What Really Happened to ZeRo

Technicals is a creator that many have come to admire for his investigative reporting into the Smash community. However, he has recently come under a bit of heat for his recent video on ZeRo, a smash creator who was accused of some rather serious things last year. Today, I'm breaking down Technicals' video, as well as his response to the drama.
Just realised I forgot to put Leffen's tweet in the video at 23m16s. It's here: johnswan.media/leffen.png
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Thanks to these people for doing the voiceovers:
ZeRo: Doktor Skipper
Katie: / emvsthevoid
Albie: AidenProjects
Intro by Jakontrary
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0:00 - Intro
3:45 - What Really Happened to ZeRo?
7:23 - Katie's Testimony
13:19 - Technicals' Analysis
23:08 - Team ZeRo
32:18 - Technicals' Conclusion
37:11 - ZeRo's Return
42:41 - Motivations
52:58 - Guilty By Association
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Support me on Patreon!
► / johnswanyt
SECOND CHANNEL ► / johnswanling
INSTAGRAM ► / johnswanyt
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Select music by CO.AG: www.patreon.com/user/posts?u=...
Microphone sent to me by ElectroVoice courtesy of The Create Unknown Podcast.
#ZeRoShame

[@JohnSwanYT]

Just to let you all know, Technicals responded (albeit poorly) to my video. The most contentious part of my video is the last 15 minutes regarding Technicals' brother, Pixeldrink, and Tech provides a response showing some screenshots of his group chat. However, the timeline of the screenshots is completely off and I am personally still entirely unconvinced of his explanation. He also had a conversation with me a little while ago where he said that his brother "prob misspoke" when he said that minors sent "nudes and lewds amongst themselves, and sometimes in the chat that I was in." He also said that his brother's confession was not proof. It's up to you whether you believe him on all of this, but I thought it was important to share his response regardless, since he has asked me to retract my statements. I also responded to him on stream in full a few days ago, but I know livestreams can go unnoticed sometimes. Both are linked below. Technicals' response (timestamped): kzbin.info/www/bejne/oGbPYmWdYqmIpqM My response: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e2e9qoKHaN1ppdk

[@xzgears929]

Minors wasn't exchanging lewd or nude photos of themselves, it's not hard to frame it that way when you don't have all the information. Even people from that discord said this wasn't the case. It's really easy to clip Tech's twitter video out of context.

[@monstrosity6738]

Ok but your video still didn’t answer why he defended ZeRo. I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just kinda confused.

[@fullmetaljew7257]

This wasn't very objective...

[@dokara9241]

John swan stays deleting the comments also, can’t handle any criticism or call outs when I never insulted you

[@hunterculpepper1973]

Either way he's proven innocent in the court of law nothing they can say or do they have to unban him and talk to him nothing gonna change the betrayal and stuff

[@benmasta5814]

I feel bad for people who just like playing smash brothers.

[@arte.r143]

Fr ive been playing smash for like a year or so now and I’m just now getting into watching competitive matches and now I’m getting recommended all this shit like damn. Makes me want to pick up another game. But shit happens I guess.

[@craftymasterproductions4218]

@@arte.r143 Just ignore the drama, like I have for the most part.

[@ShadowD3mon25]

@@arte.r143 Every game has their iceberg. Just unfortunate that Smash has a pretty fucking ugly one

[@ehejddjdjsnsnsn4031]

This is me. I could probably do well at tournaments if I went but I don’t because I don’t wanna go to anything organized by the smash community. The community has become so horrible and it’s so sad because it used to be awesome back in the smash 4 days

[@roman3mp1r39]

why does it matter what some competitive players do in order for someone to enjoy a video game? lol

[@bwc]

You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

[@myflock000]

indeed

[@XylieGetsReal]

This ☝🏽

[@runningmusicnerd8267]

I think that's the best way to describe this situation

[@totalchill6272]

… and then get resurrected, like a Swan from the ashes

[@purplepanda6332]

Swan’s comeback just added another arc to the KZbinr lifecycle: resurrected from the dead & reborn a hero.

