The dark content is also very common on Tumblr--many (maybe even most) people there are offbeat arty people--indie and hipster kids, goths, punks, etc. I'd put EL in the indie kid category (and she said she was a punk in high school). We see beauty in darkness and in odd things, you know? If you look at the Tumblrs that EL reblogged her dark-ish posts from, you'll see that they post it often as well. My Tumblr is darker than EL's, and if I were murdered people could easily think my death were related, but in reality I just think it's beautiful.
I completely agree. (Newbie by the way, but have been following for days now and just needed to throw in my two cents.)
I've had a Tumblr for almost three and a half years now with thousands of followers and I feel that many who are not used to the blogging platform are taking EL's posts (mostly reblogs) the wrong way. Like Jenny said, these days, it's a certain aesthetic to be captivated by and to reblog dark, morbid themes, especially those interested in art, existentialism, grunge, and the like. There are several different motifs (for lack of a better word) that circulate around Tumblr, one of which is the interest in morbidity, abstract art, self-deprecation, sad philosophies, dark literature, somber music, etc. and EL's Tumblr is not so different from my own; in fact, EL's is much, much more toned down than thousands of others, including Jenny's and my own.
It's hard to put into words as explanation, so I apologize if this doesn't make sense. Outsiders may find it alarming the things people with interests like EL's, Jenny's, and mine that we've have expressed through our blogs, but in reality, it is not quite as intense as people are making it to be; certain people find certain things visually and emotionally appealing; on Tumblr, huge groups of people have those similar interests (that's how the liking and reblogging system works...). I find EL's Tumblr interests and reblogs comparable to many active online young female users with depressing thoughts and moods and melancholic interests, and as one myself, I feel any of this is hardly indicative of whether EL wanted to commit suicide, even to the point of irrelevance.
I can understand why someone who doesn't use Tumblr would think that, but it's actually really, really normal to queue tons of posts there.
True, I've used the queuing system countless times. While it is possible that EL stored so many old posts from before that they queued all the way up until now, what is not possible is having recent posts included in this queue. For instance, the Hermit post that was "reblogged from magrittesque." The user magrittesque did not post (or "reblog") that image until 3:00 PM on February 25th, 2013, 4 days ago. What I'm wondering is how could EL have possibly had that reblogged post in her queue weeks ago if it was only posted a couple of days ago?
I've seen these photos people take in a bathroom mirror of themself and I never understand why they do that. Like here I am in my bathroom with a phone up to my face.
This one is the most peculiar yet. She is indoors and has her rainslicker on,
hood up, phone over face.
[...]
It's what I would call an oops and wouldn't post. But she uploaded it anyway.
[...]
Is this the grim reaper pic I'd predicted?
I certainly feel that this is incredibly misunderstood. It is not so uncommon or peculiar that she took such a photo. I don't find it bizarre in any way. I've seen several photos such as this all over friends' Tumblrs, Instagrams, etc.; heck, I've even taken a few myself. While you may "call [it] an oops" and "wouldn't post [it]," believe it or not, many young people take such photos deliberately to upload and it is not out of the norm. Because she's wearing a jacket indoors and her face is hidden, it's eerie? I took and uploaded a similar photo donning a raincoat just like EL's just before I left the house last week, phone covering face because I'm self-conscious of it, so that's peculiar and grim reaper-ish?
Sorry if I sound defensive, but I feel like a
lot is being misinterpreted, misunderstood, and distorted in regards to the behaviors, fashions, and interests of my generation and it is painting EL in a way she shouldn't have to be -- psychotic, suicidal, druggie. Everything is veering off to the point where EL has been stripped of her being and just labeled all sorts of things by those who are unaware of certain aspects of the modern youth. Sorry for ranting and for the wall of text. I also feel that the possibility of the parallelism to the Dark Water film being deliberate farfetched as well. JMO.
