Roblox is a massively multiplayer online game created by developers David Baszucki and Erik Cassel, in which players are able to create their own virtual worlds using blocks of varying shapes, sizes and colors. Other members may also enter and socialize within his/her game. Complex games may be scripted via Lua, a programming language. Roblox also has a developed community which composes of many forums, groups and blogs.
History
In 2004, a beta version of Roblox titled Dynablocks was released. The following year, the game was renamed Roblox as a portmanteau of “robots” and “blocks.” From 2006 to 2008, Roblox maintained significant player growth, with continuous updates providing improved an user interface and graphics to the game.
Erik Cassel’s Death
On the morning of February 11th, 2013, co-founder Erik Cassel passed away after a 3 year-long battle with cancer.[2] In remembrance, the Roblox admins created a memorial level dedicated to Cassel and the community gave their tribute by dressing as Cassel.
Roblox Con
Gameplay
Roblox players are able to customize virtual avatars with a variety of heads, bodies, clothing and equipment. Additionally, players can create customize appearance items to sell in the in-game market. Players can participate in a variety of games, some of which are made by the Roblox community. The game allows players to meet friends within the virtual world and add them to a friends list.
Fandom
Many YouTubers reguarly post Roblox gameplay videos, including DanTDM (shown below, left) and FGTeeV (shown below, right). As of December 2016, the Roblox Facebook fan page has over 510,000 likes.[3]
Charitable Works
2013 Philippines Relief Effort
One week after Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines, ROBLOX started a relief fund to donate money to those in the Philippines. The community has helped donate over $2,000.
Gremlin D.Va is a chibi-style cartoon caricature of D. Va, one of the playable characters in the team-based first-person shooter Overwatch, who is portrayed as a stereotypical gamer engrossed in e-sports subculture and lifestyle, such as frequent consumption of McDonald’s, Doritos and Mountain Dew. The fan-made character became widespread among the fans of Overwatch on Tumblr in early June of 2016.
Origin
In Overwatch, the playable character Hana Song (a.k.a. “D.Va”) is a professional Starcraft player who controls a large mech suit in the battlefield. On May 27th, 2016, Tumblr user radtone posted a chibi fan art of D.Va along with an IRC post about her gloves, gaining over 1,300 notes in the following week (shown below, left).[1] The same day, radtone posted another fanart featuring the Overwatch character Soldier: 76 and the chibi D.Va, gaining over 7,400 notes in the following week (Shown below, right).[2]
Spread
On June 2nd, Tumblr user fumeknight posted a comic of D.Va asking Mercy and Pharah in middle of the night to go to McDonalds, which gained over 17,000 notes prior its deletion.[5]
On June 3rd, Tumblr user dakkpasserida[6] posted an illustration of Gremlin D.Va, in which she is shown jumping with the caption “haha get rekt nerds” (shown below). In four days, the post gathered upwards of 1,200 notes. The same day, Twitter user @OhHeyDJ[7] posted an illustration of D.Va eating a bag of Doritos chips while scratching her posterior (shown below, right).
On June 6th, Kotaku[8] published an article about the illustrations titled “Overwatch Fans Have Turned DVA Into a Dorito-Eating Gremlin.” The same day, Tumblr user automaton-dreams posted an aesthetic version of Gremlin D.Va (shown below, left). The following day, Tumblr user blackbookalpha posted a webcomic in which the Overwatch character Pharah shoots bottles of Mountain Dew at D.Va (shown below, right).
“Game On” Emote
On August 17th, 2016, Blizzard released a new patch update available for testing, which included several new emotes for the characters.[11] One of the introduced emotes featured D.Va using her mech to play a videogame while eating Doritos and Mountain Dew, as a nod to the fan despiction of the character.
“Don’t Talk To Me Or My Son Ever Again” is a catchphrase associated with images featuring an iconic fictional character and its miniature offspring, the latter of which is produced by modifying the former character in image-editing applications like Photoshop. Originally introduced through a fan-made parody image of the Cowboy Bebop character Spike Spiegel in November 2014, the meme has seen a significant resurgence on Tumblr and Twitter following an influx of derivative “father-and-son” character images in late 2015.
Origin
On November 4th, 2014, Tumblr user Splendidland[1] posted a picture featuring the character Spike Spiegel from the anime series Cowboy Bebop with a miniature version of himself, featuring the catchphrase “don’t ever talk to me or my son ever again.” The post gained over 6,300 notes in the following year. The origin of the quote Don’t talk to me or my son ever again is unknown, but it is presumed to have been added by the original Tumblr user for comedic effect.
Spread
For the most part of 2015, the fad remained dormant until August 24th, when Tumblr user konkeydongcountry[6] posted a picture showing a wool plush toy and a smaller amiibo figure of Yoshi that were released to promote Nintendo’s side-scrolling platformer video game Yoshi’s Woolly World for Wii U, captioned with the catchphrase (shown below, left). In the next six months, Tumblr user Konkeydongcountry’s post gained over 3,900 notes. On October 30th, Twitter user @theyoshibot[5] tweeted a photograph of a life-size Yoshi costume and a digitally-edited miniature version of the costume, along with the catchphrase (shown below, right), which gained over 3,000 likes and retweets in less than five months.
Throughout the remainder of 2015, additional variations of the photoshop fad continued to gain momentum on popular media-sharing sites, mainly on Tumblr[2] and Twitter.[7] On January 4th, 2016, the Tumblr meme documentation blog Meme Archives[4] ran a post identifying the original instance of the meme.[4] On February 11th, Redditor PlaceboWizard posted a question about the meme’s backstory to the /r/OutOfTheLoop[3] subreddit, where it gained over 60 points (87% upvoted) and seven comments.
Trigglypuff is the nickname given to a Hampshire College student who was recorded loudly protesting in the audience of a University of Massachusetts Amherst event titled “The Triggering,” which featured a discussion criticizing politically correct movements on campus hosted by conservative vlogger Steven Crowder, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Christina Hoff Sommers.
Origin
On April 25th, 2016, student protesters began loudly shouting at speakers during “The Triggering” event held at UMass Amherst, with many accusing the hosts of “hate speech.” Among them was an enraged female student who was recorded repeatedly yelling while flailing her arms at host Christina Hoff Sommers. On April 26th, 2016, the campus news site Campus Reform[3] posted an article about the incident and uploaded a recording of the event to YouTube, gathering over 786.000 views within 48 hours.
Spread
The following day, Redditor Herelam uploaded the CampusReform video to the /r/KotakuInAction[11] subreddit, where many mocked the student protester for behaving erratically. In the first 24 hours, the post garnered upwards of 2,000 votes (93% upvoted) and 690 comments. Also on April 26th, Twitter user @MikeMa_ posted a short video clip of Yiannapoulos reacting to a clip of the student (shown below). Within 48 hours, the tweet gathered upwards of 2,900 likes and 1,400 retweets.
