“Heroes Never Die” is a well-known quote said by the support character Mercy in Blizzard’s newly released title, Overwatch. It occurs when Mercy uses her ultimate ability Resurrect.
In Overwatch, each of the 21 playable characters has an ultimate ability that can be activated once fully charged. When activating Mercy’s Resurrect ability, she boldly announces “Heroes Never Die” when activating her ability resulting in the instant resurrection of any recently fallen teammates in her vicinity.
BoJack Horseman is an adult cartoon sitcom, about the title character, an anthropomorphic horse who is a washed-up Hollywood actor for a TV Sitcom. The show features BoJack trying to regain his fame and stardom but also coming to grips with his own personal issues.
BoJack Horseman overall has received a very positive reception. Although initially the first half of season 1 was met with mixed/average reviews, with the show only scoring 56% on Rotten Tomatoes and 59 out of 100 on Metacritic.
However in the second season was more positively received, gaining 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and 90 out of 100 on Metacritic.
[WIP]
“Fraternal Kiss” Parodies are spoofs based on a 1979 photograph of the Soviet Union’s general-secretary Leonid Brezhnev and East Germany’s communist party leader Erich Honecker sharing a kiss on the lips in the traditional manner of socialist fraternalism.
On October 7th, 1979, French photographer Régis Bossu took a black-and-white photograph of Leonid Brezhnev, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and Erich Honecker, the General Secretary of the German Democratic Republic’s Socialist Unity Party, kissing one another at an event celebrating East Germany’s 30th anniversary as a Communist republic (shown below, left) in East Berlin. In 1990, Russian painter Dmitri Vrubel created a graffiti painting tribute to Bossu’s photograph on the Berlin Wall in a mural titled My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love (shown below, right).
In November 2011, the global fashion brand Benetton launched the Unhate Foundation to promote a “culture against hate.”[4] As part of a marketing campaign for the foundation, the brand released a series of pictures featuring political and religious figures kissing one another, including United States President Barack Obama and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (shown below, left).[5] On September 30th, 2012, Tumblr user thespacegoat[6] posted a photoshopped image of 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney engaged in a fraternal kiss with his running mate Paul Ryan (shown below, right). Within four years, the post gained over 35,000 notes.
During Spring 2013, a photoshopped picture of Obama kissing British Prime Minister David Cameron began circulating online (shown below, left). On April 1st, Snopes[1] published an article titled “Kissing Bug,” which determined that the image was a fabrication. In late 2014, the Kazakhstan-based advertising firm Havas produced a poster depicting Russian poet Alexander Pushkin kissing Kazakh composer Kurmangazy Sagyrbayuly to promote the Studio 69 nightclub (shown below, right). In December, the firm was fined $1,700 for advertising “banned goods and services” due to the poster’s controversial depiction of a homosexual act.[3]
In May 2016, artist Mindaugas Bonanu painted a mural of 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in a fraternal kiss with Russian President Vladimir Putin (shown below).[2] On May 24th, the weareeuropeuk Instagram[7] feed posted a photograph of a similar mural in Bristol, England, featuring Trump kissing former London mayor Boris Johnson (shown below, right).
[1]Snopes – Kissing Bug
[2]CNN– Mural of Trump and Putin kissing sparks attention
[3]Pink News – Kazakhstan Court Fines ad company over gay kiss poster
[4]Unhate Foundation – Unhate Foundation
[5]Unhate Foundation – Image gallery
[6]Tumblr – thespacegoat
[7]Instagram – weareeuropeuk
[This entry is WIP. Any requests for help are welcome]
Little Witch Academia (also known as リトルウィッチアカデミア Ritoru Witchi Akademias) a half-hour long Anime short created by Yoh Yoshinari and produced by Studio Trigger. The second crowdfunded short, called Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade, was released on 19th of April 2015.
The short follows the adventures of three young witches named Akko Kagari, Lotte Yanson and Sucy Manbavaran, who are students at Luna Nova Magical Academy. Akko Kagari, after being inspired by a witch named Shiny Chariot, joined the academy but due her reckless behavior is often looked down upon by other classmates.
The short was created in 2013 for Anime Mirai, an annual collection of animated shorts created by various Japanese animation studios. The short, which follows the daily adventures from a group of witch students, has been notorious for his crowfunding campaign.
