#2019 year of the cryptid

[eregyrn-falls-art]

HAPPY SUMMERWEEN OF 2025!

I had long wanted to do an update of the folklore & cryptids group I'd done for Summerween in 2019, and a variation done later that year. This time, of course, expanding the cast.

Counter-clockwise from Stan, reprising his Jersey Devil costume, we also have: Soos as Bigfoot; Melody as the Flatwoods Monster; Wendy as a Western gunslinger Jackalope (don't worry, that's a water-pistol); Dipper once again as the Pterodactyl Thunderbird; Mabel as a selkie, with mer-pig Waddles; Fiddleford as the Gobblewonker; and Ford once again as Mothman.

I wish I'd gotten it shaded, but decided I'd better get it put up while it was actually still Summerween!

(A couple of other small notes: the green skin of Soos's Bigfoot is explained here; and all the related pics I've done of Bigfoot are linked from here. I did find some Loch Ness Monster costumes for sale that look very much like what Fiddleford is wearing here, with a big plushie head on top. The Flatwoods Monster has many depictions, but in the end I went with a version of the costume created by Andrew Smith, director of the Braxton County WV visitor center and founder of the Flatwoods Monster Museum; see article and pics here, with a good history of this particular cryptid!)

[dickgraysonweek]

Welcome to the Dick Grayson Anniversary Week 2025! From April 6th to 12th, we’ll be celebrating 85 YEARS OF DICK GRAYSON 🐦 with the following amazing prompts you voted for:

DICK GRAYSON ANNIVERSARY WEEK 2025 PROMPTS

Day 1: Prince of Gotham | Time Travel | 5+1 Things Day 2: Secrets | Everyone’s Favorite | Model Dick Grayson Day 3: Underappreciated Relationships | Trauma Recovery | Greek Mythology Day 4: Wonder Twins | “You will always be my Robin.” | Unlikely Allies Day 5: Brainwashing | Truth Serum | Cryptid of the Family Day 6: Multiverse | Dick’s Harem of Older Men | Murder Attempt Day 7: BAMF Dick Grayson | A Celebration of 85 Years | Filling in for Batman

‘A Celebration of 85 Years’ is the free prompt.

You have 3 months to create your works. 💙

WHAT'S GEN FOR 85? 🤸‍♂️ Gen for 85 means Dick Grayson Anniversary Week is adding an extra challenge to the creation process for the 2025 week. To honor 85 years of Dick Grayson non-romance and non-smut takes center stage. You're still allowed to include canon and non-canon ships in your works, they are simply not the focus.

The extra challenge was born because the DC fandom event corner looks very different right now than back in 2019. A lot of excellent ship events are happening all year around and the DG Week has always attracted more gen prompts, so highlighting Dick's gen side during his 85th Anniversary makes for a good extra challenge.

In need to talk about your process or simply all things Dick Grayson? Join us on the Dick Grayson Discord server ‘Green Booty Shorts’ (18+, ship-friendly)!

Any questions left? Check out about or rules--or feel free to send an ask.

Let the prompts awaken your muse! I wish you lots of fun during the creation process! 💙🤸‍♂️🕵️‍♂️🐦

[the-bleeding-weave]

Heres some miscellaneous tulpar crew headcanons :D

Anya

Shes 32 but gets mistaken for being older because she has dark circles under her eyes

She smokes regularly and its caused her voice to become deep and a little raspy, but still melodic and relaxing

Her favorite musicians are ethel cain, alex g, panchiko and neutral milk hotel. She loves atmospheric spooky music as well as melodramatic songs that have a story behind them.

Her favorite animals are bovines of any kind but she has a special love for bison

She grew up on a small farm in west virginia and has a soft spot in her heart for animals

She believes in some cryptids and swears up and down that shes seen a Not Deer in person. Growing up in Appalachia will do that to you

Daisuke loves listening to cryptid stories she knows

Shes seen some Freaky Shit while she was growing up, especially weird things with wildlife. She spent tons of her free time playing in the woods as a kid and has tons of creepy stories which caused her to become pretty superstitious

Shes half cherokee and japanese and likes engaging in her cultures a lot

One of her superstitions is that you cant whistle at night (she has 100% yelled at daisuke for doing it before)

She knows some navajo and a little bit of japanese

Her favorite movies are The Last Unicorn, Everything Everywhere all at Once, and Miss Peregrines home for Peculiar Children (she has a crush on miss peregrine)

She has a champagne colored 1999 toyota carolla that she loves dearly. His name is Frank and she regularly talks to him (mostly to keep herself from going insane from road rage but also just for fun)

Curly

His faceclaim is jensen ackles

Hes 35 years old and scouse/scottish

Hes a social drinker but only likes IPAs and indie craft beers, hes a tad pretentious about it but hes aware of it

He listens to a lot of dad rock and pop rock, like imagine dragons and aerosmith, but he also appreciates classic punk bands like rage against the machine. He has a guilty pleasure for Adele and his favorite song is "love in the dark" (he knows every single word to it by heart and sings it in the car)

He loves dramatic sappy love songs but hell never admit it

He had an emo phase in his teens that hes kinda embarrassed about. He got the classic swooped emo haircut and he repeatedly destroyed his curls with straighteners for YEARS. It took ages for his hair to recover

His favorite movies are The Green Mile and Interstellar

Hes intersex and hes very open about it, his pronouns are he/they but hell allow you to call him she/her if what youre gonna say is funny

He thrives on physical affection and LOVES giving hugs and patting people on the back. Hes very good at giving hugs too

He has a dark blue 2019 honda civic that he put a spoiler on just because it looks cool. He also got a sick sound system installed and loves just sitting in his car listening to music.

