A Grave-Robbing Witch Is Tearing Tumblr Apart

What might be the biggest Tumblr meme of 2015 started as a post on a closed Facebook group for witches offering to sell human remains for the purposes of witchcraft. What's more disturbing is that the seller claims that these bones came from the remains of "poor" people, which they freely take on a monthly basis out of local cemetery near New Orleans. 

It was quickly determined that the Facebook poster was also Tumblr user littlefuckinmonster (since deleted¹). While the laws around disturbance of graves and the trade or sale² of human remains are hazy and determined at a state level, what struck many Tumblr users was the immorality of it.

The issue bridged over to Tumblr in the form of a callout post — a staple of the often hyper-corrective Tumblr community which seeks to course correct the behavior of groups or users who might be acting insensitively. 

http://thecapslockbrony.tumblr.com/post/135372416227/pastel-prouvaire-psa-tumblr-user

Proof of the Facebook post, as well as a number of potentially related local news stories about the issue, was eventually provided by Tumblr user nopathfollowed, and things spiraled out from there. The first wave was largely posts of utter disbelief.

http://littlepunkwolf.tumblr.com/post/135417523324/what-the-literal-fuck-is-this-bonegate-mess-thats

Then the whole idea of a callout post came into question since — rather than this being an example of misbehavior — it might be an actual crime.

http://themustangkids.tumblr.com/post/135416261925/who-sees-someone-stealing-bones-and-actually

Which was put to rest by claims that the police had been contacted prior to the post being made. 

http://connorstomacock.tumblr.com/post/135422306358/can-you-please-factcheck-before-spreading

At least for some users.

http://madredhattie.tumblr.com/post/135414710611/the-cops-had-already-been-called-when-the-post-was

Many users assumed from the setting, as well as extant photos of the seller, that this pointed to larger race issues. 

http://umhi-im-alexis.tumblr.com/post/135423249929/the-bone-thing-from-someone-who-was-present-for

People also drew battle lines regarding what sort of magical practices were acceptable. 

http://bermuda-n-drangle.tumblr.com/post/135423223258/i-should-make-my-stance-on-this-whole-debacle

Littlefuckinmonster resurfaced under a new URL³ to defend themselves in a lengthy post. They also claimed that the local news stories were about a different cemetery entirely,⁴ that they had been doxxed and threatened. 

http://metalgeararcade.tumblr.com/post/135394288844/no-i-am-not-digging-up-fucking-graves-jfc

Many of the most vocal critics of the issue were other magic practitioners and osteophiles.

http://omgthatdress.tumblr.com/post/135419418640/also-as-a-hard-core-cemetery-loving-history-nerd

The memes started once the conversation extended beyond bone-buffs and Wiccans, who saw much of the uproar and reaction as indicative of many of Tumblr's overarching quirks and failings.

http://tired-internet-addict.tumblr.com/post/135412006056/20-minutes-into-stealing-literal-human-remains-for

http://gooseyhouse.tumblr.com/post/135425647980/i-did-a-do

http://boneghazi.tumblr.com/post/135417256882/lord-kitschener-a-callout-post-for-grave

It also slotted in nicely with Tumblr's prexisting Skeleton Wars meme, and the active Undertale fandom present on the site.

http://the-skeleton-war.tumblr.com/post/135417357616/the-skeleton-war-is-back-on-because-somebody

http://dalisrhinoceros.tumblr.com/post/135412890666

Currently its unknown what's become of littlefuckinmonster. If they've created a new Tumblog it has yet to be found. Their name has become a "popular search" on Facebook, although they have not posted to Facebook in over a week. Attempts to contact her have so far been unsuccessful. Unfortunately, the various web presences of littlefuckinmonster continue to be screenshotted and spread.

If you have any information regarding this story, tweet it or email it to me: [email protected].