This section sets the tone: doable tips, real recipe ideas, and a friendly plan to help us eat better at school without stress. Let’s dive in and make the week simpler, one recipe at a time.

We’re Keeping It Real: Quick, Healthy, and Budget-Friendly Meals for Busy Students

Juggling classes, shifts, and study sessions means we need real food that’s quick to make and kind to our cash.

We plan around one-week budgets, rotate stores for better prices, and swap ingredients when sales pop up. Our focus is on fast recipes like avocado toast, banana-blueberry smoothies, soft scrambled eggs, crispy quesadillas, and DIY burrito bowls. Each dish takes minimal time and uses pantry-stretching items.

We lean on simple protein choices—chicken, beans, eggs—to keep us full during study blocks and work shifts. We also watch saturated fat by choosing cooking methods like baking, grilling, and light cheese or yogurt toppings.

Make-ahead steps cut daily prep: batch grains, roast a pan of veggies, and portion proteins for grab-and-go servings. Below is a quick comparison to plan a week without fuss.

Smart Meal Prep for College Students on a Budget

A single weekend of smart cooking can save hours and dollars all week long. We focus on a single prep day that turns raw staples into ready-to-eat options.

Weekend prep to power your week: burritos, grains, and grab-and-go

Start by making cilantro-lime rice and a batch of grains like quinoa or brown rice. Bake or grill marinated chicken for DIY burrito bowls: basmati rice with lime and cilantro, warmed pinto beans, charred corn, pico, guacamole, and shredded cheese.

This bowl serves four and takes about 1 hour 30 minutes to finish. We also use overnight hot cereal or quick peanut butter oatmeal for breakfasts that save morning time.

Bulk-cook proteins and veggies for mix-and-match meals

Bulk-cook chicken, beans, and roasted veggies so we can build bowls, wraps, and salads with steady protein. Portion into containers for each day to avoid impulse buys.

Keep saturated fat in check by grilling, using light cheese sparingly, and choosing avocados or yogurt as creamy toppings. This method is a simple way to stretch a budget and reuse components across several recipes college students will actually eat.

Pantry and Freezer Staples That Stretch Your Dollars

When we buy smart, a few core ingredients unlock dozens of simple dishes. This makes weekly cooking faster and keeps our grocery bill steady.

Bulk buys that pay off

• Oatmeal, brown rice, and quinoa — base grains that turn into bowls, porridge, or sides.
• Olive oil and low-saturated fat cooking oils — cook, roast, and dress without overdoing fat.
• Whole-wheat pasta, flour, and maple syrup — pantry workhorses for both savory and sweet.
• Homemade peanut butter and oats — quick breakfasts and a budget-friendly protein boost.

Freezer MVPs

• Frozen chicken and mixed veggies — pull for stir-fries, burrito bowls, or omelets.
• Tortillas and portioned breakfast burritos — heat-and-eat wins for rushed mornings.
• Batch-cooked grains and sauce portions — freeze in meal-sized containers to cut waste.

We rotate stores, hit bulk trips like Costco, and keep an essentials list on our phone. These small tips make every recipe faster and cheaper while using the same core ingredients.

Today’s Toolkit: Using the Internet to Learn, Plan, and Save

We turn our phones and laptops into a tiny kitchen coach. Online recipes and short how-to clips teach quick skills like soft-scrambled eggs or one-pan gnocchi so we feel confident before we cook.

We also use apps to compare prices and schedule pickups or deliveries for staples like rice and canned beans. That saves time and keeps the fridge stocked without an extra trip.

Find, save, and organize recipe ideas

We pin recipes college cooks can master in 20–30 minutes. Then we tag each link by protein, prep time, or meal type so deciding what to make is fast.

Plan, shop, and track nutrition

Shared shopping lists let roommates add items for lunch or dinner. We scan nutrition info on recipe pages to check saturated fat, protein, and fiber before we cook.

“Use short videos to learn a technique, then try it once — practice is quicker than perfection.”

Let’s Eat Well on a Student Budget—And Enjoy Every Bite

We built a roadmap for healthy college meals that helps plan breakfast, lunch ideas, and fast dinner options without overspending. Our meal prep tips cut time and keep recipes college cooks actually use. That makes cooking feel doable all semester.

