#Pollution Protection for Cars

[ecoverdevaletingco]

Learn the differences between car washing, waxing, and full detailing in London. Eco Verde Valeting has the perfect solution for your vehicle’s care.

Read More: https://ecoverdevaletingco.tumblr.com/post/767855754948575232/auto-detailing-london-packages

[scudmcphuck]

Prius Behavior (2023) Edited traditional art after scan and edited photo of EPA cleanup site in New Jersey in the negative space.

[lamah0urani]

Our dreams have been destroyed, and we have nothing left...😞

🫂You're our last hope in this life🫂

I'm Lama from Gaza, I'm 24 years old, and my husband is Mohammad... We got married in 2022 in a house full of love and happiness. Our house was beautiful, we chose everything in it carefully... We were waiting for the end of the day to go there after a tiring day of work, but the occupation did not leave us. 😔😭💔

This house was bombed with all hatred. Here we are after the genocide. We have nothing... We lost our house, our work, and our car.😭😞

We were displaced to Rafah in a tent that could not accommodate 5 people, and after the displacement from Rafah, we were displaced to Mawasi Khan Yunis again. It was a very difficult period... but now we are in Mawasi Khan Yunis in a tent that does not protect us from the cold of winter or the heat of summer.😞😭

This is our tent, its floor is made of cardboard, as you can see, and I suffer from severe eczema due to the pollution of the air and the materials used, and the medicine is very expensive.😭💔

Urgent: My husband needs a very necessary operation and medication. Please help my husband in order for his health to improve. He is in pain.😞😭🫂🙏🙏

Help us and donate to us. You are our last hope and the lifeline of this life. 🫂🙏

We need you...Donate to us and save what is left of us.😞🙏🙏

Link campaign ⬇️ ⬇️⬇️

https://gofund.me/8f634db2

..

✅️Vetted✅️

@gazavetters

[wachtmeister4art]

Verbrenner bei LEV | (Combustion Engines Near Leverkusen) 2023

New Media Art | Vector Graphic | Art Print Edition | © 2023 Bernd Wachtmeister

[reasonsforhope]

"The sleeping giant of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stirred.

In the past month, an avalanche of anti-pollution rules, targeting everything from toxic drinking water to planet-heating gases in the atmosphere, have been issued by the agency. Belatedly, the sizable weight of the US federal government is being thrown at longstanding environmental crises, including the climate emergency.

On Thursday [May 18, 2023], the EPA’s month of frenzied activity was crowned by the toughest ever limits upon carbon pollution from America’s power sector, with large, existing coal and gas plants told they must slash their emissions by 90% or face being shut down.

The measure will, the EPA says, wipe out more than 600m tons of carbon emissions over the next two decades, about double what the entire UK emits each year. But even this wasn’t the biggest pollution reduction announced in recent weeks.

In April, new emissions standards for cars and trucks will eliminate an expected 9bn tons of CO2 by the mid-point of the century, while separate rules issued late last year aim to slash hydrofluorocarbons, planet-heating gases used widely in refrigeration and air conditioning, by 4.6bn tons in the same timeframe. Methane, another highly potent greenhouse gas, will be curtailed by 810m tons over the next decade in another EPA edict.

In just a few short months the EPA, diminished and demoralized under Donald Trump, has flexed its regulatory muscles to the extent that 15bn tons of greenhouse gases – equivalent to about three times the US’s carbon pollution, or nearly half of the entire world’s annual fossil fuel emissions – are set to be prevented, transforming the power basis of Americans’ cars and homes in the process...

If last year’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), with its $370bn in clean energy subsidies and enticements for electric car buyers, was the carrot to reducing emissions, the EPA now appears to be bringing a hefty stick.

The IRA should help reduce US emissions by about 40% this decade but the cut needs to be deeper, up to half of 2005 levels, to give the world a chance of avoiding catastrophic heatwaves, wildfires, drought and other climate calamities. The new rules suddenly put America, after years of delay and political rancor, tantalizingly within reach of this...

“It’s clear we’ve reached a pivotal point in human history and it’s on all of us to act right now to protect our future,” said Michael Regan, the administrator of the EPA, in a speech last week at the University of Maryland. The venue was chosen in a nod to the young, climate-concerned voters Joe Biden hopes to court in next year’s presidential election, and who have been dismayed by Biden’s acquiescence to large-scale oil and gas drilling.

