Needed a large ruminant for the marshlands and combining an eider and a moose seemed reasonable! It grazes on submerged boggy plants and aquatic invertebrates, using its long legs to wade and even swim. They’ve lost the ability to fly but retain small vestigial wings that are used for display and swatting flies. They’re hunted for meat and their highly valued supersoft insulating down, but prove to be a formidable foe.
This is Sam Nordquist. He was a transgender man who was lured to my hometown back in September by his Internet girlfriend. She and four other individuals then proceeded to torture and kill him, leaving his body in a field. I'm absolutely gutted. The misunderstanding for the trans community that leads to this sort of hatred is something that I just will never understand. I'm so sorry, Sam. You deserved so much more than this.
If you are able, please donate and share the GoFundMe set up by his sister. She and Sam's mom have made it to New York, but now they will have to go through the horrible process of arranging his funeral and transporting his body back home.
https://gofund.me/b11a9148
Dear Supporter,
I hope this message finds you and your family in good health. My name is Eman Zaqout from Gaza. I am reaching you out to seek your urgent help in spreading the word about our fundraiser. I lost both my home and my job due to the ongoing genocide in Gaza and we are facing catastrophic living conditions. 💔
I kindly ask you to visit my campaign. Your support, whether through donating or sharing, will help us reach more people who can make a difference. Thank you for your continued support for the Palestinian cause. Your dedication brings us closer to freedom. 🙏🕊
Note: Verified by several people as 90-ghost and aces-and-angels. ☑
I’m not dead! Been reconsidering what kind of story I wanted to tell and how I want avians and humans to interact, so I decided to make a flightless avian. I drew inspiration from macaws, kakapo, ostriches, Indian runner ducks, and the Pokémon Latias for the long neck and ear tufts. Still need to do some work on the arm feather shapes and figure out clothing and coloration. I’m tentatively calling them Striders.
They’re semi-arboreal, living in mangrove-like forests interspersed along the floodplain. Their long legs are ideal for wading through water and reaching across branches and aerial roots, while their zygodactyl feet are useful for perching and gripping bark.
Striders eat a diet of nuts, fruits and grains and maintain arboreal gardens of fruit-bearing epiphytes. They also cultivate lily-like aquatic tubers.
Arbormancy is used to construct nest hollows, bridges and other infrastructure from live trees, in addition to speeding up their growth. Some nomadic Striders make a living traveling to human settlements, using arbormancy and other botanical magics to benefit their crops- for a fee.
My “taur” birdfolk may still be part of this story, or they might not- I’ll have to consider what makes sense as I build plot and characters. I’m excited to flesh out Striders’ culture and characteristics!