll.gif" title="Hosted by imgur.com" alt="" />
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/kJqJI.gif" title="Hosted by imgur.com" alt="" />
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/hIKs6.gif" title="Hosted by imgur.com" alt="" />
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/OfMkz.gif" title="Hosted by imgur.com" alt="" />
(I just like any excuse to post gifs, tbh.)
Is that Anthony Stewart Head? DON'T CRY GILES.
Hey Mark! About the Nerdfighter gatherings–there was actually one at LeakyCon in the same room (if I am remembering correctly) that you spoke in! Basically, a bunch of Nerdfighters get together, sing songs, make obscure references to nerd culture/Nerdfighter jokes, and just have an all-out lovefest with each other. You get to be yourself and meet other people who strive to decrease worldsuck!
I was at the Nerds and Music show in Seattle with Paul and Storm AND HANK GREEN. It was awesome. After the show Paul and Storm ended up basically sitting in a back corner while like 95% of the audience queued up for Hank to sign their stuff — poor guys!
and Maureen Johnson slowly takes over the world one tweet at a time. (Definitely the highlight of the Nerdfighter gathering, if not the whole con)
I take that back, Snitchwiches were the highlight of the whole con.
I saw the Green brothers at LeakyCon several times, rode on the water taxi with Hank more than once. I knew of them but didn't really know them. Sucks when you realize afterwards how people around you are pretty awesome and you couldn't tell them so yourself. Blast! (At least I didn't make that mistake with Mark, ha)
I'll see if I can find the book in time for the read tomorrow. I was so sure you were going to read LOTR next, haha.
One of my friends is an extremely enthusiastic Nerdfighter – she's the regional coordinator for my hometown! Not sure what that means, but… cool! xD
Oh, and whenever we went to a Borders she would insist on leaving the little notes in the Green books.
I have only recently started hearing about Nerdfighteria and had no idea what it referred to before now. I admit, this whole thing seems a little… daunting. That's a lot of videos to catch up on! I'll have to see if I can find Looking for Alaska before tomorrow.
Don't worry about catching up — just jump in! You'll get it eventually. Start with the FAQ video and then just wander around. You don't need to see every single video. 😀
But that goes against my completionist nature 🙁
I went and watched all 910 videos in a little over a week, so with dedication, you can do it!
I know what you mean, the prospect of such a massive… thing… makes me feel kind of tired in advance. I heard about Nerdfighteria quite a while ago and was interested, but the same thing put me off then, how daunting it all was. Although I didn't have Mark's awesome-useful explanatory post then XD.
Oh wow, I couldn't be more excited if I tried. I just reread LFA and AAOK. Have you preorded your copy of The Fault In Our Stars yet, Mark? Because all preorder will be signed ;D
Because all preorder will be signed ;D
INDEED THEY WILL
(I love John and Hank so much)
Somehow, even though I follow John's videos (and Alex and Charlie's) and my roommate friend is a huge John Green fan/nerdfighter, I've never read any of his books! Maybe this is just the push I need to read one!
I didn't actually make my way through the vlogbrothers videos from the beginning, I just decided to start watching John's a few months ago and took it from there. I think at first I just really liked how cute Henry is, and John's traveling videos.
I discovered Nerdfighteria in 2009 and I have now watched nearly all of their videos at least three times (I don't always watch them more than once when they're just out, but I actually do tend to do that quite a lot), so believe me when I say that sitting down and just watching all the videos in a row is well worth the while. (but if you want recs here are my two favorites from each brother: http://youtu.be/qHT5eEjkfLE and http://youtu.be/nrENB-FC_ok)
Basically, the vlogbrothers kind of changed my life for the better, and made me look at things like charity, and human connection through the internet (as well as real life human interaction) in a new light. I have been educated, entertained and inspired, and I hope that their videos as well as John's books (or at the very least LfA for now) will do the same for you.