The short was met with overall positive reception. It scored 7.3 out of 10 stars on IMDb and 8.2 out of 10 on MyAnimeList.
There are 928 results for fanart on deviantart and 404 results on pixiv.
[still researching]
Meme Lover, also known as Meet the Banes, is an adult film produced by Brazzers in which a young woman is introduced to a family whose members are all dressed in the costume of Bane, a super-villain character in DC Comics’ Batman franchise prominently featured as the main antagonist in the 2012 live-action superhero film The Dark Knight Rises. Since its release in August 2014, the film has garnered online notoriety and fandom for incorporating many internet memes into its plot and character dialogues, most notably the phenomenon of Baneposting on 4chan.
In August 2014, the American adult entertainment production company Brazzers released an adult film titled Nocturnal Activities, in which a man performs an impression of Bane from The Dark Knight Rises while wearing a pair of women’s underwear over his face. On October 15th, YouTuber machinegoblin uploaded a clip of the scene (shown below).
On December 15th, 2015, director Richard Bush created a thread on 4chan’s /b/ (random) board asking viewers to suggest their favorite memes to be featured in an adult film scene titled “Meme Lover” (shown below).
In February 2016, Brazzers released the film Meme Lover, which stars the same actor who performed the Bane impression in Nocturnal Activities. In the film, a man introduces his girlfriend to his parents who are both costumed as Bane, before engaging in sexual intercourse with her while quoting various meme references. On February 16th, YouTuber Trendzz uploaded a safe for work edit of the film, which gathered upwards of 320,000 views and 230 comments (shown below).
On February 24th, Redditor crime_and_oats posted a screenshot of a thread about the film to /r/4chan,[4] where it gathered upwards of 8,200 votes (96% upvoted) and 520 comments in three months (shown below). The following day, Redditor Trionout submitted the film to the /r/WTF[5] subreddit.
On February 26th, YouTuber OfficialDuckStudios uploaded a video of himself reacting to the film (shown below). On March 1st, the internet news site Dorkly published an article about the film. That same day, an edited version of the film was submitted to /r/videos,[6] where it received upwards of 5,200 votes (89% upvoted) and 620 comments.
On June 1st, 2016, the Trendzz YouTube channel uploaded a trailer for the sequel “Meme Lover 2: Dawn of Just,” featuring references to various memes, including Just, Dubs Guy and Damn Daniel (shown below). The following day, an article about the sequel was published on The Daily Dot.[1]
[1]The Daily Dot – Meme porn is coming whether you like it or not
[2]Dorkly – 4chan Wrote a Meme-Filled Porn Script and Brazzers Made It Real
[3]Reddit – Have some plot
[4]Reddit – the porno /tv/ helped write is out
[5]Reddit – Meme Lover Porn
W.I.P
Ultimate (sometimes searched as “i am the one”) is a song by florida rapper Denzel Curry which gained popularity on the internet trough vines and its use by streamers such as LeafyisHere
The first teaser of the song was uploaded March 18, 2015 featuring different vocal sounds and a music video (shown below)
The full song was then released with the album 32 Zel / Planet Shrooms on 6 June 2015 as well as soundcloud. Since then it has gained 10 million vies on soundcloud and more than 8 million combined views on youtube.
Multiple vines have used the song in the same vein as the thug life and MLG videos, several compilations of these clips have been uploaded to youtube with some gaining over one hundred thousand views.
Love Sosa Copypasta is a popular snowclone featuring the intro to the hit song, Love Sosa, by drill rapper, Chief Keef. In the intro, a 16 year boy angrily rants about people making fun of Chief Keef. Although the song was released in 2012, the snowclone begun to spread around late March and April of 2016.
On July 17th, 2012, YouTube user, Jordan Gilty, uploaded a video titled 16 Year Old Boy Goes Off On Chief Keef Haters. The video gained half a million views. Later, Chief Keef placed the video into the intro to both the single and album version of the song, where it gained slight notability. The original video for Love Sosa gained 55 million views.
