Attack of the Supernatural Fandom: Tumblr’s Adventures in Liveblogging

A popular event among the fandom side of Tumblr is liveblogging new episodes of TV shows. The entire fandom uses common hashtags that specify the fandom and the episode title in an attempt to keep their followers from seeing unwanted spoilers. I usually make the mistake of not bothering to block these tags, so I know most of the episode’s content before I watch it.

On Tuesday night I followed the tag “spn spoilers” and watched the Supernatural fandom liveblog season 10 episode 2, “Reichenbach.” This blog post does include spoilers, so if you haven’t watched that episode yet and don’t want to be spoiled, read no further. I won’t be linking the actual posts to the pictures this time since I made screenshots of several posts at once, but feel free to check out this episode’s tag for yourself if you want to see other reactions.

The episode aired at 8:00 p.m. CT. I started glancing at the tags around 7:40 p.m. and followed them until the episode was complete.

Here is my liveblogging experience:

7:39 p.m. – Those in the Supernatural fandom begin to panic. Will I be able to livestream the episode? Will my Internet connection fail me? Will this episode be particularly suspenseful? 7:48 p.m. – We reach the 12-minute countdown. The excitement has reached a point where correct spelling is simply impossible.

7:59 p.m. – Tumblr users begin to warn their followers to block the tags they’ll be using to follow the episode. It’s considered a common courtesy to tag your liveblogging so your followers can avoid spoilers. You also don’t want to drive off followers who aren’t in the fandom and who may get annoyed with your constant posts.

8:02 p.m. – As the episode officially begins, there is general confusion. Often liveblog posts don’t contain many details but simply reactions to what is happening in the show. If you’re not watching the episode, you get very confused. Those who are watching feel like they’re “in the know.” Tumblr user winchesterdelight told me, “I feel like when I liveblog, I’m having a very fun party with others in the fandom as we watch the episode.”

8:14 p.m. – The crack begins. The fandom version of “crack,” according to Urban Dictionary, is a theory/concept that is so crazy, one would only be able to think of it while on crack. On Tumblr it also refers to any silly manipulation of content. In this first post, a user changes the dialogue of the episode so it supports one of their favorite romantic pairings, Dean/Castiel. Tumblr users also talk about how hot the character of Dean Winchester is, a common topic among Supernatural fans.

8:15 p.m. – I love when everyone blogs about the exact same thing at the exact same time. Tumblr user onlyonethatrocksmyworld agrees. She said, “When you scroll through the spn tag when the episode is airing chances are you’re going to see a lot of people reacting in the same way to the same thing, and that’s a very rewarding feeling as a fan. It’s cool to share that ‘DUDE SAME’ moment with people from around the world.” Here’s a good example:

8:30 p.m. – The episode twist occurs as Dean Winchester rebels against his demon companion Crowley. People react to the surprising power shift by quoting the episode.

8:40 p.m. – One of the main cliffhangers before the commercial break occurs. People understandably freak out about having to wait to see the anticipated Sam/Dean brotherly reunion.

8:43 p.m. – No one calms down when the show returns. General panic ensues. As onlyonethatrocksmyworld observes, liveblogging “[is] very therapeutic. I’m glad that this platform exists for us to share our emotions with each other.”

8:50 p.m. – THE CLIMAX OF THE EPISODE CAUSES EVERYONE TO SUDDENLY REVERT TO CAPS LOCK TO EXPRESS THEIR EMOTIONS. THINGS ARE GETTING VERY INTENSE. PEOPLE ALSO LOSE THE ABILITY TO TYPE WORDS AND INSTEAD EXPRESS THEMSELVES BY MASHING RANDOM KEYS.

8:57 p.m. – Everyone, literally everyone, in the Supernatural fandom knows about Dean Winchester’s obsession with his car. So when Demon!Dean tells his brother, “It’s just a car,” the fandom does not react well and everyone is heartbroken.

I do mean everyone.

9:00 p.m. – The episode finally comes to an end and the promotion for the next episode airs. People speculate about the snippets in the promo.

9:02 p.m. – By this time, the shock of the cliffhanger has mostly worn off. The panicked posts die down and people realize that the show has ended for another week.

9:07 p.m. – Some users take this time to make a list of their reactions and thoughts for their followers. They’ll recap their favorite parts and ask for clarifications on points they missed or didn’t quite understand. Sometimes an episode is praised, and sometimes the entire fandom agrees it was terrible. “Reichenbach” was, by general consensus, a great episode. 

About 10-15 minutes after an episode has ended, the use of the episode tag dies down. The “Spn spoiler” related tags, however, will be used throughout the week as people begin to post GIFs of their favorite moments from the episodes. Next Tuesday, these tags are used again for episode 10×03.

