A FAMILIAR MEME. A NEW CONTEXT.
A tiny black-and-white kitten with wet, ruffled fur walks along a tiled street, while above it a blurred foot in a black shoe and a dark rounded object are visible. The caption “I will definitely survive” turns the frame into a joke about perseverance: the situation is bad, but the spirit is determined.
Add your captionThe editor opens with this picture. You can download the finished meme as a PNG.
The kitten was shot almost at ground level. It is black and white, with a white muzzle and a light patch on its chest; its fur sticks up and looks wet. The little one walks straight toward the camera, head lowered, gaze tense. Under its paws is light tile or cobblestone.
At the top of the frame, a foot in a black shoe and a dark rounded object are blurred. These details do not explain the situation, but they create the feeling that the kitten is alone in a huge hostile world. It is this difference in scale that gives the picture its poignancy and comedy.
The facial expression reads as concentrated: the little spots over the eyes are drawn together, the mouth is slightly open. This is exactly the expression that viewers translate into human language as “holding on with the last of my strength.”
Reportedly, the photo was taken in November 2006. The author is Alexander Trifonov from Irkutsk, who posted it on LiveJournal. A couple of weeks later the picture appeared on a humor site with the caption “I will definitely survive,” and that is where the meme life of the picture began.
According to the author, the kitten was taken in by his grandmother, so the story has a happy continuation. These details come from Trifonov's account; there is no independent confirmation of other details, so it is better not to speculate about where exactly the shot was taken or what was behind the frame.
The picture became popular again in 2020, when people started captioning it with jokes about difficult situations. It suits this purpose: the kitten's gaze looks stubborn, and the caption sounds like a vow made by someone very tiny.
The humor here comes from contrast: the circumstances are clearly against the hero, yet he keeps moving forward. The meme does not mock the kitten; it sympathizes with him and encourages him at the same time.
For the viewer, another important detail is that the picture is older than the meme: the photo existed for years without any caption, until a catchy phrase turned it into a recognizable image. This happens with frames where the emotion reads instantly and needs no explanation.
The captions are invented for illustration. “Me on Monday morning, with five working days ahead”: a huge world against a small hero who has decided to hold on.
“My budget three days before payday”: the same mood, but the situation is worse.
“A student during exams, with three tests in one week”: the caption works because the kitten has the same focused, slightly offended look.
“Me after a renovation that was supposed to take a month”: exhaustion, but with stubborn optimism.
The meme works best for minor everyday difficulties: work, study, deadlines, weather. The caption should be in the first person and sound upbeat, so that the contrast between trouble and perseverance is preserved.
Do not tie the picture to real tragedies or other people's grief: a joke about the kitten's courage loses its kindness here. A short caption above or below the frame, without extra words, works best.
The caption can be swapped for similar ones in spirit (“I'll make it through,” “I'll manage”), but the original phrase holds up better: it contains no question and no request, only a resolution.
Scary Cat is a white long-haired cat with huge, rounded eyes and tousled fur, which became known in 2018. According to press reports, his name is Wilfred (Wilfred Warrior), he belo
Read the story
Babulex is an abstract meme featuring a Himalayan kitten against green grass. The name is borrowed from a track by little-known beatmaker Toshita Mun, so the word has no fixed mean
Read the story
Meme built on an escalating series of captions pairing images with ominous signs, starting from the old European superstition of a black cat as a harbinger of misfortune. Each new
Read the story
A series of photoshopped edits based on a photo of a ginger cat swimming through murky water during the 2017 Houston flood. Its disgruntled scowl became the basis for captions abou
Read the story
A photo of a gray tabby cat with a flat face pressing a front paw to its mouth, looking embarrassed or regretful. A popular reaction image for shame, awkwardness and remorse in cha
Read the story
A series of cute animal pictures where a tiny kitten, asked to explain its smolness, earnestly insists it is a potato or some other food.
Read the story
A picture of a white cat whose body has been stretched dozens of times over in Photoshop. It's posted in comments as a joke, forcing everyone to scroll for ages to find where the c
Read the story
A blurry gray striped cat answers a boy's questions in Ukrainian with a sound like “mav” (“had”). The video dates from 2013 and became a meme in 2020.
Read the story
A young Pallas's cat looks focused and vulnerable while the caption announces its serious plan to hunt a beetle and a spider. The contrast between fierce intent and a tiny hero mad
Read the story
A blurry ginger cat stares wide-eyed under the caption "ache vsmysle" ("what do you mean?"). It is sent as a reaction to a strange, illogical or unexpected statement when words run
Read the story
A collage of two kitten photos, a light striped one on leopard print and a fluffy black one, with a distorted coarse word split across the shot. It is an emotional exclamation, rou
Read the story
A hand-drawn cat in a chef's hat looks straight at the viewer, with “BELISSIMO” written below. The template expresses delight and approval: it is used to praise tasty food, a lucky
Read the story
A white cat with wide-open eyes seems to deliver other people's everyday monologues. The meme rests on a recognizable voiceover, an editing trick that creates the illusion of speec
Read the story
A short clip of a white cat nodding its head to a beat, known as CatJAM and Vibing Cat. It is used as a reaction to good music, pleasant news or a moment of quiet contentment.
Read the story