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#taking back the herbarium tag
gaynaturalistghost · 1 year
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I got a job at an herbarium! Which means I have a 7 foot tall cabinet of mosses to go go through. Right now I’m just putting mosses into archival paper packets instead of the paper bags, newspaper, envelopes etc they were collected in. Favorite location has been “one block from the Masonic temple”.
The first 6 things I pulled out were not mosses.
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mossinformed · 4 months
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Leaves of Tortula ruralis on a microscope slide. These are fairly big leaves for mosses I have identified! They are so thin they are only 1 cell thick, like most moss leaves. I think tortula leaves are my favorite, they have a lovely mix of greens and reds and I love the little white hair points at the tips!
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motleyfolk · 1 year
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Craft/Lifestyle Bookmarks
Since tumblr mobile tags play up, just compiling all my bookmarks here, so I can use it on mobile and find things easier. None are like fact-checked, using them as inspo or starting points. Some are taken from solarpunksoup’s soup.
Last updated: 14/12/23
Herbology and Nature
Alchemy Works - Herb and Resins for Magic Enyclopedia Type Thing (found from this post)
Bee Friendly Garden
Bird Feeding
Free Seeds
Gardening for Climate Resistance
Guerilla Gardening
Heirloom Seeds
Plant Insiders Knowledge
Plant Dye for Fabrics
Recommended Reading
Seed Saving
Veg Growth Cheat Sheet
Pinkies Parlour - Janky old website but has info on flowers and religious symbology.
Physical Craft/Hobby
Toilet Roll Satchel
Cleansing and Another
Sewing, Mending, Craft
Projects & Patterns
Misc Projects
Making Stuff & Doing Things Book Rec
Miracle Hands - Free hobby and craft craftbook and pattern downloads
Practice Prayer  - Lil affirmation/helpful customizable tool for whatever hobby you have.
Tips for writing
Poetic/Thought Provoking
The weird little kid
Sustainability
Worshipping The World
Life/Craft
How To Sleep Better
Wardrobe Management + Misc
Thrifting Online
Make Your Own Socks
Mega Cooking Help
Random Life Skills (how to unclog toilet n stuff)
Upcycling Jumpers
Misc Recipes/Craft Stuff
Baking With Brain Fog and/or Arthritis - Includes tips for other disabilities
Solarpunk Masterlist - Cool SP list by @evilautisticsociety​
Journaling Prompts - Inspo if you don’t like writing diary entries and wnat other ways to journal.
More Journaling Prompts
Unfuck Your Habitat - How to clean your house, get rid of shitty habits in a gender neutral, inclusive of the mentally ill, students, full time job-ers, etc that fts small or large challenges, simple cleaning checklists, etc.
The Order of the Good Death - The current western funeral practices are bad for the community and environment, this site discusses that and gives you several ways to change it, from small personal to wider community.
New Year Resolution alt mindset
How to keep yourself warm in cold houses or outdoors
Mental/Physical Health
You feel like shit. - Simple interactive, flow chart questionnaire to help you identify why you’re feeling like shit right now and to make sure you’ve done basic self-care. *
the quiet place - 90 second relaxation exercise on stepping back from social media *
Pixel Thoughts - Put your worry in a star and watch it disappear in 60 seconds. *
Meditation Basic Instructions - Helpful detailed guide on meditating.
A Soft Murmur - Ambient Sound Mixer
Baking With Brain Fog and/or Arthritis - Includes tips for other disabilities
Self Care Checklist
softheartclinic - Cutesy self care fun
Scarleteen - Inclusive sex education website
The Analog Brain - Helps with executive dysfunction, figuring out if this is an impulsive decision. Lil question tool thingy
Taking care of your spine
Tarot
Year Ahead Tarot
Spells
Anatomy of a Spell
Basics of Spellcraft
Magic Circle for Spellcasting
Seeds of The Future Spell
Spell Design
Spell Dictation
Writing Spells for Beginners
Grimoire/Shadow Work/Exercises
Dig Through The Ditches
Grimoire Prompts and Another and Another
Home Brews
Make Your Own Folklore
Shadow Work Prompts
Organising Study Materials
Quantifying Your Craft
Yule
A neurodivergent witch's guide to starting a grimoire
Misc Resources
Witchy Resource Doc - Includes books, websites, yters, ingredients, etc.
Online Research
Research Jumping Points Inspo
How To Ward and Another
Recommended Reading  
Cailleach’s Herbarium - Scottish Folk Practitioner, lots of Scottish based history, folk magic, folklore, etc.
What is Sympathetic Magic - Infographic and links
Historical Scottish Beltane
Witchcraft on a budget
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that-angry-noldo · 1 year
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In response to the tags on your recent Finarfin headcanons post, would you elaborate on Finarfin's relationship with Amarie, please?
thank you for the ask anon :D (and sorry for taking so long to reply)
so we have like, three lines about amarië, and one of them is that "she wasn't permitted" to go into the Exile. Now, I don't usually draw too much conclusions from this, but it led me to headcanon that the relationships within her family aren't the most... healthy ones. i won't go into details (mostly because i don't know the details) so let me elaborate directly on her relationship with finarfin
she moved to tirion to distance herself from her family and didn't plan on talking to arafinwë. she met him a few times during the years of trees while she and finrod were still "only friends"; they never made their relationship public and she didn't see a point of talking to someone she considered a stranger.
She spends a lot of time in the palace - she is a talented artist, and the palace needs to be renovated. She works on a mosaic in one of the less used halls. (If you're interested, it depicts a lake with two georgeous swans. Finrod talked a lot about how much his parents loved swans.)
finarfin is observant, and also has Intuition™. he... suspects there was something going on between his oldest and her, but he's not the one to press the matter. especially since it's still a fresh wound for both of them, so they kind of... exist around each other.
and it works for a while! until something happens - maybe amarië gets in a fight with someone from her family, maybe she has a bad week - but she paints and paints and paints, glues the pieces together until she sees double
"Not to distract," Finarfin says, "but working two days in a row isn't particularly healthy."
Amarië, who Is Done With Everyone's Shit, says, "really bold coming from someone who haven't slept for a week"
(that is a common knowledge by the way. everyone looks at finarfin and goes, "ah yes. this is the Guy who Doesn't Sleep")
So that is how they exist for a while! finarfin says her to take a break. amarie tells him to go for a walk. he reminds her to eat. she says he didn't leave his office for two days, so really, who is he to tell her what to do?
eventually, the mosaic is finished. amarië thinks about leaving. finarfin says, off-hand, that there's another room that needs to be restored. and maybe the hallway in the west wing needs a few more paintings to replace old ones. and, uh, some guest rooms are out of fashion. (finarfin knows zero about current fashion. the palace never has a lot of guests, it's half-empty. amarië doesn't point that out.)
eventually, they grow closer. they share meals, sometimes. sometimes, they talk about, uh, weather. (neither of them knows how to talk about weather. it's awkward.) they never mention finrod or eärwen, and finarfin rarely talks about his family. amarië remembers her own brother and thinks she understands him.
she moves to the palace completely - no need to walk every day back into an empty house if she spends majority of her time there anyways. (she's not an exeption! a lot of staff live in the palace for a similar reason. it's basically a kind of communal house now.)
she's responsible for inventarisation of art supplies, at first, and she's good at that job. she makes sure everything is sorted and that they have everything needed.
in fact, she's so good at her job, she eventually gets promoted to keeping an eye over the whole household, which isn't a lot to do - since, as i mentioned, the palace is half-empty all the time
eventually, her and finarfin's talks become a bit longer and a bit more personal. she learns he loves swans and color blue. she tells her favourite genre is romance and that she always wanted to start collecting a herbarium.
they mention finrod.
there's a lot of hurt. a lot of guilt. they dont say it aloud, but it's there.
they talk more often. there's a shared grief between them - fractured families, loneliness, absent lovers. it brings them together, in a sense.
(then eärwen returns and says, "oh yeah, she is definitely daughter shaped", but that's a whole other story)
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What Do Botanists Do On Saturday?
by Sarah C. Williams
Here in the section of Botany we’ve adapted in some strange ways, just like plants do, to the changes of the past year and a half. Let’s learn about the off days of some of our Super Scientists in the Section of Botany!
