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Let's Just Be Stupid For a Moment

2025-09-19 · challenge / punishment · John, Hank · 9:24 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Nerdfighteria · mode: Comedy & performance · tags: community lore, punishment or challenge, guest or collab, self promotion

An edited montage of John and Hank's 2025 Quadragocon: a 12-inch finger guess, fishing, texting a YouTuber, a chess game that ends in a draw, push-ups, tortilla slap and sprinting, ending in a tie for the third consecutive Quadragocon.

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: matching socks, the one-take commitment to continue the Quadragocon

  • ★★★ Hank commits the brothers to continuing the quadrennial tradition of the Vlogbrothers Quadragocon. — 00:00:00 · Vlogbrothers · first in: 2025-08-05, ONE TAKE JOHNNY
  • ★★ In the opening clip, John says it is a one-take video, so the commitment is binding. (playful) — 00:00:00

00:00:32 — Finger-gap event, rock throwing and the boat-versus-boat fishing event

  • ★★ In the first event, holding fingers exactly 12 inches apart, Hank's gap is a little under 11 inches and John goes 1-0 up. (playful) — 00:01:06
  • ★★ Hank: In the fishing event the scoring is switched mid-competition from brother against brother to boat against boat, and Hank mocks the big-brother rule change. (playful) — 00:01:06

00:02:16 — Texting the same YouTuber; the running score; deciding to film the chess game

  • ★★ both: The brothers text the same YouTuber at once to see who gets a reply first; he answers both in one group message. (playful) — 00:02:16 · Craig Benzine
  • ★ both: They score the texting event a tie, half a point each. (playful) — 00:02:49
  • ★★ both: Midway, the score stands at four and a half to three and a half, counting push-ups already won. — 00:02:49

00:03:31 — The chess game: illegal castling, a near-checkmate and a draw after an illegal bishop move

  • ★★ both: The chess game ends without checkmate: one brother is disqualified for an illegal bishop move and they agree to call it a draw. (playful) — 00:05:37

00:06:14 — Push-ups, a game score, tortilla slap and sprinting in place of curls

  • ★★ John wins tortilla slap, a game one of them learned about on TikTok, without having to slap Hank. (playful) — 00:07:02 · TikTok
  • ★ Hank: The curls event is a bust and is replaced by sprinting. (playful) — 00:07:02

00:08:17 — The final tie and sign-off

  • ★★★ John announces the 2025 Quadragocon ends in a tie, the third consecutive Quadragocon tie, and says they do not set it up that way. — 00:08:17
  • ★ Hank thanks Milo for editing and Nerdfighteria for letting the brothers publish longer videos, since the Quadragocon was fun to do in more than four minutes. (playful) — 00:08:42 · Nerdfighteria

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description announces that the 2025 Quadragocon shirt is available in the DFTBA store. — video description
  • ★ The description thanks Coltan Compton for this year's (2025) logo, Milo for the edit and Incompetech.com for all of the music over all these years. — video description
  • ★★ In a channel comment, John tells a new subscriber that every four years the brothers do some ridiculous competition together. — creator comment
  • ★★ Replying in the comments to a viewer's congratulations on reaching four million subscribers that week, the channel celebrates four million. — creator comment · Vlogbrothers

Humor (dominant)

  • John guesses the length of a foot with his fingers — 00:00:32

    “I know the distance that is a foot.”

  • The fishing event is suddenly scored by boat — 00:01:06

    “I love a big brother rule change halfway through the competition.”

  • The texted YouTuber refuses to pick a brother — 00:02:16

    “Hey, I can't play favorite, so I'll respond.”

  • Why the brothers want to show their whole chess game — 00:03:31

    “For people who don't like chess, it's boring. And for people who do like chess, it's infuriating.”

  • Mid-game, one brother looks at the board — 00:04:08

    “I don't think this is what a classical chess game looks like with all the pieces over on one side.”

  • A claimed checkmate collapses — 00:05:37

    “You're right. I forgot about diagonals.”

  • John wins tortilla slap without a slap — 00:07:02

    “I can't believe I won that without actually having to slap Hank.”

  • After the tie, John blames the game no one won — 00:08:17

    “If only I'd won at chess.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Quadragocon

Also: Chess · Craig Benzine · TikTok

Only in the description or credits: Coltan Compton · Incompetech · Milo · Quadragocon shirt

Also centred on Quadragocon: QUADRAGOCON 2015 - WHO WILL WIN! · QUADRAGOCON 2021!! LET THE GAMES CONTINUE!!!! · ONE TAKE JOHNNY

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