This wiki page explains the origin of this gif. It looks like the original concept was created by Andorion, then users on the Something Awful forums created several versions. This page gives the full experience of this gif.
this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2025
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This is the "Blue Ball Machine". It's a real old gif. YTMND seems to be the most recent host but it predates that for sure.
Some additional context: this was from the Something Awful forums and it was a collaborative effort to produce a looping but linked set of gifs. More info here, since I don't think those original forum posts exist anymore. https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/blue-ball-machine
I reckon more than 20 years ago a family friend of mine e-mailed this to me. The subject line was "women's thoughts gif"...
I think at the time I was too young to work out why he'd called it that but I remember spending hours studying every part of it. Thanks for unlocking a core memory
I remember staring at this for an hour or more when I was a kid following all the little paths they took.
Fuck man, I wish Lemmy had different content warning descriptors. Like NSFW for nude stuff, NSFL for gore and NSWH (Not suitable when high) for stuff like this.
You know you're old when you see "Artist unknown" and yell out that it came from Something Awful
This is the first time i see this. I like the tree department and the little maze in the middle and also that one guy gets squished into a blue ball after being teleported.
Oh shit, memory unlocked.