#field guide

[voidbug]

🦋BUTTERFLY FAIRIES OF THE WORLD🦋 I think at this point I've posted all of my butterfly fairies! I've been working on this thing forever, so I really hope you enjoy it. It's very much a love letter to scientific illustrations of animals, that I used to pour over as a kid! I made prints of this illustration as well, which you can buy on my etsy!

[crawfordpress]

FIELD GUIDE TO THE FROGS OF JAPER COUNTY

This is a collection of single page gag comics about frogs in the form of a field guide. Released in the spring of 2023. 12 pages. 5.5 X 8.5 in. Blue ink on green copy paper cover. Blue ink on white copy paper for the interior pages. Risograph printed.

[wizard-legs]

I’ve always wanted to make a fantasy field guide because my brain chemistry was permanently altered by the kids’ media landscape of the early 2000s. I’ve also really needed to sort of get back to what I love about art lately. So, here’s a little sampler of some… field paintings I did today of some very real subjects.

[rebeccathenaturalist]

I have THE biggest, BEST news EVER--

I GOT A BOOK CONTRACT!!!!!!!!

I am exceptionally pleased to announce that I have just signed a contract with Ten Speed Press (a division of Penguin Random House) to publish...

The Everyday Naturalist: How to Identify Animals, Plants, and Fungi Wherever You Go!

It is slated for publication in early Summer 2025, and will be written for anyone who wants to be able to identify the living beings around them regardless of educational level or experience. A HUGE thank you to my literary agent Jane Dystel of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret LLC, and my editor at Ten Speed Press, Julie Bennett!

This isn't just another field guide--it's a how-to book on nature identification that helps you go from "I have no idea what this animal/plant/fungus is and I don't know where to start" to "Aha! I know how to figure out what species I'm looking at/hearing!" Those familiar with my nature ID classes know that I emphasize skills and tools accessible to everyday people. Whether you're birdwatching, foraging, or just enjoying the nature around you, my goal is to help you be more confident in figuring out what living beings you encounter wherever you go--and not just in the Pacific Northwest. 

The Everyday Naturalist will not only explain what traits you need to pay attention to like color, size, shape, location, etc. and how to use them to differentiate among similar species, but will also detail how and when to use tools like apps, field guides, and more. (And given the current kerfuffle about A I generated foraging books, I will of course include information on how to determine the veracity of a given book or other resource.) And my editor and I have already been discussing some great additions to the book that will make it even more user-friendly!

Are you excited about this? I certainly am! I wanted to wait until the pixels were dry on the contract before going public with this (though my newsletter subscribers got to hear about it last month, lucky them!) It still doesn't feel real, but I'm already working on the manuscript so it'll sink in soon enough.

I will, of course, keep you all apprised of my progress because this project is going to be a big part of my life over the next several months as I write and edit and write and edit and wash, rinse, repeat. So keep your eyes on this space for updates (and feel free to add yourself to my monthly email newsletter here, too!)

[checanty]

I just noticed I didn't tell you yet--which is shameful as it is Tumblr where the Mermaid Scientist was born! My Mermaid Book was picked up by Eye of Newt and is available for pre-order right now (it's coming out very soon, though, so any orders should make it until Christmas if that's a concern of yours)! If you're in North America, I'd suggest ordering directly through my publisher's website, however it's available anywhere you'd usually order books. You can ask your favourite indie book shop to order it for you or--if there's no other option or you're worried about crazy shipping costs where you live--it's available via the place starting with A, which shall otherwise not be named, as well. Please note: This is an edited version of the original book. It's shorter, but with more coherent world building and a beautiful new layout and design. It's a proper field guide now!

[littlealienproducts]

Vintage 1970s World of Fish Reference Book by TheThriftyFoxShop

[sirinthada]

The first collections poster, of some common North American woodpeckers! Each one of which I have had the fortune of seeing IRL too <3

[atomicc]

Umm my friends have been talking about pony so I've been drawing pony!!!! 💥 ID in alt and below cut

ID: A crayon drawing of a my little pony friendship is magic oc. It's a white pony with red and blue scene hair, arm warmers and a snapback.

A digital colored drawing of Party Favor from mlp. He has a distressed look on his face. There is text overlayed that says "Come to our little town, the stories here are never down, the happiness flows all around and little could to wrong.

