#orange headed thrush

[birdblues]

Orange-headed Thrush

[inestheunicorn]

Our softie monkey boy is the main face of this month's Happy Mail goodies 🌟 I keep telling myself to draw guys more often, so expect more hippie babes bc they match my cottagecore vibe perfectly 🌷

To join our super secret club and get these, just check the Art Caffe here 🌱 p.s: dude has immaculate cheekbones tho

[sitting-on-me-bum]

The orange-headed thrush in a forest in Tehatta, West Bengal, India. The thrush is a colourful, shy singing bird that prefers to live in the damp, secluded environment of the rural bush on the Indian subcontinent and south-east Asia

Photograph: Soumyabrata Roy/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

[herpsandbirds]

Orange-headed Thrush (Geokichla citrina), male, family Turdidae, order Passeriformes, Karnataka, India

photograph by Prakash Prabhu

[shigacocki]

" you like that? My sweet y/n.. Taking me so well. " siren! Shigaraki x chubby human fem! reader non-con smut

Author: so the reason why it's non-con because shigaraki lure reader into having sex since most sirens tend to do that or 💀 someone lmaoo so enjoy!! 💙

Warings: water sex! Non-con touching, fingering, mermaid dick, rough sex, scent kink, breeding, dirty talking, Yandere! shigaraki

You were walking on the sandy soft beach, it's was quite peaceful and calm.

You were picking up pretty shells to collect or make some jewelry, the sky has a pretty reddish-orange hue making your skin look radians.

You grab one that's a pretty preachy conch as you look at it, you hear someone's singing nearby, you couldn't help to be interested by it.

You follow the singing to see someone near by huge rocks just singing, it's was very raspy soft spoken like you could sleep though it.

Your body has a mind of it own as you walking toward the rocks as you gotta closer it's was a man that's looks very pretty, pure white long locks and crimson red eyes that's staring at you.

He's grab your chin softly and move you close." Well hello... Pretty little thing what's are you doing here all alone? " you couldn't make words to lost in his eyes.

It's like you're in a dream-like spell, the man lean in to start sniff your hair and groan deeply. " fuck.... You smell really good. "

You feel his large hands move to your chest area, you blink few times... Is this a dream?

He's touch your face, move it toward him and begin to kiss your soft lips.

Your eyes closed for a bit and start to making out with this strange man.

You were getting undress letting the white haired man groped your chest areas, he's was pitching your nipples roughly, lean in to suck your right soft breast. You gasp out, your hands move to his hair to caress it.

" Wait... What's your name? " you moan out looking into his lustful eyes as he's took a big bite on your nipple making you whine out.

You blink few times to realize something.. Something feel odd, why... Why am I doing this?

He's start to chuckling." Tomura.. Tomura shigaraki." He's move to the other nipples and did the same treatment.

" Y-Y/n.. Ahh fuck-.." You throw your head back when you feel his bony narrow fingers slid inside your pussy, wait.. You were puzzle a bit and open your eyes to realize this man wasn't human.. Your eyes was seeing a whole different thing, his appearance change and he's looks more like fish creature then human before you could say anything, you were dragging into the water.

You couldn't fight back or do anything, this creature hypnotize you or something.

" don't you worry dollface, I'll take good care of you." His fingers went back in and were moving faster and inhuman speed, your vision was a bit burry by the ice cold water but you could see his tail being pure white just like his hair.

You were move up so you could get some air." Wouldn't want my y/n to drown so soon-.. Mhmm you smell so sweet and ripe.. " he's bite your neck, his fangs punctured your soft flesh and you scream out, you realize the creature was dragged you away from the rocks more into the ocean.

" Mhm.. Fuck~! you smell very fertile, I wanna breed you until your belly is nice and round." His eyes went crazy, you were swimming trying to keep up with him but you're struggling.

You feel his scales hands on your hips, you feel something long and hard near your entrance, you turn your head to tomura as his smirk grow wide.

You gasp out when you felt him sliding inside, he's made a raspy grunt as he's begin thrush at fast pace, your eyes roll back feeling him hit your sweet nerves. " you like that? My sweet y/n.. Taking me so well. " you feel him biting your other side of the neck area." Don't worry baby, you'll be my mate and won't be human for long. " you moan out as his scales hips slapping yours making the water splash louder.