We choose protein-forward dishes, fiber-rich sides, and small swaps to limit saturated fat. Simple shortcuts—rotisserie chicken, frozen veg, and a jar of peanut butter—free up study time. The goal is reliable, tasty meals that fit our budget and keep us focused.

We’re ready to cook like students who know their kitchen, schedule, and budget. Enjoy every bite and keep experimenting so the way you eat stays easy, varied, and satisfying.

Whether you’re shopping for runners, cyclists, lifters, swimmers, or multi-sport fans, our shortlist highlights quality and repeat use. We call out price tiers, fast-shipping options, and pairing ideas so a simple gift becomes a thoughtful kit.

Keep reading to see sport-specific picks, sizing tips, and smart bundles that make the best gifts easy to find. Continue reading for detailed breakdowns and our top overall recommendations.

Our Top Picks for the Holiday Season

We tested dozens of recovery and training essentials and now share the picks that earned daily use. Below are editor-loved slides, socks, a do-it-all trainer, and a simple tracker that together make practical holiday gifts.

Editor-loved recovery slides and socks for instant comfort

We reached for the Lululemon Restfeel Slide after long runs. They are cushioned and easy to clean. The Kane Revive Slide adds raised footbed nodes to promote circulation after a marathon or travel.

Everyday training upgrades that deliver real performance gains

Compression matters. The Smartwool Run Targeted Cushion Compression sock offers 20–30 mmHg and mesh for temperature control. Bombas compression is a solid alternative when you want a different fit.

We compare fit, cushioning, and durability so you can pick the right shoes or slides without guesswork. Bundle a slide with compression socks to create an instant comfort kit that sees plenty of use. If you want more category picks, continue reading to round out your cart.

Gifts For Athletes

We focused on durable, compact tools that support recovery, hydration, and calm. These items fit in a gym bag and work across running, lifting, and mixed training days.

Best gifts that work across sports and training styles

Start with recovery essentials: the TriggerPoint GRID foam roller has a firm core and contoured exterior for targeted relief. Pair it with the Dr Relief acupressure mat to stimulate circulation; the initial discomfort usually eases with regular use and helps with relaxation.

Quick filter: recovery, home gym, nutrition, safety, tech

Tech and mindfulness: Hyperice Core offers guided meditations and haptic cues while tracking stress trends. Nutrition and hydration: the Ice Shaker 26-oz bottle is double-insulated with an integrated agitator that won’t rattle. For hands-free fueling, the Nathan TrailMix Plus hydration belt includes two insulated bottles and small storage pockets.

We suggest compact pairings, like foam roller + acupressure mat, or shaker bottle + hydration belt. Compare price, portability, and durability to match how often your athlete trains.

Need sport-specific picks? Continue reading for deep dives that match runners, cyclists, lifters, and more.

Best Gifts by Sport: Runners, Cyclists, Swimmers, Lifters, and Yogis

To make shopping simple, we grouped compact, high-use gear by sport so each pick has a clear purpose. Use this list to match items to training habits and seasonality.

Runners

Visibility and recovery matter. We like the noxgear Tracer2 vest for night runs, GU Energy Original Gels for race day, Smartwool compression socks, and the Saysh Evelyn Runner for a snug women’s fit.

Cycling

On-bike practicality wins. The ROCK BROS front frame phone bag keeps touch controls usable, and a Zwift digital card makes indoor cycling training social all winter.

Swimming, Lifting, and Yoga

Swimmers appreciate waterproof audio, training fins, and a towel warmer for post-swim comfort. Lifters benefit from Egnaro silicone rings and Rip Stopper Co. hand balm alongside belts and chalk.

Yogis enjoy Sticky Be grippy socks (3-pack) and the Hyperice Core for guided meditation and breath work.

We recommend checking wearable and shoe sizing before you buy to ensure the right support. Bundle sport-specific kits (example: runner safety set) to make a thoughtful, ready-to-use present.

If you want deeper lists by category and budget, continue reading for full breakdowns and buy links.

Recovery & Wellness Essentials to Soothe Sore Muscles

A few thoughtful recovery items can make sore muscles feel like a manageable part of training. We focus on compact tools that work at home, at the gym, or on the road.

Foam rollers and acupressure mats for full-body relief

Start with a resilient roller like the TriggerPoint GRID to target tight spots along the back, quads, and calves. Add the Dr Relief acupressure mat to boost circulation; it often feels more comfortable after a few uses.

