Roll up! Roll up! It’s National Family Fun Month, apparently, so here’s a fun family for you. You know what they say—a family that braves fake flames and awe-inspiring obstacles together stays together. Something like that.
Anyway, meet @shadowtherat’s artistes! Never before have you seen this level of vibe! Chill! Dignity! Yes, their namesakes may make a really weird meal, but this friend-shaped family really does it all. Give it up for Olive! Donut! Egg! Omelet! Pickles! And Sugar!
♡ No ratties were harmed during the making of this video! ♡
Boy howdy, y’all really do love an art challenge, don’tcha! And there are so many to choose from in the month of August! So, whether you seek the tension of a duel at dawn or feathered friends in all shapes, styles, and sizes, or an army a council of frogs—this month has ’em all. And with just under half the month to go, there’s still time to pony up and join in…or simply sit back and vibe with it.
Yeehawgust is in full swing collecting all your rootin’ ‘n’ tootin’ renditions of the wild west over on the official blog. That’s also where you’ll find the prompt list, should you need it. In the meantime, check these out:
Avian Augusthas also taken flight in a big way, with some beautiful and diverse art styles joining the fray. Find your daily prompts here. Or simply sit back and enjoy the excellent specimens that have come home to roost:
Meanwhile, Frogust has taken a back seat this year, among all the birds and bulls. Here are a few intrepid individuals keeping this friend-shaped classic alive:
We all know and love @1coweveryday. Well, here are some other blogs that produce some sort of animal at some point or other during a week or another specified (or not) measure of time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Sometimes it’s all uphill. The road is tough, the journey long. It’s raining, you’re tired, and you’ve also run out of milk. You huff a sigh and settle down to a screen flickering with the edges of the day ahead. Some days are just like this.
But we get there, we do. Sometimes simply by the power of pure, dull-headed doggedness.
What will today be? A game that’s been played unaltered for centuries? A territory with arbitrary lines separating it from the other territories? A plant spiraling through the cosmos? No matter, because you still have Stuff To Do ™: summits to scale, levels to beat, goals to meet. We all have our Big Games. Every day.
What is your Big Game right now? Whatever your today holds, here is some nonsense encouragement to go with inspirational images made by your esteemed colleagues here on The Internet:
52 years after two men called Neil and Edwin took a walk on the moon, MacKenzie Scott’s ex husband is not standing or sitting or swimming anywhere on this earth, but is instead hovering somewhere Above. For everyone else with your feet on the ground, here are some space-themed blogs to help you disappear into dreams of starry silence.
@the-wolf-and-moon is a collection of art the universe makes behind the scenes while we’re all going about our dwindling days and tiny tasks. Here you can see the Cat’s Paw Nebula, otherwise known as NGC 6334. Birthplace of gigantic stars and cubic tons of trouble, probably, this finally proves who really runs all universes, known and unknown.
@startrekdesign grew from a personal quarantine project by a long-time Trekkie and new-time collector of design objects featured in the show. Think of it as home interiors, if ‘home’ were a big ol’ spacecraft fictitiously hurtling through time and space.
@mystarypi-astronomy takes pictures of space! With a telescope! From the earth! And tells us what we’re looking at so that what at first glance looks like a black squiggle in golden glitter becomes the Snake Nebula, a whole world of knowable and unknowable worlds! Tttthhhpectacular!
And lastly, @thevisualdon is back with a spacey moment for our digital age, a neon-dreamed, glitter-pixelled nostalgia for obsolescent futures. Come on in. The sky’s the sea, and the water’s warm.
It’s nearly time, Tumblr. Friday is World Snake Day. We mention this only because, apparently, you really love snakes. (Except for those of you who really don’t, and to you, we say look away now or proceed with caution.) Today, we (celeb)rate all manner of snake and snake-adjacent friends who are longer than they are wide (yes, even worms).
Unsurprisingly, @omg-snakes is a blog exclusively dedicated to—get this—snakes. This baby can fit so much pizazz under those tiny pink scales. Hats off to you, sir, and your magnificent petal bed. Snakescore: 10/10.
@worm-of-the-day gets 10/10 for blog content and concept. You really nailed it. This specimen’s existential dread and thousand-yard stare get 3/10—and only because giving them some points might save us all from whatever void they’re traveling. Maybe. Just seems like the right thing to do.