A digital colored drawing of Party Favor from mlp, and a mlp oc. Party Favor has a broken horn, and looks mildly distressed. The oc is an adaptation of The Smiler. It's a bright yellow Pegasus, with black and white stripes on it's wings and legs. It's hair is also black and white.

A colored drawing of a mlp oc. He is facing away from the camera, moving away from the viewer. He is a greenish brown, with a dark green mane and tail. His cutie mark is three pine trees. In the corner is an uncolored drawing of Party Favor with a broken horn and flat hair. He is smiling uncomfortably, with the text behind him saying "Our town."

A digital colored drawing of a mlp oc. The ocs name is Scared Silly. He is a hunched over pegasus with white fur and black mane and tail. His cutie mark is a frightened looking yellow face. His eyes are yellow. He is a failed mirror pool copy of Surprise, from an alternate universe. There are several drawings of him around the canvas. At the top, a drawing of a mirror pool clone of Surprise, a white pegasus with yellow hair, with flat wet hair. There is an arrow to a small drawing of them running away. The caption says "Only got some of Surprise's traits." Below is a sketch of him getting his new cutie mark. Caption says "Eventually became an individual and gained his own cutie mark. Is afraid of being found and sent back to the pool. (wouldn't happen)."

Other captions around the image say, "he/it pronouns, trans gay and objecto. Hair can't inflate anymore but does fluff up. Special talent is predicting danger, like pinkie sense times ten. On pony HRT, dyes his hair." /end ID.

[the-cricket-chirps]

John James Audubon, Plate 77, Belted Kingfisher, Birds of America, 1827-1838

[horizoncountdown]

For those that are curious, this is the Real World Horizon location map that Count uses, done by jesuscuervo on Reddit.

See under the cut for more information.

Real World Horizon Map (Speculative)

The Embrace proper is just the valleys and lakes between Pike’s Peak and Cheyenne Mountain, the core of the Nora Territory. Here, I placed each village in a valley respective to the location of Cheyenne Mountain but moved a few things around so it would not be too crowded.

The Outer Sacred Lands – outside the Embrace proper – contain several outcast camps. I had the Nora Territory expand across the Grand Mesa and Gunnison National Forest. Brom’s Camp is located over the Black Canyon of the Gunnison as it is depicted in-game, while Rost’s Hovel and Grata’s Camp are located on the hills/mountains closer to the Embrace.

Valleymeet; the neutral land between The Sacred Lands and the Carja Sundom is based on Maroon Bells, CO in-game. However, I mapped it out to include all of the White River National Forest within Valleymeet.

Hunter’s Gathering the main settlement in Valleymeet would likely be would be located on the Roaring Fork Valley near Woody Creek. That is the largest open valley in the area and the path through which the present-day CO-82 passes could work as a main throughway between the Nora and Carja lands.

Shivering Watch, following CO-82 the mountains narrow into a canyon south of Glenwood Springs (not Glenwood Canyon). The canyon acts as the chokepoint and border between the formerly Nora lands and the Carja Sundom where Shivering Watch and The Daytower are located.

Two Teeth Camp is depicted as being on Maroon Peak in-game. However, it is built over the ruins of the Smuggler-Union Hydroelectric Plant, which is further south in Telluride, CO. I kept Two-Teeth in the southern location so it acts as a second buffer between the Sacred Lands and the Sundom.

The Carja Sundom; is where the game took the greatest artistic liberty. The game depicts the heartland of the Carja Sundom south of the Colorado River (Lake Powell specifically); however the real-world locations depicted within The Sundom, the area its geography is based on (Eagle Canyon, Arches, and Canyonlands National Parks), and the route Alloy travels through suggests the Sundom is actually located north of the Colorado River in the real world. Thus rather than having the Sundom’s heartland located in the Colorado Mesa, it would make more sense to place it in the already fertile Price and Green River Valleys in Utah. This way I was able to keep Meridian in Eagle Canyon and Sunfall in Bryce Canyon. Thus Sunfall is actually southwest rather than northwest of Meridian. The Carja Sundom would extend across most of the Western Slope in Colorado into most of eastern and southern Utah. With Shatter Kiln (Provo) as its northernmost boundary.

The Sun-Steps – are the first region of the Sundom that Alloy encounters on her journey. In-game it stretches from Arches National Park to what appears to be Horseshoe Bend. However, Horseshoe Bend is too far south for it to make sense as the border, so I have Morning Watch located further north on another bend. Since river bends can form anywhere it is not a stretch to think there is a new bend somewhere else. Over all the Sun-Steps correspond to the Grand Valley in CO.

