@8bitsaitama

It started with someone listing "places with uncanny energy," like gas stations on a road trip, empty movie theaters, etc.

Then someone reblogged it and said those are called "liminal spaces," defining liminal as in-between, neither one thing nor another.

Tomorrow (July 4th, 2026) is the 10 year anniversary of the-crepes-of-wrath's comment, which:

Predates the 2020 spike in interest by four years

Predates the original backrooms post, and the the creation of r/liminalspaces by three years

Predates the earliest mention that KnowYourMeme attributes to Twitter by two years

I'm pretty sure this is the moment the term "liminal spaces" was attached to this sort of imagery, and it's TEN YEARS OLD TOMORROW!

Top: in 2026, an officially licensed Donkey Kong Bananza plush was released in Japan that featured an expression on Donkey Kong's face that appears to be a frown from most angles. Together with the "thumbs up" gesture this creates a humorous mismatched effect.

Bottom left: this inadvertently resembles a reaction GIF that is very widespread on the Internet, featuring Brent Rambo from a 1990s Apple promotional video. Note the distinct combination of a frown with a thumbs-up gesture.

Bottom right: interestingly, a Donkey Kong version of this reaction was made in 2023 by video creator Udge that has itself gained popularity. While it is unlikely that these GIFs inspired the expression of the plush, it is a notable coincidence that Donkey Kong has already independently been depicted in a similar way by fan sources.

Source: plush, Apple video, Udge fan reaction video

All congratulations screens from Super Smash Bros. Melee that feature characters related to the Mario franchise, extracted from the game's files (please zoom in to view details).

Source: blueberrymuffin

this is what you get for dating an atheist

They never learn

And a close up of the two gremlins

Here’s a bunch more doodles I did around the time I went to see the Super Mario Galaxy film in theaters, coincidentally, I finished DK Bananza in the same week

That game is genuinely delightful, 10/10 gaming experience