Your high was getting close and scream out his name, your jucies were floating in the deep water, you were sobbing out as his thick tail wraps around your thick thighs making it easier for him to go deep and harder into you.

" auggh-.. Shit I'm cuming, I'm cumm-." He's bite his lips and his hips were getting very exotic." Mhmm take it... Take it all my sweet mate~! " his hips stiff up and you feel his load filling you up, you whine out his name.

You realize what's just happen, feel heavy shame on your mind, you bite your lips.

" so what's gonna happen to m-me? " you look into his crimson eyes, he's start to laugh.

" remember when I was biting your neck areas? I have fangs to put vermon into your veins so you should be turning very soon."

You were dragging into the water again having a new life with your new mate.

[julesofnature]

"If you take any flower you please and look it over and turn it about and smell it and feel it and try to find out all its little secrets, not of flower only but of leaf, bud and stem as well, you will discover many wonderful things. This is how you make friends with plants, and very good friends you will find them to the end of our lives." - Gertrude Jekyll 

Jack-in-the-Pulpit Fruits Maturing 

After the spathe (hood) dies back, Jack-in-the-pulpit fruit is more obvious, especially as the green berries turn brilliant reddish-orange at this time of year. Eventually the stem withers and the seed head falls to the ground. The tissues of Jack-in-the-pulpit, particularly the roots, contain high toxic levels of oxalic acid. The berries, if eaten, cause a burning sensation in the mouth and throat due to physical cuts caused by the crystals of calcium oxalate. Although cattle, goats, pigs and sheep are susceptible to the toxin, white-tailed deer, wild turkeys and wood thrushes appear to consume them without distress.

[dansnaturepictures]

11/03/2024-Home and Lakeside

Photos taken in this set are of; stunning skimmia in the garden, view at Lakeside including nice blossom, one of the amazing snake's-head fritillaries at Lakeside at lunch time adorned by water droplets, a Chiffchaff I was thrilled to see a couple of flitting around making me hopeful for spring alongside all the flowers around, Canada Geese, an unforgettable sunset to see out a grey day which I had the pleasure of observing with trees against the strip of orange sky on an evening walk at Lakeside and at home and a beautiful orange centred daffodil at Lakeside.

On a super day of seeing a variety of wonderful birds at Lakeside across both my evening and lunch time walks I also loved seeing for the first time for me in one day here fabulous Firecrest in my strong start to the year I've had for them and Goldcrest, my first Reed Bunting here for years a lovely male this evening, Redwing a winter bird I've had a sensational winter for especially here contrasting well the traditional springtime bird Chiffchaff, Great Tit, Robin, Blackbird and Song Thrush on a strong day of thrushes, Magpie, Great Crested Grebe and Moorhen with Wren and Green Woodpecker heard. Periwinkle, laurel, possibly my first blackthorn of the year and intricate turkey tail were good to see too. Jackdaw and House Sparrow were good to see at home today.

[pied-piper-the-survogel]

Fossil Novembirb, the first nine days

Hello World. I never thought I'd be on this site, but here I am. This blog was created for the purpose of participating in a-dinosaur-a-day's Fossil Novembirb. Fossil Novembirb is a yearly art event founded by Meig Dickson, a vertebrate palaeontologist who, as far as I can tell, studies dinosaurs, especially theropods. Don't fight me or em over birds being theropod dinosaurs. Neither ey nor I want to have this conversation, so enjoy the art!

I started off my Fossil Novembirb with Vegavis iaai. What makes this fluffy anseriform special is that we found a fossilised syrinx (avian voice-maker) belonging to one of these, so we can reconstruct their sounds. This Vegavis was coloured based on a bunch of anseriforms that are alive today, like ruddy shelducks and cotton pygmy geese.

For Day 2, I did a bit of spec evo and pulled out a scientific name I told myself I'd assign to a newly-discovered fossil genus. This sketch has a Serina-like text description for Phantasmavis.

Tropicbirds! I chose to draw Clymenoptilon because I was hoping "tropicbird" meant "brightly coloured bird". Even though they aren't that brightly coloured, they're still cool. And Kumimanu (approximately to scale in this drawing) didn't really have the obligation to be black-and-white like most extant penguins (because Inkayacu), so I went... mild-wild with the colours.