Jimmy (IF HE WAS A NORMAL PERSON AU)

Hes 34 and his face claim is Skeet Ulrich

He had an incel phase when he was an older teen/ in his 20s but grew out of it, now feels pretty embarassed about it but tries to teach other people how to avoid it

He has a modestly popular twitch channel where he plays games with guests (mostly curly and daisuke) and talks about life and mens issues, such as mental health awareness and self improvement (he hates the manosphere tho dont worry)

He likes debating right wing pundits and trolling the shit out of them

Him and anya are good friends even though he was an asshole to her in the past. He was super apologetic to her and since she saw he had changed a lot she accepted him back as a friend. (He did NOT assault her in this au he was just a misogynistic asshole)

He likes playing guitar and singing when hes alone

His favorite movies are the matrix and fight club and he will talk to you about breaking bad for HOURS

He has narcissistic personality disorder and tries to spread awareness about how its not just "The Disorder that Makes you Evil". Yes hes in therapy for it and tries to give tips to other people with npd about managing their disorder and being aware of how they treat other people

Hes able to do an eerily accurate impression of Dagoth Ur from Morrowind and loves saying out of pocket things with it

He has a red 2012 subaru forester that he pays no mind to. He has crashed 3 cars in the past tho, hes a terrible driver but refuses to admit it.

He never changes his oil, the check engine light has been on for months, and the rotors scream for mercy every time he so much as graces the brake pedal. Cars tremble in fear of this man.

Daisuke

Hes 22 years old, filipino, japanese, lao and mexican and takes a lot of pride in it

He was born in California but was raised with all of his cultures alongside american culture

Hes fluent in spanish and japanese but only partially fluent in vietnamese

He LOVES music and knows how to play guitar and the khaen

He listens to a lot of folk punk and takes inspiration from Harley Poe and Days n Daze. He makes his own songs but hes a little shy about playing them for people

He listens to tons of music genres but especially hyper pop, breakcore, jumpstyle, phonk, and parody stuff like lemon demon or weird al. He also has a special love for will wood (probably a small crush too)

He loves singing in groups and did it a ton on the tulpar, memorizing his favorite songs and playing them until the rest of the crew knew them too

It became a ritual that whenever daisuke was on his break hed get out his guitar and start up a song and anyone could join him in singing if they wanted. Anya and curly loved singing with him but jimmy only duetted the songs he really loved. Sometimes he would break out his own guitar to play with daisuke too

The favorite song to play for the whole crew was Psycho by harley poe and it even got swansea to join in as a backup baritone sometimes

They ended up really bonding over those duets and daisuke is really proud of that fact

Daisuke has a drivers license that he only recently got but he has no car

He loves getting stoned with anya and watching nature documentaries while they giggle at the stupidest things.

He cries pretty easily when he feels comfortable and safe with the people around him and hes trying to learn to be less afraid to show his emotions. Turns out, hes a VERY emotional person.

He cries easily if a song is especially beautiful and the one that never fails to jerk his tears is king park by la dispute, mainly the ending. He just adores the sheer power behind he vocals

His parents are really supportive but really want him to get out of the house and start his own life.

Swansea

Hes 60 years old and a proud italian new yorker/new jersey man

He sounds like a raspier tony soprano

He gambles causally but has a strict budget for himself

His favorite music is classic dad rock, some metal, jazz and blues but he especially likes frank Sinatra. Weirdly enough punk just isnt his thing

He has a wife named Andrea who he would literally kill for. Theyve been married for 30 years and they have 3 daughters

He drinks a lot of root beer. So much root beer.

He got arrested when he was 18 for punching a cop at a protest and beating the shit out of a nazi. He has his mugshot framed in his living room proudly.

He was a punk teen and he attended a lot of protests for queer rights and anti-police brutality. Now he doesnt really have the time for it but hes more than happy to give advice to young protesters and activists (wear a gas mask, conceal your identity, dont tell people youre going unless theyre going with you, and how to identity under cover cops)

His alcoholism started in his 20s and he got his shit together around his 30s but struggled on and off with addiction until finally going clean for 13 years straight

He loves white chocolate

He was actually like super model handsome when he was younger and is insecure about how alcoholism caused him to physically deteriorate (hes still handsome but he refuses to believe it)

Sopranos is his favorite show and he quotes it regularly

He has an old beat up 1997 ford f150 that he treats like a second wife and uses her to carry around his tools. He calls her bethany and gives her hood a pat before he gets in the driver seat every time.

[haveyoureadthisfanfic]

Summary: Robin Reversal AU. It is the year 2019, Damian's father is dead, and he's left with the legacy of Batman and a small child with crystal blue eyes. It is the year 2004, and Damian is a Muslim in post-9/11 America, son to a cryptid who works alone and doesn't realize that a Batman needs a partner.

Author: @yellowocaballero

[busket]

gravity falls rant, cw sexual assault and harassment

seeing the gf fandom do a full 180 on billford is so odd to see and kind of infuriating because I had so many nasty rumors and lies spread about me in 2015-2018 because I liked them as bitter exes. a callout google doc was made and I never read it, but I know it framed me as a creep and an abuser. all because I thought a cartoon nerd and a triangle had a fascinating dynamic that was dark and compelling

in 2017 or 2018 someone sent like 70 messages to my curiouscat just repeating RAPIST RAPIST RAPIST RAPIST over and over again. I'd never even had sex at that point, and I had just cut my dad out of my life for actually being a pedophile and a rapist. so that was traumatizing! that really hurt me!