*http://youtu.be/nrENB-FC_ok (never link inside of brackets)
With how many times LotR has been put off, it makes me think that Mark doesn't actually want to read it. Which is very sad. 🙁
Yeah, I'm wondering that myself. 🙁
Oh god please don't say that. What if he doesn't like it I don't think I can deal with that what is wrong with me.
It's hard not to wonder, though, because originally there wasn't going to be a book between The Hobbit and LOTR. It was His Dark Materials, and then American Gods was the breather between that trilogy and Hobbit/LOTR. Couple this development with him not seeming to like TH that much, and I can't help but sadly wonder. 🙁
Noooo!! Don't say that! :'( Have hope!
Mark is going to read LotR. Trust me.
He's going to read it. Don't worry.
Really? I got the impression that although he had certain issues with The Hobbit that he actually quite liked it in the end.
Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be tackling LotR soon. We'll be there to see his mind get TOTALLY BLOWN continually.
Oh god Mark, I am SO HAPPY. I discovered John Green a couple of years ago and saw one or two of his half of the videos, but never really got into it. Then last year I got into Chameleon Circuit and watched all of the videos of all of the band members. And then I spent my Christmas holidays watching every single vlogbrothers video and that was the end of me. Now I am the happiest Nerdfighter and I DFTBA all over the country and everything is beautiful and nothing hurts <3
And OH Looking for Alaska. I have SO MANY FEELINGS and literally just re-read it last month so I am totally up on my opinions. 😀 I'm sad it's going to be a bit longer until you read Lord of the Rings but THIS WILL BE MORE THAN WORTH IT.
LOVE Chameleon Circuit!
Wow.. I never knew who I was, and then I read this blog, total identity shift!
Nerdfighter ftw!
I am so excite!! You don't even understand!!! I second everyone who said that discovering the vlogbrothers made life better.
It takes a long time to watch all the videos. I've been a fan since 2008 and I still haven't had time to sit down and watch everything. But you'll get a kick out of watching a few at a time and just keep watching the updates as much as you can until you get caught up.
One thing – many young people who had read John's first two novels, as well as Hank and John's friends, family, acquaintances, co-workers, etc., were watching the vlogbrothers before the Harry Potter fandom found John and Hank when Accio Deathly Hallows hit the front page of YouTube–just so we don't attribute the entire success of Nerdfighters to HP fandom. 😀
FRENCH THE LLAMA, MARK IS GOING TO READ LOOKING FOR ALASKA!
I'm so excited. This is like two of my favorite things combining to make a smoothie of happiness. I've been a proud Nerdfighter since 2009. The Vlogbrothers videos (and the Youtube community as a whole) really helped me get through a rough time and I haven't missed a video since.
And I think Mark should absolutely make a video for Project for Awesome this year. Decreasing WorldSuck and having fun while doing it is the essence of both Nerdfighteria and Mark Reads/Watches. DFTBA!
Well, it sounds like I'm going to have to check out Nerdfighteria – it sounds interesting, not to mention that 3-4 weeks until LotR is going to be really really hard. While I knew from previous posts that there would be some delay between The Hobbit and LotR, I didn't expect it to be quite that long. I struggled all weekend to avoid my LotR books, not wanting to start before Mark but I caved last night, and now I'm on the 7th chapter. Oops.
I've never heard of Nerdfighteria before, mostly because markreads is the only online community I've checked out and participated in. I'll have to check it out, it definitely sounds interesting. Decreasing world suck is always a good thing! 🙂
This seems like a good opportunity to ask Readers/Nerdfighters a question that I have!
I've been watching the vlogbrothers videos for a little over a year now, but I haven't read anything that John has written. I was going to preorder The Fault in Our Stars, but I watched the video of John reading the first chapter and I just… couldn't get into it. So for anyone who has read Looking for Alaska and listened to the first chapter of TFiOS… are Looking for Alaska and TFiOS similar as far as style and tone of voice? Normally I'd just buy it and give it a shot, but I'm worried I'll end up not liking it, and I just figured I might as well ask.
