The Surprise Revelation of NerdfArters

2022-10-14 · announcement · Hank · 3:54 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Nerdfighteria · mode: Personal essay · tags: community lore, civic or action cta

Hank shares NerdfArters, a community-run October art prompt challenge he discovered through Twitter's trending tab, and says he is happy not to be in control of the cool things the community does: doing things is about doing them with people you like, not doing the best thing.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Hank finds the NerdfArters hashtag trending on Twitter; how Rachel and Carolyn started it

• ★★ Hank saw a 'nerd farters' hashtag trending on Twitter and was astounded to find it was an October Nerdfighter art prompt challenge he didn't know existed. — 00:00:00 · Twitter
• ★★ Hank says he found it through Twitter's trending tab, which he famously dislikes, though the product delivered one useful piece of information. (playful) — 00:00:00 · Twitter
• ★★★ Hank explains that DFTBA's Rachel had the idea, Carolyn suggested the name NerdfArters, and Rachel made a graphic with a prompt for each of October's 31 days. — 00:00:29

00:00:58 — Tour of the prompts and fan art: DFTBA, Pizza John, a bad crab, the lore prompts, hope is the thing with feathers

• ★★ Showing every DFTBA-prompt submission, Hank says the great thing is that no one is trying to be a virtuoso, except Alys. (playful) — 00:00:58
• ★★ Hank runs through early prompts: DFTBA, Pizza John Yourself, Breezy Fall Day (a reference to his second novel), Just the Word Pelican, Surprise Fiddle Concert, Nerdfighteria and Pizzamas. — 00:00:58 · DFTBA, Pizza John, A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, Nerdfighteria, Pizzamas
• ★★★ On his favourite prompt, draw a crab badly, Hank says we should require ourselves to do a bad job more often, or the pressure stops us doing things we can only improve at by doing. — 00:01:44
• ★★ Going deeper into the lore, Hank lists prompts French the Llama, Puppy-sized Elephant, Million Dollar Idea (Surprisingly Edible, the Awesome Club Club), and Pumpkins and Penguins. — 00:01:44 · French the llama, puppy sized elephant
• ★★ Hank points viewers to the nerdfarters hashtag or account on Twitter for the hope-is-the-thing-with-feathers prompt and hopes the video inspires more people to check it out and submit. — 00:02:20 · Twitter

00:02:50 — Not being in control of the community's cool things; doing things with people you like; Twitter; the opposite of angry

• ★★ Hank looks forward most to the coming prompts Robot Carl, Superior Fish Beings and Lemon Men. — 00:02:50
• ★★★ After all these years, Hank is very happy and excited not to be in control of many of the cool things that happen in the community. — 00:02:50 · Nerdfighteria
• ★★★ Hank thinks doing things is never about doing the best thing, but about doing things, ideally with people you like a lot who are cool. — 00:02:50
• ★★ Hank wishes Twitter's hashtags weren't constantly full of things that make him angry and sad, though sometimes they bring things that make him happy. — 00:03:20 · Twitter
• ★ Unable to name the opposite of angry, Hank asks viewers to tell him. (playful) — 00:03:45

In the description and comments

• ★★ The description invites viewers to see the hope-is-the-thing-with-feathers entries on the NerdfArters Twitter account. — video description · Twitter

Humor (significant)

• Hank sees a trending hashtag that reads 'nerd farters'. — 00:00:00

  “It said nerd farters. And I was like, that's very funny.”

• Praising the challenge because no one is trying to be a virtuoso, Hank shows one very skilled entry. — 00:00:58

  “except for Alys… what the heck Alys.”

• Hank lists a prompt naming an Awesome Club Club. — 00:01:44

  “Which, look, I'm not saying we're going to do that, but I'm not saying that we aren't going to do it either.”

• Hank cannot find the opposite of angry when describing Twitter's good moments. — 00:03:20

  “But sometimes it's full of the thing that makes me happy and happy.”

Threads in this video

• restate · Should creators keep polishing their work toward perfection, or release it once it is good enough? — On his favourite prompt, draw a crab badly, Hank says we should require ourselves to do a bad job more often, or the pressure stops us doing things we can only improve at by doing. (00:01:44)
• callback · 'French the llama': John's misreading of FTL as an exclamation of amazement (2009) — French the Llama is one of the NerdfArters prompts Hank lists as deep lore. (00:01:44)
• callback · John's puppy-sized elephant (2008) — Puppy-sized Elephant is one of the NerdfArters prompts Hank lists as deep lore. (00:01:44)
• callback · Hank's 'million dollar idea' phone calls to John (2013) — Million Dollar Idea, featuring Surprisingly Edible and the Awesome Club Club, is a NerdfArters prompt. (00:01:44)
• callback · Superior fish beings: 10-year-old Hank's prediction for 2012 (2021) — Hank looks forward to the NerdfArters prompt Superior Fish Beings. (00:02:50)
• restate · What is the community for? — After all these years, Hank is very happy and excited not to be in control of many of the cool things that happen in the community. (00:02:50)
• restate · Why make things? — Hank thinks doing things is never about doing the best thing, but about doing things, ideally with people you like a lot who are cool. (00:02:50)
• restate · Is the internet, including social media, good for people? — Hank wishes Twitter's hashtags weren't constantly full of things that make him angry and sad, though sometimes they bring things that make him happy. (00:03:20)

Mentioned

Central: NerdfArters

Also: Projects: Pizzamas

Works: "Hope" is the thing with feathers · A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

Organizations: Twitter

Terms: DFTBA · French the llama · Pizza John · puppy sized elephant

Concepts: hashtag · pelican

Events: Halloween (holiday)

Characters: Carl

Only in the description or credits: Carolyn · Rachel

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