“Folks, this is our future we are talking about, and we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity for real climate action,” [Michael Regan, the administrator of the EPA], added. “Failure is not an option, indifference is not an option, inaction is not an option.” ...

It’s not just climate the EPA has acted upon in recent months. There are new standards for chemical plants, such as those that blight the so-called "Cancer Alley" the US, from emitting cancer-causing toxins such as benzene, ethylene oxide and vinyl chloride. New rules curbing mercury, arsenic and lead from industrial facilities have been released, as have tighter limits on emissions of soot and the first ever regulations targeting the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkylsubstances (or PFAS) in drinking water.” ...

For those inside the agency, the breakneck pace has been enervating. “It’s definitely a race against time,” said one senior EPA official, who asked not to be named. “The clock is ticking. It is a sprint through a marathon and it is exhausting.” ...

“We know the work to confront the climate crisis doesn’t stop at strong carbon pollution standards,” said Ben Jealous, the executive director of the Sierra Club.

“The continued use or expansion of fossil power plants is incompatible with a livable future. Simply put, we must not merely limit the use of fossil fuel electricity – we must end it entirely.”"

-via The Guardian (US), 5/16/23

[mswyrr]

I'm very glad to hear your child's school has moved to protect kids and staff like that 💜 and I hope many more schools do so. I'm aware of various states and municipalities where there's growing traction on this issue and it gives me hope. Thank you for sharing @sunburnt-in-inaka

[charlesherbertlightoller]

In light of the summer surge of COVID-19 rolling round, masking protocols getting scrapped left and right, other respiratory diseases on the rise and seasonal air pollution ramping up, here's some more things that high-performance respirator masks (N95 and the like) protect against:

Influenza (including bird flu!)

Common cold

Bacterial pneumonia

Tuberculosis

Measles

Fungal spores (including valley fever!)

Dust

Airborne allergens (pollen, pet dander, dust mites, etc)

Man-made air pollution (exhaust from cars and jets, industrial emissions, etc.)

Wildfire smoke

…and much more!

While COVID-19 is undoubtably serious and masking is the best way to prevent yourself from catching it, there's many more reasons why the air might be bad to breathe, and breathing bad air is a public health risk for everyone! Additionally, certain demographics experience higher levels of exposure to airborne contaminants than others, yet they often have the least access to accurate information, personal protective gear and medical resources.

It is imperative, for stemming the spread of COVID, mitigating the effects of other airborne hazards and showing solidarity with vulnerable individuals, that we normalize masking for a variety of reasons. Do you have a cold? Wear a mask. Do you have allergies? Wear a mask. Do you live or work in an area with heavy air pollution? Wear a mask. Is there a wildfire nearby? Wear a mask. Just want to avoid getting sick when you go to the doctor's office? Wear a mask. Whenever and wherever there might be bad air, masking protects you!

It may seem like nobody cares now, but I promise you; change is possible, change is inevitable, and YOU have the agency and ability to make change for yourself, your community and the world by setting an example and spreading the word. So take charge and clear the air!

(I do not use Blaze. Please reblog this post so it gets more notes!)

[lunamugetsu]

The CIA is trying to kill Danny

Now hear me out.

I stumbled upon this prompt idea where somebody wrote that they want to see a story where the CIA is trying to kill Clark Kent (not Superman, reporter Clark Kent), the reason is because that Clark Kent is a very good reporter. And everybody knows that a mark of a good reporter is that they die of natural causes, with bullets in their head. So that story would have centered around the CIA trying to kill Clark Kent and having no idea on how Clark Kent is still alive after the multiple attempts on his life.

Now this got me thinking.

In an AU where Danny is interning or working at the Daily Planet, probably under Clark or Lois.(you choose) And Danny is a really good reporter, his ghost powers help him gather information undetected. He's exposing corporations left and right, all ranging from either illegal animal experimentation, environmental pollution, horrible working conditions, toss in a couple of sleazy terrible rich people. So while all of his stuff is getting published and the govt is going, "we gotta stop that reporter." And proceed to constantly try to end this kid's life with no result. They try to poison food, Danny grew up eating radioactive food, if anything the poison is just added seasoning. They try to set up his place on fire, Danny's just conveniently not there. They try to have people tail him but they can't because Danny just disappears whenever he turns a corner.

