#Tumblr Survivor

[angeldarlingg]

is sad girl dead? diaries of a girl who grew up on tumblr

Tumblr may be most famous as the birthplace of the “sad girl aesthetic”. She listened to Lana Del Rey, wore doc martens, and would rather wallow in her own sadness than go outside (or think critically about her mental health- I'm allowed to say that, as a former sad girl myself.)

Tumblr: A parent's worst nightmare- perhaps they just weren’t aware of the life-altering effects it would have on their daughters, or maybe they just didn’t care- and let their children run free on the internet with no surveillance. Regardless, the "sad girl aesthetic" romanticized mental illness in disguise that it was tragically beautiful.

The tale of a tragically beautiful love story can be summarized in the early years of Lana Del Rey's emergence into the music world. She perpetuated herself as delicate and fragile, slowly dying while still craving life, and giving her final breaths to the many men she loved- as she yearned to stay forever young, thin, and beautifully dissonant. She would do anything but be happy, and the young women of the internet would do anything to be her. In other words, she made suffering, mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence, and cynicism the newest trend.

While the “sad girl complex” was gaining popularity, a new generation was being introduced to the internet- one of the “sad girl” Tumblr era survivors being me. I truly do believe that Tumblr can be to blame for a large portion of the inner turmoil that I faced as a young girl- or maybe it was inevitable, and the popularity of teen girl angst just sped up the process, but I digress. As a young girl on Tumblr, I was introduced to thinspo (images of thin girls meant to give motivation to those suffering from anorexia/bulimia), the perpetuation that abuse is the equivalent of love, and terrible clothing choices.

From the eyes of a girl too young to be on the internet- I saw these young women who made their misery look so appealing and glamorous. Yes they despised their existence and wanted to die a slow tragic death, but they did it while smoking cigarettes off of their terrace, they were complex, and saw the beauty in their sadness- they knew how to profit off of it, and they did.

These women were the embodiment of a modern-day Esther Greenwood. They knew they were miserable, and yet they did not want to get better, because if they weren't sad, who were they? If they didn’t gain anything from their suffering, what was the point of their wasted years of unhappiness? This was the mindset that was instilled into the brains of anyone who skimmed the surface of the “sad girl aesthetic”. It was beautiful to cry over your boyfriend mistreating you because that meant he loved you, he wouldn’t stay with you if he didn’t right? Any melodramatic cry for attention would equate to internet fame- monetary gain from their illness- thus the “sad girl aesthetic” gained popularity by the minute.

The idea of being a “sad girl” is surrounded by the idea that there is never going to be a moment where everything is okay, you will always be longing for someone, or craving something. It is normal to be selfish as a young girl- you are welcomed into a cruel world where there is always more to have, and never enough to get. But when this is applied to happiness, is it possible to climb out of one's misery when satisfaction is never attainable?

The "sad girl aesthetic" is yet another female experience stemming from male fetishization- emotional masochism and fragile vulnerability are nothing but valuable when applied to women. The commodification of a fragile woman has been harmful to those who do not romanticize their experience, anyone who is open about the less beautiful aspect of their mental health is undesirable and hysterical. If a distraught woman can not curate a desirable version of herself to profit- she can not be a “sad girl”, she is not feeding the fantasy of men with power complexes.

The fetishization of the “sad girl complex” can not be blamed all on men- as identifying with the online community of commodified women, is in itself, fetishization. To be a “sad girl” is to fetishize one's experience- you aren’t depressed, you’re yearning for happiness. You can not simply suffer beautifully, nothing about mourning the happiness you once experienced as a child is beautiful- miserable at worst, melancholic at best. However the romanticization of the idea that you are mourning your past self is poetic and beautiful- you are a girl who is crying in her silk bed sheets, longing for the day she can embody her inner child once again, wanting to be reborn.

The “sad girl complex” has faced its evolutions over time, changing from the Tumblr era aesthetic to a more modern “coquette” esque appearance. However, despite the physical changes, the morality, mindset, and motivations have not adapted to newer times. The romanticization of films of the likes to “lolita”, “virgin suicides” and “girl, interrupted” have yet to die down within the not-so-niche community, despite the constant conversations in relevance to the problematicness that can be seen within the films. Morality does not matter to these young women, especially not in the context of consumable media. The predatory age gap and behavior in the film and book “Lolita” does not matter, not when the aesthetic and toxic relationship is at the forefront of their minds. This can be said for any media in a similar style or genre, the perceivable issues are irrelevant in a world that values aesthetics and social images.