No... one's... tall like Gastornis, no one calls like Gastornis! In the bottom right, no one feeds small like Gastornis!

I've seen the "Andy's Prehistoric Adventures" episode featuring these megafowl, realised it was Walking With Dinosaurs with a human inserted, and drawn a mildly speculative colouration for these Gastornis. To the left, two adults have their necks out towards each other and are calling into the sky. Whether this is courtship or a challenge, nobody knows. But a calmer scene happens in the bottom right, where a mother shows her chick red berries on a branch to show them that it is food.

"Don't make me fly up there, you punk!" is one way to interpret the screamerduck Anachronornis' call in the direction of the Primoptynx owl. This scene unfolds in the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum ecosystem of the Willwood Formation before it was rock.

It's a twilight hummingswift! We know the colour of this iridescent little birb from the Danish Fur Formation. I watched a tutorial on painting iridescence, but I'm not really satisfied with the parent feeding their chick to the left of the flying Eocypselus rowei. It's hard to see, but there's a baby hummingswift being fed a Cimbrophlebia scorpionfly.

London Clay has a lot of plant fossils. Not all of them are listed on Wikipedia, but there's a photo of a pencil-root mangrove seed listed. Featuring a speculatively-coloured Eotrogon, a Dasornis carrying away a mackerel, and a Prophaeton just gliding, and repeat telecasts Gastornis parisiensis and Eocypelus rowei, Eocene London was a birder's dream (believe me, I'm a kinda-birder).

This Tynskya art was somewhat late, rather dissatisfactory, and mildly rushed. I had an exam the next day. Don't judge me.

And here's a better Primozygodactylus! I couldn't tell the specific species because it wasn't listed for the Wikipedia image. But here we are: a bird that gives off ashy prinia/sparrow/orange-headed thrush vibes.

This concludes the first nine days! I don't know if I'll be doing the tenth because nobody's giving me straight answers about the palaeobotany of the Green River formation.

Enjoy!

[geopsych]

And here’s an ovenbird I saw this morning. The little orange cap outlined in black sets it apart from the thrushes. Do these last 3 birds look a lot alike? Well, yes. As a matter of fact last time I checked, one of the pictures on the hermit thrush Wikipedia page was actually an ovenbird. But they do have distinguishing marks. The ovenbird (not a thrush) has this outlined cap. The hermit thrush is dull brown with a spotted breast and reddish tail. The veery has fewer, fainter spots and it is redder all over than the hermit. The wood thrushes which I haven’t seen yet this year, have the spots on the breast and a reddish head. If you get to hear them sing though, that makes it all easier. Their songs are distinct and beautiful except for the ovenbird who just kind of yells. But then ovenbirds are also cute as heck to watch.

[raointean]

Day 2 - Elves

“Ada?” Arondir turned to call to his father from his vantage point on the hilltop above.

Kelepe hurried up the hill to his son’s side. “Is there danger?”

Arondir shook his head, but he still looked concerned. “The sky seems to grow pale here and some of the stars are… gone.”

Kelepe squinted towards the horizon. He saw the vast, roiling, grey mass of hills they had still to cross. He saw the glint of stars in little rivers and lakes. To the south ran Rathlóriel and to the north, the hills marched ever on, seemingly endless.

The horizon did seem a little lighter. Some of the stars that were usually in the sky at that time were gone, but perhaps they had just lost track of time.

“Perhaps it is the Sea,” Kelepe murmured. “I thought that it was far south and west of here, but I have never crossed the mountains before.”

Arondir’s face brightened some. “That would make sense. All of the stars reflected in so much water would certainly lighten the sky!” He shot off again down the hillside, cheerful as a thrush. 

Kelepe’s fears were not entirely relieved however. He locked eyes with his wife, Ūbathō and knew that she shared the same worries. Both of them remembered when the Enemy lived nearby and his monsters terrorized the people of Cuivienen and, later, Eriador. The temperature, the ground, the sky; nothing had been safe.

Their little twelve-elf caravan continued on for a few minutes, but in that time, the world grew noticeably lighter. The ground changed from near-black to a misty grey and the stars winked out one by one. “Arondir!” he called. “Find us a hiding place. Quickly!”