Mason Heberling, Assistant Curator of Botany
Collecting specimens has become a focus as more time was able to be spent in the field when we weren’t allowed to be at the museum. As our new Botany Hall entrance video shows, Assistant Curator of Botany, Mason Heberling and Collections Manager Bonnie Isaac collect plant specimens on a pretty regular basis. They also snag iNaturalist observations for these plants, taking photos that show what the plant and habitat looked before being picked and pressed.
Mason studies forest understory plants, in particular, introduced species and wildflowers in our changing environment. Mason has a bunch of fun projects going on this summer, ranging from coordinating seed collections of an uncommon native grass to send to Germany for a large greenhouse study to working with a team of students to study the effects of climate change and introduced shrubs on our forest wildflowers.
In addition to work in the field, the herbarium has been a busy place this summer too! Mason has been working with Alyssa McCormick, an undergraduate research intern from Chatham University, to examine stomata (the pores on leaves for air exchange for plants to “breathe”) and leaf nutrients in everyone’s favorite plant – poison ivy!  Poison ivy has been previously shown to grow bigger and cause nastier skin rashes with increasing carbon dioxide in our air due to fossil fuel emissions. Alyssa is using specimens collected as long ago as the 1800s to examine long term changes in poison ivy.
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Mason, where can we find you on a Saturday?
“This summer has been a lot of going to various places around western PA like Presque Isle or Idlewild to get out and enjoy the fresh air with my family. I can also be found most Saturdays around the house doing chores!”
Bonnie Isaac, Collection Manager
Bonnie, one of CMNH’s TikTok celebrities, and All-Star in the Mid-Atlantic plant world, has spent a lot of the past year doing fieldwork. Her PA Wild Resource Grant involved looking at most of the populations for 10 Pennsylvania rare species. She and husband Joe Isaac spent many days on the road and a few in the bog! You can see some of her videos about these unique Pennsylvania finds on Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s Tiktok account: @carnegiemnh.
She diligently keeps track of various data points from latitude and longitude and elevation, to flower color, size, and associated species within a habitat. In addition to trying to make sure the plant names in our database are correct, she has also been busy georeferencing some of our specimens so that we can see on a map where each one was collected.
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Bonnie, where can we find you on a Saturday?
“On most Saturdays I am either home taking care of my many chickens or getting some exercise in one of my kayaks with my spousal unit, Joe. I sometime even take a fishing pole for a ride or see how many different kinds of plants I can find on a hike. As long as I can get outside with Joe, I’m happy.”
Cynthia Pagesh, Herbarium Assistant
Specimens make their way home to the museum, where we assure they’re bone dry, flat as a pancake, and have been frozen twice to get rid of any pests. They then find their way into the nimble hands of Cynthia Pagesh, our resident plant mounter. Cynthia has luckily been able to do some mounting both onsite and at home over this past year, really honing her craft. She uses Elmer’s glue, dental and sculpture tools, linen tape, and a paintbrush akin to a magic wand: transforming roots, stems, flowers, and fruits into scientific and artistic renderings on an 11.5x16.5” archival herbarium sheet.
Mounting can be very detailed and challenging: wrangling a dry and brittle rare plant you want to salvage every detail from, or an oversized leaf ‘how-will-this-all-fit?’ ordeal, or finessing a delicate petal that glue is especially heavy on. Bulky bits, crumbly bits, spiky no nos: Cyn handles them all. Her work is just as much an art as it is a science. When she’s not making masterpieces, she’s probably doing something with plants.
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Cyn, where can we find you on a Saturday?
“You can find me on Saturdays helping prune young trees in my community, collecting wildflower seeds or in my kitchen making preserves or homemade pasta noodles.  I volunteer in vegetable, herb and flower gardens.  I have a pollinator garden at home and raise Monarch caterpillars.  I tag and release them to migrate south.
There are lots of Community Science projects for people of all ages: ask someone to help you find one related to a subject you have an interest in.  I have an interest in pollinators including bees.  I participate in a Community Science Project every Summer that counts types of bees on certain plants when they bloom.”
Iliana DiNicola
After another stint in the freezer for bugs-be-gone, it’s everyone’s favorite day: Picture Day! Each plant: sturdy and mounted, all data logged and super official, makes their way to the imaging station to spend some time under the bright lights. Since 2018, students, interns, and volunteers have lovingly held these plants’ hands as they get their close ups. We take high definition photos using a specially made lightbox and special software.
While this is part of a limited project, called the Mid-Atlantic Megalopolis, we are still hard at work going into our last year of the time we were given. This past schoolyear and summer, former Pitt student, Iliana DiNicola was taking pictures for us on the regular while also interning with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. She just graduated and I’m excited to hear what she does on her Saturdays in the future.
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Iliana, where can we find you on a Saturday?
“I just graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in Environmental Studies, and I am now on the lookout for any jobs related to the environment back in my hometown of Phoenix, Arizona. I am interested in working with anything from sustainability, to policy or political work, or maybe even something more related to ecology and outdoor work.
On a Saturday, I am definitely helping clean my house since I am a semi-clean freak, I love to go hiking if the weather isn't too hot, enjoy drawing and working on any art projects, or work on my future hydroponics garden.
As somebody who interned for Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, I highly recommend participating in any camps or activities the conservancy has to offer. It was super fun learning more about Pittsburgh's history and ecology and getting to teach kids about these topics, alongside participating in fun outdoor activities.”
Sarah Williams, Curatorial Assistant
Next up, Sarah Williams, the Curatorial Assistant in the Section of Botany, is overseeing the digitization project, morphing the photos from raw camera files into smaller files for sharing and detailed files for archival storing using Adobe Lightroom. She takes the images from the newly photographed specimens and makes sure they get uploaded onto the Mid-Atlantic Herbaria Consortium’s website to be shared far and wide across the world.
There is also a lot she does in sorting, filing, and taking care of the specimens as well. She does a bunch of scheduling, hiring, and training of work study students, interns, and volunteers. We consider her a jack of all trades.
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Sarah, where can we find you on a Saturday?
“Most weekends I work with a local catering company called Black Radish Kitchen. I usually end up serving delicious vegetable and farm focused meals at least one day a week, commonly Saturdays because they’re prime for celebrations. The re-start up since the pandemic has been cautious, and I’m excited to be amongst people and help them to make mouthwatering memories again. I’ve worked in the restaurant industry for over a decade and the skills I’ve learned doing it as well as the friends I’ve made are matchless. It has a big piece of my heart.
I also moved into a new house this year about five minutes from my mom, so if I’m not running to say hi to her and ‘borrow’ some groceries, I’m doing laundry, dusting and yardwork… but only after I sleep in, eat some delicious breakfast with my partner, and hang out with our two cats, Santi and Gil.”
We hope you enjoyed getting to know us here in the Section of Botany, look forward to updates and more introductions in the future as we continue to host volunteers, federal work-study students, and interns on their journeys to learn even more about the plant kingdom.
Sarah Williams is Curatorial Assistant in the Section of Botany at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences and knowledge gained from working at the museum.
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compilation of my favorite otp prompts 6
tag
AU List #2 (Theme: School) [x]
“You are a cheerleader for our school’s baseball team, while I am part of the team. This wouldn’t be so bad, except for the fact that you are insanely hot in your uniform, and I keep striking out when I’m up at bat.”
“We have to kiss in our school play, but both of us are experienced so we don’t worry too much about it. On opening night, you decide to use tongue tHIS WASN’T IN THE SCRIPT but holy shit I almost moaned onstage”
Weird AU Prompts [x]
“Listen, I am genetically modified and on the run and you will let me hide in your house” au
Date Gone Wrong Prompts [x]
I got in a fist fight with the waiter who insulted you and now we are both banned from this restaurant.
I’m on a really shitty blind date and you got fed up with the asshole I’m with so you dump water on their head and ask to take me on a better date. I totally accept 
It’s hard to take you on dates because you’re really cute and everyone notices this. So I’m stuck between “Yes acknowledge my cute lover!” and wanting to tell everyone who’s staring to fuck off.
i’m always a slut for a christmas au [x]
SNOWBALL FIGHTS
person a seducing person b into taking a few steps back/backing them against the wall (“oh look, how did that mistletoe get right there????”)