Fuckers in school telling me, always in the barber shop Chief Keef ain’t bout this, Chief Keef ain’t bout that My boy a BD on fucking Lamron and them He, he they say that nigga don’t be putting in no work SHUTTHEFUCK UP! Y’all niggas ain’t know shit All ya motherfuckers talk about Chief Keef ain’t no hitta Chief Keef ain’t this Chief Keef a fake SHUTTHEFUCK UP Y’all don’t live with that nigga Y’all know that nigga got caught with a ratchet Shootin’ at the police and shit Nigga been on probation since fuckin, I don’t know when! Motherfuckers stop fuckin’ playin’ him like that Them niggas savages out there If I catch another motherfucker talking sweet about Chief Keef I’m fucking beating they ass! I’m not fucking playing no more You know those niggas role with Lil’ Reese and them.
In late March, the intro begun to gain traction online in late March of 2016. On March 16th, 2016, Twitter user @Abstrvct posted a tweet linking to an Aries horoscope featuring the quote. The tweet gained 50 retweets, and 50 likes.
Fuckers in school telling me, always in the barber shop, Chief Keef ain’t bout this, Chief Keef ain…More for Aries https://t.co/VXBZWWdDIS
— Morbid Morty (@Abstrvct) March 16, 2016
On March 31st, user @_King_Cinco5, posted a tweet quoting the intro, and using a picture of SpongeBob screaming at the top of his lungs. The tweet gained 3500 retweets, and 2500 likes.
ALLYALMFSTALMBOUDCHIEFKEEFAINT NO HITTER. CHIEFKEEFAINTTHIS. CHIEFKEEF A FAKE. SHUTTHEFUCC UP. pic.twitter.com/aztFqNlCGI
— King T'Challa™☄ (@_King_Cinco5) April 1, 2016
On May 14th, user @Shania_Brianne parodied the quote, by making fun of the F.U.N. song from SpongeBob Squarepants. The tweet gained over 7500 retweets, and 7500 likes. The tweet was later reposted by WorldStar HipHop, which got over 6000 retweets.
"F is for-"
— Shanigga (@Shania_Brianne) May 14, 2016
"Fuckers in school tellin me always in the barbershop chief keef ain't about this chief keef ain't abo-" pic.twitter.com/yWnYVuYSpG
On June 1st, 2016, user @vuhsace posted a tweet featuring a situation of a job interview, in which the interviewer asks about the intro. The tweet gained over 1300 retweets and 1600 likes.
Interviewer: do you remember tweeting "Fuckers in school telling me, always in the barber shop Chief Keef ain’t-" pic.twitter.com/o4TtjQhHP0
— Mexican GBE Leader (@vuhsace) June 2, 2016
Rero Rero refers to a memorable scene in the popular long running Shōnen manga series JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure wherein the character Kakyoin Noriaki is licking a cherry ferociously. Rero Rero (レロレロ) is the sound effect Kakyoin makes as he rolls the cherry around with his tounge.[1]
The scene originated in the 137th chapter of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure titled Cannibalistic Temperance (Yellow Temperance (2) in the Bunkoban version) which was published in 1990. In the scene, antagonist Rubber Soul who was impersonating as Kakyoin attempted to kill main protagonist Jotaro Kujo by pushing him off a building. After failing to do so, Rubber Soul explained that he was just pretending and proceeded to lick a cherry in an unusual manner (shown below, left). Later in chapter 139, it is revealed that the real Kakyoin also eats his cherry in the same unusual manner, prompting Jotaro to be disgusted. The scene was later animated in the 9th episode of David Production’s adaptation of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders which first aired on May 30th, 2014 (shown below, right).
-To Be Continued→
-To Be Continued→
[1]The Jaded Network – Definition of Rero Rero
Simulated Reality is the hypothesis that the universe, its inhabitants and other aspects of the physical world are simulated by a computer to a degree that is indistinguishable from our current conception of everyday reality, in stark contrast to the concepts of virtual and augmented realities that are technologically attainable and discernibly artificial in nature. The concept of simulated reality has been commonly used as a plot device in works of science fiction.
In 1977, science fiction author Philip K. Dick discussed the possibility of the universe being a computer simulation while speaking at a science fiction conference in Metz, France (shown below).