@onenicebugperday is another excellent blog for curated content, this time, it’s all about the bugs. For example, this fella you see below: Are they longer than they are wide? Yes. Snakelike? Not really. Cute? You bet. 7/10.
@fimbry is another blog dedicated to the keeping and loving (and breeding—for real, check out their eggs!) of snakes. Here is one that once came from one of those eggs. His name is Trident, and he has good stripes. 10/10 and a little kiss on his shiny head.
@pencilbrony is a cryptid artist who often seems preoccupied with the nature of snakedom and what snakes would be like if they were, well, less like snakes. Here is an artistic rendering of the movement of a snake if it were shaped like a donut. Fascinating! 8/10!
@sweet-slither-friend lives with many well-dressed snakes, but Simon is the best of them. 10/10 for Simon and his tiny crown. You win, Simon. All snakes win, but you win the most.
Shout out to those of you who wonder out loud on the internet. (And then come home from work in the evening to a bajillion notes from people with takes you hadn’t even considered on a topic you haven’t even thought about since making a half-asleep text post ten hours ago before your first coffee of the day.) Shout out to you and only you. And to these folks who have had some thoughts worth thinking:
thank god for skin! without it we would simply be peeled limes with complicated emotions
@decaffeinated-hoe does not need caffeine to have thoughts or write them down on the internet. We’re truly blessed!
caligula was a pretty fucked up guy, but in his defense if everyone called me a nickname that meant “little boots” i’d also probably execute a few people
@thoodleoo serves delightfully acerbic hot takes on the ancient Romans.
I think women in ponds giving out swords is a fine system of governmence actually. May i have one
@swordlesbianopinions is fairly straightforward: Here is a lesbian who likes swords and wielding opinions, which she does freely and, might we add, rather well. Bravo!
‘how kafkaesque’ i say waiting in line at the taco bell. you think im talking about the alienating bureaucracy of waiting in a single file line for food premade in another state but actually im talking about the dead cockroach in the corner
@mariowiki likes sea creatures with lots of skin. She has been here forever and still manages to be funny, which is kind of impressive, honestly.
And here, to round us out, is an elephant seal in desperate need of a shower (if not a thought.)
Ask not what you can do for your fandom but what your fandom can do for you. So what’s good in the world of music-themed art this month? Well, you’ve got vintage vibes, Lorde lyrics, and some love for Louis Tomlinson.
@eisenbernard mashes high and low brow together, resulting in classic book covers of Madonna songs or this delightfully bourgeois ensemble. Think of it as Fearless (Vittorio’s version):
@albums-big-in-japan celebrates the aesthetics of yesteryear in Japanese releases of popular music from the West, resulting in an impressive archive of questionable hair and outfit choices. Not so Stevie Wonder, who apparently just came off the USS Enterprise looking like the king that he is:
And @projectotb has been celebrating LGBTQIA+ Louies with Pride-themed fan art around his song “Only The Brave”—enter this lovely little number by @thetriangletattoo:
Hello! Happy solstice. What’s this, you ask? Well, it’s a Tuesday. It’s also the end of one of Algy’s adventures in Patadragonia. Who’s Algy? Algy is a friend-shaped accidental adventurer. In this particular part of his story, he helps a dragon with some mad dance moves join the circus. In Patadragonia. (Sound on for total immersion.)
On the morning of the solstice…
…in the faraway land of Patadragonia, dawn broke with a beautiful deep pink glow over the mountains, and ethereal mists shimmered up from the frosty plains. Algy was still dozing after his long, sleepless night under the full moon when suddenly he heard a most extraordinary sound, and at the same time, he felt the special cherry blossom which he had brought all the way from the magical Easter island begin to vibrate and sparkle on the cold, bare rock behind him…
There was no doubt about it: the moment had arrived…Algy knew that his little dragon friend was about to realize its lifelong dream at last, and although he was sure that he would miss the funny wee creature, he could not have been happier for his very special friend, especially as he felt certain that—so long as he kept the magical cherry blossom safe—they would be bound to meet again in adventures yet to come…
[The circus band is playing the “National Emblem March,” composed in 1902 by Edwin Eugene Bagley, in a version created by Algy’s assistants.]
