{"id":348478,"date":"2026-09-16T17:14:45","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T17:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/348478\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T17:14:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T17:14:45","slug":"at-brooklyns-mpreg-spongebob-rave-shitposting-is-catharsis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/348478\/","title":{"rendered":"At Brooklyn’s MPreg SpongeBob Rave, ‘Shitposting Is Catharsis’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou\u2019re pregnant and you\u2019re proud!\u201d screamed Robopup, a v-tubing puppygirl dressed as SpongeBob SquarePants. \u201cW for pregnancy!\u201d<\/p>\n

This was the first thing I heard when I arrived at the \u201cSpongeBob AND ALSO Final Fantasy & Kingdom Hearts MPreg Rave,\u201d hosted at the Brooklyn bar\/indie arcade Wonderville in early September. Yes, that was the event\u2019s real title. It was produced by Weeb Adjacent<\/a>, a \u201crave series and countercultural collective\u201d that aims to inject some internet brainrot into NYC\u2019s nightlife scene.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not a raver \u2014 I\u2019m not even a dancer. But I am a terminally online weirdo. So when the event\u2019s poster, which features Cloud Strife lovingly cradling a visibly pregnant SpongeBob<\/a>, appeared on my timeline, I was fascinated. Within a few minutes, I\u2019d bought my ticket.<\/p>\n

Multiple people I spoke to at the sold-out rave also cited the bizarre mashup of themes as the central reason they\u2019d attended. \u201cThe idea seemed so crazy,\u201d said one attendee, drenched in sweat, who\u2019d just spent the last two hours dancing his heart out. \u201cI had to see what it was about.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Joe Panuncialman, these raves might be crazy, but they\u2019re also a reflection of the internet culture that raised him. Joe is the co-founder and head of Weeb Adjacent, as well as a DJ under the name BUBUCORE69<\/a>. He grew up frequenting anime and gaming fansites, including 4Chan\u2019s \/a\/, which gave him a deep appreciation for memes, shitposting, and the niche subcultures that create both. And when his love for J-core, J-pop, and video game OSTs brought him into the world of DJing, he was demotivated by how \u201cmainstream\u201d most rave music was.<\/p>\n

But in 2023, when he and some friends took a chance on producing a rave with their own favorite tunes \u2014 in his words, \u201ca mix of hyperpop, anime remixes, and some real shitpost-y stuff\u201d \u2014 the audience resonated. Thus, Weeb Adjacent was born. \u201cThis is the kind of stuff that I think we, when we were younger, were looking for,\u201d he told me.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo: William Antonelli<\/p>\n

Since then, the group has hosted multiple raves, most featuring some wild mashup of pop culture themes. Last December, for instance, dozens of ravers attended a Sonic the Hedgehog x Saya no Uta rave. The group\u2019s Hatsune Miku x Family Guy and Madoka Magica x Tony Hawk\u2019s Pro Skater raves in March went semi-viral on social media<\/a>. The choices might seem random, but Joe refers to each individual theme as a \u201cconstant,\u201d or a cultural touchstone for his generation.<\/p>\n

\u201cShitposting is catharsis, right? Shitposting is a trauma response,\u201d he said. \u201cThe job market’s really bad, nothing is stable. And so the only constant that we have are these communities, and the sort of absurdity that defines them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most people would definitely describe the SpongeBob x Final Fantasy x Kingdom Hearts x MPreg (SBFFKHMPreg for short) rave as absurd. Around the bar sat a host of colorful characters, including a pregnant Cid Highwind, two Squidwards, and a sexy Patrick Star with nipple pasties and a Miku plush slung over her shoulder. The screens above them played The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water on mute with Arabic subtitles, next to a longplay of Final Fantasy 7. Outside, furries passed around a joint and laughed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo: ShotbyStacie<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a whole lot of random shit,\u201d Wonderville\u2019s bouncer said to me, moments after yelling at a cosplayer to stop planking on the club\u2019s property. He rubbed his face wearily. \u201cI don\u2019t see how SpongeBob is related to any of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

I arrived in the middle of Robopup\u2019s<\/a> set, which blended dark thumping synthpop with classic SpongeBob songs. She danced in front of a screen that cycled between screencaps from the cartoon, memes, and a loop of her v-tuber model dancing. At one point, she transitioned into a song using SpongeBob screaming \u201cI NEED IT!\u201d<\/a> as a dubstep-style drop. Between tracks, she asked the audience to bark for her, which they did with glee.<\/p>\n