Meanwhile, YouTuber Alfred Alfer uploaded an remix featuring clips of the student set to the tune of the song “Dragostea Din Tei” from the viral video Numa Numa (shown below, left). On April 27th, 2016, YouTuber Students of Odin posted an edited clip of the incident titled “The Legend of Trigglypuff,” which subsequently reached the front page of the /r/PoliticalVideo[10] and /r/videos[13] subreddits (shown below).
The same day, a thread about the event was created on 4chan’s /pol/ (politics) board,[5] where many mocked the student for her attitude and appearance. In a subsequent /pol/ thread, a 4chan user nicknamed the student “Trigglypuff,” a portmanteau of “trigger” and the Pokémon creature Jigglypuff (shown below).[6]
A thread dedicated to Trigglypuff was created on /pol/ the same day,[7] and was subsequently reposted on the /r/4chan[8] subreddit. Meanwhile on Twitter, many users began mocking the student in tweets accompanied by the hashtag “#TrigglyPuff”.[2]
On April 28th, Redditor skincube uploaded a parody Garbage Pail Kids trading card of Trigglypuff to the /r/KotakuInAction[12] subreddit (shown below). The same day, the /r/TrigglyPuff[14] subreddit was launched for discussions about the student. Meanwhile, a page titled “Trigglypuff” was launched on Encyclopedia Dramatica.[15]
Hugh Mungus is a gag name based off the word “humongous,” which was uttered by Seattle resident Rudy Pantoja while being filmed by Black Lives Matter activist Zarna Joshi, who subsequently accused him of sexual harassment.
Origin
On August 11th, 2016, Joshi published a lengthy blog post on her Facebook page, claiming that she was “sexually harassed” while protesting the building of a police station at the Seattle city hall.[1] At the bottom of the post, Joshi included video footage of Pantoja identifying himself as “Hugh Mungus,” which she interprets as a reference to his penis (shown below).
Every day it gets worse. I went to City Hall to #BlocktheBunker this morning and after public comment, I was standing in the lobby with the crowd, recording media interviews and stuff. Some TV crew were recording an interview with a pro-Bunker guy, who said his name was Rudy, who had talked about how the cops had helped his heroin addicted daughter and that “Girls Matter”.
That same guy then sexually harassed me. And when I asked him why he was sexually harassing me, he kept doing it. When I raised my voice and told everyone what he was doing, he ran away.
The security guards, who witnessed everything, then accosted me to tell me to be quiet. When I asked them why they were going after me instead of the man who sexually harassed me, they called the cops ON ME.
The cops were already there, of course. They didn’t go after the man who’d sexually harassed me. When I asked them to at least take notes of what happened and why they were not going after the man who sexually harassed me, they said that I should speak with one of their officers alone. They didn’t take any notes, they didn’t even send one man to go look out for the guy while this conversation was going on for over ten minutes. The officers stood there with their hands on their guns until a white man asked why they had their hands on their guns. Why were they holding their guns while talking to a woman of color who was sexually harassed? Why would they ask that woman of color to go alone with them to talk to them, while holding those guns?
I refused to leave the safety of my community to speak to a cop alone and it was only when another person – an older white male – spoke up, that the cop decided to take down my description of my harasser and I showed them some of this video.
I was sexually harassed and then criminalized because I wouldn’t shut up about being sexually harassed. And the city wants to give these cops $160 million dollars to build a military bunker to “protect us”. The cops didn’t protect me. They didn’t look out for me. They didn’t give a damn. Why would they? They’re part of a gang that molests and criminalizes innocent people all the time.
And by the way, the guy who sexually harassed me made a public comment that was pro-bunker and PRO-COP. The cops are definitely not going to go after him.
After this all happened, I went to the city council offices with community members to make a formal complaint about how the security guards treated me. Here’s the thing: The security guards are not public employees. They’re employed by a private company. Lorena Gonzalez’s aide Brianna came out, listened to what I said, and then told me that I must have orchestrated this…as if I organized my own sexual harassment and criminalization.
I asked her to find out the accountability process for security guards, since they’re not city employees. She told me that she’d done a lot to try to help me and she said that she didn’t have time today to do more. We were all so stunned by this that there was silence in the room after she said this. All she’d done was sit down and not answer my questions. She wrote down a number and pushed it to me across the table, foisting me off on another department. I asked to speak with Council Member Lorena González regarding this, Brianna said she could “probably” do that. When I asked when this meeting would be, she said: “Oh, now this has gone from a phone call to a meeting?” as if I was too demanding. She said that I would hear back by 5pm but only after I asked, repeatedly, when I would hear from them. At present, it’s 9pm, and I’ve heard nothing from any of them.
Kshama Sawant’s aide Ted came in to the room to help, as did Jesse, Mike O’Brien’s aide. They were more compassionate and forthcoming with information then anything Brianna said but it seems like there is no accountability process. Private security guards in our tax-payer funded city hall don’t answer to anyone.
Why did no one stop the man who sexually harassed me?
Why are the security guards in city hall private employees and not accountable to the public?
Why was I told to be quiet when I was sexually harassed?
Why was I subjected to intimidation and physical threat from the cops?
Why was Lorena González’s aide Brianna so callous and dismissive?
Why are the cops getting $160 million dollars to build a militarized fortress when they can’t even catch one sexual harasser when he’s right in front of them?
What would have happened to me if the community hadn’t been there to witness?
Call here to complain about Lorena González’s aide: 206 684 8802.
Call here to complain to the private security company: 206 233 7812
Call here to complain to the City about the private security company: 206 684 CITY
Call here to complain about the racist and threatening cops: 206 625 5011*
*Sidenote: I think it likely that the cops or someone will come after me, so if anything happens to me, please don’t think it was an accident.
#Patriarchy #Racism #Capitalism #BlockTheBunker
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On August 18th, YouTuber YT Vault reposted the video, identifying the man as “misogynist Sam Hyde.“[5] That day, the American law enforcement organization Blue Lives Matter[7] published an article about the video.
On August 20th, 2016, the video was reposted by YouTuber RageWasHere.[6] On August 22nd, the conservative news site Heat Street[4] published an article about the incident. On August 23rd, an entry for Zarna Joshi was created on Encyclopedia Dramatica.[8] On August 25th, YouTuber Chris Ray Gun uploaded a reaction to the video titled “Feminist vs Dad Jokes” (shown below).
On August 31st, YouTuber h3h3productions posted an episode reacting to the video titled “Crazy Feminist Gets Triggered Ft. Hugh Mungus” (shown below). Within 48 hours, the post gained over 1.2 million views and 26,100 comments. The following day, Redditor mattgtv submitted the video to the /r/h3h3productions[2] subreddit, where it gathered upwards of 5,300 votes (84% upvoted) and 1,400 comments. In the comments section of the post, Redditor MooseMan24 claimed to have known the man featured in the video, noting that he had just spoken at City Hall about his “daughter’s struggle with heroin.”[3]
Zarna Responds
In late October 2016, Joshi released a series of videos titled “Zarna Responds,” in which she dicusses various topics related to feminism and the patriarchy (shown below). Additionally, Joshi set up a page on the donation site YouCaring for viewers to donate to her personally.