I also know it was because I had a NSFW account where i drew porn (i was an adult, i was clear i only wanted adults following me. and I still do draw nsfw, I'm not ashamed of that now but these folks made me ashamed of it for years) that included some porn of trans men, like Stanley or Stanford as trans men (NEVER together bc I've always been staunchly against incest or pedophilia ships) and these people framed me as a transphobe and a transmasc fetishist

well obviously I'm a trans man now and I didn't know it at the time but those drawings were a way to explore my own relationship with gender. I even look like Stan and Ford now, obviously i latched on to them as trans men because I wanted to BE them. but I believed it when people called me a piece of shit, I assumed all trans people would despise me too and I'd committed a horrible sin and it forced me back in the closet for another 5 years.

the people doing this were teenagers at the time, a few I thought were my friends/mutuals, and they made that part of my life kinda miserable. I was already miserable with other shit going on in my life. I ignored most of the harassment to make myself uninteresting and to avoid the possibility of becoming a lolcow but it involved anonymous messages both on tumblr and curiouscat, I even got a few emails just mocking me. even in 2019 when some people were like "oh yeah she's moved on to moomin, this is what her art looks like now, I can't look at it without thinking about how much she loves rape :/" which was NEVER true!!! I liked Ford and Bill as bitter exes but it was always consensual in my mind.

Anyway I don't ever expect or even want an apology. I'm sure they don't realize what an effect that harassment had on me during literally the darkest years of my life. to them they were just teasing a weird girl on the internet for fun, or very seriously warning their friends against whom they'd been lied to about being an abuser, but I was a closeted trans man trying to finish college, my home life was abysmal and abusive, I hated myself, i hated my body, my only friends were online, and when I'd log on for some escapism I was met with another message like "hey, you should block this person. they're saying some really cruel things about you on their account. I know it's not true but it looks like some people are believing it."

gravity falls was so important to me as a show since oregon is my home and it felt so authentic to my own childhood being interested in cryptids and going camping and visiting shit like the Oregon vortex as a child. but the fandom was the worst I've ever been in. it ruined my enjoyment of media online for years. so idk. I guess I feel somewhat vindicated but it would also be nice to get those years back and not be harassed and bullied online about something so stupid and unimportant

[misadventured-piteous-overthrows]

Tumblr has changed, but so have I

Scrolling back through my posts, I realized the last time I posted with any consistency was in 2019! So much has changed in our lives since then.

We've lived in the city and suffered through the pandemic, learning to love take-out, Minecraft, and balcony gardening. Our fluffy farm kitten came with us. He quickly learned that he enjoyed being a housecat.

We moved to the country and surrounded ourselves in fresh air. I became a part-time gardener (a fine gardener to be more specific) and evolved my knowledge to include pruning, landscaping and container design. Our garden flourished, and we did as well.

We got married, our jobs and futures changed again, and I found myself in a greenhouse filled with history and native plants. I learned germination techniques, scientific names, and integrated pest management (specifically with beneficial bugs). The garden became filled with leftovers from work, and my love of dahlias and iris abounded.

In 2023, we took the leap and bought a home. It was a change to move from rural farmlands with cows as our neighbors to a more suburban setting. The house needed work but the land was filled with potential. We spent most of the year cleaning up the mess left to us by the previous resident and slowly the house became a home.

The next year was difficult. It began with us adopting a cryptid masquerading as a puppy and ended with me quitting a job I'd loved. I faced challenges with a new manager at work and problems with my own mental and physical health that ultimately led to the decision to move on.

I took time to take classes outside of horticulture. I looked into online jobs. I reorganized myself as I questioned my love and knowledge for gardening. At the end of all of it, I started writing. It became the creative spark I needed to reignite my passions.

Now that spring has sprung and everything is in bloom, I feel myself growing along with it. I'm currently close to finishing a proofreading/editing course, I'm writing two novels, and I'm posting my gardening experience here and on Substack.

So, if you've made it this far in this super long post, consider following. Especially if anything I've mentioned interests you. Comment, reblog, or shoot me a message if you post garden or writing related content and want to connect. I'll be looking for active Tumblrs to follow as I make my way back to a platform I've enjoyed for many many years.

Happy gardening! Happy writing!

[gundamzine]

Rhythm Generation

It's been 5 years since we released the first of what would become known as the "Rythm Generation" Gundam Wing fanzine project. For about 4 years, the fandom came together to share some really phenomenal fan creations - art, fic, meta, traditional crafts, and more.

Although the project has ended, I did want to share past publications for those who missed out. Each one of the zines was a labor of love, and I want to again thank everyone who participated--as moderators and contributors.

So jump down below the cutline and take a gander. Link to download page at bottom.

2019 Rhythm Generation (released May 4, 2019): A fandom zine for the Gundam Wing After Colony universe and a celebration of the fandom that has been 20+ years and counting. It featured written and graphical fandom work which provided depth and breadth to the AC universe and the world of Gundam Wing. The collection included a wide array of world building meta, articles, art, and graphics focused on science, politics, society, and art from the fandom’s resident experts and enthusiasts which highlight the creative dynamism that underpins the AC universe. There were several charities for this publication.

2020 Rhythm Generation (released April 7, 2020): An unofficial 25th anniversary fandom zine for Gundam Wing and is a creative celebration of the After Colony universe and the fandom family itself.  The anthology showcased a wealth of fandom content in celebration of the show’s 25th anniversary: from fanfic and fanart to cosplay and gunpla to meta, tech specs, and fandom history.  The project included both a core zine—Shooting Stars—with a generalized focused on the fandom and a bonus zine—The Measure of a Year—which featured content centered around the crowd-sourced theme of “Seasons.” The chosen charity for this publication was War Child 

2021 Rhythm Generation (released October 1, 2021): The 2021 Rhythm Generation Gundam Wing fandom zine—East of the Sun, West of the Moon—featured canon-compliant, canon-divergent, and alternative universe explorations and retellings of classic fairytales, folklore, mythology, vast epics, urban legends, and even cryptids. The anthology included a wide variety of both SFW and NSFW fan content—so tread carefully!—to include stories, art, and other fanwork. The 2021 chosen charity was World Literacy Foundation

2023 Rhythm Generation (released July 1, 2023): The 2023 Rhythm Generation Gundam Wing fandom zine returned to the two-part structure celebrating canon and alternate universe fanworks. The main zine—Battle Scars—centered on the Gundam Wing characters as they move on with their lives after a major event. The bonus zine—Kitchen Cabinets—featured fanworks with a tasty twist plus sprites and recipes as digital swag! The chosen charity was The Hunger Project

To download any and all of the zines above, you can GO HERE.

