Dream Blunt Rotation / Nightmare Blunt Rotation

About

Dream Blunt Rotation or Nightmare Blunt Rotation is a commonly used catchphrase and caption for images of a group of celebrities or fictional characters that the meme's creator would either like to or not like to smoke cannabis with. The "dream rotation" and "nightmare rotation" trends were popularized online in early 2021, primarily on Twitter and TikTok.

Origin

The phrases "dream blunt rotation" and "nightmare blunt rotation" likely predate their internet usage. However, on February 29th, 2012, Twitter^[1] user @camplothe posted the earliest mention of the "dream" phrase with the caption, "add @camplo and @OfficialCampLo to my dream blunt rotation Bamboo bungalow" (shown below).

More than eight years later, on September 12th, 2020, Twitter^[2] user @vmpkid posted the earliest available dream version with pictures, including photos of Markiplier, Julia Vaugh from the series Euphoria (portrayed by Hunter Schafe) and more (shown below).

Spread

The meme format using the dream rotation re-emerged in January 2021 as a prompt for other Twitter users. On January 24th, 2021, Twitter^[3] user @SheaCoulee tweeted, "You can only pick four people to be in the blunt rotation. Who are they?" They included pictures of Snoop Dogg, Rihanna, Alison Janey and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (shown below, left). The tweet received more than 5,800 likes and 600 retweets (shown below, left).

In March 2021, the meme went viral, thanks to several key tweets. The first, published by Twitter^[4] @pumpkabooo on March 11th, 2021, features the characters from the web series Don't Hug Me I'm Scared. The post received more than 137,000 likes and 22,000 retweets (shown below, center). The following day, Twitter^[5] user @bitchiwas999 posted a picture of rappers Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa with the caption. The post received more than 135,000 likes and 23,000 retweets in less than one week (shown below, right).

Several media outlets covered the meme, including Paper,^[6] StayHipp^[7] and more.

Nightmare Blunt Rotation

In contrast to a "dream blunt rotation," Twitter users began speculating what a "nightmare" version of this rotation would be starting in March 2021. On March 4th, 2021, Twitter^[8] user @iputarsenic tweeted about a "nightmare blunt rotation" and received just three likes (shown below).

More notably, on March 5th, 2021, Twitter^[9] user @glittery_tits tweeted their version of a "nightmare blunt rotation" (shown below, left) and received 17 likes over seven months. On March 8th, 2021, Twitter^[10] user @ashleyc0re also tweeted about the anti-rotation, saying, "enough dream blunt rotations. i want to see your nightmare blunt rotations. just the most absolutely rancid vibes." The tweet (shown below, right) received roughly 1,900 likes and 1,800 quote tweets over the course of seven months. Twitter users began posting their "nightmare blunt rotations" in subsequent quote tweets^[11] to @ashleyc0re's tweet.

In March 2021, @ashleyc0re's tweet quickly began seeing references on TikTok. For example, on March 12th, TikToker^[12] @clownclaws posted a video that said in its caption, "rancid horrendous vibes only." The TikTok (shown below, left) received roughly 85,500 plays and 18,500 likes over the course of seven months. On March 13th, 2021, TikToker^[13] @888aiden posted a video where the green-screen background behind them is a screenshot of @ashleyc0re's tweet. Their TikTok (shown below, right) received roughly 866,800 plays and 181,100 likes over the course of seven months.

"Nightmare blunt rotations" began appearing again on TikTok in October 2021. On October 3rd, 2021, TikToker^[14] @wonderwomanspowerbottom posted a video (shown below, left) that received roughly 135,400 plays and 24,100 likes over the course of nine days. On October 7th, 2021, TikToker^[15] @lilquackhead posted a "nightmare blunt rotation" video. Their video (shown below, right) received roughly 467,700 plays and 103,500 likes over the course of five days. The sound^[16] that they used for their video, called "phonographicmaterial," became the primary sound used for the trend going forward.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References