Blorbo From My Shows
| Meme | |
|---|---|
| Synonyms: | Blorbo |
| Date Started: | December 25, 2021 |
| Related: | Glup Shitto, Plinko Horse, Tumblr 2021 Tagpocalypse, Eeby Deeby, Poor Little Meow Meow, Overnight Fandom, Pookie Bear |
| See Also: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Blorbo from my shows is a meme that sparked an overnight fandom posted by thelustiestargonianmaid on Tumblr (who later replaced the original text of the post with a different image, though the original still lives on in screenshots and reblogs). It became part of meta-commentary about fandom and tagging culture on Tumblr itself.
The original post read:
Bitches will be like “prev tags omg” on my post and I check the preg (sic) tags and it’s like “blorbo from my shows”
As of January 2022, the original post had nearly 12,000 notes (although other posts with screenshots of the post and reblogs on it had far more).
History
The meme took off and proliferated into other parts of Tumblr in conjunction with the Plinko Horse meme and other spinoff memes about Glup Shitto (making a parallel joke about Star Wars naming conventions). Likewise, the meme became associated with the Tumblr 2021 Tagpocalypse happening as a backdrop.
One of the most notable tags applied to the original post was by americachavez who tagged their reblog as:
#this is the blorbo from my shows website [1]
Arguably, the post took off due to a compilation post of memes about Tumblr fandom practices and tagging culture with the "same energy" started by orienta1ism [note 1]. This post received over 77,000 notes as of Jan 2021 with other users reblogging with their own screenshots or "similar memes" in the notes [2].
Another popular post about Blorbo had 38,548 notes as of Jan 21 2022:
[bisexualisobel]
if people don't want me to tag their posts with blorbo from my shows they should simply stop posting things that sound like blorbo from my shows
[hauntedcircusringmaster]
whos blorbo
Another post by aimmyarrowshigh read:
yes, tumblr is all about blorbo from your shows, but true love is letting your dash be about grumpo and slimpet from your FRIEND’s shows [4]
As 2022 has gone on, Blorbo has steadily become a term to describe a favourite character that fills the specific vibe of 'Blorbo From My Shows'.
References in mainstream culture
A New York Times article includes the term in a review of romance novels:
This is definitely one to be read as a series: Marske uses the full span of the trilogy to build to a beautiful, devastating conclusion. (Of course, all your blorbos are back for the big magical confrontation between those who crave power and those who defend against its abuses.)[5]
NYT's usage was noticed and discussed on Tumblr:
[clonerightsagenda]
Spotted the word “blorbo” in The New York Times book review. Listen NYT romance reviewer, I really do not think your paper’s audience is going to recognize that one[6]
[Fahye (in the tags)]
#listen if this is my legacy #blorbos in the paper of record #I'll take it #Revered NYT Romance Reviewer Olivia Waite #can do whatever she wants!![7].
Variations
A post on February 5th by creekfiend offers a variation:
Ive come up with the phrase "blorbo-in-law" which is a fictional character who isn't, like, YOUR blorbo from YOUR shows but it is your mutual's blorbo who you nevertheless have developed strong opinions about due to long term dash exposure[8]
A Tumblr post later in the year explained some of the related terms:
[for-your-modesty-dude]
to anyone who missed it:blorbo - a favourite character
glup shitto - star wars names are fucking nonesense
eeby deeby - youre going to hell
plinko horse - a horse that was stuck in a plinko board
scrimblo bimblo - super smash bro fans can be very angry when characters aren't in a game
[egbertkind]
scrunglo: spamton-esque batshit character
- Tumblr post documenting a collection of similar terms to blorbo.
Commentary on Tumblr culture
Example Fanworks
Communities
- The pan-fannish Mastodon instance blorbo.social takes its name from the blorbo meme
Further Reading
- The rise of ‘Blorbo From My Shows,’ Tumblr’s fandom mascot, Daily Dot article by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw, Jan 14 2022
- blorbo-from-my-shows-is, Archived version blog on Tumblr, in the style of "your fave is..." blogs featuring edits
References
- ^ Tumblr post, Archived version by America Chavez, Dec 2021
- ^ a b Tumblr thread, Archived version featuring posts by orienta1ism with additions by zombielaunch and boogerwookiesugarcookie. (A different reblog chain with further additions from 2023 here.)
- ^ Tumblr post with reply, Archived version by bisexualisobel, Jan 4 2022
- ^ Tumblr post, Archived version by aimmyarrowshigh, Jan 9 2022. The post had over 11k notes as of Jan 21 2022
- ^ New, luscious romance books, Archived on 2023-12-01 review in the New York Times by Olivia Waite, published 2023-10-31.
- ^ I am not making this up, Archived on 2023-12-01 Tumblr post by user clonerightsagenda, posted 2023-11-30.
- ^ reblog of clonerightsagenda's post, Archived on 2023-12-02 by fahye, posted 2023-12-02.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Tumblr post
Notes
- ^ Shown here in screenshot form as the OP later deleted the posts, though they were public at the time they were made