[rangerzath]

Auctions for Fandom Trumps Hate 2025 are now live. You can find my listings here.

I'm Zath and this year I am participating in @fandomtrumpshate with two auctions. I wanted to participate this year with the hope of interjecting some positivity into the world and giving back in a small but meaningful way.

Auction 1:

Fandom: Alan Wake, Control (2019), Original Work Type: Book/Fanfiction Cover Description: I will create one 1,600 x 2,560 pixels fanfic book cover as a .png or .jpg file based on your fanfic using copyright free images and graphic design. No original illustrations will be created for this book cover.

Auction 2:

Fandom: Alan Wake and Control (2019) Type: Custom America Overnight Episode Description: For this auction, I am offering a custom America Overnight radio show episode script. This will NOT be a traditional fanfiction piece written in prose style. This script can feature characters from either Alan Wake or Control (2019), original characters, or some blend of all three. I would be working with you to create an in-universe story which can either be based on your own scary and/or supernatural experience, something you’ve made up, or real life urban legends/cryptids/myths etc. This fanwork’s word count will range from 500 to 2000 words, depending upon the subject matter and flow of the conversation between the host and caller.

Please read my listings for full details. If you have any questions, please let me know. Thank you for your interest.

Bidding will be open from February 25, 2025 at 8:00AM EST to March 1, 2025 at 8:00PM EST.

Be sure to check out other listings from the talented Remedy Entertainment community!

[cleolinda]

Here's another song I had wanted to write about: Hozier's "Movement." It is a fact of my existence that I get into a musical artist/band about 10 years after everyone else does, and then they become 30% of my personality (see also: Florence and the Machine). So I didn't really get with the program until Wasteland, Baby, and even then, it was for an unusual reason.

When did this album come out, spring of 2019? I had spinal surgery in early 2018. A discectomy, L4/L5; the disc had gradually become herniated due to a fall I'd had at a convention. My surgeon was required to warn me that surgery would come with a (low) chance of paralysis; it was my choice to make. After two weeks of seizing up in pain every hour or so, confined to my bed—hydrocodone did nothing—I chose the scalpel. Even then, it was another four weeks before he could work me into the operating schedule. Trust me when I say, no matter how I'm doing now, I do not regret having that surgery.

But he also told me, "You will always be a person who has had spinal surgery." Since anything was better than screaming every time I moved, I didn't fully understand what he meant until a year or so later, when I was still in pain—a chronic but lower-grade pain that came and went depending on how much activity I dared try that particular day. It was infinitely better than before. And, but, yet, I still deal with that chronic pain today. I will always be that person.

"Walk," he told me. I had a packet of therapy exercises to do, sure, but he was firm on this point. "That's the main exercise you need. Just walking." Which I couldn't do at first—I didn't have to learn to walk again or anything, but I was in a wheelchair early on, then on a wheeled walker for a couple of months. I also have inherited neuropathy in my feet, which was exacerbated by electrically painful sciatic nerve damage down my right leg while I waited for my slot in the surgery calendar. (I swear to God I will start talking about music soon.) I only walk across the longest side of my backyard. I don't leave it and walk around the neighborhood, because I generally have about two minutes upright to get back to the house once my feet start hurting.

So I had been struggling with my walking assignment for about a year when "Movement" came out. Of course it's literally about physically moving (and emotionally being moved), but that wasn't what captured me. The song starts out slow and reflective; it was a gentle tempo for a time when I couldn't walk very fast, and I still use it as a warm-up today. But there are two other things I love about it. One, the willow tree in the chorus, as I was walking my little runway back and forth under a canopy of wild water oak draped with wisteria, looking up into the sun through the leaves and snowflake flowers of an overgrown cherry laurel. Sound met landscape.

But the other thing is how—generous? accepting?—the words are of the "you" of the song. This person, the lyrics say, does not have to be a virtuoso dancer like Fred Astaire or Sergei Polunin (who's in the video up there). Instead, "you're Atlas in his sleeping, and when you move, I'm moved." My absolute favorite part is,

Move like grey skies Move like a bird of paradise Move like an odd sight come out at night

What the fuck even are these lyrics. I can't. That's so good. You ever sit there as a writer and think, I'm so mad I didn't come up with that? Just the pure unexpectedness, "I'm telling you how earthshakingly amazing this person is. Like a beautiful willow, like a rare bird, like some weird-ass cryptid in the night, I don't even know what that was about but I love it." What even. So good.

And I was for sure an odd sight shambling back and forth across the back of my yard: five minutes at first. Then ten the next week, working my way up to thirty, still in a dull roar of constant pain a year into my recovery. But this is a song that says, your efforts to move are moving, whatever movement is natural for you; you may be sleeping just now, you may be moving without moving, but you are wonderful not in spite of being strange in your movements, but because of it. The song always feels like a friend walking along with me, no matter how many setbacks I have, or how slow I have to go.

Anyway, Unreal Unearth comes out next Friday. The five songs Hozier's put out so far are ridiculously good, and I've scheduled a couple of months to be completely feral about it. When the weather is less dangerously hot, we'll find out which songs are good to move to.

[moviesludge]

I worked a bit on my old painting.