And layers could be added to this, like Danny's just talking to Clark at work (y'know water cooler talk) and when Danny brings up all of these strange things happening to him like "people following him, the elevator at his place just conveniently broke down and crashed into the ground around the time he would have left for work, or how his usual food orders look a bit different than what they normally look like and they taste slightly different." And Clark is hearing all of this and is going "wait a minute!" and there's a scene of Clark walking with Danny as the kid is waiting for his uber and when the car pulls up. Clark uses his x-ray vision and spots the driver sporting guns, knives, poison gas (whatever CIA agents use for assassinations, I don't know) and just goes "Hey Danny did I ever take you to my favorite diner. No? GREAT! Let's go now!" and he just immediately drags Danny away from the murder car. And from that point on, Clark is taken it upon himself to stop all of the assassination attempts on Danny because he believes that Danny is a fragile young human being.

OR

This could be set in Gotham

And Danny is just exposing all of elites of Gotham, including Gotham's rogues and all of that song and dance. Which then leads him to be targeted by the Court of OWLS! Danny in this scenario would be friends with Tim, because they go to the same coffee shop and order the espresso on steroids drink. Danny tells him all of the stuff that's been happening to him and Tim goes "oh shit." In which he then tells the batsiblings. They all band together to protect Danny because he is a normal human being. (said nobody ever) So Danny becomes unofficially adopted by them. They don't tell Bruce about this because then they'll have to come to terms that they are just like him because they just took in a black haired blue eyed kid into their family.

[henneseyhoe]

What A Woman Wants; Fun

JoeyBada$$ X BLACK!FEM!Reader

WARNINGS: Basically pwp, Strangers sex(don’t be her, this is crazy lmao), Mentions of intoxication (the reg shit), Daddy kink(surprise, surprise), Public sex, Bathroom sex(kinda?), No protection (WRAP IT BEFORE YA SMACK IT), Dirty talk cause yeah, Unedited (girl im tired, sorry)

SUMMARY: What’s the point of going out if you can’t have fun?

1 | 2 | ? |

✮✮✮✮

She honestly had no business being out this late, especially downtown. But, she was a sucker for pretty lights and good music, she needed an excuse to wear a sexy dress with heels way too tall and she wanted to score free drinks, which she successfully did with the bat of her long eyelashes, successfully pulling in anyone that looked her way like a cheetah ready to pounce on its prey.

One of them were for sure to be her victim tonight, and she knew exactly who by the time she was sipsy and on the dance floor.

Bodies crowded all around her, moving to the beats of soca and dancehall music bumping through speakers loud enough to almost damage hearing. The air was nearly polluted with weed smoke.

All she focused on was moving her hips to the rhythm and giving the man behind her a show better than he had seen in all his years of living even if it was just a simple whine of her waist, she was gonna make it look as sexy as it could be as her mini dress rode up the cup of her ass with every swirl. She didn’t care.

“No panties?”

He asks as his hands trail up the front of her thighs, breath warm against the neck he had riddled hickeys on seconds ago. His voice was deep, a new york accent prevalent all throughout that made her pussy scream fuck me till the sun up, or at least till I tell you to fuck off.

She shakes her head slowly and licks her lips, her crimped curls falling into her face as she continued to whine up against him, pulling him closer behind her by the back of his neck.

He didn’t even have to ask, really. He knew the feeling of pussy in his lap when he felt it, clothed or not.

“I was hoping later tonight i’d get this dress ripped off and fucked like I deserved to be”

He let out a low moan from her forwardness, his heart skipping a beat behind his rib cage and his hands gripping hard on her waist to help control the fluidness of her movements. She could just feel his hard dick against her ass, twitching underneath the restricting true religion jeans at each word she devilishly spoke to him.

As they danced, there were moans leaving their mouths that only they could hear, thumping in her core that only she could feel. His breathing against her ear had her hot with arousal, a large hand with fingers decorated with jewelry coming up to wrap around her throat and grip to keep her grinding just in the right place. She whimpers softly as her dancing stutters, the girl feeling a nudge at her entrance from his erection.

“Keep doing that shit imma have to fuck you right in the middle of this club, ma” He spoke against her ear again, pressing harder against her. Without any other thought, she nodded needly as if he had asked her instead, earning a smack to her ass that would have made her almost stumble forward if it wasn’t for him holding her back against his chest.

