#that is the home of so many other beings. beautiful moths. so many ants. just today my mom and i were watching a hawk that landed on it

[peonyleaf]

my parents said they're cutting down or 20+ year old mango tree bc the neighbors are complaining. I'm gonna fuckingkillmyself

[midnightsunnyday]

And One Day He'll Be Known As... ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

➠ word count: 1564 ➠ characters: Lucifer/Reader, Lucifer & Reader ➠ cw: none, yet read at your own discretion. ➠ a/n: will there ever be a day I don't write a story about this man? No, not really. Also, not really sure what this is, but I wrote it during lunch break on my phone at work after reading through a "particular book." Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧ ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Before the day could even be called day, a light was born in a formless, empty world.

The light had no name, no shape, but it was conscious and very, very hot. In that moment, a great fear overtook it, for the light did not know these feelings it possessed, nor why it was brought forth. It then cried out into the void and from its cries, came many other lights and shapes that spiraled and crashed and split apart. It was then a voice rang out:

“Do not fear, for I am your Father, and all things that come from me are good, and from you, good things have formed."

The light then stilled, knowing that he was not alone here, and saw that these “good things” that formed were called stars and planets. And while the light was still scared, it knew that it was “good” and continued to help make good things.  

For many, many, many days, the light sat and watched as the Father worked through all his creation. It saw the void split in two, and learned that the brightness would be called “day” and the darkness “night.” Its home was now above the waters, which sat atop creation, and below it, the land, the sea, and its creatures. The Father would call this little blue ball “Earth,” and was very pleased with it. And while the light did not understand, it found it…so.

Soon after, the light was given a “brother,” and that brother would help lead the Father’s children beyond the firmament. By then, the light was now “he” and given a form that pleased him, with many wings and eyes as red as fire. He even had a name, “light-bearer" and like his sibling, a purpose: to watch over creation as its guides and judges.

One day, the light-bearer stood from above, looking down upon the Earth. Despite the passage of time, there were still many things he did not understand. If all the Father’s things were “good,” then why were some things “not good?” Why did beasts of land eat the smaller beasts? Why did the moths mistake the flame for light? Why did the birds fly themselves to death? And why did humans, who’d been given eternal life, forsake it to wander the wilderness? And these strange beings with horns and wings that stalked the night and preyed upon the humans. Are they a part of the plan? Because of these questions, the light-bearer couldn’t help but ask:

“Why is it all so…flawed?”

From above, his brother--now Michael--heard him and rang out.

“What do you mean, brother?”

“To be given life is a blessing," the light-bearer said. "Yet they do nothing but die and kill things, yet Father still finds them worthy of his creation. Why?”

It was not like one of the Father’s angels to question His creation, yet the light-bearer was not like other angels. He possessed a will far greater than most, and a mouth just as harsh. He was also very beautiful, yet such things did not concern him.

Michael laughed, admiring the way his brother bathed in the light. “An ant learns to find a path over the water when another drowns to cross it. Those things that are flawed give others the knowledge to do better.”

Lucifer pondered his own creation. He himself was created, not born. “So does that mean we have no flaws?”

“The Father did not intend for us to be flawed."

"Yet how do we have the knowledge to do better if we do not learn from our mistakes?"

"We were born righteous,” Michael answered. “And those things born righteous cannot make mistakes, as we already know our path and roles within it.”

“I see.” Lucifer gazed down at the vivid blue. Despite its size, it’d all seemed so boundless, stretching on forever. These creatures, not tied by what is good or not, had been given a choice. To choose one’s path and live with the mistakes within it. Such beings would be flawed, yes, but beyond that…

“I suppose I can see the beauty in it.”

And within him grew a feeling he could not yet explain.    

Of course, he did not know it then. But one day the light-bearer would come to know humanity very well. By then, he’d be known by a different name. One that the entire world would know. Not for all the good and light it helped create, but for all the evils that plagued it. A name known only as--

“—Oh, Luuucy!”

Lucifer knew of only one person who’d be polite enough to knock in this house and foolhardy to use such an embarrassing nickname. Admittedly, he found it refreshing.

“I know you can heeeere me!” You sung beyond the door.

Though if not a bit exasperating.

It was only natural that you came to him, as you did with all his brothers. You were kind, to the point of absurdity, yet it was a part of you he found charming. You entered—without answer, he’d add—holding a cup of his favorite tea, a clear means to soften the inevitable interrogation as to why, for the past several days, he hadn’t left his office. His brothers, having known the consequences of doing so, allowed him his peace. Yet you on the other hand, knew nothing of minding one’s own.

"We miss you at the table," your voice was low, biting your cheek as if to consider your next words. “How have you—"

"—I'm fine," Lucifer said, still pretending to scan through his paperwork. His response was simple. Pointed. And by your startled reaction, that should’ve been the end of it.

It wasn’t.

"I figured as much,” you said as you trotted carefully towards his desk. “Mammon said this was "normal" for you." You’d sat the cup beside him. The smell hit him with a bitter, floral odor, brewed extra strong to his liking. Your eyes lightened as you waited to see if he reached for it. He hadn’t. You inched it closer, smiling.

Lucifer removed his glasses, messaging his forehead. “Is there something that you need.”

You hummed as you tilted your head. “Not particularly.”

“So in other words, you’ve come to annoy me.” He sighed. “Wonderful.”

“Don’t think of it as an annoyance.” You plopped down into one of the chairs he kept in front of his desk. “More like helpful company.”

He hardened his gaze, yet your eyes refused to falter. Neither of you spoke, locked in a vicious game of eye-to-eye combat.

“You’re good at this,” you said. “What are you, the eye staring master?”

Lucifer tightened his lips. “I’m not playing a game.”

“That’s not what your face says.”

The grin you held continued to grow, until breaking into a fit of giggles. Without realizing, Lucifer snorted. It was small and he corrected himself immediately after, but it was too late. You’d taken his reaction as an admission of defeat, nodding your head in smug satisfaction for having managed to make the great Lucifer smile for once in his life.

“You’re truly a nuisance,” he said. He could feel his face heating. “A thorn in my side.”

“But I made you laugh, so I can’t be that bad, right?”

They were correct. But he’d never admit it. Not then, at least.

“But seriously, I don’t like seeing you cooped up doing nothing but work without break,” you said. “Maybe you’re used to it, but it’s not healthy. Even for a demon and you know…” You plucked at the skin of your fingers, a nervous tick not helped by your current predicament. “If something is wrong, you shouldn't hold it in. It's better to speak to people you love and trust."

"Oh?" He leaned forward, smiling. "And who might those people be? The ones that I love and trust?"

"Your family. Maybe Lord Diavolo," there was a brief pause, your fingers twiddling themselves together as if trying to solve a puzzle. "Or maybe you'd like...to talk to me?"

"That so? Tell me, which one do you think you’d fall into?”

“Oh.” You sat there, silent, your eyes pleading with the floor to swallow you whole. “Well you know I…it’s uh, you see—“

“—You’re right,” he spoke gently, reaching for his tea. “It would be nice to speak with someone I love and trust. Please, stay. And if you’re still interested in being helpful…” he tossed a stack of folders in front of you.

“Boo, paperwork?”

“Boo, paperwork.” He sipped his tea. Delicious, and admittedly, needed.

You pouted, yet accepted the stack nonetheless. In the silence he could feel your joy, the light dancing from your aura. It shined, almost as bright as they say his own. It’s also why, unlike anyone else that he couldn’t help but…

Well, such words were for another time, but for now…

“Thank you, for helping me,” he said.

A squeal, muffled by a cough. You were never good at hiding your emotions. “I mean, it’s no problem, really! Honestly, what would any of you do without me?”

“What would we indeed?”

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! Or however said verse went. Yet clearly he wasn’t so low if he was still capable of a love such as this.

[eldritchships]

heres your excuse to do all of them for tara :3

TYSM GEORGE!!! <3

Ant - Do they live together? If so, what’s their shared living space like? If they live apart, do they have any keepsakes that remind them of the other?

They do live separately, Tarantulas likes his lair and Ferris has a normal human home. Tarantulas has a pillow or plushie that reminds him of Ferris that he likes to cuddle when Ferris isn’t available. Ferris meanwhile borrowed a polaroid camera to snap a couple candids of him and Tarantulas together, which he keeps in a box on his nightstand.

Bee - Do they have their own little love language that’s just theirs? Any pet names, inside jokes, or regular gestures that mean something special to them?

Tarantulas was already prone to addressing Ferris as just ‘human’, but over time the way he’s said it has changed ever-so-slightly, and Ferris is one of the only people who can tell.

Wasp - Who has the higher pain tolerance? How do they look after each other when one is sick? Who’s the better caretaker?

Ferris bruises like a peach, he has a low pain tolerance. Tarantulas has a higher pain tolerance but he’s more stubborn about being sick (more specifically, he’s stubborn about letting someone else take care of him). If Ferris can manage to persuade him then Ferris is pretty attentive, checking up on him and getting him whatever helps. On the flipside, Tarantulas takes a ‘hands off’ approach to caretaking, giving Ferris a bunch of blankets plus some form of entertainment (y’know like books or movies) to wrap up in and rest, checking on him every so often.

Butterfly - Who’s the most fashionable? Do they match or contrast each other styles? If they don’t wear clothes, who’s the most beauty conscious?

Ferris is more beauty/fashion conscious. Tarantulas is beauty conscious but almost in the opposite direction, where he enjoys looking scary or freaky.

Moth - Do they sleep together? What’s their nighttime routine? Do you both go to bed early, or stay up late? Do they cuddle?

Since they don’t live together they don’t normally sleep together unless one of them is spending the night. Ferris likes to go to bed early, but Tarantulas is loosey-goosey with his sleep schedule. When they are going to sleep in the same place there is absolutely no space left between them, they cuddle as close as they possibly can. The usual nighttime routine is that Ferris curls up in bed, and then at some point Tarantulas scuttles over him and gets cozy.

Spider - What scares them? Do they share the same phobias? How do they help each other deal with fear?

Tarantulas doesn’t have many phobias apart from threats to his own survival, which Ferris naturally also shares. Ferris is scared of failure, as an ambassador he’d hate to sabotage the human/Cybertronian alliance by painting bots in a bad light. In a way Tarantulas is helping Ferris by giving him some close, ‘hands on’ experience, but all jokes aside he does provide answers to any questions Ferris has about bots, in exchange for all the questions about humans he’s asked. Ferris does also feel safer knowing he has a giant spider robot looking out for his well being.

Mantis - Who’s the most physically affectionate? Are they sweet and chaste or playfully aggressive? Who’s more likely to initiate things? How do they feel about PDA?

Tarantula swarms Ferris with affection like he’s going to gobble him up. He’s obsessed with how soft and squishy humans are compared to bots, and all of that energy is let out onto Ferris. Ferris is kind of the same actually, he’s just smaller so it’s easy for Tarantulas to ‘overpower’ him. They’re about equal in initiating, a little bit of PDA is okay with Tara but Ferris isn’t a huge fan of it (mainly because they’re trying to keep their relationship a secret).

Beetle - No holds barred, who would win in a fight, and how would it go down?

Ferris is getting torn apart SO fast if they were forced to fight. Tarantulas is probably going to sneak a bite or two but he’ll TRY to keep Ferris in an okay state by the end. ‘Try’ being the operative word because his understanding of human pain tolerance is not as confident as bot pain tolerance.

Cricket - How do they talk about each other to friends, family, or even strangers? Can they not stop gushing about the other, or are they more reserved about it?

Tarantulas loves complimenting Ferris and gets all giggly about him, especially because he finds keeping secrets delightful. They haven’t told anyone about their relationship because Ferris is worried about his job (snogging the alien species you’re building bridges with feels like a conflict of interest), but friends and family get to be brought into the loop. Ferris usually goes for reserved compliments, like, “I’m really enjoying getting to talk to Tarantulas, I’m interested in Transformer culture and he’s interested in humans, so it works out great! :)”.

Worm - Do either of them go through any significant lifestyle changes during their relationship? How do they deal with it?

Tarantulas comes out of his cave a little bit more, physically and figuratively, because his bf is so involved with Transformers/human politics. It was gradual because he’s a reclusive type, but he’s willing to have a foot in the door if it’s for something he cares about. Ferris gains more confidence, and Tarantulas helped with that in a way because he inspired Ferris to be more assertive and sure of himself.

[peakywitch]

Alibi - Sean Wallace

“ Hiya creative human being! I was wondering if you could make an imagine with Sean Wallace using 19,28,54 in which he comes back home after been hiding and find out his girlfriend was pregnant and they have a 2-moth-old baby girl???? Random, I know. Love your writing, bye 💕 “

19.  “It’s a long story.” “You made me believe you were dead. For eleven months. I have time.” 

28.   “What…is this?”

54.   “I had no choice.”

words: 3097

TW: strong vocabulary, blood, death and yeah

Jesus i have been writing this shit for months MONTHS now, hope you enjoy it!

MASTERLIST

A year ago

"Marian?" Y/N's voice sounded behind the door of the Wallace residence, alarmed “Marian, your car is outside! Open up, please! "

The knocks of her hand against the door sounded incessant. It was eleven o'clock on a cold and rainy Sunday night. No one was to be seen on the street. Her white sneakers were soaked in water and mud, staining them in strange colors. She had stepped on several puddles while running the blocks that separated her from her mother-in-law.