I looked at the date of when I last worked on it and it looks like I started it in 2019 and did the bulk of the work in 2020. It has been sitting between my desk and mini fridge since then. I have taken it out to look at it a few times and I like what I have, but for whatever reason I didn't pick up with it. I guess it's something to do with getting the hang of the process while I'm in it and if I take too long of a break, I feel like I forgot how to work on it and it's more nerve racking to consider starting again. And just forgetting about it and being focused on other things. But since I completed that other recent painting and am satisfied with it, it made me want to work on something else. So what better?

This is an 18x24 painting of a creepy magenta-toned person figure from the waist up. Eyes are falling out, bald, big hooked nose, long pointy yellow teeth, mouth hanging open, and a bunch of head wrinkles, wearing a wrinkly yellow dress shirt and blue tie. I really liked my original drawing which is why I chose it to blow up and paint. I painted it over this old class painting on a canvas board. That one was sort of a fun concept but pretty poor execution and I got sick of looking at it for years. I guess at the time I didn't realize that the thick parts of the painting underneath would show through via gloss highlights on the acrylic, but only if you're looking at it at an angle where you can't see the main image on the painting anyway. The canvas board is fraying slightly at the corners and bowing very slightly, but otherwise in good sturdy shape.

So a couple days ago I painted over the background. I was trying to remember what goddamn paint I used for it because I was fairly certain I didn't have it anymore. Looked like a thin layer of pthalo blue. So I wanted to match the color the best I could, so I mixed cobalt blue (very different, but the only dark-ish color of blue I have) and black, thinking that's what I did before. The result appeared to have more yellow in it than what was on the canvas (but looks like a dusty dark navy blue when not next to the pthalo blue). But I decided to roll with it.

Probably 5 or 10 minute after I finished the background, I remembered that I had used some student grade paint that I had a lot of at the time, and no longer have because I hate student grade paint and I got rid of it all. It's too thin! That's why the original background layer didn't adequately cover the original painting and was showing through. So now the blue color is far darker and doesn't have that eerie-neon-blue-light-just-barely-illuminating-a-rock-deep-underwater effect. Kind of bummed about that. But now it has a new even-toned just-put-a-nice-fresh-almost-black-colored-blue-tuxedo-jacket on the background effect. It surprised me just how much the slight change in color of the background affected the tone of the painting. Before it felt more like you were looking at a nocturnal cryptid roaming around in the moonlight. Now it looks more desolate and lonely and painful. I will probably add something else to the background later on. Maybe some kind of glaze to lighten it a bit.

I didn't work on it yesterday but I feel like I will tonight.

I've heard people say that people are more attracted to lighter colored paintings in general, but this is such a dark one and I never get sick of looking at it, even being incomplete. I really hope I can finished it without changing it too much.

[multi-fandomdisaster]

So I'm going through old Kings Island Halloween Haunt mazes and scare zones in order to make sure my information is correct for the new lore post I'm writing, and next thing I know, I stumble upon a scare zone I've never seen before with a rather interesting theme: Rivertown Reaping from the 2019 season.

I'm always down for some Rivertown lore (it has my favorite rides in the park, after all!), so the fact that I hadn't found this zone before now is baffling to me, especially considering the fact that I'd looked into Haunt 2019 before for the C.H.A.O.S.: Expedition Orion maze for the Hallow-Tween event! From what I've been able to gather, this was Rivertown Reaping's description:

"Rivertown, a once-thriving logging and mining community, was struck with disaster when a plague wiped out the entire population. Nothing remains in these parts, except a tragic history and the ghosts of those long-since forgotten."

The ENTIRE population???

...so is Rivertown a ghost town...? I always assumed it was a still-active town that just had a rich history of cryptids and supernatural happenings, but to be fair, there's technically nothing suggesting that the town is still alive. Well, except for maybe the irl active train station and operating restaurant. I'd say it's up in the air personally. With how many tragedies and monsters Rivertown has had to deal with over the years, it really could go either way.

What's particularly interesting to me is that Rivertown Reaping now isn't the only time Rivertown has been filled with the supernatural post-tragedy, as later on in 2023 (and again in 2024) we got the scare zone Abandoned, which directly tied into the story of Mystic Timbers and had this description:

"The problem started years ago on the grounds of the newly developed Miami Valley Lumber Company. Men and women, 66 in total, entered the lumber company and were never seen again... at least not the way they used to be. Stepping into Rivertown, outsiders find themselves immersed in a small abandoned lumber village that’s haunted by something mysterious. The forest is overrun by supernatural creatures that have riddled their confines with darkness and despair. Are these the lumber yard workers from days past? And, which of them are evil?"

What is it with Rivertown and going through devastating catastrophes? This poor town can't seem to catch a break lol

I'm gonna look more into this scare zone and see if I can find anything else about it, and then maybe see if there are any other Rivertown tragedies that I don't know about yet. In the meantime, what do you guys think? I'd love to hear if any of you guys have any thoughts on the matter, because this zone is lowkey baffling me a little bit.

[eregyrn-falls-art]

My 2024 Art Year in Review!

My main goal this year was to do a bit more than I had in '23, and happily, I did manage that!

24 pieces done, most of them full pieces. 78 individuals. Contributed to several big projects this year (one of which isn't even on here, because we can't show the art yet). As it is, some of these are fudged a little with respect to when I finished them, but largely they correspond to when I did a lot of work on them. I only have one month where I had to put in a photograph instead, as I didn't have a finished drawing for that month; but I think that's because I was working on something else that got completed later.

I hope I can keep the streak going in the coming year, although there's going to be some challenges to my free time; so, we'll see.

Links below the cut.