“Outside. Now”

There was bass in his voice, just enough to make her quickly break away from him to follow instructions.

He watched every single step, her dress repeating rolling up the curve of her ass on each click of the six inchers her feet were screaming to get out of, but she would just have to ignore it for the night. Making it to the bathroom in the heels wasn’t even the hard part, it was actually staying up right in them when getting pounded standing up.

Fucking in a bathroom hallway wasn’t ideal, but they couldn’t wait to get to her apartment, his, or even his car.

One leg lifted and held up on his shoulder with her back against a wall, his hands gripped onto her waist to keep her in place as her hands grabbed a hold of his biceps. Thank god for flexibility gained by her stretching that morning.

She heard the sound of his chains clanking against his chest and felt the cold material of them against her leg with every movement in, the feeling of cool metal on her skin being just enough to add onto her pleasure.

“Give it to me!”

She begged breathlessly and he gladly obliged, slightly bending his knees to hit that secret spot that had her toes curling into her shoes. At any point anyone could walk out and see them. See her bent and surrendering to him. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Say my name, ma”

She didn’t even know the niggas name, but her immediate response was—

“DADDY!”

And he happily accepted it. The tip of his dick effortlessly found her gspot in no time and he wasted nothing to continue to press up against it, leaving her a babbling mess. It was like he had broken free a dam, pussy responding to his beck and call by soaking him and pulling him deeper.

He curses under his breath, praising her on how good she was taking him with no prep beforehand.

“You’re so fucking deep!”

Her tummy swirled when she felt the tip of him sit at the button of her belly button, her eyes widening.

“That’s how you like it, right? Lemme know, baby, I wanna make this pussy get right”

He moans, his lips brushing against hers just before he pecks them once to get his fix.

“Yes! Yes! Fuck!”

He made her forget she had free will to cover her mouth as she did truly wonder about the volume of her voice right now even with music playing, but she was too caught up in the strokes he was delivering, a sudden slow swirl of his hips to reposition himself followed by a hard press into her that filled her to the brim taking all of her breath away. He could listen to her whimpering like that for hours.

“I know, baby, I know. Let that shit out, I wanna feel that pussy cum for me”

He encouraged her, a lopsided grin growing on his face as he watched her completely lose it. He himself couldn’t even contain a manageable volume, but he also didn’t care like she did. He was gonna make his noise regardless. Let her know that pussy was good.

“When we done imma need that number, ma. You call me whenever, aight?” He spoke in between doing his damage, his eyes now focusing on where they met.

She moans in agreement since that was all she could really do without her voice breaking. He understood because he could feel the choking squeeze of her walls, her cream sticking to his balls and making the clapping sound way more apparent. He could feel that ribbon in his lower stomach slowly, but surely begin to tighten and his love sounds started to get more fluent.

“Pretty ass face, good fuckin’ pussy. You deserved some dick tonight, ma”

“You hear that shit? Wet ass pussy”

“Let daddy get you that nut, baby, wet that dick up”

The sounds of his deep voice set off throbbing in her clit and she only needed one more thing to push her over the edge again, and he supplied exactly what was needed.

He looks into her eyes with intention to break her and lets go of one side of her hip, bringing his thumb to her mouth and allowing her to suck. She did so proudly, bobbing her head and humming out moans until he pulled out and pressed the pad of his thumb against her aching clit, rubbing small circles.

“Oh- Oh shit! I’m-“

She shuttered before her knee buckled and her head flew back, thankfully a few inches away from a wall so she didn’t hurt herself. He caught her and made sure she stayed up right, still playing with her clit as his hips bucked and stuttered in sync with hers, his own release triggered by the tightening of her warm walls. There was no pulling out from then, He would have just had to make sure he bought her a pill the next morning.

✮✮✮✮

💌~ i deadass can’t tell if i like this or not and it’s bugging me 💀 hopefully yall fw it tho. Had to go back to my roots with an og rq cause nobody like answering me apparently! (apart from the two babes that did, love yall down <3)

[olowan-waphiya]

1 hr (gas) lawn mower use = driving 300 miles from LA to Vegas

1 hr (gas) leaf blower use = driving 1100 miles from LA to Denver

This is because while gas efficiency has improved leaps and bounds for cars, the motors used in lawn mowers and leaf blowers have not changed much in the last 50 years. leaf blowers also blast other forms of particulate matter around, adding immensely to air pollution.

as long as they arent in the walkway, feel free to leave the leaves as they are free compost and protection for insects.

procrastinate mowing as long as you can—use an electric one if you must (many cities are starting to do rebates or replacements). and you can similarly leave the grass clippings as compost.