Winchesterdelight believes that “liveblogging might not be unique to Tumblr, but … the way that liveblogging occurs on Tumblr is unique.  Like, I’ve attempted live tweeting the episodes on Twitter, but it’s much more disjointed and not nearly as fun.  Tumblr makes it easier to find those who are watching and communicate with them about it, in my opinion.” Onlyonethatrocksmyworld agrees. She believes the 140 character limit on Twitter limits the liveblogging experience. On Tumblr, you’re able to tag multiple things without wasting space and you can post your full reaction.

The next time you’re watching your favorite geeky show alone (because literally no one else you know watches it), considering logging on to Tumblr as you watch the show and following the spoiler tag. It has always made my viewing experience more enjoyable.

Let’s Get Spoopy: Tumblr’s Weird Obsession with Halloween

It’s October 1st–which means it’s officially Halloween? That’s what Tumblr (and, admittedly, every single store that sells Halloween candy/decorations) seems to think. I’ve actually been seeing October/Halloween-related posts on my dash since the beginning of September, though, so the Halloween obsession gets pretty intense.

The arrival of October brings back well-loved memes such as the impending skeleton war, Halloween-related puns and various “spoopy” and “creppy” posts. This is a time of year when Tumblr users flaunt the many inside jokes they have which often confuse the rest of the Internet. You know, same old Tumblr.

The spoopy meme originated on Flickr, but the most popular post it’s associated with on Tumblr is this one:

Tumblr took that and ran with it. Countless posts exist about how “spoopy” and “creppy” Halloween is. For at least the two years that I’ve experienced Tumblr on Halloween, the spoopy tag has been used to identify people’s Halloween posts in all seriousness.

Another one of my favorite Tumblr memes is the impending skeleton war which will apparently begin after the apocalypse or just, you know, whenever. It’s always best to be prepared.

Finally, here’s a compilation of my favorite skeleton Halloween puns. These cartoons have been on my dash pretty much the entire summer and I literally never get tired of them. They’re all part of the same post and I even left one or two out due to foul language, so take a look at the complete post if you like. Happy October!!

Tumblr Humor At Its Finest, Part One

One of the main ways the users of Tumblr have affected my everyday life is by their warped sense of humor.

Sometimes, as I’m laughing hysterically at a Tumblr post, the people around me will ask, “What is it? I want to see!” With tears in my eyes I’ll turn my computer around to let them see the post. Often I’ll get a weak chuckle or a confused expression in response. I’ll try to explain the humorous aspect, but we all know trying to explain the joke makes it less funny. So thanks for putting me in so many awkward situations, Tumblr.

This post is the first of several dedicated to the many funny posts on Tumblr. Some of these everyone will laugh at. Some of them require background knowledge or knowledge of current events to get the joke. And some of them … I don’t even know, man.

Let’s start with something everyone can find funny, one of my favorite examples of Tumblr humor:

Here’s a great post that makes fun of the sentence structure. The commentators of this post choose to interpret the sentence as stating that the crayon will only burn for 30 minutes in an emergency situation. Naturally, one has to wonder what sort of emergency situations apply. I also personally love the aesthetic quality of a crayon on fire.

Now for some creative Tumblr humor. One of the most unique things about Tumblr is the way its users combine old and new media, a topic which will be explored in depth in a later post. This is one of my favorite examples, a combination of an older piece of literature with modern music.

I don’t even know what prompted the original poster to bring those two elements together. But in the Tumblr world, posts like this beg to be created. The second user actually took the time to sit down and puzzle out how Macklemore’s song “Thrift Shop” would be presented in the style of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven,” and they did it brilliantly. Not only is it hilarious, but it shows the intelligence and creativity of some Tumblr users.

Here’s one that pokes fun at some of the glitches of the new iPhone 6. Apparently it has a habit of bending when someone tries to keep it in a back–or even a front–pocket. So Tumblr had a little fun with that.

Okay, now we’ll get into the weird stuff. This is where I start to think my sense of humor has been permanently twisted by this website.

So here’s something interesting. All of the users who contributed to that post don’t exist at those URLs anymore. Maybe because their mere connection to this post means they were harassed with hundreds of questions about why it even exists. But really. Someone had this idea, managed to scrounge up several GameCubes (or maybe they just had a pile in their basement, I don’t know) and placed them among flowers. If I saw just the picture I would probably wonder what sort of recreational drugs the original poster was on, but the caption really makes this funny. Now I’m picturing a bunch of GameCubes frolicking in a field.

Maybe it’s the pun. Maybe it’s the absurdity of a dog sitting in a news studio. Maybe it’s his blunt reply and the clear indication that this dog has been through puns like this before and will not tolerate this sort of unprofessionalism any longer. Whatever it is, this post gets me every time.

Finally, I think this post sums up Tumblr’s sense of humor quite nicely. Often no caption is required to get the humor across, and this Tumblr user evidently did not feel the need to include one. But everyone once in a while, some person scrolling through their dashboard will come across a post like this and begin to contemplate what exactly led them to this website, to the moment in their existence when they must be subjected to this sort of awful humor.

In this situation, I think the profanity is entirely justified.