Through the window, Y/N could see that the light came on in the hallway, letting her know that someone was in the house. Impatient and nervous, she clenched her fingers tightly. When the lock began to click, Y/N bit her lip, and nervously combed her hair.

"Y/N?"

Marian was wearing black satin pajamas that brought out the white of her skin and was barefoot but wearing stockings. How could she?

"You were Sleeping?" Y/N asked, unable to understand the situation.

"Of course, Y/N. Tomorrow I have to work early."

The woman spoke tiredly and calmly, she was not upset.

"So Sean is here." She affirmed, breathing for a second and closing her eyes. She realized that she was holding her breath, or at least taking short breaths.

"Sean is not here." The woman denied.

The girl's eyes widened in fear. Marian knew in an instant that everything was wrong.

It was five in the morning; the moon was still hidden behind rain-laden clouds. Three hundred and fifteen calls had gone out of Y/N's phone to Sean's phone. Marian, with her phone, had sent hundreds of messages and the whole family was alerted. No matter the schedule, there were people on every block in London looking for Sean Wallace.

Each call that was diverted to the mailbox was one more tear than Y/N cried. Finn had been killed a year ago, but this had nothing to do with the anniversary of his father's death. He would have warned Billy, so his brother can explain to us all. This was not typical of him.

Nine months ago

Marian set the food on the black marble table and began to store groceries in each drawer. She started the conversation by suggesting to her daughter-in-law that she go to a doctor, to which she laughed.

"I don't want to go without Sean, I won't do this alone."

The woman rolled her eyes, she was stubborn.

"You will not be alone, Y/N." she whispered, as she put down the milk cartons and hugged the young woman. “I am with you, I will help you with whatever you need. Always."

"I can't do this without Sean, Mar." The girl cried, in the woman's arms "I just can't, I ..."

Marian's heart ached just to see the girl Sean loved so devastated, sad, and desolate. There were no words to comfort her or enough hugs to heal her. Her heart ached, she felt lost.

"I will go with you. I will hold your hand and celebrate with you if it is a boy like you want. I will help you put together the room, the crib ... I will teach you everything I learned with three children." She smiled through tears, as she stroked the girl's hair with teary eyes.

Y/N's arms encircled Marian's body, as she

smiled and affirmed that everything would be fine over and over again.

Three months ago

Y/N was in the hospital bed, her white and pink coat was tied and the sweat on her forehead was dry. Marian was sitting in the chair to the right of the bed. She was reading a magazine while thinking that Y/N was resting.

Although she had her water broken, the doctors found it appropriate for her to rest a couple of hours to regain energy before starting the final stage.

"If Sean doesn't show up today..." Y/N whispered, diverting Marian from her magazine. She raised her eyes and approached the young woman so that she did not have to exert a lot of force "If he doesn't appear these days, then..." she took a deep breath, swallowed with effort, and continued "then he is no longer here with us."

"Y/N, Sean... he..."

“No, he promised. He would never leave me alone in this. No ant moves a damn leaf without the idiot knowing. If he doesn't show up in a week, then he's dead, Marian."

The anger in the girl's voice hit her like a bucket of ice water.

Her son.

Her Sean.

Dead.

Marian's eyes filled with tears, just thinking about it broke her heart. The pain made her ignore the apology the girl whispered. Everything was spinning.

So what if Y/N was right?

What if Sean was dead?

Even with the weight of the woman's words, Marian remained there in the hospital. She moved impatiently in time with the clock on the wall. After three hours of parading down the long, white corridor a few thousand times, the doctor mentioned Y/N's name.

"Yes, I am her family." She responded with a slightly nervous smile to the doctor's question. Marian walked shyly through the door, and there she saw Y/N with a small baby in her arms and a smile as big as the sun on her face. Her eyes were full of tears, and her fingers gently caressed the baby's small nose.

Y/N looked up and saw Marian nervous and anxious at the door, watching from afar.

"And?" she smiled "Wouldn't you like to meet your granddaughter, Marian?"

Marian was able to regain consciousness when she saw the blue eyes of a baby staring at her. Those blue eyes, so typical of Sean. Her eyes were very prominent. She had pink cheeks, a nose as small as a button, and soft, plump lips.

"Say hello to your grandma, Olive."

"Olive Wallace," Marian smiled, "Welcome to the family, beautiful."

Present

Marian, Y/N, and Olive had been the best trio London could have ever met. The baby was a fan of photos, or so it seemed since in each photo she looked excellent. Wherever Y/N and Olive were, Marian was by their side. They took care of each other and helped Y/N rest on days that work took a little longer and Olive wouldn't stop crying. Marian had been faithful to her, teaching her tricks, unthinkable ways of doing things, and offering her a shoulder to cry on when she felt like she couldn't take it anymore.

That afternoon had been like any other. After lunch they both bundled up, Y/N bundled Olive up and went for a walk so they could enjoy the cold with a coffee and a good chat.

When they returned, laughing they opened the door. Olive was sleeping peacefully in her pram and Marian was remembering aloud one of the most disastrous days of her life.

"I swear to God, I love my kids but I would never go back to that damn picnic."

Marian took Olive upstairs so she could put the baby to bed in her adorable pink crib. And while Y/N took off her cover, she walked to the kitchen to start making Olive’s dinner.

Although she was happy and infinitely grateful to Sean's mother for having always been by his side, Y/N kept wondering how this last year would have been with her husband by her side. Would he have taken more photos than Marian? Would he speak to Olive, trying to calm her down all those early mornings before her birth in which she wouldn't let her sleep? And suddenly, among so many questions, her eyes burst into tears when she imagined what it would have been like to paint Olive's room with him, see him full of paint, excited, tired, perhaps frustrated by something with the brush or the color. She couldn't help it, the pain overwhelmed her every time Sean's face appeared in her memory. She couldn't even look at his photos, how would she tell Olive who he is, or was, Sean?

She wiped her tears with the sleeves of her woolen sweater, lightly scraping her skin and looking out the kitchen window that overlooked the backyard. Sean loved that garden. He liked to sit on the grass on the days he had off in the spring and read. Or he would watch Y/N take care of her plants for hours, from sunrise to sunset. Then he would fill her face with kisses, pulling grass out of her hair and putting a flower in her ponytail.

“Sean, I ask you for the love of Olive, don’t be dead. I know you checked the cameras every night, so you will listen to me. Please…” she whispered through tears “please don't be dead, come home, I won't be able to without you. I don't want any of this without you. "

As she got ready to prepare Olive's bottle, she heard the rain begin to fall heavily. The sky seemed to fall, as did Y/N's hopes.

As she waited for the microwave timer to ring, her cell phone rang.

Elliot, she read.

"Hello, Elli." Y/N smiled, tired, and trying to sound normal.

"Are you at home?" he asked, agitated. A shrill horn sounded, a few screams, and more honks.

"What happened?"

"Are you at home, or are you not? I need help!" he yelled, then cursed another driver. She pulled the phone away from her ear, briefly stunned.

"Yes, how far away are you?"

The adrenaline rush of the Wallace family business was something that always left a sweet taste in her mouth. She hated violence, but she was almost addicted to the adrenaline it brought.

"I'm parking outside."

The cell phone fell from Y/N's hand, allowing her to call out to Marian with a yell and run to the door at the same time. She flung it open, watching as Elliot and Bill lowered a man with his face covered in blood.

"Oh shit." Y/N was disgusted, containing the retching.

Elliot and Billy knew Sean and Y/N's house by heart, so they took the dying man to the bathroom.

Or so she thought.

The amount of blood she saw made her dizzy, her eyes closed and her back pinned itself to the wall. After taking a deep breath, she felt Marian close the door.

She corroborated the girl's state with a simple question and a caress on her hair. The poor girl could only smile.

"I think that man is going to die, you know?" laughed sadly Y/N “We can only send money to his wife and children. As we do with everyone. "

Marian's lips were tight, she was disgusted, but Y/N was right. That was something she admired about her, she was always right and it was easy for her to tell the painful truth.

She followed her into the kitchen and watched her sit at the table, staring at the wall. Marian was pouring her a glass of water so she could calm down. They remained silent, and it was not until she had completely drunk the glass that she spoke.

“Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I hadn't met Sean. I think I would still be at my mother's house, without a partner, and with a cat."

“There is no way to know that, Y/N. Because you met him and now that…” the woman stopped short, she wouldn't say it “and now that you are here, we are a family. With Billy, Elliot, Olive… we are a family, okay? And we will be there for you, always."

When she was about to answer, Elliot walked into the kitchen. His shirt was bathed in red, all wrinkled. The bleeding cut on his eyebrow alarmed the two women, and the interrogation soon began.

What happened, why, how, where.

Elliot answered everything. An undercover agent broke his alibi, a gang from a strange-named country, near downtown.

"Where is he?" Y/N asked.

"In Sean's office." Elliot replied.

"What is he doing in Sean's office!?" yelled Y / N, and ran off.

"Y/N!"

Elliot chased her through the house, calling out her name. But Y/N all she heard were complaints from herself, Sean's office? Really?

"You have to ask for my permission, Elliot!" she yelled, reaching the door.

"No, Y/N, we ..."

“You nothing, Elliot. This is my house and Sean’s; you can't put anybody in his office! "

Y/N was furious, the screaming had awakened Olive.

“What even is all of these?!” she screamed, the blood always drove her crazy “Listen to me well…” the woman pointed out to the man covered in blood “when I come back in two minutes, I want my husband's office empty and that man in the bathtub in the downstairs room. I don't want blood on the rugs, because you'll clean it up yourself. You heard me?"

Elliot nodded poker-faced, as he watched the woman walk away from him.

Y/N entered her screaming daughter's room with a tired smile. And having closed the door behind her, she took her in her arms and began to sing a soft song to her so that she could fall asleep.

"Olive... princess, sleep with the little angels, mommy loves you..." she whispered at the end of the song, as she left the sleeping baby back in her crib.

"So, I'm a nobody?" a voice whispered from the door.

Y/N spun as fast as light.

There was Sean.

Bathed in blood, with his hair short and no beard. His face was swollen from several punches and had a new scar on his lip. But still, he had that mischievous smile on him. His eyes were tired, but they still held the same sparkle as Olive's.

"You're dead." Y/N assured.

"No, Y/N, I ..."

"Marian!" Y/N cried out.

The rapid footsteps climbing the stairs were heard throughout the house, Sean did not move his eyes from his wife.

"Sean..." Marian whispered in shock. She looked him up and down, saw the blood, the blows, and the cuts. Then, between tears and a sob, she hugged him. They both hugged tightly, and all Y/N wanted to do was throw up.

The blood, the smell, her husband… everything. Everything made her dizzy.

“Where were you?” she murmured, a shiver bathed her body.

“I am sorry…” he started, but she interrupted him abruptly.

“I don’t fucking care if you are sorry or not! Tell me where the fuck you were, because I just went through the hardest year of my life alone, Sean!” she shouted from the top of her lungs.

“It’s a long story, baby, and I am all beaten up.” He smiled tiredly.

He has the nerve to smile?

“You made me believe you were dead. For eleven months. I have time.” She said, now calmly but cold. “Plus, I had to drive a car while on labor, because you decided to disappear. So, start speaking or I swear to God, Sean Wallace, this time it will be you the one suffering a loss.”

 “Y/N…” he whispered, trying to get close to her. He tried to take her hand in his, but she got further away from him.

His smile disappeared and got exchanged with a sad look on his face.

Right there, in Olive’s room, he told both women everything. A deal he did a year ago, enemies, guns, drugs, and city from the third world he had to hide in and every name from the people he had to hide from. They spent two hours listening to Sean’s misfortunes, but Y / N wanted to be able to recriminate everything that made her go through alone and to be able to get rid of the anger that was eating her inside. 

"Well, the blood on me is a sign of the end of this problem." He had a nervous look, you could see it even though his face was covered in blood. So much seemed fictitious.

Y/N sighed, getting up after her husband finished telling the story.

"Ok." She whispered, walking out the door of her daughter's room with her in her arms.

Sean wanted to follow her, but Marian recommended him to leave her alone for a while, there was too much information she had to process.

Hours passed, Marian, Elliot, and Billy had left the house hours ago and Y/N still did not speak to Sean. For hours she had been sitting on a blanket in the garden. With a book in her hand and a tea by her side, which was quite possibly already cold.

When the sun was no longer visible on the horizon, that was when Sean became concerned. The chill of the London night was ugly, even worse for a baby. Then it was decided, he took two jackets that were in the room and went outside with a doubting pass.

"Hey…" he whispered, sitting next to her and covering her shoulders with his cardigan. She did not answer.

“Where you watching over us?” she asked, on the verge of tears.

“Couldn’t keep my eyes off of the security cameras.” He laughed shily.

“How many times did you see me…asking for a sign?” she began after a few seconds of silence. “How many fucking times did you see me cry at night, Sean?” she started to shed tears. “While you were God knows where, doing Devil knows what…” he interrupted her.

