Life

Get Ready For The Black Heart Emoji

Every time the universe blesses us with a new batch of emojis, the internet has the habit of collectively freaking out, but the new Unicode 9 emojis are actually worth getting excited about, if for no other reason than the release includes a black heart emoji. I mean yeah, it's cool that we're finally getting a bacon emoji, and I can think of about a billion different scenarios where the new face palm emoji might be practical, but the black heart emoji appeals to my dark, twisted sense of humor in ways the others simply cannot, and I'm so excited to insert this one into my regular rotation of frequently used emojis — right next to the pizza emoji and the syringe.

In case you haven't been keeping track, the Unicode Consortium has approved 72 new emojis to be released June 21. That doesn't mean the new emojis will immediately appear on your keyboard, though. Platforms like iOS and Android still have to design and deploy the new emojis through their own updates, which may take some additional time. But still, those of us who ever experienced an emo phase in middle school can dream about the new black heart emoji that awaits us, not to mention how exactly we can use it. At any rate, Twitter seems to be pretty excited about it:

Yes, Twitter, your calls have been answered, and just in time, too — who knows how much longer that type of angst could have lasted? I personally plan on working the black heart emoji seamlessly into all of my conversations — your days are numbered, twinkle heart — but in case you are trying to figure out how to do the same, here are a few suggestions:

1. Use it as a friendly way to tell people you'd like to hang out but can't because you don't want to

"Sorry I can't meet you guys tonight — I'm too busy being lazy AF *black heart emoji*"

2. Use it to relive your teenage angst as you awkwardly try to explain your feelings within group texts

"It just really feels like no one is listening to me RN" *black heart emoji*

3. Pair it with an emo song lyric from the early '00s

“I’d walk through hell for you. Let it burn right through my shoes. These soles are useless without you." *black heart emoji*

4. Pair it liberally with the eye-rolling emoji

It just seems like a good match.

5. Use it to seem more edgy and mysterious than you actually are

"I rly like u but I have a lot going on that u just wouldn't understand." *black heart emoji*

In conclusion, say what you will about the avocado emoji, but the black heart emoji is clearly the best.

Images: Emojipedia; Giphy