The Discarded

The Discarded

generally regarded as a cult

semi-apocalyptic worldview

worship may involve self-harm

usually led by Pigeons

Legends say that thousands upon thousands of generations ago, this god was known as The Desired and kept in luxury by humans, safe from the voracious fastwings and sheltered from storms. As cities grew so did human capacity for disdain; eventually they stopped seeing the god as special, treating it as just another piece of rubbish in their vast civilizations. While it remains furious at the callous abandonment, this feral god can yet see glimpses of goodness in humans and so keeps still the retribution held waiting in wing and beak. Followers are mainly split between those who wish to get back in the good graces of humanity and those who try to hasten the apocalypse; both sides have subsectarians who endanger themselves or otherwise engage in self-harmful practices to ‘test’ the limits of human compassion. Convocations are held every three years, and as long as any follower can report a kind act by a human then all adherents regardless of sect are forbidden from enacting the apocalypse. This is probably the major religion I have most contact with in my personal life; above is a photograph I took while attempting to coax a member of the flock towards me so I could try and remove the strings that were binding their feet. Unfortunately another human sprinted between me and the bird, spooking it away and no doubt bringing the end of the world one step closer :/

On Thanksgiving I was incredibly lucky and got to meet several chickens! Top row is two pictures of Gracious, middle row left-to-right is Houdini (so named because he managed to escape a fox attack that killed a bunch of other chickens), Edward Scissorbeak (his beak grows crooked even after the people who keep him tried getting it to grow correctly so they give him special food and make sure he can eat) and Fawkes (named after the phoenix), bottom row is the ridiculously floofsome Ghost.

we’ve arrived at the final cutscene that you get when you’ve completed none of the sidequests and click through all the dialogue trees without reading any 

Wait, you are a scientist and you believe in God? How is that possible?

… trivially?Although to be honest this answer’s got shades of Radio Yerevan; I’m not a scientist but rather a science journalist drawing on the vast archives of an obscure research institution which may or may not have been founded as a tax dodge/adventurer’s club back in 1894, and I don’t follow the Abrahamic God but rather a vast pantheon of ancient deities which far precede (and are largely indifferent to) humanity. 

More than I can keep track of, that’s for damn sure. I’ve actually been meaning to write about the major ones with whom I try to keep in good standing but unfortunately the art fund has been embezzled (by me, i was denied fee waivers for getting my identification documents updated) so unless one of the artists I had to withdraw commissions from will accept an IOU it’ll be a bit before I can properly talk about them. I’ll see if I can throw something together for next week but no promises, aye?

Okay you know what? Screw you, buddy. i’m gonna write about bird gods because I am Nikole Elena Ancona and I am the Lead Ornithographist for The Academy of Bird Sciences. Ain’t a single godsdamned person who can tell me how to run this venerable institution except Edith, and I’m pretty sure she skipped town months ago because some police came by with a warrant. So really that makes me the 83rd de facto Administrator of this pillar of cross-species knowledge and I will run it how I see fit. Step off.

First revealed as a hoax perpetrated by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, Great Bitterns continue to be reported by novice birdwatchers an astonishing two and a half centuries later. This peculiar endurance is in large part due to veteran birders building replicas out of feathers, discarded beaks, and particularly hostile rocks to fool credulous newbies. Unfortunately for prank-hearted birding mentors, this practice is dying out as the newest generation of birdwatchers can trivially fact-check their existence through the use of internet-connected pocket telephones.

This entry was sponsored by a Patreon supporter! If you would like to help direct research here at The Academy of Bird Sciences, become a patron!

i still have to write secret bonus knowledge, add a small gift, fold them, seal them, and mail them. all of this should have been done when i got the requests originally but i am an incredible procrastinator; i am so lucky my patreon supporters are patient and kind souls <3 (at The Academy of Bird Sciences)