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July 9: The Punishment Fiasco

2007-07-09 · letter vlog · John · 3:31 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Nerdfighteria · mode: Comedy & performance · tags: punishment or challenge, community lore

John denies that the brothers broke the no-texting rule on purpose, re-enacts the instant-message exchange in which he gloated in text that Hank was punished, reports that Hank's punishment will involve recreating a picture, and proposes that their wives may veto punishments.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Greeting from the guest bedroom; commenters say the brothers texted on purpose to get punished; John denies it

  • ★ John films in his guest bedroom and notes he has been giving Hank a tour of his house for two weeks. (playful) — 00:00:09
  • ★★★ John says commenters and forum members claim the brothers communicated by text on purpose to get punished; he denies it, saying they are just stupid. (playful) — 00:00:09 · No textual communication, Punishment, Brotherhood 2.0 forum
  • ★★ John thinks Hank was probably doing several things at once and texted by accident, while he calls himself stupid. (playful, hedged) — 00:00:09
  • ★ John says he doesn't enjoy punishments, although he enjoys Hank getting punished. (playful) — 00:00:09 · Punishment
  • ★★ John says he was working on his new book and thinking about what its title should be. — 00:00:09

00:00:53 — Re-enactment of the instant-message exchange in which John typed 'dude, you are so punished'

  • ★★★ John recreates the exchange: a video chat request from Hank failed, a text window opened saying 'OK, I'm here now', and John typed asking whether it was Catherine. (playful) — 00:00:53 · Katherine Green
  • ★★★ Thrilled that Hank had broken the rule, John typed 'dude, you are so punished' and hit return, only realising when Hank didn't reply that he had texted too. (playful) — 00:01:22

00:02:12 — Hank's punishment will involve recreating a picture; John's own punishment unsettled, Hank asked to help pick it on the forum

  • ★★★ John reports that the forum has set Hank's punishment, which will involve recreating a picture shown on screen; he doesn't know the other details. (hedged) — 00:02:12 · Punishment, Brotherhood 2.0 forum
  • ★★★ John says nobody has settled on his own punishment and asks Hank to go into the forum and help pick something particularly harmful to him. (hedged) — 00:02:12 · Brotherhood 2.0 forum, Punishment

00:02:47 — Proposal that the wives may veto nerdfighter-suggested punishments; sign-off

  • ★★★ John accepts that the brothers cannot veto their own punishments but proposes that their wives may veto punishments nerdfighters suggest, and hopes Hank agrees. (hedged) — 00:02:47 · Punishment, Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ John says nerdfighters sometimes suggest maniacal punishments (a public happy dance 200 times, then sawing off a leg); his own objection shouldn't count, but the Yeti's is a deal-breaker. (playful) — 00:02:47 · Nerdfighteria, Happy dance (practice), Sarah Urist Green, Punishment
  • ★★ John hopes to see Hank's recreated picture by Thursday (12 July 2007). (hedged) — 00:03:16

Humor (significant)

  • Gloating that Hank has broken the no-text rule, John types his gloat into the chat window himself. — 00:01:22

    “And so I said, dude, you are so punished. And then I hit return.”

  • John wonders why Hank isn't writing back, then realises they aren't allowed to text. — 00:01:22

    “oh, right, it's because we're not textually communicating. Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

  • John lists the kind of maniacal punishments nerdfighters suggest, starting with a public happy dance 200 times. — 00:02:47

    “and then after that, you should have to saw off your leg.”

  • John says his own unwillingness to saw off his leg shouldn't matter to the punishment. — 00:02:47

    “but the fact that the Yeti doesn't want me to saw off my leg, that's a deal-breaker to me.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: No textual communication

Also: Brotherhood 2.0 forum · Happy dance (practice) · in your pants · Katherine Green · Punishment · Sarah Urist Green

Later videos replying to this one