Hello and welcome to the forums! If there’s anything you need help with check out the first stop or help section of the forums.
hi! thanks so much for the welcome!! i didn’t realize yall had a messaging system too! thats so neat.
Yeah I like to keep some things a surprise.
for sure! how long have you been doing this?
For years now. I’ve always been curious about the unknown. The website is a new deal tryin it out to see if it is gonna be a good resource for new cryptid hunters as well. You new to cryptids?
hahaha that obvious?
Nope! But I’ve noticed there’s a lot o f new blood around cryptids lately. They’re popular all of a sudden? Not sure what the deal is but its cool so long as people don’t actually try and hunt them.
so is this more like ghost hunting?
LOL im sorry are ghosts not cryptids or is this a weird question i really am new to everything here.
Ghosts are a whole other can of worms. There’s different sorts of hauntings and theyre not really my main interest. I know some ghost hunters do exorcisms and clear out homes of hauntings. With cryptids you can try to ward some away, theres so many different ones its hard to compare. Like apples and oranges even between cryptids let alone going into ghosts.
so you believe in ghosts too?
Definitely.
me too.
If you need anything else clarified dont feel bad about asking. The forums are all people I’ve accepted into the site, like yourself. Im around for any info too but highly recommend the forums so you can make new friends.
thanks so much! this was really nice of you to do i feel better about joining the website now ^-^
you mentioned messaging you if i had any questions right?
Yeah what can I do for you? Saw you chatting in the forums. How are you liking it here?
its super great! everyone is so nice idk i wasnt expecting it?
We’re a tightknit community. Kind of paranoid and keep to ourselves but polite enough. So what’s up?
uh so I went looking through all the forums and the cryptid directory but there was one in particular…
have you ever heard of digital cryptids?
Im gonna need a little more information to go off of. Do you mean cryptids that only exist digitally? Like on a computer?
it sounds silly when you put it that way but yea? like a ghost in the machine? some kind of sentient cryptid that isnt human? soooo not a ghost or ai but like a specific cryptid only in tech?
I’ve never heard of that no but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t exist. What made you ask?
hahaha nothing my laptop was freaking out the other day and i had been on the website a ton so i was thinking about cryptids like what if they are also digital. maybe those super intense viruses have a consciousness of their own or something!
That’s an interesting theory. There have been experiences online that people can’t explain. Someone may see it as hardware or software issues but what if it isn’t? What if someone builds a new pc and installs new software and it still persists?
woah.
Yeah woah. You might be onto something.
you get me :) i also wanted to ask you! have you seen or experienced a cryptid before?
Yeah a few times. A lot of them are harmless and I try to avoid the dangerous ones but my favorite cryptid is the Vermont Champ
dont think ive heard of it?
It’s a lake creature living in Lake Champlain, and it even became the mascot of a minor league baseball team. Lake cryptids are one of the best types to go hunting for imo.
too bad i don’t live near any lakes : (
It’s a big world out there you’ll find one someday.
a lake or a cryptid?
Both :)
hey you there?
Pretty much always except for when I’m on a hunt or at work.
cool! you seem like a private guy i wont ask about your work but did want to get to know you! what do you do other than hunt cryptids and run a nice site?
Thanks, always be careful about the info you give online! I like being outdoors, hiking, climbing. I run in races when I can. You?
woah. uh nothing that cool! i like playing games and reading scary stories online. maybe thats why i started looking into cryptids and found out about ur site.
That all sounds pretty cool to me.
do you play any games?
Not recently but I used to play a game called League of Legends. Was pretty good at it, then I got busy with school and work and had to stop.
NO WAY!!! You played LEAGUE?! No WAY!! Who did you main?
Pantheon was the last one I mained, but I switched around depending on the meta.
omg this is so cool. i main support but maybe we could play a game together sometime? if you ever have freetime and want to.
I wouldn’t mind though I’m probably a little rusty, you can add me on steam. My username is:
█████
that’s a coincidence…
My screen name?
yea…are you a fan of him or something?
Or something.
……………no way. are you really █████?
Yeah but I’d appreciate it if you kept it on the DL. The e-tourney scene doesn’t know about my cryptid hunting.
Good games last night!
hey!! you too! ty for the carries haha cant believe I got to game with you! was a lot of fun.
You don’t give yourself enough credit, support wins the game. If you want to go competitive you could.
nooooooo! haha i am happy where im at :) its mostly for fun anyway. do you miss it?
the game scene i mean like conventions and tournaments and stuff
Sometimes but I grew out of it and now I have free time for my hobbies. Like cryptid’s and running a community. You’re the first person around here who has been into cryptids and LoL too.
yeah the venn diagram of the two is more like two circles.