“you’re in the hospital for the holidays so i came in while you were sleeping to decorate your room i love you merry christmas”
“we were playing in the snow and you suddenly tackled me to the ground and now…we’re just…staring… at each other…”
TREE DECORATING (bonus points if one of them is doing it completely wrong omg why am i in love with you) 
PULLING YOU IN FOR A KISS WITH A SCARF 
“i did that annoying thing where i put loads of smaller boxes inside one big box and you’re getting really mad but you don’t know that the ring is in the smallest box and i can’t wait to see your face” 
“right to the good parts” prompt list [x]
I have you shoved against the wall but now I can’t stop looking at your mouth
I just told you I liked you but now I’m shy and say “never mind, forget it” and why are you looking at me like that?
This wasn’t meant to be a date, but we’ve had such a good time and now it’s 2 a.m. and I should really go home…
AUs for the older crowd [x]
“We always get sat together at dinner parties because we’re single” AU
Food Service AUs [x]
“yes i’d like to give my compliments to the chef this soup is divine, yes feel free to bring them out here i’d like to give it in person AND OH MY GOD IS THAT THE CHEF THEY ARE HOT I’M NOT DRESSED FOR THIS” au
suddenly, florist AUs [x]
So I work as a florist for some time, and one day you walked into the shop and I just fell in love with you at almost first sight?? And in the end when you wanted to walk away with a bouquet you bought for someone, I gave you lavender rose on the house, just because I thought it’d be a nice gesture. But because you liked the flower shop so much, or for some other reason, you started buying flowers at us all the time and consulting with me, and almost every time I gave you a flower, making up excuses for it. But today you walked in, red in face, and told me that your friend saw all the flowers from me that you collected in herbarium and told you all the meanings, and now you ask me if I did meant all of that, and I’m trying to collect all the thoughts in my head, like – what do you think of me now? and did you actually make a herbarium??
AU MASTER LIST [x]
Neighbour/Roomate
My neighbour has a really squeaky bed and my bedroom is below theirs
You locked yourself outside of your apartment and there’s a storm rolling in and I pity you so please come into my apartment I’ll make you hot chocolate?
Pets
Your dog likes me a thousand times better than she likes your partner and sorry not sorry I love this dog
Romantic Tropes I’m an absolute sucker for [x]
The slow burn where they both love each other but think the other person doesn’t feel the same way but literally everyone in the world knows how they feel about each other.
They absolutely loathe each other but everyone around them knows that they actually totally love each other. 
angry short, mellow tall aus [x]
man, i hate going out into huge crowds with you because i always lose you among all the children and i have to peruse through all of them to find you
man, i love going out into huge crowds with you because you’re like a beacon sticking out and i’m basically never lost
Theatre Kid AUs [x]
that stage kiss WAS NOT SCRIPTED WTF
for closing night bets you slipped me tongue during our stage kiss what the fuck do I do
everyone in the show has to wear makeup I swear I will wrestle you into this chair if I have to
oh my god you’re doing my makeup and you’re so close and I can’t breathe 
this is the first time I’ve seen you in costume and holy fuck how do you look so good in that
cute and random aus [x]
“You’re my roommate who’s super cute and it’s the middle of the night and you’re cramming for your exams in your flannel pajamas and disheveled hair and it’s becoming increasingly hard for me not to kiss you” AU.
“We’re both strangers sitting in the same booth at an eatery because all the other booths are full and you’re drawing smiley faces on your plate with ketchup and wow your concentrated frown is cute” AU.
“It’s our mutual friend’s wedding and they keep shoving us into each other because we’re the only ones at the ceremony who are single” AU.
The Softest™ Suggestions/Prompts [x]
going out on a walk to a hill and watch the twinkling stars while wrapped in a blanket.
Some neighbor aus for ya guys [x]
“Would you STOP coming in through the WINDOWS, it scares the hell out of me every TIME!” au
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ndowne · 4 years
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What I’ve been up to recently
Courses I’ve taken
In 2019/2020 I took these Stanford classes as a JSK fellowship affiliate:
Ornithology (BIO221)
Conservation photography (BIO53)
Evolution (BIO85)
Ecology and Evolution of Animal Behaviour (BIO245)
Applied Ecology at Jasper Ridge preserve (BIO205)
Geology, Landscapes and Tectonics of the SF Bay Area (GEOLSCI42)
Concepts in Environmental communications (EARTHSYS 291)
Ecology (BIO81)
Introduction to Earth Systems (EARTHSYS10)
Other classes and trainings I have taken during this time:
Weekly Spanish classes since March 2019
Pat Brown’s 3 day residential desert bat class in July 2019 in the Mojave Desert
Drones in Conservation workshop, week long class by The Wildlife Society in April 2019.
Defensive driving class March 2019
Advanced animal care training with the Marine Mammal Center 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Marine Mammal Center advanced education and tour guide training Feb 2019 (also many other in-the job advanced education training courses)
Elephant seal progression trading with the Marine Mammal Center, January 2019
Giving psychological first aid in a disaster, with SF fire department and NERT, Jan 2019
Two day Marine Mammal Center docent and education training, October 2018
3 day residential class on nudibranchs with Alison Young and Dr Rebecca Johnson, the California Acadamy of Sciences and the Jepson Herbarium in Half Moon Bay, California, July 2018
Week long naturalist kayaking trip in Baja, Mexico to learn about whales, Feb 2018
Two day ham radio class with the San Francisco Radio Club, June 2017
Week-long residential bat acoustics workshop (using Sonobat) by Dr. Joe Szewczak, Leila S. Harris and Jill Carpenter and the Wildlife Society. June 2017 in the San Jacinto Mountains, California.
California naturalist residential course in 2017
The Wildlife Society day/long bats and white nose syndrome workshop
Bat banding radio tagging class with Dave Johnston in September 2017
NERT graduate class in Pet disaster response and first aid, Feb 2017
NERT graduate class in Emergancy communications, Feb 2017
Neighborhood Emergency Response Training with the San Francisco Fire Department (NERT) January 2017
Marine Mammal Center animal care and advanced animal care, and elephant seal progression training.
Conferences I went to during this time:
Science Hackday October 2019, 2018 and 2017
The Wildlife Society and American Fisheries Society annual conference in Cleveland Ohio September 2019
California Bat Working Group summit Feb 2019 and Feb 2018
Wildlife Conservation Network Spring and Fall Expo 2018
California Naturalist Regional Rendezvous where I have a talk on white nose syndrome in bats
The Wildlife Society Annual Conference in New Mexico September 2017
Wildlife Conservation Network Spring Expo 2017
Pybay Python regional conference August 2016
Naturalist training and Bat experience
I qualified as a California Naturalist in 2017 through through the University of a California Agricultural College and Camp Ocean Pines. My final project was a bat walk and a presentation about bats. This was such a huge success that I was invited back to the 2018 class to give a paid talk on bats and guided bat detecting walk.
I put this training to good use encouraging friends and organising many trips to help spark that passion for nature (bats and otherwise!). I believe in getting people on that first rung of the stewardship ladder where to care and protect for the environment you first have to be exposed and get interested in nature.
I volunteer with the California Acadamy of Sciences on occasion to help perform biodiversity analysis on the tidepool reef at Pillar point in Half moon bay under the direction of Alison Young and Rebecca Johnson. I have also taken their 3 day residential class on Nudibranchs with the Jepson Herbarium.
I collaborated with leaders in the California Bat Working Group to specify, design and build a website for the group and the logo/branding:
https://www.calbatwg.org
Simon and I also built this Bat website with iNaturalist data to help people realise that awesome bats are around them everywhere!
https://www.batsnearme.com
I attended the residential workshop put on by The Wildlife Society and run by Dr. Joe Szewczak, Leila S. Harris and Jill Carpenter in the San Jacinto mountains, June 2017. We did a deep dive into the biomechanical process of echolocation, diffeeent species of bats, the physics of sound and in teams of 4 we designed, ran and analysed the results of a survey with a Sonobat detector. Paying special attention to where we placed the sensor, what types of bats we thought we might get then learning to analyse the sonogram waveforms for heuristic patterns to identify individual species of bat. We did some mist netting, I helped get a tangled June bug successfully out of the net.
