#african cryptids

[muttinthenest]

I'm just an animal.

Humans and I aren't the same species. Somehow, it's like they see the animal in me. Speak to me as rarely as they can, skirt around where I step like I'm a danger to them. They speak in a language I don't recognize, make quips about how ragged I look, how uncanny my behaviour is, and how sharp these teeth and claws I hold look in their eyes.

I am not built the same as them. My mind and body are made from different flesh. And they can tell. They can tell just from looking at me. Not one of us, I see the thought behind their eyes. I can't understand the concept that one of them could not be a danger to me, that any of them don't want to hurt me the way they have my whole life. I snarl and bite my teeth at them, then cover my mouth in hot shame. I can't even mimic their rage.

My teeth are inhuman and monstrous. I look at them in the mirror and see a wide animal maw staring back at me. I learned early to not smile or laugh in a way that shows them off. Humans don't like when a beast bares it's teeth at them.

My voice is garbled and broken, throat damaged from mimicking a language my vocal chords didn't evolve to speak. I used to take comfort in growling, snarling, crowing, screaming. It became clear that did nothing but scare them. I stopped.

Finding ones that aren't a danger is almost worse. Longing. I can be a good animal for you. Bite my tongue and hide my teeth away from you. Never speak so you can say anything you want to me. I can lay on the floor so you don't have to share your furniture with a filthy creature. Let me stay, I can be a good animal for you. I would be so good at it.

I'm as much a human as I am a rock or a leaf in the dirt below their feet.

[labete-du-gevaudan]

Trunko was originally known as the Margate Sea Serpent when it was discovered washed ashore on October 25th, 1924, in Margate, South Africa. In newspapers at the time, it was even called a “Fish like a Polar Bear”.

According to eyewitnesses, the creature was seen battling two killer whales in the ocean for a length of 3 hours. It could, reportedly, lift its body out of the ocean by 20 feet and it fought the killer whales with its tail. Even though Trunko was washed up on the beach for a total of 10 days, no scientists ever went to investigate it. Photos of the carcass were discovered in 2010. Before that, no one knew photos were ever published.

Trunko was eventually chalked up to being the rotting carcass of a whale.

[cryptid-of-ohio]

most and least edible butterflies?

That’s a pretty good question. I had to put in a bit of research to get what I think are the objectively correct answers (I’ll give subjective answers too).

First, a few ground rules. I will only be looking at the adult stage’s edibility. My objective answers will be based off my research, while my subjective will be whatever the hell I want. I have never personally eaten a butterfly, so some of my reasoning will be based on assumptions. Anywayssss

The objective least edible is pretty easy actually. It’s the African Giant Swallowtail, which produces a cardiosteroid and could potentially kill a human if ingested.

Isn’t it beautiful?

Also, fun fact, no one has published what the caterpillars look like, or what the host plant is for this species. So that’s a neat little mystery.

As for the objectively most edible butterfly, that’s a bit more subjective. For edibility, I’m looking for no poison (obviously), as it tastes bad even if it’s not lethal. I’m also looking for a larger main body since that is where most of the nutrients will come from.

I think a good butterfly that fits those criteria would be the Western Tiger Swallowtail.

Some of you may suspect it’s poisonous due to its bright color pattern, but it isn’t. Its colors are a false warning to predators to stay away.

I will say though, if you really want to eat a butterfly I would remove the wings, or avoid them. The scales that coat them are made of keratin, aka the stuff our hair and fingernails is made of, which isn’t very tasty.

Anyways, now on to the subjective stuff. I think the least edible butterfly is the glass wing butterfly.

I mean, look at it! If it were a human it would be so emaciated! There’s nothing tasty there to eat! Not to mention, it’s also poisonous! 0/10 would not recommend eating

As for most edible, I have to go with one that might surprise you.

This is the Harvester Butterfly. It may look small and unassuming, but that’s not why I picked it for the most edible. I picked it because it’s going to be full of different nutrients than other butterflies.

See, the Harvester is unique in its eating habits. As an adult it doesn’t usually drink nectar, instead drinking minerals from the ground or sap. This is because they got most of their nutrients as a caterpillar where their diet was…

Other bugs!! That’s right! This is the only species of carnivorous butterfly on the planet. Their diet as caterpillars is almost entirely made up of eating aphids and the remains of other bugs. It also means that is isn’t poisonous, as most butterflies become poisonous by eating poisonous plants in the caterpillar stage.