[@theoutsiderjess4869]

I really love the black and white visual in this video John it's a change of pace from your usual style

[@cullenbarker2978]

funny thing is I agreed with the tech video when I first watched it, now I realize it was because I was stoned as fuck

[@JohnSwanYT]

LMAOOOO

[@tacoman54wat]

Honestly same man

[@creepicake9162]

Same 😂

[@rustedcan9313]

Well I guess that means my sober mind is stoned by default.

[@quinb.3897]

Same, but not stoned, just dumb

[@rodrigoybanez8148]

Adults should not interact with children on the internet privately, even if they just make content for kids.

[@charged5164]

Man you’re right. When I turned 18 I should’ve just ignored my girlfriend for a month until she turned 18.

[@hachipawz3127]

@@charged5164 the point flew over your head huh

[@rtiq270]

@@hachipawz3127 Give him the benefit of the doubt; he simply ignored it on purpose.

[@Kamisuitendo]

@@hachipawz3127 He is a grown up, and she was child

[@Extreme11]

@@charged5164 So you consider your girlfriend a viewer of your content? Lmao, completely missed the point

[@Ragingvibrava]

Whenever those katie messages get read out loud I fucking shudder

[@Ian00003]

I don’t think I’d heard the Skype logs out loud until this video. Fucking disgusting

[@Waligug]

I legit had to skip some 🤮

[@blueviper64]

I don’t even know what’s going on anymore. That community is just a big game of hot potato where people keep switching being the hated/canceled one and vice versa lol

[@tigerstarkitty1005]

LMAOOO “Peter files”

[@wesleyem3]

As a member of the Smash community, this is just the tip of the iceberg. It's awful. So confusing and heartwrenching due to so many beloved figures in the community being accused, whether true or not. It's exhausting.

[@icyatlasartworks]

That's why I choose to avoid the community as a whole. Every relatively major person in that community is either extremely toxic, or silent.

[@jamesporquez3682]

@Aliz wow defending preds

[@calebbasssinger]

@@jamesporquez3682 Rekt

[@HopCatSmash]

28:20 Nobody else is confident to call it out even when they might see it like this, because people get dogpiled by the court of public twitter opinion in the smash community. It never feels worth giving your input when you haven't read every single piece of evidence, message and screenshot, just incase something gets turned on you. Sadly, it's just not worth risking your own reputation and risking your platform. I'm glad you made this as a counterpoint to the obviously very biased Technicals video. Hopefully people can watch both and make up their minds for themselves as to whether they want to continue to support ZeRo.

[@HopCatSmash]

also, 41:49 Note everything he says here is 'technically true' He didn't have the 'conversations with ONLY the intention to groom an underage individual' as he can absolutely say he also had other intentions, however it never denies that grooming was one of them. This whole segment is clearly written by a legal professional, in order to not incriminate himself while also not lying.

[@JohnSwanYT]

@@HopCatSmash So true, it's all 100% approved by his lawyer. Glad you enjoyed the video, mate

[@Benji_Jokjo]

HopCat here..? 👀

[@pigglyjuff691]

i thought hopcat would stay out of these controversies but here we are

[@simpanzee1196]

@@HopCatSmash Yup I caught the weird wording of that part of his statement immediately. Like it wasn't his ONLY intention to groom Katie, but it was definitely the MAIN intention.

[@PorkShark]

"This is pretty standard in nearly every other profession that involves children" Priests and CEOs: *imma pretend i didnt hear that*

[@Ian00003]

Teachers?

[@Lilhajxjk274]

​@@Ian00003most of those teachers are college profs with adult students though

[@rubberduck8096]

I think the main difference between the ZeRo video and his other videos is that Technicals usually takes the role of detective, whereas in the ZeRo video, he played the lawyer.

[@JohnSwanYT]

That's a really good way to put it actually. Technicals played more the role of a defence lawyer than a detective

[@purplepanda6332]

@@JohnSwanYT true, he acted with the intention to vindicate & would not accept any evidence or viewpoints to the contrary.

[@anggakarapreviandana2877]

Kinda late response... So basically Technicals became like Phoenix Wright from Ace Attorney for ZeRo. He acts like a defense attorney instead of detective when it comes to ZeRo on his video to the point he would not accept any evidence and viewpoints that against ZeRo. Yeah I rather stay neutral on this and let the evidence speaks for itself.