At Pat Brown’s 3 day residential Desert bat class in the Mojave Desert, 2019, I got my first bat handling experience under supervision of Jill Carpenter. I assisted with the construction and breakdown of the netting sites. Record keeping and I held and helped measure several California Myotis and helped get a Canyon bat and two Palid bats out of the net. (I have a recent Rabies Titer)
In February 2020 I had the opportunity to volunteer for Gabe Reyes with the USGS mist netting bats in Marin. I managed the survey record keeping, helped with construction and breakdown of 6 mist nets. I handled some California Myotis and helped measure weights and wingspan, assisted with the removal of one bat from a net and helped release a few after we had surveyed and radio tagged them. More winter survey dates were planned but the global Coronavirus pandemic stepped in the way.
I took a week long drones in conservation workshop with the Wildlife Society where learned to plan routes, fly drones, environmental and wildlife considerations and regulations and how to analyse and collate imagery and geo reference to a map using ArcGIS. We also used ArcGIS for our project in which find a number of hidden plastic turkeys with drone imagery from a route that we planned and executed in teams of 3.
Science communication and Docenting/Guide experience
I have been working with the Scientific community on twitter to support and boost the engagement in science communication games (eg #cougarOrNot / #CrowOrNo #barkingUpATree etc).
I used Python to automate a Twitter bot that retweets science communication games:
https://natbat.github.io/scicomm-calendar/
I have also worked extensively with the iNaturalist API. Simon and I just launched MVP of the site we’ve been working on for the last few days. It’s a site to get people interested in Tidepooling and help figure out the best low tides to visit in the next month that are in daylight hours.
https://www.rockybeaches.com/us/pillar-point
Another site we launched was for the Super Bowl / Superb Owl
https://www.owlsnearme.com
I am working to publish and create a library of nature videos for the Bay Area.
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCu_N3UP2o8JdnNmGAhYRijQ
Here is the educational video of me talking about how 50% of all Californian Sealions are born on June 15th and the rest are born that week:
https://youtu.be/Z2B_cbp34D8
youtube
My educational video on redwood trees:
https://youtu.be/3DzN2De9ANc
youtube
I have been a volunteer Docent/Guide at the Marine Mammal Center for a year, I have done nearly 100 hours of Docenting. This involved customer engagement through storytelling to help spark people’s passion about marine mammals and lead them into behavioural change to save the oceans and the planet. (See below for more details and recommendations I have received on this role). I have also taken the tour guide training and was in the process of graduating as a tour guide when the pandemic temporarily closed the Center.
I took part in Science Hackday 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Marine Mammal experience
I have been volunteering at The Marine Mammal Center in Marin, California on the animal care crew (Tuesday daytime topside) more details on this can be found in the volunteering section of my LinkedIn profile.
In summary this consisted of in-pen experience with marine mammals such as Elephant Seals, Northern & Guadalupe Fur Seals, California & Stellar Sea lions. Working as part of a team to follow protocols (such as tube feeding), do detail oriented work and care for the animals in a high stress, high risk environment.
I trained in ‘Elephant Seal progression’ which involved direct interaction with young & yearling Elephant seals 'fish school' monitoring their behaviour and teaching them to activate their instincts to recognise fish as food & overcome gag reflex to swallow and eat fish on the pen floor & in the pool. I spent several seasons as part of the Fish school team. Part of this work required detailed charting of observations and behaviours for continuity between teams and vet-staff to be informed.
The Fish kitchen experience (both participating in and running fish kitchen) involved, organising orders, labels and buckets, measuring quantities, performing quality assurance & adding medication to fish, making measuring and drawing up fish mash and electrolytes.
I ran the fish kitchen operation on several occasions, organising, prioritising and managing teams to take the fish to the pens, taking reports of the feeds/observations and charting this for vet staff.
I helped release Elephant Seals to the wild which is an incredibly magical experience knowing you have helped these animals recover. I have participated as part of the release team on two releases at Chimney rock which is a different sort of high-stress/risk environment because you are out in the wild and there are adult elephant seals around on the beach.
I've taken the Animal care class & the Advanced animal care class yearly and the Elephant Seal Progression class.
Neighborhood campaigns and local politics
I have been campaigning with some friends and neighbors to save trees in Hayes Valley, this included putting out petitions, posters, social media campaigns, surveys, writing speeches, and speaking out at public meeting city hearings and appeals (both for hayes valley and other neighborhoods) and negotiating for terms of replacement trees directly with the Bureau of Urban Forestry.
For more information on our campaign’s achievements: https://blog.natbat.net/post/623649015818485760/hayes-valley-trees
Ham Radio and Disaster response experience
I trained with the SF fire department Neighborhood Emergancy Response Team (NERT predecessor to the CERT programs elsewhere in California) in 2017. This was a 3 day program with a license for 2 years and I have renewed again in 2019. I have attended a NERT Drill and have done three graduate NERT classes, psychological first aid, pet preparedness and first aid and Emergency Communications.
I took a Ham Radio class with the SF Ham Radio Club in June 2017. I arranged study groups with some friends. I took the exam for the Technical License and passed first time with a score of 34/35. In September 2017 I passed my General License (Intermediate) exam. My callsign is KM6LCB.
I volunteered at the San Francisco Marathon on the communications team on the part of the route that blocked in the SF blood bank. I’ve taken part in two treasure hunt style simplex competitions with friends, run by a friend who used to write the MIT treasure hunt.
Expeditions
Simon and I went on a week long kyacking and camping expedition in Baja Mexico in with Naturalists and Guides from Seatrek to find Blue and Grey whales in n Feb 2019
I planned and organized a 4 week expedition to Madagascar in September 2019. I wanted to see as many Lemurs in the wild as possible so my plan took me to a distribution of biodiversity hotspots all over the country (some of which were very hard to get to and involved chartering boat or hiking for miles).
I worked with an independant local guide and together we booked accomodations and arranged logistics around constraints of time, budget route and amount of lemurs. We saw 28 (of the hundred or so extant) different species of Lemur in the wild. Hiked twice a day including a lot of night hikes to see bats and nocturnal lemurs and fosa fusana. I learned enough Malagasy to communicate basic needs and facts about animals!
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ace-pidge · 7 years
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@legendaryvoltron tagged me a few days back, sorry I missed it!
5 things you’ll find in my bag:
Wallet
Notebook+pen
Hairbrush
Swiss Army knife
A couple pads
5 things you’ll find in my bedroom:
Betta fish
Shelf full of plants
Flipper the dolphin plush
My book collection
Lots of posters/prints on the walls
5 things I’m currently into
Voltron (duh)
Race to the Edge (HTTYD)
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
The Foxhole Court (All for the Game) by Nora Sakavic
Child of Light
5 things on my to-do list:
Write hance zine piece
Start writing sheith big bang piece
Update events blog
Do assignment for tomorrow
Start working on review committee report
5 things people may not know about me:
My dream job would be like something at a herbarium or botanical garden, where I get to take care of plants all day, and maybe help with plant conservation efforts
I love the outdoors, and outdoor activities like hiking, biking, climbing, skiing etc
I’m really struggling with my Masters, to the point I regret accepting it. I’ve come to realize it’s really... not... a field/topic I’m interested in after all ://
I desperately miss playing volleyball, but I’ve been too hesitant to try ever since I badly injured my knee playing a few years ago
I lowkey dream of one day owning a property where I can grow a little garden and maybe have a little greenhouse of my own and like a couple chickens or beehives or something
Tagging: @fonbella @ace-keith @planced @ashinan @butteredonions @j-j-leroy, only if you want to, no pressure!
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hautekurture · 7 years
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[self-para] one foot boy
characters → @hautekurtures​
location → nyada campus, new york
timeframe → feb. 23, 2017 morning
summary → kurt looks to refill his tea and goes to heather’s herbarium at the jabir ibn hayyan market. he receives some shocking t instead.
notes → kurt is mean to “heather.” :x and here is the song, if you want to check it out. <3
Morning came but it was gray and damp. Kurt was already moving with his marbled Dr. Martens clunking on the floor. Dressed in an black Moschino cigarettes sweater, and Paul Smith rose-patterned trousers in a fading red to black, Kurt moved into his kitchenette with worry-creased shoulders. On the counter was a square of paper towel. His manicured fingers pressed the side of the towel. Dry.