Foot massagers, recovery slides, and compression socks

RENPHO’s heated foot massager soothes tired feet and has a washable cover that fits up to a men’s 12. Post-session slides like the Kane Revive or Lululemon Restfeel give cushioned support you can step into immediately.

Smartwool compression socks (20–30 mmHg) help circulation and temperature control during travel or low-intensity days.

Muscle balms, wipes, and rinse-free clean-up after workouts

Keep a small tub of balm and a pack of HyperGo body wipes in a gym bag or car. The wipes are biodegradable and great when you need a quick clean without a shower or towel.

• Use rollers and the mat after workouts for long releases; heat and compression work best at night.
• Pair a roller with a foot massager for total-body decompression.
• Wash acupressure covers, replace rollers when flattened, and store wipes dry.

We outline budget tiers and pairing ideas so you can pick the right mix as a practical gift. continue reading for sport-specific recovery picks and bundles.

How We Picked These Gift Ideas—and How to Choose the Best for Your Athlete

We combined handson testing, verified reviews, and editor commentary to surface reliable picks you can trust. Our team tried Kane Revive slides after the Chicago marathon, TrailHeads gloves in cold runs, and the Ninja Creami in kitchen tests.

We judge products by fit, durability, comfort, and ease of use. That helps you compare recovery tools for sore muscle relief, safety items for night running, and small accessories that free hands and protect feet.

Use this simple flow: start with essentials, add one body-care pick, and finish with a personal gift. Set a budget per person, check sizing and return windows on shoes and compression, and read spec sheets for quick comparisons.

Want more tailored gift ideas? Keep reading specific sport sections and our latest reviews to time orders and catch seasonal deals.

Recently, Mick was invited to compete in the Racing Academy Shootout at Atlanta Motorsports Park against 30 of the best up and coming drivers. After three days of competition, he placed in the top 10.

Recently, we had the opportunity to talk with VRPorn.com founder and CEO Daniel Peterson about adult content and virtual reality.

Photo by Getty Images / istock

EveryJoe: Tell us a little about yourself. What prompted you to start up VRPorn.com?

Daniel Peterson: I’ve always loved VR but I thought virtual reality was just science fiction. Then in 2013, I tried an early Oculus prototype and I saw that VR was coming, big time. It was still rough technology, but I believed that it would continue to improve exponentially. Virtual reality was now hitched up to Moore’s law.

It was a new tech mega trend like smartphones and the internet. And it was a secret that almost nobody else knew. As Peter Thiel talks about, fortunes are built on secrets.

So what was I going to do with this knowledge? It was obvious to me, and it soon became obvious to everyone else, that VR porn was going to be a huge thing. There would be millions of people searching for VR porn every month, and this number would always be growing. That’s when I bought VRPorn.com.

EJ: We read at Christmas time that VRPorn.com saw a huge increase in traffic as more people bought/received VR headsets. Has that traffic been sustained (or even increased) since the holiday season ended?

Daniel: Yeah that was really exciting. It was like a tsunami came in; we got lots of press coverage. Besides the spike, our baseline traffic significantly increased and it’s been going up ever since. Traffic is higher now than it’s ever been.

EJ: Who are the people who are flocking to VR porn?

Daniel: VR porn is going mainstream, it’s not really a niche, it’s a new medium. It’s like going from magazines to videos. It’s still pretty new tech, so it’s largely early adopters getting into it now. But it’s always getting better and more accessible. Virtual reality now is kind of like where the internet was in the 90s, and we know how that turned out.

EJ: For someone who is new to VR porn (or virtual reality in general), explain what they need to get started and what they should expect from the experience.

Daniel: The easiest way to virtual reality is through your smartphone. You can buy a smartphone VR headset for $20-$100 and you’re good to go. Our site has VR video streaming, so you don’t even have to download anything. Just press play and it works.

What to expect is a good question. I think the best approach is to understand that it’s early technology — it’s like playing with a 16-bit Super Nintendo. But with that in mind, it can be mind-blowing, especially some of the higher end stuff like content made by Oculus. And it’s just getting better and better exponentially.

EJ: What sets the content on VRPorn.com apart from other adult virtual reality sites?

Daniel: We have more adult VR content than any other site, and we’re always adding new stuff. Various studios and creators contact us daily to get on the site. We support all VR creators and our huge traffic gives anybody who posts on our site great exposure. Besides this, we​’ve been in the VR community for years and we​ know where to find all ​XXX VR to keep the site updated with everything in one place. We are very user focused.

