iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Because if you don't find some way to tie in your #astronomy news story to Star Wars, how is the public going to understand it? ;)

Cartoon of a spoof news article:

CLICKBAIT SCIENCE DAILY

This Newly Discovered Star Has Eleven Planets and is Located on the Outer Edge of the Galaxy Like the Rafa System from Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu

We knew if we tried hard enough we could make a Star Wars reference

(image of a futuristic cityscape with the Millennium Falcon flying through the sky)

Definitely a serious scientific rendering and not just Star Wars fan art

"This is exciting news for all fans of the groundbreaking 1983 novel," said astronomer Dr. Annie S. Walker. When questioned about the scientific implications of the discovery, Dr. Walker could not hear us over her own ranting about continuity holes and explaining her latest fan fiction

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Can I just say how much I appreciate Bluesky for allowing us to post as many links as we like, totally free of predatory subscription schemes? Facebook is now limiting me to 2 posts with links per month unless I pay them $40 monthly. That's ridiculous.

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

payhip.com/TheYarnDino I ran into a few last-minute hiccups with launching my #amigurumi store yesterday, but it's finally ready! Visit The Yarn Dino for natural history and fantasy amigurumi patterns as well as orders for actual plushes made by yours truly!

payhip.com

The Yarn Dino

I'm T.K., a science illustrator and yarn enthusiast who enjoys designing amigurumi patterns for underrepresented critters.BlogRedbubble

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I designed another #amigurumi of the "Dumbo octopus" Grimpoteuthis! I had a lot of fun working on this guy and making his tentacles adorably curly. 💙 #deepsea #marinebiology #octopus

An orange amigurumi crochet plush of the octopus Grimpoteuthis

An orange amigurumi crochet plush of the octopus Grimpoteuthis, this time with tentacles and fins tucked in as though resting on the seafloor

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The lunar impact that created the crater Tycho is estimated at about 100 million years old. That places it right in the middle of the Cretaceous. Would anything back then have noticed or cared (such as this snacky Oryctodromeus)? #paleoart #astroart #paleoastroart

A painting of the dinosaur Oryctodromeus eating plants in the late afternoon; in the background, beyond mountains, something is impacting the Moon to create the crater Tycho

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

foundation.fhsu.edu/save-sternberg One of my favorite small-town natural history museums is under threat of closure and could use your help. If you're able, please consider donating to aid the Sternberg Museum in meeting their funding goal. #paleontology #Kansas #SaveTheMosasaurs

foundation.fhsu.edu

Save Sternberg - Fort Hays State University Foundation

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I hate to belabor the point, but after what happened earlier I feel I should reiterate--if you cold email me with a business proposal concerning one of my novels, but don't sound like you have actually read it, your email is getting deleted.

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Because what's the point of #dinosaurs if they aren't trying to kill you. ;)

Cartoon of a spoof news article:

CLICKBAIT SCIENCE DAILY

New Dinosaur Was Harmless and Boring

Disappoints dino enthusiasts who enjoy daydreaming of their own grisly demise at saurian hands

(image of a rather unremarkable herbivorous dinosaur sitting in a forest)

It's a slow news day

"Well, maybe it was venomous or had a flamethrower or some other trait that did not fossilize," said lead author Dr. Halberd Gorensen

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Just got through a wholly unpleasant email communication with someone who claimed to like one of my novels enough to want to add it to their book club's reading list, and then asked me to pay $200 to have it added to the list.

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Attended my local medieval society’s annual autumn fair, got into an impromptu sword duel, and it actually worked out some back stiffness I’d been dealing with. Swords do a body good. ⚔️💙

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Start the weekend off right with some clickbait! #space

Cartoon of a spoof news article:

CLICKBAIT SCIENCE DAILY

Binary Stars Caught Doing Nothing

These two M-type stars have interesting spectra but are just orbiting each other peacefully, depriving us of the cosmic carnage we all crave

(image of two red dwarf stars in space)

Now we don't even get to make a Death Star reference

Astronomer Dr. Hoshi Bakugawa has been relegated to simply imagining more violent scenarios while sitting at his desk making explodey sound effects

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

@chrislintott.bsky.social came up with this after he included a mysterious wedge of cheese in the title slide of his Gresham lecture yesterday, and I couldn't help but draw it. #writing #cheese

A cartoon of a wedge of yellow cheese with holes, with a label that says "CHEKHOV'S CHEESE: It'll Make Sense By Dessert!"