2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017

January: Stanuary 2024: Week 4, Strangers and Brothers

February: Gravity Falls finale anniversary polaroid redraw

March: Ford by firelight

April: Sea Grunks in orange and blue

May: Photo of the aurora borealis in Massachusetts, May 10

June: Stan and Ford's birthday: canoeing in NJ

July: 2026 Hunkles Calendar, Feb: Stan and Ford in the Mystery Shack kitchen

August: Mabel and Dipper's birthday: hiking with Bigfoot

September: Sea Grunks portraits in teal

October: Halloween: Mystery Trio and Over the Garden Wall crossover

November: Pines and Bigfoot sitting around some scampfires

December: Gravity Falls cryptids sticker sheet for the Mystery Twin Mystery Bags project

Template by @mossygator

[fundippinditz]

You know what's so wild to me about the resurgence of the Invader Zim fandom in 2019? Just how perfectly timed everything was.

Right as the movie came out we got a bunch of millennials and gen zers who are feeling nostalgic for their emo and scene days, cringe culture was finally starting to die, Lemon Demon dropped an absolute banger of an album all about cryptids, supernatural, and conspiracy theories, covid happened, sending everyone into isolation to delve deeper into their hyperfixations, and nature was finally starting to heal with Invader Zim merch back in Hot Topic.

I honestly miss the collective brain rot we all had over an old nicktoon. Hard to believe it's already been five years.

[obscurushydrae]

Rules of Play

Please at least give it a read! Liking this post also means it’s more likely I will follow back, as I know you have RAU’d.

Updated 08/19/2024

ABOUT:

Kar/Karmun/Karthonic either-or. If you'd rather separate mun/muse you can use my middle name, Asher to refer to me.

They/Them is cool.

From New York, so the timezone is EST.

Birthday’s January 1990, so 30+

Spoonie with AuDHD

Artist, and educator, so I can get busy. I commute, so I'm on the train for a few hours a day as well and can be sporadic activity wise.

On mobile most of the time.

I left the Tumblr RPC 4 years ago so forgive me as I catch up with the new etiquette, etc.

Personal blog @karthonic.

Sci-Fi Muse: @stellevatum

ARK AU: @sidisaspecto & @hln-4

GENERAL:

Above all else: Be Excellent to each other and party on, dudes!

First and foremost: my activity is sporadic. I refuse to let myself be like I was when I left the RPC in 2019. I may queue a lot of shit. I may go into a black hole for a few weeks or months. I may forget threads or lose them. It doesn't mean I don't care-- I am here to have fun and not get stressed over things.

If you ever want to reach out-- all my blogs and personal are listed above, and my discord is on request to mutuals, even though I'm just as much a cryptid on there as well.

Lurking for a bit before reaching out is fine, but I would like genuinely interested folks. Optional but I have an Interest Tracker for organization purposes.

Communication is key. My muse might be intimidating, but I'm not-- just very busy and on mobile more often than not. Don’t know something, or want me to elaborate: ask! I forgot a reply or not feeling a thing anymore, lemme know. I'm good. I like get to know the people I write with, it makes me plot things better.

This incarnation Kar is for Contemporary Supernatural/Fantasy/Mythology like verses. You can find the Og/Sci-Fi flavored Kar at @stellevatum.

While she's BPRD based,  don’t sweat it if you don’t know the other stuff. If your fandom/verse has a way in, I can finagle her into all sorts of place (she's literally an cosmic horror at heart).

That ‘selective’ part comes into play. I have every right to not follow someone, decline a roleplay, just as you do. Just be polite and respectful.

Crossover/AU/Multiverse/Self Insert friendly. Not your thing, then feel free to not follow.

There will be casual mentions of recreational drug use, more often than not mentions of alcohol than drugs, but will be tagged upon request. Other possible triggers are her fatalistic humor. 

This is not a content resource blog. If you’re here for the pretty pictures, aesthetics, or memes, this is not the blog for you.

Godmoding is discouraged but I’m not going to stop it. I will likely try to out ridiculous you Bugs Bunny style. Even though she can’t die, you’re free to try and kill her, but let me know first (either way she’s gonna be pissed FYI).

Most art is mine but will be credited. If I reblog any art reposted without the original creator’s permission, let me know. I’ll remove it.

FOLLOWING/UNFOLLOWING:

Please don’t follow/interact if you’re under 18. If I follow anyone underage, it’s because I wasn’t able to access any about/ooc information, please don’t take it personally if I unfollow!

If I don’t follow you and you follow me, please just hit me up before doing something. Just because I don’t follow means I’m not interested, I just don’t think our characters mesh with the information given. If we chat about it, who knows!

If I follow you or like a post but not follow, it's likely because I want to check out your rules but can't find a mobile friendly/need time to look through things, especially if it's a carrd. If you follow back, I'll message/send passwords as I don't want to overstep.

I don’t usually greet/interact with personal blogs, so side blogs off personals give me a heads up. Otherwise, I might miss you.

I may unfollow or softblock-- but that doesn't mean I am not against second chances. It usually mean either we haven't really done anything and I'm keeping my dash tidy or you never followed back so I'm taking the hint and stepping off, or you were inactive for 6+ month and I assume you abandoned the blog.

If you'd prefer I don't accidentally re-follow, you are free to hardblock. It's a bummer, but we need to what makes each of us comfortable to write. I will only hardblock if it is in your rules or if it was something serious that warrants it.

IN CHARACTER:

Compatible Fandoms (ie I am Familiar with): BPRD/Hellboy, Hades, Devil May Cry, Wolfenstein, Gravity Falls, WTNV, Obey Me!, Sandman, Good Omens, Hellsing, Persona, Durarara!!, Castlevania, Blood of Zeus, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Basically anything with demons/angels/gods and the like. I will interact with Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss muses, even though personally I don't vibe with Viv.

Kar is an ancient cosmic horror who was supposed to destroy all reality. Raised by mortals, so she thought she was. But she's also got other forms, which folks may see.