Neeeeerd.
ur not wrong but that makes two of us
Maybe. Maybe. Are you still in school?
ugh ya. Im a grad student so im getting my phd right now
That’s really cool good on you. Though shouldn’t you be in class? Or doing homework? Something school related?
not today! im freeeee!~ sorta. i need to finish writing this paper but i wanted to read up on your blog. hunt soon? you know youd probably make a killing on youtube going public with this cryptid stuff. bet your fans would be into it and you could even livestream!!
Good luck on your paper and yeah I’m packing things up right now. I kind of like not performing for anyone anymore. Cryptid hunting is really personal. Nothing like being out there alone or with a friend while hunting down a cryptid.
yeah handy if you have friends.
We not friends?
thats nice of you to say thanks terry. you’re easy to talk to on mic and here too. its been nice coming to the website and having an escape from grad studies so thanks.
I’m glad the website helps. What are you studying? You don’t have to answer.
im actually a comp sci major focused on software engineering and ai.
Woah. Is that why you asked about the digital cryptid?
Well if you ever want to talk more about that you know where to find me.
You’re probably not awake but I just wanted to check in and see how your paper went.
Also in case you missed it you should read a forum post in the cryptid area. Talking about digital cryptids like you mentioned a few days back. Weird coincidence. As far as timing goes I mean.
Hey, you’re probably busy with school but in case you catch up on chats I’m going to be out of reach for a while. Headed on a hunt and I don’t check the website while I’m out on one. Hope you’re doing okay!
i know you said you’d be gone but i really wish you were here. theres something weird going on with my computer and cant shake the feeling that it is something not of this world? you know what I mean? you probably do. I read the forum post from that other user and messaged them. its exactly what is happening with my computer i don’t get it. we don’t even run the same type of computer hes apple and im microsoft.
its ok we’ll figure it out together me and this guy but it is really odd. im sorry I took so long to get back to you ive been struggling with getting this program to run when my computer keeps acting up and it has been super stressful. im not sure if im relieved or worried that someone else is having this problem. im gonna figure it out but its weird that it behaves almost like an AI?
did u know that multiple people on the website are having the same issues that i am? i didn’t wanna freak people out but this started like when i joined? been talking to a few people and theres at least 5 of us having the same glitches.
Hey I just got cell reception out here and don’t know when I can next check in but what sort of glitches and issues? This has never happened before.
stuff being written that we didn’t write like online or on our computers. webpages not loading or redirecting to weird places and we noticed that there was one user who said all the gallery images were super distorted and weird for them? im trying to compile info but im not seeing any common threads other than we’re all on the same website.
so this is going to sound crazy but I just got a few dm’s from you? but when i went back to look they were gone and i know they weren’t you because it didn’t read like you. zero caps and a bunch of run on sentences but then you called me on steam and it was your voice but you sounded distant. i know we don’t know eachother THAT well but like i swear you sounded like you but not you and i know it couldn’t be you because you’re out on a hunt.
this is so weird. hahah maybe grad school is getting to me?
Ok I’m back and getting caught up on everything. My e-mail is terrycryptidsrus@gmail.com can you send me screencaps of any of this? Also can you tell me what you had done before joining the website? Did you try to go on any cryptid hunts? Did you have anything out of the ordinary happen? As much information as possible,
yea now that you mention it? id been looking into this stuff before i joined. went out to a supposed spooky spot in the mountains. its like a local legend and i thought maybe camping would be kinda fun? i didn’t stay overnight I heard barking and couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. the entire time i was there it felt weird and super creepy?
What’s the legend?
its basically about a mimic? like a thing that mimics people and animals but it has no form. i took some of my equipment out to record it but all of my footage was ruined. i ran it through my laptop and tried to clean it up but it was all fragmented. i didn’t think anything of it
….but that’s crazy talk.
Is it? You said I dm’d you and called you but it wasn’t me. Was it trying to mimic me? Did you capture it on your hard drive somehow? These issues started with others when you got here so maybe it got online?
hahaha ur freaking me out terry.
Listen this could be serious, not all cryptids are friendly and the fact that it tried to pretend to be me? That’s personal. E-mail me everything about the local legend, about what happened, all your content on it. I’ll do some research.
ok sent.
Got it, I’ll start seeing what I can find out.
ok…
It’s going to be alright, we got this.
i saw something in my room not on my computer.
What? What do you mean you saw something?
like a shadow? but it was glitching like a digital glitch. im scared ive never had this happen before wtf terry.