“Y/N, I told you, I had no choice…”

“No!” she spat “Shut up, Sean! Just… shut the hell up. I dreamed of this reunion every single night and prayed every fucking morning. So just let me tell you I fucking felt. Because I was alone, as alone and desperate as you felt when your dad was killed. So please, just understand I won’t be jumping into your arms right away. Even though I missed you, fuck… I missed you like crazy…” he smiled sadly “I am so, so angry Sean. And I want to make you go away again, but the truth is… I can’t be away from you any longer.”

Sean rested his right arm over his wife’s shoulder, and his hand got her head closer to him, allowing him to kiss her skin for the first time in months. After she got the kiss, she broke down in tears, not being able to compose herself.

“I am sorry, I will never leave you again.” He promised while holding her steady against him.

“I know I left, and I hurt you. But you were never alone, you were being watched over, night and day, you and well, that little munchkin.” He said, timidly.

“You want to hold her for the first time, Sean?”

His face lit up.

[randomly-talented]

Okay, okay, I'm not really good at making sentences work the way I want them but I'll try to convey my thoughts and emotions over the characters from Bug Fables after completing the game last night at 2:00 ish in the morning (I was weak and there no way I was gonna stop with all the stuff that was going on at the end. I'm the type of player that plays till a good stopping point) that being said there will be spoilers from here on down so you've been warned!

But really it's such a beautiful experience and i highly recommend going in blind to any new player.

Okay, on to the point. I know many people have decided on their favorite of the team and I'm not here to say "oh they're the best and you're wrong!" NOPE I'm not doing that I am trying to say is "they're all the best and you're so right to care for one but let's love them all". Each character has their own ideals and their own goals when we first meet them.

Vi (Violet) a bee who has essentially runaway from home after burning the bridges between her family and her "mother" the queen to become an explorer. An occupation that (based off context clues) is the last thing a bee does for a living. And this is emphasized with all other bugs that explore being not only bigger than her but NOT bees. And biologically...it makes sense! A bee, is to collect pollen and nectar for the hive and produce honey (which Vi use to do with her job at the factory) and biologically bees do avoid fighting since their only way of attacking is with their stinger. But unlike the other black and yellow bugs, a bee's stinger is a one use thing. After it's used, it remains in the creature the bee attacked and from the bee's body it takes their organs with it. (If I remember that correctly. It's been a while since I looked up why bee's die after stinging someone). But you understand the concern that other bees in Vi's life have for her becoming an explorer. But that isn't the only thing the Vi dealt with before becoming and explorer, she had to deal with many of her friends and family badmouth her dreams and guilt her from trying to accomplish them. As Vi said to her sister when they were trying to resolve their fight, "But if I can say something, you were mean to me too! I had dreams and you stomped over them! I'm doing great! I've gone to many places and beat up huge monsters! If...if you had any faith in me I could've done it sooner!" Even her desire of money is so that she can live how she wants without anyone telling her how to live. And it's a strong desire due to the fact that Vi is always trying to strike a deal or not spend their savings on expensive wants, shown through her reluctance to buy the green ranger toy, or her utter shock to the 400 berries flower toy she forked the money for. (Something that shocked Leif and Kabbu due to the fact that Vi just spent 400 berries on a toy for someone else)

Kabbu a beetle (who specific species I don't know) who is the definition of an honorable bug. Going out of his way to help others and if it weren't for Vi he'd do it for free. Which would essentially leave him homeless once that is said and done. Who through the majority of the game he's the voice of reason, passion, and inspiration. (With a skill "Pep Talk" he's able to revive a fainted teammate). And who wishes to create a team of explorers to call his own. I will say that Kabbu was precious. I loved how the only reason Vi and Leif got anything done or didn't do a crime, the chaotic duo that they are, was because of Kabbu and how his hesitance was enough to keep Vi and Leif from upsetting him further. But I do want to say that I found it odd how willing he was to behave that way. When I was playing through the festival I found it so weird how Kabbu was okay with not participating at all. Until I realized that I personally do that too. Kabbu was happy as long as his teammates were having fun. (Until you learn of his old teammates, who were trying to go to bugaria by going through the swamplands and perished to the Beast by holding it off while Kabbu ran away) Kabbu who after surviving the Beast alone had to make more than half of the journey to the Ant Kingdom alone, through a desert filled with monsters, some which he couldn't attack by himself due to their burrow ability, and bandits, with some bandits flying to high for him to do anything but run from. The entire time being alone to fester in the guilt that he essentially "abandoned" his teammates to die at the hands of the beast and how easy the desert would be if his teammates were there to help him. (Not only that but if I remember correctly Kabbu's old teammates were more experienced than Kabbu himself, which added to the guilt "if I was stronger they would still be around") And now the festival wasn't as happy as it was led to appear. Kabbu is okay with letting his teammates have fun because he doesn't "need" to have fun. Vi and Leif are placeholders for his old teammates during this event. If they can have fun one more time, I can truly be happy. I will keep them safe and happy unlike my old teammates. I will do all within my power to make sure my teammates are happy and safe. Because I didn't the first time and I won't make that same mistake. That is why when we collectively reach the grasslands Kabbu comes to the decision that he's strong enough to avenge his fallen teammates by defeating the Beast. Alone if he must.

Leif a moth (with the ability to control ice that they generate within their body) who is found after Kabbu and Vi stumble into the deeps of Snake mouth cave. And when they're awakened from their "nap" Leif has no idea that time has essentially changed. Now the Ant Kingdom has grown, their queen is no longer in charge but their daughter. And things aren't as peaceful as they use to be, the wasps and termites have cut ties with the ant kingdom, there are bandits left and right, and now there is need for a prison when in the past there was no such need. All of the bugs that Leif once knew are no more except Rebecca who is too aged to fully remember them. (If that's her name, I honestly was never too sure...) And it wasn't till later in the story that Leif is shocked to realize that one of the family's in the residential areas looks just like they're wife Muse. And that is when you realize that Leif was stripped from they're family. And thus leads to Leif working harder in finding out what exactly happened in that cave and when we do it's heartbreaking. Apparently Snake mouth cave was home to a civilization of roach scientists who were trying to recreate an equivalent to the eternal sapling by experimenting with cordyceps and bugs that the roaches lured to the cave with the promise of an artifact that would lead to the everlasting sapling. That is why there was a trap door as you open the door to the "treasure" of Snake mouth cave and further beyond that "treasure" was another door were bugs were inhumanely experimented on in some sick experiment as the roaches looked for purpose. (It's only super concerning that the majority of zombified bugs happen to be small ants, bees of the "smaller" variety, and green beetles of the "larger" variety. (Creepily enough they looked like Vi and Kabbu and I really hope that Leif's old teammates weren't some variety of those bugs cuz that would be super upsetting.) There, Leif learns that they were once dead, and that they're not even them, they were a sentient cordyceps that "failed" the roaches test and possessed a dead bug, Leif, who was most likely ambushed with his team and left behind by said team least they all lose their lives. Only for Leif to be subjected to experiments in order to become the next immortal, a purpose for the roaches to live for. And unluckily (luckily??) survived the experiments once a cordyceps housed itself within them in a symbiotic relationship. And with Kabbu and Vi's help, comes to accept that they have always been the same bug from the beginning till now and onwards. Now that they realize that even though they are part cordyceps part moth it doesn't mean they have really changed from the bug they use to be when it came to they're family. Which gave them the courage to meet the present version of their family and be accepted with open arms (it was touching and I cried).

But that's just it. Vi, Kabbu, and Leif; Team Snakemouth are the best team, because they had each other. And even though they each had their own personalities and their pasts that laid heavy within each of their minds. Team Snakemouth supported itself, and was open to itself (some a bit more than others). They keep their secrets within the team, they backed each other up, they tease each other, they beat anyone fight anyone that insults one of them (How dare you insult us! Insult one you insult all!). Because they aren't just one, they are a team, a family, friends. A success, is all their success. A failure, is all their failure. One's happiness, is all their happiness. And ones sadness, is all their sadness. And it was their team that saved Bugaria from the wasp King. And we loved them all.

[mothman-stolemyeyebrows]

Tma entities I could be aligned with and my statements to go along with them (because I’m bored)

The buried

When I was little my sister and I would play a game. I forget what we called it, but in this game one of us would sit in the space between our parents bed and the wall, it was about two and a half feet down, and it was tight. The other would push all the pillows blankets so the person in the crevice was buried, and couldn’t move. I liked this game. I liked being the one who was buried, the one being trapped in the dark yet comforting blackness of the pillows and blankets, unable to escape on my own. I’ve always been small, almost sickly looking, so I always found the best hiding spots in hide-n-seek. I’ve always been able to find the tiniest spaces and comfortably contort my body to fit. I could hide for hours in places people wouldn’t even think to search, because they were far too small for a living person to fit comfortably. Last summer I went caving with my brother’s Boy Scout troop. My cousin came along as well. We went deeper and deeper, and as the walls closed in my cousin began to panic. It was up until this point they had thought they had no phobias, but here they were, on the verge of tears in what felt like miles under the ground. I, on the other hand, felt safe. It briefly occurred to me as we were going through a space so small we had to crawl they somebody ahead of me could get stuck and I wouldn’t be able to move, or the cave could collapse, but the thoughts didn’t bother me. I felt at home in the crushing darkness of mud and stone. After hours deep inside the earth, we left the cave. This made me sad, because I didn’t want to leave, I wanted to stay in the cold embrace of the cavern.

The corruption

The ants won’t leave. In my old room they were there. They crawled up the. Side of my bed, and up the wall. I watched them. Recently my house was reorganized and I got a new room. They’re here too. The ants weren’t here before, but still. I watch them. I go to take a shower and I look to the wall. Ants. There’s so many of them. My house isn’t old or dirty, neither is my bedroom, yet the ands crawl up and down the walls, and I can’t look away. I go to grab a drink from the fridge in my garage, I look down and I see a price of rotting food on smooth cement floor. The acts cover it. A blob of black, with hundreds of ants coming and going. I feel disgust, and yet I can’t look away. I watch them. I watch them work together, crawling in and out of a crack in the wooden steps. They are happy. The ands will be well fed because of this disgusting smear of sugary syrup of the floor. I hate them, but I cannot look away. When people look at me they think I’m sick. They see my bony frame and plaid complexion and become concerned, but I am not. I haven’t been sick in years. As my siblings contract the flew, strep throat, and even Lyme disease, I do not get sick. I am weak, and my body aches, but I haven’t been sick in years.

The spiral

When I was very little, my legs gave out. For months leading up to this I was in terrible pain, but the doctors told my parents that it was nothing. I was going to be fine. After I was a able to support ant weight my mother took me to the ER. The doctor went pale. In a very precise tone, a tone that had been practiced over and over, no emotion, just words, he told my mother that I had to be rushed to the children’s hospital, and there was no time to call an ambulance. My mother was distraught. She thought she was going to lose her child. I stayed in the hospital for two weeks. Those weeks were filled with CAT scans and MRIs. A tiny child, only three years old, being hooked up to big scary machines, and they didn’t know why. What was wrong with them? For a little while the doctors thought it might be brain cancer, but there was no tumor. Nothing. The doctors then thought it was simply arthritis, but they threw that idea away as well. I was discharged, and still nobody knew what was wrong. The once intelligent child who knew their shales and colors, who could already count at the age of three, forgot. They forgot all the impressive things they had learned, and had to start over. But nothing was wrong with them. I look in the mirror. I like the person I see. They are small and thin. They are beautiful to me. But something is off. Everything about them seems long. Their arms, their legs, their fingers, their toes, their feet, even their neck. The clothing they wear doesn’t fit quite right, their sleeves and pant legs are too short, and yet their clothing is too big. Their body moves and contorts in ways it shouldn’t. As they move the sound of gravel echos through their bones. The bright colors they wear contract against their sickly pale skin. Something is wrong with them. Nothing is wrong with them.

The Stranger

I’ve been told I look fake. “A porcelain doll” my mother says. “A mannequin?” A stranger asks. But no, I am real. What could it be that makes people question wether or not I am alive? It could be the odd stare as I sit perfectly still, tuning out the noise and the movement around me. It may be my ivory completion, oddly smooth and soft despite the lack of care it’s given. The odd proportions of my gangly body that come across as almost cartoonish. I love the theater. I love putting on a costume and pretending to be somebody else. I’ve never felt more like myself than when I’m somebody else. I sit in the dressing room drawing on a new face. The clothes I wear are old and smell of moth balls from being packed away for so long, but now I wear them, and I am not me. I enjoy this.

[yanderemommabean]

Hi! It’s 🐝 bean! Sorry, I just wanted to drop some lore ideas I had. I decided to write it out like a fic bcos that’s how I write best! :)

It was late. You knew it all too well as you slung yourself through your door, feet aching from your retail job.  The train ride home had been a mess, and you ended up missing your bus. You flopped onto the couch, too tired to make it up the stairs to your room. You heard your roommates shuffling around upstairs. Sighing, you closed your eyes to try and get some sleep. 

The next time they opened, it was due to a loud CRASH! in your backyard, accompanied by a flashing green light. Startled, you went to the window to see what it was. There, lying atop a crushed willow tree, was something you‘d never seen before. Something sleek and metal and glowing. You headed outside. 