In 1998, robotics and artificial intelligence researcher Hans Moravec published a paper titled “Simulation, Consciousness, Existence,” proposing that our reality might actually be a simulation created by another civilization. In 2003, philosopher Nick Bostrom released a paper titled “Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?”,[4] which included three propositions for determining the likelihood of the universe being a simulated reality:
1. “The fraction of human-level civilizations that reach a posthuman stage (that is, one capable of running high-fidelity ancestor simulations) is very close to zero”, or
2. “The fraction of posthuman civilizations that are interested in running ancestor-simulations is very close to zero”, or
3. “The fraction of all people with our kind of experiences that are living in a simulation is very close to one”
In 1994, writer Roger Williams released the online novella The Metamorphosis of the Prime Intellect,[5] in which an artificial intelligence rewrites the code of the universe to place humanity in a simulated reality. On November 17th, 2008, Xkcd[6] released a comic titled “A Bunch of Rocks,” in which a stick figure creates a simulated universe on a planet (shown below, left). In February 2012, the webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal posted a comic featuring a woman who calculates that our universe is the 61st simulation from the bottom (shown below, right).[2]
On February 21st, 2013, YouTuber Adam Ford uploaded an interview with Bostrom in which he explains his simulation argument (shown below, left). On August 5th, YouTuber Computerphile uploaded a video titled “What if the Universe is a Computer Simulation?”, featuring physicist Phil Moriarty discussing the history of the simulation hypothesis (shown below, right).
On August 29th, 2015, YouTuber spumwack uploaded an animation based on the short story I Don’t Know, Timmy, Being God is a Big Responsibility[3] (shown below, left). On October 6th, YouTuber Fair Wind Film uploaded a short documentary on the simulation hypothesis (shown below, right).
On February 19th, 2016, YouTuber LEMMiNO uploaded a video titled “Simulated Reality,” in which a narrator explains various ideas related to the simulation hypothesis (shown below). Within five months, the video gained over 1.05 million views and 13,000 comments.
In 1999, the science fiction film The Matrix was released, featuring a computer hacker discovers much of humanity is living in a simulated reality while being held captive by robots in the real world (shown below, left). In 2001, the film Vanilla Sky was released, starring Tom Cruise as a man who enters a simulated reality after horribly scarring his face (shown below, right).
On January 13th, 2014, Season 1 Episode 4 “M. Night Shaym-Aliens!” of the show Rick and Morty was broadcast, in which a group of space aliens hold the characters Rick Sanchez and Jerry Smith as captives in a simulated reality (shown below). Additionally, similar themes have been explored in the films Inception and Tron, the comedy novels The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and various television series including Star Trek, The X-Files and Doctor Who.
On June 1st, 2016, the Recode YouTube channel uploaded a clip of Elon Musk discussing the simulation hypothesis during a question and answer session at the Code Conference, in which he revealed that he believes humanity is likely living in a simulated reality (shown below).
“The strongest argument for us being in a simulation probably is the following. Forty years ago we had pong. Like, two rectangles and a dot. That was what games were. Now, 40 years later, we have photorealistic, 3D simulations with millions of people playing simultaneously, and it’s getting better every year. Soon we’ll have virtual reality, augmented reality. If you assume any rate of improvement at all, then the games will become indistinguishable from reality, even if that rate of advancement drops by a thousand from what it is now. Then you just say, okay, let’s imagine it’s 10,000 years in the future, which is nothing on the evolutionary scale. So given that we’re clearly on a trajectory to have games that are indistinguishable from reality, and those games could be played on any set-top box or on a PC or whatever, and there would probably be billions of such computers or set-top boxes, it would seem to follow that the odds that we’re in base reality is one in billions. Tell me what’s wrong with that argument. Is there a flaw in that argument?”
[1]Cmu.edu – Simulation Consciousness Existence
[2]SMBC-Comics – Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
[3]Qntm – I dont know Timmy being God is a big responsibility
[4]Simulation-Argument.com – Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?
[5]Localroger – Metamorphosis of the Prime Intellect
[6]Xkcd – A Bunch of Rocks
Donald Trump Rally Protests refer to demonstrations held at rallies for the 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump led by activists opposed to his candidacy and political platform. Many of the protests received media attention for inflammatory and violent altercations between activists, Trump supporters and police.