[@gibraltar4841]

v

[@jebril]

@@JohnSwanYT Zero already admitted he did wrong, but I think the thing is just how bad was it? To a lot of people it wasn't as bad as people are making it out to be, especially when you compare it to Nairo's situation which IMO is much more egregious. That's the whole point of the Tech vid I think, is that if Nairo is unbanned just cuz he said I have a lawyer Zero could have easily done the same thing for something significantly less. In actual court Nairo would ACTUALLY be charged with raping a minor and Zero would be charged with soliciting a minor online which is a much lesser crime. You know this and you glanced over that for a whole fucking hour to make this video.

[@isleofjames3847]

The production quality on this video is top notch

[@saintsundere]

Top tier music. I listened to this and it’s eerie how similar Technicals’ cadence is to Augie’s

[@nikkired5584]

Excellent video Swan! Welcome back

[@FrancisFabricates]

Excellent video. Just started to follow you. Have been really enjoying your content

[@Hans-andersen]

Oof

[@frisker2404]

Wow this just made my testing day more fun thanks john.

[@ARandomAccountYT]

Hey your back!! Also, this video was really well done.

[@eli-kave]

Amazing video and super informative! Don't stop your ontent creation

[@nightmarefrontier7059]

Wow this video is awesome the editing is amazing!! Always at your best when you make these types of video!

[@LynnUX]

that was such a good video. welcome back

[@HarleyTBS]

I don’t think I’ve been more excited for a video this whole year.

[@Observette]

Really good video John. Top tier stuff.

[@Extreme11]

Almost as top tier as Ganondorf

[@nathandrake6286]

“Extremely over exaggerated” Well you’re massively downplaying asking for cp. I don’t get how not receiving the images changes that he fucking asked for them. That’s like saying if I tried to rob a liquor store, but since they didn’t even have any money I can’t be arrested.

[@mozzerianmisanthrope406]

You can be charged for both; both are offences.

[@AshleyVibes23]

THANK YOU!!!!! I have been trying to say that the whole time omg🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

[@Raykushi]

Not defending, only inquiring here - I was under the impression that solicitation and the request for the ice cube thing wasn't actually documented. Conversations of inappropriate tone were provided with screenshots, but nothing actually directly incriminating. Also he was referring to every claim OTHER than the Katie one when he said "extremely over exaggerated"

[@gedezarx]

@@Raykushi Zero admitted to both.

[@sheg5910]

@@gedezarx Confessions alone arent enough, even if it is true. There's a lot of reasons why people confess, sometimes falsely. It's an interesting subject for sure.

[@jeako777]

42:28 him typing "Yes..." like an anime villain is so fucking funny to me

[@DJScrewdriver]

Did not expect this in my notifications. 👀

[@brandonwest4141]

When Technicals brings up the points about ZeRo's past and childhood, I like to invoke the words of another KZbinr, Mista GG "Once you cross that line, I stop caring about how you got there"

[@Psykroids]

Sooooo no redemption and we should have public executions always be the option? Instead of confinement?

[@brandonwest4141]

My point is that Technicals can delve into ZeRo's history and fucked up childhood all he wants, but none of it is justification for what he did. I do empathize with all that he went through, but I will never forgive him nor welcome him back, do with that what you will.

[@akionlizard]

@@brandonwest4141 as much as I'd agree with you, delving into someone's pass can really help figure out why someone does what they do. Remember, afaik, Zero isn't even from America, and laws are different in different places. What zero thought was ok in his home wasn't ok in America. Along with a poor childhood can lead to some serious mental issues.

[@sessaku9361]

@@Psykroids He can try to redeem himself. Everyone technically can. This isn't done by walking right back into the community acting like nothing happened though. ZeRo has done NOTHING to redeem himself. You know what redemption would be? All proceeds he makes from his content with no exception goes towards the center for missing and exploited children.