The dark was crisp. It was late. You knew it all too well as you approached the object, larger than your entire house. You extended an arm, slowly. Ever so slowly. Ever so slowly until the tips of your fingers hit the cold metal hull of this— thing in your yard. The second you felt the cool material it was gone. The large ship, the ground, the sky, everything was gone. 

You felt yourself fall, hitting something hard and metal. You landed shoulder-first. It didn’t feel nice. Almost instantaneously, you could sense a presence around you. You opened your eyes to see several green, humanoid figures, each about seven feet tall. They wore matching  navy blue jumpsuits with a small embroidered logo on the lapel. One of them stepped towards you, extending a hand. Cautiously, you took it. 

“Hallo. Wir sind vom Intergalactic Büro. Wir wünschen Ihnen keinen Schaden,” the creature began. Being met by a blank stare on your part, it cleared it‘s throat and began again.

“Salve. Nos ex Intergalactic hendrerit. Nos volo nocere tibi.” With once again no recognition on your part, he turned to the others of his kind, frustrated. One of them stepped up, placing it’s hand on the other one’s shoulder. 

”Hello. We are from the Intergalactic Bureau. We wish you no harm,” it smiled, seeing the understanding on your face. Turning to it’s friend, it jokingly spoke, “See? Was that so hard?”

The other creature grumbled angrily.

You, utterly perplexed by all this, stood up. Trying your hardest to mold your confusion into a coherent sentence, you threw politeness out the window. “What the fuck is all this? Intergalactic Bureau? Who the hell are you? Where are we?” 

 The kind alien smiled, turning back to you with an expression that harbored no ill will. “Ah! You see, the Intergalactic Bureau is a- well, bureau to make sure all aspects of Intergalactic relations go smoothly! We’re with the Conservation branch, who work to try and fight the rapid extinction of many species. That’s where you come in.” The creature put a hand out to point at you loosely. Another alien stepped forward, this one with a more serious expression on his face.

“Several species in the Outer Milky Way area are in danger of extinction. The closest relative you‘d understand of these are insects. Each and every one of these planets-“ he gestured out a large bay window, five beautiful planets directly outside- “has lost their queen, and have thus stopped reproduction. Your genetic makeup seems to be suitable to step in until their ecosystems can sort themselves out.” 

“Wait, wait, wait, what!? You mean I’ve been elected into a- a - batshit program for the conservation of alien species without any consent? What does that even mean- what will I be doing, I-“

“You’ll see soon enough,“ the serious alien cut you off, pounding on the ship’s wall twice. As soon as the second knock was administered, some sort of pod deployed around you, dropping you into space. Your screams of protest were unheard as the ship above you set off. You heard some sputters from your pod as it began moving toward the planets you had been looking at. Through the window you could see the inhabitants of each a bit closer. Butterflies. Then wasps. Moths, and then ants. The final planet held bees. 

As soon as you identified the final planets dwellers, your pod began to deploy landing gear, descending onto the yellow, beehive planet. “No!” You screamed, pounding your fists on the pod. “No, no, no, no!” 

As the tears streamed down your face a startling bit of wisdom floated down into your mind. You’d be working your way through the planets. First the bees, then the ants, the moths, the wasps, and finally, the butterflies. So there was hope after all! One day you’d be finished with whatever your task was. You just had no idea when it was coming. 

With the shake of your pod hitting ground on a new planet, your mind made itself up. You were going to survive those insects. You just had to.

And the rest was history. 

So how was it? Sorry, I kinda like writing lore. Love you! -🐝

(((BEAN YOU WROTE THIS SO WELL OMG I LOVE THIS CONCEPT ITS FANTASTIC!! )) ((ps I love you too UwU ))

[sciencespies]

Meet the Ecologist Who Wants You to Unleash the Wild on Your Backyard

https://sciencespies.com/nature/meet-the-ecologist-who-wants-you-to-unleash-the-wild-on-your-backyard/

Meet the Ecologist Who Wants You to Unleash the Wild on Your Backyard

The land is ten gently sloping acres in rural southeastern Pennsylvania, at one time mowed for hay, with a handsome farmhouse that Douglas Tallamy bought around 20 years ago. It isn’t much to look at, by the standards most Americans apply to landscaping—no expansive views across swaths of lawn set off by flowerbeds and specimen trees—but, as Tallamy says, “We’re tucked away here where no one can see us, so we can do pretty much what we want.” And what he wants is for this property to be a model for the rest of the country, by which he means suburbs, exurbs, uninhabited woods, highway margins, city parks, streets and backyards, even rooftops and window boxes, basically every square foot of land not paved or farmed. He wants to see it replanted with native North American flora, supporting a healthy array of native North American butterflies, moths and other arthropods, providing food for a robust population of songbirds, small mammals and reptiles. He even has a name for it: Homegrown National Park.

A creek on his land supports native plants adapted to “getting their feet wet,” Tallamy says, such as skunk cabbage.

(Matthew Cicanese)

On a June day in 2001, not long after he bought the property, Tallamy, an entomologist at the University of Delaware, was walking his land when he noticed something that struck him as unusual. Before he bought it, most of it had been kept in hay, but at that point it hadn’t been mowed in three years and “was overgrown with autumn olive and Oriental bittersweet in a tangle so thick you couldn’t walk. The first thing I had to do was cut trails,” Tallamy recalls. And walking through his woods on the newly cut trails, what he noticed was what was missing: caterpillars.

No caterpillars on the Oriental bittersweet, the multiflora rose, the Japanese honeysuckle, on the burning bush that lined his neighbor’s driveway. All around him plants were in a riot of photosynthesis, converting the energy of sunlight into sugars and proteins and fats that were going uneaten. A loss, and not just for him as a professional entomologist. Insects—“the little things that run the world,” as the naturalist E.O. Wilson called them—are at the heart of the food web, the main way nature converts plant protoplasm into animal life. If Tallamy were a chickadee—a bird whose nestlings may consume between 6,000 and 9,000 caterpillars before they fledge, all foraged within a 150-foot radius of the nest—he would have found it hard going in these woods.

Tallamy knew, in a general sense, why that was. The plants he was walking among were mostly introduced exotics, brought to America either accidentally in cargo or intentionally for landscaping or crops. Then they escaped into the wild, outcompeting their native counterparts, meeting the definition of an “invasive” species. By and large, plants can tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions. But insects tend to be specialists, feeding on and pollinating a narrow spectrum of plant life, sometimes just a single species. “Ninety percent of the insects that eat plants can develop and reproduce only on the plants with which they share an evolutionary history,” Tallamy says. In the competition to eat, and to avoid being eaten, plants have developed various chemical and morphological defenses—toxins, sticky sap, rough bark, waxy cuticles—and insects have evolved ways to get around them. But as a rule, insect strategies don’t work well against species they have never encountered. That’s true of even closely related species—imported Norway maples versus native sugar maples, for instance. Tallamy has found that within the same genus, introduced plant species provide on average 68 percent less food for insects than natives. Hence, a plant that in its native habitat might support dozens or hundreds of species of insects, birds and mammals may go virtually uneaten in a new ecosystem. Pennsylvania, for example.

Demonstrating that point might make for a good undergraduate research project, Tallamy thought. So he asked a student to do a survey of the literature in preparation for a study. The student reported back there wasn’t any. “I checked myself,” he says. “There was a lot written about invasive species. But nothing on insects and the food web.”

That, he says, was the “aha” moment in his career, at which he began to remake himself from a specialist in the mating habits of the cucumber beetle to a proselytizer for native plants as a way to preserve what remains of the natural ecology of North America. He was following in the footsteps of Wilson, his scientific hero, who went from being the world’s foremost expert on ants to an eminent spokesman for the ecology of the whole planet. “I didn’t exactly plan it this way,” Tallamy says with a shrug. “In the musical chairs of life, the music stopped and I sat down in the ‘invasive plants’ chair. It’s a satisfying way to close out my career.”

As a scientist, Tallamy realized his initial obligation was to prove his insight empirically. He began with the essential first step of any scientific undertaking, by applying for research grants, the first of which took until 2005 to materialize. Then followed five years of work by relays of students. “We had to plant the plants and then measure insect use over the next three years, at five different sites,” he recalls. “To sample a plot was an all-day affair with five people.” Out of that work eventually came papers in scientific journals such as Conservation Biology (“Ranking lepidopteran use of native versus introduced plants”), Biological Invasions (“Effects of non-native plants on the native insect community of Delaware”) and Environmental Entomology (“An evaluation of butterfly gardens for restoring habitat for the monarch butterfly”). And then popularizing books aimed at changing the face of America’s backyards: Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife With Native Plants and, this year, Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard. And in turn a busy schedule of talks before professional organizations, environmental groups, local conservation societies, landscape designers—anyone who would listen, basically.

Squirrels aren’t the only animals that like acorns. Weevils develop inside the oaknuts, and the larvae, in turn, nourish blue jays and woodpeckers

(Matthew Cicanese)

When insects disappear, humans may not take much notice, but the recent population declines of two species have received a great deal of attention: the monarch butterfly, because it’s an iconic, easily recognizable and beautiful creature; and the honeybee, because it’s needed to pollinate crops. But those episodes are symptomatic of a larger disruption in the ecosystem. Tallamy estimates that the worldwide population of arthropods, chiefly insects, has declined by 45 percent from preindustrial times. Without insects, it would be the case that lizards, frogs and toads, birds and mammals, from rodents up through bears, would lose all or a large part of their diets. “The little things that run the world are disappearing,” he says. “This is an ecological crisis that we’re just starting to talk about.”

Tallamy is 68, graying, soft-spoken and diffident. In his talks he cloaks the urgency of his message with an understated wit, as when he presses the unpopular cause of poison ivy, whose berries at certain times of the year are an important food for the downy woodpecker and other birds. “When do you get a rash from poison ivy?” he asks an audience. “When you try to pull it out! Ignore your poison ivy. You can run faster than it can.” To which many people would reply: “Nature had plenty of poison ivy and insects in it the last time I was there.”

But to Tallamy, that attitude is precisely the problem. It speaks to a definition of “nature” as co-extensive with “wilderness,” and excludes the everyday landscape inhabited by virtually all Americans. The ecosystem cannot be sustained just by national parks and forests. A statistic he frequently cites is that 86 percent of the land east of the Mississippi is privately owned. A large fraction of that acreage is either under cultivation for food or planted in a monoculture of lawn, a landscape that for ecological purposes might as well be a parking lot.

To Tallamy, spiders serve as a linchpin species to birds because they are the second most important food, outweighed in nutritive value only by caterpillars.

(Matthew Cicanese)

Tallamy incorporated his thinking into “Homegrown National Park,” an aspirational project to repurpose half of America’s lawnscape for ecologically productive use. That would comprise more than 20 million acres, the equivalent of nearly ten Yellowstones. The intention is to unite fragments of land scattered across the country into a network of habitat, which could be achieved, he wrote in Bringing Nature Home, “by untrained citizens with minimal expense and without any costly changes to infrastructure.” The plots wouldn’t have to be contiguous, although that would be preferable. Moths and birds can fly, and you’re helping them just by reducing the distance they have to travel for food.

“Every little bit helps,” Tallamy says. “Most people don’t own 50 acres, so it’s not going to be that hard. The minimal thing is, you plant a tree and it’s the right tree. Look at what’s happened at my house.”

The idea was picked up by the writer Richard Louv, who coined the term “nature-deficit disorder” in his jeremiad Last Child in the Woods, and by the Canadian naturalist and philanthropist David Suzuki, whose foundation is supporting an effort to implement the project on a limited scale in Toronto.

Even a small patch of Pennsylvania woodland, if allowed to grow wild, generates a vast ecosystem: Native crabapples persist into winter and feed foxes and wild turkeys.

(Matthew Cicanese)

Tallamy walks his land in all seasons, wrenching from the soil the occasional Japanese honeysuckle that made the mistake of venturing onto his property, checking up on his winterberries and sweet pepperbush, looking for leaves that have been chewed by insects and the stems of berries eaten by birds. Occasionally he will do a moth survey, hanging a white sheet in his woods at night behind a mercury vapor lamp. The diversity of insect life he encounters is eye-opening even to him; last year he added more than 100 species to his property list, including a few he had to look up to identify. (There are around 11,000 species of moths in the United States, and 160,000 worldwide.) Near his front door is a 35-foot-tall white oak that he planted from an acorn, ignoring the advice some landscapers give against planting oaks, because you won’t live long enough to enjoy them at their mature size, which may take 300 years. “Well, if you can only enjoy a 300-year-old oak, I guess that’s true,” he says dryly. He has collected 242 species of caterpillars from the tree in his yard—so far.

Tallamy is a great proponent of the ecological benefits of caterpillars, a single one of which has the nutritional value of as many as 200 aphids. “They’re soft, you can stuff them down the beak of your offspring without damaging their esophagus,” he says approvingly. “They contain carotenoids. Birds take the carotenoids and build pigments out of them. That’s how you make a prothonotary warbler.”

He acknowledges that not all homeowners enjoy the sight of caterpillars munching on the leaves of their trees. For them he recommends what he calls his Ten-Step Program: “Take ten steps back from the trunk and all your insect problems go away.”