[the-teddy-roosevelt]

Let me tell you a little thing about cars.

I have had a gripe against modern car design, at least here in the States, for the longest time. Recently I have seen the utter abominations of the 21st century be more and more common and finally decided to share my stance to the wonderful world of the internet! So, be prepared for a lot of reading because this is a full scale rant with the occasional photo.

And now: Why Modern Car Design is Going to Kill Us All.

I have been doing much research these past months as I continued to observe more of these "newer designs" I have spoken so much about, and there are a few things I need to delve into.

The Flat Front

Supersize Me 2: Not so Electric Boogaloo

Elon's Bastard of a Car

1

The Flat Front

So, these cars I have been talking about, just to be more specific, are SUVs and Light Trucks/Pickup Trucks.

You see that massive, flat front in the image above? Well, believe it or not, that is causing more deaths in car-related accidents yearly! Due to being so boxy, when a pedestrian is hit, they are more likely to break bones around the torso/head, then pull the person UNDER the car rather than how a car normally would hit the person's legs, then they would hit the hood of the car.

These can also create massive blind spots/zones where you can't see what is right in front of you.

I shall dive more into this in the next section.

2

Supersize Me 2: Not so Electric Boogaloo

So, onto the next section. As you can see above you, this is a comparison of two cars, only 24 years apart(end of Escort to start of F-350). Only 24 years, and it had a 246% increase in weight, was 91.7 in. or about 7.64 ft. longer, and 26.8 in. or about 2.2 ft. taller.

This is a dramatic increase for little to no reason other than to "protect the drivers". As we have discussed in section 1, this is not the case. In fact, if one of these larger SUVs were to hit another, usually smaller car, it is more likely for the smaller driver to be killed, or at least seriously harmed by the bigger vehicle.

Speaking of smaller, children:

Children are one of the biggest victims of these larger cars with them being run over either in frontovers or backovers, most often by their own parents in a driveway.

If you don't fully believe me that these cars are truly big enough to run over the younger side of children, an entire experiment was done, putting kids in front of parked cars, and just look:

Terrifying.

I addition to this, the larger frame of these cars means that they create more pollution. Let me explain: The bigger cars needed more fuel, that means more fossil fuels being burned, and due to the US's car based infrastructure, there are more cars being produced, that is even more fossil fuels for both production and upkeep, and more pollution.

But oh dear reader, these SUVs and Light Trucks are not even the worst of it...

3

Elon's Bastard of a Car

Gentlemen, women, and all of you folk in between, I give you: The Tesla Cybertruck.

This... Thing, is the bane of everything I hate about modern car design, from the boxy shape going throughout the car, to being an "indestructible" vehicle, and its ability to kill anyone.

Okay, that is a lot I am claiming, so lets break it down.

We have already talked about how dangerous the box design is, but the Cybertruck appears to be a geometry problem found in high-school. This is unbelievably dangerous, making any crashes with other cars much more likely fatal.

The fatalities can also be helped by the fact the damn car is made of STAINLESS STEEL and "indestructible" according to advertising. Most cars are made to be able to crunch in order to let the force of impact be more spread out throughout the vehicle. Yes, it will cost quite a bit to fix, but hey, you're alive. Meanwhile when it is made out of such a hard material, such as steel, that crunch isn't going to happen and only kill the people inside the vehicle, and the people crashing into the giant steel block.

The company claims it can go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 2.6 seconds, which, if true, would mean it has a faster acceleration than most NASCAR and Formula 1 vehicles, with none of the accompanying engine roar to warn anyone that it's coming. The headlight, meanwhile, is one single bar of light, which some experts are already worried will blind oncoming drivers.

There are so many other things about this utter abomination that I would love to talk about, but I think this is where I'll leave off.

One last thing, I just want to say how this is mostly my experience and research from the United States of America, and not the rest of the world. Also, I do not see these things getting much better unless somehow the US removes all of its car based infrastructure.

Thank you for reading my friends, and remember, fuck monopolies.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from the Substack Distilled:

In the last few months, the Biden administration has quietly passed multiple federal policies that will transform the United States economy and wipe out billions of tons of future greenhouse gas emissions. 