On June 16th, 2015, Trump formally announced his bid for the Republican primaries in the upcoming 2016 U.S. presidential election at the Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York City. On June 29th, 100 protesters gathered
On March 11th, 2016, The Alex Jones Channel YouTube channel posted a video titled “Anti-Trump Protesters Go Berserk!”, featuring a heated argument between Trump supporters and anti-Trump activists taking place outside of a Trump rally in St. Louis, Missouri (shown below). After the video began circulating on 4chan’s /pol/ (politics) board and Reddit, two male anti-Trump demonstrators were widely mocked for their debate tactics and nicknamed “Carl the Cuck” and “AIDS Skrillex”.
On March 12th, 2016, Alex Jones posted a video on Facebook accusing the Hillary Clinton campaign of hiring protesters to disrupt Donald Trump rallies (shown below). Within three months, the video gained over 300,000 views and 12,000 shares.
That day, YouTuber Timcast uploaded footage of a Trump supporter who was hit in the head by Trump protesters and left bleeding.
“We Didn’t Start the Fire” is a pop-rock song written, composed and sung by famous musician Billy Joel and first released on his album entitled Storm Front in 1989. Its verses consist entirely of name-drop listings of historical and cultural events and people from Joel’s lifetime up until the time of the song’s creation, with “The Fire” referring to the constantly-developing struggle of human progress as a whole. Being something of a novelty song, “We Didn’t Start the Fire” is known for having spawned more parodies than almost any other modern popular song in musical history, with its lyrics being altered to list items related to various other themes, most commonly historical events that have transpired since the original song was made in 1989.
“Le Monke” refers to an image of an overweight orangutan with a confused face that is frequently used in shitposting.
The first known use of the image was a post on January 21st, 2016 to the 4chan board /s4s/ with the words “le monke” along with the image.[5]
The image is of the Malaysian orangutan Jackie at 22, who weighed over 100 kilograms at the time and had to be put on a diet due to her weight.[1]
A Facebook page was later created for sharing le monke images and has since gained over 10 thousand likes.[2] On June 2nd, 2016, The Daily Dot published an article featuring several le monke images and discussing “killing” the meme. On June 2nd, 2016, the Facebook page le monke uploaded an image with the words “Men with facial hair” over four mouths, one of which is the mouth of le monke. The image has since gained over 1.1 thousand likes in 2 days.
[1]The Cambodian Herald – Fat Malaysian orangutan put on diet
[3]The Daily Dot – Introducing le monke, a meme so pointless you can’t help but love it
[4]Facebook – Men with facial hair
Your Next Line Will Be X (also known as “Your next line will be..” or “Next You’re Gonna Say..”) is a quote from the manga series JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, uttered by Part 2: Battle Tendency protagonist Joseph Joestar in order to psyche out his opponents.
This quote originated in the Part 2: Battle Tendency manga, particularly during intense fights between Joseph Joestar and his enemies. When Joseph says this quote, the following words will always be what his enemy will say, thus confusing and/or shocking his opponent.
While the quote was well-known inside the JoJo fandom, it’s became more popular when the anime adaptation of Battle Tendency featured “Your next line will be…” in multiple episodes (left). The line would also be featured in the 2013 video game “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle.” (right).
The quote is also featured in a banner on 4chan.org, showing Pillar Man Esidisi appropriating Joseph.
Twitter user Shou posted this picture of a young man with ponytails imitating the character Nico from the anime Love Live.
About
Rudy! You Gotta Draw Something! is a phrase commonly spoken by Snap from the 2002 Nickelodeon series, ChalkZone, whenever he is in danger.
Origin
On March 6th, 2016, a YouTube video titled “RUDY!” was submitted by YouTube user “Dream Architect”, consisting of a compilation of Snap saying to draw something, with the video having 99 views and 3 likes. (shown below)
Spread
On May 26th, 2016, Tumblr user chalkshrine posted the video to their blog. Then, on May 29th, 2016, Tumblr user incessantlyphlegmatic reblogged the video to their blog with the caption “Me trying to get my friends to work on their already paid for commissions.”, where it gained 29,440 notes [1]. Tumblr user gunmaan later posted an edit [2] of a Justin Bieber Instagram, that was then reblogged by Pan-Pizza, gaining 1,020 notes.
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1]Tumblr – incessantlyphlegmatic’s post / Posted on 5-29-2016
fn2. Tumblr – gunmaan’s post / Posted on 6-04-2016
Work in progress.