Mushrooms enrich the teeming soil when they decompose.

(Matthew Cicanese)

Tallamy’s principles have a particular resonance with people—like me—who consider themselves environmentalists but landscaped on the principle “if it looks good, plant it.” He says he’s sometimes surprised at how well his message is received. “I thought there would be quite a bit of push back,” he muses. “But there hasn’t been. I’m suggesting we cut the lawn area in half. I assume they just aren’t taking me seriously. Early on I remember a nurseryman in the audience glowering at me, and I heard him muttering ‘You’re trying to put us out of business.’ I don’t want to put them out of business. I get a lot of invitations from the nursery industry, trade shows, landscape architects. All I’m saying is add one criterion to what you use when you choose your plants”—whether a plant is native. “You can’t argue against it.”

Actually, you can. Tallamy has a long-standing scientific disagreement with an entomologist at the University of California at Davis, Arthur Shapiro. Shapiro grew up in Philadelphia, where, he says, the Norway maple on his block in the 1960s was host to at least three species of moth caterpillar: the American dagger moth, the Crecopia silk moth,and the Lunate Zale moth. “Tallamy invokes the diversity of caterpillars as an indicator of the superiority of native plants over nonnative plants,” Shapiro says. “It’s unsurprising that most of them feed on native plants. What goes right by Tallamy is the extent to which native insects switch and adapt to nonnative plants.

“Here in California we are probably more heavily impacted by naturalized plants than any other state except Hawaii. Our low-elevation butterflies are heavily dependent on nonnative plants. Their native host plants have been largely eradicated, but to their good fortune, humans introduced nonnative plants that are not only acceptable but in some instances superior to native hosts. Most California natives in cultivation are of no more butterfly interest than nonnatives, and most of the best butterfly flowers in our area are exotic.”

The much-reviled (but also beloved by some) eucalyptus trees that have colonized the Central California coast now harbor overwintering monarch butterflies, Shapiro says, although for the most part the insect populations they support are different from those found in native habitats. But his attitude is, so what? The marine blue, a butterfly native to the desert Southwest, where it feeds on acacia and mesquite, has expanded its range into the suburbs of Southern California, feeding on leadwort, a perennial flowering shrub native to South Africa. It is botanically unrelated to acacia and mesquite, but by some accident of biochemistry is a suitable host for the marine blue caterpillar, which has adapted to its new host. “That sort of process is happening all the time all around us,” Shapiro says.

Tallamy begs to differ. The examples Shapiro cites, in his view, represent either anecdotal findings of limited scientific value (like the caterpillars on the street tree from Shapiro’s childhood), or anomalous exceptions to the rule that introduced species support a fraction of the insect life of the plants they replace. A ginkgo tree might look like a functional part of an ecosystem, but the Chinese native might as well be a statue for all the good it does. The well-publicized instances of alien species that found American vegetation to their taste—Asian long-horned beetles, European corn borers, gypsy moths—have created the misleading impression that to an insect, one tree is as good as another. But those are exceptional cases, Tallamy maintains, and the great majority of insects accidentally introduced to North America are never heard from again. “Remember, the horticulture trade screens plants before they introduce them into the market. Any plant that is vulnerable to serious attack by native insects is screened out.”

On one level, this dispute reflects that Tallamy and Shapiro have studied very different ecosystems. As Tallamy wrote in Bringing Nature Home, he was “forced to slight western North America and focus on the Lepidoptera that occur on woody plants in eight states of the eastern deciduous forest biome.” The scientists’ disagreement is also partly over time scales. Tallamy acknowledges that natural selection will allow some native insects to evolve the ability to eat whatever is growing in front of them, or be replaced by species that can, and that birds will figure out a way to make a living off the newcomers. But he thinks this is likely to take thousands of generations to have an impact on the food web. Shapiro maintains he has seen it occur within his own lifetime.

It’s fair to say Tallamy sometimes pursues his passion for native flora to the point of single-mindedness. He is the rare environmentalist who doesn’t bring up climate change at the first opportunity, not because he doesn’t care about it, but because he wants to stick to his chosen issue. “Climate change is not what’s driving this problem,” he says. “If there were no climate change anywhere, it would be just as important. It’s driven by poor plant choice and habitat destruction. I don’t like to mix the two. Right now the culture is, ‘Every problem we have is related to climate,’ and that’s not the case.”

He also can be nonchalant about some of the adjustments and sacrifices entailed by his plan for saving the planet. He suffered from allergies to ragweed pollen for decades, he writes in Nature’s Best Hope, but is willing to forgive the plant on the basis that “the ragweed genus Ambrosia is the eighth most productive herbaceous genus in the East, supporting caterpillar development for 54 species of moths.” He doesn’t sugarcoat the fact that the phylum of arthropods includes, besides butterflies and honeybees, about 900 species of Ixodida, which includes ticks. “I think I’ve had Lyme around a half-dozen times,” he says, as he plunges casually into a chest-high thicket in early autumn, “but I’m one of the people who get the rash”—the telltale bull’s-eye marker of an infected bite by the deer tick, which not all patients evince—“so I was able to catch it and treat it each time.”

Anyone following Tallamy’s landscaping dictums might want to, at least, tuck their pants into their socks when they walk around their yard. That is a small sacrifice given the enormousness of the problem he wants to solve. But even people willing to give over half their lawn for the benefit of caterpillars might be daunted by the task of replacing it according to Tallamy’s prescription. Saving the ecosystem isn’t as simple as just letting nature take over your backyard. In nature the race is to the swift, even for plants. “There’s a time in the spring when plants from Asia leap out before plants from North America,” he tells an audience, projecting a picture taken in a local park in late March. “All of the green you see is plants from Asia, the usual suspects: multi-flora rose, Oriental bittersweet, Japanese honeysuckle, privet, barberry, burning bush, ailanthus, Norway maple, all escapees from our garden. You go into almost any natural area around here, a third of the vegetation is from Asia.” Invasive species are called that for a reason, and repelling them is hard, and never-ending, work.

Moreover, not all native plants are created equal, at least from the point of view of an insect. Across a wide range of North American biomes, about 14 percent of plants make 90 percent of the insect food, he says. These are the keystone species that keep the food web healthy, and the most important are four genera of native trees: oaks, poplars, willows and cherries. But also hickory, chestnut, elms and birches, and joe-pye weed, aster, marsh marigold, skunk cabbage, snakeweed. Some seem worth planting just for the poetry of their names: Chickasaw plum, chokecherry, wax myrtle, devil’s beggar’s-tick, false indigo, hairy bush clover, cypress panicgrass.

But insects aren’t the only creatures that evolved to consume the native vegetation of North America. Tallamy’s ten-step rule for making insect damage disappear to the naked eye doesn’t apply to deer. As he trudges alongside a shallow ravine on his property he points to a small clump of trees on the other side that have been denuded from the ground up to nearly shoulder height. “There’s the browse line on Eastern red cedar,” he says sourly. One reason landscapers favor certain exotic species is that deer don’t eat them. Tallamy’s solution for controlling deer is another one of his idealistic, if not altogether practical, recommendations: “Bring back predators!” he says cheerfully.

Tallamy stops on his walk to adjust a wire barrier around a native azalea. “If I wasn’t around to keep up this fence,” he muses, “the deer would eat it all. So you say, why bother?

“That’s a good question.

“But I do.”

“Natural” doesn’t always mean untouched. Tallamy uproots invasive plants, like this fast-growing porcelain-berry, a vine originally from East Asia, introduced in the 1870s.

(Matthew Cicanese)

I visited Tallamy not long before he set out for ten days in the mountains of Peru, where he was consulting with organizations that promote the practice of growing coffee plants beneath the tree canopy (“shade-grown coffee”) to conserve bird habitat. He wanted to investigate which trees provide the best ecological diversity. Before I leave, he quotes Wilson one more time, from his famous talk on “The Importance and Conservation of Invertebrates.” The passage goes like this:

“The truth is that we need invertebrates but they don’t need us. If human beings were to disappear tomorrow, the world would go on with little change….But if invertebrates were to disappear, I doubt that the human species could last more than a few months. Most of the fishes, amphibians, birds and mammals would crash to extinction about the same time. Next would go the bulk of the flowering plants and with them the physical structure of the majority of forests and other terrestrial habitats of the world.

“The earth would rot.”

Wilson gave that talk in 1987. “It was,” Tallamy says dryly, “a theoretical worry back then.”

So it is less of a theoretical worry now, and more of a real one. But Tallamy is doing what he can to head it off, and he wants the whole country to pitch in. Homegrown National Park is meant to bring about not just a horticultural revolution, but a cultural one, bridging the human-dominated landscape and the natural world. “If you do this at your house or in your local park, you don’t have to go to Yellowstone to interact with nature,” Tallamy says. “You won’t have bison, you won’t have Mystic Falls, but you can have nature outside your door. Isn’t that what you want for your kids—and for yourself?”

To Tallamy, the nation’s backyards are more than ripe for a makeover. Here are some of his suggestions to help rejuvenators hit the ground running.

1. Shrink your lawn. Tallamy recommends halving the area devoted to lawns in the continental United States—reducing water, pesticide and fertilizer use. Replace grass with plants that sustain more animal life, he says: “Every little bit of habitat helps.”

2. Remove invasive plants. Introduced plants sustain less animal diversity than natives do. Worse, some exotics crowd out indigenous flora. Notable offenders: Japanese honeysuckle, Oriental bittersweet, multiflora rose and kudzu.

3. Create no-mow zones. Native caterpillars drop from a tree’s canopy to the ground to complete their life cycle. Put mulch or a native ground cover such as Virginia creeper (not English ivy) around the base of a tree to accommodate the insects. Birds will benefit, as well as moths and butterflies.

4. Equip outdoor lights with motion sensors. White lights blazing all night can disturb animal behavior. LED devices use less energy, and yellow light attracts fewer flying insects.

5. Plant keystone species. Among native plants, some contribute more to the food web than others. Native oak, cherry, cottonwood, willow and birch are several of the best tree choices.

6. Welcome pollinators. Goldenrod, native willows, asters, sunflowers, evening primrose and violets are among the plants that support beleaguered native bees.

7. Fight mosquitoes with bacteria. Inexpensive packets containing Bacillus thuringiensis can be placed in drains and other wet sites where mosquitoes hatch. Unlike pesticide sprays, the bacteria inhibit mosquitoes but not other insects.

8. Avoid harsh chemicals. Dig up or torch weeds on hardscaping, or douse with vinegar. Discourage crabgrass by mowing lawn 3 inches high.

#Nature

[ask-thehappykids]

The Visitor’s Guide to My OCs (and Cantolope’s)

I wanted to make a list/key that I could update easily without drawing a whole new reference sheet for everyone, so here’s a list of all my OCs with short descriptions you can recognize them from. Also including @cantolopejeevas‘s OCs because I mean they show up here so often why wouldn’t I?

Anyway, all under a cut!

Firefly: Very rarely called by his birth name, Evander. Big gold eyes, always being followed by fireflies. Brown curly hair. Cheerful but tired. Snail: Punk fuckboy-looking one with lots of piercings and sometimes tattoos. Usually involved in smut. Really likes their boyfriend Daniel. Andy: Blonde robot with bright blue eyes. They dress like a fashion forward mom and talk like they don’t know lying is an option. Bo: Tall bat boy with a lot of flair, usually holding some type of booze. British accent, incredibly obnoxious. Esky: Short bunny with four eyes. Usually has a gun in her hand. Also British. Bailey: Bright pink hair, chubby with a crop top and piercings. Loves art and painting. Megan: Long red hair with a big pink bow. Constantly done with everyone’s shit. Physics major and enthusiast. Nikki: Half buzzed blonde hair and lots of ear piercings. Plays the bass, usually talking about her band. Cookie: Soft, round sheep boy. Loves his mom and his boyfriend Mortar. Also bakes a lot. Maxim: Absolute garbage disaster demon. Muted blue hair with black eyes and a red hoodie. Asshole. Just an asshole. Gigi: Looks like she stepped out of a 40s Disney cartoon. Short little lesbian. Rory: Big, buff, long hair. Farm boy. Has scars across his eyes. Seer. Ellie: Emotional blonde skinny white girl. Sometimes glows purple. Wolf: Werewolf boy with ripped clothes. Doesn’t get enough sleep. Has a thing for vampires. Ant: Tiny elf child with four eyes, one of which is scarred. Very very dirty. Adara: Elf ears, deer legs, fire hair. Half of their body/face is scarred. Full of self-hatred and love for animals. Balthazar: Big ol’ teef, big ol’ ears, big ol’ armor. Stoic. Very royal king. Lorna: Kinda looks like a mime. Completely white eyes, pretty blind. Gay for a cute demon girl. Anubis: Four armed dog goddess. Not to be trusted. Wears an amulet around her neck. Cici: Part bunny, part deer, part beaver, part buffalo. Wears a giant sweater. Gentle. Kind. Soft. Azzie: Purple forest witch with green magic energy. Talks in broken third person. Always trying to sell you something. PJ: Bird mask with a high ponytail. Wears a trench coat. Tall rebel child. Pepper: Mouse mask with long hair and buck teeth. Wears a tutu. Leader rebel child. Pudding: Cat mask with twin pigtail puffs. Wears a leather jacket. Mediating rebel child. Dolly: Sometimes looks like a lizard, sometimes looks like a human. Loves to run so much she summoned a demon to do it. Trying her best. Arden: Dragon dumbass that loves crystals and fashion. Especially fond of crop tops and slushies, but also newspapers and princesses. Ilor: Mermaid princess. Long red hair, one eye is scarred. Melodic voice. Gay for another princess. Gillian: Fish girl. Loves to work out. Drinks protein shakes on the regular. Mimi: Snail and Daniel’s adopted child. Loves to play video games. Bright red hair and pikachu hoodie. Snarky little shit. Talyn: Cookie and Mortar’s son. Black sheep boy. Wears a leather jacket like his dad, but he’s actually a doctor this time. Zelda: Andy, Rory, and Daniyal’s daughter. Big poofy golden hair. Can wield the Master Sword but also just loves getting dirty and hurt. Good at bike tricks. Micah: Little maid alien boy. Has three eyes and bright blonde hair. Can only see in auras, but still loves to clean. Crys: D&D Tabaxi boy. Loves everyone even if they don’t love him back. Desperately trying to adopt some feral wolves. Nadia: Monster punk goth girl. Loves theater. Green skin and mismatching eyes. Loves her pastel punk girlfriend. Juliette: Peterbald cat adopt. Wears cute sundresses. Looks like she belongs in a furry rendition of a summer picnic renaissance painting. Felix: Bunny boy adopt with his eyes fully covered. Gray hair, gray sweater, sunny attitude. Wears a little carrot necklace. Kai: Little mouse with wings adopt. Pink beans!!! Looks like he’d cry if you blinked at him. Bones: Grim Reaper from Cryptid Haunters. Doesn’t have a mouth. Murders to make friends. Lola: Ghost girl from Cryptid Haunters. Has a big mouth and lots to say with it. Just wants to go home. Edgy 13 year old goth phase.