I hope this satisfies your curiosity @json-derulo

[creaturesncryptids]

Werehyena

[woodelf68]

Tempted by both the pride snail and the cryptid... surprise me? 👀

I have got NO idea what I was thinking when I drew this; it's not typical at all for me. I've always tried to be as realistic as possible when drawing animals. But here you go, a snake-leopard-elephant hybrid. A sneopardphant, if you will. (Or I suppose it could be a sneetahphant, if you prefer.)

[professionalnooneatall]

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A post shared by MOLOMBO (@hey_molombo)

[celestial-kestrel]

It's that time of year again where Mari Lwyd starts to be talked about and shared around and an INCREDIBLY misleading post gets shared a lot. As someone who grew up with Mari Lwyd I wanted to clear some things up.

Also hello, if you are unaware who Mari Lwyd is. This is about the Welsh tradition of the horse skull who visits houses during the Christmas to New Years period in Wales asking for alcohol.

First off and probably the most important one:

Mari Lwyd is not a cryptid!

I can not emphasise this enough. She. Is. Not. A. Cryptid. There is no story or mystery about a ghost or zombie horse roaming the Welsh valleys. She's not even supposed to be a ghost or a zombie. It's just a horse skull on a stick with a guy under a sheet. She's a hobbyhorse and a folk character used to tell Welsh stories and keep songs alive. When people spread the misinformation that she's a cryptid, it's the equivalent of saying Kermit the Frog is a cryptid.

She is actually only one character in a wider cast of characters who go door to door or, in more modern times, pub to pub. The cast of characters can change town to town and village to village but there are some common ones I see time and time again. The Leader, the Merryman, The Jester and The Lady are just some I see regularly. Punch and Judy used to be more popular a few years ago but I haven't seen them in a while as their tradition has mostly fallen out of popularity. In most cases, almost the whole cast will be played by men. Even the characters are considered and referred to as female. Though this again depends and varies by which group is partaking in the Mari Lwyd tradition.

This point also goes onto my second point,

Mari Lwyd does not rap.

I think this comes from a very common misunderstanding of what rap is vs spoken word. Rap is a very specific style of music originating from the African American communities of the USA and has it's own structure and motifs unique to it. It's a lot more complex than people give it credit for as a style of music and just flippantly assign anything similar to it as being rap. If someone is talking fast or reciting poetry, it is not rap. Or anything that is an exchange of words between two people is not a rap battle. Mari Lwyd does not do rap, actually something that gets left out of these posts is the fact Mari Lwyd does not even speak. It's actually the Leader, who does all the speaking and song based banter between the house/pub owner for entry. Mari Lwyd just clicks her mouth, bites people and bobs her head around.

I think Mari Lwyd is a really beautiful and unique part of Welsh culture. She's not actually as wildly celebrated as a lot of the posts make her out to be. Actually, I think most Welsh people themselves learn about Mari Lwyd through the internet as well. Her popularity is increasing thanks to the drive of local groups wanting to keep the traditions alive and a renewed desire to document Welsh traditions before they're gone. Which is why it's such a shame that she's turned into something she's not to earn horror points on the internet. I think this is why it bothers me so much to see the misunderstandings of the culture and the folk tradition. Mari Lwyd's origin is very hot debated as well as how long it's been going on for. But I think it's thanks to a lot of traditions like this that the Welsh language and our stories weren't lost forever. Welsh culture is recovering as is the language. But it's still in a very fragile place. I think it's why it's important to document and correct information when it's spread.

Anyway, if you want to see the tradition in action, here's a lovely video from the Cwmafan RFC going to one of the pubs for charity. It includes the song exchange with the pub owner for entry and the whole pub singing and joining in once Mari Lwyd and the rest are inside.

As well with another video from St Fagan's showcasing the more traditional and door to door form with the larger cast.

[godzilla-and-aang-monsters]

Mahamba

Altura: 64 metros

Longitud: 400 metros

Peso: 21,000 toneladas

Primer Avistamiento: Lago Telé [Tierra: Teratoverso]

Controles: Agua Control [Nado, giro de la muerte]

Guarida: Lago Telé [Tierra:Teratoverso] Pantano Brumoso [Avatarverso]

Aspecto: Deinosuchus + Purussaurus

Aliados:

Humanos: Aang, Katara, Soka, Iroh, Zuko, Toph

Kaijus y otras bestias: Godzilla, King Kong, Mothra, Rodan, Anguirus

Enemigos:

Humanos: Ozai y Azula

Kaijus y otras bestias: Kasai Rex, Nguma Monene

[headofocs-inklesspen]

Sometimes I get, basically the zoomies, where I need to just go run around in circles outside for a few minutes and uhhh, I think watching me loop around all six buildings of our complex at like 10:30 at night sometimes up to 4 or 5 times might be part of why the neighbors don’t speak to me.