As for appearance, unless you’re really looking you might notice the fangs. And for the most part, assume she’s wearing her signature sunglasses covering her eyes since those rarely are taken off in public.

While not usually brought up, but Kar has attempted to end her life and self-harmed. Nowadays it’s usually just masked with fatalistic humor, recreational drug use, and lots of drinking. 

There will be mentions of Nazis particularly of the occult sort, so if that makes you uncomfortable please feel free to step away.

ASKS:

Askbox will only be open for IC interactions, save for when the meme specifies Mun. IMs are for OOC communication. Anon feature is for sideblogs, multimuses to interact ICly with me. Any Anon messages good or bad directed to the Mun (outside of memes) will be ignored. The Anon feature is privilege, I will revoke it for my well-being if need be.

No Magic Anons, please!

There’s no need to wait to send me a meme if you’ve followed me for 5 minutes or 5 months, send the thing.

Reblog Karma is going to be enforced on this blog. That is, if you reblog an ask meme off me, please send me one. Otherwise, reblog the meme from @karref

THREADS:

Jump on any open post, there’s no need to ask permission, they’re there for that reason!

I will be keeping my posts simple! I don't have the time/energy to make formatted posts, and I like to keep things as accessible as possible. I do try to keep track of the heavily plotted stuff, but the casual things might drop off. Feel free to remind me if it's been a bit!

Communicate! If you’re having trouble writing a reply, talk to me! If you don’t like or not feeling a thread, say so and drop the thread. That also doesn’t mean things are done for good. Come to me if you want to skip/do something else.

If you’d rather we move things to discord, just ask! I’ll set up a server just for us!

SHIPPING:

Shipping is welcomed and willing to discuss the possibility, but I leave the rest to chemistry and just how we as writers write. Kar is into male muses, and will be polite about turning other people down, unless one doesn’t take the hint.

I will only write ships with muns older than 21, but 25+ is preferred.

That being said, I will no longer tolerate stringing me along, or vague replies. Please be clear and direct. If you are interested; say so. If you are not or no longer wanting to go in that direction, tell me. Any vague or non-committal replies will be treated as disinterest and dropped.

This blog is multiship, meaning each relationship is treated as its own separate place in the multiverse unless discussed and agreed upon.

Kar can be polifidelitous. She’s okay with having multiple partners and those partners having partners if your character is cool with it. But she can be selectively monogamous in your little bubble too.

NSFW may be on here, or I might do it over discord. I'm playing it by vibes. As I don't really have any established romantic stuff since rebooting, I can't say with any certainty. Will update when I do know.

TAGGING/ HARD LIMITS:

Blood, Gore, Body Horror, Drugs, etc, will be tagged with (name); for instance drugs; . Special Tags on request.

Posts will be tagged upon request, just let me know!

If you read and understand this, I would appreciate if you'd leave a like the post, that way I know you have without forcing a password.

But if you'd like to message me, here's a DM icebreaker: What's your favorite extinct animal? (If you're lucky I may have cool fact about it.)

HOPE TO WRITE WITH YOU SOON! :D

[thatndginger]

Get To Know Your Moots Writeblr Interview

I was tagged by @ceph-the-ghost-writer (their post here!) for this ^.^ Thank you very very much my dear <3

apologies if any of you have been tagged in this before, I've been away for a bit, but I'll throw this out to @chauceryfairytales @theprissythumbelina @theroseempress @aalinaaaaaa @serenanymph @scribe-of-stories @scribble-dee-vee @writernopal @rosieartsie @afoolandathief

The blank question template can be found here!

How long have you had your writing Tumblr/Writeblr?

My writeblr has been alive since around 2022 or something. I can’t be 100% sure because I just turned my regular blog into a writeblr one lol

What led you to create it?

Two things – I really wanted people to talk to about writing and I wanted to start taking my writing seriously. Cryptid is my favorite person in the world but he’s not a writer and doesn’t *get it*. I wanted other writers to talk to and be weird with about our stories. And having outside accountability in the form of posting about my story on my blog is exactly the kind of low-stakes drive I needed to keep writing.

What’s your favorite thing about the Writeblr community?

Just how supportive and nice and welcoming people are. It’s really easy to feel like you belong here. And all you have to do is be a little weirdo obsessed with your oc’s, because everyone else is doing the same thing and cheering each other on. It’s truly lovely.

What’s one thing you’d like your mutuals to know about you?

I have what I call a ‘feral cat friendship style’ where it takes me a long time to warm up to someone, but once I have you will *never get me to leave*. I’ll start leaving dead mice & memes at your door, just you wait.

Is there anything you’d like to see more of on your dash?

I genuinely love when people are just Weird about their characters. It makes me more interested when people pop in just to say “character x would eat Weetabix with no milk for breakfast” because now I need to know what the hell is going on with that character. I don’t even care about the important facts anymore. I just want to know what weird little thoughts y’all have about your ocs.

What tips/advice do you have for someone who made a Writeblr today?

Completely unoriginal but honestly just be yourself and have fun. There’s no point in anything if you aren’t enjoying it. Follower counts don’t matter, the number of likes or reblogs you get don’t matter. All you gotta do is start posting about your writing. If you want to make friends, the easiest way to do that is to join in on tag games or the weekly ask games writeblr plays. (tag games are also great ways to find more people to follow.)

WIP It Good

Which Works-In-Progress (WIPs) or writing projects are you noodling about, lately?

My big writing project is Shapeshifter. It consumes all of my waking – and some of my sleeping – thoughts. But within that I’ve currently got two stories going: Into the Storm and The Runaway. Both are set in the same world and have some overlap of characters, but The Runaway takes place about 5 years after Into the Storm. It’s fun because ItS is more of a typical urban fantasy mystery/intrigue while Runaway is hardcore a romance story. Switching genres while in the same world is really fun.

