The Attack of the Memes
What…
Is…
Up, Internet!?
It is Sunset Shimmer coming to you live with…
No more Coronavirus memes!
That’s right, I’m frigging SICK of them! I want my entertainment to distract me from the virus, not remind me of it!
Plus, the memes are getting kind of stale.
So, until some new life is breathed into the virus I… uh…
*concerned question*
Yeah, Twilight, I realized how it sounded after I said it.
Let’s try this again: until some fresh jokes come to the topic, we’re going to take a break and look at some other kinds of memes.
Next week, or, realistically, whenever I get around to making it, we’re gonna have some history memes, so that I can pretend I’ve contributed to the edification of my audience by “teaching them something.”
This week, we are gonna look at some tasty, tasty nerd memes! So grab your pocket protectors, sharpen your No. 2 pencils, and polish your Spock ears, because it’s time to get Nerdy!
Does that stereotype even fit anymore?
Probably not, but all the other stereotypes I could think of were a little too harsh.
First up, some Marvel memes.
And, uh, beware of spoilers ahead… I guess… for those of you who successfully managed to live under a rock for the last—
Twilight, do I have to give a spoiler alert when all these movies are at least a year old and the main jokes are all over the web?
How should I know?
I dunno, I just figured you’d know more about the ins and outs of Nerd Law than me.
… why?
Because… uh… you have glasses?
…
…
…
Just for that, I’m going to eat the last of the pikliz.
What?! Wait, no, Twilight, come on!
Too late! Eating it!
But…! But…! Sigh. Okay, I probably deserved that.
For context, Twilight is half Haitian on her father’s side, and he taught her how to make pikliz using his old family recipe.
“What’s pikliz?” I hear you asking. Well, pikliz is like coleslaw if coleslaw was a metric crap ton of spicy goodness throat punching your taste buds into submission.
It is SO. GOOD.
And now Twilight’s gonna eat the last of it, all because I made a joke to entertain you.
Don’t say I never did nothing for you.
That was a double negative!
I’m in mourning for my taste buds! Sue me!
*Ahem*
Ah, starting off strong with a Lord of the Rings/MCU crossover. Always a fan favorite.
It is pretty funny how many people who played elves went on to play villains in the MCU. And not like minor villains either; we’re talking big bads.
Though, ironically, none of them played the actual dark elves. Kind of a missed opportunity there, Marvel.
Still, lot of bad elves. Maybe Gimli was on to something.
Oooh… this, uh, this meme didn’t age well.
I think this one came out right after Ragnarok. You know, when playing dead was kinda Loki’s thing.
You know, before Infinity War happened and…
Yeah…
*awkward silence*
Well, to be fair, I guess I should say it probably didn’t age well. I mean, it is Loki we’re talking about here. If anyone could pull off yet another…
But… probably not.
*cough*
So… that got dark. Next meme!
*chuckles*
That is pretty funny, but with Miss Statistics in the room here, I do feel obliged to point out that two data points isn’t really conclusive evidence. Even if we go with the whole, “once is a fact, twice is a coincidence, three times is a conspiracy” thing, you’re still one evil dad short of this being able to hold up in a court of memes.
*slams desk*
I find the meme guilty of exaggerating the data! The sentence is to leave the MCU!
Just like Spiderman?
Aw, too soon, Twi!
Anyway, on to Star Wars.
Aaaand we’re starting off on a bad note with our first link that looks like it won’t upload properly. Well, you folks know the drill; follow the posted link if it doesn’t work here.
For those who don’t want to go to the trouble, it’s Anakin wearing hipster glasses saying, “Destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force? Nah. Too mainstream. I’ll just join them instead.”
Which is funny by itself, but the caption it even better: “Little did he know, that the Jedi soon become underground after that.”
Boy, how often have I seen that happen? Hipsters be all, “Fight the power! Rebel!” and then the ‘rebellion’ becomes the new power, and the previous establishment becomes the new underground.
There’s actually a strong historical precedent for that. Take a look at different revolutions some time – you’d be surprised how often the former establishment becomes the new radicalism. As Peter Kreeft once said, “In an age that has thrown out all tradition, the only rebellion possible is orthodoxy.”
Wow, way to hijack the meme video with philosophy, Twilight.
It’s a video of nerd memes. Nerds should be educated.
We don’t need none of your fancy edjimication!
You’re just bitter because I’m eating the last of the pikliz.
No, I’m bitter because you came back into the room so you could EAT IT RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!