Not three minutes later, they were all bundled within a cave, Kelepe and his father, Ndangwetha, guarding the west entrance. They watched in silent terror as the horizon turned blazing orange. It was as if the whole world was ablaze, and yet, there was no smoke.

“Perhaps it is a fire-demon,” Kelepe breathed.

“Maybe,” Ndangwetha whispered back. “Although I have never seen fire without shadow. It is certainly no balrog.”

The cave fell silent once again. They huddled in the shadows as the mysterious light pushed its long fingers in through the opening. The sky outside, now entirely starless, turned a color that none of them had ever seen before, even by the light of a fire. As terrifying as it was, Kelepe could not help but wonder at its beauty.

At last, the light withdrew from the cave. The shadows lengthened until, finally, the world was again enveloped in darkness. Kelepe was the first to venture out of their hiding place and, when he was not immediately snatched away by a fire-demon, the others followed him.

“Ada, look! The stars have returned!” Arondir pointed to the sky, crowing joyously.

Sure enough, the tapestries of Elbareth glittered above them once again and Kelepe breathed a sigh of relief. The danger was passed. It was time to go on.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“The sun rose in the east after that, of course. We thought the fire-demon had come back to finish us off so we found another cave and waited. My grandfather did not let us leave for a week!”

Theo was near tears from laughter. Arondir steadied him as he stumbled on the road. “You were afraid of the sun!?”

“We had never seen it before,” Arondir said defensively. “Your people awoke with the sun and have never known a time without it. Of course it would seem ridiculous to you!”

Theo’s laughter calmed and he wiped his eyes. “I suppose it makes sense, but still.”

Arondir only smiled fondly. Theo had been in a foul mood ever since Orodruin’s eruption; he was only glad to be able to raise the boy’s spirits.

[sophswritingthings]

Longstar AU — Chapter Fifteen

   “Ravenpaw!”

   Longtail lifted his head, herbs clenched in his jaw. A small smile crept across his face at the sight of the small, large eared black and white tom at the entrance.

   “It’s been a while!” Firestar beamed, flicking his tail. “How are you and Barley doing?”

   “It’s been really good.” Ravenpaw mewed with a smile. Longtail placed the herbs down at Leafpaw's paws, the she-cat nodding in a “thank you”. He nodded, dipping his head to the medicine cat. He turned, approaching the tom’s. “Longtail, I was wondering where you were! Deputy, huh?”

   “Yeah.” Longtail mewed.

   “What happened to you?” Ravenpaw cocked his head, “Your eyes are all scarred up.”

   “I.. got attacked by a rabbit.” Longtail flattened his ears, “I can’t see as well as I used to, but it’s enough.”

   “And he remained deputy despite it.” Firestar flicked his tail across the tom's flank, “Nothing'll change that.”

   “Well, good.” Ravenpaw mewed, “I did want to ask if maybe you wanted to come to the barn sometime, Firestar, Longtail. Barley and I.. we’ve adopted kits recently.”

   “That’s wonderful!” Firestar purred, “What are their names?”

   “Juniper and Thrush.” Ravenpaw purred back.

   “I'd love to meet my nieces are nephews,” Longtail flicked his tail. “And I would think you would come and meet yours soon, too?”

   “Oh?” Ravenpaw cocked his head, “Are you expecting kits Longtail?” The black and white tom joked, twitching his whiskers.

   “Oh, be quiet,” Longtail rolled his eyes. “My mate Blizzardspots is.”

   “Than of course I will.” Ravenpaw flicked his tail, “Where is she, exactly? I'd like to meet her.”

   “Inside the nursery. I think Brambleclaw was bringing them prey,” Longtail flicked his tail toward the nursery. Ravenpaw nodded, padding past them toward the clan nursery. “He seems to be doing well.”

   “Of course he is.” Firestar replied, “Barley and Ravenpaw can keep their own out there. Obviously, seeing as they’ve expanded their little family.”

   “Mhm.” Longtail hummed, glancing at his leader.

   “Is something on your mind, Longtail?” Firestar prompted.