On November 5th, 2016, h3h3productions posted a video titled “The Hugh Mungus Lady Responds,” in which Klein accuses Joshi for using the argument of “internalized oppression” to dismiss anyone who disagrees with her (shown below). Additionally, Klein donated $100 to Joshi’s YouCaring page as a “moral test” to see if she would accept it.
Help Hugh Mungus
On November 7th, 2016, h3h3productions posted a video titled “Hugh Mungus Needs Our Help,” in which he claims that Joshi accepted his $100 donation but hid his comment from her page. Additionally, he revealed that Pantoja was undergoing cancer treatments and suffering from health problems, and that he opened up a YouCaring page to help him.
The following day, YouCaring shut down both the donation pages for both Joshi and Pantoja, due to the subject matter inciting “controversy.” Also on November 8th, Ethan Klein launched a page titled “Help Hugh Mungus” on GoFundMe,[9] which gathered upwards of $54,500 of its $10,000 goal within 16 hours (shown below).
Arthur’s Fist is a reaction image featuring a screen capture of the protagonist Arthur from the titular children’s television series holding a clinched fist, which is often accompanied by captions describing various infuriating or frustrating circumstances. The image is taken from the Arthur Punches D.W. scene, notable for inspiring a series of YouTube poop videos.
Origin
On September 6th, 1999, Episode 1 Season 4 of Arthur titled “Arthur’s Big Hit” was broadcast, during which Arthur is shown clinching his fist before punching his little sister D.W. for breaking his Bell X-1 model airplane (shown below).
On July 27th, 2016, Twitter user @AlmostJT[1] posted a screen captured image of Arthur’s fist, describing the picture as “relatable” for displaying “so many emotions in one fist” (shown below). The original tweet has since been removed.
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On July 28th, 2016, Redditor axedowg submitted the fist image with the caption ”when people say ‘Harambe was just a gorilla’” to /r/blackpeopletwitter,[3] where it gathered upwards of 4,800 votes (89% upvoted) and 130 comments within five days (shown below, left). Meanwhile, the Arthur__Hands[2] Twitter feed was launched, featuring various examples of the Arthur fist meme (shown below, right).
That day, Paper Mag[7] and The Daily Dot[8] published articles highlighting notable examples of Arthur fist tweets. On July 30th, Redditor MGLLN posted a photoshop of Arthur’s fist punching North Korea to /r/blackpeopletwitter[4] (shown below, left). In 72 hours, the post received more than 6,300 votes (89% upvoted) and 140 comments. On August 1st, Redditor Aerolas submitted a picture of Spongebob Squarepants holding a clenched fist with the caption “Arthur memes are better than Spongebob memes” to /r/blackpeopletwitter[5] (shown below, right). That day, The Verge[6] published an article about trending image titled “The Arthur first meme is the best new meme in a long line of Arthur memes.”
Editor’s Note: This entry contains plot spoilers to Captain America: Steve Rogers.
About
Captain Hydra is a nickname given to the Marvel Comics superhero Captain America in the light of the shocking plot twist that Steve Rogers, the original alter ego of Captain America, has long been a covert agent of HYDRA, the terrorist-paramilitary organization; as revealed in the first issue of Marvel’s comic book series Captain America: Steve Rogers released in May 2016. The final panel of the issue, where Captain America utters the phrase “Hail HYDRA”, soon became target to photoshops featuring similar scenarios.
Origin
On May 25th, 2016, Marvel Comics released the first issue of Captain America: Steve Rogers[1], a new comic book series in the Captain America franchise written by Nick Spencer and illustrated by artist Jesus Saiz. In the comic, Steve Rogers, the superhero’s original alter ego who was succeeded by Sam Wilson after his superpowers were neutralized as a result of removing the supersoldier serum from his body, reprises his role as Captain America, who makes a shocking confession that he has been a longtime secret operative for HYDRA ever since he and his mother were recruited by the evil organization during his childhood. In the final panel of the issue, Steve Rogers pushes one of his colleagues, Jack Flag, out of an airplane and utters the phrase “Hail HYDRA” (shown below).
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Immediately upon the release of Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 on May 25th, the shocking reveal of Captain America’s true identity was met with overwhelmingly negative responses from the fans of the Marvel comic franchise on Twitter[6][18], Tumblr[20] and 4chan[7][8][9][10][11], not to mention a similar sense of skepticism from various comic book news sites and blogs[3][4][13][14][15] as well as entertainment news sites.[5][16][17][21] On March 26th, Chris Evans, the American actor best known for his role as the Marvel Comics superhero Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, tweeted his reaction to the plot twist using the hashtag #sayitaintso (shown below). In less than 24 hours, Evans’ tweet garnered more than 88,000 retweets and over 100,000 likes.
On May 27th, Internet artist @BossLogic shared a concept artwork visualizing how Chris Evans would look as the so-called “Captain Hydra” (shown below).
Meanwhile on 4chan’s /co/ (comics and cartoon) community, many disgruntled fans of Marvel Comics began churning out photoshopped parodies based on the exploitable image of Captain America saluting “Hail Hydra” in the final panel of the comic book; which quickly spread to other sites as well in the following days as their popularity increased.
The Running Man (often stylized as the #RunningManChallenge) is a dance fad in which college basketball players do a close-armed running man-style dance to the tune of the 1995 song “My Boo” by Ghost Town DJs.[6] The fad became popular during the 2016 NCAA championships, after being spread by players from the university of Maryland.
Origin
The running man dance was original popularized in the mid-80’s by Janet Jackson’s music video Rhythm Nation. [7] The first known #RunningManChallenge was posted to Instagram by user 11.oo7, who claimed that the video was inspired by another private user, Rah2bandz. The video, originally posted January 16th, 2016 received over 6,000 likes by April 20th.[1] The following day, 11.oo7 posted “Part 2” of the #RunningManChallenge videos (shown in the YouTube compilation below), which received 5,300 likes.
Spread
The trend began to catch on through Instagam in the first few months of the year, eventually acquiring 2,922 posts with the hashtag by April 20th. On March 31st, 2016, the players Jared Nickens and Jaylen Brantley of the University of Maryland Terrapins posted a video to Instagram (excerpted below as a GIF) in which they perform a #RunningManChallenge. The video received over 3,100 likes as of April 20th, 2016.
After the original video was posted by Nickens and Brantley, The duo posted several more examples between April 12th and April 19th, including ones where they did the dance in a laundry cart, a convenience store, and the parking lot of a CVS. In the meantime, a player named Seth Allen from Virginia Tech (who used to play with University of Maryland) recorded a response video in which he was doing the same dance to the same song with a teammate. Posted on April 14th, it received over 560 likes in 5 days. The same day, several other players, including some with NCAA champions Villanova University also posted versions of the dance. On April 20th, 2015, the sports publication SB Nation published a roundup of basketball player’s posts,[2] incorrectly attributing the trend to Nickens and Brantley, an error that was then duplicated in a piece by the Washington Post.