How long have you been working on them?

Technically, I’ve been working on The Runaway since 2014/2015. I made one of the main characters, Dean, around then, but I didn’t do a lot with him or the world until 2019 when I ‘officially’ started the Shapeshifter project. I usually lean towards saying I started it all in 2019, unless I want to be dramatic and talk about the ‘full story’...

Do you remember what inspired/what got you started?

Ah, dammit, the full story it is. SO. Baby K was really into internet rp forums as a teen, and had just graduated to one-on-one rp. Along comes a girl who wants to make an rp about shapeshifters – humans who can turn into many types of animals – and Baby K could not be more enthused about this idea. That’s how Dean and Temperance got started, and where they remained for many many years. Eventually not-so-Baby K gets tired of the girl they’re rping with contributing absolutely nothing to the worldbuilding and strikes off on their own.

I joke that I took Temperance in the divorce. It’s okay though, that girl will never read this and if she does she can talk to my lawyer about it.

How much time, in your best estimation, do you spend thinking about them?

All of it? I plastered my bedroom/office walls with Shapeshifter. I plastered my *ceiling* with Shapeshifter. I bought stickers for the laptop I’m currently typing on that remind me of Shapeshifter characters. I am deeply, deeply mentally unwell about this story.

When someone asks the dreaded, “What do you write about,” question, what do you usually say?

I’m working on an urban fantasy story about three shapeshifter friends who inadvertently become ‘fixers’ for their community when the authorities turn a blind eye.

What do you want to say (if it’s different from what you do say)?

I spend the majority of my life writing about three queer disasters who also happen to turn into animals sometimes, and the problems they get into that are only occasionally due to the fact that they turn into animals sometimes.

Let's Rotate Blorbos

Name any characters you created.

Just in Into the Storm there’s: Kerr McKay, Warrick Salehrad, Jay de Lange, Carlisle Morrish, Reese Tucker, Lex Causey, Gabriel Beckham, Portia Beckham, Kanda Salae, Mayuri Salae, Aleksei Rybkin, Jaime Sheridan, Mags, Lucian Bardem, Rose MacGinnis, and Enora Nolan. For now.

Who’s the most unhinged?

Depends on what kind of unhinged you’re looking for. The fun kind? Warrick. The ‘actively harmful’ kind? Lucian Bardem.

Who comes the most naturally for you to write?

Kerr, Jay, and Warrick. These three live in my head so much that sometimes they commentate my life. It’s not nearly as entertaining as it sounds.

Do you ever cringe at them?

*Constantly*. They are disaster people. I love them.

How much control do you feel you have over your characters?

About 60%? I know where the story needs to go and what I need the characters to do, but I leave them a lot of room to decide how they want to get there.

Do you enjoy people asking questions about your characters?

ABSOLUTELY. Ask me all the weird questions. I’m slow to answer because my life is hectic af, but I love getting questions about my idiots.

On Writeblr Engagement

What makes you want to follow another Writeblr account?

I’d say ‘vibes’ but that’s a copout answer. I don’t go off someone’s intro much besides seeing what genres they’re into and if they’ve got any glaring red flags for something I might not like. Mostly I notice new writeblr accounts because one of my mutuals is interacting with them and they seem cool. Then I do a quick scroll through their blog to check out what they do/interests they have/how they interact with others. Like I said, it’s vibes.

What makes you decide against following?

If someone is too self-absorbed – ie doesn’t interact with anyone, talks about their work like it’s the next Great Novel That Will Change The World. I don’t want to deal with that in my tumblr space.

Do you interact with non-mutuals often?

I try? I’m not very good at remembering to look outside my little circle, especially when the burnout and anxiety are bad. Like now...

Do your mutuals’ characters occupy space in your noodle?

I’m sewing dolls based on my mutuals’ characters. They’ll have multiple outfits and tailor-made accessories. I’ve had *dreams* about some of my mutuals’ ocs. I can be just as mentally unwell about my mutuals’ characters as I am about my own.

[nostalgicblur]

Well ladies and gentlemen, Halloween has arrived once again!

To celebrate, I want to introduce you all to a character of mine that I've been working on for actual years at this point (and am STILL kinda working on lol)

Say hello to:

The Phantom Maniac

THIS guy was a character that I created all the way back in late 2019 that was originally inspired by The Drill Killer from Power Drill Massacre. (He was basically a ghost version of The Driller back then) However throughout the years I have fleshed him out and have inspired him more off of other things like RE2's 'Mr. X', Jason Voorhees, various cryptids of the U.S. and just general slasher and zombie films of the 70s/80s.

I created him when I wanted to create my own game based of off PDM, a friend of mine offered to help me out a lot with the project and it flourished into something more original.

I showed him off a lot back when I still had a Twitter account (some of you following may recognize him from there ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), he was still a W.I.P. back then but now I feel like he's a bit more refined and I feel a lot happier sharing stuff about him now!

With that being said, I hope you guys like the moldy green giant boi and I hope you all have a Happy Halloween!

Just in case, here's what all the text says on the image:

THE PHANTOM MANIAC

AKA The Woodland Walker, The Mold Behemoth or simply The Maniac

Age (Before death): UNKNOWN

Date of Death: Around the 1970s

Height and Weight: 7'0", 295 pounds

Weapon of choice: A worn Kukri Machete

(Will occasionally use Wood Axes)

An undead serial killer brought back to the mortal realm after making a deal with The Devil

Mainly stalks within heavily wooded forests located in the West and North-West region of the US

Though not known for speed, he is somehow able to travel great distances in very short amounts of time

Has supposedly been responsible for over 20 missing persons cases dated in the 1980s to 90s

Those that live near places that he's been know to lurk have reported decreased wild life populations, vandalized property and haunting noises rarely heard during the night