Overview

Sad Puppies is a recurring annual Internet campaign orchestrated by sci-fi writers Larry Correia and Brad R. Torgersen, which aims to get works of fiction on the ballots for the Hugo Awards ceremony that would typically be excluded due to the perceived liberal political biases of the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon). In 2015, the campaign was criticized for gaming the Hugo nomination process and for promoting writers with homophobic ideologies.

Background

The Hugo Awards is an annual awards ceremony named after the founder of the science fiction magazine Amazing Stories Hugo Gernsback, which honors notable science fiction and fantasy works of the previous year. In 1953, the first ceremony was held at the 11th Worldcon in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On January 8th, 2013, science fiction author Larry Correia published a blog post titled “How to get Correia nominated for a Hugo,” in which he accused the Hugo Awards of being a “popularity contest” and claimed he might be overlooked for writing “unabashed pulp action that isn’t heavy handed message fic.”^[1] On January 16th, Correira published a follow-up blog post featuring a picture of a sad-looking pug dog, which invited readers to help pulp novelists reach the ballot for the upcoming Hugo Awards.^[12]

Notable Developments

2014 Awards

On January 14th, 2014, YouTuber Steve Skojec uploaded a video titled “Sad Puppies,” which asked viewers to help “end puppy sadness” by voting for better books at Worldcon (shown below).

On March 25th, Correia released his slate for that year’s upcoming Huge Awards.^[5] On April 24th, Correia published a blog post titled “An explanation about the Hugo awards controversy,” in which he explained that the point of the Sad Puppies campaign was to expose political bias in the award ceremony:

“Short Version:
1. I said a chunk of the Hugo voters are biased toward the left, and put the author’s politics far ahead of the quality of the work. Those openly on the right are sabotaged. This was denied.
2. So I got some right wingers on the ballot.
3. The biased voters immediately got all outraged and mobilized to do exactly what I said they’d do.
4. Point made.”

2015 Awards

On February 1st, 2015, Torgersen published the Sad Puppies 3 slate for that year’s Hugo Awards.^[4] On February 5th, the conservative news site Breitbart^[11] published an article about Sad Puppies. On April 4th, the Hugo Awards^[10] announced the 2015 finalists, featuring many authors and works listed on the Sad Puppies slate. That day, critics of the campaign on Twitter accused Sad Puppies of supporting racist and homophobic authors (shown below).

News Media Coverage

On April 5th, 2015, The Daily Dot^[2] published an article about the Huge Award controversy, accusing Sad Puppies of gaming the ceremony and being a “Gamergate-affiliated campaign.” On the following day, The Telegraph,^[8] Entertainment Weekly,^[9] Salon, Slash Dot^[13] and io9^[14] published articles about the scandal. On April 7th, Correia published a blog post^[3] criticizing the negative coverage, arguing that many of the sites had incorrectly described the Sad Puppies slate as being exclusively right wing, white, straight and male. The Entertainment Weekly article was subsequently updated with a correction, acknowledging that the site published an “inaccurate depiction” of the Sad Puppies voting slate and that it included “many women and writers of color.” On April 8th, the news sites The Federalist^[7] and The National Review^[6] published articles praising the Sad Puppies campaign.

Search Interest

External References

Assman is a meme spam commented on popular YouTube videos. The comment contains a text drawing of assman, as well as the name, Assman.
_
_ _ ( ) ✿
/ _ _
_( (⚫️ ) (⚫️ ) )
( > )
( _ O _ )
(/ \)
|_ _|
|) (| assman
Appearance

Assman is a childlike humanoid figure, with a head comprised of several lumps, or “asses”. Assman has a limp, sock like body, as well as a flower on his head. Supposedly the flower squirts water.

Personality:

Assman is a political leader. Assman is very pro communism and anti capitalism. Assman believes communism is the government of gods, and a blessing on earth. Assman feeds his people so let with the water from his prosthetic plant. Assman is a caring and headstrong individual.

Quotes:
“Breathe in, breathe Assman.”
-Assman, April 8 2015

" _
_ _ ( ) ✿
/ _ _
_( (⚫️ ) (⚫️ ) )
( > )
( _ O _ )
(/ \)
|_ _|
|) (| assman"
-Assman, April 8 2015

_{Mountains. You can climb them.}

About

Todd Howard is an American video game director, designer, and producer, most notably known for his work on the games in The Elder Scrolls and Fallout series.

History

Todd Howard was born Lower Macungie Township, Pennsylvania in 1971. Todd Howard joined Bethesda Softworks in 1994. one of his first gaming projects was being the producer and designer for the 1995 FPS game The Terminator: Future Shock^[2] and The 1996 follow-up standalone game The Terminator: Skynet.^[3] Todd first began working with The Elder Scrolls since Arena^[4] which was released in 1994 and Daggerfall^[5] in 1996. He first started becoming project leader of the Elder Scroll series with The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard^[7] which was released in 1998 and he has since became project leader of the franchise. He is also credited as the game director for Fallout 3^[6] which received critical acclaim upon release in 2008.