Editor’s Note: This entry contains plot spoilers to the sixth season of Game of Thrones.
About
“Hold the Door” is a quote uttered by Hodor, a recurring character in George R. R. Martin’s fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire and HBO’s TV series adaptation Game of Thrones, before he sacrificies himself to save Bran Stark from a horde of White Walkers.
Origin
The mysterious origin as to how the character earned his name “Hodor” has been a subject of intense discussions among the fans of A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones for many years. On May 22nd, 2016, the backstory was finally revealed in Season 6, Episode 5 of Game of Thrones titled “The Door.”
In the episode, Bran Stark continues his time-traveling journey with the Three-Eyed Raven. Meanwhile, in the present time, a hoard of White Walkers led by the Night King close in on the cave that Bran and his group have been hiding in. As Meera Reed and Hodor prepare their escape, Meera asks Bran to warg, a form of mind-controlling, into Hodor’s mind so that he can rescue his unconscious body out of the cave, which Bran obliges by warging into a younger version of Hodor, a cheerful stable boy then known as “Wylis,” in the past. As they flee their way out of the cave, Meera pleads Hodor to “hold the door” to buy her and Bran enough time to escape safely, a command that echoes through the past into Wylis’ head and triggers him to lapse into a state of seizure and “hold the door!” over and over again. As Hodor complies with the request in the present time, the character is overrun and killed by the White Walkers while “holding the door.”
Spread
On May 22nd, immediately after the airing of the episode, the phrase “hold the door” and its hashtag form #holdthedoor began trending worldwide on Twitter and elsewhere in the social media, as fans reacted to the heart-wrenching death of Hodor and the reveal of a fatalist backstory behind the character’s name.
At 10:02 p.m. (ET), Colombian pop culture commentator @9000x tweeted a two-pane image of the phrase “hold the door” stylized in the signature typeface of the TV series and a cartoon drawing of a stick-figure character lying down in a pool of one’s own tears (shown below). In less than 24 hours, the tweet garnered nearly 2,000 retweets and over 1,600 likes.
At 10:05 p.m. (ET), Redditor Jedbanguer submitted an unknown author’s webcomic referencing the quote from the episode (shown below) in a post titled “It’s gonna be hard to be polite from now on,” racking up 6,550 points (95% upvoted) within the first 24 hours.
Pokémon Sun and Moon are the seventh-generation pair of the Pokémon role-playing video game series published by Nintendo and released in November 2016. Taking place in the Alola region, the game had several notable differences from previous games, including “Alola” versions of Generation I Pokémon and a departure from the Gym system of progression that had been a staple of Pokémon games since the first generation.
History
On February 26th, 2016, Pokémon Sun & Moon[1] were announced in a Nintendo Direct video celebrate the 20th anniversary of the releases of Pokémon Red and Green, the original pair in the franchise. The announcement was accompanied by a trailer (below, left), which has been the primary method with which Nintendo has leaked information about the games. On May 10th, Nintendo released another trailer introducing three new starter Pokémon, Rowlet, Litten, and Popplio (below, center). On August 11th, they released a video introducing Team Skull, Alola’s villains (below, right).
On October 18th, 2016, Pokémon Sun & Moon were released worldwide, followed by a second release in the European Union on October 21st.
Reception
Pre-Release
Pre-release reception for Sun and Moon has been mostly positive, as fans have praised Nintendo for offering substantial information about the upcoming game in video form rather than leaking information in magazines.[2]
Online Reaction
Fans have responded to each announcement with jokes about the content in the release. This has included reaction to the new starters,[3] Team Skull leader Guzma, new pokémon Mimikyu, and more.
One Pokémon announcement that drew the attention of the internet was the Alolan version of Generation I pokémon Exeggutor, a pokémon based off a coconut tree but with a massive neck. It inspired hundreds of images and videos mocking the goofiness of the character.
Following September 4th’s introduction video of “Ultra Beasts” and “The Aether Foundation,” fans began to make rule 34 pictures of Wicke, an assistant researcher at The Aether Foundation.
Brionne
On October 4th, 2016, The Official Pokémon Channel released a new trailer for the game, unveiling evolved forms of the three starter Pokemon. Among them included Brionne, the evolved version of Popplio that can be either a male or female creature (shown below).
Shortly, YouTuber TheKingNappy posted a reaction video about the new evolutions, in which he commented on Brionne’s feminine appearance (shown below). That day, many Pokémon fans expressed their displeasure with the Brionne form, claiming that the Pokémon should have a more gender neutral design.
Meanwhile, Reddtior luigimm submitted a post titled “Brionne! I don’t care what the community has to say, he/she is awesome!” to /r/pokemon,[7] along with an original illustration of the creature (shown below). In the comments section, users discussed the Brionne controversy, with some attributing the backlash to “fragile masculinity” while others argued that the evolved form was just poorly designed.
On October 5th, the news sites Kotaku,[4]WWG[5] and Hall of Fame Magazine[6] published articles about the online backlash to the Brionne evolution. The following day, Redditor Reonat submitted a GIF comparing the Brionne video to a draq queen performance on the reality television show Ru Paul’s Drag Race (shown below).[8]
Alola Dugtrio
On October 17th, Nintendo released demo versions for Pokémon Sun and Moon. One of the Pokémon revealed was the Alolan version of Dugtrio, which has long blonde hair on its three heads. The reveal prompted a series of jokes about Dugtrio’s appearance. Alola Dugtrio’s internet popularity was celebrated in Kotaku[9] and The Verge.[10]
Demo Leaks
On October 18th, data miners extracted files from the demo and discovered a bevy of information, including virtually the entire Alola Pokédex.[12] This meant that the final forms of the starting Pokémon were revealed, along with information about the Ultra Beasts and some character artwork.[11]
When You Wake Up From a Nap, also known as Confused Mr. Krabs refers to a reaction image of Mr. Krabs of Spongebob Squarepants looking confused and scared as the world around him spins. The image is popular as a companion to jokes that indicate the poster is confused.
Origin
While the exact origin of the image is unknown, it appears to be a manipulated screenshot from the Spongebob Squarepants episode “Patty Hype,” in which Mr. Krabs is surrounded by a mob of angry residents. As of March, 2016, there is no true clip of this episode available online; what is featured below is an amateur voiceover. (Caution: strong language.)