But nothing could compare to the unhinged energy of Pinkii<\/a>, the rave\u2019s headliner. Pinkii \u2014 a \u201csimp-funded\u201d pop star with a womb tattoo who came across as a mix of Hololive\u2019s Mori Calliope and Belle Delphine \u2014 spent her set jumping between J-pop bangers, speedily rapped verses, and call-and-response anthems.<\/p>\n

All the while, she berated the crowd, telling them to beg at her feet and pay their \u201csimp tax,\u201d which some did by throwing crumpled cash her way. On the background screen, four versions of her danced in an endless loop, while the words \u201cWORSHIP HARDER SIMP\u201d and \u201cPINKII OWNS YOUR HEART\u201d scrolled by.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo: William Antonelli<\/p>\n

Joe himself DJed Pinkii\u2019s set, and followed her act with a solo performance. He\u2019s seriously skilled on the console, mixing Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts OSTs with techno dance music in a way that got even my lead feet dancing. Other solo DJs went hard too, including Weeb Adjacent mainstay Rabbit Crime<\/a>, who complained to me that they \u201ccouldn\u2019t find any MPreg songs\u201d to weave into their setlist.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, we\u2019re shitposting and being a little evil,\u201d Joe said when describing Weeb Adjacent\u2019s vibes. \u201cBut I like to think we have really good hearts and really good music on top of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The music isn\u2019t the only difference between Weeb Adjacent\u2019s raves and your typical concerts. For instance: About halfway through her set, Pinkii asked the winner of an Instagram raffle to step forward. His prize: Pinkii chaining him up with a dog leash and making him crawl around the stage. The crowd \u2014 and the winner \u2014 seemed to love it, cheering and laughing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just thought it would be fun,\u201d the winner told me after the show. He\u2019d come dressed as SpongeBob, holding a spatula with \u201cyaoi\u201d and \u201cyuri\u201d written on either side.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo: William Antonelli<\/p>\n

The event might have felt silly, but there was also genuine passion fueling it. I\u2019m tempted to say, \u201cIt\u2019s funny, but not a joke,\u201d but that\u2019s not quite right. SBFFKHMPreg does have the tone of a joke, just one that everyone is laughing along with and adding to, not at or deriding. It\u2019s sorta like longform improv, with each attendee \u201cyes, and\u201d-ing an increasingly complicated scenario.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way I see it is that this isn’t a business venture built on exploitation, right? It’s one built on celebration,\u201d Joe said. He recounted a conversation he had with a member of the MPreg kink community who had attended the rave because they felt represented by the theme. \u201cWe’re just trying to prove that no matter what sort of niche you’re into \u2026 that there is a place where you can thrive, where you can find people, where you can enjoy good music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Multiple attendees praised Weeb Adjacent\u2019s raves for introducing them to new friends with similarly unique interests and senses of humor. In a city of millions, these raves helped them find the handful of nerds they clicked with. And in that crowd, moving together on the cramped dancefloor, those friendships crossed the lines of race, gender, and kink.<\/p>\n

As I watched the cosplayers, dancers, and other guests laugh with their friends, I couldn\u2019t help but long for that sort of connection. I had invited friends to come with me, but come showtime, I arrived at Wonderville alone. None of the NYC-based pals I talked to took the idea seriously enough to actually invest the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But plenty of people do: Joe said that the raves make enough profit to pay the performers, and then some. And Weeb Adjacent isn\u2019t the only purveyor of weird pop culture mashups \u2014 in California, for example, the group Stay Ugly just ran a \u201cCartoon Network vs. My Little Pony\u201d rave<\/a>, complete with MordeTwi (Regular Show\u2019s Mordecai shipped with MLP\u2019s Twilight Sparkle) MPreg art. And Internet Kids<\/a> has been running anime-themed \u201chyperpop dance parties\u201d in Minneapolis for years now. The SBFFKHMPreg raffle winner already owned a SpongeBob outfit because he\u2019d held his own SpongeBob rave a few years earlier.<\/p>\n

All this is to say that there is an audience for this. It\u2019s a sizable one, whose members can appreciate a living shitpost. Weeb Adjacent might just be the group that\u2019s willing to risk getting called cringe for long enough to bring that audience together. I just hope I can be part of that audience again.<\/p>\n