It had drained the remainder of the water from the tea bag, Kurt peeled back the paper to check. The color was one shade of brown and no matter how good was his eyes, Kurt couldn’t figure out what was what inside. Wrapping it back in the paper towel, Kurt sighed and tucked the square into his Hermès messenger bag, along with his other stuff. Moisturizer, sunscreen, hair comb. Fashion journal and several sketching multi-liner pens. He would take days like this, heading to cafes in Midtown or Chelsea, and draw whatever inspiration he had. 
But ever since he got here, Kurt found himself drawing less. It sucked and there was a guilt whenever he saw the blank white page. Instead of doing something about it though, Kurt closed the cover and turned away. There was too much to do, Kurt thought. It was a nice excuse. 
Jabir Ibn Hayyan Market. How many times had Kurt been here? Too many for his comfort. Shops with their signs beckoned for visitors, students to come shop. However Kurt wasn’t going to have a mall spa day. From asking around, Kurt had figured out where to go for any herbal needs. The door to Heather’s Herbarium rang as Kurt entered. Kurt hated the sound of bells and crinkled his nose, however, that only allowed the spicy bitterness of herbal concoctions to enter his nose.
He clutched his gloved hand to his nose and mouth, trying to block out the smell. There was no one else in, thank god, however that meant the girl at the counter noticed him. 
“How can I help you?” She asked right as Kurt walked up to her while she was talking. With his other hand, he placed the sachet on the counter. 
Kurt reluctantly put his hand down so he could speak. He wasn’t going to make himself look foolish in front of the clerk. “I want more of this, it’s a herbal tea. I’ve had it for years.” Kurt said, choosing not to be specific.  
The girl took the tea bag and carefully poured the contents out into her hand. Kurt watched her as she said, “One minute, let us check this for you. We have some tools in the next room.” She next took off, her flats making dull clinks as it smacked against the wooden floor. 
Kurt was alone in the thin, tall shop and wrinkled his nose again. It smelled like musty vapo-rub. Kurt hated herbs, they were seen always as medicine to a condition he was tragically born with. He tried to close his eyes and remember the tin and the sachets when he first got them.
Kurt was 5, maybe. The Hummels had received two large tins of it, this pungent rooty stuff, from Kurt’s preschool teacher. He had hated it. It tasted weird and made him blank-headed at first but he had grown used to it. The teas helped Kurt cope through the darkest moments of his life, warm in his hands but cool in his mind. With a new life as crazy as this, Kurt needed it. Valentine’s Day, or rather night, flashed in his mind. How upset he got, it was unlike anything before. He didn’t want to repeat how green and hot his cheeks had burned.
A stutter got Kurt’s attention and he glanced over his shoulder, the clerk’s face was pallid but had a hue of mint to it. Kurt tensed as she took a breath.
“I’m sorry, but w-we can’t sell this. We don’t have it here. Actually... You shouldn’t have this, actually.” The girl said. The leftover leaves and bits of dried plants were back on the paper towel. Kurt stared in shock. His lips buzzed with anxiety.
“What do you mean? You have everything here, you are supposed to. I was told--” Kurt’s tone was shrill and the girl put up her hands to explain.
“We have your regular herbs and roots, but whatever this tea is, the ingredients must be from hybridized plants, which are mainly illegal. Sir, I... I don’t know how to tell you this, but your tea contains mood suppressants and... what I can inspect as a power destabilizer. How long have you been drinking this?!” She asked him.
Kurt felt like he had dropped a glass inside his own body.
“For more than a decade,” Kurt answered. His tongue hit each word like a barb. 
The girl’s face lengthened in surprise. Her eyebrows drew up and her lips downward. She stammered, “Aether, then I have no idea how you... Your powers must be so, unbalanced and out of sync-- you’re a Changeling, aren’t you? Your face, it’s green now... With the mood suppressants, too, how did you--”
Kurt didn’t hear the end of it. He snatched up the paper towel with the remainder of the tea dregs and cut off the girl. Glaring at her, he said angrily, “Listen, Heather, that is none of your business. Your business is to tell me whether or not some stupid frigging plant is in stock. Ok? Your job isn’t to ask me about my life. Tell me how I can get these plants and I’ll leave you alone and won’t write a scathing review or get your manager to fire your incompetent ass.”
The clerk’s face flushed green as well and Kurt felt sick looking at her and stepped away, rolling his eyes. Was that supposed to make him feel better, that she had that same complexion as he did? No, it reminded Kurt of the shit he went through because of it. He scanned down to see her name tag--Lila Lily--and didn’t even bother correcting himself. 
Not Heather narrowed her eyes at him. She didn’t like him. Good, Kurt could deal with hate. He had always dealt with hate. “Fae don’t deal with playing around with Mother Nature.” Lila said. 
The quiet implication was there. A witch. Kurt glared at her and turned to leave.
“Y-you shouldn’t go after that, it’s dangerous. In the end, it’ll kill you.” She was warning him.
Kurt hated warnings from others. He knew what he was doing. Coolly, he whipped his head around.
“Honey, I’m an out gay. Me being me is dangerous. No, in the end, I know what will kill me,” Kurt said with a smirk before he slammed the door behind him.
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Of Thorns and Buttercups
~Ch 6/?~
(Beauty and the Beast AU, Kiiiinda. It has definite elements of the original story cause I’m a sap for Fairytale AUs. I hope you enjoy. Also shout out to @sophiakuso1 for being my beta. Here you can find Beginning or Previous) Jaskier makes more progress into unraveling secrets and chipping away at Geralt's heart. Please enjoy this chaotic bard's adventures!
Note: Lew is still pronounced Lef because it is polish just as a heads up.
Primary Tags: Beast! Geralt, Belle! Jaskier, Memory Alteration Via Curse, It really only affects Jaskier right now Also on AO3!
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Jaskier awoke with a start. His dream was... odd. Straight out of a fairy tale or romantic ballad if he were to describe it. His heart so desperate for a knight, metaphorical or literal, to come into his life to love him like in every sappy poem and song he ever dealt read or sang, it went to the extent of affecting his dreams. He could feel a flush of embarrassment rushing to his face as he remembered his own mind even put him in the place of a maiden who met a dashing silver haired knight in a picturesque autumn forest. The traitor! Jaskier couldn't help thrashing his arms and legs about in the bed before finally sitting back up with a huff. He would have liked to scream in embarrassment but thought better of it seeing as it would be rude and potentially more humiliating if the Beast were to hear him and come check what was wrong. But now that he paused and thought about the hair color of his knight in shining armor in his dream, it looked very similar to the Beast’s fur. It was a wintery soft looking white that appeared as striking and fluffy as fresh fallen snow. Focusing more on it made his heart ache pitifully while also making him yearn for the company of the Beast simultaneously. He decided then that it would be better to shrug off the odd painful emotion, however, and latch onto his desire for fluffy company instead. Whatever had occurred in the past had happened, and he doubted he could change that right then, so he might as well focus on helping his hopefully new found friend... or, well, he would dearly love to make friends with the Beast. They could both really use a friend right about now. Invigorated by his new goal, Jaskier climbed out of bed ready to face the day. Whether it meant getting to spend quality time with the fellow or him filling his day dutifully studying the flowers for any hint of a connection to the curse… all by himself... He would be completely fine either way, at least he would be helping! Honestly, he didn’t mind the idea of being completely and utterly alone all day again! It’ll be great, just like his days just after Oxenfurt, except he wasn’t on the road obviously. 
