oh to be a gay person in the 19th century and fall ill and die of an unknown affliction because my best friend tucked my hair behind my ear and held my hand in theirs once before leaving town without a word saying where they’d gone or even a goodbye
Themes: Betrayal, family, loyalty, power and corruption, magic, healing, war, the balance of good and evil.
Summary:
The universe is under an authoritarian rule by the ISW, Intergalactic Species Warriors, a large and oppressive organization. Kirian is a hybrid of two different species: Lycan and Elf. She is the heir to both species.
She has lived her whole life as an outcast. She secluded herself to drown out the hatred. That is until she had an encounter with S.W.O.A.R.D.
S.W.O.A.R.D is an organization that has been struggling to overthrow the tyranny. As a past assassin and someone who has a personal vendetta against ISW, Kirian, along with her newly found confidants, she decides to rejoin the fight to end the violent and oppressive rule.
Encountering many trials and tribulations. Kirian must not only fight enemy soldiers but prejudices and stereotypes as well. As she goes against everything the universe has come to accept, she is determined to make a difference.
Warnings: Emotional trauma, graphic depictions of violence, death, mentions of sexual assault, language/swearing, self-harm.
As many of y’all know the tail of the preservation of the monarch butterfly also meant the return of Asclepias spp. to Nurseries and Magazines within’ their range. This did eliminate other problems tied into similar insect decline too; but, it did not hammer in the point to promote land ethics and host plant relationships enough to really get the ball rolling. If you are an out door educator, it is really easy to promote butterflies to children and with that, the native host plants they are associated with.
^ this is a Karner Blue Butterfly
^ and this pine and oak upland savannah with Ericacean soils is home to their host plant, the blue stuff, Lupinus perennis.
These plants and the ecological practices that come with managing this environment are crucial to the preservation of these species along with many others. The Karner Blue is endangered in much of it’s historic range with extreme disjunction events forming pocket populations that will eventually fade to nothing unless some sort of land ethic is picked up to promote their host plants.
(Photographs above from Mike Adamovic at Albany Pine Bush Preserve, NY. )
Just like many classic prairies, these types of savannas are preserved by prescribed burns to promote herbaceous species, acidity, and to mitigate woodies.
As outdoor educators, science explainers, and naturalists it is extremely important to communicate that these practices are crucial for land management to adults while also promoting these insects and their host plants to children if you care about ecosystem stability in the long run.
It’s also really fun when you can throw Paw Paw, Lilies, Spicebush, and Sassafras into the mix as much as possible.
Pipevine and Golden Alexanders would be great too.
The reason why im ranting about this is because of the lack of these plants floating around is extremely alarming when I can walk into a dollar store and easily find common milkweed on the shelves, these other plants have the potential to be promoted just as much, and it’s frustrating they’re not.
Juli Fusina and More 