[@Psykroids]

@@sessaku9361 Yeah pretty sure mental scarring added to his sucidal tendencies, losing his friends and half of fans, and a great paying job, along with forever being blamed for that mistakes is good enough. Seriously. What do we need to do to satisfy your cravings? His address and a bucket of rocks? Maybe he should lose a limb? Not sute how else you seek to ruin his lifestyle besides ensuring that he goes broke and that he and Vanessa surely but slowly devolve into poverty. Seriously man...how cruel can ya be? And Jisu needs yo grow up. We all do dumb stuff as a kid and to bring it up now when Smash and Zero were at their peak, yeah...that is suspiciously sounding like sabotage. Seriously man what more do you want? Jail time? As you recall Zero cut off ties and admitted to it. But it takes attempt at actual physical contact to justify arresting charges because then its "attempted sexual assault of a minor." Online flirting, believe it or not, happens and people say really really dumb stufd online. Mistakes happen. Grow up. Let the man live. Stop seeling so much destruction for one man and his wife. Vanessa forgave him and many others can and if Jisu wants to continue to act like a victim and be all pissy about their mistakes okay sure... but she'll be the only one suffering now because she holds an immature grudge for something as dumb as online flirting.

[@BrokeIn97]

The ZeRo drama has been a roller-coaster of blame.

[@sethluna2928]

How so?

[@smj3productions]

Fantastic video. It's very well made and there's a lot of information here.

[@elvisneedsboatsbennett2455]

Glad you are still making videos

[@otakutrash6156]

Great video man, more of this instead of the “I’m quitting” videos

[@iljazero]

I think a lot of people missed something important, technicals talked about other tweetlongers/documents zero wrote, but never read them. I encourage you to find 2nd document (that is response to katie) where zero lies like crazy saying that he found out her age in september 23th, that he stopped talking to her shortly after. Just look at the dates on screenshot and think of what zero is saying, he 100% lied about not knowing her age and that he stopped talking to her shortly after finding her age, when you can see date on a screenshot where she says that she is 14 is september 23 and if you scroll down, zero says that he stopped talking to her shortly after that screenshot when 1. we can clearly see scrollbar has some scrolling to do and it says friday on screenshot, katie's toolbar shows december 15th and friday would be december 12th, so that scrolling is for messages in a 3 day span + again, he knew her age in september and STILL talked to her in december.

[@JohnSwanYT]

Yeah that Google Doc has been left in the wind, took me ages to find it. By the time I discovered it my video was already filmed. Maybe I can go over it in the future on a stream or something

[@iljazero]

@@JohnSwanYT I only found it because one person claimed that zero wrote those and tech never showed them. I asked that person in dms and he send me reddit, there were google docs, so I asked that person how do I know if zero wrote them and he send me video from 2020 summer where person covered story and you can see bitly links to those tl and docs and they were sent from zero's account. I checked those links in archive org and they give error that redirects to google doc and shows exactly that link, so document wasn't changed. just in case, I archived everything I found, thanks for making this video!

[@blank003]

Really want to see you succeed,hope this gets a 100 k views atleast.

[@iSamYTBackup]

not even half way trought the vid qnd i resubbed man you make great videos

[@TheWanderer2287]

Now THIS was a fantastic video. Excellent work Swan!

[@sallyleigh7431]

Top tier content! This was brilliant. Welcome back!

[@Horror_Hellfire]

Very nicely done, John.

[@stepfitz1016]

Okay that intro though 🤌 *chef's kiss

[@wwjdn6935]

amazing work john!

[@123kimmyrose]

Damn John great job I hope the algorithm is in your favor!

[@somebonehead]

Don't watch commentary channels but found this in my feed, so it must be doing something right

[@gaybrahamlinkoln5714]

Welcome back my guy! I've missed your shit.

[@urbicide_if]

Tech fucked up so bad he brought John Swan’s career back to life lmao

[@ARandomAccountYT]

Lol

[@urbicide_if]

@@ARandomAccountYT lmao even

[@viderevero1338]

​@@urbicide_if Mayhaps, Lmfao?

[@rubberduck8096]

@@viderevero1338 I daresay it could even be rofl.

[@hitnrun66]

@@rubberduck8096 possibly even roflcopter

[@brandonzero07]

Fuck. . .this Entry is just wow, The Quality of all of this went UP THE ROOOOOFT!

[@brandonzero07]

@Aliz Who asked you?