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

www.redbubble.com/i/t-shirt/Th... #Redbubble is having a big sitewide sale from now through the 28th, so it's a great time to shop the nerdy merch in my store, like this definitely accurate portrayal of the Dinosaur Renaissance! #dinosaurs #paleontology

redbubble.com

"The Dinosaur Renaissance" Relaxed Fit T-Shirt for Sale by surfersquid

Celebrating that period of Earth's history when saurian arts and science flourished. • Millions of unique designs by independent artists. Find your thing.

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Time for your daily dose of clickbait! News outlets just love to drop aliens into their article titles with wild abandon, don't they? #space #astronomy #itsneveraliens

Cartoon of a spoof news article:

CLICKBAIT SCIENCE DAILY

Have We Finally Found Aliens?

No, but now you're reading this article

(image of a slightly blurry stereotypical alien in silhouette, complete with dramatic backlighting)

This AI-generated stock image we found has nothing to do with the article, but we made you think it did

Astronomers are exploring new methods for incorporating a search for extraterrestrials into absolutely every research project they propose, so as to not waste taxpayers' money

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

New policy: if you email me with glowing praise for one of my novels, but don't mention any element of the book outside of what's in the Amazon description, I am going to assume you have not actually read it and are trying to sell me something.

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

This was a big project, but it was fun! My friend Maggie Jo Widdicombe at Museum of the Rockies adores #thylacines (Tasmanian tigers) and is very sad that they're extinct, so I made her a thylacine #amigurumi plushie! #Australia

An amigurumi plush toy of a thylacine sitting on a table

The same, now reclining with its head on its forepaws

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

This one's for the astronomers! Just giving the people what they want. ;) #space #blackholes #absenceofevidence #isnotevidenceofabsence

Spoof news article:

CLICKBAIT SCIENCE DAILY

Trillions of Black Holes May Lurk in This New Image of Deep Space

We promise this article is about black holes

(image of a completely blank black rectangle)

We have no way of detecting them, but nobody said they /weren't/ there

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I drew this illustration for one of my Neopian Times stories I've been putting on my blog a chapter at a time, and I thought it turned out really nice so I wanted to share it here. You can read the fic here: www.tkarispe.com/2026/08/shad... (new chapters every Mon. and Thurs.) #Neopets #fantasyart

Monochrome illustration of a Halloween-painted Kyrii from Neopets with glowing streaks in his fur and mane, partly obscured by shadow

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I was listening to an episode of the excellent paleontology podcast I Know Dino where the hosts were discussing the possibility of dinosaurs having eyebrows, and... this was all I could think of throughout the entire discussion. #dinosaurs

Cartoon portrait of "Groucho Rex", a T. rex with thick eyebrows, a moustache, and glasses like Groucho Marx

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I couldn't help myself and drew another spoof #science news article. #dinosaurs

Cartoon of a spoof news article:

CLICKBAIT SCIENCE DAILY

EARLIEST T. REX ANCESTOR DISCOVERED

Invertebrate Paleontologists Desperate for Attention

(image of a wormlike creature crawling across the seafloor)

Tyrannovermis imperator probably led to tyrannosaurs 500 million years down the line somewhere

"If you take off your glasses and squint, it does kinda look like a T. rex," says Dr. Tyrone O. Saros, who was not involved in the study

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Or, What Happens When You Give Your Niece the Controller #zelda

Comic featuring Breath of the Wild Link and the artist's niece reimagined as a Navi-like fairy companion:

(Link and fairy are standing next to a group of defeated enemies)

Fairy: "Did you see that? I defeated those enemies all by myself! And I only had to use all your good food to do it!"

(Link looks at her with a shocked expression)

Fairy: "It's okay. You were getting kinda fat anyway."

(Link holds his stomach and looks down at it self-consciously)

Yiga warrior: "Forgive me Master Kohga"

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I kind of want to start a dialogue about the definition of #paleoart. Should the term "paleoart" be restricted only to media designed to reconstruct extinct life realistically for the purposes of scientific illustration?