EJ: The adult industry is often a frontrunner when it comes to new technology. What’s next in VR porn?

Daniel: Virtual reality has nowhere to go but up. The technology will continue to improve exponentially. At some point, I believe, non-VR porn will seem outdated, kind of like porn magazines of yesteryear.

​Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus​, said that VR is the last platform because it can simulate any other platform. I agree. What does that mean for adult content?

​Just think about it, virtual reality porn can do anything that normal porn can do, plus an infinite amount more. You like watching videos on a tube site? OK, you can do that in VR, but instead of your boring room, you’ll be in your virtual private home theater with bikini babes surrounding you. You like actually being with your favorite pornstar? VR can do that, nothing else can. The possibilities are unlimited.

EveryJoe: In your book, MAGA Mindset: Making YOU and America Great Again, you claim that America’s motto might as well be “You can’t say that!” due to oppressive political correctness. How can individuals reclaim their free speech and fight back against outrage culture?

Mike Cernovich: Free speech in America is in a strange place. On the one hand, people are self-censoring due to fear of negative feedback. Americans are speaking out less than ever in history. Online hate mobs have ruined lives.

On the other side, there has never been more opportunity for free speech. Social media allows us to bypass fake news media gatekeepers, to share our message directly with the people. You can write a blog, start a podcast, create a YouTube channel, and even using social media platforms (although the future of these are less certain) like Twitter and Facebook to spread your message to the entire world.

People can support free speech by speaking truth to power, perhaps anonymously as a commentator. You can also share links to articles and video you find compelling. Those who aren’t in a position to speak publicly, due to the real risk of backlash, can also support those who share a positive and high impact message by providing resources to truth tellers.

EJ: You wrote and published MAGA Mindset weeks before Trump won the election. At the time, nearly every poll had Hillary Clinton winning by a comfortable margin, but the book hinges on a Trump victory. Was that kind of bold move an example of the MAGA mindset in action?

MC: Yes! That was a meta-move of mine. How can I expect people to trust my writing if I don’t live it?

I went all in on my beliefs. Had Trump lost, my own credibility would have been destroyed. In MAGA Mindset, readers learn how to think big and make bold moves. The first lesson was taught in real-time by my choice to release MAGA Mindset before the election.

Publishing a book explaining why Trump won when the “experts” said he would lose is an example of the MAGA Mindset in action.

EJ: At EveryJoe, we recently published an article that explained how Gamergate elected Donald Trump. Do you think Gamergate played a role in the election?

MC: Gamergate was the first pushback against the thought police. Before Gamergate, people who supported free speech felt isolated and alone. Gamergate showed that millions of people support free speech.

Moreover, Gamergate exposed unethical journalism of all types. People began trusting the media less than ever before. While I wouldn’t say Gamergate got Trump elected, it was a powerful force for free speech.

EJ: When Trump appointed Jeff Sessions as his attorney general, many on the left rushed to label Sessions as racist. Why does the left still rely so much on “-ist” and “-phobe” labels to denounce conservatives when that tactic clearly backfired in the general election?

MC: The left is out of arguments. They lack intellectual rigor. They don’t even have any ideas. What does the left stand for other than victimization? The left is so eager to live the victim mindset that they create hate crime hoaxes.

Lacking any strong policy positions, the left’s only attack is to call names.

EJ: What do you make of the “fake news” scandal? Are Facebook and Google really trying to silence conservative voices?

MC: Fake news is a real problem. Pundits claimed the polls showing Hillary Clinton would win the election were accurate. Everyone who suggested the polls were flawed faced attacks. Fake news media claimed there was a rape by Duke lacrosse players. Fake news media claimed the Rolling Stone rape story was something other than a hoax. Fake news media claimed Hillary Clinton was in perfect health (until she collapsed due to a seizure after a 9/11 Memorial).

As we’ve seen, the experts were wrong. The New York Times (owned by a Mexican monopolist who has robbed Mexicans of billions of dollars) is fake news.

EJ: Many Trump supporters are backing French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, whose nationalist-conservative message resembles Trump’s. Are we seeing the rejection of globalism take hold in other countries?

MC: Nationalism is part of the global zeitgeist. People who have been treated as nothing more than cogs in a massive global machine are fighting back by reclaiming their humanity. Those who view human beings as nothing more than cattle are on their way out.

