@mindlessobserver You asked for comments and corrections to the draft of the OP, so here's some. Apologies for the late answer, was awaiting account confirmation. Also, the tone gets a bit too acerbic at the end, sorry for that as well. I wrote this last night, when it wasn't yet put in as the OP.
A critique from a long time lurker.
surrounded by alcohol and the art of his adoring fans
This is incorrect. He either bought those pieces from one of his artist friends (Depp, not a cat, horror characters) or it got gifted to him by LR (the whiskey painting, they even made a video). I believe Nick said that all the paintings except for the horror one were by someone called Eric Waugh.
Phase 1.
Maybe add a small bit about how Nick jumped around financial sector jobs before going to law school. I especially recommend the story of how he got fired once because he was not wearing a tie and was late for work. Establishes a pattern of laziness and lack of punctuality. The way I remember him telling it made me think that he's still butthurt about it. "I even told the manager I could run to a store and get a tie and he wouldn't let me" or something very close to that.
Another detail to add would be how he wanted to upload the first video to Facebook, but hit some upload limitation, so he had to upload it to YT. The channel literally started out because he was too lazy to chop it up into segments. This is speculation on his mindset at the time, but it fits well.
Phase 2.
I think TheQuartering's lawsuit against a man in a dress who punched him deserves a mention. That was somewhat big news back then.
I would also include a bit about how past Nick would zealously avoid profanity and obscenity even when drunk, so that the casual reader gets hit harder by the contrast later. A perfect clip would be one from the debate between EVS and Jason Yungbluth. Yungbluth called EVS a faggot (I think 3 times, with the last one being while Nick was on a piss break, but I'm a bit fuzzy on that particular detail), which prompted Nick to fly into a red-faced rage about how he wouldn't allow such foul language on his show and to kick Yungbluth off the stream. Back then, Nick flying into a rage was spicy and impactful, if you can imagine. The quote from Nick went something like "I don't even say 'dee-ay-em-en' on the show, how dare you, good sir, use that language! This is my house and you're out of line!" This would also be a great clip to call back to later in the write-up. Maybe with a recent quote of his: "*chuckles* I call people faggots on the Internet, that's what I do." Again, contrast.
Phase 3.
Second paragraph could use some more clarity. "Accusations." What accusations? Vic being with women? I don't think any penetrative act was ever alleged, consensual or otherwise. I don't even think any clothes came off in any of the allegations.
First photo has a caption that references Chupp. This is a name not referenced or explained before or since. Either the trial should be more fleshed out or the caption changed to remove the reference to the judge.
Also, the paragraphs immediately before and after that photo both try to explain exactly who Ty Beard is, in very similar ways. Looks like an editorial oversight. The paragraph after the first photo is generally very weirdly written. Reads like a disjointed stream of consciousness. Probably should be rewritten entirely. Read it for yourself out loud, you'll see what I mean. Maybe get some sperg from the Weeb Wars section to write a good summary?
Next. The "Pope of LawTube" nickname didn't exist until way after Rittenhouse. Maybe even after Johnny Depp. Hell, even the name "LawTube" became common only during Depp. The pope hat went on Rekieta's head for the first time during one of the readings from The Daily Unbreaded. This is another thing that probably deserves a mention, even if just to explain the hat. Btw, according to Nick, the hat was used in "ritual sex magic" before he got it.
The so-called LawTube.
LegalBytes's name is Alyte Mazeika, not Aline Maizeka. Also, you writing that she's "currently excommunicated" is weird. It's as if you're lending unwarranted legitimacy to the "Pope of LawTube" shtick.
VivaFrei's name is David Freiheit, not David Freiheight.
I don't think most of these people are relevant to the topic anyway. Like, what's Viva doing here? He has a channel in his own right, he's not a "Nick orbiter," he didn't get his initial subscriber push from him, and he's not been on Nick's show very often. Drex? Sure. LB? Certainly. But that's about it.
Youtube would subsequently suppress Rekieta’s show in their algorithm and the show would never again reach the rarified heights of 6 figure concurrent viewership.
Citation fucking needed. After Rittenhouse, L&C paid for "Trusted Source" privilege of being at the top of search or something like that, sure. And even that's according to Nick. But "algorithmic suppression" of Rekieta specifically? Not sure. Also, he did, in fact, reach those heights again with Depp, so the sentence is factually wrong as well.
Phase 4.
The quality of writing continues to deteriorate grammar- and cohesiveness-wise.