Free Heap – located within the Sun Steps is Free Heap, an Oseram outpost set up to provide construction material for Meridian. If they are mining for industrial materials from the Old Ones, it would make the most sense for Free Heap to be located on or near Grand Junction CO, which is the largest settlement in the area today.

Gatelands – form the eastern half of the central Carja Sundom. Unlike the rest of the Sundom, this region is relatively easy to map out since most locations have an obvious real-world reference corresponding to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.

Lone Light had to be relocated since Horseshoe Bend is much further downriver in reality. I placed it in a smaller bend upriver.

Gatelands Bandit Camp - I depicted the Bandint Camps as neutral/independent enclaves within the Sundom, the Gatelands Camp being the largest one of these and corresponding to the entirety of Arches National Park.

The Jewel – the central heartland of the Carja Sundom appears to be based on Monument Valley in present-day Utah and Arizona. However this location would be rather out of the way from Aloy’s journey and it doesn’t fit some of the locations depicted within the Jewel itself (mainly Meridian, which is located in Eagle Canyon). Thus, I thought it made more sense for it to be centered on the eastern Green River Basin along the present-day Carbon, Emery, and Wayne counties. This way Meridian remains in Eagle Canyon and the Spurflints in the San Rafael Reef. The Spearshafts would be a new formation (not present today) somewhere in Canyonlands National Park.

Rustwatch – in-game the Shadow Carja territory is north of the Jewel across from Daybrink (Lake Powell), however since The Jewel is no longer located south of the Lake, Rustwatch and Sunfall are now southeast of the Carja heartland. But Sunfall keeps its location in Bryce Canyon.

The Southern Frontier – in-game Kestrel’s Perch is defined as a fortress built by the fifth Sun King Zavarad as the Sundom expanded north of Daybrink (Lake Powell) into Rustwatch. However because in the real world, Lake Powell is south of what I’ve defined as the Carja heartland, this frontier is now south of Daybrink and Rustwatch.

The Mountain Frontier – Call of the Mountain doesn’t really give many references on where Rising Light and the main route of the game are located, except that it is mountainous and – for the most part – densely wooded. So I opted for the Sundom to have a “Mountain Frontier” along the Wasatch Range. Because the world of Horizon is likely set in a warmer and wetter Earth (due to rising sea levels), the Bonneville and Lahontan Great Lakes have been resurrected east of this range. The former of these acts as The Sundom’s western border and provides the precipitation and rainfall necessary to create forests and jungles in the Colorado Plateau.

Shattered Kiln – a bandit camp near the northern reaches of the Sundom, as in-game it is based on Provo Utah near Maker’s End (Salt Lake City).

The Daunt; the southwestern corner of the Carja Sundom corresponds to Zion National Park. However, Zion is relatively small to fit all the in-game locations. In-game, Zion National Park appears to be the same size as the entirety of Southern Nevada or the California Central Valley. To fit everything in, I extended The Daunt to include the entire Virgin River Basin in Washington County Utah.

Barren Light would then be located with St George, Utah where the Virgin River (and the I-15) cross Bloomington Hills.

Chainscrape and the Redhew Quarry, the Oseram settlement within the Daunt is located along a bit upriver from Barren Light.

The Claim; the Oseram territory is not depicted in-game, however, Pitch Cliff and Free Heap are two Oseram settlements near their border with the Carja Sundom. It is stated that their territory is north of The Sundom and west of The Cut, so it likely corresponds to Idaho, specifically the Snake River Basin.

Pitch Cliff is likely located along the Roan Cliffs, and possibly very near the border between the Claim and the Sundom.

The lands between The Long Roam, the Claim, and the Carja Sundom form an unclaimed region around the present-day Uintah Basin. Oseram traders travel through it and the Carja might have sent some raiders across it, but it remains mostly unpopulated. I shaded this area pink as the Carja might claim it but likely hold no direct control.

No Man’s Land - is the border between the Carja Sundom and the Tenakth Clanlands. No Man’s Land borders are not well defined in-game, but they seem to correspond to the northern shore of Lake Mead, specifically the area around the Overton Arm where the Virgin River meets the Lake. The overall location works for a real-world equivalent, but a few things get shuffled around for them to fit.