Reputation

Throughout his career, Todd Howard has receive much praise and criticism for his work. He was named 1 of the best game developers by IGN^[10] and one of the top 20 most influential game developers by Gamepro on March 7th, 2009.^[8] On May 12th, 2014, he was awarded the LARA of honor lifetime achievement award for his work and influence in the industry^[9]. 2 of his games (The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim) won the title of game of the year in the Spike Video Game Awards in 2006 and 2011 respectively^[11] while Skyrim also won the title of game of the year in the 2011 D.I.C.E Awards.^[12] Despite his reputation, Todd Howard has also received criticism primarily due to most of his games being bug ridden upon release and his tendency to lie in interviews regarding the features and state of his game projects.

Online Presence

Though Todd Howard does not personally have a social media account, several parody accounts of him can be found throughout the internet. On October 2011, a Todd Howard parody account was launch on twitter which aims to poke fun at the developer. As of April, 2015, the account has become inactive with over 1,500 followers^[13]. Todd Howard also has a topic page on Facebook^[14], which as of April 2015 has 4,390 likes.

Related Memes

Todd the Liar

Todd the Liar is a nickname given to Todd Howard, due to him sometimes exaggerating the features of the upcoming games during the presentations, or features being cut from the release day. This has brought him the reputation among the fans of him being a bit of a liar has inspired them to make various pieces of media. Several notable videos feature a close-up picture of Todd Howard, constantly zooming in, with the song Little Lies by Fleetwood Mac being played in the background^[15].

See That Mountain? You Can Climb It.

“See That Mountain? You Can Climb It.” is a quote associated with Todd Howard and the video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The quote originated from early Skyrim presentations during E3 2011, where the gameplay of Skyrim was shown. In several instances, Todd mentioned being able to climb or otherwise scale mountains you see, due to them not being simple background decorations. The quote became a popular subject of jokes, being mentioned or repeated on various forums and imageboards^[16], and spawning several pieces of media.

Search Interest

External References

About

Ebin, sometimes spelled Epin is an intentional misspelling of the word “epic”. Originally associated with 4chan’s /b/ board, it was later mutated and became associated with Spurdo Spärde alter ironic meme culture.

Origin

The term “epin” came about as a forced meme on 4chan’s /b/ board in 2009 as a shortened form of the phrase Epic Win. ^[2] It later caught on in popularity with the Finnish image board Kuvalauta in the form of “ebin”, a form of Spurdo Spärde-style intentional misspelling.^[1]

Spread

Several definitions for “epin” were created for Urban Dictionary in June 2009.^[3] An Encyclopedia Dramatica entry was created in 2011.

The use of “ebin” rose with the rise of ironic meme culture in 2014. On April 1, 2014, YouTube Herr uploaded a Baneposting-related video to their channel with the title “Ebin Meem Broseph”, this video has over 100,000 views as of April 2015. An Urban Dictionary definition was created in December 2014.

Search Interest

References

WORK IN PROGRESS.

About

Walruse refers to an image of a seal, often accompained with the phrase “you’ve been wal-rused”. It’s often used as a form of shitposting.

Origin

It comes from 4chan’s shitposting board [s4s], on late 2013.

Spread

On November 23rd, 2013, a subreddit is dedicated to walruse was created, gaining over 700 suscribers in less than two years.

Search Interest

External References

The YouTuber Giancarloparimango11 has been in many controversies with other YouTubers, many calling him thief and other names. However, April 7th, 2015, a video called “The Truth About GCMP11 #ApologizeGCMP11” was uploaded to YouTube by the user Hoopa Unbound.

In this video, an ex-deviantart artist talked about the popular Poketuber Giancarloparimango11. Basically, in the video, she talked about GCMP11 performing multiple heinous acts against YouTubers and artists, like herself. She talks about a partnership he made with a YouTuber (called Ccal). Ccal only made two videos with GCMP11, Pokecraft: Episode 1, and Pokecraft: Episode 2. However, in total, the two videos accumulated more than two million views in total. Now, GCMP11 earned more than five thousand dollars for these two videos. GCMP11 promised to give Ccal seventy-five percent of the earnings made from Pokecraft: Episodes 1 and 2 to him. Now, after earning all that money, GCMP11 skyped an unpopular (at the time) YouTuber, TyranitarTube, who just so happened to be a big fan of GCMP11’s channel. GCMP11 skyped TyranitarTube, with a request. The request was that TyranitarTube photoshop the picture of GCMP11’s earnings, to make it seem like he only received a bit less than three hundred dollars, under the excuse that it was for a “joke”. TyranitarTube, being a big fan, happily agreed to do it, and he sent the photoshopped picture to GCMP11.