* contended chewing sounds *
Mmm. I am eating it in front of you, aren’t I.
…
You’re evil, you know that, right?
*contended chewing sounds*
Yes.
Yeesh, when did you fall to the Dark Side?
I joined for their vast array of stored data.
… huh?
You know: “Come to the Dark Side? We have cookies?”
…
…
…
See, folks, this is why I don’t want to get into a prank war with Twilight. She’s got a twisted mind.
Anyway, the meme’s a solid Star Wars joke with a one-two punch at the hipster crowd. I rate this meme four out of five hands-severed-by-lightsabers.
Now that you mention it, Star Wars does have an alarming number of severed hands.
I dunno. I think it kind of works. Maybe that was the problem with the sequels – not enough severed hands.
That’s… one way of looking at it.
*prolongued laughter*
“I am Star Wars now,” says Baby Yoda. Hah! It’s funny because it’s true.
I’ll tell ya, some fans love the sequels, some fans hate the sequels, but basically everyone agrees The Mandalorian is awesome.
Heck I think it’s awesome, and I’ve only seen the first episode!
*surprised coughing*
Careful, Twilight. Don’t choke on the Dark Side.
YOU’VE ONLY SEEN ONE EPISODE?! HOW?! HOW HAVE YOU ONLY SEEN ONE EPISODE?!
Because I promised Flash we’d watch it together, and we only got through one episode before the quarantine started.
… Wow. I mean, I know love is sacrifice, but… wow. That is some conclusive proof of love right there.
You know what’s even better? When I told him we’d wait to watch it, he said, “I love you,” and you know how I responded?
No. How?
I did my best Han Solo impression and went, “I know.”
Hah! Classy!
I know.
Roses are red, violets are blue, people with small screens will go blind, there’s nothing I can do.
*prolonged hysterical laughter*
Why is this so funny?!
*yet more hysterical laughter*
It’s really not that funny!
*some time later*
Heh heh heh heh ahem! Okay. I’m good. Next meme.
Oooh! Isabella’s gonna be steamed when she sees that!
Nah, she’ll be cool with it.
Er, for context, Isabella’s a friend of ours who’s from Italy.
Anyway, Twi, most of the Italian jokes I hear are from my Italian friends! Like this one: why don’t Italians like Jehovah’s Witnesses?
*muttering about consequences* I don’t know, why?
Well, actually, Italians don’t like any witnesses.
*guilty snort of laughter* Who told you that?!
Isabella.
Heh. Figures.
Yeah, when I asked her what the protocol on telling Italian jokes was, she told me pretty much anything goes… as long as I don’t mix up Italians and Sicilians. So far I haven’t, so I think I’m safe.
To all my Italian friends: I love you guys, don’t have me whacked.
Holy horse hockey, that is dark!
Man, nothing like some good old family-friendly Star Wars to get you laughing at child murder.
To be fair, Star Wars is actually pretty dark if you look close enough.
Mm. True. Like, Padme shouldn’t have been surprised by the whole “Anakin killed the younglings” thing, because he LITERALLY CONFESSED TO SLAUGHTERING A VILLAGE OF SAND PEOPLE.
“And not just the men, but the women, and the children too.” She shoulda been out the door the second he dropped that.
Exactly. Like, girl, I get that Hayden Christensen is cute, but the dude is throwing up so many red flags that Josef Stalin follows him on Facebuck.
*snerk* Accurate.
But that’s not even the sketchiest thing. No, what I think is the sketchiest thing in the movies is that the Jedi Order and the Republic sanction the use of a slave army… and no one talks about it.
Yeah. Stop and think about this for a second: the Jedi and the Republic find out they’ve got an army of human beings who were BOUGHT and PAID FOR… and no one’s like, “Hmmm, that seems like it’s a huge sapient rights violation.”
Like, really people? How are you the good guys again?
Now, soapbox moment here, I actually think this is a stellar plot point that sets up exceptionally well for the rise of the Empire. It reveals the moral bankruptcy of the Old Republic and the Jedi, to the point that the former would sanction a totalitarian regime and the latter would be blind to a Sith Lord in their midst, all because they’ve forgotten what it means to actually be the “good guys.”
Karen Traviss explored this in depth in the Republic Commando books and the couple Clone Wars standalones she did. I think one of the most chilling things that gets said of the Jedi is in her book Order 66. A Jedi leaves the Order in protest of the Clone Army and, when reflecting on how the Jedi got blindsided by Palpatine, he says, “They turned out the light themselves.”
