Through a series of disjointed ramblings through the internet, I stumbled across an obscure meme from the depths of the Russian equivalent of 4chan called "Welcome to Omsk." The meme is based on a painting by German surrealist painter Heiko Muller entitled Winged Doom. The painting in question revolves around a large, birdlike figure in red robes and glowing eyes.

Supposedly, this Russian *chan co-opted the character as a representation of the town of Omsk, notorious for its drug culture and seediness. The character of "Winged Doom" has taken on a life of its own, becoming representative of any sort of psychedelic drug reference on the internet. Naturally, the internet did its thing and spawned a large amount of fanart of this character, including the inevitable Advice Animal-style meme, several anthropomorphic representations, costuming videos, and an out-of-left-field-yet-somehow-not-totally-unexpected Mordecai/Winged Doom ship. Huh.

I'm finding myself intrigued by this meme, due to its combination of several of my favorite things: anthropomorphic birds, psychedelic reference, and general creepiness. The idea of a character from a surrealist painting taking on a life of its own as an internet meme is rather strange, but intriguing, as well. I'd like to know if anyone else has heard of this character and can provide any more context.

Welcome to Omsk, my friends.

Edit: A quick search on FurAffinity shows that some furry out there has already leaped on the meme and turned it into a strange, Nazi(ish?) fetish piece of softcore porn. I'm not really surprised that this sort of thing exists, but it does provide a reminder that nothing is too obscure for a furry to make porn out of.