May 15th: A Bit More EBO and Wikipedia

2007-05-15 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:09 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube (also: Nerdfighteria, Personal life) · mode: Personal update · tags: community lore

Hank congratulates John on his accepted house offer, argues the brothers must develop the Evil Baby Orphanage and formally asks Brooke and the Nerdfighters for permission, then celebrates being on Wikipedia, which he believes in despite vandalism he once fixed himself.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Opening bit a Nerdfighter suggested

00:00:27 — Greeting; congratulations on John's accepted house offer; John was born in Indianapolis

• ★ Hank opens with a bit that one of the Nerdfighters told him to try, and says it was amazing. (playful) — 00:00:27 · Nerdfighteria
• ★★ Hank congratulates John on buying a house: not final yet, but the owners accepted his offer, and the 'horrible process' of buying remains. — 00:00:27 · Indianapolis
• ★★ Hank says John grew up in Indianapolis, living there until he was 'like, three', and that he doesn't feel John has mentioned this. (hedged) — 00:00:27 · Indianapolis

00:00:56 — Teasing John about returning to Indianapolis; Evil Baby Orphanage: 'we have to do this', permission asked of Brooke and the Nerdfighters

• ★ Hank finds it strange that after Alabama, Chicago and New York, and always saying he'd go back to Alabama, John returns to Indianapolis, which he jokes John hated. (playful, hedged) — 00:00:56 · Chicago (city), New York City, Indianapolis
• ★★★ On the Evil Baby Orphanage, Hank says there is only one option: the brothers have to do this. (hedged) — 00:00:56 · Evil Baby Orphanage
• ★★★ Hank formally asks Brooke, who conceived the idea, and the other Nerdfighters working on it for permission for John and him to run with the Evil Baby Orphanage. — 00:00:56 · Nerdfighteria, Evil Baby Orphanage
• ★★ Hank says he is not saying there will be a Hank and John Green book called Evil Baby Orphanage, but thinks the idea is pretty fertile ground for storytelling. (hedged) — 00:01:27 · Evil Baby Orphanage

00:01:57 — Hank is on Wikipedia; Wikipedia as a source, the vandalised Russell Crowe page he fixed; he believes in Wikipedia; thanks; sign-off

• ★★★ Hank is now on Wikipedia, feels important, and calls it another gift from John and the Nerdfighters. (playful) — 00:01:57 · Wikipedia, Nerdfighteria
• ★★ Noting comment discussion of Wikipedia as a source, Hank says it is huge with a lot of amazing information, but is sometimes vandalized and things go wrong. — 00:01:57 · Wikipedia
• ★★ Hank once found Russell Crowe's Wikipedia page vandalized with a line calling him gay, and removed it himself by clicking edit. — 00:01:57 · Wikipedia
• ★★ Hank says Wikipedia's flaw is that anybody can edit it without even signing up and write whatever they want. — 00:02:26 · Wikipedia
• ★★★ Hank says he really believes in the idea of Wikipedia and is thrilled to be there among 'the million other articles'. — 00:02:26 · Wikipedia
• ★ Hank puts Wikipedia's size at about a million articles. — 00:02:26 · Wikipedia

Humor (significant)

• Hank teases John that he is moving back to Indianapolis, where he lived only as a small child. — 00:00:56

  “You were three, but I think you hated it.”

• Hank asks the Nerdfighters nicely for permission to use the Evil Baby Orphanage and threatens that next time will be different. — 00:01:27

  “Next time won't be so nice. I'll be groveling at your feet, begging and pleading”

• Hank admits he once visited Russell Crowe's Wikipedia page. — 00:01:57

  “please don't ask me why”

• Hank deleted a vandal's line from Russell Crowe's page. — 00:02:26

  “now people looking for information on Russell Crowe will be completely happy with what they find.”

Threads in this video

• update · John and Sarah move to Indianapolis (2007) — Hank reports that the owners accepted John's offer on a house, though the purchase is not final. (00:00:27)
• result reported · John asks Hank and viewers what to do with the Evil Baby Orphanage idea (2007) — Answering what to do with the Evil Baby Orphanage, Hank says there is only one option: the brothers have to do it. (00:00:56)
• callback · The Evil Baby Orphanage (2007) — Hank returns to the Evil Baby Orphanage as 'more important matters'. (00:00:56)
• proposed · John and Hank: develop the Evil Baby Orphanage into a story (2007) — Hank proposes that the brothers develop the Evil Baby Orphanage into a storytelling project, while not promising a book. (00:00:56)
• asked · Hank asks Brooke and the Nerdfighters for permission to develop the Evil Baby Orphanage (2007) — Hank asks Brooke and the Nerdfighters for permission for John and him to run with the Evil Baby Orphanage idea. (00:01:27)
• kept · John (with Nerdfighters): make Hank a Wikipedia entry (2007) — Hank reports he is now on Wikipedia and thanks John and the Nerdfighters for the gift. (00:01:57)
• first on record · Can a source that anyone can edit be trusted? — Hank says Wikipedia has flaws (anyone can edit, vandalism) but he really believes in the idea of Wikipedia. (00:02:26)
• result reported · John: Hank, help me pick a house (2007) — Hank congratulates John on buying a house: not final yet, but the owners accepted his offer, and the 'horrible process' of buying remains. (00:00:27)
• told · John and Hank's dad grows up in Indianapolis and leaves it for good weeks after John's birth — Hank says John grew up in Indianapolis, living there until he was 'like, three', and that he doesn't feel John has mentioned this. (00:00:27)

Where the stories that moved here went next

• John: Hank, help me pick a house (2007) — reported back; last: result reported, 2007-05-15
• John asks Hank and viewers what to do with the Evil Baby Orphanage idea (2007) — reported back; last: result reported, 2007-05-16
• John (with Nerdfighters): make Hank a Wikipedia entry (2007) — kept; last: recalled, 2025-10-01
• John and Hank: develop the Evil Baby Orphanage into a story (2007) — last documented in 2008; last: milestone, 2008-05-20
• John and Sarah move to Indianapolis (2007) — told 5×, last update 2021; last: retold, 2021-05-25
• John and Hank's dad grows up in Indianapolis and leaves it for good weeks after John's birth — told 3×

Mentioned

Central: Wikipedia

Also: Alabama · Chicago (city) · Evil Baby Orphanage · Indianapolis · New York City · Russell Crowe

Only in the description or credits: Brooke

Later videos replying to this one

• 2007-05-16 · Brotherhood 2.0: May 16: Beating the EBO into the ground (John) — corrects — “in your last video, you correctly pointed out that I was born in the city of Indianapolis” (00:02:08)