Gremlin D.Va is the nickname given to a fan despiction of the Overwatchcharacter D.Va, being portrayed as a chibi version of herself with childish mannerisms and several sterotypes from the gaming culture, mainly the consumition of junk food like Doritos and Mountain Dew. The fan character gained popularity in several online communities like Tumblr shortly after the game release.
In Overwatch, one of the playable heroes is the Korean Hana Song “D.Va”, a professional Starcraft player who controls a mech in the battlefield. On June 1st, 2016, tumblr user radtone posted a chibi fan art of D.Va along with a IRC post about her gloves, gaining over 1,300 notes in the following week.[1] The same day, radtone posted another fanart featuring Soldier: 76 and chibi D.Va, gaining over 7,400 notes in the following week.[2]
WIP
WIP
[1]radtone.tumblr – what are you talking about its canon see
[2]radtone.tumblr – i refuse to draw d va in any other way now
[3]Tumblr – Search for gremlin d.va
[4]Kotaku – Overwatch Fans Have Turned DVA Into A Dorito-Eating Gremlin
The Stanford University Rape Case refers to the trial of former Stanford University student Brock Turner for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman near the Kappa Alpha fraternity house on campus in January 2015. The criminal case became the subject of an online controversy following the conviction of Turner in June 2016, particularly in regard to the length of the prison term and letters of statements issued by both the victim and Turner’s father.
On January 18th, 2015, Brock Turner was apprehended by two cyclists who discovered him on top of an unconscious and On January 18th, 2015, Brock Turner, a freshman student and star swimmer at Stanford University, was arrested on charges of multiple sexual assault charges after two passing graduate students witnessed him on top of an unconscious and partially clothed woman behind a fraternity house. Upon being spotted, Turner attempted to flee the scene, but he was chased down and brought under control by the witnesses until the police arrived on the scene. Following his arrest, the victim was taken to a hospital where she regained consciousness.
In March 2015, Turner pleaded not guilty to the rape charges, while admitting that he had removed the victim’s underwear, penetrated her with his hands and touched her breasts. Furthermore, Turner claimed in his testimony that the woman seemed to be enjoying herself and rubbed his back during the encounter.
On March 30th, 2016, a jury found Turner guilty of three charges, including assault with intent to rape an intoxicated woman, sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object. On June 2nd, Turner was sentenced to six months in county jai and three years of probation by the Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky. In addition, Turner was registered as a sex offender and enrolled in a sex offender rehabilitation program.
On June 3rd, 2016, BuzzFeed[1] published a 13-page open letter from the unnamed victim, only identified under the pseudonym “Emily Doe,” to her Brock Turner. The statement, which was also read out loud by the victim at the sentencing of her attacker in court, details the invasive procedures she had to face in the aftermath of the assault and discusses how the event negatively impacted her life. The following day, the letter reached the front page of the /r/TrueReddit[2] subreddit. In the first 72 hours, the letter gathered upwards of 5.1 million views and the Reddit post received more than 2,700 votes (85% upvoted).
[…] Instead of taking time to heal, I was taking time to recall the night in excruciating detail, in order to prepare for the attorney’s questions that would be invasive, aggressive, and designed to steer me off course, to contradict myself, my sister, phrased in ways to manipulate my answers. Instead of his attorney saying, Did you notice any abrasions? He said, You didn’t notice any abrasions, right? This was a game of strategy, as if I could be tricked out of my own worth. The sexual assault had been so clear, but instead, here I was at the trial, answering questions like:
On June 5th, 2016, Stanford University’s law professor Michele Dauber released an excerpt from a letter of plea filed by Dan Turner, the defendant’s father, to the judge presiding over the sentencing in the case, in which he argued that his son should not be incarcerated and the probation was a fair punishment for his actions. Additionally, he claimed that his son’s lack of appetite and sex offender registration were a “steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life,” a statement which quickly went viral and triggered a flood of outrage in the social media, with many criticizing its language for downplaying the gravity of the crime and others citing it as an example that illustrates the deep-rooted nature of rape culture on college campuses in the United States.