On January 31st, 2016, Twitter user isthatahmed tweeted the manipulated image accompanied by “When you just wake up from a nap and your parents already yelling at you”; as of March 9th, 2016, the tweet received 6,352 retweets and 7,370 likes.[2]
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On February 2nd, the popular Twitter content aggregator WORlDSTARHIPHOP,[3] which imitates the web site WorldStarHipHop and collects tweets that it retweets as its own, recreated the isthatahmed tweet, and received over 1,600 retweets and 2,700 likes. Soon after, several other notable Twitter accounts posted the images with different jokes; for instance, on February 3rd, the account freddyamazin posted a version of the meme that received over 2,600 retweets and 6,200 likes (below left).[4] Screenshots of mutations on this theme remained popular well into March, when posts on the /r/blackpeopletwitter subreddit with the image became common; several popular examples earned well over 1000 points. The most popular, by user justgoblaze, earned 3,969 points (90% upvoted) in less than 24 hours after its initial posting (below right).
The Dog Filter is a special effect featured in Snapchat which allows users to place a dog’s nose, ears and tongue over their faces when taking a selfie. The feature has been controversially dubbed the “hoe filter” due to the combined factors of its popular usage among young women and apparent promiscuity of the animated tongue in appearance.
Origin
In February 2016, Snapchat released a major update to the mobile application with a set of seven animated special effects for the selfie mode called “Lens,” which included a “Dog Filter” that uses facial recognition software to place a canine nose and ears over an individual’s face, as well as a tongue that droops down whenever the mouth is open.
Spread
On March 1st, 2016, the @MeninistTweet Twitter feed posted a tweet accusing women who use the dog Snapchat filter of being promiscuous (shown below, left). On March 9th, Redditor kittiestitties4ever posted an animated GIF of actress Eliza Dushku using the dog filter on Snapchat to /r/gifs[6].
On March 28th, 2016, YouTuber JustLikeThat uploaded a comedy sketch titled “How Girls Use Snapchat,” in which she expresses her appreciation for the dog filter (shown below).
On April 9th, Urban Dictionary[5] user sugary submitted an entry for “hoe filter,” defining it as an alternative name for the Snapchat dog filter. On April 22nd, Vice published an article titled “The Internet is Slut Shaming Women Over Snapchat Filters Now,”[8] which criticized the use of the term “hoe filter” for being sexist. On April 27th, YouTuber Unoriginality uploaded a video titled “A Hoe’s Favorite Snapchat Filter,” in which a woman is accused of being a “whore” after her boyfriend walks in on her using the Snapchat filter (shown below).
On May 10th, Kim Kardashian posted a Snapchat story asking for a new Dalmatian-themed dog filter. Shortly after, Snapchat released an update that would place a Dalmation’s ears and nose over the second person detected in a Snapchat with the dog filter enabled (shown below).
On May 13th, Vice published an interview with a psychiatrist titled “We Asked a Psychiatrist Why We’re So Obsessed with the Dog Filter.”[2] On May 18th, the women’s interest blog Allure[4] published an article titled “There’s a Reason Why You Love the Dog Filter on Snapchat,” which claimed the filter hides imperfections and elongates faces. On May 20th, a parody horror movie trailer starring Ariana Grande was broadcast on Jimmy Kimmel Live, in which she is cursed with wearing the dog filter in real life after using the Snapchat app (shown below). Within 72 hours, the sketch received upwards of 380,000 views and 240 comments on YouTube. On May 23rd, Snapchat disabled access to the filter to promote a new set of filters promoting the the film X-Men Apocalypse.[7]
The Bee Movie Script, also known by the introductory line “according to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly,” is a copypasta that consists entirely of the full-length screenplay of the 2007 computer animated family comedy film Bee Movie, which is typically used in spamming and shitposting on various social media sites, most notably on Tumblr.
Origin
Bee Movie is a computer animated movie co-written and co-produced by comedian Jerry Seinfeld, and released in November 2007, featuring the exploits of the bee Barry B. Benson in the human world. Following the release of the film, the online screenplay database Script-O-Rama uploaded the full-length script of the movie, which would become adopted as the most frequently used version in the copypasta.[3]
According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don’t care what humans think is impossible.
Spread
Years after the release, the movie gained a sizeable ironic following on the microblogging website Tumblr. On September 16th, 2013, Pastebin user KIDOUYUUTO uploaded Script-O-Rama’s script to the site, where it gained over 23,000 views in the following years.[9] On September 19th, Tumblr user eggito submitted a screencap of his Facebook status featuring the script in its entirety, which gained over 60,000 notes in the following years.[8]
In October 2014, a Twitter account dedicated to spam-tweeting the script was launched, which completed its goal on October 10th and gained over 1,000 followers in the next year.[7] On October 17th, 2015, YouTuber Michelle Alvia uploaded an Undertale animation featuring the character Sans reading the script as secret weapon against the main character, gaining over 360,000 in the following 4 months. This video soon led to a notable resurgence of the spamming trend, with several Tumblr users posting the entire script and some YouTubers doing audio-narrative versions.[1][2] In response, some Tumblr users began spamming the full-length screenplays of other online cult films on the site, most notably Shrek[4] and The Dark Knight Rises.[5] On December 2nd, 2015, New York Magazine published an article about the practice,[6] mainly focusing on a Facebook post from November 27th that accrued more than 1,100 likes and nearly 4,000 shares as February 2nd, 2016.[10]
iDubbbz’s “I’m Gay” refers to a memorable quote uttered by YouTuber iDubbbz while jumping off a table in a video uploaded by MaxMoeFoe in mid May 2016. The scene has been widely used in various remixes on the YouTube and Vine, often paired with clips of people falling to the ground.
Origin
On May 19th, 2016, MaxMoeFoe uploaded a video titled “Edward Watermelon-Hands” to YouTube, in which he requests iDubbbz to jump down from a table and “say some fucking gay shit.” Immediately after, iDubbbz jumps down while saying “I’m gay” before bursting out in laughter with Max and Filthy Frank. In the following three months, the video gained over 1.1 million views and 2,500 comments.
Spread
The same day the video was uploaded, Reddit user CaptainProton16 posted a GIF of the scene on the /r/iDubbbz[1] subreddit. On May 20th, 2016, YouTuber Panax uploaded a clip of the scene, gathering upwards of 342,000 views in the following months. On May 21st, YouTuber Moesquito uploaded a gameplay footage from Grand Theft Auto V remixed with the scene audio, gaining over 5,000 views.
During the following month, the clip started being used on Vine for video remixes, often following a character landing into the ground.[2] On June 29th, YouTuber Enigma uploaded a remix of the song Blue from the Italian band Eiffel 65 with the scene, gaining over 173,000 views in the following month. The same day, YouTuber Oblivifrek uploaded a compilation of Vines with the scene, gaining over 276,000 views in the following month.
On August 7th, music reviewer Antony Fantano uploaded to his secondary channel a review of the fad as part of his “Meme Review” series, gaining over 100,000 views in the following week.
Top 10 Anime List Parodies refers to a series of image edits of screenshots of various anime top 10 list videos, typically by WatchMojo, which replace the still from the video with another image for humorous effect that parodies the conventions of clickbait.