EJ: In MAGA Mindset, you state that the mainstream media is dead. If so, what will replace it as the go-to news source for the majority of American people?

MC: Wikileaks showed that people want original source information and original materials. Periscope, Facebook Live, and YouTube allow people to stream news as it happens live.

As I showed in my documentary on the RNC and DNC, the fake news media has a narrative that is pushed.

Wikileaks proved that the DNC takes its marching orders from the DNC. Some great examples can be found on my website.

EJ: Thank you, Mr. Cernovich.

First, the White House.Next, the World.Soon, the UNIVERSE!#GamerGate would be the undisputed master of this reality!Hear its roar! pic.twitter.com/H3lZeboCBf

— Hom-Ru-Beoulve (@rugliabeoulve2) November 14, 2016

First, the White House.Next, the World.Soon, the UNIVERSE!#GamerGate would be the undisputed master of this reality!Hear its roar! pic.twitter.com/H3lZeboCBf

— Hom-Ru-Beoulve (@rugliabeoulve2) November 14, 2016

That’s right: Trump was literally memed into the White House. Trump and his supporters dominated social media from day one, pumping out weaponized memes at a rate that Hillary’s campaign never could have anticipated. When the email scandal broke, the internet detectives who were just rookies at the peak of Gamergate used their experience to sniff out each and every damaging WikiLeaks revelation. Hillary supporters blame a “silent majority” of backwoods hillbillies for Trump’s victory, but they could have realized the tide was turning if only they looked online.

To understand how Gamergate inadvertently led to a Trump landslide requires a bit of backstory.

The Gamergate movement was born in 2014 when game developer Zoe Quinn released a game called “Depression Quest” to rave reviews from numerous gaming journalists. Quinn received criticism for allegedly getting too much attention from the press for a somewhat mediocre interactive fiction game. A year later, Quinn’s ex-boyfriend, Eron Gjoni, wrote the so-called “Zoe Post,” where he exposed a cozy relationship between Quinn and Nathan Grayson, a Kotaku journalist who was said to have helped Quinn secure positive reviews from his friends in the industry.

The Zoe Post kicked off a firestorm of controversy on sites like Reddit and 4chan, and Gamergate became such a heated topic of debate that it was entirely banned from the latter. Gamergate supporters migrated to 8chan to continue their quest against media bias and PC culture, which they claimed had infected almost every corner of gaming journalism.

Media outlets like Kotaku, Gamasutra, Polygon, and IGN found themselves in the Gamergate crosshairs for giving positive coverage to game companies and developers without properly disclosing relationships, both business-related and personal, between journalists and their subjects. They were also lambasted for publishing stories that painted so-called “gamers” as largely misogynistic, racist, and homophobic, often citing isolated incidents in an alarmist manner to dismiss the entire demographic as bigoted.

Gamergate led to the creation of a website called DeepFreeze that calls on users to “learn about corruption in game journalism, and form your own opinion on which journalists and outlets deserve your trust.” There, hundreds of examples of corruption in the games industry have been compiled and documented, leading to dozens of boycotts of compromised media outlets.

How big is the Gamergate movement? We can look at communities like the KotakuInAction subreddit, the de facto headquarters for the Gamergate movement on Reddit, to extrapolate the number. KotakuInAction has roughly 72,000 subscribers, while Reddit as a whole has over 234 million unique registered users. Since Reddit has about 1.14 billion monthly visitors, that means there are 4.8 visitors for every registered user, so KotakuInAction probably has something to the tune of 350,000 regular visitors.

8chan, another Gamergate bastion that is still in operation, has 2.99 million unique visitors per month. Together with KotakuInAction and other smaller Gamergate communities, we can assume that there is a silent majority of gamers out there who do not subscribe to the current state of the games industry. Silent majority – where have we heard that phrase before?

While Gamergate was ostensibly a movement about corruption in the gaming industry, it unassumingly morphed into something much more powerful. Pro-Gamergate people began to connect the dots: if unethical behavior could run so rampant in games journalism without anyone calling it out or realizing that what they were doing is wrong, doesn’t that mean that the same could be true about “normal” journalism? Gamergate, for many, was the moment that they took the red pill and woke up to the realization that they were being sold a fantasy vision of the world via the mainstream media.