[@Hunterofthedammed]

@Aliz And.... what exactly is he lying about in this video? The receipts are all laid barren to us all in this video and he showed everything.... so where exactly in this video did he lie? If ya cant provide proof then yer nothing but a sheep lol im just sitting here seeing the stupidity of youtube comments being raised up again

[@xhy6114]

@@Hunterofthedammed watch thefranChise’s video if you want to see man

[@xhy6114]

@@Hunterofthedammed also ironic you’re calling him a sheep when you’re blindly following johns word without doing research yourself

[@Hunterofthedammed]

@@xhy6114 And whos side can you take when all sides have been proven to be untrustworthy? Cuz i sure as hell dont trust either side.

[@b4s222]

Damn, John. You really out here deleting comments?

[@Joederk]

The triumphant return of Jon Swan! Glad to see a quality that will make some waves from u Jon thank u

[@synnamon_toast_crunch]

Aged poorly

[@Joederk]

@@synnamon_toast_crunch aged poorly? The video has been out for 2 hours lol

[@darkdoctor1915]

This whole thing is gotten me really confusing the head, I don’t even know what to even say anymore I don’t even know who to trust, even when I don’t have trust in most people, In fact I pretty much never look up to anyone because at this point they can eventually screw up, and I recommend most people not to put their full trust in them.

[@morphwolf2730]

Awesome editing and amazing put together video.

[@sparkle_stacs]

BUT IT WAS SEVEN YEAR AGO JOHN AND HE ONLY DID IT ONCE AAAAA

[@matthanyfiedtano4175]

Sounds like a lot of time for someone to change.

[@thegreatcornholio9611]

Always looking forward to your vids man, keep up the great work!

[@horses529]

Really good video. Glad to see you back in your element John!

[@Jamie052290]

Nothing like a full length John Swan upload

[@cursedblake]

This is the kinda banger video that we wanted from you John. Keep this up

[@greenoranges9156]

I like your videos. Hope you get as many views as you used to

[@lifewithrini]

I don't always love the people you hang around John, but this, as with a number of your other videos is so well done and genuinely made me really happy. Thanks for making this and also the scenery was very worth, 10/10 would buy again.

[@skippydinglechalk6111]

People he hangs around with?

[@gaybrahamlinkoln5714]

Made you happy? Groomers make you happy?

[@chizzlemnizzle7606]

How does someone come back from icecube

[@Chloe-ts5en]

this is perfect opportunity for ur comeback era bestie . you can do this

[@ThinkerYT]

Beautiful video, the editing is top tier as usual.

[@SnowballSnep]

For a minute I thought the dude who voiced over ZeRo in the DM Screenshots was Vinny lmao Can't help his voice is incredible. Either way, ZeRo needs to be behind bars for this.

[@keernalc5423]

This title is second to none. Swan your marketing is next level.

[@pleasedeleteme7682]

What about “technicals from hero to Zero”

[@RelaxAlexX]

This need more attention

[@Ian00003]

18:30 great quote, great video so far

[@Kingshit69]

Ive been waiting for this one

[@gigawhopper]

Wouldn't your video needed to be taken down since it's using zero's case evidence footag?

[@brokenzealot7261]

That chat log made me sick

[@MaterMotely]

Great video John!

[@JACKELincorporated]

great video john, keep quacking bro

[@MissZombieBunny]

fantastic video, so glad to see you back

[@zztailsMKW]

Shit's about to get real

[@androidinblack5291]

Good to have you back, John.

[@AcedVidz]

I thoroughly enjoyed this video

[@InktoEcho]

Thank god someone made the video

[@Sancahez]

So his entire argument is "well, it only happened once and this other guy did way worse stuff and we let him get away with it"

[@MalinaliTrejo]

sprinkled with some "he's from Chile and it's legal there" and "he had a traumatic childhood guys!"

[@Tyreker]

And that there was no pics sent So what exactly did Zero do wrong again if there were no pics sent?

[@HandlesL]

@@Tyreker he still solicited it, you nonce Asking for it multiple times “But judge!! The child never actually went in to his van! He only tried to coerce the child into doing what he wanted”

[@InfinityFantasy]

Literally the entire point of bringing up the DSM situation.

[@thomaslodger7675]

No, John Swan missed the entire point. Tech said that Nairo should be banned for his behavior just like how Zero was banned. Tech even made a follow up video titled "ban Nairo".

[@TrBlizzu]

The righteous return to form; good vid John

[@Robswrkshp]

This reminds me of when Kero the Wolf was working with friends to defend his image after his scandals.