   “Yes, actually.” Longtail lowered his voice, “Last night I found Brambleclaw sneaking out of the camp. He said StarClan had willed him to meet with cats from other clans, at Fourtrees. And Squirrelpaw followed them, but I dealt with her,” He flicked his tail. “So, what do we do?”

   “I trust Brambleclaw as a warrior, much more than I did his father,” Firestar flattened his ears. “Of course I do, he was my apprentice. We'll have a chat to see if all this is true or not.” Longtail nodded, “Who we’re the other cats?”

   “Stormfur and Feathertail from RiverClan. Tawnyfang from ShadowClan and Crowpaw from WindClan.” Longtail replied.

   “Graystripe's kits? And Brambleclaw's sister, too.” Firestar murmured, staring at his shifting paws. “Grab Brambleclaw for me so we can talk about this.” The orange tabby tom turned into his den, disappearing behind the lichen curtains.

   “Brambleclaw!” Longtail yelped across camp, the dark tabby tom appearing from beside the nursery. Ravenpaw followed, Longtail's eyes narrowing. He padded up to him. “Firestar wants to talk.”

   His ears flattened, “O-okay.”

   Side by side, Brambleclaw and Longtail padded into the leaders den. They settled across from one another, eyes narrowed slightly.

   “Longtail told me about last night.” Firestar began, “I’m sure you had your reasons, Brambleclaw. But I would like to know why I wasn't, or Longtail wasn’t, informed about these dreams. Or at the very least Cinderpath and Leafpaw.”

   “.. You’ve had a lot on your mind. I didn’t want to bother,” Brambleclaw sighed, “And I didn’t think you would understand, or let me go..”

   “I’ve had my run ins with StarClan, Brambleclaw.” The leaders whiskers twitched gently. “As a warrior and now as a leader I have a strong connection with them. I understand their commands and their wills, if we had spoken about it we could have figured this out.”

   “.. I see that now.” His amber gaze glanced at Longtail. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything, Firestar.”

   “As you should be.” Firestar narrowed his eyes a bit. “Have you received any dreams since?”

   “Yes.” He mewed, “A dream of a sandy, water filled place. The sun was setting in the background.. and there was a large shadow against the sun. It looked something of a badger.”

   “Hm.” Firestar hummed, “I’m.. not sure.”

   “Maybe have a chat with Cinderpath and Leafpaw,” Longtail put in. “They are trained in StarClan. They can interpret the dream much better than we can.”

   “I agree,” Firestar smiled. “I'll speak with you when I have an idea, Brambleclaw. Your dismissed.”

   “Thank you.” He murmured, dipping his head and turning out of the den.

   “What if something bad is coming, Firestar?” Longtail mewed, flattening his ears. Really, he was thinking of his future kits, and mate.

   “Relax, Longtail,” Firestar brushed his tail across his deputies side. “You're about to become a father, your going to be on edge. Trust me, I lived it. I’m sure these dreams have an explanation, and we'll be fine.”

   “.. If you say so.”

[inestheunicorn]

Lil monkey cutie for this month's rewards 🐒 he's got the coolest outfit! ✨

To join our super secret club and get these, just check the Art Caffe here 🌱

[discordapples]

PT. 1 - The Sallow Twins (Sebastian POV)

Word count: 1.8k (8 mins read)

Characters: Sebastian Sallow, Anne Sallow, Solomon Sallow.

Summary

The shy August wind needles through the greenery, but to Sebastian Sallow, it is the irksome tick of a clock. A year, that's how long he has to find a way to cure his sister's curse. A powerful relic, the Promissum Mortis, is hidden in Hogwarts' Room of Requirement, and Sebastian is desperate to find it.

Read (or listen to) the first chapter below. 🎧

TW: Nudity, mild allusions to a taboo relationship, drug use.

Sebastian | Feldcroft, Late August, 1893.

Curls of steams slink over the bathtub's lid. The heady aroma of wisterias reels Sebastian Sallow out of his daze.

He blinks once, twice, and his mother's warmth winnows away.

The washroom's air is thick with moisture. The wooden floorboards drink the flood water avidly.

With an irritated sigh, Sebastian dispels the Everstream Chalice and catches it before it falls to the floor.

Beneath a blanket of mist, his twin sister, Anne, sleeps soundly. She must've dozed off as he hummed the lullaby their mother used to sing:

Under the willow, where thrushes peep;

I will lay your heart to sleep.