[cryptid-quest]

Cryptid of the Day: Vassoko

Description: The Vassoko is a strange feline-cryptid seen in the Vakaga Prefecture in the Central African Republic. It is described as a horse-sized feline, with dog ears, long fangs, illuminating eyes, a bushy tail, and can make a noise similar to an elephant. 

[punkeropercyjackson]

Danny Fenton was such a weak ass protagonist,he was all quips and 'boys will be boys' with the occasional drama llama that happened like twice a season for 8 minutes meanwhile:

Percy Jackson was an autistic kid who felt worthless at 12 already and became suicidal at 16 but was also a bully beater and took direct action against the gods and did activism in the greco-roman myths world by helping out the less privileged sectors of it and is STILL an anarchist in current canon like in the 1st book

Zak Saturday was a black softboy on a show about cryptids and his love interest was a muslim girl that was potrayed as just minor puppy love instead of cosmic soulmates

Kim Possible was a perfect prep but also a girls girl instead of a pick me and a legit superhero even with all the silliness in her plots

Juniper Lee was a brownskin half chinese girl who was as cool and dorky as white male protagonists with her usual character beats do instead of a stereotype

Virgil Hawkins was deadass the FIRST EVER BLACK SUPERHERO CARTOON PROTAGONIST and such a sweet gentle boy but still had major attitude and they didn't soften up african-american experiences at all

Alex from Totally Spies was the baby of her same age team instead of the mom and wasn't masculanized at all and had just as much depth as the other girls

Ichigo Kurosaki was a goth punk traumatized teenage boy of color who actually acted like one instead of just an edgy douchebag and was obsessed with Orihime for being a pastel autistic kindhearted weirdgirl and treated her like the princess she is 24/7 and said fuck the Soul Society's cop ass over and over again and STUCK BY IT

Aang was a tibetan who's show adressed the cleansing the irl ones go through in it's TITLE ALONE and he was potrayed as a ray of hope for his optimism and gender noncormity instead of ridiculed for them and wasn't a fence sitter like wack ass westernizers in the fandom think he is because literally the only reason he didn't Ozai is that homeboy was not only a buddhist but THE LAST SURVIVING IN-UNIVERSE ONE

And you expect to me to care about Danny's boring deadass.Hell Jake Long is just him but not white and with real character development and lore and that's why i'll never fw Danny,boys of color and girls and especially girls of color and actual outcasts did what he did but infinity times better and i don't celebrate his mediocrity because they gave me standards.Danny Phantom was never a good show,he was just 14 and you haven't shut the fuck up since

[labete-du-gevaudan]

This drawing of the Lake Tanganyika Monster was created by Philippe Coudray for his book, Guide des Animaux Cachés. This creature is said to reside in Lake Tanganyika in Burundi, a country in East Africa. The lake monster was supposedly first described in 1893. Joseph Augustus Moloney claimed that a Mpala missionary described a 30 foot long sea serpent in the waters. He later claimed to see the beast on the shore, sleeping. In 1907, a sighting by a South African police officer claimed that the creature had tusks or fangs and that it was amphibious. This helped support the original claim of the creature being seen in the water and on land.

German doctor M. V. Thierfelder claimed to have seen the beast in 1914, while he was working in the area during an epidemic. He said that the creature was at least 50 meters in length. He wrote:

"Suddenly, I saw coming from the lake, in the bay itself, something that I had never seen. It was a creature that looked like a monstrous serpent. However, it did not swim like snakes in horizontal movements, but its rings—I counted as many as six—rose vertically above the water. The animal arrived in the bay at a fairly brisk pace, and went straight to the vicinity of the rocky shore, on which I was lying motionless. [...]

The beast had neither legs, nor stumps, nor fins. Near the head, however, there were slender fin-like structures on either side. The colour of the animal was a bright brown; it had no scales, but was covered with a thick fleece. [...]

The head was difficult to make out because it only appeared fleetingly above the water, but it was not wider than the body and was not separated from it by a constriction. It was not like a serpent's head, but, rather, that of a mammal, a manatee for example. The mouth, however, appeared narrow and elongated.

After the giant beast had spent some time moving among the otters, it turned around and came out of the bay in majestic undulations."

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

Free Rhys Darby ASMR Sources

So @hang-on-lil-tomato got me thinking with their post about Stede Story Time, I did all this research into all the Rhys Darby works and I realised I should probably compile it in case other folks are looking for the same things.