Because of the problematic ideologies within the “sad girl community” their outside perception has been tainted recently. In a world where political correctness and wokeness is necessary to survive having a media presence, one can only imagine the discourse surrounding those who are posting “disguised” thinspo, and oh-so problematic takes. While their clothing and general physical aesthetics are still appreciated, the craving for their lifestyle is now tainted by the negative connotations that are attached to the “sad girl aesthetic”.

While the “sad girl aesthetic" thrived in an earlier stage of a millennial internet, it can no longer survive in such a sensitive era, in an era of media in which topics such as domestic abuse and eating disorders are addressed in a concerned context, it can no longer be publicly romanticized without controversy. Meaning the “sad girl aesthetic” can no longer exist in media, or at least not to the same extent. To exist in our current societal media consumption- it would need to be watered down to strictly the physical aspects, which is then redundant to the name, it would no longer be “sad girl”.

The “sad girl aesthetic” is dead in terms of its longevity in our current societal attitudes towards what is accepted as a topic in media. While the general “Lana Del Rey, Sylvia Plath, coquette, frilly socked, my year of rest and relaxation” basis of the aesthetic (while still mocked) is accepted, what it stands for is not, and you can not have one without the other.

#sad girl #sad girl aesthetic #is sad girl dead #sylvia plath #tumblr survivor #2016 tumblr #sad girl complex #girl interrupted syndrome #think piece #blog post #mini essay #casual essay #femininity #girl blog

[focshi]

Some interactions between Artificer, Survivor and Monk!

The surprise adoption of these strange "pups" went pretty smoothly in Artificer's eyes, but for the almost completely mature siblings... It was a confusing time.

My Arti is very large, almost double the size of average scugs! Necessary for taking down prey. The vanilla siblings on the other hand are still adolescents, and won't grow past the height of her chest.

#my art #art #artists on tumblr #digital art #fanart #rain world #slugcat #rain world artificer #rain world survivor #rain world monk #rain world downpour #btw those are supposed to be pink lizards #I've seen some incredibly red ones #arti adoption au

[peanuttoffee]

imagine if Cal and Kanan met after the Purge

i like the headcanon that they were bros back in padawan days, messing around and giving a headache to everyone in the temple c::

#honestly the only one Cal could’ve given a headache to is himself #with his psychometry talents #star wars #star wars fanart #cal kestis #kanan jarrus #caleb dume #bd 1 #jedi survivor #jedi fallen order #star wars rebels #jedi order #jfo #sw rebels #rebels fanart #rebels au #my art #was in a sketching doodling mood suddenly #ah yes urgent assignments that you don't really want to do can do that to you #artists on tumblr

[cherriielle]

cal sketch 🧡

#my art #Star Wars #jedi survivor #cal kestis #star wars fanart #illustration #digital sketch #digital art #artists on tumblr #paint tool sai #bd 1

[bengaly]

Survivr and Monk united forever

#artists on tumblr #tumblr artists #BRart #brazilian artists #latino artists #brazilian artist #BRartist #latino artist #slugcat #rainworld #rain world #survivor #surv #monk #grill #grilled #bbq

[wild-menace]

I’ve developed a new obsession with

And it’s with Rain World

#rain world #rain world scug #slug cat #art #digital art #artists on tumblr #illustration #rain world slugcat #survivor #rain world survivor

[girlblogging9]

#feelings #thoughts #words #writers on tumblr #actuallytraumatized #tw depressing thoughts #trauma #abuse survivor

[capricoopla]

Something simple to ease my nerves

#my art #art #artists on tumblr #fanart #rain world slugcat #rain world #rw survivor #rain world fanart #eepy #rw

[tofupixel]

Splash screen I made for the Vampire Survivors - Emergency Meeting DLC. Spot the amogus

#amogus #among us #vampire survivors #gaming #indie gaming #pixel art #pixel gif #pixel art gif #pixelart #artists on tumblr #art #8bit #pixel #illustration #16bit #pixel aesthetic #pixel animation #pixel artist #pixel graphics #pixel illustration #pixel scenery

[sableeira]

when you have committed literal crimes but the crimes of your past that haunt you the most are the gay thoughts for your partner aka the person you hate most in this world

continuation to joke tags on this post. 15 Dazai was ready to haunt his 22 y/o self with some past mistakes…. instead Dazai is already suffering