Jagged Deep; the eastern bank of the Virgin River was tenuously controlled by the Carja Sundom. What remains is Riverwatch, an abandoned fort on the banks of the Overton Arm, and Jagged Deep an abandoned mine that is now delved by Oseram adventurers. The Carja Camp on the west bank of the Overton Arm is the furthest west Carja settlement.

Eastern Lie & Deadfalls are the westernmost Tenakth settlements closest to the Cajra and Utaru borders, which have been taken by Regalla’s Rebels. In fact, most of the Tenakth side of No Man’s Land is occupied by the rebels.

Spinebreak; in-game Spinebreak is located on the southeastern border between No-Man’s Land and the Tenakth Clanlands proper and built under the ruins of a present-day highway tunnel. The issue is that there are no tunnels – or logical places to put a tunnel – between the Overton Arm and Las Vegas (the Stillsands). I thus place Spinebreak further north on the Virgin River Canyon acting as a second border between Barren Light and the Tenakth camps.

The Utaru Tribal Lands; the Utaru settled in the lands surrounding the Western Grand Array (WGA), which they named Plainsong.

Plainsong, although the WGA is based on the Very Large Array in New Mexico, the VLA is very far from Aloy’s path and the in-game geography. Furthermore just like the Nora take their name from the NORAD Facility and the Tenakth take their name from the Tenth Task Force, I suspect the Utaru take their name from Utah. Thus it is likely that the WGA is not the VLA but rather a new array built somewhere in Southern Utah, between the Carja Sundom and the Desert Clans. With this in mind, I placed Plainsong on the Cedar Valley and worked from there.

Stone’s Echo – Stone’s Echo is an Utaru outpost near the Stillsands, just past No Man’s Land. I placed it along the Meadow Valley Wash, which would likely be a tad more fertile than in the present day. Because we are dealing with what I expect is a warmer and wetter climate due to rising sea levels (and AETHER’s supercell storms going haywire).

Riverhymn – On the northern edge of the Utaru lands lies Riverhymn; the second largest Utaru settlement after Plainsong. In-game it is located in a fairly mountainous corner. So it is likely located near Frisco Peak with the river that passes through it being the Beaver River. However this river flows in the opposite direction that is seen in-game, rather than flowing south towards Plainsong, it flows north into the Sevier Lake.

·Due to the wetter climate, it is possible that the entire Bonneville Basin is once again flooded and Lake Bonneville acts as a boundary between the Utaru, the Carja, the Oseram, and Tenakth Desert Clans but the game map does not go that far north. Regardless I thought it be cool so I opted to depict it as such.

Tenakth Desert Clans; the Desert Clans inhabit most of Southern Nevada. Their territory reaches the present-day Great Basin National Park in the northeast and the Shining Wastes (Death Valley National Park) to the West.

The Stillsands; southwest of the Utaru territory, is another semi-contested region (it is within the Tenakth Desert Clan territory but both major settlement Camp Nowhere and Hidden Ember are Oseram). This is pretty simple since it corresponds to Clark County NV, with Hidden Ember clearly being Las Vegas. I originally had Devil’s Grasp be located in Barstow CA, but opted to place it closer to Las Vegas in Primm.

Dry Yearn; is the easternmost region of the Clanlands. It contains Arrowhand, the second largest Desert Clan settlement, and Restless Weald. It is fairly easy to place since Restless Weald is based in Caliente, NV. With this in mind, I placed Arrowhand over Crystal Springs, NV, and the Dry Yearn Camp just north of Restless Weald.

The Greenswell; is the northernmost region of the Desert Clanlands; it is also the least arid region of the Desert Clans. Part of this can be attributed to the supercell storms, but I also opted to have the core of the territory within the Great Basin National Park, which is a very green area within the Nevada desert, which further explains the area’s climate.

Scalding Spear; centrally located in the Nevada desert, the capital of the Desert Clans is located on the present-day Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project.

Shining Wastes; is an arid mostly flat expanse of land, which for the most part corresponds to Death Valley National Park. The only problem is that Death Valley is not particularly flat. I included Death Valley, now filled in with a saline lake, within the Shining Wastes but placed the main settlements located further north within the Nevada Desert (which is mostly flat).

Runner’s Wild – a small region in the Desert Clan territory, Runner’s Wild corresponds to Mammoth Lakes in California and acts as a border between the Desert and Sky Clans.