The new policies have received little attention outside of wonky climate circles. And that is a problem.

Earlier this year, I wrote that Biden has done more to mitigate climate change than any President before him. For decades, environmentalists tried and failed to convince lawmakers to pass even the most marginal climate policies. It wasn’t until Biden took office that the logjam broke and the climate policies flowed. And yet few American voters are hearing this story in an election year of huge consequence.

It’s been two and a half months since I wrote that article. In that short time, the Biden administration has passed a handful of climate policies that will collectively cut more than 10 billion tons of planet-warming pollution over the next three decades, more than the annual emissions of India, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Saudi Arabia, and the entire continent of Europe—combined.

One climate policy that flew under the radar recently was the administration's latest energy efficiency rule, unveiled at the beginning of May. The new rules will reduce the amount of energy that water heaters use by encouraging manufacturers to sell models with more efficient heat pump technology. The new regulation is expected to save more energy than any federal regulation in history. 

Most people give little thought to how the water in their homes is heated, but water heaters are the second-largest consumer of energy in the average American home and one of the largest sources of climate pollution in the country. 

A few days before the administration announced its water heater efficiency rules, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced another sweeping policy.

According to the new rules, existing coal power plants will need to either shut down or install carbon capture technology capable of removing 90% of their carbon pollution. The policy will also require any new natural gas power plants that provide baseload power—the ones that run throughout the day and night, as opposed to the peaker plants that only run for a small fraction of hours in the year—to install carbon capture technology. 

The new power sector rules are effectively a death blow to coal power in America, which has slowly faded over the last two decades but still emits more carbon emissions than almost every country in the world. 

The water heater rules and power plant regulations will help the country meet its goal of cutting emissions by 50% by 2030. But impactful as they will be, they weren’t the most important climate policy that the Biden administration passed in the last two months. 

That honor goes to the EPA’s tailpipe rules, which are set to transform the auto industry over the next decade.

Today the transportation sector is the largest source of climate pollution in the United States. Within the sector, passenger cars and trucks are the biggest contributors to emissions. While electric vehicle adoption has grown in recent years, America lags behind many other countries in decarbonizing its vehicle stock. 

The EPA’s new rules will force automakers to reduce the amount of pollution and carbon emissions that come from their vehicles. The federal policy doesn’t specifically mandate that automakers produce EVs or stop selling gas-powered cars but instead regulates the average carbon emissions per mile of a manufacturer's entire fleet over the next decade. That means automakers can still sell gas-guzzling, carbon-spewing trucks in 2035. They’ll just need to sell a lot more EVs or plug-in hybrids to bring their average fleet emissions down if they do.

Like the power plant rules, the EPA’s new auto regulations are designed to avoid being thrown out by a conservative and hostile Supreme Court. 

[theyhavetakenovermylife]

hear me out spicy enemies to lovers arc with the 07 nightwatcher 😩

The Nightwatcher and the Dark Angel (18+)

2007!Raphael x vigilante!reader

A/N: I hear you loud and clear😏 May this appease the Nightwatcher and his followers!❤️

------------

A vigilante, going under the name of the Dark Angel, finds herself in a new situation with her enemy, the vigilante the Nightwatcher. And oh boy, can they fight in more ways that the traditional.

All characters are aged up.

Warnings: Fighting, hand to hand combat, unprotected sex, rooftop sex, angry sex, fight over domination, doggy, hair pulling.

------------

One would think that two vigilantes would work well together. Help each other out with their common enemies of the streets, doing their part to create a safer world for those who could not protect themselves. Yeah, one would think so, but reality was nothing like that.

But the Nightwatcher and the Dark Angel could not stand each other. The Nightwatcher found himself built with anger whenever he saw the fully black dressed female with her bow and arrows, and the Dark Angel in turn would let out a frustrated sound whenever she heard his roaring motorcycle, or the sight of the headlight upon his helmet.

Their hatred for one another started back when they both happened to stumble upon the same back rubbery. But instead of working together, they found themselves annoyed at one another, not willing to let the other take the authority. And so it happened that the Nightwatcher’s ball chains got in the way of the Dark Angel’s arrows, resulting in the criminals getting away. And from then on, every interaction between them had been marked by that night. Bickering or straight up fighting whenever they saw each other, becoming more focused on the vigilante that threatened what they both saw as their work. Their duty to the city.