Oof. Harsh, but the evidence supports his thesis.
In the words of Big MacIntosh, “Eeyup.” IMO, The Clone Army is actually the smoking blaster of the franchise, revealing how evil was allowed to rise.
Or it would have been, if the movies hadn’t glossed over it and the new canon hadn’t retconned a bunch of that stuff out.
What are you talking about, Twilight? There is only one canon, and all the Karen Traviss books are in it.
That’s technically not tru—
Maybe Maul just wanted out of the movies.
Pity. I would have loved to see more of Ray Park’s stunts.
Let’s get a kickstarter going: Ray Park for a standalone Maul movie!
So, we’re gonna pivot away from Star Wars memes now, but can we take a moment to appreciate how the Star Wars memes have stayed fresh and vibrant?
Like, when I was trying to find decent Marvel memes, I had to fight through a million increasingly crappy versions of Thanos being an angry grape. That, or ‘before’ and ‘after’ shots of “me going to see Infinity War,” with the ‘before’ shots being a character smiling and the ‘after’ shots being the same character looking like they’ve just been slapped through a concrete bunker.
It was funny the first time. Unfortunately, the first time was twelve-thousand times ago.
Meanwhile, Star Wars memes continue to be a reliable source of entertainment year after year.
Unlike some of the movies.
Heyo! Shots fired!
Han shot first.
And unfortunately, Ben followed in his father’s footsteps.
Huh?
Well, you know: Star Wars VII. Ben stabbed first.
Aaah! Too soon, Sunset! Too soon!
Revenge is mine! Next fandom!
*chuckles*
Man, Ron Swanson in Lord of the Rings would’ve been a trip. What would you call the crossover, though?
…
“Parks and Rohirrim?”
…
“Parks and Ring Creation?
…
“Orcs and Recreation?”
…
We’ll give it some more thought and get back to you.
...
Well.
That image is going to haunt my dreams.
And now, through the magic of the internet, it can haunt yours too.
You’re welcome.
You know what? I could see it. I could see this being a fun spinoff. Though I do question how many crimes there would be. Except for Saruman’s brief takeover, the Shire is pretty low-key. And I say that as a woman who grew up in a place that was pretty sunshine and rainbows.
Maybe it could be more of a Scooby-Doo kind of thing, where hijinks and thievery replace murder as the central plot.
Hah! Wouldn’t that be a trip!
…
Actually, a Scooby-Doo-style mystery show set in Middle Earth sounds delightful. Someone make that happen.
*laughter*
So, this is kind of a double joke. First joke is the pun on the line itself, but the second joke is that Sir Christopher Lee actually recorded metal albums when he was, like, in his 80s. Just for kicks.
I guess that’s what you do when you used to hunt Nazis during and after World War II.
Ah, rest in peace, Sir Christopher Lee. For your life of actually defending the realm from evil, you earn the distinction of being the only actor I with a knighthood I actually bother to call “Sir.”
Criminy, I thought we were done with Star Wars, but their meme game is so strong they’ve taken over the other fandoms.
Just like Baby Yoda took over the franchise.
Preach, sister.
Alright, what else we got?
Oof, I feel this next one.
Twilight, check it out.
What is— ooh. Yeah.
So, bad link here, but it’s basically Frodo and Sam about to log off while gaming at a reasonable hour, followed by “one more game,” leading to a 4 AM Sam carrying Frodo up Mount Doom.
Worst game for this is Minecraft. Twilight and I fell down that particular time vortex last Saturday.
Aw, but the redstone circuit we built was so cool!
You know what wasn’t cool? Missing two meals because we were placing blocks.
Point.
We’re going to close out with some Star Trek memes, because what kind of nerds would we be if we didn’t, but before we do, some honorable mentions of the franchises we didn’t get to.
First, Halo. I love Halo. I’ve always loved Halo. Unfortunately, most of the truly funny Halo memes I’ve seen require such specific knowledge to get the joke and, unlike Star Wars, it’s not quite ubiquitous enough to get away with. Sorry.
…
Okay, maybe just one:
Second, Stargate. Specifically SG-1. Even more than Halo, I think that Stargate is such a niche show that most of the truly funny jokes don’t translate well to a general audience. Which is a shame, because their meme game is pretty on point.
I actually got introduced to Stargate SG-1 before most other sci-fi franchises, thanks to Rainbow Dash of all people. And, honestly, I think it’s better than just about any other sci-fi show out there. I know a lot of people disagree but, in my experience, most of those who disagree haven’t seen Stargate.