#GamerGate So you found out your media is corrupt. It is. Now go all the way to the top https://t.co/C2lbAxED6K http://t.co/jxtDcGgvO6

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 14, 2014

#GamerGate So you found out your media is corrupt. It is. Now go all the way to the top https://t.co/C2lbAxED6K http://t.co/jxtDcGgvO6

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 14, 2014

Gamergate is where people first discovered how the media treats those who disagree with its particular brand of scaremongering and gas lighting. Its followers were painted as women-hating, uneducated Neanderthals who are so backward that they could never understand the wisdom of the always-politically-correct, ever-so-inclusive, on-the-right-side-of-history camp.

You take issue with a game developer receiving preferential treatment from the press because she’s sleeping with a reporter? You’re a misogynistic, knuckle-dragging piece of trash, and also a violent rapist who sends death threats to women as a hobby. You don’t think that a game developer should be vilified for creating a white male protagonist instead of a nonbinary disabled plus-sized otherkin person of color? You’re a homophobic, ableist, racist, xenophobic, slut-shaming, fat-shaming, transphobic pig who deserves to get run over by a truck.

Words ending in “-ist” and “-phobe” were weaponized by anti-Gamergate media outlets and their supporters as a way to shut down anybody who threatened to disturb their ecosystem of corruption, or anybody who dared to question their singular vision of how society should think and act. It’s this outrageous treatment that was more likely to push gamers toward a pro-Gamergate philosophy, as many slowly realized that there was no way that the average gamer was actually as evil as they were made out to be.

Without knowing that they would eventually cause one of the biggest political upsets in history, the gamers fought back. They turned memes, which sprang into existence as a funny way to make jokes on the internet, into ammunition. When their opponents tried to derail their movement by overblowing supposed instances of sexism, violence, or what have you, the gamers responded with a flurry of memes, successfully exposing the anti-Gamergate crowd in a lighthearted, relatable way. Average Joes who were turned off by the sanctimonious, condescending, and latently hateful anti-Gamergate people could find solace in funny memes.

While the tensions sparked by Gamergate would eventually fade, the infrastructure that its followers created to challenge a media controlled by biased social justice warriors remained in place. When the election cycle reared its ugly head, those who had valiantly fought on behalf of the Gamergate movement felt a familiar calling.

Mark Kern, a pro-Gamergate game designer for Blizzard who helped to create the legendary World of Warcraft, embodies this shift from gaming to politics. He predicted a Trump victory months in advance of the election after witnessing the way that the media was treating him.

“Gamergate laid the groundwork for resisting false SJW mob rule,” he tweeted in January. “They showed you can fight back against the lies and hate. It’s working.” In February: “Trump really reminds me of how EVERYTHING, no matter how small, was the END OF GAMERGATE.”

In September: “Press now making up all sorts of stuff to ‘prove’ Hillary was right to call Trump supporters deplorable racists.” Also in September: “Fascinating to see the parallels of false narrative and audience/voter smearing between GG and elections.”

Before, the corrupt media had a distinct demographic that it had to quell in order to preserve its status quo. Gamers were an easy target, as anti-Gamergate forces were working against a subset of society that already had plenty of negative connotations surrounding it.

This time, however, the leftist media found itself with a most unenviable task. They had to sell Hillary Clinton – a candidate who had to rig the primary to win against Bernie Sanders because absolutely no one could muster any excitement for her – to an uninterested electorate. They had to weasel out of covering the litany of scandals surrounding the Clinton Foundation, her private email server, and the downright creepy members of her inner circle (Spirit Cooking, anyone?).

So the media grabbed its playbook and turned to a very familiar page, the same one that it consulted during the Gamergate controversy. Trump was slapped with every “-ist” and “-phobe” word in the book, just like the gamers were. He was dismissed as a blithering idiot who was too unenlightened to coexist with the Safe Space generation, just like the gamers were. His supporters were painted as utterly backwards individuals who only backed him because they hated literally every minority ever, just like the pro-Gamergate crowd was.

The internet denizens who saw Gamergate unfold knew exactly what was happening, so they unleashed the memes.

Like clockwork, the prominent figures who backed Gamergate also began jumping onto the God-Emperor bandwagon.