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Drew this after one too many clickbaity science news headlines... #dinosaurs

Cartoon of a spoof news article:

SCIENCE NEWS WEBSITE

NEW DINOSAUR HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH TYRANNOSAURUS

Paleontologists claim it is still worth reading about

(image of a nondescript herbivorous dinosaur munching cycads)

Life reconstruction of new species not being Tyrannosaurus

"We discovered a remarkably complete specimen this field season," says principal author Dr. Tanya Rex, who is always named principal author of every paper she works on

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

The Indian astrophysicist cat who greatly advanced understanding of stellar and black hole physics, has an X-ray telescope named after him, and never stopped trying to figure out those mysterious points of light. #science #space

Cartoon of physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar as a seal-point cat wearing a suit, trying to catch stars being projected on a wall by a planetarium projector

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

www.redbubble.com/i/t-shirt/Dw... For the rest of this week, everything in my #Redbubble store is up to 40% off! Go back to school in true nerd style with designs like my literal dwarf planets on apparel, stickers, and more! #space #Pluto #sciencehumor

redbubble.com

"Dwarf Planets" Classic T-Shirt for Sale by surfersquid

Who says dwarf planets aren't awesome? • Millions of unique designs by independent artists. Find your thing.

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Fight the system! Are we gonna let the Man bring us down, or are we gonna get our rover back?! #space #Mars #OccupyHomePlate

A cartoon of picket signs reading "Free Spirit (with a picture of the Spirit Mars rover stuck in sand and a teardrop in one of its camera lenses)", "Get that RAT out of the trap", "Justice for robot geologists", "End sand dune oppression", and "Sand traps are for golf, not rovers".

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Went to the Museum of Idaho for their wonderful exhibit on the undeservedly often overlooked #Permian era! Lots of fun fossils and adorable animatronics. I brought my drawing supplies and did a life restoration sketch of their beautiful #Dimetrodon mount! #paleoart

A grayscale marker sketch of the head and upper torso of a striped Dimetrodon, looking straight at the viewer

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Reposted by T.K. Arispe

Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Help! Parton Community Council has 60 days to raise £70k to buy Parton Kirk (resting place of James Clerk Maxwell). They plan to turn it into a visitor centre celebrating our great hero! The other buyers could turn it into long-term storage 😬 Even £5 would help 🙏🧪⚛️ www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...

justgiving.com

Help raise £70000 to Save Parton Kirk – JustGiving Crowdfunding

Iʼm raising money to Save Parton Kirk. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Decided to cat-ify another scientist! George Washington Clawver was an American botanist and inventor cat who really enjoyed finding things to do with peanuts. #science #cats

Botanist George Washington Carver as a brown cat with a moustache, playing in a pile of peanuts

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Finished designing another #amigurumi featuring the “sea pig” sea cucumber Scotoplanes and a hitchhiking juvenile king crab! It’s thought that the Scotoplanes provide the crabs protection from predators, while the crabs eat parasites off the sea cucumbers’ skin. #deepsea #marinebiology

Amigurumi plushies of a purple sea cucumber with a red crab riding on top

The same as previous, from a different angle

The same plushies, this time with the crab clinging upside-down to the sea cucumber’s underside

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Reposted by T.K. Arispe

Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

🦴 Virtual Fossil Friday is BACK! We’re kicking off a new season with a look at the thylacine, better known as the Tasmanian tiger. 🐯 Join MaggieJo Widdicombe Friday, Sept. 4, from 9–10 a.m. via Zoom. Free and open to all! #[bit.ly/49ykwlz

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Everyone has different priorities when playing #BreathOfTheWild, don't they? #zelda

Comic featuring Breath of the Wild Link and the author's niece reimagined as a Navi-esque fairy companion:

(Link is about to take an abandoned low-quality spear and shield)
Fairy: "WAIT!! Don't take those! They're UGLY!!"

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

www.tkarispe.com/2026/08/shad... I've started putting another revised #Neopets fanfic on my blog! A fun romp of an urban fantasy superhero crime drama as our intrepid heroes scramble to outsmart a mob boss while affirming the power of family. New chapters every Monday and Thursday! #fanfiction

tkarispe.com

Shadow Play, Chapter 1

This was one of the last things I ever submitted to the Neopian Times before I quit playing the website (for various reasons why I have rant...