Origin
The earliest known image was an image edit of a Watchmojo video entitled “Top 10 Swordsmen in Anime,” with the still-shot of the videoreplaced with a shot of TR-8R the Stormtrooper from the film The Force Awakens (shown below), posted sometime in late December, 2015. The original short film by Watchmojo was posted July 19th, 2015.[4]
Precursor
Earlier in 2015, several edits of a 2013 sex advice article on the satirical women’s magazine website Reductress, titled, “8 Sex Positions That Will Blow His Mind And Destroy His Penis”.[1] the earliest known edit was uploaded to Tumblr by user Top Cyberbully on August 1st, 2015 (shown below, left).[2] A second edit was uploaded by the Facebook page Anime Desu-troyed My Life on December 4th, 2015 (shown below, right).[3]
Spread
The style of parody began spreading through social networks, especially Tumblr, directly following the post of the initial image. While individual search terms are difficult to identify, “Watchmojo” on Tumblr reliably returns new parody images. In addition, meme aggregator iFunny created a compilation of the images, assembling more than 220.
The Monogatari Series is a series of Japanese Romance/Supernatural light novels written novelist Nisio Isin. Ever since the series creation, it has garnered a significant online following, in particular around the anime adaptation, which is produced by Shaft.
Premise
The Monogatari Series revolves around Koyomi Araragi, a high school student who’s almost human after briefly becoming a vampire. The story begins when Koyomi meets the reclusive Hitagi Senjōgahara, a girl who has an unusual problem due an affliction with an oddity. After discovering about her secret, Koyomi decides to help her. As the series progresses Koyomi finds himself involved with other girls, each afflicted by different “oddities” such as the ghost of a little girl named Mayoi Hachikuji, his underclassman Suruga Kanbaru, Nadeko Sengoku, a friend of his sisters, his classmate Tsubasa Hanekawa and his own younger sisters Karen and Tsukihi.
History
The Monogatari Series originally started out as a series of short stories, written by Nisio Isin for Mephisto magazine, which first started circulation on August 10, 2005. Then, in 2006, the previously published stories of Bakemonogatari, along with some new ones, were compiled into the first two volumes of the series. Since then, there has been a total of 17 novels based on the franchise, spanning a total of 3 sagas. An anime adaptation, created by anime studio Shaft, also began airing between July 3 and September 25, 2009, animating the Bakemonogatari. As of May, 2014, there has been an adaptation of the Nisemonogatari arc, which aired between January 7 and March 17, 2012, a 4 episode adaptation of Nekomonogatari (Kuro) which aired on December 31, 2012, a second season which aired between July 6, and December 28, 2013, as well as an upcoming 4 episode adaptation of Hanamonogatari, which will air on August 16, 2014, as well as an anime movie based on Kizumonogatari, with the aim to animate the entire series. As well as this, there has also been a number of Video game and Audio Dramas produced, based on the series.
Reception
Overall, the Monogatari franchise has received positive reception. In the 2009 issue of Takarajimasha’s light novel guide book Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!, the light novel series ranked sixth, later going on to rank second the following year. The anime adaptation also garnered much positive reception, winning the Users’ Special Award in the 2nd annual DEG Japan Awards[1]. The series also garnered a positive critical reception, with Anime News Network reviewer Theron Martin, on the topic of the original anime adaptation, stating that the series is “visually and verbally ambitious”[2].
Online Relevance
In North America, the Monogatari franchise is licensed by Aniplex of America, with the second season available for streaming on Crunchyroll[3]. The series has gained a large online following on many sites, including on Tumblr[4], Reddit[5], 4chan’s /a/ (Anime and Manga) board[6], Fanpop[7], My Anime List[8], and DeviantART[9]. There are numerous sites that provide episodic information about the series, such as the Monogatari wiki[10], TV Tropes[11] and Anime News Network[12]. In addition, the Monogatari Facebook page also has over 15,000 likes[13].
Fandom
The Monogatari series has spawned a significant online fanbase since it’s creation, which has created much fanart and fanfiction. On the Japanese fanart site Pixiv, there are over 23,000 images tagged under “化物語”[14], as well as over 6,000 videos on the video sharing website Nico Nico Douga[15]. On DeviantART, there are also over 8,000 images tagged related to the series[15].
Related Memes
Renai Circulation
Renai Circulation (Japanese: 恋愛サーキュレーション; lit. Love Circulation) refers to a series of Anime Opening Parodies based around the fourth opening theme of the original Bakemonogatari anime. Although the opening theme was only used for one episode, the song grew in popularity online, spawning many parodies.
Platinum Disco
Platinum Disco (Japanese: 白金ディスコ, Purachina Disco) refers to a series of Anime Opening Parodies based around the opening to the Nisemonogatari iteration of the anime. The song grew in popularity on the Japanese video sharing service Nico Nico Douga, spawning many parodies.
Shaft Head Tilt
Shaft Head Tilt (Japanese: シャフト角度, Shafuto Kakudo; abbr. シャフ度, Shafudo; lit. “Shaft Angle”), refers to a pose that often appears on anime franchises produced by the studio Shaft. The first instance of this posing which caught the attention of many anime viewers is the head tilt by Hitagi Senjougahara, during the original Bakemonogatari series, and has since spawned many parodies.
Ronda Rousey is an American mixed martial artist who is the current UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion. She is known for quickly winning many of her matches within the first round, often defeating opponents using variations of the armbar submission technique.
History
Fighting Career
At the age of 11, Rousey’s mother began training her in the Judo martial art. When she was 17, Rousey competed in Judo at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. In August 2008, Rousey won a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Bejing, China, becoming the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in the martial art. On August 6th, 2010, Rousey participated in her first mixed martial arts match against Hayden Munoz, whom she defeated with an armbar submission in 23 seconds (shown below, left). On November 12th, Rousey defeated her opponent Autumn Richardson with an armbar in 57 seconds (shown below, right).
Over the next several years, Rousey won matches against 11 opponents, nine of which were submitted with armbars.[6] As of March 2015, Rousey remains the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion and is undefeated in her mixed martial arts career.
Ronda Rousey v. Bethe Correia
On August 1st, 2015, Rousey defeated Brazilian MMA fighter Bethe Correia by knockout 34 seconds into the first round at UFC 190 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. That day, the UFC on Fox YouTube channel uploaded a highlight of the fight, which gained over 4.8 million views and 1,000 comments in 48 hours.
Meanwhile, posts about the fight reached the front page of the /r/sports[7] and /r/MMA[8] subreddits. On August 2nd, Instagram[10] user azxd uploaded a stop motion video featuring Rousey defeating Correia (shown below). Within 24 hours, the video gathered more than 1,700 likes and 380 comments.
Also on August 2nd, rapper Lil Wayne posted a tweet referring to Rousey as a “beast” (shown below).[9] Over the next day, the tweet received upwards of 12,000 favorites and 9,300 retweets.
Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm
On November 15th, 2015, Rousey was knocked out for the first time in the second round of a fight with bantamweight Holly Holm. While Rousey had been the favorite going into the fight, Holm and Rousey began having altercations at the weigh-in (below left) and by the first round Rousey had been hit hard in the face, causing a split lip and a bloody nose (below right).
The sporting world was shocked by Rousey’s loss. Sports betting outlets, like MGM Sportsbook in Las Vegas, swallowed a large loss on the fight. Rousey was briefly hospitalized after the fight, leading fans to wonder if it had ended her career, however she quickly reassured them that not only would she be back, but that she would defeat Holm at their next match in early 2016. That didn’t stop many celebrities from having an opinion on her loss, including 50 Cent, Donald Trump, and Lady Gaga.
Online Presence
On March 19th, 2012, YouTuber MrGetthefuckup uploaded a highlight reel featuring various clips of Rousey’s fights (shown below, left). On August 8th, 2012, the Team Coco YouTube channel uploaded an interview with Rousey on the Conan O’Brien talk show (shown below, right). Within three years, the videos garnered more than 2.2 million and 1.9 million views respectively.
On September 2nd, 2014, Redditor therudeboy submitted a screenshot of Rousey’s Pokemon Forums profile from when she was 16-years-old to the /r/MMA[3] subreddit (shown below, left). On December 23rd, 2014, Redditor HunterAHomistek submitted a photograph of a Rousey fight card titled “So this Ronda Rousey card has an interesting design…” to /r/MMA[2] (shown below, right). Within two months, the post accumulated upwards of 1,700 votes (93% upvoted).
On February 24th, 2015, YouTuber Aaron Tru uploaded a video in which Rousey hip tosses a male interviewer on the ground, who claims to have suffered “4 busted ribs” in the video description (shown below, left). Within two weeks, the video gained over 2.2 million views and 640 comments. On February 28th, YouTuber ZAA ONEBro uploaded footage of Rousey’s 14-second match in which she defeated opponent Cat Zingano with an armbar submission in 14-seconds (shown below, right).
Social Media Presence
As of March 2015, Rousey has accumulated upwards of 2.7 million Facebook[1] likes, 1.3 million Instagram[4] followers and 836,000 Twitter[5] followers.
Personal Life
Rousey was born on February 1st, 1987 in Riverside County, California. She is a fan of the Pokemon franchise and plays the online role-playing game World of Warcraft.
The Mandela Effect refers to a phenomenon in which a large number of people share false memories of past events, referred to as confabulation[13] in psychiatry. Some have speculated that the memories are caused by parallel universes spilling into our own, while others explain the phenomenon as a failure of collective memory.
Origin
In 2010, blogger Fiona Broome coined the term “Mandela Effect” to describe a collective false memory she discovered at the Dragon Con convention, where many others believed that former South African President Nelson Mandela died during his imprisonment in the 1980s. That year, Broome launched the site MandelaEffect.com[1] to document various examples of the phenomenon.
See, I thought Nelson Mandela died in prison. I thought I remembered it clearly, complete with news clips of his funeral, the mourning in South Africa, some rioting in cities, and the heartfelt speech by his widow.
Then, I found out he was still alive.
Additionally, Broome described other widely held false memories, including various nonexistent Star Trek episodes and the death of the Reverend Billy Graham.
Spread
On August 23rd, 2012, a post titled “Berenstein Bears: We Are Living in Our Own Parallel Universe” was published on the blog The Wood Between Worlds,[2] which described a widespread memory of the children’s book series Berenstein Bears as “Berenstain,” explaining the false memory as the result of an alternate reality spilling over into our own. In December 2013, the /r/mandelaeffect[3] subreddit was launched for discussions about the phenomenon. On November 29th, 2014, the YouTube channel ShineTheLight73 uploaded a video titled “The Mandela Effect Exploded After The 2014-2015 Biblical Blood Moon Tetrad,” which garnered upwards of 900,000 views and 2,200 comments over the next three years (shown below).
On December 18th, 2015, YouTuber ReignBot uploaded a explanation of the Mandela Effect (shown below, left). On August 30th, 2016, YouTuber Shane Dawson posted a video titled “Conspiracy Theory – The Mandela Effect,” which gathered upwards of 4.08 million views and 71,000 comments within five months (shown below, right).
On October 13th, BuzzFeed[14] published an article highlighting various examples of the Mandela Effect. On December 8th, Redditor carc posted an “infographic”: containing various Mandela Effect examples to /r/MandelaEffect (shown below).[15]
VHS Evidence
On August 5th, 2016, Redditor diamondashtry submitted a post titled “Holy shit – found Berenstein evidence while packing,” claiming to have discovered a Berentstein BearsVHS tape with the names “Berenstein” and “Berenstain” appearing on the official label (shown below). Within 72 hours, the post gained more than 340 votes (93% upvoted) and 180 comments on the /r/MandelaEffect[10] subreddit.
In the comments section, Redditor jumpsiedaisy replied that “basic analyses” on photos showed no traces of digital editing. That day, the news site Heavy[9] published an article titled “Berenstein Bears: Did Reddit Prove the Mandela Effect?”
Various Examples
Oscar Meyer vs. Oscar Mayer
Many people falsely recall that the American lunch meat company Oscar Mayer is spelled “Oscar Meyer.”
Monopoly Man’s Monocle
The character Rich Uncle Pennybags, also known as Mr. Monopoly or Monopoly Man, has never been illustrated with a monocle.
“Luke, I Am Your Father”
Many falsely remember the villain Darth Vader uttering the line “Luke, I am your father” during a fight with the protagonist Luke Skywalker in the 1980 science fiction film Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back.
Sinbad’s Shazaam
A rumor that comedian David Adkins (a.k.a. Sinbad) starred in a 1990s comedy film titled Shazaam began circulating online, with many claiming to remember the film in detail. On October 3rd, 2016, Adkins tweeted that the false memory may have come from a block of “Sinbad the Sailor” films hosted in 1994 (shown below).[12]
On December 23rd, 2016, Imgur user alexanderlik uploaded a picture of a VHS tape box for Shazaam, featuring Adkins as a genie on the cover (shown below, left). On December 28th, Snopes[11] published an article titled “Sinbad in a Bottle,” listing the rumor as “False” and speculating that people were mistaking it for the 1996 film Kazaam starring Shaquille O’Neal (shown below, right).
Additionally, the article noted that the VHS tape cover art appeared to use a picture of WWE wrestler Chavo Guerrero (shown below).
Fake History is an image macro series featuring photographs and screenshots of various people and fictional characters accompanied by false historical captions, bearing many similarities to Troll Quote image macros.