Milo Yiannopoulos, the Breitbart journalist whose very existence as an openly gay Trump supporter continues to cause cognitive dissonance in SJWs everywhere, was also the first person to break the news about the gaming journalist elites’ secret mailing list. While he was virtually unknown back in those days, Milo has now become one of the movement’s key figures. His rise to fame has been met with a predictable character assassination on the part of the mainstream media, but Milo doesn’t seem to mind, especially now that people are genuinely pushing for him to become the White House press secretary.

#GAMERGATE is going to run the white house at this point.https://t.co/JOTfj5flJ7

— EVE (@EveilCharm) November 13, 2016

#GAMERGATE is going to run the white house at this point.https://t.co/JOTfj5flJ7

— EVE (@EveilCharm) November 13, 2016

Gamergate may have also led to Trump picking Steve Bannon to serve as the White House chief strategist. Bannon is the executive chairman of Breitbart News, which was the only prominent media outlet to cover Gamergate as it unfolded. Sure enough, the media has been quick to scaremonger about the decision, depicting Bannon as an anti-Semitic white nationalist. The New York Times even called him a “voice of racism,” which should sound like a familiar aspersion.

GamerGate in the White House. Is that what you want? https://t.co/eGHKcxnTsP

— Robert Caruso (@robertcaruso) September 1, 2016

GamerGate in the White House. Is that what you want? https://t.co/eGHKcxnTsP

— Robert Caruso (@robertcaruso) September 1, 2016

There’s also Vox Day, the author and Rabid Puppies founder who penned the book SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police as a “guide to understanding, anticipating, and surviving SJW attacks.” He was among the first wave of a Gamergate supporters, hosting the GGinParis meetup in July 2015 along with Milo and Mike Cernovich, yet another Gamergate figure who emerged as one of the most famous pro-Trump memeologists.

It was Cernovich who popularized the hashtag #HillarysHealth, with Cernovich suggesting that she had “both a seizure disorder and Parkinson’s disease.” Just like that, rumors of Hillary’s lack of fortitude began to swirl around the internet, and the hashtag reached national trending status. In a interview with the New Yorker (in which the author can barely contain his smarmy, passive-aggressive attitude and laughably refers to the alt-right as “a loose online affiliation of white nationalists, neo-monarchists, masculinists, conspiracists, belligerent nihilists, and social-media trolls”) Cernovich outlined how meme magic is made.

“Here’s what we’re gonna do tomorrow,” he said. “We have to think of a good hashtag, and we have to have all of our memes lined up… We can control the narrative on Twitter. Mainstream media we’ve lost.”

“The left likes to talk about power structures, right?” Cernovich added. “Well, the media still thinks of itself as speaking truth to power. What they don’t realize is that someone like me is perceived as the new Fourth Estate. Maybe they should check their structural privilege… It makes journalists crazy, because they used to be in control. They can’t control people anymore. Everyone has a voice now.”

Cernovich, along with other pro-Gamergate and pro-Trump luminaries, envisions a flow of information that is not subject to corruptible mainstream media gatekeepers; networks like CNN, which brazenly colluded with the DNC and Clinton’s campaign, seem eager to control what their viewers think.

Moments like these are what brought the Gamergate crowd over to Trump’s side en masse. Tired of being told what to think by the thought police and irritated by getting slandered as a bigot for daring to dissent from Team Hillary, gamers saw a vote for Trump as the same sort of rebuke of corruption that the Gamergate movement represented.

A few stragglers on the left have pieced it all together, realizing that the gamers had a more profound effect on the election than anyone could have ever predicted.

Breitbart played a key role in Gamergate. Congratulations, America, you put Gamergate in the fucking White House.

— sarah jeong (@sarahjeong) November 14, 2016

Breitbart played a key role in Gamergate. Congratulations, America, you put Gamergate in the fucking White House.

— sarah jeong (@sarahjeong) November 14, 2016

What they have failed to understand is that their conclusion is upside down. America did not put Gamergate in the White House; Gamergate put Trump in the White House. Without many of them even realizing it themselves, gamers were the force that took God-Emperor Trump from the world of memes and made it into a reality. While the Clinton campaign was accepting foreign donations and channeling the occult to secure a victory, Trump promised the gamers that he would drain the swamp and they made meme magic happen for free.

Just like the rest of this election cycle, the fact that gamers chose the president proves that truth is stranger than fiction. The mainstream media tried to insult and shame voters into backing Hillary but got outed as corrupt in the process, activating the internet legion that had been burned by corruption once before.