Now, GCMP11 sent this faked photo to Ccal, and told him that the earnings were too low to pay him. Then, there were photos of Ccal asking GCMP11 why he wouldn’t pay him, etc. On top of that, Hoopa Unbound explained that she had to quit being a DA artist because of what GCMP11’s fans did to her, calling her unoriginal, accusing her of stealing artwork, etc. In order for GCMP11 to be able to hide these things from the public eye, he deleted comments and tweets about the event that showed solid evidence against him, he made his photobucket private, and retweeted tweets defending him. She also sheds light on how Giancarloparimango11 sends his fans on hate brigades to beat other Poketubers when they cause a problem or argument with him. However, this hasn’t happened yet with Hoopa Unbound.

About a day later, GCMP11 posted a reaction video in an attempt to invalidate the claims made in Hoopa Unbound’s videos. Whether or not these claims are honest are to be disputed, but one major hole inside his reaction video that has been called out many times is that when the screenshot comes up where GCMP11 says it’s for a “joke”, he vehemently denies it, when the chat says it right there.

Then, a day after GCMP11’s reaction video, Ccal posted his own video, from his own perspective, which also contained some vital information to the argument. Two raw, unedited skype calls, which support his and Unbound Hoopa’s claims. GCMP11 has yet to respond to Ccal’s video.

About.

“Someone who doesn’t watch X explain this”, can also be known as “someone explain this picture” it’s a phrase used by Tumblr user who post a picture of a scene, that it’s hard to understand out of context, which come from an animated series, TV show, or similar, and proceed to ask for an interpretation of said scene expecting a funny comment.

Origin.

At November 12 of 2014, tumblr user “themaskednegro” posted an scene of a WWE match were the wrestler used an unnecessary amount of stairs, under the picture the user ask to someone who doesn’t watch wrestling explain that scene in which user “teadlek” answer with a fun comment describing the scene as “competitive light bulb replacement”

The original post could’t be found, but it’s capture at imgur has 5,251 points and 726,560 views
so far ^[1]

Spread.

As the post gain popularity, many Tumblr user started to use their pictures of an scene hard to describe out of context and asked for someone who doesn’t watch said series explain it ^[2], by example, user madohomos posted a series of an scene of the animated series Steven Universe, and made the question expecting for an hilarious description from someone unfamiliar with the cartoon, the user susurrationofthewind provided an answer that had gave him more than ten thousand notes at the moment. ^[3]

Some Examples.

External references.

^[1]Imgur – competitive lightbulb replacement

^[2]Tumblr – someone explain this picture

^[3]Tumblr – Steven Universe Scene

Sarah Palin Joins Boybands is the name for a series of images created by Deviantart user solaceontown and Tumblr user official-wentz-booty-patrol after seeing a classmate misspell “explain” as “exopalin”. The creator immediately had the notion to badly photoshop Republican politician Sarah Palin’s face onto a member of the Korean pop group Exo and send it to the peer as a troll. The incident became an inside joke with a good friend of the creator, and the two created various other photomanipulations (most of which can be found in solaceontown’s Deviantart gallery.) The novelty of pasting one image onto another rather than attempting to blend Palin’s face onto a specific band member has given the set of images some popularity, among both fans of the groups used and elsewhere.

About

The Master Sword is an iconic weapon from The Legend of Zelda series. Being one of Link’s main weapon in several installments in the series, it has since gain popularity among fans of the series. Spawning discussions, fanart, mods and custom made replicas of the weapon.

Origin

The sword made its first appearance in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past which was released in November 21st, 1991 in Japan and April 13th, 1992 in North America^[1]. According to the series lore, The Goddess Hylia created the weapon as The Goddess Sword so that her chosen hero can defeat Demise should he resurrect. When the blade was bathed in the three sacred flames, it was reforged as the master sword. The sword was ultimately embedded in a pedestal within the temple of time so that only the hero of time can claim the blade and unlock its full power^[2].
Since A Link to the Past, the weapon has also appeared in other games of the series such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998), The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002), The Legend of Zelda: Twillight Princess (2006), The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (2011) and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (2013).

Spread

On April 30th, 2004, Urban Dictionary user Guru Imakuni submitted an entry about the Master Sword, which he calls “Link’s final sword that hacks the shit out of anything in it’s path”^[3]. On March 6th, 2004, Nintendo World Report uploaded an article titled “Master Sword Forged” which talks about one of the site’s forum user named Paul Hantschel who owns a real life replica of the weapon (shown below) which was forged at Castle Keep, located in Scotland^[4].

On Archive.moe which archives posts from 4Chan, typing the keyword “zelda master sword” on would result in more than 3.200 posts while typing the keyword “Master Sword” would result in more than 15.000 posts that are mostly about the weapon^[6]. On Deviantart, Typing the keyword “Master Sword” would yield more than 50.000 results that are mostly about the weapon^[7] while tying the keyword “Legend of Zelda Master Sword” would yield more than 11.000 results^[8].

On August 5th, 2013, Youtube Webseries Man at Arms uploaded a video titled “Link’s Master Sword (Legend of Zelda)” in which host Tony Swatton forges a real life replica of the master sword (shown below left). As of April, 2015, the video has gathered more than 3 million views^[9]. On December 12th, 2014, Youtube personality Smosh uploaded a video titled “JUSTLIKELINK” which is a spoof commercial for the Master Sword (shown below right). As of April, 2015, the video has gathered more than 3 million views^[10].