Origin
On July 10th, 2016, reddit user JRA50 posted a picture titled “Horrors of war” on the r/Bikinibottomtwitter subreddit, featuring a picture of Sandy Cheeks and Spongebob Squarepants in black and white and with a description comparing it to an event from World War I. In the following month, the picture gained over 294 points (97% upvoted).[1]
Spread
During the following days, JRA05 uploaded several similar pictures to the subreddit, posting on July 11th[5] and July 16th.[4] On July 14th, reddit user ThePhys25 posted on the iDubbbz subreddit a capture from his video “LEGIT FOODREVIEW– Sewer Pickles”, describing it as a USA soldier escaping from the German Democratic Republic, and gaining over 313 points (97% upvoted) and 26 comments in the following month.[2] On July 16th, user Tr0nJ0n submitted another image that features Spongebob with text about Pearl Harbor, gaining over 124 points (92% upvoted) and 12 comments in the following month.[3] On August 13th, CollegeHumor[8] published a listicle highlighting Fake History images from the /r/BikiniBottomTwitter subreddit.
On October 14th, 2016, the /r/fakehistoryporn[9] subreddit was launched, highlighting various images containing false historical captions. On November 5th, Redditor Trutrundle submitted a Bob the Builder Fake History image titled “Fake History memes on the rise” to the /r/MemeEconomy[11] subreddit, receiving more than 1,100 votes (95% upvoted) within two months (shown below, left). On November 16th, /r/fakehistoryporn moderator Vmoney1337 launched the Fake History Caption Maker.[10] On January 5th, 2017, Redditor Scep19 posted a screen captured image from the television series Drake and Josh along with a caption identifying the character Josh Nichols as the Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar to /r/fakehistoryporn[12] (shown below, right). Within one week, the post garnered upwards of 17,600 votes (90% upvoted) and 280 comments.
On January 11th, 2017, Redditor memefoundry submitted a Spongebob SquarepantsFake History image titled “History Memes making a comeback! Should I invest?” to /r/memeeconomy. The following day, Redditor The_King_Of_Memes submitted a Shrek image erroneously described as President John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy “moments before his tragic assassination” to /r/dank_meme (shown below, right).
Ctrl+Alt+Del (abbreviated CAD) is a gaming-related webcomic and animated series written by Tim Buckley. The name of the comic refers to the Windows command Control-Alt-Delete. Premiering on October 23, 2002, the comic’s focus has gradually shifted away from single strip gags towards longer story arcs and greater continuity through the use of video game references.
History
Comic Strip Series
The original version of the comic originated on October 23, 2002, starring the main characters: Ethan, an obsessed video gaming fan, and Lucas, his sarcastic roommate.[25] Aside from the original cast of main characters, the series would also contain comics in which the main characters are either monotone stereotypical gamers (referred to as “Players #1, #2, #3 and #4”) or fictional characters from video games.
On November 23, 2012, Tim Buckley announced that the original cast would cease to appear in the comics after a story arc in which the comic’s universe is restored and Ethan is killed. Buckley announced that the main characters would return for a short period later with improved artwork, which he referred to as a “Hollywood Reboot”. [28] From October 29 to November 25, 2014 and from May 4 to May 27, 2015, the CAD website published pages from the digital comic book “Analog and D-Pad” starring Ethan and Jacob, who are displayed as superheroes. [26][27]
Animated Series
Due to successful animated adaptations of other webcomics such as Cyanide & Happiness, Tim Buckley, with the help of Blind Ferret Entertainment released Ctrl+Alt+Del: The Animated Series, which was made exclusive to CAD Premium subscribers, on February 1st, 2006. The end result received a very negative response among subscribers, with similar complaints concerning the terrible dialogue, poor animation, bad voice acting and a price far too high for the end product ($30 for 12 3 minute episodes). Despite financial loss and poor reception, Blind Ferret made a second season of the series with the same length. The negative reaction to the videos led to a number of parodies, including an entire annotated series.
Winter-een-mas
Winter-een-mas is a holiday created by the comic’s character Ethan. The event served to celebrate gamers and the “gaming spirit” during the month of January. Although the event is celebrated all month, the official holiday occurs the last week of the month (January 25-31) with each day celebrating a different genre of gaming.[29]
January 25th: Adventure / Action
January 26th: First Person Shooter (FPS)
January 27th: Fighting
January 28th: Real-time Strategy (RTS)
January 29th: Racing
January 30th: Role Playing Games (RPGs)
January 31st: Sports
Though the event is celebrated by followers of the comic, gaming retailers Ubisoft and GameStop have participated in the holiday with special discounts and sales for games.[30] The event was also featured on a single-serving sitewintereenmas.com (now defunct) which described the event and how to participate in it.[31]
Reception
Ctrl+Alt+Del was negatively received due to relatively poor artwork and reused art assets. Before the revamping of the cartoon in early 2008, the cartoon’s aesthetics relied mostly on copying and pasting techniques, leading many characters to appear nearly identical with a limited range of expressions. The emoticon B^U soon became associated with CAD characters as it resembled their facial expression when turned at a 90 degree angle. It quickly gained traction among the comic’s detractors and anti-fans, earning the creator of comics the nickname “Tim B^Uckley”[18].
Another large criticism of Buckley’s comic was the density of dialogues and set-up for the punchline. In mocking the verbose nature of the webcomic, some anti-fans created parodies with all the original text replaced to “WORDSWORDSWORDSWORDS.”
Aside from the comic itself, Tim Buckley’s often irrational behavior and lack of tolerance for criticism also contributed to the growth of CAD anti-fandom In the past, the artist has placed himself in the center of online drama such as lashing out at his fans[19][20], deleting entire discussion threads[21] and defacing the Encyclopedia Dramatica article written about him[21].In some of the user-generated artworks, the main character “Ethan” is often portrayed as Tim Buckley the cartoonist, allowing anti-fans to create parodies directly targeted at the artist, rather than his comics. In addition to the bouts of dramas, he has also been entangled in numerous controversies unrelated to his online presence, including alleged accusations of pedophilia[21], racism[22] and plagiarism[19].
Tim Buckley’s cartoon representation
Related Memes
CADbortion / “Loss” Parodies
CADbortion refers to a series of edits of the episode “Loss”, in which the main character Ethan visits a hospital, where he finds his girlfriend who recently had a miscarriage. The comic was resented by readers for its failure at presenting a dramatic story, leading to much ridicule.
The “Two Panel Rule”
The Two Panel Rule states that if the middle two panels from a Ctrl+Alt+Del comic strip are removed, the strip will become automatically funnier. The exact origin of the rule is currently unknown, however it was made popular on Tumblr after the blog metalslugx posted an example of the rule in practice (shown below, left), but without knowing the context of said example.[32] Several months later, blog devipotato reblogged the post and gave context for the image, i.e. explained the Two Panel Rule, which increased the popularity of the post, and sparked interest into the rule.[33] Three days later, on December 11, 2016, blog eggcup posted another example of the rule (shown below, right), which ended up being the most popular post about the rule, with over 48,000 notes.[34] Shortly after, many other blogs would post their own examples, even spawning a blog dedicated to panel removals.[35]