Under the elm, where dreams take flight;

I will guard you through the night.

In this enchanted, moonlit glen;

Rest, my loves, till morn again.

Has he been gone for long?

His mouth is pasty with thirst, his mind, cottony with confusion.

Again, Malisect warped his sense of time despite Garreth Weasley's promises. The red-head's words swim up Sebastian's mind.

Some memories are more worthwhile than others, wouldn't you agree? What's sacrificing the gestation period of the Thestrals for another taste of your first kiss?

It isn't his first kiss, Sebastian revisits over and over again. It's the feeling of his mother's arms around his shoulders as they rode the carriage back from Hogsmeade.

Under the grip of Malisect, he can smell the dust sidling through the heap of books his mother hoarded in the compartment, he can sense the calidity of the summer dusk tease a lash of sweat on his nape, he can breathe the Plumeria and orange blossom fragrance of the oil his mother rubs into her hair, he can feel her heart pulse steadily against the boning of her corset.

She is alive.

Her scent grows, her warmth eddies, her research rattles in the compartment with each tremor of the wheel.

In this version of reality, she still has a future, no matter how immediate and limited it is.

It is so easy to sacrifice your own to give the dead a moment of respite from the permanent stillness.

Maybe his mother, too, can revisit these moments when he does.

The swirls of mist clear little by little, and Sebastian looks at his sister.

Anne's hair tendrils around her face; strands of golden brown locks that make her look every bit like an angel. Beneath the water, her lithe frame is immobile, frozen in time.

Sebastian hikes on his knees without a care for the damp circles the water-logged planks leave on his trousers.

She is beautiful in the clutch of slumber.

She is free.

No blustering pain, no spiny curse gnawing its way into her navel or noosing around her neck.

She is like a princess of yore, locked in her glass coffin, and perhaps Sebastian should award her this small mercy.

He palms his wand; the tip stopping inches away from the steaming surface.

"Avada—"

The incantation calcifies in his throat.

He has to mean it; he knows.

How many vials of Malisect would he need to swallow to relive moments with her if she was gone?

Weasley would have to slave in the potion's class for the brunt of his life if he hoped to satiate Sebastian's cravings.

No.

Anne needs to live.

And full of life she is, despite her peaceful inertia.

From where he stands, Sebastian can make the soft veer of her chest, the tiny ripples it sends along the surface, the whorls of steam she pushes away with her breath.

He lets his eyes wander to the slants and valleys of her body, to the pit of her sharp collarbone, constellated with freckles, the outline of her small, flecked breasts, the pinkish blooms of her nipples, and he stops his course there, wondering if any boy has rolled them between his fingers or sucked them between his lips.

Heart caroming against his ribs, Sebastian ventures a look across the white, silky expanse of her abdomen. His gaze beaches, for a while, on the reef of her hip. It catches in the nest of curls between her thighs, and his mind teems with images that aren't his to conjure.

He imagines a faceless boy dragging his thumb against her navel, then drawing circles in the crux of her hip, bound ever lower until he lands where the heat simmers. A finger slips inside, and the boy feeds her knuckles until her breath hitches. Then he pushes some more, wearing her tattered while her nails dig away into his back.

A loud thud resounds outside, and ripples churn the vision away. Sebastian gasps out of his trance as Anne startles awake.

"The towel," she says, panic bleeding through her eyes. She stands and Sebastian wraps it around her, rubbing her shoulders with his hands. "Sebastian..."

"What?"

Her eyes ream with white. "Leave. Now. Before uncle Solomon sees you."

Sighing, he grabs his wand and scrambles for his empty vials of Malisect before stuffing them into his pockets, then throws the door open. The mildewed air of the cottage claws its way into his throat.

Solomon is in the garden, wrestling with the water pump, and judging by the ruckus, he is in a despicable mood.

A single apple rests on the chopping block, its skin flecked with bruises. Sebastian cuts it in quarters, then sets it on a plate. In a cupboard, amidst a colony of breadcrumbs, he finds a dusty preserves jar of beets; wrapped in a linen rag, spoils a wedge of hard cheese. All of it, Sebastian arranges in a miserly pantomime of a dinner.