[1]BuzzFeed – Here is the Powerful Letter the Stanford Victim Read Aloud
[2]Reddit – The powerful letter the Stanford rape victim read her attacker
[3]The Daily Mail – Star Stanford swimmer who was caught raping unconscious outside frat party faces the cameras as he appears in court
[4]Twitter – Michele Dauber’s Tweet
[5]Twitter – “Hashtag Results for #BrockTurner” https://twitter.com/hashtag/BrockTurner?src=tren&data_id=tweet%3A739901147633332224
[6]Change.org – UPDATE: Brock Turner Rape Judge running unopposed; File a Complaint to have him removed!!!
Fat Axl Rose is an image macro series based on photographs of Axl Rose, the lead singer of the American rock band Guns N’ Roses, performing on stage with various captions mocking the overweight appearance of the hard rock icon.
On January 14th, 2010, The Winnipeg Free Press[8] highlighted several pictures taken by photographer Boris Menkevich of Axl Rose performing at a Guns N’ Roses concert in Winnipeg, Canada (shown below). The following day, the music news blog The Gauntlet[7] highlighted the photographs in a post titled “OMFG Axl Rose is Fat.”
On October 4th, 2011, Vice[1] highlighted a photograph of Rose performing at a Guns N’ Roses concert in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil under the heading “Axl Rose Got Fat” (shown below, left). On October 7th, BuzzFeed highlighted several captioned versions of the photo in a post titled “Fat Axl Is Fat” (shown below, right).
That day, a page titled “Fat Axl” was launched on Quickmeme.[6] On October 8th, Tumblr[3] user brian-harold-may posted the photo of Rose with the caption “Knock-Knock Knocking / on McDonald’s Doors” (shown below, left). On October 10th, UpRoxx[5] published a compilation of Fat Axl Rose memes (shown below, middle, right).
On June 5th, 2012, a Meme Generator[9] page titled “Axl Rose is Fat” was created, containing captioned variations of the Menkevich photographs (shown below).
On December 8th, 2013, IGN Forums[10] user Last_Poster submitted a post titled “I had no idea Axl Rose got so fat” highlighting the Menkevich photographs. On June 5th, 2015, the tech news site TorrentFreak[8] reported that Rose had issued a DMCA takedown notice to Google, Facebook and YouTube to remove Menkevich’s photographs.
On June 6th, Redditor 604national submitted a post about the DMCA notices to the /r/news[2] subreddit, where many readers referenced the phenomenon known as the Streisand Effect in the comments section. In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the takedown notices, including Spin,[11] Consequence of Sound,[12]CNET[13] and Rolling Stone.[14]
[1]Vice – Axl Rose Got Fat
[2]Reddit – Axl Rose sends notice to Google demanding takedown of fat memes
[3]Tumblr – brian-harold-may
[4]YouTube – Mr Brownstone – Rock in Rio
[5]UpRoxx – Meme Watch – Fat Axl Rose
[7]The Gauntlet – OMFG Axl Rose is fat
[8]TorrentFresk – Axl Rose Send DMCA Notices to Google Targeting Fat Photo
[8]The Guardian – Guns N Roses show a massive rock n roll spectacle
[9]Meme Generator – Axl Rose Fat
[10]IGN– I had no idea Axl Rose got so fat
[11]Spin – Axl Rose Is Not Enjoying Those Fat Axl Memes
[12]Consequence of Sound – Axl Rose sends notice to Google demanding takedown of fat memes
[13]CNET– Guns N’ Roses Axl Rose
[14]Rolling Stone – Axl Rose Issues Takedown Notice
[15]BuzzFeed – Fat Axl is Fat
(((Echo))) is a symbol used by anti-Semitic members of the alt-right to identify certain individuals as Jewish by surrounding their names with three parentheses on each side. The symbol became a subject of online discussions and media scrutiny in June 2016 after Google removed a browser extension that automatically highlights Jewish surnames in the style.
According to an article on the news site Mic,[1] the (((echo))) symbol originated in “Merchant Minute” segments on the podcast The Daily Shoah, launched by the right-wing political news blog The Right Stuff[12] in 2014. During the show, Jewish surnames would be played with a reverberating echo sound. On The Right Stuff’s lexicon page,[2] the word “Echoes” is listed along with the description “All Jewish surnames echo throughout history.”