Master Sword Stabbing Incident

On March 2nd, 2014, local news site Click 2 Houston\^[11] reported an incident that occurred in Harris County, Houston, Texas, where resident Eugene Thompson had a fight with his girlfriend’s estrange husband which led to Eugene stabbing the man 3 times in self defense using a replica Master Sword. The incident was covered in several other news sites such as Forbes^[13], Independent^[16], IGN^[12], Kotaku^[15], and The Huffington Post^[14].

Search Interest

External References

About

Kim Possible is an American animated Disney series created by Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley, about the adventures of Kim Possible, a teenage crime fighter who has to deal with worldwide, family, and school issues every day.

Premise

The show follows Kimberly Ann “Kim” Possible (voiced by Christy Carlson Romano), a a fiery and demanding teenager who saves the world on a regular basis while dealing with the normal challenges of a teenager, along with her sidekick Ron Stoppable (voiced by Will Friedle), a clumsy, goofball teenager who owns a naked mole-rat named Rufus (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) and the help from Wade (voiced by Tahj Mowry), who often supplies her with gadgets and relies information to her. Together, they fight against villains, mainly Doctor Drakken (voiced by John DiMaggio) and his sidekick Shego (voiced by Nicole Sullivan), who often try to dominate the world.

History

According to the show creators, the original idea for the series came on a elevator conversation, where McCorkle looked at Schooley and said, “Kim Possible: she can do anything”. Schooley at once replied, “Her partner is Ron Stoppable: he can’t do anything”.^[1] The series official premiered on June 7, 2002 and ended production on February 22, 2005, after three seasons and 65 episodes, but due show’s popularity Disney announced the production of a fourth season on November, 2005. This season debuted on February 10, 2007 and ended on September 7, 2007,^[2] being the second longest running Disney Channel series in terms of duration, only after Phineas and Ferb.

Reception

Kim Possible’s first episode, Crush, was nominated to a Primetime Emmy Award on 2003. The years 2004 and 2005 the series was nominated for the Daytime Emmy, winning the Outstanding Sound Mixing -- Live Action and Animation award on 2005. Since its premiere, Kim Possible became one of the most watched and high-rated on Disney channel, earning a rating of 7,1 on IMDb.^[3]

Fandom

The series gained some follow on websites like Tumblr,^[5] Reddit^[8], Fanfiction.com^[7] or 4chan’s board /co/.^[9] There’s also an official wikia about the series.^[6] As April 10th, the online artist community DeviantART has over 25,700 submissions submitted under the keywords “kim possible”.^[4]

Search Interest

External Links

About

Sexual Lobster is the online handle of Australian Flash animator Chris Voigt. Since 2005, Voigt has maintained popularity on both Newgrounds and YouTube for his absurdist humor and memorable recurring characters.

Online Presence

Voigt uploaded his first animation to Newgrounds, Great Weed Drought of ’03, on June 20, 2005, where it won Daily Feature and Weekly 4th Place.^[1] On September 27, Voigt registered the domain name Greasymoose.com, where he would post the webcomic House of Squid.^[2] A compilation of several animated strips was uploaded to Newgrounds on November 4, 2006, which earned him his first Review Crew Pick.^[3]

Voigt created the SexuaLobster YouTube channel on May 23, 2006.^[4] In 2008, Voigt released several episodes of the Angry Dog series, which, over the course of its seven episodes, earned Voigt a streak of Daily Features.^[5] In 2010, Voigt uploaded Dance of the Manwhore to Newgrounds and YouTube, which over the next five years was jointly viewed over 3,500,000 times. Later videos in the of the Manwhore series have gained similar popualrity.

In 2013, Voigt teamed up with Machinima’s Happy Hour channel to produce several animated series such as Space Adventure Legend Quest, Ragemelon, and Raw Latex. On June 21, Voigt uploaded the animation Wrong Number to his YouTube and Newgrounds pages, where it became one of his most popular non-Manwhore animations with over one million views. In 2014, Voigt began the series Manwhore Industries, which features several of his recurring characters in an office setting.

Characters

Voigt’s animations are known for their many recurring characters. Older comics and animations notably featured the Mongoose Man, a scantily-dressed superhero with the powers of a mongoose, and Todd, a news anchor with a penchant for sexually harassing his female co-anchors as well as for wearing women’s underwear. More recent projects have notably featured Fernando the Manwhore, Gooseman, who often acts as a sort of straight man, and Randy, an unpassable transgender woman. Other recurring characters include Raptor Jesus, a washed-up version of of the superhero Captain Planet, and an animated version of Voigt himself.

Fernando

Fernando the Manwhore is possibly Voigt’s most popular character, who appears as a flirtatious man with various interests, most notably sex and yogurt. He is often seen carrying a spear or riding a goat. Although Fernando appeared as early as 2005 in Great Weed Drought of ’03, his popularity rose with that of the of the Manwhore series.

