What is Fandoms Grab Your Weapons?

It's a 2012 Tumblr thread where users from different fandoms named their signature items as imaginary weapons in a mock war against outsiders who mocked the site[1].

Where did Fandoms Grab Your Weapons come from?

Tumblr user @abeedagoat started the chain on July 16th, 2012, in response to a screenshot mocking Tumblr[1].

What does Fandoms Grab Your Weapons mean?

It's used to reference the earnest, over-the-top tone of early 2010s Tumblr fandom culture, often ironically as 'The Worst Post on Tumblr'[3].

How do you use Fandoms Grab Your Weapons?

People typically use the 'X fandom grab your Y' template, listing fandoms and their signature items, or quote lines like 'Whovians grab your tardis' to invoke the original thread[2].

Is Fandoms Grab Your Weapons still popular?

The archived @heritageposts version sits around 226,700 reblogs as of August 2026, and the format still gets referenced during fandom disputes[3].

Fandoms Grab Your Weapons

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Fandoms Grab Your Weapons is a 2012 Tumblr thread where users from different fandoms rallied their 'weapons' against outsiders who mocked the site. The chain became infamous as one of the most cringe-inducing posts in Tumblr history, spawning the 'X fandom grab your Y' template still referenced today.

tumblr memes fandom discourse memes cringe memes snowclone memes 2012 memes

Overview

Fandoms Grab Your Weapons, also templated as 'X Fandom Grab Your Y,' started as a Tumblr chain where users from Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Sherlock and other big 2012 fandoms rallied their signature items as imaginary weapons in defense of the site1. Whovians grabbed their tardis, Potterheads their wands, Sherlockians their (mangled) Benedict Cumberbatch, and so on down the thread2.

The post became a shorthand for the earnest, over-the-top tone of early Tumblr fandom culture, and outsiders latched onto it as proof of the site's cringe reputation3. Inside Tumblr, users kept reblogging it ironically, nicknaming it 'The Worst Post on Tumblr' and folding it into the site's own lore3. The template still gets pulled out whenever a new fandom fight breaks out online.

Origin & Background

Platform

Tumblr

Creator

@abeedagoat

Date

2012

The original thread was posted on July 16th, 2012, by Tumblr user @abeedagoat, who has since confirmed she started it1. It was a reaction to a screenshot mocking Tumblr that was making the rounds at the time, and abeedagoat framed it as a 'call to war' aimed at users from other sites3.

The original post has been deleted, but archives kept circulating on the platform and eventually got picked up by the @heritageposts blog, which reblogged a preserved version on June 24th, 20203. That heritageposts reblog is the version most people see today, sitting at around 226,700 reblogs and 190,300 likes as of August 20263.

How It Spread

After abeedagoat's opening line, users piled in fandom by fandom, each grabbing whatever weapon fit their property, Whovians with the tardis, Potterheads with wands, Sherlockians butchering the spelling of Benedict Cumberbatch's name2. The chain kept snowballing across Tumblr through 2012 and beyond, with fandom-specific spinoffs of the 'X fandom grab your Y' format3.

On July 28th, 2018, Redditor u/Weirdo_Weeb posted a screenshot of the thread to r/terriblefandommemes, marking the point where it started being passed around off-Tumblr as cringe content3. On January 16th, 2020, X user @coraroline referenced the thread in a reply that reused the same GIF from the original Tumblr post, racking up about 2,200 likes2.

A similar cross-fandom moment popped up in August 2026 around the animated film Lesbian Space Princess, dubbed The Great Fandom Truce Of 2026, where TikTok users posted images of characters from rival series shaking hands with captions like 'Just this once'3. It developed on its own but got compared to Fandoms Grab Your Weapons for the same rally-the-fandoms energy.

How to Use This Meme

The format typically opens with a call to arms ('Oh no you messed with the wrong fandom'), then a list of fandoms each 'grabbing' their signature item as a weapon2. People commonly swap in new fandoms and items to riff on current internet drama, or quote a line from the original thread to signal 'this is giving 2012 Tumblr' energy.

Frequently Asked Questions

References (4)