Salt Bite – north of Runner’s Wild this region borders Runner’s Wild and the Greenswell, it is clearly based on Mono Lake in California and the geography easily fits into this location.

Memorial Grove; although the Tenakth are divided into three warring Clans (and Regalla’s Rebels), the Memorial Grove acts as a capital / neutral ground for all three. The Grove is located on a museum and military base – specifically an airforce base – south of Mono Lake. The base does not exist in the present day but could be located anywhere in the Owens Valley. I paced it on Independence, CA (fitting name). Like other areas on the map, the Owens Valley is also much more fertile than in the current day.

Tenakth Sky Clans; northwest of the Memorial Grove the Sky Clans make their home along the Sierra Nevada, specifically Yosemite Valley and the Sierra National Forrest. Not many changes here, but it doesn’t seem like their territory expands much further north than Lake Tahoe (unless it is not depicted).

The Bulwark; the capital of the Skyclans is based on Sentinel Dome in Yosemite Valley, I kept it here and based the rest around it.

Sheerside Mountains; are based on the Sierra Nevada, the region itself corresponds to the northern half of the Sky Clans’ territory. I took Sheerside Climb to be the pass from Mammoth Lakes to Yosemite and assumed Bonewhite Tear and the other settlements would be located along CA Route 120 and the Tuolumne River.

Stand of the Sentinels the southern region of the Sky Clans appears to be based off the Sierra National Forest. Its major settlements follow a pass from Mammoth Lakes to Tide’s Reach (possibly Fresno CA, see below). This suggests that the major settlements are located along the San Joaquin River.

Tenakth Lowland Clans; like the Carja Sundom, the Lowland Clans pose a huge conundrum. The Lowlands seem to consist of the foothills of the Sierras along Kings Canyon National Park and the Sequoia National Forrest towards a coast. This suggests that California’s Central Valley is flooded due to rising sea levels. If this is the case it helps explain why The Long Coast (Bakersfield) is a coast and not inland.However, if this were the case there should be a long peninsula formed from California's Coastal Ranges. But this peninsula is completely absent from the in-game map. Furthermore, Tide’s Reach appears to be based in Oakland, but it is geographically located at the foothills of the Sierra National Forrest. This should be impossible; Oakland would be located on the aforementioned “peninsula” between San Francisco Bay and the “Central Valley Sea”, but this peninsula is nowhere to be found on the map.

I tried my best to come up with a creative solution.

Raintrace – as in-game Raintrace is based on Sequoia National Forrest, Lowland Path and Fall’s Edge are located along CA Route 180 and King’s Canyon, which provide a direct route from the Memorial Grove to the rest of the Lowland Clans’ territory. Fenrise is further south on Isabella Lake where the Kern River valley provides a connection between the Desert Clans and Lowland Clans’ territories.

Tide Reach – I relocated Tide’s Reach to Fresno, CA which is now along the coast of the “Central Valley Sea”. I opted to have it based on Fresno since it provides another large present-day settlement where to base it, and more importantly, it is directly on the path Alloy would take from Stand of the Sentinels. Since Alloy can’t swim from Tide’s Reach to the Isle of Spires (San Francisco) it makes sense to place it further away from the island than Oakland. SF Bay is large, but not large enough for there to be a storm that wrecks Alloy’s raft. To make the route Alloy takes a bit more logical I also broke up the Coastal Ranges north of the Salinas River into an archipelago. I considered sinking the entirety of the Mt Diablo Range, to provide a direct route from Tide’s Reach to the Island, but I thought that would be too much.

The Long Coast – in-game The Long Coast seems to refer to the Pacific Coast, but as already mentioned it also refers to the ruins of Bakersfield CA. Thankfully a flooded Central Valley means we’ve gained a new coast. Thus the Long Coast now refers to the western coast of this inland sea. Thornmash, in-game coordinates suggest it is located near Tracy, CA. but I placed it a little further south on this coast so it forms a triangle with Tide’s Rach and Raintrace Rise and so it is not too close to San Francisco.

Cliffs of the Cry – as in-game the Cliffs correspond to Big Sur and the California Pacific Coast. I opted to have Raintrace West located on the Cliffs (close to San Luis Obispo) since you travel from it to the Zennith Base.

Isle of Spires; is straightforward San Francisco, which is now an island. Alva describes San Francisco as an archipelago, so this helped me further justify the breakup of the Coastal Ranges. Although I realize that such geologic shifts would likely destroy the city of San Francisco itself. This is the suspension of disbelief in a world that has a volcano appear on Yellowstone and New Zealand sink beneath the waves.

