Posts tagged Hank Green

This is the story of how Peeta Skeeter came to be.

It all started when John and Hank had gone back to their parents home for something around August of 2011.  I had been following the /hankgames channel on YouTube for a little bit and the game of the day was Hank v. John in a game of FIFA 11.  It was entertaining and much like the rest of /hankgames I figured I would watch it from time to time. 

Well, they only ever put out 6 episodes of the Hank v. John FIFA matches when John started playing his own games.  He had a format and there were fun to watch.  Then one fateful night on 10/6/11 I had finished up all of my homework for that day I decided to create the Swindon Town Gazette (now known as the Swoodilypooper Gazette) and reblog the match and write up a match report.  I created a twitter account and we were off to the races.  

When I originally started the paper I thought I might post for a week or two or maybe even a month but not that long.  And since this was a fictitious team and a fictitious paper I decided I wanted a pseudonym to publish under.  I had not read the Hunger Games yet and was not even aware of Peeta Mallark. I was, and of course still am, a huge Harry Potter fan.  One of my favorite third tier characters was Rita Skeeter; I just never felt like she got enough page time.  There just seemed to be so much more to her story than was ever told.  Add that to the fact that she was a journalist in easily one of the greatest series of books of all time and I am of the male persuasion and Peeta Skeeter was born.

And why Peeeta then? Well, I choose Peeta because it rhymed with Rita.  It is not fancy or anything but that is the reason.  So, as Paul Harvey used to say, now you have the rest of the story.

~Peeta

bittersilver:

My irritation with the Vlog Brothers is definitely complicated and involves a lot of things as well, mostly a lot of the naivety that I see coming from the whole Nerdfighter movement, as well as the Green brothers being praised for ideas that really aren’t that novel.

The world is a shitty place. Not entirely shitty, but it’s broken, and you can’t ignore that. You have to learn how to criticize it, function within it, take things apart, not just try and Think Positive Thoughts to make it all go away. I try to balance my own negativity with positive or silly things, but you have to go the other way as well.

Criticism from yourself and others is vital, recognizing and working around limitations is a good thing, acknowledging weaknesses and compensating is vital for existing in our society. You can be positive without being ignorant. You can have self-confidence and still balance it out by continuing to evolve. 

I’m a great person, but I’m not a perfect person, and I think that’s my main beef with them, that they say ‘You, yes you are a special snowflake and let no one tell you different.’ Sure, there is only one of you but that doesn’t mean you can’t improve or change or what have you over time. Or that you are immune to criticism because you’re a Nerdfighter.

As a person who identifies as a Nerd Fighter I am confused because you say you have to look at the world critically and then refuse to look at Nerd Fighters and the Vlog Brothers critically.  You out of hand dismiss them as rose colored glasses group that ignore the problems in the world and live in a place where everything is puppies and rainbows. I can see how on the surface this might be what you see, with the constant reminders to be yourself and our motto DFTBA (Don’t Forget to be Awesome).

However this is simply not true.  I chose to identify as a Nerd Fighter because they look at the world and realize that it is a shitty place and directly do things to impact it.  DFTBA is simply a reminder that we need to not only make sure we don’t contribute to the suckiness that is the world but actively try to increase the good.  Hank Green runs EcoGeek which is a site dedicated to green technology and improving the world that way. Hank also went to Haiti with Charity Water.  Both of the brothers work in their foundation that holds an event every year on Dec 17th to raise money for charities that are picked by the community who donates the money.  These are just a few things they do throughout the year.

I could understand some criticism that maybe they could do more with their influence or that there are better ways they could do the things they do but I think accusing them of being naive means you have missed the mark.  The demographic they speak to is largely ~ 12-22  and the message is tailored to that age group.  What the Vlog Brothers are doing through Nerdfighteria is creating people who are socially aware that this world is not perfect and setting the ground work for people to think critically about the world and affect real change.

I also understand as somebody who identifies as a Nerd Fighter myself critics are likely to just dismiss what I have said but this is what I get out of Nerdfighteria. Perhaps I am the only one, but I don’t think so.

~Peeta

ghosts—andbones:

Let’s talk about John Green’s reaction to me bringing him my idea book to sign last night.

I was expected him, after having signed THOUSANDS of autographs in his life, to open the book, smile, sign it, and tell me to be awesome or something cool like that. As I handed him my little black moleskine, he opened it and I said, “This is my idea book. I wanted you to sign it because your writing influences mine more than anyone else.”

He didn’t nod. He didn’t shrug it off. He paused and looked up, right into my face.

“Wow, really?” he said, half-disbelieving and half-surprised. 

“Really.” I said. 

It was the single most genuine and heartfelt response I’ve ever felt when I tell someone they influenced my work.

And it was AWESOME. 

So thanks, Mr. Green. Your speech was incredible and that little 30 second exchange we had solidified my desire to keep on writing for the rest of my life. 

What it would be like to wake up one day and make the kind of difference the VlogBrothers make.

(Source: rag--andbone)