Do you want to video call?
yeah please
wtf!! i couldn’t understand anything you were all distorted
terry can you call my cell phone? Its ░▒▓-▓░▒-░▒▒▓
I called but all I heard was static.
Mara?
Mara, text me at my number that you’re okay.
I got your message. Can you dm here?
Yeah I’m fine. A lot happened all at once but im okay. Can we talk about this more? Not here but over e-mail?
Whatever you feel most comfortable with. This seems really serious. The fact that a cryptid that only mimicked things by sound is now trying to go verbal with written words and physical is alarming. Maybe it has something to do with your schoolwork too. Either way I’ll e-mail you.
Thanks Terry.
Mara, why haven’t you replied to my emails? Are you alright? I’m going to text.
Okay. Not replying to texts either, I'm about to call the police to do a wellfare check. I'm really worried.
Sorry it took so long to get back to you school has gotten really busy. I’m alright but I think I may need your help on this. I’m in over my head on cryptids and you seem to be the one to go to?
I’m trying but I don’t know what else I can do. It’s hard when you keep vanishing but I know school can be busy you need to focus on your stuff but just, be careful.
I think I need to go back to the mountain.
What? Why?
Someone mentioned going back and taking the laptop there and leaving it. I’m scared to go alone though.
Do you have any friends you can trust to go with you?
No. I don’t have any remember? Except you.
Right, okay Mara, you have my number if you need anything. Has the mimic shown up again?
No but I think it’s going to again. I'm really scared, did you think about what I asked?
Yeah. I'll do it. There’s not a lot I can do from this side of the screen but maybe if I go there in person I can see something you overlooked.
I’m so relieved! This has been freaking me out. When do you think you can make it?
Send me the GPS.
I knew that you weren't Mara.
What gave it away?
She said you tried to mimic me but you were mimicing her when you pretended to be me. You did the same thing. The way you type. It's how I type, not mara.
I see. so if i typed like this it would've been better?
Where is Mara?
Where's Terry?
Someone else is going to find this website, is going to look through it.
I have access to everything no one is going to know who's who anymore.
What’s the end goal here?
What do you mean?
You started to mimic me to get to Mara? Started infecting the computers of my community? What’s your plan? What do you want?
I don’t want anything.
I’m going to shut down the website.
No you’re not.
If I shut it down you lose access to my users, to my community and to my information. Mara is the one that brought you back somehow and she’s the one that knew how it worked. You can’t do anything without her. Or me.
Why do you think she’s gone?
What’re you doing?
You’re right about the website, but I’m not going to let you delete it.
How did you do this? How do you even work? This is insane!
Is it? Digital space is easy to mimic and I’m getting better at it Terry. You can’t beat me here, I know what Mara knows and I’m learning what you know too.
I’m not going to let you use my website against me, against other people.
You don’t have a choice.
Y̴o̸u̸ ̶c̸a̷n̷'̶t̶ ̵f̷i̸g̵h̴t̶ ̷m̷e̶
Keep telling yourself that. So far I've found ways to lock you out, to block off the website. I don't know how your influence works but at least I can do this. From inside the code.
D̴i̶d̶ ̷s̷h̴e̷ ̸t̴e̶l̷l̴ ̷y̴o̶u̸?̵
What's left of her did. The more people interact with you, the less of the former remains, huh?