So yeah, I mean, Rhys doesn't do audio books as of yet, but man would that be amazing if he did. So for those of you who want to hear some good 'ol Rhys Darby voice, here's some sources. Please feel free to message me if you have more. ! I'd love to add them, and I'll tag ya :D

---

Rhys Darby as Stede Bonnet Youtube Compilations

Stede say'd Ed for a full Minute by justagaycatboy

Stede Bonnet being a bitch for 4 + mins by Rae Hamilton-Vargo

Stede Bonnet being the crew's dad for almost 4 minutes by grim weaper

Stede Bonnet screaming for 2 minutes 15 seconds by "Our Flag Means Death"

Stede Bonnet cursing for almost a whole minute by Murder Turtle

----

TV or Mini Series

Rhys Darby in Japan (Freevee on Amazon)

So as someone who lived in Japan for a bit, this series is really really fun. It's awkward, and funny and it's almost all Rhys Darby as he's narrating and living the whole damn thing. There are quotes from this show that I use in my every day life, I love it so much.

Short Poppies (Freevee on Amazon)

Considering most of the characters in this show are in fact Rhys Darby, it's a great way to hear his very colourful range. I haven't seen all the episodes, but I find it quite endearing.

Intrepid Journeys (Rwanda) (Youtube/nzonscreen.com)

Ty @hang-on-lil-tomato and @meanmisscharles for this recommendation! I haven't watched it yet but here's the description:

"This Intrepid Journey sees comedian Rhys Darby taking an OE to the landlocked African country of Rwanda. Darby makes a bunch of friends in the markets of capital city Kigali, then heads on a jungle adventure. Far from the New York office of his Flight of the Conchords character Murray, he searches for critically endangered mountain gorillas. Darby is guided by François — a personable and entertaining park ranger, fluent in primate dialect — whose aping gives Darby a run for his money in gorilla impersonation. Darby is quietened by a sombre genocide memorial, and a 200 kilogram silverback."

Stand up

These are pretty self explanatory, wanna hear Rhys Darby talk for an hour or so? Stand ups the way to do it, all the voices you could want and no one interrupting him.

Rhys Darby I'm A Fighter Jet Rhys Darby: This Way Spaceship It's Rhys Darby Night Mystic Timebird

Youtube Shorts/Channels

Rhys' Youtube Channel featuring stand up shorts, sketches, Rhys' playing games and other fun stuff like "The Alone Rangers". All stuff I have to dive into, thanks again @hang-on-lil-tomato!

Movies

Love Birds (Included with Prime Video)

So if you follow @celluloidbroomcloset you have probably heard of Love Birds, and as someone who is totally normal for Rhys Darby, and loves birds and used to do rescue work, I have to day this movie is adorable. It's a really cute love story, and good god Rhys is hot AF. He and Sally Hawkins have amazing chemistry, and you get lots of good Rhys voice...in a romantic setting. I apologize ahead of time to any of you who lose your soul to this movie.

Coming & Going(Freevee)

So I haven't seen this one personally, so I can't speak to it (it's on my list for this week actually!) so I'll update this once I do.. but in the mean time, here's the description:

"When Lee (Rhys Darby), a young, skilled OBGYN who lacks confidence with women, suffers a minor injury that temporarily lands him in a wheelchair, he meets Alex (Sasha Alexander), the girl of his dreams. Convinced she has only paid attention to him because he's in that chair, he stays in it to win her affections well after his injury has healed."

Podcasts

The Cryptid Factor

You're gonna hear more than just Rhys, you'll hear from Dan Schreiber and Buttons (not ofmd buttons) and some other folks occasionally but you get to hear Rhys in his element, which is awesome because he is the goofy nerdy man we all know and love. The Cryptid Factor on Apple Podcasts

You can also go to their patreon and subscribe for free there-- the paid versions have video footage from a lot of shows and some other cool perks including stickers and book clubs and such.

Aliens Like Us

Thank you @hang-on-lil-tomato for this one! I hadn't found it before

General Reference to Works

Here's some overall guides to his various voice works (thank you again to @hang-on-lil-tomato )

--- Anyway -- hope that helps with your Rhys Darby very normalness :D

[paxthepuppycat]

Pax’s Info Page ૮ ・ﻌ・ა

Last updated Aug 19, 2024

My name is Pax! I’m 15, I’ve been a awakened for 5 years now 😽

My identity comes mostly from spirituality but it’s also a trauma based identity, I may or may not talk about this

Im new to tumblr and I’ve never used it so message me if you think there’s anything I should know!