Canotlope’s OCs: Aurel: Vampire boy. Looks classy. Has hypno eyes, but also teef. Lucas: Actual Satan. Mostly just sleeps and supports Avery. Has the >:3 face on his t-shirt. Avery: Glasses and sweater nerd. A beautiful and innocent child. Just trying to get by and maybe make a friend. Shiloh: Cat boy who loves anime. Wears a lab coat. Scrawny and probably not eating correctly. Someone help him. Mortar: Tiny badass knife-wielding organ salesman. Sometimes also wears sweaters his boyfriend knitted for him. Fuck you. Shian: Dragon lesbian. Badass queen of dragons. Kinda cold, but we love her anyway. Anthea: Snake lesbian. Wears a magical blindfold. So sweet, so gentle. Carves wooden gifts for her friends. Daniel: Sassy and classy. But also a slut. Usually depicted being a slut. Sometimes wears a suit, other times wears nothing at all. ;) Daniyal: Farm boy with a heart of gold. Just wants the best for his loves and his friends. Sometimes shown with a chicken he calls Cluck-Cluck. Solace: Tiny ghost demon child. All black with white eyes. Full of terror and smiles. Hadrian: Spotted bunny boy in a jester’s outfit. Hates his life almost as much as he wants to slay a dragon. Xania: Dark summoner with way too many eyes to be necessary. There’s five of them. Has a lot of dark shadow demon babies that she loves. Lumeria: Big ol’ moth. Loves bright lights. Is soft. Ash: Dark red hair, thick jacket. Looks like they ride a motorcycle. Would and could punch you unconscious. Nito: D&D tiefling. Sweet summer child with long blue hair, wings, tail, and horns. Trying their very best. Sielya: Fae princess that doesn’t know they’re fae. In love with a mermaid and friends with a dragon. Fang: Vampire magician. Really good at magic, really bad at talking. Wears a hat with a face on it. Dianthus: Pink pastel punk lesbian. Loves flowers and her girlfriend. So many bright pink eyes.

[necessaryveganism]

Insects

Thank you all for your many asks and comments regarding insects and veganism. There are still many more coming in, so I figure that I’d make one post to try and answer everyone’s questions and to make this whole topic quiet down for the time being. 

Let’s start off by saying that there’s bigger fishless filets to fry than whether or not you kill the spider on your bedroom wall. Really, there are. In the grand scheme of things, the meat and dairy industry dwarfs nearly any other problem you could try and bring up, bug killing and extermination included. There’s no need for vegans to be angry at one another over something that’s not that important when scaled with other animal rights issues. 

Now that that’s out of the way, we can get to the heart of the matter, which seems to be one question- 

Is killing insects vegan? 

The answer in most cases is, sorry to say, no. Veganism seeks to avoid harm and exploitation of sentient creatures as far as is practicable, and if you know anything about insects, you’ll know that they often have complex social structures and demonstrate elements of intelligence. Honeybees have complex social structures, and ants have a remarkable capacity for self-organization. If you ever have the time, take a chance to look at the beautiful webs that spiders are able to craft- some spiders even build decoys to fool insects into their traps. 

Not only are insects clearly intelligent, there has been arguments that beyond being able to feel pain, insects experience consciousness, and even a limited range of emotions. Insects are said to have some of the most complex brains on earth, despite having some of the smallest (at only a few million neurons). Some modern AI components are being modeled off of insect’s ability to learn and compute complex calculations in flight. 

Additionally, just like any domestic animal or farm animal, insects have a right to live, just as much as any creature you can pick up and cuddle. It doesn’t matter that you don’t like spiders or that butterflies give you the nervous butterflies, you don’t have the right to take their life. They are here on this earth to live and to exist just like any other creature, and it’s a shame if you think that you should be nonchalant about snuffing out the life of a creature that is not only incredibly intelligent, but one that feels pain and experiences emotions. Even if that insect is in your home. Even if it scares you. Even if you detest it with every hair on your being, you don’t have the right to simply take a life for your own personal comfort and convenience. 

Here’s where we come to an addendum. Because, as with other types of animals, there are instances where it is in your best interest to kill an insect. What are these cases, you may ask? 

When an insect is posing a direct harm or potential risk to your person or persons nearby, you are justified in killing it to protect yourself and those around you. This is particularly important for insects such as mosquitoes, which can carry deadly diseases such as the West Nile Virus or the Zika Virus. Similarly, if there are flies around food, those flies may be carrying diseases that can be transmitted if they land on the food. Ticks, of course, pose the obvious threat of deadly Lyme Disease. In these cases, these insects are causing a clear and immediate threat to your health. In these cases, feel free to swat away. 

However, if a spider is crawling up your wall, or a moth got into your car, there’s absolutely no reason for you to go grabbing for the newspaper. There are methods of capture and release that take no time or money, such as using a cup and a piece of paper. For those of us that really don’t like our friends with many legs, there are humane catch and release products on the market for relatively low cost. 

For certain insects you feel are inevitable to arrive, such as ants in your home or mosquitoes on your person, your first and most humane line of defense is nonlethal preventative measures. This includes wearing bug spray, or using natural ant repellents such as cinnamon and mint. This ensures you won’t have to come down to the question of whether or not it is necessary to kill them. 

While you might not feel fondly about insects, they also have a right to live their lives, and you little to no justification in killing them for your own comfort (in the case they don’t pose a direct threat to your person). 

Practice kindness and compassion, even to the smallest, and seemingly most insignificant creatures. That’s what veganism is all about. 

-Admin Samantha 

[twinflameshardcore]

Human-angelic inner war

Firstly, if you are on a verge of breaking up with the true twin, hold on. There’s a strong solar wind operating on Earth now but we felt it earlier and it was very disturbing for senses and mentality during the last 3 days. Our light bodies are lhuge and are anchored in us but spread into the atmosphere and above so we feel everything what’s going on there - solar flares, winds, near-Earth asteroids passing and anything affecting the electro-magnetic field.

I was so angry and sad during the last few days that I only anted to quit with everything and float away into a limbo. The void which was never useful now seems to be the only environment, to close my eyes and forget myself and everything. No drugs.

There’s a mad Mars/Saturn square which will be triggering the ego for 2 weeks. Mars - I am warrior, I’ve my power, I do things my way, I hate being stuck, I’m too impatient to stay and wait any longer. Saturn - I’ve prepared life for you. Participate.

Additionally, there’s Mars in Gemini (my natal :/) which hates feeling ‘abandoned’, ‘misunderstood’ and having no communication with those who it wants to share with. It adds impatience even more. The problem is there’s no motivation, no goals, no missions, everything feels completely dead and it’s irritating. Everything what was t be ditched which felt naturally because our vibration had changed (lower to higher) made us float away from people and places, jobs we no longer felt belonging to. Yet nothing was offered in advance.

This is so frustrating that I’m finding myself beyond myself. I just don’t want to be in my body anymore, not on Earth. I want to be with my galactic family, on a spaceship, detached from anything low vibration. The worst to me are people who do not heal themselves but worry of others. Like that fake service to others. They feel like a big black hole and they can suck in. People who live in the past are another example, they block the energy flow and any progress. You know how it feels if you live in a city which is old and full of museums, and where local and national newspapers return to the past all the time, to dead people, past events, war events. Places where governments spend thousands of $ to build yet another monument for a dead person yet those alive are struggling with establishing own identity and are unable to move on in life because they’re unsupported. Unfortunately it is taking a toll on us now, while we’re literately, energetically forced to detached from lower vibrations, from the dead energy because our own body/soul vibration cannot handle this anymore. The body’s ‘door’ had been closed. The body has no  capacity to process that old vibration yet there’s no where to go as directions, goals were not provided. Andrew Bartzis, the Galactic Historian who has access to his own DNA and deeper knowledge said that a museum is a place which stores blocked energy, and this feels unhealthy. I hate going to museums, I hated it already as I was a child - as students we had to visit a few with a teacher. I felt as if objects of the past tried to suck energy from me because they weren’t left alone, buried underground and I felt dry and depressed when I left outdoor where there was life and motion.

All these made me figure out that currently there’s an inner war between our human and our angelic energies. It may well feel like this:

Human (Mars & Draco origins, 40 years old, dissatisfied, sad, angry, mid-life crisis, feeling like losing it all, follows the brain; complains): You’re aging and you’ve achieved nothing. You were more satisfied having sex with others before you met that ‘twinflame’ but you had lived afar for so many years. It’s making you look old, sad, you stopped going out, stopped meeting people. You’ve never exposed your beauty enough, you’ve never chosen a career, you’ve never left to live in another city or country, you’ve never gone for what you wanted, you’ve wasted all what you are. Look at others, they use life, they move, drive, have connections, families, boyfriends, they go to places. Even people who have talents like you do something about them. And yes, I’ve tried many things but each time they never felt perfect enough.

Angel (Galactic origins, billions years old, sad, dissatisfied but still hoping, subconsciously remembering what he was promised but rewards are not coming, follows the heart): I never knew what I wanted on Earth, this is not my environment. I was always too sensitive to go for the boxed, established, material, stiff, dry and logical = career. I was pushed here yet I was taken away all my former skills which didn’t need any additional learning. Vibrational density here is unbearable, makes me choke. I’m no more able to create with thoughts or will in this density. Humans do not understand my energy, my greatness, my being One with everything, my detachment from the material. Humans want to talk ordinary things instead of sharing great thoughts and ideas. They don’t read others via their hearts, their inner scanner but they judge based on the eyes and the brain. They are non empathetic. Or if they are, they take it wrong again, they look up terms in psychiatry books then then label my behaviors and symptoms. I never knew how to operate amongst humans. I tried to have relationships with similar souls which could lead me to a marriage, family, house etc. None of them lasted long enough to establish anything. I tried to work but they were forcing me to do things which they didn’t pay for, and I didn’t incarnate in that new body to be a slave once more. I want respect as I had as an angel up there. I enjoyed greatly when I met that guy who is my other half and eventhough he feels the same about me, he runs away and he won’t explain why. He discourages me from reaching out, from dreaming of the next, of wanting a marriage, living together etc. and everybody around are telling to do just that - to dream and create. How? He creates blockages fro my dreams to materialize. It needs the two but his human being plays havoc with his angelic. His angelic is not aggressive, won’t force him to do things in tune with our destiny. I’ve been ready to connect into One. All what he does is not in tune with what I remember about him from the old galactic times when we were One and even when we met as humans. The Earth is a beautiful place but its low energy sucks and it distorts humans. I love it when waves of higher vibration come however, they make me feel at home with everything I am and the surrounding. I barely ever resonated with humans here. Do you remember my pictures when I was a few months old? I had hatred in my watery childish eyes for how I had to reincarnate again, not only as a child who had to again learn everything from 0 but also as a woman where I was used to incarnate as a dude before, the dude who was free, raging and was a warrior who comes and takes! This sex change confused me the worst. I met a few humans who were equally fascinating and we had a mental connection. But they have chosen a material life, less wisdom, less knowledge, female partners weaker or stronger than themselves just to control or be humiliated by them. Beauty and aging - remember human when the DNA cleans up, the skin looks older, the body aches, but when it’s purged, the skin looks very fresh, the body feels 20 years younger, and the spirit feels just as it is - immortal. These come in phases. Whatever you try to force me to do, you have to collaborate as we’re two in this body. You want to use life on Earth. You human want to do things but recall that most of the time you took action in the past, you were mislead by dark forces, you set yourself away from your Path because you have a little implant in the brain telling you to self-destruct by giving away your power to others or make wrong choices rather than achieve anything. Thus you have to detach from the head and use my angelic heart only to navigate safely. I, angel want to go back to where I came from, right now. I feel no connections on this planet. I’m more connected to stars, constellations, I know there are beings never seen here yet, who I met, they love me, they know me, they understand my position, they know my history and they feel for me. But they’re told to stay where they are at the time being. They will arrive sometime soon, this was promised. All I enjoy is spreading myself afar, above, and being one with the nature and All that Is. Because I AM Authentic. I believe that my other half returns and we’ll live and create together but he needs to have a human-angelic inner conversation to decide about his return to the ‘better bubble’.