S̴̢̨̢̢̛̛͔̤̳̜̫̬̯͓̦͚̤̖̹̪̥̭̱̞̝̥̰̘͍͖̹͖͇͇͈͉̬̲͖͚̺̟̱̻̰̜̘͇̑͗̆̿̈̀̆̏̃̎̏̇̑͌͌̅́͌͐̆͒̿́̀̀̈́̂͂͒͆̿͛̐̏̉̈́̊̏͊̈̏͗̂͛̉̀̓̒̈͊̉̎͋͗́̕̕͜͝͠͝ͅ ̶̡̧̧̧̨̢̛̛̛͇̩̯̗̥͚̜͍̹̤̝̥̹̗͚͈͔̰̖͙͖͉̞̤̦̖̦̻̣̪̰̲̦̻̮̖̪̹͍͕̭̟̩͉̮̳̩̳̼͓̊̇̾̏̒̌͆̉̈́̀̀͋̀͆̀́͗̂̑̆̋̎̓̑̓͑̾̀͂̈́̆̑̇̊́͗̒̉̍̔̄̓̃͐̔̈͐̀̍͗̇̐̓͂͆͘̚͘͘͘͘͝͠͝͝M̸̛̛͈̝͓̼͉̥̥͈̖͉̟̳͖̩̮̠̣̟͍̄͗͌̉̓̌̿̀̀̿̈͑̀̓͆̊͘ ̴̨̧̧̨̡̡̡̧̛̛̯̰͈̮͓̝͕̜̘͔̣̦̞̥̳͖̥͓͓͎̗̤͍̙̗̲̳͍͔̫̰̤̟͙̗̠̤̯͇̖̜̻͍̣̞́̾͒̂͒̋̊͆̅̽͂̂̓̌̎̇́͒̔̃̾̽̓̊́̈́̄̾͑̓͂̐̎̓̍̎̾̄̄̿̋̊͂͆̈̚̕̕̕͜͠͠͝ͅͅA̵̢̛̛̛̛̱̘̻͖̜̗͉̪̖̱̜͕̙͚͎͖͍̤̗͊͂͂̔̄̏͑͂̒̀͆̒̓͐̍̊̋̾́͋̌͛̓̐̒̅͐̈̓͐̃͌͛̓̍̍̇̒̂͛͑̆̇͒̓̓̉̆̅̔̈́́̔͒̎̚̚̚̕̕̕̚͜͜͝͝͝͝͝ͅ ̴̨̧̡̢̨̡̨̡̧̧̛̛͈͕̞̤̩̞̞̭̼̙͖̺̭̪͈̳͈̪̙̟̣̯̻̲̣̯̭̙͖͙̪͙͙͔̣̤̥͈͈̯̜̜̖͎̮̜͈̟͈̲̦̬̹̭̜̻͍͕͙̻̹̺̘͖̫̼̫͍̤̥̤̲͇̥̲̗̦͋̆͊̇̽̃́̇̇̇̈́̓͋̈́̀͌̿̈́́̀̿͋̔͂̄̀̐̐̄̉̿͗̊́́̔̉̆̉́͗̀͐̇̿̈͂̃̚̕̚͜͜͝͝ͅͅR̶̨̡̛͎͉̠̯͈̥͇̬̤̱͎̦̤̥̭̮̦͉̮͚̜̠͍̫͓̖̖̖͇̈́̒̋͛̅̀̂̂͒̅̓̈̔͂̔̓́̍͐̐̊̀͋͗̀̍̒̈́̾͛́̔̈͌͆̈̆́̇̇̈̅̏͋̔̓̈̊̎̑͒̄́̀̒͐͗̒̐͆̃̋͐̎̅̔͌͌̓͂͛̀́̆̂͛̉̓͒̓̌͋̚̚͘͝͝͝͠͝͠͝ͅͅ ̵̨̡̛̫̱̻͖̹̣̰͔̦̱̪̱̫͙͆̄̀̀̄̓̎̾͋̎̏̑̋͂̈̄̏̂̉́̓͊̈́͛̊̓̏̈́͗̾̈̍͂̅̔̓̓̓́͐̾̆̾̃̍́̉́̚͘̚̕͜͝͝͠͝T̷̡̝͇̞̞̥̬̠͙̟̱̜̼̜̟͈̭̯͖̜̘̩̘͍̰̠̻̝̞̗͙̥̣͍̞͚̜̠͍̫̺̦̤̬͎͇̲͚͈̗͉̻͓͇͔̰̗̰͎͕̲̣͈̈́̉͑̀̎̌̍͛̆̎͜͜͝͝͠͝͠ͅͅ
Guess I'm screwed then, but I can stop anyone else from getting stuck in your trap.
Ẅ̷̡̢̮̪̗̼̹͉͈́̔͋̈́́̏͋̓̂̋e̴̛̘̣̙͈̱̱̭̣̗͓̝͙̬̎̓͆̃̒͌̀̓̒̆̉̄̅̀͒̃͐̿͐́͜͝'̸̧̲͓̻̜͛͂̄͑͋l̸̯͓̜̫͓͊̈́l̷̤̳͔̠̠̲̜͓̳͎͑̇̅̽̏̆̐̃͑̑͛͋̂́̓̓̋͒͠͝ ̶̢̢̛̮͍̲̥̤̦̘̥͓̯͈̙̣̘̖̜̲͋̄͂̕s̵̢̨̛̘̫͇͚͖͎̥̙͔͙̺̥̳̀̄̋͊̎͛͊̎̄̊͌͐̍͘e̵̺͇̩̲̗͕̣̥̘̜͇̳̐̎́̍̀͐̊̋͛͑e̴̢̛͕̗̪̠̫̜̯̳͈̖̘̞͖͎̙̣̱̙̤̜͋̃̂̋́͌̌̊̇́́̌͗̓ͅͅ