It got to the point where the two vigilanties would consider their nights ruined, if they as much as thought of the other. And thought they did. But in their vigilante attire, and outside of it. Much to the frustration of the Dark Angel, she found that Nightwatcher entered her head. Not only the Dark Angel had to suffer the Batman wannabe, but so had (Y/N) (L/N). You.

He found his way into your head, both while you were at work and while you tried to further your studies. It was frustrating to have that no good, annoying piece of shit stuck in your head. And yet he stayed there, taking up way too much space than what he was worth.

There had been times where you had thought about quitting the whole vigilante thing because of him. The dangers you were putting yourself in didn’t matter much to you, but the stress of the Nightwatcher was a whole other thing. You started to wonder if it was really worth it, when you no longer felt like you could separate your late night crime fighting from your normal everyday. But then you remembered why you started doing it in the first place. To combat the crime that had been rising all over New York in the past few months. And for the simple fact that you loved it. The thrill, the adrenaline and the rush you felt every night. You had pretty much become addicted, and you did not wish to stop. So therefore you continued your work as the Dark Angel each and every night, even if the Nightwatcher was becoming an aching thorn in your side.

It was a Wednesday night. Had it not been for the light pollution of the big city, you would have been able to see the stars in the cloud free sky. However the moon was fully visible, the round white shape casting a dim white glow down over the townhouses and high rises. You could hear cars and sirens in the distance, just like you could any other day in the city that never slept. The cold night air swept over the apartments and through the streets, and blew against your face. You could just feel it through your black skin tight bodysuit, as small goosebumps rising under your skin. You took in the scent of the air, letting it fill your lungs. The city you loved. The city you intended to protect.

As you stood atop the building, you suddenly heard it. The ringing of an alarm. You speed into action, running towards the sound. Jumping across roofs before you finally came upon the scene. Below you, on the street, a van stood by a jewelry store, the glass of the storefront broken, and five men rushing out, their hands filled with whatever they had been able to grab. They rushed to the van, laughing and smirking with one another, until a black arrow shot through the air, penetrating the back door of the van. The five men turned in shook and disdain, staring at you as you rushed down from the roof, landing in the middle of the street.

“Ow, not this bitch again”, one of them growled.

“Nice to see you again, Drew”, you said, resting your weight onto one of your legs, looking totally unbothered. “But after our last meeting, I had hoped you finally would find something better to do”.

“Guys”, the one called Drew said, cracking his knuckles. “I believe it’s time to show the Angel that we do not believe in any higher powers”.

“No, that much is obvious”, you mumbled, drawing another arrow from your back. You did not wish to kill anyone, but only hurt them a little. Just enough to hopefully scare them off the street. It had worked before with the rest of Drew’s gang, so why should it not with his new one.

But then, as you pulled on your bowstring, you heard the familiar noise of a motorcycle down the street behind you, and soon the street was lit up by the front light of the noise motorcycle, and the headlights of that obnoxious helmet. Dread fell upon you as the Nightwatcher jumped up the motorcycle, landing just beside you.

“Argh, not you again”, he grumbled at the sight of you. “And you too, Drew. Do you really not have anything better to do”.

“Leave”, you snarled at him. “Can’t you see I got this?”

“Got this? Well, that’s strange, because to me it looked like they were about to get away in a van, and you intended to shoot arrows at it?”

“That’s not what was happening!”, you exclaimed, lowering your arrow as you spoke. “I was about to get them away from the van!”

“I have eyes!”, he growled, gesturing towards his eyes with two fingers from his three fingered glove. You had always thought that had been an odd choice. “And I could see that was not what was happening!”

“You don’t know anything about that!”, you yelled back, turning fully in order to continue your argument, all while the five goons were watching in confusion.

“Boss?”, one of them whispered to Drew. “Should we go?”

“We should”, Drew said, watching you and the Nightwatcher as you continued to argue. “Get into the van before they notice anything”. And so they did. They threw the stolen goods into the van, smiling as they pulled your arrow out of the door, throwing it onto the street. And somehow, neither you or the Nightwatcher noticed it, until the motor of the van started.

You and the Nigthwatcher looked, just as Drew waved, closing the door before setting the van into motions.

