Who needs emoticons (pictures made using punctuation marks and characters) when you have emojis? Sure they were useful in the late '90s/early 2000s, but aside from an occasional sideways smiley face, who's really using them now? Half of the time, an application or social site suggests an emoji as you type.
But now a mighty new emoticon has risen from the ashes. A blade forged from the strongest Unicode block elements. A weapon powerful enough to defend... well anything you want it to. Meet the "with this blade" meme. Don't worry, it's here to protect you.
It's been blowing up on Twitter all March.
https://twitter.com/sparklingpiece/status/1107393040367403013
The meme has actually been around for quite some time. The earliest reference we could find was a tweet from March 1, 2017. On that date, Twitter user @hydnfrnd posted the emoticon blade along with the text, "With this blade [I] cut those who don't fw [fuck with] the vision".
https://twitter.com/hydnfrnd/status/837119710768549889
The meme has seen a lot of use since and at some point people switched "with this blade I cut those..." to "with the blade I protect...".
It's really taken off this month, with people mainly using it to support some celebrity or bit of pop culture they care about.
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— darcie (@333333333433333) March 16, 2019
║▒
║▒▒
║░▒║
║░▒║with this blade
║░▒║ i protect
║░▒║aidy bryant
║░▒║
║░▒║
║░▒║
║░▒║
▓▓▓▓
[█▓]
[█▓]
[█▓]
[█▓]
║
— My Oh My Supply Co. (@myohmysupplyco) March 18, 2019
║▒
║▒▒
║░▒║
║░▒║with this blade
║░▒║ i protect
║░▒║mickey’s
║░▒║ philharmagic
║░▒║
║░▒║
║░▒║
▓▓▓▓
[█▓]
[█▓]
[█▓]
[█▓]
║
— courtney (@HERPRlDE) March 18, 2019
║▒
║▒▒
║░▒║
║░▒║with this blade
║░▒║ i protect
║░▒║christy altomare
║░▒║
║░▒║
║░▒║
║░▒║
▓▓▓▓
[█▓]
[█▓]
[█▓]
[█▓]
║
— common Disney fan (@commondsneyfan) March 17, 2019
║▒
║▒▒
║░▒║
║░▒║with this blade
║░▒║ i protect
║░▒║the muppets
║░▒║ at dhs
║░▒║
║░▒║
║░▒║
▓▓▓▓
[█▓]
[█▓]
[█▓]
[█▓]
https://twitter.com/kinnoying/status/1106633562768506880
║
— ShanePlane (@SexualPanda) March 9, 2019
║▒
║▒▒
║░▒║
║░▒║with this blade
║░▒║ i protect
║░▒║phoebe bridgers
║░▒║
║░▒║
║░▒║
║░▒║
▓▓▓▓
[█▓]
[█▓]
[█▓]
[█▓]
║
— Kabita✨️ (@willowyhanyu) March 15, 2019
║▒
║▒▒
║░▒║
║░▒║With this blade
║░▒║ I will fight
║░▒║the judges if
║░▒║they dare rob
║░▒║Yuzuru Hanyu
║░▒║ or Rika Kihira
║░▒║
▓▓▓▓
[█▓]
[█▓]
[█▓]
[█▓]
https://twitter.com/madeline_marona/status/1107280284775534592
Although a lot of people have started using to "protect" bigger causes or groups.
║
— eric (@chaesanayeon) March 17, 2019
║▒
║▒▒
║░▒║
║░▒║with this blade
║░▒║i will protect
║░▒║LESBIANS
║░▒║and
║░▒║ALL QUEER WOMEN
║░▒║
║░▒║
▓▓▓▓
[█▓]
[█▓]
[█▓]
[█▓]
https://twitter.com/AdamOPrice/status/1106939258370211840
https://twitter.com/RedMasqCosplay/status/1107181912383062016
And naturally, people started using it to "poke" a little fun at either themselves or the meme itself.
https://twitter.com/sprtnght/status/1102325599295676418
https://twitter.com/TigerStyleGG/status/1107084741080027137
https://twitter.com/muchevan/status/1107052674887942149
https://twitter.com/ElleOnWords/status/1107125662052163590
https://twitter.com/Keegxan/status/1101156029440708614
https://twitter.com/coooljams/status/1107344512928616448
║
— Good Bean Jokes (@goodbeanjokes) August 14, 2018
║▒
║▒▒
║░▒║
║░▒║with this blade I
║░▒║will slice the top
║░▒║of the can of
║░▒║baked beans
║░▒║because I don’t
║░▒║know how to use
║░▒║a can opener
▓▓▓▓
[█▓]
[█▓]
[█▓]
[█▓]
https://twitter.com/calebxhousel/status/1107292208330358784
https://twitter.com/iamxkira/status/1106670923510439942
║
— DOOMIEL (@DURTDURTDURT) March 17, 2019
║▒
║▒▒
║░▒║
║░▒║with this blade
║░▒║i protect my
║░▒║virginity
║░▒║
║░▒║
║░▒║
║░▒║
▓▓▓▓
[█▓]
[█▓]
[█▓]
[█▓]
Some users are even forgoing the emoticon blade and just going with pictures of someone holding a sword.
with THIS BLADE I WILL PROTECC MLADY pic.twitter.com/wG7zQiEKQ1
— mimi (@vanitygirlfur) March 14, 2019
https://twitter.com/senic_sez/status/1107184865848500225
"With this blade I will cut down anyone who disrespects Pokimane"
— Sean ? / Jikku DON / Coms OPEN (@datsean) September 25, 2018
-Weapon Master Lilypichu
(Singapore outfit cute af) pic.twitter.com/rAk2guMxsY
It kind of seems like an aggressive way to say you like some cartoon or whatever, but hey we'll probably all be okay as long as it's just an emoticon and not a real metal blade we're being threatened with, or even worse, a psycho vampire killer from the '90s.
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