Search Interest

References

About

The Oxford Comma, also known as a serial comma, is a comma that precedes the coordinating conjunction at the end of a series of three or more terms. The usage of the comma and its grammatical correctness is hotly debated among writers and editors, with many proponents advocating its ability to resolve ambiguity, while others deem it as superfluous and equally susceptible to ambiguity.

Origin

The Oxford comma was introduced in the 1905 edition of the Oxford University Press Style Guide, where it has remained intact since then.

Usage in English-Language Publications

Spread

On May 26th, 2008, the indie pop band Vampire Weekend released the track “Oxford Comma” as the third single from their debut album Vampire Weekend (shown below).

On March 29th, 2011, Redditor toastplease submitted a post expressing support for the Oxford comma to the /r/reddit.com^[5] subreddit. On January 22nd, 2012, Redditor Trayf submitted an image illustrating two depictions of a sentence about orange juice, toast and eggs to the /r/funny^[6] subreddit, where it received upwards of 2,000 votes (92% upvoted) prior to being archived.

On January 24th, the food blog EndlessSimmer^[4] highlighted several pro-Oxford comma image macros. On May 9th, 2013, the digital web agency Nebo published a blog post about misconceptions regarding the Oxford comma, which highlighted an image illustrating how the comma can make a sentence more ambiguous (shown below).

On July 11th, Redditor nayithemon submitted a comic illustrating a sentence about Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and a rhinoceros written with and without an Oxford comma (shown below, right). Prior to being archived, the post gathered more than 2,400 votes and 480 comments.

On January 15th, 2014, BuzzFeed^[2] posted a compilation of pro-Oxford comma images. On March 11th, Redditor Facetious_Otter submitted a post inviting a debate about the use of Oxford commas to the /r/changemyview^[7] subreddit, where the top-voted comment presented an example of ambiguity introduced by using an Oxford comma. On March 17th, the TED-Ed YouTube channel uploaded a video titled “Grammar’s great divide: The Oxford Comma” (shown below). On June 17th, the polling aggregation website FiveThirtyEight^[1] published an article regarding a poll about the comma’s usage among Americans, which found 57% prefer to use the Oxford comma.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References

About

Goth is a notable contemporary subculture associated with gothic rock, a subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock music characterized by dark themes in lyrics and musical composition, as well as its unique set of aesthetics inspired by morbidity, literary romanticism, religious symbolism or pagan mysticism.

History

[currently researching]

About

Lolcow (portmanteau of internet acronym LOL and the word cow) is a derogatory slang referring to a person whose online behavior, especially when dealing with trolls, may be exploited to amuse onlookers, in a typical Schadenfreude way.

Origin

While it’s unclear if the slang was used online prior, one of the earliest mentions of the word “lolcow” was a definition submitted to Urban Dictionary by DreadSmile on April 15th 2007^[1]. There, DreadSmile said the slang described overly confident people engaging in online arguments against trolls and were too proud to quit. He also explained the terminology behind it as the victim was seen as a “cow” in which amusement (or “lolz”) could be milked out as long as they were coming back for more (entire post shown below).

lolcow
A phenomena, usually observed on forums and/or imageboards. A person, most often someone who tries to look exceedingly knowledgeable in the topic discussed, is being flamed/trolled to the point where they can no longer present “sane” arguments that will “fit their level”, but yet are too proud to just quit.

This produces a considerable amount of lolz and win, for which the said person can be “milked” until they finally give up. Or drop dead. Hence the name.
( )
(oo)
/-------\/
/ | LOL ||
* ||----||
^{^ ^}
LolCow

Spread

[wip]

Between 2007 and 2011, five additional definitions were submitted to the site^[2]. As of April 2015, the most popular one with over 180 upvotes was made on December 16th 2007. That same year, the slang reached satirical wikiEncyclopedia Dramatica displaying a non-exhaustive list of potential “lolcow” personalities^[3]. On January 24th 2010, an entry for “lolcow” was registered to Wiktionary^[4]. On March 13th 2012, Force of Geek writer Jonathan Dantzler made an article about the phenomenon, titled The anatomy of a Lolcow^[7], that analyzed the appeal found by trolls in the people they call “lolcows”, mentioning notable personalities such as Chris-Chan.
In 2014, a wiki-based encyclopedia was launched at lolcow.wiki^[5], devoted as a primary source for referencing “various Internet phenomena, especially the antics of people”. A whole imageboard was created for the slang as well^[6].

Search Interest

External References

NOTE: This page needs a lot of work. Assistance is needed for various aspects of research, including origin, spread, sources, and other manners, since the apparent size of the ROM hacking industry and lack of apparent recorded history leaves it difficult for work. Also note that this is my first entry on the site, so forgive it if it is still very rough. Please feel free to request editorship, make suggestions, and correct me in the comments if necessary.

