/r/freefolk

About

/r/freefolk is a popular subreddit for Game of Thrones fans in which people primarily post memes and spoilers about the series, making the subreddit similar to other meme-focused subculture subreddits like /r/PrequelMemes and /r/raimimemes.

History

/r/freefolk was created by Redditor Leafeon123^[1] on April 13th, 2015. The subreddit was inspired by fans who wanted to discuss spoilers of the show but were forbidden from doing so on other popular Game of Thrones subreddits such as /r/GameOfThrones and /r/ASOIAF because mods believed doing so encouraged piracy.^[2] As /r/freefolk grew, the mods in those subs would delete any mention of /r/freefolk. This led to the creation of /r/FuckOlly, named after Game of Thrones villain Olly, which mods would not ban, thus leading more people to /r/freefolk. After the character Olly died in the show, /r/freefolk grew much more popular. The subreddit quickly began seeing media attention after its creation, as publications like Narratively,^[3] High Snobiety,^[4] and Geek,^[5] wrote about the subreddit, crediting it as the source for many spoilers relating to the show. As of April 12th, 2019, the subreddit has over 484,000 subscribers,^[1] and many of the posts in the subreddit are dedicated to memes and shitposts about the show. Many of the top all-time posts show attempts to raid Google Images by asking for upvotes.^[6] Other popular posts include an image macro about Maester Aemon that gained over 50,000 points (shown below, left) and a You Cannot Fast Travel meme about the character Little Finger that gained over 44,000 points (shown below, right).

Highlights

SameYou Charity Drive

On March 21st, 2019, Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke published an article in the New Yorker^[7] about her recovery from two brain aneurysms.

On May 22nd, 2019, Redditor^[8] elle_ellaria posted "Can we collectively do something nice for Emilia? A big fundraising drive by the fans for her SameYou charity? It's clear she loved Dany so much, I want her to know we loved her too and we're so thankful for her portrayal." Within the month, the post received more than 46,000 points (97% upvoted) and 2,500 comments (shown below). elle_ellaria wrote:

It's clear that Emilia invested much of herself into Dany and in turn drew strength from her when she needed it. The fact that the showrunners did not even care to inform her of her character's turn, let alone write a properly fleshed-out script that did her character (and others!) justice, is unforgivable. They've since scurried away to avoid the backlash they knew was inevitable, but the actors are getting the brunt of it. And I just thought… how wonderful a gesture would it be for them, and for Emilia especially, to see fans of the show coming together in aid of a cause that is so dear to her heart. To really know that we appreciate her and this character she's inhabited for the better part of the last decade.

On May 30th, Emilia Clarke postd on Instagram a video of her thanking the Reddit community for nearly £38,000 in donations. She wrote, "Elle Elaria and your reddit page where you have raised almost £38,000 has made my day, week, month, year, decade, and I couldn’t think of a more beautiful way to wave goodbye to the mother of dragons than with this step towards making brain injury sufferers feel less alone." The post received more than 10 million views and 1 million likes (shown below).

Redditor AgirlIsOnline posted the video on /r/freefolk, where it received more than 100,000 points (96% upvoted) and 3,700 comments in less than one month.

As of June 11th, the fundraiser on JustGiving.com^[9] has generated more than £107,000 of its £125,000 goal.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References