So this is a depiction of a struggle between 3D human and +5D angel. Both don’t now how to live here, both haven’t achieved anything special yet they knew they were meant for something greater, both compare what they were taught/promised and what didn’t happen, both need a goal to get motivated. Both wanted to love but met blockages and discouragement. Both transmute with control and energetically but the results are unseen. The answer is = WTF??

This is such a nasty period of time that we’re forced to go through validations and it seems these are related to known attributes of zodiac signs we’re passing through during the year. I really felt myself when Sun was in Aries. Then I felt I was tossed from a corner to corner or kept ‘underground’, completely stuck for the time of retrogrades. Now with Gemini dominating, I am dealing with a mental chaos. It’s like each moth we’re asked - Are you using this, are you that? Are you free (when Sun in Aquarius)? Are enjoying yourself (Leo)? Are you safe (Taurus)? Are you satisfied with your professional life, achievements (Capricorn & Saturn too)? Have you expressed what is you?(Aries)? What have you created (Pisces)? etc. Overall: What does your heart like - home & family (1 home) or learning other cultures and places through traveling (home everywhere)? Yet even if your human is dramatizing now, look into your eyes in a mirror - you may see somebody else inside of you. Brighter, potent, sharp like a steel, radiating, very DIFFERENT ‘no compromise’ sovereign being. This is your angel replacing the human slowly but permanently. The living diamond within which is like a fluid, ghost, plasma, energy, you name it. I’m really curious how it’s going to play out in June... Every month I receive different energies, so it’s low and high, glimpses of the best, followed by the reality of hopelessness next. I hope it’ll end soon because those mood swings related to the brain and nervous system rewiring are maddening! If you have issues, detach from the head and go in the nature, look at ants, birds, trees, bark, shapes, colors, etc. these make us live in the now.

This post is copyrighted by the author of this blog who prefers to remain anonymous. My posts must not be used for commercial purposes of any kind. Respect my work - ask first before you copy, always include a link back to my site when you quote a part of my writing!

[insect-world]

The Wonder Entomologist: Small and High Impact

Our world contains countless swarms of insects that play a pivotal role in our ecosystem. Although they are the smallest species of living creatures by size, they are the most numerous ever. Studies have shown that the number of insects with their different species equals more than half of the number of other organisms In its various types, shapes, and different species; insects have a very large number of species, which is approximately thirty million different species, and this is at the level of the species that have not yet been classified. Insects belong to the range of eukaryotic organisms, and insects can live in all kinds of different environments and regions, even if there is a percentage, even if a few of them, live in water areas.

According to experts, insects are harmful pests because they bite, bite, and spread diseases and compete with humans for food from plants, and if it were not for them by pollinating the flowers of plants we would live in famines, and in most parts of the world insects are food for humans, and we got rid of garbage, dead plants and dead animals by eating them. The moths, flies and beetles is one of the most beautiful creatures.

Insects are found in almost all environments, but a small number of them are accustomed to life in the aquatic environment, i.e. the type of housing that is controlled by another group of arthropods which are crustaceans, and they also classify insects as beneficial and harmful insects for humans and the environment, as beneficial insects We may benefit from some of them in the production of some products such as silk, which is made from silkworm, honey and which bees make, and that some insects are a food source for other living organisms, in addition to that insects play their primary role in pollinating crops, and they also get rid of harmful insects, It is t Ml also on soil aeration and increase fertility.

As for insects that are harmful to the environment and humans, they must be disposed of, as they are often a reason for transmitting various diseases and microbes to humans, as they harm the environment, as they may destroy crops and damage the environment, as they may harm other animals, and insects that are harmful to humans and may affect it Sleeping diseases "tsetse fly".

Accordingly, insects were able to invade all parts of the world by their ability to live in various environments and their ability to overcome the difficulties that other living organisms fail to endure, and insects are a major competitor to man in many matters, so they have become the focus of attention of scientists seeking to know everything about these Creatures, whether positive or negative, has been detected by (Informative News Network) some news and studies, we review the most prominent of them in the report below.

Bug, flea or wasp .. How to treat insect bites? From wasp to flea, ticks and even ants, there are multiple causes of red or white spots appearing on human skin as a result of bites. The type of patch and the itch method reveal a lot about the identity of the parasite attacking you. In the article, ways to combat stings.

The tick should not be removed by shaking the affected area, as this can cause the body to be cut off and the tick's head remaining attached to the body.

Sometimes we are surprised when getting up in the morning with pimples appearing on the surface of the skin or perhaps the appearance of red spots that cause annoying itching and we do not know what is the reason behind them. The first thing that comes to mind in the summer season when such problems arise is that a mosquito attacked us while we were covering a deep sleep. However, the causes of the appearance of pimples and redness of the skin are certainly different, just as the appearance of the visible spots can reveal the parasite attacker causing the mosquito, or ticks or wasp that remained awake throughout the night, but these insects attack during the day as well, how to distinguish between them and how they can be treated ?

Mosquitoes

If we feel itchy, we think directly about mosquitoes, which makes sense because mosquitoes stand on the skin and insert their needles into the skin to absorb blood from it. And because we can feel it and humming. And if we remove it from our skin, we feel strong itching directly, and the reason for the appearance of itching is that the female mosquito attacking, you need a protein in our blood that helps her to produce eggs. In order to obtain blood, the insect injects a special type of anticoagulant protein into the skin, so that it can absorb enough blood from it. Because the body rejects this protein, its reaction is fast and strong, as if it were an allergic attack. It can be known that the attacker is a mosquito in the event of spots, such as a tumor with a diameter of 2 and 5 millimeters without a drop of blood on the skin, and its color ranges between white and red.

And the site "Yahoo" Germany has given advice to fight mosquito bites, as the place where the female mosquito has inserted her needle should be cooled, either by applying pressure or using special treatments against insect bites, which also reduces the tumor. As a direct measure against itching, wiping saliva also helps. And if you want to use the home methods, put half an onion, half a potato or a piece of lemon on the spot immediately after itching.

And you should not scratch the skin, because itching means activating the protein that mosquito female injected into the skin to cause itching more.

Ticks

Ticks live on tall grasses and plants, not on trees, it is believed. When an animal or a person passes, the tick clings to the body of the passing victim to be sucked from its blood. A tick can live for 15 days on the body of its victim from animals, or sometimes a person, and its presence cannot be noticed. Tick ​​causes serious diseases such as borreliosis, or tick-borne encephalitis.

A tick bite does not cause strong itching as is the case with mosquitoes, although it clings and sucks blood from the victim's skin. When the tick leaves its host, it causes a red spot the size of the non-swelling currency.

The blood-sucking ticks should be removed as soon as possible. The best way to do this is by using a special hooked tongs, according to the Austrian "Gisundahit" site. Under no circumstances should the ticks be removed by shaking the affected area, because This can cause the body to be cut off and the tick's head to stick to the body. If the site of the infection is spreading and reddening, you should see a doctor quickly, as it is possible that there will be a case of Borreliosis.Bugs These small insects are active at night to look for blood from animals or humans. The insect causes several red spots and one in the middle is usually large. Bugs bite many times to get the most amount of blood. It can leave a mark on the bed as blood points as a result of being bitten by the victim's body. Female bugs lay eggs one day around the house, and for this reason the house must be ventilated and kept clean.The flea The flea lives in the corners, carpets, or clothing layers. The flea bites several times and causes red, swollen spots, just as it does with bugs. And the site, "FluhProplame", meaning "flea problems", states that fleas are transmitted in most cases through pets, such as cats and dogs, and then spread in the apartment. For the purpose of combating it there are special treatments such as nebulizer and so-called flea traps. And you should treat your pet regularly from parasites, as we read the German Yahoo sign.Hornet If the wasp feels dangerous it can sting several times. The hornet can sting and return again, unlike what the bee does. Wasp bite is very painful immediately after the bite and causes redness of the bite. To combat the wasp sting, you can quickly cool the affected area or use specific ointments to combat insect bites.The ants If you get stung by a forest ant, the stain becomes painful and feels burning. If you stand in the way of the ant, it can attack you and release a certain acid when it bites. The ant bite appears as white, reddish spots and with strong itching. Spots can disappear after an hour, but if you are exposed to a bite from the forest ants, the spot becomes painful and feels burning in its location, as the forest ants inject a kind of poison when the victim bites them. To get rid of the results of the sting, you can cool the affected area. You can also keep the wound clean and prevent inflammation by resorting to a home remedy, which is to cut onions or garlic cloves in half and gently and carefully rub the affected area.Scorpions poison is anti-inflammatory and relieve pain! Researchers supported the hypothesis of a Cuban scorpion hunter, and confirmed that the blue scorpion poison contains anti-inflammatory and pain-reducing properties. How is that?A Cuban farmer named Bibi Casanas, 78, used to catch scorpions once a month during the past ten years to bite himself with his name, and he justifies this by saying, "This poison protects him from the pain of rheumatism." What may seem strange to many is no longer viewed by researchers as a wrong remedy.Researchers in Cuba have concluded that the blue scorpion poison spread in Cuba contains anti-inflammatory and pain-reducing properties and may be able to delay the growth of tumors in some cancer patients.Although some oncologists abroad say that more research is necessary in order to support such a claim, the Cuban Labivam pharmaceutical company has been using scorpion poison since 2011 to make an analog medicine known as Fedatox, and this drug is popular. Very popular. "Sales are going up 10 percent annually," said Carlos Alberto Delgado, director of commercial activities at Labofam. Demand for Fedatox is not limited to Cuba, but includes about 15 countries around the world. Currently, negotiations are under way between representatives of the company and China to sell this drug there."I put the scorpion where I am in pain," said Casanas, while displaying his panacea for a pain with a scorpion found under a pile of rubble on a farm in Pinar del Rio, western Cuba. After pressing it long enough, it bites it. "It hurts me for a while, but then the pain subsides and disappears, and I don't feel any pain after that," he said.Wasps bother you? Follow these steps to avoid them Having wasps or bees frequently seen in the summer around you can spoil the fun of outdoor picnics. As the bite of these small insects may not only be painful, but lethal, if you suffer from allergies. Thus, you avoid stings of wasps.A picnic in the nature or an open-air meal quickly becomes a terrifying nightmare, especially for those who are allergic to wasps or bee stings. In the summer, their favorite foods are converted from sugars to proteins. This is why you will likely encounter it where foods are located, or around garbage collection areas. What do you have to do to keep these annoying insects out?The number of wasps reaches a maximum in August and September, as these insects do not find enough food in nature due to high temperatures and droughts, which may destroy plants.In fact, wasps are not aggressive in their search for food and do not target humans. So it is best when the wasps or bees are approaching you: first not to panic, keep calm, and then drive them away by newspaper carefully, or by pushing them with your hands, making sure that the movements are calm, and slow. As bees or wasps sting primarily to defend themselves, and thus to avoid bee stings you must ensure that they do not feel threatened by you.Another way is to spray water around the wasps. Put a little water in a spray bottle, and when it comes close, spray it, as the wasps will assume it rains, and they rush to their nests. Be careful not to spray too much water so as not to damage its wings. According to the German website Spiegel.How to prevent wasps from getting close? Avoid wearing strong-smelling perfumes and creams, as well as colored clothes.Cleaning children's mouth and fingers after eating.Cover sweet foods and meats.Do not walk barefoot.Avoid canned drinks, or use a lollipop.When swimming in the pools, watch out for bees or wasps trapped on the surface of the water. If you come across it, it is best to remove it to avoid exposing it to capacity. According to what The Nature Conservancy (Nabu) recommends.Mosquitoes carry plastic particles from water to birdsA British study confirmed that fine plastic particles can be transferred from water to birds and bats by mosquitoes. The study is the first to demonstrate that plastic particles can reach water from flying insects into living organisms.Researchers from Britain explained in a study published by the journal, "The Biology Litters" of the Royal Academy of Sciences, that fine plastic particles can be transferred from water to birds, bats and spiders by mosquitoes. In their studies, they also found fine plastic particles in adult and flying insects, after these particles were swallowed by mosquitoes while they were still larvae in the water.Under the direction of Amanda Calagan, of the University of Reading, Britain, the researchers warned that plastic particles could reach birds and insects that devoured mosquitoes. The researchers studied how microscopic plastic pellets reach the common household mosquitoes, where they stay inside his body during different ages.The researchers also found significantly fewer plastic spheres inside the larvae over their various age stages. They did not find any particles inside the fully developed mosquitoes. But researchers found an exception to that, when mosquitoes ingested 1 and 15 ومترm pellets at the same time, there were traces of 15 ومترm plastic pellets. The researchers were able to identify well the plastic particles under the microscope because they were fluorescent.In this way, the researchers were able to find out where the plastic particle was when the mosquito moved from one age to another, which is the Malpegi vessels (relative to the Italian anatomist Marcelo Malpegi) which are the vessels that act as excretory organs in insects and are very similar to the kidneys in terms of function . Unlike the intestine, these particles remain completely unchanged when mosquitoes move from one age to another.Researchers believe that they can pull their findings in the laboratory on other insects. Whereas the mosquito bite used here as a living model, any insect that lives in fresh water and can feed on plastic particles, may have carried plastic materials to an adult ground stage of its development. According to the researchers, this is the first study to demonstrate that plastic particles can reach from water through flying insects to the food chain and living organisms that live on Earth.Spiders are active at home at 19.35 pm Many spiders fear. Fear increases as the spider suddenly appears at home. The results of a recent study revealed an effective way to avoid spiders at home. At the same time, the benefits of this insect are for those who are able to do that. Learn about it in this article.By seeing the spiders, some people run away or scream because of the fear of them, especially if this happens in the bathroom or in the bedroom. In a group of people, this fear develops into "arachnophobia." Although spiders appear suddenly inside the house, supervisors of a recent scientific study are housed with practical curiosity to know the times when spiders prefer to appear. The study concluded that this happens mostly at 19:35, quoting the German news site "Merkur".The team, led by Professor Adam Hart, an entomologist at the University of Gloucestershire, analyzed 10,000 camera records of spiders in 250 locations in different parts of Britain. The researchers recorded that the peak time for spiders to appear is 19:35 pm, and that the possibility of them appearing in the morning is between six and eight o'clock.15 children were hospitalized after an attack from wasps Wasps swept Germany this summer because of the high temperatures, which worried many fear their sting. These insects attacked the east of the country, a group of children, which required their transfer to the hospital.In terms of seasons, spiders are more active in the autumn and winter months, in September and October. During this period, males begin to search for the right partner and settle in the home. Female spiders feel more comfortable on the ceilings, doors and windows.Contrary to what some people might think, the appearance of spiders at 19:35 pm is not caused by many people at home at this time or that spiders prefer to go out during dinner. According to Professor Adam Hart, the reason behind this has to do with the ecological and environmental aspects, adds the German news site "Mercure".For those who want to avoid sudden visits to spiders, the effective way is not to avoid entering the house at 19:35 pm, but rather to ensure that the house is clean and regular, in addition to the importance of hygiene, it is necessary to avoid leaving the doors and windows open. Also, spiders should not be exaggerated in the home because they have many benefits as well. Spiders eliminate many harmful insects inside the house, such as mosquitoes and beetles, and thus indirectly reduce the risk of a number of diseases inside the house. A single spider eats up to two kilograms of insects a year.Eating "cockroach of the night" as food has great benefits People in a number of countries in the world, such as the countries of Asia, eat different types of insects, but many people of the world disgust at it. A recent study monitored positive and beneficial health aspects of eating insects, which may make them more receptive to our menu.Environmental researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, studied the effect of eating insects as food on the human body, the results of which were published in Scientific Reports. This study is of great importance, according to the supervising scientists, as it is closely related to scientists from other American colleges, which may pave the way for inclusion in the food systems there.While experts advise eating meals from insects, given their health benefits, And to contribute to the eradication of the phenomenon of exacerbated hunger in a number of countries in the world, as they see insects as a good alternative to meat and milk, others see this as unpalatable and unacceptable or included in the list of foods of other different cultures.The American study showed that consumption of cockroaches, especially the cricket cockroach (night cockroach) can help support the growth of beneficial intestinal bacteria, and that eating some other types of insects may have an effect on fighting infections in the body.For a period of two weeks, 20 participants of healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 48 had breakfast with 25 grams of dried cricket cockroach (night cockroach). Then each participant took a regular diet for a while.The researchers collected blood and stool samples and answers to intestinal questionnaires immediately before the start of the study, as well as immediately after the first two-week diet period. Participants ’blood samples were tested for a range of health measures, such as blood glucose and liver function enzymes, as well as inflammatory protein levels. Stool samples were tested from by-products of microbial metabolism in the human intestine, inflammatory chemicals associated with the digestive system, and the overall composition of the microbial communities present in the stool.Participants reported no infectious changes to the stomach or side effects, and the researchers found no evidence of changes in the overall microbial composition or changes in inflammation of the large intestine. Scientists also found an increase in the metabolic enzyme associated with the health of the gut, and a decrease in the inflammable protein in the blood called TNF-alpha, which was linked to other measures that help the body fight diseases, especially depression or cancer.