[@magnumdoinks5595]

This is like a returning magnum opus. It’s fuckin amazing bro!

[@TheTeebo05]

The king has returned. Welcome back Swanny

[@justmehabibi]

welcome back back back again.

[@stuglife5514]

I thought a technical was a civilian truck (usually a Toyota) with a jury rigged mounted machinegun in the bed

[@ls3mason850]

Finally feels like john swan is back

[@Ian00003]

Dressing up like Tech and mimicking his set was perfect

[@anobsessedfan8140]

I agree, it set the mood

[@mikeielOFFICAL]

keep up the amazing work John love the awesome videos and love the awesome editing!

[@s0vnds]

Welcome back to making content Swan

[@moltyz6787]

a lot of his video was technicals ballet dancing around every solid point the other side makes. I feel like he has some sort of ulterior motive, because i feel like even a middle schooler could tell how he was disguising a joke as an argument. A huge example of this is when he interviewed the *GUYS* at team zero, and he essentially said "naaaaaah, he probably gay"

[@BEEZUS45]

Love the video!

[@razumikhim]

your video quality is crazy john

[@XylieGetsReal]

Great video!

[@50blessings70]

amazing video!! the editing and the quality of this is so great, you did such a good job! i'm thankful you're still here and making content, i genuinely always look forward to seeing what you post

[@Acryte]

Well made dude, thanks for saying what many was bothering many people about the technicals narrative and conclusion.

[@riotwire]

Awesome vid john 👍

[@hydro5168]

Couldn't have seen this coming ever

[@kylie9911]

Peter files and their defenders FACE THE WALL!

[@cheerfulgestalt3282]

Just wanted to throw this out there. Technicals actively deletes comments criticizing his arguments. You would think that if he was nearly as confident in his argument and Zero's innocence that he wouldn't resort to silencing disagreement.

[@mentalfortitude5718]

Do you have any proof of this? I’d be interested in seeing.

[@lionzcrown1702]

it could easily just be annoyanc e that doesnt prove it lol

[@brandonwest4141]

Or even reply to those comments with his stance. If he's that confident he's in the right then why not try to point out someone else's fallacies?

[@lionzcrown1702]

@@brandonwest4141 cause internet lmao I mean it could be a number of reasons. At the very least, it's clear to me he really believes in what he says. I don't think he's intentionally manipulating anyone for anything he doesn't really believe, even if he's wrong

[@tunok3874]

he deleted my comment that i made saying "john swan made an actual good video about ZeRo then you" then he deleted my comment, snowflake technicals.

[@mefour83]

Well done video, talking about something that IMO really needed to get some sort of spotlight

[@thedarklordsauron1580]

Just wanted to say John that apart from all that silly crap in the past it’s good to see some real good banger videos again man, glad to see you haven’t lost your commentary edge, if your reading this man great work man

[@intelliengi4798]

@Aliz Yeah and it's terrible

[@KYSheng]

I feel like Katie's story wasn't as impactful in the community due to the actions of Leffen and Jisu. They kept accusing Zero of doing stuff that he didn't instead of focusing on Katie's experience with Zero which is really fucked up. It really made Zero look like a victim even though he was the offender.

[@xzgears929]

The crap Jisu put out was lies. All she did was copy and paste the Katie stuff to her own pile of shit. Idiots like Esam, and Hugs believe Jisu and Leffen entirely. People like Jisu make me sick. The scumbag wanted Sky to self harm instead of bringing her actual abuser to justice.

[@monstrosity6738]

I can't think of a community that has fumbled a case this sensitive this poorly. The smash community is more fucked up than I realized. Edit: Probably Minecraft.

[@RossoCarne]

Katie isn't real...

[@Zapmannn]

He’s literally winning his court case what r u talking about

[@oliversotir3914]

Straight outta' Twitter

[@Aci_yt]

Thanks!

[@redmilitia117]

Whoa I did not realize you uploaded

[@PuddleOfPizza]

#WelcomeBackJohnSwan

[@Narcolept.]

i can already tell this is gonna be good

[@ikilledkennyubastard7053]

John is coming back with the bangers. Keep pushing out good content bro!

[@kamicloudss]

Those messages have to be the worst thing ever put to text

[@liamahlborg2647]

Idk who the guy John is talking about is but I love it