I thought you were trying to avoid fandom wars in your comments’ section.
You should know by now, Twilight. I like to live dangerously.
Like when you downed a bowl of pikliz in five seconds?
That wasn’t dangerous. That was stupid.
Anyhoo, Stargate is awesome. You should watch it. All eight seasons of it.
There were ten seasons Sunset.
ALL EIGHT SEASONS OF IT, TWILIGHT.
*ahem*
Seriously, though it’s great. It’s also got a really low-key fan community that, at least in my experience, doesn’t really get in anybody else’s face, which is nice.
Maybe it’s because we know we’re the best.
You are gonna get such grief for this.
Meh. It will be a change of pace from the isolation.
Another great underrated sci-fi show is Babylon 5. It’s somewhat similar to Star Trek but, at least in my opinion, is a more real-to-life setting.
I love Star Trek, at least back in its heyday, but it could get on the utopian bandwagon at times and… that… well…
Here’s the thing. Much as I hate going ‘serious’ after giving Twilight grief for doing it all video, real-world “utopias” have a bad track record of genocide and grandiose human rights violations. So, the “utopian” undertones of the Federation always bothered me.
Babylon 5 doesn’t do that. They make their nations and cultures more overtly flawed, though thankfully without swinging too far in the other direction and making everyone jerks. Instead, we see a mix of heroes and villains and everything in between amongst the various factions. It’s deeply complex, with an intelligently evolving status quo. Sure, it can be campy at times, but it also has the depth of a Shakespearian tragedy mixed with classic space opera, blood feuds, multiple well-established wars, espionage, and just a dash of Tom Clancy-style black ops.
I’m getting the vague impression you like this show.
You dad’s the one who got me into it; you should know.
Oh, I do. I’m just enjoying watching you gush over it when you spent most of the episode making fun of Londo’s hair.
Ah, yes, and I look back on that sad and unenlightened period of my life with great regret – those dark days before I saw the poetic symmetry of Londo and G’Kar, who alone make the show worth watching.
Channeling Rarity, are we?
Hey, someone’s gotta do it while she’s stuck up in moose country.
But, now that I’m done listing franchises I enjoy more than Star Trek… we look at Star Trek!
Because I still love it, warts and all!
*riotous guffaws*
Okay, I did not see that punchline coming!
Open with a classic fable, close with a cheeky twist. I love it.
Yeah, this is kind of the problem with having your main cast be the command crew of the starship.
In fairness, most sci-fi shows of this style have the same problem, including B5.
It’s a kinda cringy plot device, but I’m inclined to forgive it as long as the show’s good. Which it is.
Next meme!
…
Sunset? Why are you just staring blankly at the screen? Let me see what made you— Hah! That’s a really clever joke! And a philosophically-minded one at that! You really are a hypocrite for having a second…
Um… Sunset?
…
Sunset? You okay?
Hm? Yeah, I just…
…
Twilight, does Q strike you as being eerily familiar?
No. Why?
Nothing, nothing, I just…
…
I could see John de Lancie playing a really good master of chaos, that’s all.
…
You know what, I’m gonna call it there. I need to go check something with a friend.
*chair moves*
Where are you going?
Twilight, do the outro, would you? Kthanksbye!
Sunset? Wait, Sunset?!
You get back here and finish your video, young lady!
Sunset!
*sigh*
So… um… she’ll be back with some history memes whenever she gets around to it… I guess… and, well, she said she’d post links to some of our friends’ videos as those come out. Starting with mine. Soonish.
And… I guess that’s it?
See you next time? Maybe? If I’m around?
Which, I suppose I will be…
Because, you know, the whole quarantine thing and… um…
*shuffling papers*
Shoot, how does she end these things? She could have at least left me with a script or something…
Er… like and subscribe, be sure to hit the notification bell…
Um… generic well wishing and encouragement to stay healthy!
Yeah!
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I take it Sunset isn't familiar with the Phase 4 timeline.
Careful, Sunset. You might just end up in a crossover with LegalEagle, and real person fic is a can of worms best left unopened.
...
*grudging slow clap*
How many times has my counterpart had to avert national, if not global catastrophe?
Hey, it was pretty peaceful while I was there.
Knowing Twilight, it may well have achieved self-awareness if they missed a few more meals.
I too appreciate SG-1. And I love the idea of Twilight's family introducing Sunset to science fiction.
O'Brien's twist on the two wolves got me laughing out loud. Magnificent.