About

ROM hacking is the process of altering the data of a video game to varying levels. The extent of a hack can range from minor alterations of graphics, sound, or gameplay mechanics, to creating almost entirely new games based on a pre-existing engine. The term “ROM hack” is mainly attributed to fan-made works and usually does not encompass official works that meet similar guidelines. Though the exact origin of ROM hacking remains currently unknown, ROM hacks have become highly notable in recent years though their showcasing online by various Let’s Players, and ROM hacking currently remains a popular aspect of the video game subculture through their distribution on various websites such as Vizzed.com and Romhacking.net.

Types of ROM Hacks

ROM hacks are capable of taking a variety of shapes or forms. The smallest degree of ROM hacks are patches, which provide token modifications to a video game. These include altering the graphics (as seen in hacks such as Super Mario 64 Retro Edition, which replaces the game’s textures with tiles from Super Mario Bros.), modifying gameplay mechanics (such as a patch for EarthBound that enables the ability to run by pressing a button), and/or sound effects/music. A more common variety of ROM hacks extensively edit the design of a game to create a brand new one that still utilizes the original work’s basic elements. Most hacks of this kind are based on the 1990 Super Nintendo Entertainment System launch title Super Mario World, with a variety of programs created for the sole purpose of modifying this one game.

Though the term “ROM hacking” is almost unanimously applied to fan-made modifications of pre-existing titles, numerous video game companies have utilized this practice for some projects, usually due to a low budget. The most notable “official” ROM hack of a game is the 1986 Famicom Disk System game Super Mario Bros 2, known as Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels in American re-releases. The game is simply a modification of the original Super Mario Bros. in the same vein of most fan-made ROM hacks, though officially set in the same continuity as the main Super Mario series and engineered for more experienced players.

Creating a ROM Hack

The process of creating a ROM hack entails the use of a variety of tools and programs. A prime element of it is the use of a hex editor, which allows one to alter a game’s text and data to their desire. Since it is uncommon for a game’s text to be stored in ASCII format, numerous programs have been created to allow it to be converted into such or any other form of optimal convenience. Hex editors are also utilized for altering the various gameplay properties of sprites and (in rare cases) redesigning entire levels.

Another common element in the hacking process entails the modification of the game’s graphics. This mainly encompasses the alteration of pre-existing tiles & textures or the creation of entirely new ones, with 3D games commonly necessitating the creation of new models for levels. Like ROM hacking itself, the process can range from trivial modifications (i.e. Afro Bros) to the inclusion of characters & objects from other titles (i.e. Brutal Mario) to complete thematic alterations (i.e. Moemon).

Other aspects of ROM hacking include palette editing, level editing (often with customized level editor programs), music alterations, ROM expansion (increasing the amount of memory a ROM can hold) and assembly hacking. The latter is a complicated but universal format that allows virtually all possible ROM modifications that can fit within technical boundaries.

Origin and Spread

Though the exact origins of ROM hacking is unknown, the earliest known hacks of pre-existing games can be dated back to 1981, with the release of the titles Ms. Pac Man and the relatively obscure Donkey Kong II: Jumpman Returns, respectively based on their pre-existing prequels. Since then, the practice of ROM hacking was used to easily create new games with a relatively low budget.

Meanwhile, the advent of fan-made ROM hacks still continues to remain unknown. However, what is clear is their recent rise to prominence. In 2007, three members of the Something Awful forums-- ProtonJon, Psychedelic Eyeball, and Wugga-- created a video playthrough of the Super Mario WorldROM hack Kaizo Mario World, a hack infamous for what is considered “platform hell” (intense difficulty brought along by cheap tricks and level designs meant to exploit obscure gameplay techniques or turn common ones into hazards). The popularity of the playthrough on YouTube motivated ProtonJon to perform several more blind runs (video playthroughs of game he hadn’t yet played) of Super Mario WorldROM hacks on the site, many emulating the platform hell formula of Kaizo Mario World. Because of the popularity of these playthroughs and the large surge in ROM hacking and its own popularity following the initial playthrough of Kaizo Mario World, ProtonJon is often credited with popularizing Super Mario WorldROM hacks, along with ROM hacks in general.

Due to the popularity of the original Kaizo Mario World playthroughs, numerous other people have since emulated the practice, with ROM hack playthroughs encompassing a whole genre of Let’s Playing. Furthermore, ROM hacks continue to be distributed online through numerous websites specifically designed to allow the downloading or playing of ROMs, oftentimes exclusively featuring ROM hacks.

Notable ROM Hacks

Aside from the infamous Super Mario World hack Kaizo Mario World and its sequels, other ROM hacks have risen to considerable levels of popularity. They are as follows:

• Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels (ROM hack of Super Mario Bros. officially released by Nintendo)
• Super Mario Star Road (ROM hack of Super Mario 64)
• The Legend of Zelda: Parallel Worlds (ROM hack of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past)
• Pokémon Liquid Crystal (ROM hack of Pokémon FireRed, designed as a fan remake of Pokémon Crystal)
• The All New Punch-Out!! (ROM hack of _Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!)

About

“Western Anime” is an umbrella term referring to multiple western show and movies that are often jokingly referred to as an anime. While some of them are western animation, many of them are live action series as well. While initially done with the DisneyCory in the House many other things began to be referenced under this, such as King of the Hill and Shrek among others.