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

mor.ticketapp.org/portal/produ... Save the date! @museumoftherockies.bsky.social 's Virtual Fossil Fridays kicks off its autumn season a week from today! Join me, my buddy Maggie Jo Widdicombe, and our paleo friends over Zoom for deep dives, art lessons, and guest speakers! #paleontology

mor.ticketapp.org

Museum of the Rockies

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Working on revising one of my #Neopets fanfics to put on my website--I had a ton of fun with this story. The characters and their interactions were very amusing to write, such as when one of the characters tries to explain modern slang to a warlock with a Transylvanian accent. #writing

Excerpt from a manuscript:

Terra smiled. “I know full well that all six elements can be used for good as well as evil. It depends on the wielder. My Draik is friends with a dark faerie who helped him save Brightvale. And we once defeated a very selfish and angry earth mage. It’s not about the element, but about the intent of one’s heart.” She chuckled. “And c’mon, magic glowy streaks? How hardcore is that?”

Zoltan’s ear twitched. “Vhat does ‘hardcore’ mean?”

“It means you look like somebody who can give ‘em the business!” Terra said, swinging her fist. “And that means… okay, what I’m trying to say is that you look like a guy who knows what he’s doing in the magic department, and people shouldn’t mess with you if they know what’s good for them.”

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Reading cookbooks with my cat before bed: "Let's see, what's tonight's story... ah yes, The Curious Tale of the Semolina Gnocchi. I hope this one doesn't keep you awake, Chewie. It's got a lot of cheese in it. Some kids don't like hearing about cheese right before bed."

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

The genius Englishcat mathematician who aided in WWII Allied codebreaking, laid the theoretical groundwork for modern computing, and loved the idea of infinite punch tape. #cats #computing #AlanTuring

Cartoon of mathematician Alan Turing as a white cat with orange spots, having rolled himself up in a segment of punch tape being fed into a type of Turing machine

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

www.redbubble.com/i/t-shirt/Ma... #Redbubble is having a sitewide sale from today through the 31st, so it's a great time to pick up some nerdy merch from my store! Where else are you going to find cowgirls riding dwarf sauropods? :) #paleoart #dinosaurs #dinowesterncore

redbubble.com

"Magyarosaurus - Hit the Trail" Classic T-Shirt for Sale by surfersquid

Time for a Cretaceous cattle drive. • Millions of unique designs by independent artists. Find your thing.

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

8-year-old niece: (accidentally spits out her mouthwash too forcefully, causing it to splash out of the sink and onto the counter) "I HATE PHYSICS" I've taught her well.

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

To be fair, the game has the same effect on adults. #zelda #breathofthewild

Comic featuring Breath of the Wild Link and a Navi-esque fairy companion representing the artist's niece

Fairy: "Just lemme do ONE MORE THING and then I'll go brush my teeth. For real."
(the fairy repeats "just one more" as Link undertakes various activities throughout the game)
Fairy: (as she and Link head off to fight Ganon) "JUST ONE MORE THIIIIIINNNNGGG..."

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

The latest #amigurumi project; I found this tutorial for an adorable cat: m.youtube.com/watch?v=gO3y... but, me being me, I turned mine into a snarky black cat.

An amigurumi toy of a black cat with an unimpressed expression

An amigurumi toy of a black cat with an unimpressed expression, from a different angle

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Can't stop drawing the #science #cats. (Please don't let your cat poke radium.)

Chemists Pierre and Marie Curie as cats; Marie is a tortoiseshell and Pierre is a white and tan long-haired cat. They are both staring at a piece of radium visibly glowing with radioactivity, and Pierre is reaching out a paw to poke it.

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T.K. Arispe @tkarispe.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Did a bit of painting this afternoon--Velociraptor all tucked in for another chilly night in the Cretaceous Gobi. #paleoart #dinosaurs #Velociraptor #fluffraptors

A digital painting in a blue-black palette featuring a Velociraptor sleeping with its head tucked to its chest amid moonlit sand dunes, with a full Moon in a starry sky

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