And this is why you generally want to keep real-world pop culture references to a minimum in fictional worlds. otherwise, there will inevitably be a bit of overlap...
I suppose it's a good thing Sunset doesn't seem to watch a lot of cartoons. You can't throw a rock without hitting a character voiced by Tara Strong.
This continues to be a delight. Looking forward to more.
Considering some of the people that live in Pawnee, this sounds pretty normal.
Y'know, Ray Park did do mo-cap for the Maul vs. Ahsoka fight in Season 7 of Clone Wars... guess that's about as close to a solo Maul series as we're going to get at this point.
Dash as a SG-1 fan? Makes sense. I wonder if she also likes SG:A.
Do a chapter of Sunset reacting to fanart of herself.
10238179
That might get a little too meta
10238324
How would it be meta? Lots of popular YouTubers and creators get fanart of themselves.
10237405
I appreciate that this response not only makes perfect sense for a post-video off-camera discussion, but that you put Twilight's dialogue in italics so I knew who was talking.
And, hey, it really was pretty peaceful when Sunset was there.
Little does the world know that Sunset's insistence on not missing three meals in a day prevented the Rise of the Machines.
Always nice to meet a fellow Gater. As to Twilight's family introducing Sunset to the wider world of nerdery, I'm glad you appreciated it. It's one of those little things that probably won't ever feature much explicitly in the story, but informs how I write.
Our other friends did an... adequate job of introducing Sunset to nerd culture, but when we discovered the true depth of her unenlightenment on all things nerdy, we took it upon ourselves to... educate her.
Yeah, whether I wanted to be educated or not!
Don't listen to her. It was all for her benefit. We delegated tasks for efficiency: Shining handled comics and cartoons, Night Light handled vintage sci-fi and space opera, Twilight Velvet handled fantasy literature, and I handled the hard sci-fi. It was a delightful friend-building experience.
They made me write a thesis!
It was a wholesome and totally normal experience for everyone involved.
I had to write the thesis in Elvish!
Totally. Normal.
10238335
I would need to use actual fanart that some people have made of Sunset, and I'm honestly not sure what I would have her say about it. I'm not an artist, so beyond noting "this picture is pretty and has nice line work," I don't have a lot I could say. I would compliment the artists, but that doesn't make for comedy. The only comedy I could think of would be her reacting to bad fanart, which would generally either be something done by an amateur (and I'm not gonna riff on some up-and-coming artist for not being Rembrandt) or inappropriate fanart (which is not how I roll). Alternatively, I could try to do a non-comedy chapter that's enjoyable to read for some other reason but, again, I don't know what else I could say about the fanart. I've seen fanart of Sunset that I've liked, but I don't do art reviews. Basically, I don't think I could make an entertaining chapter out of it. Maybe a different writer could, but I don't see a way of doing it with my writing style that would be entertaining. It's not a bad idea; it's just not one I can execute.
10238355
Fair enough.
I guess the only reason I suggested it is because I made this a while back. (No, it's not real)
derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/5/2/2028752.jpeg
10238484
Wow. You know, if by some odd twist of fate I am ever successful enough in some online endeavor that people make fanart of me, I'll be in a weird place between being happy to have been successful and terrified to see what the internet would do to me. I'd be flattered by anything good (or at least innocuous), but I don't know how I'd take the rest.
Ah, Halo 5. Great gameplay, subpar level design, awful story. I totally understand your (and Sunset's) hatred.
10238345
At least they taught her Elvish... right? D:
10239673
Now she can write a thesis in Elvish about Halo.
This was fun, as always.
I look forward to more whenever it may come!
Thanks you, Twilight!
"DisQord"
You win my laughter just for that play on words.
Some of the other pictures here were also fantastic, so thank you for that.
For future content ... I know it might be a bit campy, but how about a Q&A session for Sunset and Twilight? The questions could come from the comments (whether here on fimfic or Sunny's channel would be up to you).
EDIT: You mention a dog in the description of the story, but we haven't so much as heard a bark in the background of these videos! Give the pup some screentime, please and thanks?
10271468
Glad you're enjoying it. I'll bear the suggestions in mind. As to Spike, he'll show up at some point. Possibly soon.
You know, I was just stopping by to see what all the fuss was about, but you sold me with those SG1 memes. Good show.
10294877
Gaters gonna gate
img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/amBmBP6_460s.jpg
Jeez, Twilight's gotten sassy since high school.
You get 6 points for that, plus the excellent taste in SG-1 and B5 (now Sunny just needs to watch Farscape!) but lose 20 points for Bradset.