He stretched in the warmth of his room, thanking whatever gods were above for granting him the luxury of having a magical fireplace to keep him warm in this cursed winter as he was setting about readying himself to face the day. Before he could even think about what to wear, he spotted another set of clothes on the trunk in front of his bed. It was almost scary how the great Beast could sneak into his room to leave gifts without disturbing Jaskier’s sleep with how big he appeared to be. The bard also couldn’t decide if it was sweet or creepy that he kept doing it, but he settled on sweet for now since he found all that fur rather endearing compared to a regular human stranger. The doublet and trousers, which were more bloomers this time, were a rich amber with burgundy accents which reminded him of the forest from his dream. The delicate embroidery on it even had a leaf motif as well. It may have been a coincidence, but he couldn’t help but smile nonetheless. The soft gauzy chemise and stockings to match the ensemble were a lovely cream color which seemed to tie it all together with soft dark brown boots that were set to the side. He gently put the garments on after he finished his usual morning routine--the importance of moisturizing, children--and when he turned to make the bed everything was already done just like the day prior. “You know you don’t have to be shy. You can do things in front of me just as you do with the Beast.” He spoke aloud into the empty room, not expecting any form of answer, but the curtains on the bed fluttered slightly. He took that as a yes and enjoyed another small victory. 
For a moment, he considered going in search of the Beast, but that hadn’t worked out well yesterday, so he decided to just finish what he had started last night. After a short whole of skimming through his select few books that he had collected, he decided the Herbarium and Antidotarium were far too academically written for him to really understand. Besides, they both seemed to not really focus on flora at all. Plants in general, yes, flowers not so much. He set them aside to put back later, but the small stool he placed them on trotted out of the room with the books. “...Thank you!” He called after the silly thing, after his initial shock, realizing that the stool had most likely gone to return them for him. How kind! The Botanist's Companion to the Identification of Flora had proved quite useful for, well, identifying the flowers he didn’t know of course, but it didn’t go much further then that. So he then turned his sights on the homemade Alchemy text and the Assasination guide book. If the flowers had any use for magic or medicine, Jaskier was sure these would have it all there for him in black and white… Except after searching through the neat penmanship for a couple of hours-- pity these didn’t have an index--and jotting down notes as he went, he found there was no correlation. Some were poisonous, some were medicinal, some were magical, some were a combination of the three, and although he assumed magic and alchemy were practically the same thing, none of the four flowers had any use in the same potions or spells he found. Bottom line was that the flowers and their associated parts had no practical use as a whole together. 
Changing his line of thought, he kept his notes, but turned to his final book and opened it. Symbolism was always the way to a bard’s heart, but he hadn’t expected a sorceress or sorcerer to pay much heed to it. Although, perhaps whoever it was to cast the spell was just adding insult to injury. It was like adding some kind of reminder or petty jab to taunt the Beast in his magical prison in the form of flowers. Odd, but not outside the realm of possibility really. He had once gone to such petty lengths as to bribe the laundress at Oxenfurt to “accidentally” dye all of Valdo Marx’s white linens and bed dressings to a color Jaskier knew he particularly hated for weeks just to drive the insufferable prat up the wall. Then to top it all off with a bow, he convinced the lady Valdo was courting at the time, that said color was his favorite and really got him going in the bedroom. He graciously assisted the fine lady to decorate her room in it, as well as oh-so-helpfully assisted her with picking out a stunning outfit to surprise and delight the odious weasel. It all proved to be worth it when the other man had been suspended for a week after he hollered at and practically mauled everyone who crossed his path. Now, many would think Jaskier was being unduly cruel, but in his defense, it was well and truly deserved. He only committed the act of vengeance after the vile piece of shit had stolen one of Jaskier’s early compositions which he had slaved over for months to complete and proceeded to present it as his own for the final examinations. It was butchered and Jaskier couldn’t bring himself to sing it ever again. So if whoever really disliked this Beast was petty enough, Jaskier wouldn’t put it past them to add a small detail of insulting foliage to the whole shabang. 
Upon opening the small journal filled with a ladies delicate crisp script, he set to work. To his confusion, they didn’t all come together as a whole that meant fuck you or something as equally aggressive. It was more mournful and sad. Thistle carried the heavy tones of pain, anger, and pride, which was not at all surprising of the devilish little thing, from what the text said. The Zinnia spoke of an absence while the cyclamens implied a separation that led to the absence. The worst and most heart wrenching of them all were the little purple hyacinths that pleadingly asked for forgiveness. Jaskier didn’t really get the whole picture yet, but he did understand that, as beautiful as the back garden was, it was a reminder. It was a symbol of regret, and something was undoubtedly hidden in the center of the maze. Hopefully a major clue or, if he was lucky enough, the key to breaking the curse. Regardless, the bard was even more determined to unravel what it all meant now than ever. First, however, he needed to gather more flowers and try to pick his way through the maze to its center. 
He set the sad blossoms to the side with the other materials and the journal before pulling on his bright cloak, ready to press on now that he had more stable footing underneath him. A glance to the windows showed that it was practically midday and he had skipped breakfast… again. Whoopsies. Not wanting to take too long though, he popped into the dining room and tucked some apples into his cloak pockets, also managing to remember to grab a couple for the mare--as he promised to do--from the table that was slowly clearing itself for dinner later in the evening. He left through the front entrance and made his way to the stables so he wouldn’t forget to give the lady her treat. 
He stopped short upon entering, however, because the horse was not alone this time. It seemed he was her second visitor of the day. Standing at her side was the Beast, brush in hand, lovingly grooming her while whispering words Jaskier sadly could not hear. The bard couldn’t help but feel elated that he had such good fortune that day. He did, however, war with himself on whether or not he should disturb the tranquil, domestic scene, but the decision was made for him as the lady huffed in Jaskier’s direction, which had the Beast’s gaze snapping up to him. The troubadour’s bright smile was met with an annoyed scowl however, and had Jaskier regretting his mistake of accidentally interrupting. Before he could think of an excuse to quickly get out of the Beast’s hair, the rough baritone called out, halting his thoughts. “What?” It was demanding and clipped but not angry at least.
Jaskier licked his lips nervously as he stepped forward, trying to remember what he had come to do all of a sudden. Thankfully, the gentle knock of the apples against his knee, concealed in his cape, jolted his memory . “Ah! Oh, I just came to bring a treat to the lady. She helped me in a way yesterday and I wanted to thank her.” He could feel his cheeks warm with embarrassment as the words left his mouth. He realized how ridiculous it sounded, but at least it was the truth. 
He expected a scoff or a growl to follow his ridiculous statement, but he was met with wide surprised eyes before the Beast’s face was back to its usual flat stare in the blink of an eye. The Beast said nothing further, but he did hum in acceptance, or at least that’s what Jaskier was going to assume it meant. When the Beast turned back to tending to the horse, Jaskier felt some of the tension leave him. He could do this, he could talk to the intriguing fellow and possibly convince the other to spend time with Jaskier in the day, not just at dinner. 
Jaskier quietly moved towards the two in the stall and cautiously caught the horse’s attention, not wanting to startle her.  “Hello, Madam! It’s lovely to see you again!” His mouth moved of its own accord, prattling on at the horse rather than the Beast to hopefully disperse his sudden onset nerves. “I have brought you a treat, as promised.” He continued as he stepped into the stall, putting him rather close to the great mass of fur. The space felt smaller than the other day with all three of them in it, and the bard felt his heart hammering in his throat, ready to run away with itself. He didn’t quite understand his own reaction, but he was tempted to blame it on the strange dream and how the Beast’s fur reminded him of the knight’s hair. He supposed he was needier for companionship then he thought, a matter he usually dealt with by finding some one night stand that gave him the physical if not emotional comfort he longed for. As he tried to quell his racing heart, the Beast shifted further away. The troubadour almost felt like an idiot as he realized the Beast could most likely hear the offending organ and it made him uncomfortable. Hell, if Jaskier could hear someone’s heartbeat race just by stepping into a horse stall which put them in close proximity to one another, he would think them strange too. All in all he was not making a good impression on the other who had already wanted to get rid of him. Mentally shoving down all the weird feelings, he fed the darling mare her treat. 
He needed to act as charming and likable as he usually was, but he couldn’t understand why none of his usual demeanor came out around the other man. He cleared his throat, glancing over at the other. “I apologise for if I offended you in some way last night during dinner. I thought things were going well, but I suppose I must have crossed a line somewhere that upset you, and for that I am remorseful. I didn’t intend to be rude.” He began speaking to fill the silence. It was not anywhere near what he had intended to say, but it also wasn’t the worst way to start. Besides, it was the truth. He felt like it had been his fault that everything was abruptly cut short. An apology was far better than glossing over what had happened, acting like it hadn’t occurred, and talking about the weather. The Beast only hummed in response to Jaskier’s apology, so the bard continued on. “By the way, whose horse is this? She’s an absolute peach! Did she get trapped here as well?”