Origin

The oldest know reference between western media being referred to a anime dates back to 2007 from a video initially uploaded by Youtube User TheSaltySaltySalt, with a video titled “TOP 27 ANIME BOOBS” featured an edited version of the Cory in the House theme song synced to the Mega Man 2 them of Crashman.^[1]

Spread

On April 17th, 2013, Tumblr user “cyberia-mix” uploaded an anime then and now pic, comparing the anime Free! to Cory in the House. In two years, this post received over 17,500 notes ^[2]

On December 19th 2014, Tumblr user “bloated-toad” uploaded a picture of Shrek DVDs misplaced under an anime section header. In a year, this post gained just under 150,000 notes.^[3]

On January 20th, 2015 Tumblr user “the-doctors-dinobot” uploaded a picture of of misplaced King of the Hill DVDs in a location meant for anime Dubbed by the company Funimation. Within 4 months this post received over 17,500 notes ^[4]

Search Interest

External References

About

Squad is an african american term used to refer to a group of close friends, normally that form part of a gang, it is commonly used in hip-hop culture, specially Trap Music and its associated with drug gangs.

Origin

In March 24, 2004, Urban Dictionary user Greenie submitted a definition for squad^[1] defining it as “an informal group of individuals with a common identity and a sense of solidarity”, the oldest instance of the term squad being used in hip hop dates back to the group “Trap Squad”(shown below).

In 2007, the Hip Hop Label “1017 Brick Squad Records”^[2] was founded by Atlanta rapper Gucci mane, Which is currently the most popular trap label associated with the term, as well as the subsidiary label “Brick Squad Monopoly”^[3] Founded by Atlanta rapper Waka Flocka Flame

Spread

On Oct 4, 2014, youtube user Casa Di uploaded a segment of the Donna Goudeau interview in which she claims she is innocent of driving a getaway car, at the end she shouts “Pimp Squad Baby for life”, the video has become viral with 9,428,764 views.

The term has been heavily used on black twitter^[4], with the hashtag #Squad^[5].

Squad Goals

Squad Goals is a phrase used to represent a certain group or objective that another group is trying to imitate and reach, the images are normally taken from movies and tv shows and are used in an ironic way, its also paired with the phrase “squad looking fresh”, multiple sites have mae compilations with tweets related, including gurl^[6] and Buzzfeed^[7], as well as a twitter account being made^[8]

Notable Examples

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About

SpongeBob’s Hype Stand is a series 4-panel comics based off of edited screenshots from the children’s animated television show SpongeBob SquarePants. The screenshots are usually used to show some kind of hype for something, usually a video game.

Origin

The screenshots used in the comic are taken from two different episodes of SpongeBob; the leftmost two are taken from the episode Bubblestand, whereas the remaining two are taken from the episode Patty Hype.^[1][2] It is unknown when the first example of the comic was created; however, its presumed original version, based on Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series was posted to /r/funny on September 12, 2014, where it gained over 3,000 upvotes.^[3]

Spread

An edit of the original comic was posted to the subreddit /r/spongebros on January 20, 2015, where it became the second most upvoted image on the subreddit.^[4]

WIP

Example Images

Search Interest

currently unavailable

References

Editor’s Note: This entry may be offensive to some users. View it with your own discretion.

About

Nazism, otherwise known as Nationalsozialismus (National Socialism in English), is a fringe political ideology that became prominent as a result of World War II-era Germany. Typically identified as being totalitarian right-wing on the political compass, it explicitly opposes the ideas of liberalism, socialism, communism, and all forms of anarchy. It advocates nationalism, racial/ethnic purity, social Darwinism, antisemitism, and the Organic Theory of the State. It is closely related to fascism, another extreme ideology that developed at around the same time in the 20th century.

History

The roots of Nazism can be traced back to prominent ideas of Germanic nationalism and militarism in the 19th century. During this historical period, the Germanic people was divided across more than two dozen states. Intent on creating a united German nation that could stand against other European powers, an influential populist movement formed and rapidly took hold, in the process developing an ideology based strongly around ethnic loyalty.^[1]

Nazism in its modern, organized form was born during the 1920s, during a time of extreme hardship, economic downturn, and political unrest. This was particularly true in Germany, which was experiencing the consequences of the Treaty of Versailles. The official Nazi Party of Germany was formed in 1920, but it was not until 1932 that it became the dominant political party in Germany, its popularity spurred by the onset of the Great Depression and the rise in extremist politics that came with it.^[2]

Adherence to Nazi doctrine after the end of the Third Reich is typically referred to as Neo-Nazism.

Prominent Nazis

Adolf Hitler

See related memes

Heinrich Himmler

Reichsführer-SS of the Nazi party who was one of the people directly responsible for the Holocaust. Himmler, in addition to being one of the most well-known in Hitler’s inner circle, was one of the most powerful men in Germany.

Hermann Fegelein

High ranking Nazi and Hitler’s brother-in-law through his marriage with Hitler’s wife’s sister. Fegelein became more well known with the numerous parodies of Downfall.