Zenith Base; originally I thought about having it located in Monterey however it is south of Tilda’s Mansion, which is in Big Sur. It then seemed fitting to place the Zenith Base in Vandenberg Airforce Base instead.

The Burning Shores; it is LA, which like San Francisco is now an archipelago due to tectonic activity and rising sea levels. This is pretty much explained in-game.

Fleet’s End is located somewhere in the Baldwin Hills, which are now the main island of the “bay”

Pangea Park / Londra Productions is described as being on a peninsula. Because it is partially based on Dinseyland (or Universal Studios) I’ve opted to keep it in Anaheim. To make Anaheim a peninsula I’ve flooded the San Gabriel Valley in the north and Newport Beach in the south.

[nollthere]

InsertAnInvert2024: Babies

[toadstoolgardens]

Amanita appreciation

McKnight, Kent & Vera McKnight. A Peterson Field Guide to Mushrooms: North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987. Illustrations by Vera McKnight.

[warriors-official-art]

Title: The Ultimate Guide (2023)

Arc: Field Guide

Type: cover

Country: North America

Characters: Currently Unknown

Artist: Owen Richardson

Source: https://warriorcats.com/content/article/exclusive-title-and-cover-reveal-warriors-the-ultimate-guide

[wizard-legs]

Sketch of a solar flairy hanging out on a branch

Field Paintings 1. Field Painting 2.

[darknights04]

Can you do a fiction based on The goo goo dolls -slide with MC and Sebastian? :3

I think I'm addicted to your writing!! <3

Anything you Want

This is a bit shorter than usual, however, I did my best to fulfill your request! I hope I did it justice. ☺️

Pairings: Sebastian Sallow x MC!Reader

Warnings: MC beings just a little stressed, slight emotional breakdown but fluffy in the end.

Masterlist

Anyone at Hogwarts could tell that lately… you’ve been drowning. With all the stress of being the “hero of hogwarts,” dealing with Harlow, the poachers, and on top of that studying for your OWLS, you were about ready to snap.  Even though you weren’t sure why, Sebastian was there for you through it all. 

You weren’t sure if he knew it, but through everything you’ve been through, Sebastian was your rock. He and he alone was the only thing keeping you from going totally insane. He was your escape from it all. He never treated you different because of your power, never used you for your popularity. And despite what you thought, he could see you were drowning. 

Your OWLS seemed frightenly close and you felt you weren’t at all prepared. At this point, you had begun to lash out. Anyone who looked at you the wrong way would get an earful. You found yourself purposely walking through the forbidden forest just looking for a fight to blow off some steam on Ranrok’s lingering loyalists. By now you were one broken nail away from having a full blown breakdown. 

Later that day, however, you ended up a crying mess in Sebastian’s arms after a mere question of “Are you okay?” 

You didn’t expect that was what would push you over the edge, but it was. Sebastian knew you had been having a hard time, but he never expected his as he hugged you tightly, eyes wide with both shock and confusion. 

“Shh, shh, it’s alright,” he hushed, trying to soothe you. It only took a few seconds for you to try and pull your self together. Sniffing away your tears and wiping your eyes, you tried to stop the overflowing emotions. 

“I’m sorry,” you said quickly. “I didn’t mean to-”

“Stop,” Seb had interrupted, pulling you back to his chest. “Don’t apologize, don’t bottle anything up anymore. Just put your arms back around me. Let it all out.” 

You didn’t know what to say. On the one hand you didn’t want to show any more vulernerablitity than you had to, but on the other Sebastian was your best friend. You needed someone to confide in.

“I can’t do this anymore,” you said after a few moments.

“What?” he asked.

“Everything. Being the ‘hero of Hogwarts’, a target for the poachers, Harlow’s gang, and the loyalists. I can’t be that person anymore. I need to just be a student.” 

“Then that’s all you have to be,” he said, running his hand down your hair to comfort you. “Tell me what you want to be, and that’s what you are. Anything you want me to, I’ll do for you.” 

Your heart stilled at his words. You had wondered if he really meant it. If the boy in front of you would really do anything for you. 

“I- anything?” you wanted to confirm, pulling away from him slightly. 

Sebastian chuckled. “Within reason of course.” 