I read Paper Towns, not Looking For Alaska, but I don't think it was very similar in tone. TFiOS seems slightly more cynical — you might know that emotionally, it was kind of informed by the death of John's nerdfighter friend Esther, and I think that might explain the difference in tone. Although Paper Towns does share the realism and sort of dry humor TFiOS seems to have.
Maybe tone wasn't the right word to use. I know that TFiOS isn't just another teen novel (I did know about Esther), but it was still the "he was so hot" kind of stuff that I found off-putting. Which is weird because my favorite guilty pleasure books are all by Meg Cabot. Maybe I would have given it a chance if I had read it myself first rather than listen to a 30-something year old guy read it, but anyway. Thank you! Maybe I'll give Paper Towns a shot!
Part of the reason you might not have gotten into TFiOS is… I love John Green. I adore him. But he CANNOT READ BOOKS ALOUD WITH ANY KIND OF TALENT. He is not an audiobook reader. He's a writer, not an actor.
I have read all of his books so far, and they are *not* similar in tone.
Haha, yeah, I think that might have had something to do with it.
Thank you! I'll definitely give his other books a shot! And maybe I'll give TFiOS another chance, too.
It's like everything I love about the internet is combining into a megatron of awesome. I love nerdfighteria. It's such a place of positivity on the internet that is often full of trolling little bastards who go out of there way to belittle everyone they see. And there projects to decrease world suck have helped motivate me to give. I now participate on KIVA, a website that organizes micro-financing for people in the developing world.
If you haven't seen it already, or if it hasn't been mentioned, Hank created a YouTube game show called Truth or Fail. It's addicting, you learn weird things, and I've found a lot of other YouTubers that way.
I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU MARK! If there was one place that I would say contained the greatest and most awesome community online it would be Vlog brothers and the nerdfightia. Now I'm dying for you to read John Green's book! Oh you should add Paper Towns to your list too.
You know, I was worried about the surprise you mentioned because it meant you'd be putting off reading LOTR for a while.
I needn't have worried. This is going to be the MOST AMAZING THING EVER. YESSSSSSSSSSSS.
So I had heard of the videos before through a librarian at my high school (yeah, I was cool and had lots and lots of conversations with her about books and things related to them), but somehow didn't watch them and now I have so much catching up to do!!! Nerdfighteria sounds amazing though. I haven't read Looking for Alaska in so long, but I remember enough that I'm definitely looking forward to seeing your reactions Mark 🙂
Petition!!!!
Can The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next Chronicles) be a secret surprise at some point during The Lord of the Rings??? Having just re-read it, God damn, I think that it would be sooo enjoyed.
Also as mentioned in the FAQs, Ze Frank is Hi-wait for it-larious and worth a look.
NO. NO INTERRUPTIONS DURING LOTR. ESPECIALLY BECAUSE IT'S TECHNICALLY ONE BOOK.
THIS.
<img src="http://i44.tinypic.com/jt28gz.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
GLEEEEEE
Ooh, I have heard about this book, but I am immersed in John Dies at the End at the moment. Which I may end up suggesting as a future Mark Reads project because, come on, THERE IS A SPOILER IN THE TITLE.
Oh, man. Mark, I would have recommended you start with Paper Towns instead of Alaska, but that's just me.
Nerdfighteria pretty much rules — I've not been a member long but I love it anyway.
Right then. I watched the links here. Now I'm going in order, because I just have to.
I'm on January 10th. CAN'T STOP. WON'T STOP.
Sorry for being redundant if others have already linked this, but anyway
They were on NPR talking about technology helping out with their brotherly relationship. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?stor…
And they were on pottercast on an episode called Accio Nerdfighters. http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2009/2/5/potter…
I have acquired Looking for Alaska! Not going to lie, I did actually start to panic somewhat when I realized Mark was starting a book that I hadn't read and didn't have and probably didn't have a way to get….seriously, public library system, Y U NO HAVE BOOKS? (They have like 10 copies of it – in Spanish. All the English ones are checked out or on hold. Also my card seems to have expired.) But I found it! I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS.
