I get nostalgic for early 2000s emo culture. The traces of it fade away by the day, as we grow up and do our best to erase any evidence of our dark pasts, deleting photos of our middle school selves with bad haircuts and dark lipsticks.
But, as much as we try to wipe away our former selves, there is no greater form of bonding than talking to someone and realizing they, too, used to be a repressed emo kid as well.
The repressed emo kids could not always be so visibly seen — they were slightly embarrassed about their dark curiosities, constantly yearning to be edgier and teetering the line between acceptable and far too weird to be seen in a social context. They weren't able to go all-out enough to feel comfortable labeling themselves as fully emo, though that doesn't mean they didn't try.
Maybe you were even one of them, and you didn't even know it! Here are 13 signs you used to be a repressed emo kid in the early 2000s.
You were obsessed with Hot Topic
Fingerless gloves and fishnet stockings galore!
You wanted a lip piercing but were also lowkey a little grossed out by them
We're attracted to what scares us most.
You begged your parents to let you dye and cut your hair
While they wouldn't let you get full-out scene hair, bangs were a good start.
You secretly wore eyeliner to school
But you stuck to just eye makeup for a while, because black lipstick was a little too edgy for you to pull off yet.
You searched for every possible loophole in your school’s uniform
What do you mean I can't wear my Dr. Martens to gym class?
You owned a couple pairs of ripped skinny jeans
They just went so perfectly with all those black hoodies and quirky t-shirts.
You spent a lot of time making your Tumblr account way more aesthetic than you could ever be
Since family members and school administrators couldn't understand you, spending hours unleashing on the internet was the greatest escape.
You found the South Park goths hilarious
Those episodes where they burnt down the Hot Topic and chased out the vampire kids were truly iconic.
Seeing this art brings back some deeply-rooted memories
You lived for the iconic Tim Burton/Johnny Depp/Helena Bonham Carter trio
In retrospect, Alice in Wonderland definitely wasn't a great movie, but you still saw it in theaters twice.
You knew every lyric to Evanescence's “Bring Me to Life”
WAKE ME UP INSIDE
You took a strong stance in the Harry Potter vs. Twilight debate
It mattered, okay?!
You took offense when people labeled you as the “goth” kid
We're not goth. We're just misunderstood.