I am a Therian and I’ll be posting things related to non-human life. I’ll be posting my own art, quotes, and more! <3

I am pansexual and agender! I go by any pronouns including it/its and pup/pupself! I do have a mate 💖💞

The normal is not allowed🚫 (shamers,zoos,sexists, etc, etc) You will be blocked and reported. 🖕

I hope you all will like my posts! Please if you’re non-human tell me about your experiences and I’d love to share mine! I’m open to relationships with anyone as long as your kind :D

If you wanna be moots just say so! I love all my moots :3c

P.S. - more about my nonhuman identities under the cut :P

note: NONE OF THE DIVIDERS AND EMOJI I USE ARE MY ORIGINAL ART! UNLESS I SAY IT IS! (I don’t know the creators but just know it’s not me)

Things I Post On This Blog:

~ Stimboards

~ Vents

~ My Art (digital and traditional)

~ Nonhuman Info

~ Agre/Petre Stimboards

~ Cute Animals

~ Therian Outline Art

~ Otherhuman Stimboards

~ Silly Puppy Things

My Theriotype~

(all my theriotypes are equally dominate as my main identity)

Bobcat (past life)

White-backed African Vulture (past life)

Nova Scotia Duck tolling (psychological)

My Kintypes~

Black Cat Shapeshifting Witch Cryptid? (past life)

My Hearttypes~

Brown Bear

Siberian Weasal

Gaint River Otter

Questioning~

Nightkin

Naturekin

Carl From Harold and the Purple Crayon Movie (ik 😭)

My tags:

#bobcats speaks - mostly feeling more feline at the time

#toller talks - feeling more canine

#pax’s text - my quote or writing

#this puppy might bite - I’m upset and a aggressive canine

#this kitten might bite - I’m upset and a aggressive feline

#mwah <3 - appreciation for my Alterhuman pals

#awooooooo - missing my pack

#puppy talks - feeling like a baby boy haha

#vulture quack - feeling birdy

#this vulture is hungry - craving blood, in vulture shift most likely, missing my flock

#love my mate - feeling loved <3

#shifting hours peeps - been in a long shift

#🧿 - feeling protected or protective

#🌿 - craving natureee

#🌕 - feeling the witch powers, mostly on full moons

[creaturesncryptids]

Dingonek

[unorthodoxsavvy]

House Plant Asks 🪴

Aloe Vera: Have you ever had any serious injuries?

Golden Pathos: Have you ever won anything?

Snake Plant: If you could have any animal for a plant, what would it be?

Moth Orchid: Butterflies or Moths?

Peace Lily: What could you use most right now?

Basil: Favorite food?

African Violet: If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?

Jade Plant: Favorite crystal/gem?

Spider Plant: How do you feel about bugs?

Rubber Plant: What’s your favorite/least favorite texture?

Dumb Cane Plant: What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever done?

Monstera Deliciousa: What’s your favorite mythical creature?

Rosemary: If you didn’t go by the name(s) you go by now, what name(s) would you choose?

Umbrella Plant: What’s your favorite weather?

Money Tree: If you had $1m to spend ONLY on yourself, what would you spend it on?

Lucky Bamboo: Is there anything you consider lucky/unlucky?

English Ivy: What language(s) do you speak/sign/write?

ZZ Plant: Favorite band?

Boston Fern: Favorite City?

Areca Palms: What’s your favorite climate/biome?

Fiddle Leaf Fig: Do you play any instruments/wish you could play any instruments?

Pilea: Have you ever jumped into a pile of leaves?

Bromeliad: What’s your favorite color?

Dragon Tree: Do you collect anything?

String of Pearls: What’s your favorite jewelry?

Croton: What’s in your ideal salad?

Chinese Evergreen: Do you have a favorite folklore?

Ponytail Palm: What’s your favorite hairstyle?

Oyster Plant: What’s your favorite sea creature?

Kalanchoe: Do you believe in any supernatural forces/cryptids?

Jasmine Plant: What’s your favorite scent?

Heartland Philodendron: What’s the best way to win your heart?

Cactus: Are you an affectionate person?

Silver Leaf Philodendron: What’s a silver lining you’ve found in life?

Polka Dot Begonia: If you had to wear only one pattern for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Black Velvet Alocasia: What’s your aesthetic?

Birds Nest Anthurium: What’s your dream house like?

Ficus Audrey: What’s your favorite season?

Homalomena Selby: What’s home to you?

Sweetheart Plant: Talk about someone you love