(Brb, I think I need to sort out my brain a bit.)
I was part of the mugglenet crew who found out about you only cos they advertised your blog! Part of the fun is going through all the old reviews one by one on a boring afternoon and not having to wait every day for a new chapter to come up. a bit like reading series too late and not having to wait 3 years 😉
ive never heard of nerdfighters but as someone who also loves people using their influence for good causes, i'm a fan already and lol at the accio deathly hallows song summing up the very long long wait between books very nicely!
Mark… I kind of got lost on the way through American Gods, I couldn't quite follow your pace *shakes fist at work* and kind of dropped out.
Finished it only last week, eek!
But you coming to Nerdfighteria is so awesome to me (or should I say that it's totally jokes?)
I only discovered Nerdifighteria and that I am a Nerdfighter about 2 months ago, with Hank's "A letter to aliens"-Video.
It took me about a month to watch all the videos… SO WORTH IT!!!
YES YES YES
AWESOME THINGS/PEOPLE COLLIDE
seriously everything is just the best right now
I discovered the vlogbrothers after my girlfriend linked me a few videos after we started dating… I wasn't super super interested, but then in June while procrastinating on studying for my exams, I was like, "WATCH ALL THE VIDEOS!" and started on January 1, 2007 and watched continuously through all the videos until I caught up, and it took me from June until maybe early September?
And then I bought Esther bands and DFTBA bands for me and my girlfriend and a Giraffe Love t-shirt and I've watched more videos than her.
Looking for Alaska is my favourite John Green book. <3 Only slightly beating An Abundance of Katherines. I enjoyed Paper Towns, but I dunno, it's probably bottom of my John Green books adoration list.
SO EXCITED FOR THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. |D And for Mark to read Looking for Alaska asjdhfgsgkdjhfh
I'm the same. LFA is my favorite, and PT is my least favorite.
Vg'f cebonoyl orpnhfr gurl'er fb fvzvyne gb rnpu bgure. Gur cbvag nobhg zvfvzntvavat bgure crbcyr jnf npghnyyl znqr va Ybbxvat sbe Nynfxn, ohg gur cbvag jnf FHOGYR juvpu vf ubj V yvxr vg.
I'm also excited for The Fault in Our Stars. ALL PRE-ORDERS WILL BE SIGNED, KIDS.
(I haven't pre-ordered my copy yet and the book is coming out in January. Oops.) Here's chapter one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_vFvbfn9Fs
Eeee So. EXCITE. Welcome to Nerdfighteria Mark!!!!
I've been asked for "Looking for Alaska" multiple times this week. It sucks that we don't have a copy of it in the store. (Guess I should order a few.) This will be the first book I read for the first time WITH the community! I IS EXCITED!
Eager to hear about any steps you take toward getting published, Mark. You've always been an amazing writer and candid autobiographer.
So, now that I'm home from work and I've checked out some of the videos Mark linked here, I'm starting to really like this project. When I read the description of the vlogbrothers project, it definitely sparked my interest, but I'd never heard of it before, and I still wasn't sure exactly what it was. I definitely think I'm going to enjoy this, and it'll be a good way to distract me from barreling through the LotR re-read that I already started yesterday (dangit, I need more self-control!). 😛 I'm about to watch the 20 recommended videos, and I'm thinking tomorrow I'll see if I can find a copy of Looking for Alaska at a bookstore nearby. Here we go! ::dives in::
Also here's a video that you might like, not spoilery and very very touching in my own opinion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsVgk9oMyx8&fe…
The Vlogbrothers are pretty cool, or should I say awesome. I don't consider myself a Nerdfighter, but I subscribe to them on YouTube. I particularly like the Thoughts from Places videos, videos with the baby, and the videos when John was living in the Netherlands.
