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Eligijus Sinkunas

67 Hilarious Images That Are Somehow Both Blessed And Cursed

LilyRose Reddit Tumblr Instagram Internet Twitter Inc.

Most folks are perfectly capable of feeling some sort of emotion when they see a picture, typically the feeling its author wanted them to feel. But sometimes life is wild enough to create combinations so bizarre that it becomes hard to even describe.

We’ve assembled a list of pics that straddle the line between cursed and blessed, which the internet deemed should be called cursed. You can leave your thoughts on that label in the comments below. Otherwise, get comfortable, prepare to be somewhat confused as you scroll through and be sure to upvote your favorites.

#1 Tankitty, The Defender Of Catkind

#2 Do You Know How Fast You Were Running?

#3 Rare Pic Of Baby Barn Owl Dashing Across The Grass

The term "cursed image" was coined on social media in 2015 and has since become one of the internet's most beloved and bizarre visual traditions. A cursed image refers to a picture, usually a photograph, that is perceived as mysterious or disturbing due to its content, poor quality, or a combination of the two.

The whole point is to make a person question why the image exists in the first place. It is not horror in the traditional sense. Nobody is screaming. There is no jump scare. Instead, it is more like stumbling upon a photo of a man sitting in a bathtub full of baked beans while staring directly into the camera, and feeling a very specific kind of confusion you cannot quite name.

#4 Blursed Orange Cat

#5 Cathulhu The Destroyer

#6 Blursed Cat

The cursed image concept originated from a Tumblr blog whose owner had a "voyeuristic hobby of searching the archives of Flickr to look at forgotten flash photography from years in the past." What started as a niche corner of Tumblr eventually spread across Reddit, Twitter, and Instagram, picking up millions of fans along the way.

#7 Blursed Duck (Let Him In!)

#8 Came Across Some Caterpillars On A Group Mission In Alicante

#9 The Wrong One Got Put In Timeout

The bottom line for a cursed image is the emotions it triggers rather than the specific pictures it displays. Discomfort, confusion, and an inexplicable need to keep staring are all part of the deal. As one researcher put it, people love "that tolerable forbidden zone, not too disgusting to turn around, but weird enough to keep us looking."

#10 Tiny Farmer, Big Dreams

#11 He Looks So Confused

#12 Our Family Dog Will Cry Non Stop In The Car Unless He Is Up Front And Touching My Mom

On the complete opposite end of the emotional spectrum, you have blessed images. Blessed images are generally pictures that are seen as positive, or the opposite of cursed images. The contents are typically cute or wholesome. Think a golden retriever gently holding someone's hand at the vet. A grandpa learning to use a smartphone with the biggest grin on his face. A toddler and a puppy asleep in the exact same position.

#13 Dino Detectives

#14 Blessed Bear

#15 Forgive Me Father, I Had To Snap

The goal of a blessed image is to tuck the viewer in like a warm blanket by giving them uplifting and wholesome content. While cursed images make you question reality, blessed images make you feel like maybe everything is going to be okay after all. They are the internet's version of a warm hug, and they have their own thriving Reddit community and dedicated social media pages to prove it.

#16 Do Not Disturb

#17 Captain Unbothered, Ruler Of The Flooded Lands

#18 Gull On My Window Sill

For years, the internet operated with these two poles. Something was either cursed or blessed, unsettling or wholesome, a little nightmare or a little miracle. Then along came a third category that decided the binary was too simple, and honestly, it was right.

#19 I Don't Know

#20 Blursed Selfie

#21 Grandpa Is A Knight

Blursed images are photographs that are simultaneously blessed and cursed. As such, they can be funny, wholesome, or deeply unsettling, and are often famous for evoking visceral emotions that simply do not exist or are impossible to describe. The word itself is exactly what it sounds like: "blessed" and "cursed" smashed together into one perfectly chaotic portmanteau. The popularity of blursed images began primarily in early 2018, gradually rising in the following years until it became a much more mainstream phenomenon, spreading from Reddit to Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram.

#22 Human Bird

#23 Caffeine Infinity Gauntlet

#24 Bro Spawned In Real Life

The moderators of r/BlursedImages describe the goal as striking a perfect balance: 50 percent blessed, 50 percent cursed. But the most successful blursed images tend to lean a little heavier on one side or the other, with just enough of the opposite energy to taint your expectations. As an example, they describe a drawing of Goofy next to someone's homemade imitation of it. Goofy alone? Pure blessed. The off replica? Just unsettling enough to tip the whole thing into blursed territory.

#25 Potato Protection Squad

#26 Here You Are, We've Been Waiting For You, Come In

#27 Blursed Sign

Most blursed images cannot be explained by logic and lack any context behind their origin. They are typically shared with the intent of humor rather than the goals of leaving the viewer disturbed or positively uplifted, which are the presumed intentions of cursed and blessed images respectively. A blursed image is not trying to scare you, and it is not trying to make you feel warm inside. It is trying to make you send it to your group chat with zero explanation and watch the chaos unfold.

#28 My Pumpkin Was Inspired By The Don't Obey Posters In Portland

#29 I’ve Been Making A Stuffed Head Of Everyone Who Enters My Life

#30 Watching Wall

The subreddit r/blursedimages has surpassed both cursed images and blessed images in popularity, with over 2.1 million members. That is a lot of people who have collectively decided that the grey zone between wholesome and horrifying is actually the most interesting place to be. The blursed images below are a perfect example of exactly that energy. Prepare to feel things you do not have words for.