Soon, his last school year at Hogwarts will begin.

Soon, he'll be able to treat his sister to a proper meal, but for now, it'll have to do.

When Anne joins him in the kitchen, he is sitting at the table, before the silverware his parents used to dust for the Yule feast, the one his uncle Solomon still hasn't sold for a handful of Galleons.

He will soon enough, Sebastian knows it. His uncle has appraised most of his parents' heirlooms.

Anne gives a surprised smile. "What's all this for?"

Sebastian shrugs. "Can't say I never did anything nice for you."

A brow hikes up her forehead. "Practicing your good deeds for the House cup, brother?"

"The House cup is for star-eyed first years. I've long outgrown this childish competition."

Anne sits at the table, a smirk etched on her chin. "Have you outgrown Quidditch, too? I sure would enjoy to be spared from your whining every time Slytherin takes a bashing."

"Don't you get it, Anne?" He asks with a feigned offense. "I have to pretend like I care about Quidditch. Finding common interests is how you make friends, and having friends is like... Well... I guess it means you're a likeable person."

"Sure, Sebastian."

Sebastian says nothing else, careful not to err too close to all the things she misses so painfully.

She eats in silence, her gaze set on an invisible point in front of her. Through the fabric of her slip, Sebastian spies the shape of her breasts.

Will she ever know the youthful thrills he has?

Staying out past curfew, the lick of rebellion curling up your spine? Drinking until the walls shiver and the stars dip and the ground soars to meet you? Sliding your tongue past someone's lips to taste the sweetness of young love and feel like the world has stopped to take a breath?

The door swings open and Solomon drops a bundle of firewood next to the entryway with a groan.

His coal-black eyes hook on Sebastian, basting through each of his sutures in search of malice.

Sebastian raises a brow. "Need a hand?"

"Shouldn't you be on your way to Hogwarts?" Solomon asks curtly. "It's a long way on foot. You'll miss your ceremony."

"I've attended seven already. They're always the same."

"I heard there's a new student," Anne says. "An eighth year."

And a transfer from Kyiv's Winter College at that, but Sebastian has kept it under wraps, to avoid flaunting it in his sister's face.

He knows she has long resigned herself to her fate, but as his last year looms upon him, he knows it casts a taller shadow on his sister.

She will never attend graduation now. Next year, she will be far too old for it.

Knife in hand, Solomon endeavors to cut the branches from the logs and Sebastian rises to help him.

The vials clink in his pocket.

Enough to arouse his uncle's suspicions who unspools his spine slowly.

"Sebastian, is it what I think it is?"

Sebastian's palm closes around his pocket. "Galleons, that's all. I saved up for a new alembic after Ominis broke mine."

Color leaches from Anne's cheeks. She knows it's a lie, of course, but she says nothing.

"Don't lie to me," Solomon says, inching closer. "Turn out your pockets. Show me what's in them."

Sebastian angles out of his uncle's grasp, nearing the door.

Solomon's eyes are two pits of ire. "You've been using Malisect again?"

"You forgot to feed us most nights," Sebastian rasps. "I don't know why you care what I ingest."

Solomon presses forward, his knuckles blanching around the hilt of his knife. "Don't speak to me like this!"

"And don't pretend like you have a say in what I do," Sebastian hisses. "You kicked me out, remember? I was only here to look after Anne while you were gone. You shouldn't leave her alone for so long."

His cheeks burn. He wants to feel his wand between his fingers. He itches to speak the words, to see his uncle hit the ground, his lips noiseless forever.

But he thinks of Anne, who stares at them, utterly terrorized.

Solomon creeps closer. "I warned you not to use while you were under my roof."

In response, Sebastian rears until he stands under the watery sunlight. "Well, I'm no longer under your roof. Happy?"

"If I see a vial near my house, I'll report you to the headmaster. Am I clear?"

Sebastian doesn't even return the compliment of acknowledging his uncle's threat. Instead he whirls away, jaw clenched, and begins to walk toward the center of Feldcroft until he hears the door slam.

Feldcroft is silent, the villagers slowly retiring to their houses. Streamlets of smoke purl from chimneys and the scent of meat braids through the air. A shy August wind needles through the shrubbery. The stench of stale waters wings up from the well.

Sebastian hates this place.