Dr. Josef Mengele

Nazi scientist and doctor that performed experiments on the prisoners of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Online Reputation

W.I.P.

Related Memes

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitlerwas the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. He is often associated with the Nazi movement, World War II, and the Holocaust.

Godwin’s Law

Godwin’s Lawis an internet adage that is derived from one of the earliest bits of Usenet wisdoms, which goes “if you mention Adolf Hitler or Nazis within a discussion thread, you’ve automatically ended whatever discussion you were taking part in.”. The Law was coined by the American attorney and author Mike Godwin.

Nazi

Online, the term nazi has often been used a synonym of fanatical follower of an idea. Some notable examples of its use are the term Grammar Nazi,refered to someone who habitually corrects grammar and / or spelling mistakes made by others in conversation, and Feminist Nazi,an advice animal series, with captions that typically depict a naive approach to stereotypical feminist ideas.

Secret Nazi

Secret Naziis a YTMND photoshop fad depicting swastikas and other Nazi-related symbols that are “accidentally found” in public places. The most notable example is the picture of a swastika forest somewhere in Brandenburg, Germany (shown bellow).

Jews vs. Nazis Beer Pong

Jews vs. Nazis Beer Pongis a variation on the popular drinking game in which the plastic cups are arranged in the shapes of a Star of David, a symbol of Judaism, and a swastika, a controversial symbol associated with Nazism. Since its emergence through social networking sites in 2011, the game has gained both popularity and notoriety for its controversial nature.

/pol/

Politically Incorrect,abbreviated as /pol/, is a board dedicated to current events and political discussion on the imageboard 4chan. It is one of the most popular boards on the internet dedicated to politics, and has gained a reputation as a hotbed for fringe beliefs.

My Greatest Dream Is a World Without Jews

My Greatest Dream Is a World Without Jews is a troll quote often misatributted to relevant personalities or characters as a obituary.

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External References

Editor’s Note: This entry may be offensive to some users. View it with your own discretion.

About

Judaism refers to the religion, philosophy, culture and way of life of the Jewish people, a an ethno-cultural and ethnoreligious group originating from the Israelites of the Ancient Near East.

History

According to the Hebrew Bible, The Israelites descend from the Patriarchs Abraham, his son Isaac and Isaac’s son, Jacob. Around the 18th century BCE, Abraham migrated from Sumeria to Canaan, the Land of Israel,^[5] and later Jacob and his family migrated to Ancient Egypt, where their descendants were slaved until the Exodus led by Moses, commonly dated on 13th century. The return of the descendants to Canaan and it’s conquer created the Land of Isreal, composed by twelve tribes, but after king Solomon’s death the a civil war between then ten northen tribes, the Tribe of Judah and the Tribe of Benjamin erupted, splitting the nation into Israel (north) and Judah (south). Both kingdoms were destroyed after various conquest by other empires (mainly Babylonic and Roman), making its inhabitants spread to other regions. During the following centuries Jews were persecuted through called pogroms, mainly by Christians. The biggest persecution against the Jews occurred during the Third Reich by the Nazi government, where approximately six million Jews were killed in what would be known as the Holocaust, often referred to as one of the biggest genocides and most horrific in human history.^[16]

On 1947, United Nations Assembly reccomended a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine, a geopolitical entity under British administration, to give the Jewish a state, consequently creating the State of Israel and the State of Palestine. In modern time, both states have regular conflicts over who has the right to the territory, mutual recognition and security, as well as other issues.^[14][15]

Online Reputation

Judaism is currently the twelfth largest religion in the world.^[7] Various pages on social networking sites have been made for Judaism on Twitter,^[9][10][11]Facebook,^[8] Tumblr,^[12] and Reddit.^[1][13] Online, judaism also has been starred on various conspiracy theories, that often feature jews as media manipulators or being against white race, as well as the use of some stereotypes, like being greedy or having big noses, as trolling, being often featured on pages like 4chan’s board /pol/.^[6]

Related Memes

Happy Merchant

Happy Merchantis the nickname given to a cartoon portraying a male Jew based on anti-Semitic views, giving it characterizations such as greed, manipulative, and the need for world domination. Mainly posted on political imageboards such as 4chan’s /pol/ and 4chon’s /new/, it is used both ironically and seriously.

Oy Vey

Oy Vey is a Yiddish (language from some jew communities on central and east Europe) expression used to articulate dismay or exasperation, being “oh, woe!” an accurate translation of it.^[2][4] Online, the phrase is often been used to parody jews.^[3]

JIDF

JIDF, also known as Jewish Internet Defense Force^[18] is a social justice internet organization against anti-Semitic internet activities or online terrorism.^[17][19] Its online activism against websites and pages on Facebook have been criticized by several sites and especially by the political incorrect humor board /pol/. JIDF is often mentioned in any anti-Semitism related discussion on 4chan, usually as an accusation that posters who disagree with anti-Semitic posts are actually covert JIDF members, often in the form “JIDF pls go”.^[20]

Search Interest

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