[humanegardener]

As a human in the modern world, I’m experiencing a bit of habitat envy. I crave more chances to sleep longer, pick my own fruit, and curl up with loved ones under a tree. If the universe determined our fates based on personalities and preferences, I’d likely be assigned to sloth-hood: slow-moving, plant-eating, tree-dwelling. The bumblebee lifestyle would be a good fit, too, allowing me to visit flowers all day and cozy up with family at night.

But I’m not complaining. This year has yielded extraordinary opportunities to spread the word about the importance of caring for wild plants and animals in our backyards. If it’s meant less time in my own garden, I don’t regret it. And I’ve learned to live vicariously through the creatures taking shelter there. Even brief strolls through our little oasis have brought countless insights into their often hidden world. Follow along as I recap 11 unforgettable moments in our 2017 humane garden.

1. The Eclipse Wasp

When her iridescent blue wings close, she is twilight. When they open, she’s as brilliant as the sun. How fitting, then, that I first discovered this otherworldly wasp in my garden just as the solar eclipse was starting on the afternoon of August 21. The sight of such a brilliant animal just feet from the ground was even more spectacular than anything I could have spied in the sky. Known scientifically as Trogus pennator, she appeared to have no common name, so I dubbed her the eclipse wasp. Harmless to us, she has an unusual nesting site: the caterpillars of swallowtail butterflies. She injects a single egg into each caterpillar she finds; when the egg hatches, the wasp larva feeds on and eventually kills her host. To those who find this gutting of butterfly babies distasteful, I suggest remembering that birds devour caterpillars, too, and we don’t hold their predatory ways against them.

2. The Devoted and Drenched Dad

A summer downpour didn’t stop this papa cardinal, spotted one day through a screen door to our deck, from feeding his hungry family. Wondering about the identity of the unlucky soul about to end up in a baby bird’s belly, I checked my copy of Caterpillars of Eastern North America and discovered his name: Abbott’s sphinx moth caterpillar. Though I’d never seen one before, I guessed that we had plenty, as this species’ host plants—grape and Virginia creeper—proliferate in our gardens. Most chicks need an abundance of caterpillars in their diets, so these volunteer vines provide a plethora of baby food to young bird families.

3. The Superman Ant on a Mission

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Taking a quick break from writing to refresh the birdbaths one day, I happened upon a familiar-looking butterfly skating oddly across our patio. Closer inspection revealed an ant carrying the wing of a silver-spotted skipper. How that butterfly met her demise, I’m not sure, but the scavenging ants made sure she did not die in vain.

4. The Hitchhikers

At first glance, this might look like the opossum of the insect world, a devoted mama carrying young ones on her back. That’s what my husband, Will, and I assumed when we came upon this scene under our ash tree last spring. But the diminutive hitchhikers are no mini-mes. They’re a completely different species. Called fire-colored beetles, they are attracted to cantharidin, a caustic chemical exuded by the larger blister beetle to deter predators. The tiny passengers may lick, chew or nip to extract the coveted potion, which some beetle species pass along to females while mating to confer protection to their offspring, according to the book Beetles of Eastern North America.

5. The Special Delivery

Whenever Will says, “Nancy, come here and look at something, and come quietly,” I know I’m in for a treat. This time it was a special delivery in the patio garden right outside our basement door. All our outdoor plans ceased that late spring week; we barely set foot into the backyard for fear of disturbing this newborn fawn. Except to stand, stretch and turn around, she didn’t move much either. We knew her mother must be close by, calling her baby to nurse but otherwise keeping her distance to avoid attracting predators. We saw no signs of distress—no crying, no flies, no indication of discomfort or confusion. Still, I couldn’t help but worry. Just as I started to wonder aloud if we should be concerned about her well-being, we woke up one morning to find our baby had left as quietly as she’d arrived. She was strong enough now to join her mother, who would find new spots to hide her precious cargo each day and plenty of food for her family in our deer-friendly garden.

6. The Buzz That Fell on Half-Deaf Ears

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Being half-deaf all my life, I’ve missed a lot. Punchlines elude me amid roaring laughter, and having them repeated to me is of no use when I’ve already missed half the joke. But maybe this forced tuning-out of human noise has given me more sensitivity to nature’s music, including the dramatic soundtrack of bumblebee buzz pollination. Turn up the volume on the video, and between the lower drone of wing flapping, you’ll hear it, too: the distinctive high pitch of the bee’s flight muscles vibrating at a rapid clip to shake the pollen out of the anthers of this wild senna. It’s an amazing trick that some flowers—including those of tomatoes, blueberries and other human food crops—require for pollination. Only some bees can perform it, though, and the honeybee, a domesticated animal originally introduced from Europe, isn’t among them. We’d be awfully hungry without our buzz-pollinating wild friends—yet another reason to skip the hives in favor of nurturing habitat for the native bees already in our midst.

7. The Bird Who Thought Our Yard Was a Forest

When this scarlet tanager joined our happy hour one evening in the height of summer, I knew it was a rare event. Little did I know how rare until I posted the photo and received responses from avid birders saying they had yet to spot one on their treks through the woods. Described by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as “frustratingly hard to find” because of their preference for high canopies of “large, undisturbed tracts of forest,” scarlet tanagers seem unlikely candidates for suburban backyard stopovers. This one kept us company for at least 20 minutes while feasting on the ripening fruit of staghorn sumac trees.

8. The Ant Hill That Wasn’t an Ant Hill

I’d read about it, written about it, and seen it from a distance in the past. But until this summer, I’d never actually gotten close enough to photograph a ground-nesting bee emerging from her hole, gathering pollen, and returning to her nest repeatedly. That seems strange in retrospect, since these soil dwellers are everywhere, comprising about 70 percent of our 4,000 or so native bee species in North America. They’re generally small and solitary, so it takes patience and a zoom lens to stake out such minifauna. One helpful clue to their whereabouts is the presence of mounds that look like anthills. Though they work alone, many bees create these nests near each other; I found mine along the edge of a mowed path that runs through our meadow down to the compost pile.

9. The Frog Who Thought He Was in a Jungle

As their name implies, tree frogs like to hang out high in the canopy. And sure enough, their vocalizations led my binocular-aided eyes to one atop a sassafras tree this summer. But sometimes the diminutive frogs descend to much lower altitudes during breeding season, seeming to take a particular liking to our potted rubber trees. In mid-May, just hours after I’d moved a few from their winter home in the basement to their summer spot on the patio, this little guy made himself right at home atop one of the sturdy leaves. Thin-skinned amphibians are especially vulnerable to the onslaught of chemicals and power equipment in a typical home landscape, so I feel especially protective of each one I find.

10. The Hamburglar Bun Gourmand

Our birdbaths serve many purposes: quenching animals’ thirst, helping birds clean their feathers, and—apparently—giving crow connoisseurs a place to prepare their meals. This hamburger bun of unknown origins got a thorough soaking last March before the bird took off with the dripping mass gripped firmly in his beak. Was he cleaning off the human refuse before deigning to eat it himself? Was he softening it up to make it more palatable? Theories abound, but this is a common behavior among our highly intelligent feathered friends. I’m just happy I got to see it, even if through a fuzzy window screen.

11. The Plant That Inspired Our Neighbor to Go Wild

How many species can one plant support? At some point we stopped counting, but our neighbor walked by when we were still trying. “What is this plant called?” she asked. “Can you give me some seeds?” I was surprised by the sudden interest. She’d never wanted tall plants but didn’t seem to care that this boneset towered above her. She’d  never wanted prolific spreaders but could clearly see this self-starter had sprouted from a crack in our driveway. What sold my friend on Eupatorium serotinum? It certainly wasn’t me. Nothing I can say comes close to the sales pitch made by the bees, butterflies, mating wasps, bee flies, and moths crowding every bloom each summer. The moment confirmed my belief that wildlife of all kinds are the best ambassadors for the native plants that sustain them. We just need to have the courage to let them shine in our gardens for all the world to see.

Featured images, top: Tachinid flies also use caterpillars as a nesting site; when eggs hatch, the fly larvae feed on the caterpillars. Despite all this predation on baby butterflies and moths, we have dozens of winged beauties making it to adulthood in our garden, including the mourning cloak who emerged from winter dormancy in early March. (All photos by Nancy Lawson and Will Heinz)

Top 2017 Discoveries in Our Humane Garden As a human in the modern world, I'm experiencing a bit of habitat envy. I crave more chances to sleep longer, pick my own fruit, and curl up with loved ones under a tree.