You've not mentioned alcohol at all up to this point (except in the preamble) despite it being the main gimmick of the show. Remember "Superchat, drink"? Now, all of a sudden, there's a bottle up Rekieta's ass. Where's the build-up? "Alcohol abuse"? As a casual reader, I wouldn't have even known he drank before!
Your timeline with regards to Depp's trial, the lead-up to it, and the various LB drama flare-ups is wacky. Read the TL;DR's in the Lawtube thread or something.
Youtube was not impressed with this and despite the merits of his position (it was fair use) the way it was handled led to a community guideline strike and a suspension in the summer of 2022, and then two more in succession throughout the year.
What "two more"? You can't just gloss over YT strikes like that.
This stream, brought to you by Coca-Cola and Marjory Taylor Green
That's not how you spell MTG's name.
It all came to a head when the Keffals Kerfuffle broke out in September of 2022.
Again, who's Keffals? You keep throwing out names of relevant characters, but not explaining who they are. I mean, we all know who that is, but it's just good writing to introduce characters properly, as well as their relevance to the story. Also, no mention of the Duncan debate? I was sure the flagging campaign started there. Or at least, got a big push.
Rekieta was promptly banned off youtube with a community guideline strike. This was, his second strike.
Suspension != ban, ffs.
After being restored, he read aloud Bar Complaints that included the names of the people who sent them. All related to the Keffals Drama which the hate watchers then used as an excuse to report and get him banned a third and final time.
Beyond you never explaining what the Keffals drama actually is, this is factually incorrect. Reading the names is something he's done forever. "Fan Mail" has been a segment on the show since the LOLsuit. The problem wasn't the names. The problem was him promising to release the
home addresses of the complainants on Locals. Which reminds me: how is that you've not mentioned Rekieta's Locals yet? Surely, such a nexus of degeneracy, and the place of this story's final act should at least have its founding date written down.
Nick could no longer maintain his shock jock image and he has since signed an exclusivity deal with Rumble and is curtailing his youtube presence.
Hwah? What Rumble? E-exclusivity deal? Again, your story isn't weaved properly. Nick's laziness about new tech has been legendary for about a year by now. "I'm a social media expert, I'm gonna write a book!"-type hubris was, perhaps, the thing he was mocked most often before the Hedonism II trip and the subsequent fall from grace.
Phase 5.
The writing is so bad by now, it's legitimately hard/maddening to try to parse through. Disjointed sentences. Incoherent narratives. Is it the wife? Is it the kids? What about them? Is it... Kek7go? What's he got to do with anything? Why would you randomly attack him like that? I noticed you've not said a word about, say, Spectre and his role in the CG arc of Nick's channel. Matter of fact, the CG arc itself is almost completely overlooked, despite it being, arguably, Nick's first major foray into the cultural side of Internet drama.
One of the trips to Jamaica was rumored to be in order to attend a huge swingers orgy called Hedonism II.
Brother, dost thou even read this here thread? There are literally write-ups on the Jamaica trip. People pinpointed his location down to a specific fucking hotel room. It's not a rumor, it's not "an orgy," it's not "one of the tri... I'm done. This is just bad bad bad now. I'm not reading any further. I also stopped being objective a couple paragraphs ago. Sorry about that.
In conclusion.
It seems to me like you ran out of steam mid-Phase 3. The grammar is, no other word for it, atrocious. Apostrophes and commas exist where they shouldn't be and don't where they should. Weird capitalizations, run-on sentences, typos, straight-up spelling mistakes, and other such basic nonsense detract from the reading experience greatly. Beyond that, the story isn't quite straight. It's got factual errors and glaring omissions, some of which I pointed out. I'm sure people will catch more. All in all, I think the draft still has quite a bit of time in the oven.
Storytelling musings, feel free to disregard.
The "star cycle" idea is good. However, it's merely one idea. To create a great story, there must be many good ideas. Story arcs, as it were. For example. How did Nick go from kicking people off the show for saying the dreaded f-slur to "I call people faggots on the Internet, that's what I do"? How did he go from "chad dad" to "I wish my parents told me how they fucked"? How did we get from "incel is a left-wing insult" to "KF is a bunch of incel faggots"? And not just "here's point A, and here's point B 20 paragraphs down apropos of nothing." Weave a thread. Establish patterns. Employ call-backs to points previously made. A gradual decline. A regression in standards and morals. Were the signs there? What did people gloss over back then? With hindsight, what can we observe?
Finally,
"hypocrisy." That word is
never used in your draft.