This sounds like a lot of fun, and I've always wondered about Nerdfighters because I hear about them all the time and I was never quite sure what they were all about, so it's nice to finally learn about, but still:
No LOTR for several more weeks?
<img src="http://i44.tinypic.com/2dtapt2.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
Yeah if it were any other time, I'd love that Mark is doing this, but not when we were supposed to be doing LOTR.
FRENCH THE LLAMA, Mark is a Nerdfighter now? 😀 Looking for Alaska?!?!?!?!!! BE STILL, MY HEART *swoons with happy*
I love that I saw the title and had no freaking clue what you were talking about and then immediately felt stupid once I started reading the blog itself. I don't follow them regularly but I do have so much freaking love for them.
MARK READS LOOKING FOR ALASKA
OH MY GOD
JUST
YES
This is everything I could have ever hoped for.
Welcome to Nerdfighteria!
You didn't know about Nerdfighteria?
jesus christ this is the fucking HOGWARTS to your harry potter. think about it.
I AM SCREAMING IN EXCITEMENT!!!!!! SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
*incomprehensive babbling*
I'm new to Nerdfighteria too! I just discovered its wonders (thanks, tumblr!) and I worked my way through all of the videos. Every. Single. One. It took me about 3 weeks, which is actually pretty fast. But that's because I basically spent every bit of free time I had watching the vlogbrother videos. I wish you luck in catching up 🙂
DFTBA!
OMG Mark, how is it that every time you announce something I am like, "I TOTALLY LOVES THAT SO MUCH WOW AWESOME COOL" and the rare times it's not something I've read/heard about, I go read it and fall absolutely in love again. Thank you, Mark, it's just wonderful being part of this community… And of course, being a nerfighter as well. DFTBA!
Good ol' Vlogbrothers. Sometimes I'm like "Of course I'm a Nerdfighter, I can do the hand thing and everything" and other times I'm like "I would probably have to actually do something, alongside other Nerdfighters, for this to count." Trying to get into communities is an intimidating task for me. =/
But I do have an 'in'! Namely, being friends with 1 Day 2 Be Awesome. They're good folk. They should start up their videos again.
Anyhoo, welcome to Nerdfighteria! Remember, we only have one day to be awesome!
AHHH!
I read your whole Mark Reads Harry Potter series in a day. I find you've reviewed the Hobbit (which is amazing). You're about to start reviewing Lord of the Rings (which I am ALSO just properly reading for the first time right now!)
and now you're a Nerdfighter.
Never stop being you.
and I know you won't FTBA.
Oh my god, I just say that your (Mark) reblogged a video of me and other nerdfighters doing the Single Ladies dance. This makes me so so happy!!!
FINALLY! I've been waiting so long for you to discover the awesomeness that is Nerdfighteria!
I myself have never read Looking for Alaska, so for the first time I'll be reading something with you. 🙂
(Also, you should go to Tour de Nerdfighting. They're coming to Redwood City.)
I love it when worlds collide. I actually learned about Mark Reads/ Watches from a Nerfighter website (Your Pants, which is down for the moment, unfortunately…) and I've been reading your stuff ever since. It's so amazingly awesome that now you've discovered the group that led me to you. 🙂 DFTBA
This excites me immensely. I discovered the Vlogbrothers last year and, well, yeah. It was like finding my people. I find a connection to both of them because I am both a science nerd AND a literature/writing nerd, so I had no problem sitting through hundreds of those videos. I have an author crush on John for sure. As in, I crush on his dedication to his craft and his work and his unrepentant literary nerdiness and his philanthropic spirit. I want to be that kind of author.
Nerdfighters are everywhere. True story: I ran into one at my local Trader Joe's. Because I was wearing a John Green shirt. And he was like HEY I LOVE YOUR SHIRT. Nerfighteria is EVERYWHERE.
ALSO: THEY ARE GOING TO BE IN REDWOOD CITY NEXT MONTH AND YOU SHOULD BUY A TICKET. http://www.keplers.com/keplers-events-coming-soon