The Beast grunted slightly in reply, very articulate, and Jaskier assumed that was all he was going to get out of him until finally the low rumbling tone graced the bard’s ears again. “She’s mine. Had her for years, and yes, she is most likely trapped here by the same curse that traps us.” The stoic individual explained, and it was so very sweet how fond he sounded when speaking of his horse.
Except it was as clear as mud. The Beast hadn’t really given him anything but sparse details that told him nothing except for some reason, a Beast in a cursed castle required a horse that he most likely couldn’t ride with his size being what it was. Jaskier would just have to take solace in the fact that he had gotten more words to come out of him than the short, clipped responses… Also that did confirm he was most likely a man before all this if he had had a horse, but it still didn’t tell him anything of the Beast’s status, class, or profession. Anyone could have a horse as long as they could make enough coin to care for it. “Well she’s a darling. May I- Is there any way I can help?” He tried to offer but the Beast shook his head with a happy huff. Jaskier sighed softly in disappointment. Well this wasn’t going very far… Jaskier decided to try another angle. “So, Beast, I really do mean it when I say-”
“Don’t” The deep growl cut him off and Jaskier’s confusion was met with a deep glower before the Beast’s eyes looked anywhere but at him. He didn’t look just annoyed this time but outright angry.
“What?” Jaskier could only ask dumbly because  he didn’t know where he had yet again misstepped. 
“Don’t call me that.” He growled, looking genuinely distressed and the bard felt rather bad for it… “Beast..” He spit out the word like it tasted foul on his tongue, muttering mostly to himself. 
“Well…” Jaskier started gently, taking a tentative step forward and laying a hand lightly on the Beast’s arm. He counted it as a win when it was not shaken off. “What should I call you? I--You have yet to give a name, but I apologize for the callous insensitivity I have displayed…” He asked, deciding that he should’ve at least apologized for putting his foot in his mouth again. Just because the Beast knew who he was didn’t mean he shouldn’t have asked the other for his. 
The Beast seemed to consider him critically for a moment while deciding whether or not to answer. “Geralt.”
Jaskier couldn’t help but smile, finally knowing the Beast’s name. “It’s nice to make your acquaintance, Geralt.” He spoke with a flourish and a bow, smiling playfully at the Beast, who rolled his eyes at the bard’s antics, but it felt fond in a way. “Now, as I was trying to say, I really do wish to help break the curse… If you’ll allow, that is.” He offered and amended, fully planning to continue helping regardless but it’d be easier if Geralt consented and provided information. 
The Beast sighed in annoyance, but Jaskier could tell that he was considering whether or not to trust the bard to help, so Jaskier waited patiently. “...The curse changes and shifts according to the person apparently.”  He relented vaguely.  
Jaskier was starting to think he and Geralt were going to need a little sit down to have a nice long chat about a thing called details. Really! It was a familiar exasperation that he felt, but didn’t dwell on it since the conversation seemed more pressing. “Sounds rather annoying and rather unfair of the caster to not even give you a hint on how to break it.” 
Geralt nodded stoically, a word that was rather fitting of the cursed man, as he ushered the bard out of the stall. Both said goodbye to the mare before stepping out into the crisp winter scene. It almost felt like the Beast didn’t want the horse to hear their discussion and the thought nearly had him giggling, but he refrained. Must maintain a serious professional demeanor and all that to get any details. “Don’t know much else yet except that the spell provides anything I need to break the curse… And there’s a time limit.” His tone was grave and the notion sent chills up the troubadour’s spine. 
“What happens if time runs out…” He couldn’t help asking as fear creeped into his mind. He may not know the Beast well, but he got a good feeling from him, and he didn’t want to lose yet another companion if he could help it. There was also the matter of what would happen to him if the curse’s time limit ran out since he was now stuck there. It was just as likely that he’d be freed as it was that he’d die with the Beast. 
Geralt didn’t respond however. He shrugged and shook his head, not meeting Jaskier’s eye, telling the bard that even he didn’t know what fate awaited him, but it was most likely very grim. Jaskier didn’t like the somber air that had enveloped them after the conversation lapsed, so he tried to reassure them both with false bravado he didn’t quite feel in the moment. “Well, nothing to fear really. I’m sure with my help, we’ll be able to break this curse in no time.”
The Beast, however, snorted at his cheerful tone. “Oh?  What could some bard do that I couldn’t already?” Now Jaskier could tell he was teasing, especially since there was an amused glint in the star like eyes, but he still wound up sputtering indignantly. 
“Some bard!?” He nearly shrieked as the other openly openly chuckled at his flustered state. “How dare you!” Jaskier quickly stooped down, gathering snow into a ball and threw it at the highly amused Beast. He had been mistaken, the Beast had a lack of refinement and taste! “I’ll show you!” He threw another ball of snow to punctuate his sentence before continuing his rant. “I’ll break the damned curse just so I can shove it in your furry handsome face!” 
He continued to pelt Geralt with snow, but now the other was returning fire, and Jaskier was scrambling to dodge while giving little shrieks of delight because as upset as he was, it was rather fun. “If your curse breaking is as bad as your aim bard, I shall fear for my life!” The other called out as they exchanged blows, his tone open and friendly. The man was apparently finding humor in ruffling Jaskier’s feathers, the insufferably gruff, intriguing bastard!
“In fact, I bet the curse brought me here because you were too busy brooding to figure it out!” His shrieks slowly morphed into delighted little laughs as they traded powdery blows. “An answer to your prayers!”
He ducked and ran through the front garden boasting as he tried to hit the agile Beast as the Beast chased after him. “More likely an added punishment brought to torment me.” The Beast countered, which rustled the bard more, most likely an attempt to get Jaskier to falter, which he almost gave into. 
After a little while of cat and mouse in their little snowball game, he was tackled into the fluffy snow by his pursuer. He giggled looking up at the Beast. Jaskier was pulling in deep breaths to sate his burning lungs while Geralt seemed unperturbed by the exercise, but they were both unmistakably smiling in their own ways, Jaskier grinning broadly while Geralt smirked. “The solution to all your woes…” He breathed out softly between them which Geralt rolled his eyes at fondly at before standing up, breaking whatever small moment that had appeared between them. He was kind enough to help the smaller man up, however, so chivalrous he was. 
Jaskier couldn’t help the soft, giddy giggles that sporadically slipped out from his lips, but as fun as everything had been, Geralt turned towards the castle. “I’ll, uh… I’ll see you at dinner.” Geralt offered before quickly going off and disappearing. 
Jaskier was left standing outside once again, damp, but genuinely happy for the first time in a while. He would have felt like he had scared the Beast off again had Geralt not just confirmed they’d be dining together. A part of him wanted to hop around in victory, but instead he buried his blushing face in his hands and squealed softly in delight. Things may have started off rocky but now things were finally looking up. Wanting to press his good fortune, Jaskier quickly made his way to the back gardens to collect a few more flowers to look up. He may or may not have been skipping, but he was too happy to care. He collected three more, wanting to take his time and not misidentify anything, since they dried slightly in the time he looked each one up. This time he collected a small, delicate little flower, a larger yellow flower that looked like the ruffled layers of a ladies petticoats, and a vivid purple flower with lots of long thin petals and a bright yellow center. Spending time searching for and picking buds had left him feeling rather chilled, however, so he hurried around the keep and went back inside.
By the time Jaskier was back in his chamber, he realized just how frigidly cold he actually was. Frost has actually stiffened the damper part of his clothes.  He shivered from the snow-dampened clothes, and a part of him knew it would be best to go take a nice hot bath, but he was suddenly very tired. So he stripped off his wet clothing, setting them to thaw and dry by the fire, and he set his newly collected blossoms with the others on his desk before dressing in the shirt he had slept in. Thankfully, from the position of the sun in the sky, Jaskier could tell he had a couple of hours until dinner. Which was just perfect! He’d take a nap for a little while, warm up, and then get all nice and freshened up for dinner. As he settled into bed, he wondered if Geralt would sneak him another outfit that he’d wish Jaskier to wear for dinner or not. The idea made him smile and laugh slightly before sleep pulled him into its sweet embrace. 