“I want to be yours,” you said simply. This time, it was Sebastian’s heart that stopped. 

“I- w- what?” he stuttered. He didn’t ever think that he’d hear you say those words. That you’d ever want to be anything more than friends. 

“You said anything I want,” you repeated. “I want you to kiss me.” 

Sebastian was torn. On the one hand, that was all he’d ever wanted. Not to mention you were asking him to do so. But on the other hand, this was not at all the right time. You were a wreck, he didn’t want to feel as if he was taking advantage of the situation. However, as he saw your face of disappointment to his hesitation, the choice was no longer his. 

He was quickk to tilt your chin to his own, connecting your lips quickly as to never see that look on your face again. Kissing Sebastian was like nothing you have ever felt. You felt as though there were fireworks exploding all around you and your heart would beat straight out of your chest. You couldn’t help the smile on your face as he pulled away. A comfortable silence fell between you in the moments following. You didn’t feel you had to say anything. It was all said in your kiss. 

“Do you want to run away with me?” he said after a moment.

You laughed. “What? Run away? Sebastian we can’t-”

“Not forever,” he clarified. “Just for tonight. No more studying, no more worries. Just us for one night.” 

“Sebastian I can’t afford a day away from my studies.” 

“Oh please, you’ve studied plenty. I daresay you’re ahead of both Ominis and me combined.” You rolled your eyes at him, but before you could say no again, he continued. “I can see the no building up on your lips,” he said, leaning in to kiss you again before you could confirm of deny anything. While you were distracted by his kiss, Sebastian reached behind you and pulled out your field guilde.

“Sebastian!” you protested, reading for the book but being unsuccessful as he held it out of your reach.

“I will not take no for an answer,” he said, walking away slowly. “I’ll send you an owl with the details. You will get this back after tonight.” 

And with that, he turned away and left, leaving you speechless behind him.

---

That night, you made your way towards the castle, following the enchanted map that Sebastian had sent you via his owl. Even you had to admit, it was a nice touch. Eventually, you found yourself at the entrance of the forbidden forest. Upon arriving, the map changed to read one word… “Lumos”. 

When the word appeared you scoffed, a small smile on your lips as you casted Lumos and saw the candles appear as predicted. The candles took the same path as they did when you found them the first time with Sebastian’s help, leading all the way to a small table in the forest. 

“Not very original, is it?” you laughed once you saw Sebastian standing by the table, a grin on his face. 

“Well I was a little short on time,” he admitted with a chuckle. “But I figured why leave a perfectly good picnic spot to waste?” With that, he motioned for you to sit down, pushing in your chair behind you before taking the other seat for himself. 

“Did you get the house elves to give you all this food?” you wondered as you looked at the spread laid out before you. 

“No…” he said slowly, clearly lying. You raised your eyebrows towards him. “Okay maybe one or two helped out but I picked the food.” 

You laughed and shook your head at the Slytherin in front of you as you took a sip of your pumpkin juice. You had to admit, even with his antics, this was a much-needed break for you. Sebastian knew this. He knew that no matter how hard you tried to hide it, you needed this. Almost as much as he needed you. And he was willing to give you anything you wanted to keep this smile on your face. 

[rebeccathenaturalist]

When I left off writing last week....err....actually, no. The week before. Let's just pretend last week didn't happen, because I had to make up a bunch of non-writing work that couldn't wait any longer, plus I finally made it to Portland after all the ice and snow melted, and some other unexpected things chewed into my time. That meant there was no wordcount added to The Everyday Naturalist manuscript.

So when I left off week before last, I was at 56,789 (on purpose.) I had to do more non-writing stuff today, but I managed to get about three hours of writing in, in which I wrote 1,913 words, plus I tweaked the plant identification template. And, technically, I wrote even more words, because the three sample plant templates aren't included in the main manuscript wordcount, so I'm definitely over 2,000 words for the night. Though that may balance out things like little notes about image and side bar insertions, etc.

So let's just focus on that main manuscript, which currently sits at 58,702. And the reason I spent most of today doing not-writing stuff is so that tomorrow can be an all-writing day once my morning routine is all done. I can definitely break through 60,000, and get the three sample fungus templates done. Then it'll be on to the troubleshooting chapter, where I'll go into challenges like how to differentiate between two very similar species, or what to do if resources like field guides for your area are slim to none. It's the last full-sized chapter before we get into the back matter--yay!