“Oh no you don’t!”, you yelled, running after the vehicle, managing to jump onto the back, your feet on the edge of the back bumper, your hands clinging onto the handle of the back door. The Nightwatcher however ran to his motorcycle, setting it into motion in order to follow the van.

On the back of the van you grabbed at the handle, trying to get the door open. But then the door opened from the inside, one of Drew’s goons looking at you with a smug smile.

“Sorry, but we don’t allow Angels in the van”, he said, as if it was supposed to sound badass. It was then that he pushed you off the moving van, sending you tumbling on the road, before slamming the door closed.

The Nightwatcher that had followed behind you and the van swerved, trying not to run you over, but instead turning so hard he fell over. He hit the ground, groaning just like you, both hearing the van drive away.

—

“You always get in my way!”, you yelled as you got up on the roof, looking in the direction the van had droven.

“I get in your way?!”, the Nightwatcher yelled furiously, following you up the fire escape, his boots hitting hard against the roof. “Who was it that almost got run down by my motorcycle? Oh yeah, you!”

“And you were the one that didn’t even try to use the fucking breaks!”, you barked back, turning sharply towards him.

“Or, you could just not stand in the middle of the fucking road, Cupid”, he said, a finger from his three fingered glove poking you in the head with a hard push, sending your blood into a boil.

“Watch your finger, Robin!”, you snarled, slapping his hand away.

“What did you just call me?!”, he growled, his stands growing wider.

“You heard me, Batman wannabe!”

“That’s it!”, he yelled, pulling out his chain ball before throwing them to the side. “It’s time to settle this! You and me, right here! No weapons! Loser has to leave the other one alone!”

With anger burning inside of you, you agreed. However, you treated your bow and arrows with more care than he had shown his chains, placing them on the sideline, before standing in front of him, stance ready. “Come at me, hot head”.

It was as if that comment made something click inside the Nightwatcher’s head, making him throw a punch in your direction. You duck before standing to the side, giving him a hard push. He stumbled a little, turning to you with a growl, throwing another punch. You ducked once more, this time trying to get in a punch of your own. He caught your hand however, but did not expect the upper that hit his chin. It was harder than any of you had expected. So hard that he stumbled back as his helmet flew off. You gasped at your action, your knuckles slightly aching from the punch. You had been in small physical fights before with the Nightwatcher, but never had you managed to punch his helmet straight off of his head.

“Fuck!”, he exclaimed, his hands still on his face.

“What’s wrong?”, you asked, the shock of your punch subsiding. “Can’t handle a punch?”

Then, the Nightwatcher jumped on you, pinning you to the roof. You stared in shock at the face in front of you. You started at a green face and a pair of pretty brown eyes, all with a red bandana tied around the head. Yet somehow, you found the green face handsome.

“Now you’ve seen my face”, he growled, one hand grabbing a hold of your full face mask. “Let’s see who this Dark Angel is”.

That was when he pulled your mask off in a swift move, making you suck in a breath of anticipation. You expected him to say something. To continue your fight. But it didn’t happen. Silence fell over him, your mask still in his fisted hand. From his position above you, the Nightwatcher could do nothing but stare. This was not what he had expected. He had thought you would be hideous to look at. He wanted you to be hideous. After everything he had been through with you, he had thought your face to be repulsive. But to his dismay you were absolutely beautiful, the word Angel describing your appearance very well.

He almost felt angry at you for being so beautiful. It made it hard for him to hate you like he did just a few moments ago. It made it even harder for him to hit you, the fist with your mask still hanging in the air, clenching around nothing but the black fabric. Yet he felt the burning need to do something to you. You had been a pest to him, ever since he first met, and now you had punched him and seen his face. He had to do something. And he did. Just not what he had thought he would do.

The moment his lips hit yours, you froze. You had not expected that. But neither did you try to push away or tell him to stop. No, because you did not want him to do so. So instead you turned your head to the side, allowing him to deepen the kiss with you. A growl escaped him, his fist and your mask falling to the roof as his lips started to move against yours, your hands reaching up to hold his green head.

The kiss became heated quickly, with both of your tongues fighting for dominance, neither of you willing to let the other take over. And with that mindset, you quickly pushed him onto his back, straddling his legs before diving in for the continued fight of your tongues. From here you started working on the two buckles that lined his front.

“Someone’s eager”, he smirked into the kiss.

“To get you to shut up? