TikTok's Obsessed With Skeleton Hand Drawings and It's Not Even Halloween
By Mustafa GatollariDec. 8 2020, Updated 8:44 a.m. ET
Another day, another viral challenge on the internet. Some of these virtual tests of skill are downright dangerous, like the BirdBox challenge or eating Tide pods.
Others are marketing stunts for songs that probably wouldn't have gotten popular if it weren't for grasping at the straws of social media clout. And then you have some that are just downright, neat, like this skeleton hand drawing challenge that's currently making the rounds on TikTok.
So why are TikTok-ers drawing skeleton hands on themselves in marker?
Who the heck knows how these viral trends start? No one really understands why Baphomet started trending on the social media platform or why teens started putting their best e-boy and e-girl outfits on and while completing mirthless dances complete with eyes of vacant happiness for your likes, yet here we are.
When it comes to drawing bones of one's phalanges, there's a pretty easy explanation as to why it went viral on TikTok: It started as a Halloween trend for a cool Halloween costume idea.
For some reason, it persisted long after the spooky season was over, past Thanksgiving and well into the second week of December.
It's easy to see why people have decided to keep drawing on their hands, however: it just looks so darn nifty. Check it out below:
There could be a few reasons why people find the trend so intoxicatingly distracting. The first is because, duh, skeletons are super cool. Depending on who you are, there are several theories as to why human beings find skeletons so intriguing.
According to this writer for The Atlantic, it may have something to do with the fact that skeletons represent humanity at its most "stripped down to its essence."
Others have theorized that seeing skulls and bones actually captivate our imaginations as much as they do because they are constant reminders of our own mortality and seeing them reminds us of the fact that we're only on this miserable rock for a finite amount of time so we might as well make the most of it.
There are different methods for drawing skeleton hands on TikTok.
You could use a plain old black washable marker, or you could get a little more permanent with it (no I'm not talking about a Sir-Marks-A-Lot) by grabbing a calligraphy pen or getting someone who's talented with henna tattooing to do it for you.
Some people got a little crazier with their cuts and camera tricks showing off their cool skeleton hands. It's especially spooky when combined with a blue light effect.
And while this next video isn't exactly a skeleton hand, it's still pretty cool, even if it does give off major final boss of Super Smash Bros. vibes.
What do you think of the trend? It might be kind of neat to get a permanent skeleton hands tattoo over your own hands, but then again, I guess you don't really announce to the entire world that you've got a bony frame just chilling underneath your skin. Unless you go to blob world somehow, but then the mush people there might think you're flexing about all that calcium you're rocking.