When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing before the same lake he had been at in his dream before. This time however, most of the trees were waning in the late autumn fashion, and the sun was slowly setting on the horizon behind him. However, he was not filled with awe and the delight of meeting a handsome mysterious stranger in the woods this time. In fact, he felt rather heart broken, a feeling he knew all too well at this point, and was not thrilled to be feeling it again. Worst of all, he felt like he could do nothing to remedy the situation which brought the sting of hot tears welling up and overflowing. He tried brushing them away, but the fat tears continued to flow. His soft hiccuping sobs that had forced their way passed his lips were halted by Lew emerging out of the trees. His sharp features were softened by the solemn concern that he wore openly on his face. His piercing yellow eyes held Jasekier captive as the man-- no, Knight apparently-- approached slowly.
“I should’ve told you…” His voice was full of regret and Jaskier knew he had already forgiven him. 
“It shouldn’t matter... “ Jaskier tried to offer, fully believing in what he said. It shouldn't have, whatever the drama was that his brain concocted, but it did. 
“But she’s your only family and it made me appear to be dishonest.” The silver haired knight finished for him. “...I think she just needed an excuse to deny the proposal. You only have one another and I understand her fear of losing you.” He added, a deep misery settled in his topaz gaze. It seemed to be one of his overly dramatic nights where he put too much poetic flare on his observations.
“I know…” Was all Jaskier could offer pitifully, feeling more tears welling up and burning the back of his throat. He couldn’t hide his little hitched sobs in the silent evening that veiled them from the world they would eventually have to go back to. Lew stepped closer, taking Jaskier’s hand in his, tentatively checking if the touch was welcome. The bard couldn’t help himself as he buried himself in the larger man’s arms, modesty be damned. Lew instinctively tightened the embrace as he ran his gloved hand through his hair and down his back soothingly. The knight’s thick cloak shielded them from the rest of the night and kept the chill at bay. It was only when the other’s heat seeped into his bones that Jaskier realized how cold he had become. Jaskier had forgotten that he had run out into the night without his own cloak, and the long trailing jacket he wore was not enough to buffer the late autumn weather.
“I promise, I will fix this, dear heart. I will do anything to prove to her that my feelings are genuine and that I only wish to care and provide for you. I do not mean to whisk you away or disappear with you.” His voice was even as he murmured to the bard. Jaskier pressed further into the other, not caring about the cool armor between them. He knew his heart already belonged to this man, and it was terrifying, but it brought him comfort to hear the other’s feelings. “I must tell you that the only reason I kept my title from you was because I wanted to know you without any status or title coming between us… It was selfish, I know, but I wanted to be free by your side, even if only for as long as you’d let me. I should have told you sooner.” Lew’s voice was remorseful as he cradled Jaskier so gently in his hold. 
The bard couldn’t help the small wet laugh that bubbled up in him as he looked up into his knight’s startled gaze. “I know, my dear. I know and I wouldn’t change even a second of the time we stole together.” Jaskier found himself declaring before he could second guess himself, but once the words were out, he knew they were true in his heart. Although his chest ached pleasantly compared to the heartache he had been feeling, something still felt false. This was all just a beautiful dream that he’d never have, and it made him want to weep, but he didn’t. He knew he was a cad and a flirt who played with one to many skirts, drawing the ire of husbands and other men. He knew with all his dishonesty, gallivanting, and cowardice he didn’t deserve such a sweet, faithful lover. He would not have such a fulfilling love unless the gods took pity and gifted him one last chance, but if he ever had a love in the waking world that felt like this, he’d follow them to the ends of the earth and back. He would faithfully love them and only them if he were just given a chance… But hadn’t he already had that chance? Wasn’t that why he felt as though there was a hole where his heart was that threatened to swallow him whole if he wasn’t distracting himself with other thoughts? It was why he felt jagged around the edges, something had been broken inside and hadn’t fit back together just right. He had wasted his one shot. 
“I will make this right.” The knights rumbled softly, like a summer storm, and Jaskier was pulled back into the present of the dream even though the realization lingered in his thoughts. As much as the gentle treatment broke his already fragile heart more, the bard found himself smiling lightly as the man stepped away. A strong hand wiped away the last of his tears before bidding him farewell. 
As Jaskier watched the knight disappear into the dark woods, he felt lighter and heavier at the same time. As he closed his eyes to savor the fleeting moment, he found himself blinking awake in his too warm bed. He tried to push down the regret welling up inside, but soon it was spilling out as he cried mutedly into his pillow. He felt so upset, and angry, and overwhelmed at the realization that he had somehow lost his love. To add salt to the gaping wound, he couldn’t even remember why or how! He couldn’t remember their face! Or their voice! All he wanted to do now was find them and fix everything, but he was here. He supposed the memory loss was also most likely his fault… An ill conceived memory spell undoubtedly procured from a backwater hag, presumably in an attempt to forget the pain after he got roaringly drunk. It definitely sounded on par with the foolish shit he had done in his lifetime, but it only served to wipe the man from his world, not the pain. The mind may forget, but the heart will always remember. As he felt entirely too warm and morose, as though this was the bed he would die in, he spotted a bundle of clothes left on the side table by his side of the bed. The thought of the Beast leaving them there after creeping carefully in to surprise him with the gift managed to quell his tears and bring a tiny hint of a smile to his lips. Although he had messed his life up somehow and he felt lost, adrift in a sea he no longer knew how to navigate, he was at least not alone. He had his dreams filled with lovely views and a darling knight, but more importantly, he had the company of his Beast. He very much preferred his Beast to imaginary knights if he was to get through this whole comedy of tragedies that was his life. 
So regardless of how his body protested and how his head swam with sleep, he hauled himself up and out of the bed that remade itself. The light outside was almost completely gone which meant he had slept longer than he had intended. He’d have to hurry if he wanted to be on time. Jaskier found himself quickly freshening up in the wash basin to rid himself of the sweat he somehow drenched himself in as he slept while chiding the fireplace for stoking itself so high… and then he consoled the poor thing because he felt bad for being too harsh with it as he put on kohl to match the dark garments still neatly folded and waiting. When he picked them up, however, he finally noticed they were a deep purple velvet that brightened as the fabric shifted. The long doublet was trimmed with emerald braiding, and near the collar, emeralds were studded in a way to appear as though he were wearing an extravagant necklace. The simple velvet trousers were well fitted and clung to him like a second skin. His new chemise that went with the ensemble was lilac, and so delicate in his hands that it could only be made of silk. This outfit seemed terribly grand compared to the past outfits he had been given, and for the first time in his life, he was nervous to put on such finery, but it would be rude not to. So he dressed carefully, realizing then just how warm velvet was to wear, but he’d just bare it for the sake of his Beast. He also decided to wear the few silver rings he had to add a little touch of his own. As the bard was pulling on his new over the knee black boots, a knock came at his door and he realized with a small smile that Geralt had come to fetch him again. Muzzy headed with excitement, he quickly finished and strode to the door, pulling it open with a flourish and a big delighted smile. As he suspected, the Beast was truly there, hunched over to look less threatening, and he had changed out of his usual armor into clothes that seemed dressier, which had Jaskier’s woefully soft heart bubbling happily in his chest. Geralt had made an effort this time and, if Jaskier may be so bold as to wish, it was for his sake. “Geralt! Shall we?” He asked cheerily, looping his arm around the crook of the other’s elbow and waited for the other to lead the way. 
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mossinformed · 4 months
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Now that I am back in the herbarium after a Series of Events, here is a running list of mosses I have collected & identified for the herbarium. My job is mostly curating old collections but I’m getting better at IDs!
Tortula brevipies
Tortula ruralis
Fontinalis hypnoides
Tortella tortuosa
Bryum gemmiparum
Encalypta procera
Didymodon tripharius
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mossinformed · 11 months
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Herbarium moodboard
60 year old moss stem soaked with a drop of water, you can see the tiny capsules. 1909 Newspaper plants were pressed in more than a hundred years ago, notes made by the collector (LeRoy Behling).
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