In January 2016, a Chrome extension titled “Coincidence Detector” was made available on the Chrome store, which would query a database of surnames and add parenthesis around names determined to be Jewish (shown below).
On May 26th, The New York Times[10] published an article by deputy editor Jonathan Weisman titled “The Nazi Tweets of ‘Trump God Emperor’”, in which he describes being harassed on Twitter by Trump supporters typing his name the parentheses symbols:
The first tweet arrived as cryptic code, a signal to the army of the “alt-right” that I barely knew existed: “Hello ((Weisman)).” @CyberTrump was responding to my recent tweet of an essay by Robert Kagan on the emergence of fascism in the United States. “Care to explain?” I answered, intuiting that my last name in brackets denoted my Jewish faith.
On June 1st, Mic[11] published an article by staff writers Cooper Fleishman and Anthony Smith, who traced the use of the symbol back to The Daily Shoah podcast. Additionally the article contained a statement about the echo symbol issued by The Right Stuff, who explained the meaning behind the different parentheses:
“The inner parenthesis represent the Jews’ subversion of the home [and] destruction of the family through mass-media degeneracy. The next [parenthesis] represents the destruction of the nation through mass immigration, and the outer [parenthesis] represents international Jewry and world Zionism.”
The following day, Google removed the Coincidence Detector extension from the Chrome store for violating the company’s hate speech policy. On June 3rd, Twitter user Yair Rosenberg[4] encouraged others to “raise awareness about anti-Semitism” and “show solidarity with harassed Jews” by putting the triple parentheses symbol around their name (shown below). Within 72 hours, the tweet gained over 1,000 retweets and 800 likes.
On June 7th, the echo symbol was added to the Anti-Defamation League’s Hate Symbols Database.[3] In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the anti-Semitic symbol, including The Guardian,[5] The Mirror,[6] The Verge,[7] Vox[8] and Slate.[9]
[1]Mic – (((Echoes))) Exposed
[3]ADL.org – "Hate Symbols Database "":http://www.adl.org/combating-hate/hate-on-display/list-view.html
[4]Twitter – @Yair_Rosenberg
[5]The Guardian – Antisemitism watchdog adds
[6]The Mirror – Controversial (((echo))) tag branded hate symbol
[7]The Verge – Echo symbol used to target Jews labeled as hate speech
[9]Slate – (((The Jewish Cowbell)))
[10]The New York Times – The Nazi Tweets of Trump God Emperor
[11]Mix – Echoes Exposed
[12]The Right Stuff – The Right Stuff
OK Bye Mom is a multi-pane exploitable comic series in which a young boy rushes to a laptop computer to search for something on Google immediately after his mother leaves the house. The comics began circulating on Reddit’s /r/me_irl subreddit in late May 2016.
On April 25th, 2016, Redditor Venomyze submitted a four-pane comic in which a son rushes to a computer to Google search the query “how to make my wiener fucking huge” after his mother leaves the house to “run some errands” (shown below). Within five weeks, the post accumulated more than 7,100 votes (93% upvoted) and 100 comments on the /r/me_irl[6] subreddit.
On April 25th, 2016, Redditor xAgenDa uploaded a version of the comic in which the child searches for the term “Roblox Tiddies” to /r/dankmemes[3] (shown below, left). The following day, Redditor Thirdfreshstart uploaded a recreation of the comic in MS Paint to the /r/coaxedintoasnafu[4] subreddit (shown below, right).
On May 2nd, Redditor johnnc2 posted a Dat Boi version of the comic to /r/me_irl,[7] where it received over 3,500 votes (85% upvoted) and 40 comments over the next month. On May 7th, Redditor Defiantific uploaded a version of the comic in which a dog searches for the query “where did my balls go” (shown below, right). Within one month, the post gathered upwards of 6,500 votes (91% upvoted) and 60 comments on the /r/me_irl[2] subreddit.
On May 19th, Redditor fawn_rescuer posted an edit of the comic referencing the Mission Report: December 16th, 1991 meme, gaining over 2,800 votes (92% upvoted) and 30 comments within three weeks on the /r/me_irl[5] subreddit (shown below, left). On May 27th, the Shit4chanPosts Tumblr[1] blog posted a comic in which the boy frantically searches for “how to rotate text in paint” (shown below, right). Within two weeks, the post gained over 34,500 notes.
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