After this year, he will become someone. An Auror, perhaps. Or a researcher, like his parents. He will spirit Anne away from this miserly village and live with her where nothing can touch her.

Something squeezes inside his chest.

He has a year to find what he seeks in Hogwarts. Nine months, and not one more, to find the Promissum Mortis—Death's Promise—and whisk Anne away from Solomon.

As the wind picks up, it carries the smells of September along with it.

Sebastian sets to walking.

The vials of Malisect chink softly in his pockets.

His mother will have to wait.

Anne, too.

Time is a merciless master and Sebastian, its most piteous slave.

--- 

Key concepts

Malisect: Malisect is a drug that enables the user to visit their fondest memories by holding onto a memento. For some users, this memento can take the form of a nursery rhyme, a scent, the feel of an object, etc. Malisect has been invented by Garreth Weasley, in 1891, when he was a sixth year student at Hogwarts.

Author notes

Since it doesn't sit right with me to write very dark stuff about minors, I decided to introduce an eighth year at Hogwarts. Therefore, all the characters are eighteen of age, which is the age of majority (at least in my country).

Don't hesitate to let me know what you thought of this first chapter.

Much love, 

Discord Apples

[herpsandbirds]

Orange-headed Thrush (Geokichla citrina), male, family Turdidae, Bali, Indonesia

photograph by Michael Layne Frankenstein

[new-dinosaurs]

Geokichla longitarsus Hume, 2022 (new species)

(Select bones of Geokichla longitarsus [scale bars = 10 mm], from Hume, 2022)

Meaning of name: longitarsus = long [in Latin] foot [in Greek]

Suggested common name: Mauritius ground thrush

Age: Holocene (more precise age uncertain)

Where found: Vallée des Prêtres, Port Louis, Mauritius

How much is known: Several limb bones, including a tarsometatarsus (fused ankle and foot bones), humeri (upper arm bones), and tibiotarsi (fused shin and ankle bones). It is unknown whether any of these bones belonged to the same individuals.

Notes: Geokichla is a genus of thrushes from Afro-Eurasia, of which many species feed primarily on the ground. G. longitarsus is the first extinct species of Geokichla to be identified. In terms of skeletal anatomy, it was similar to but slightly larger than the extant orange-headed thrush (G. citrina) of Southern and Southeast Asia. G. longitarsus may have descended from Asian thrushes that reached Mauritius during a period when sea levels were lower than they are today, conditions that would have exposed more land in the island archipelagos of the Indian Ocean and made overseas crossings more manageable.

Over 60% of bird species unique to Mauritius are known to have gone extinct in recent times, including G. longitarsus. No firsthand observations of this thrush have been found in records of Mauritian fauna, so it is possible that it died out before the arrival of the Dutch (who wrote the oldest known accounts of the wildlife of Mauritius in the late 16th Century). The introduction of black rats by Arab traders in the 14th Century may have been what caused the extinction of G. longitarsus, as a small, ground-dwelling bird unfamiliar with mammalian predators would have probably been very vulnerable to rat predation.

Reference: Hume, J.P. 2022. A new subfossil ground thrush (Turdidae: Geokichla) from Mauritius, Mascarene Islands. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 142: 388–403. doi: 10.25226/bboc.v142i4.2022.a2

[queenlua]

christmas bird count wrap-up

* our route totally whipped ass.  it took me through a bunch of toxic sludge ponds in the industrial part of the city (aka DUCK CENTRAL STATION), and also through a bunch of surprisingly lovely lil parks i’d never heard of

*as i feared & dreaded, i was designated the Gull Identifier TM due to “being” “the” “most” “experienced” “and/or” “best” “birder.”  i swore like 18 times per dozen gulls but i think i mostly did an okay job

* i kept hearing star fox 64 voice clips in my head for everything because, uh, that’s how i’ve wired my brain lately ig (i witnessed a seagull DO A LITERAL BARREL ROLL, which did in fact rule, but also triggered Peppy Hare in my head, and every time a count partner was like “plus one crow” i heard it in falco’s “scratch one bogey” voice)

* I FOUND WHERE THE VARIED THRUSHES LIVE IN THIS CITY?!?!?! holy hell love those lil orange space-ship-sounding guys