Ink Tippler FAQ Additions

Vinesauce: The Questening Edition

And Ellie Quits Her Bullshit Game That Brought Joy To Nobody But Herself

You’ve got questions? I’ve got suitable replies, cobbled together from discussions and gentle interrogations over the past few weeks. (“What really are you doing with your life?”)

Some of these will be added to the nifty FAQ page, but their final versions may differ from this post.

Can I do my own questening? What about for another streamer or YouTuber?

I don’t own the concept. I haven’t laid claim to Vinny’s content, so I’m not figuratively standing on a pile of Full Sauce videos, brandishing a morning star and ready to brain anyone who attempts to write their insights about them.

In fact, I was inspired by The Annotated MST to research curious bits from my favorite media, and I’m sure there were others doing it before TAM. Anyone can do this kind of thing.

The term “questening” is just a garbled combination of “quest” and “questioning”, but in my mind, it’s come to mean a different form of fan-generated content that requires a unique level of commitment not seen in fanart or fanfic. Seeing other people do similar stuff would make it easier to spot other info nerds in the YouTube/Twitch wild.

Will you do the other Vinesauce streamers?

Not on the scale that I’m doing now. I have a couple of ideas, but you’ll have to wait to see ’em.

You keep missing a lot of what Vinny says in the videos. Like, 90%.

Ohhhh, dear Reader, do you have any idea just how brain-numbingly tedious it would be to list everything he says in every video I’ve singled out? I’d still be doing this project long after the implosion of YouTube and Twitch in the fabled Platform Wars, driven half-mad by my own creation and relying on a pidgin made up of grunts, finger snaps, and quotables to communicate with the rest of humanity—which would have devolved into using only emojis.

To borrow from my inspiration, The Annotated MST, I’m referencing what needs to be explained. That includes songs, games, related videos, memes, internet culture and history, and the like. Otherwise, the pain of creating full transcripts just isn’t worth it.

How will you know you found your first video?

Besides feeling a sense of profound realization? I don’t know. Unadulterated happiness? Melancholy? Fatigue? A craving for Five Guys?

Considering the years I might be spending on this project and how emotional I can get over the oddest things, I’d probably cry. Whether they’re tears of joy and relief (“That’s the video!”) or disappointment and disbelief (“That’s the video?!”) will remain a mystery up until that point.

What if you never find the video?

Oh, it’s crossed my mind several times. I have tread marks all over my grey matter from it. There could be a chance that the fabled video has been lost to a copyright strike, was taken down because of quality issues, or met another type of fate. Maybe my memory is so faulty that I wouldn’t even recognize it. I haven’t ruled out the possibility that this quest may never be satisfactorily completed.

But I can be optimistic. I’m still having fun, stretching my mind muscles, and getting reacquainted with one of my favorite channels on a deeper level. I’ve even met other Vinesauce fans. In that case, maybe the real questening was the friends—wait, no, I’m not gonna finish that stupid-ass sentence…

What would you do if Vinny found out about this project?

Since I’m a freeze/fawn type, I’d stare dumbly at the screen, and try to brainstorm nice things to say so I can thwart a possible cease and desist letter.

No, I’ve heard that Vinny appreciates fan works (the nice kind, not the kind where a fan broadcasts their fetishes to the world), so I’d probably be surprised into speechlessness. I mean, how would he come across this blog in his online journeys? And did I offend him in some way? Am I gonna have to be on my best behavior now? What is my best behavior, for that matter?…

Okay, it’s not outside of the realm of possibility. Years ago, when I was running a cooking and commentary blog (long story), I attempted to go through the entirety of young adult fantasy/romance author Cassandra Clare’s The Draco Trilogy, a long-winded, toxic Harry Potter drama fest that she failed to scrub from the internet. After I finished reviewing the first story, I found that she’d blocked me on Twitter. For an obscure nobody like myself, that was a major accomplishment. I mean, she had to have been using some deep Google alert shit to be notified about my blog. It boosted my ego, and I was spared the horror of being sicced on by hostile Mortal Instruments/YA fans. Double win.

But from what Vinny has shared about how he spends his time—unless someone threatened Gnorts or otherwise strong-armed him—I can’t imagine how he fit in the time to look at my blog. But I would be stunned.

And while I’m thinking of it, I like Grey Leno and truly believe that the alien is a clever commentary on the mundanity of late night talk shows.

Would you just fucking say which chat(s) you’re hanging out in already? Your little guessing game/exercise isn’t fun.

*grumbling* It was fun for me. I honestly didn’t think this would frustrate people that much. Okay, fine.

First one. I’ve mentioned his content a few times, and he does like to dress up…

William Papadin streams on his YouTube channel, but not that often. Any stream is an event for Noble Knight fans; so much so, the chat has become busier. Having a conversation with other chatters isn’t possible anymore, but I still love watching Will traverse the gorgeous landscape of Elden Ring. (If I were a game developer, I’d be making a grimdark walking simulator right about now.)

As for the second chat, this is where I’ve been the most obnoxious in regards to giving clues. Well, mostly in conversations rather than this blog. Oh, but I dropped some serious hints. Cat dad. Third most popular streamer. I like to call us the cornfield parish. I even included this bit:

Why bug people like this? To be difficult. Because I’m quite fond of the chat. I like being able to keep up with conversations, recognize usernames, and have my messages occasionally seen by the streamer, sparking discussions among the rest of us.

I don’t have any kind of influence, but I had a feeling that once I said his name, somehow things would get rolling. More people would show up, which may lead to more supporters. That means more success for the streamer. I believe he’s long overdue for a boost, so it’s time to stop being selfish.

Here he is.

(Some of you are really gonna kick yourselves for not getting it sooner.)

Colin Mullin, AKA RevScarecrow. Vinesauce streamer, cat dad, artist, home invader chaser-outter, and fellow Southerner (who managed to finally escape Texas and head up north, bless him).

I don’t always attend—currently Wednesdays and Thursdays are my best days—but when I do, I have fun. Rev’s chat is more supportive and chill than others I’ve seen… but the conversations can get raunchy. Against my better judgment, I sometimes participate. Otherwise, I have the stream on for background noise while I’m researching or writing. It’s surprisingly conducive to concentration… until Rev starts repeating Chat’s lines about exploding testicles or something.

So if you pop in, don’t get too weirded out. And don’t try to shit it up—Rev’s mods and chat members do not suffer fools or agitators.