#ango may have erased his crimes but no one can erase those things Dazai said to Chuuya #dazai survivor of many near death situations and the worst situationship known to humankind #Ely and I came up with similar concepts at the same time I’m still cackling about it #Ely’s comic has Chuuya tho I can’t offer that this time u_u but everyone check out tumblr user luneariann and their sleepy little guys 🤲 #bungou stray dogs #bsd fanart #bsd #soukoku #bsd dazai #osamu dazai #dazai osamu #my art

[cat-cosplay]

War. War never changes...

...the litter box

#fallout #cat cosplay #cosplay #cats #kitty #cats in costumes #cat #cats of tumblr #aww #cat costume #fan art #pip boy #fallout 3 #the sole survivor #vault boy

[slugfishh]

strange creature

#rainworld #rain world #rainworldart #slugcat #survivor slugcat #rainworld survivor #slugcat rainworld #rain world art #rainworld scavenger #artists on tumblr #drew this then realized i could use it for the rwartmonth pearls prompt so im waiting till that day comes to post it elsewhere #but for now tumblr gets this treat #slugart

[amerricanartwork]

Oh? What's this...?

A little animal, on the grounds of my yard—!

Oh! I think I startled it! I've gotta be careful; that "spear" looks rather sharp—!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

I needle-felted a tiny slugcat yesterday, and if you ask me, it came out SO cute! Below the cut are some more pictures of it to show off some angles and poses (featuring one of my felting needles as a "spear"):

This was actually my second attempt at making a pocket-sized generic/Survivor slugcat (fourth overall needle felted slugcat attempt), where I mainly tried to improve the proportions. Here are some comparison pictures with my first mini Survivor (left):

I hope you like this little guy — I certainly love it! And my hope is to someday needle felt all the main slugcats (plus maybe Nightcat and Enot). Some might be difficult (probably Gourmand and Saint), but I'm up to the challenge if it produces more adorable tiny wool friends!

Also, I've been trying to get back in the swing of needle-felting, so let me know if you would like to see more of it on this blog!

#art #artwork #artists on tumblr #needle felting #felting #traditional #traditional art #fanart #rain world #slugcat #rw slugcat #survivor #rw survivor #quetzalli needle felts #project: rain wool #who knows; if this series goes well i'll probably even felt the iterators #or their puppets #technically #i'd love to have tiny pose-able moon and pebbles keychains #just saying #also seeing this thing with the needle-spear is gives me mad despereaux vibes #i'm considering felting a little mouse warrior character of this size to act on that

[focshi]

GDFHDHDHFKDKDBDHDJSHSHSJS THEY'RE SO TINY I LOVE THEM!!!!!!!!1!1!1!1!1!1!

The fact they are the size of her pups but are full grown because they are just a smaller breed of scug is very funny to me, like she's just like "oh these poor sick babies"

Local woman meets short people for the first time.

short scugs? all I see are pups...

#saint is actually around their size as well #but they smell old #my art #art #artists on tumblr #ask #digital art #rain world #rain world artificer #rain world survivor #rain world monk #rain world rivulet #rain world spearmaster #arti adoption au

[genocat]

Saint

( a reblogs is appreciated ! )

#cat #artists on tumblr #rainworld #rw #rain world #slug #slugcat #scug #slug cat #survivor #? #slugcats #doodles #rw vanilla #rw downpour #doodle #slugpup #slug pup #slup #sluppy

[negasonik-teenage-warhead]

little rats

#artists on tumblr #digital art #artwork #procreate #smackies art #fan art #my art #dbd art #my little oni #LMFAO I SCREAMED WHEN I PLAYED THIS THEYRE SO TINY #TINY SURVIVORS R SO F CUTE JESUS CHRIST #dead by daylight #dead by daylight fanart #dbd jake park #jake park dbd #dbd survivor #dbd fanart #dbd killer #dbd #dbd oni #dbd memes #ngl i hate the oni sm 😔😭 (theyre nvr nice) #ALSO NVR TRUST THE HILLBILLIES OR THE DEATHSLINGERS‼️ #THEY ALWAYS TRICK ME THE LITTLE FUCKERS #I LOVE THE TINY SURVIVORS SM PLZ NVR TAKE THEM AWAY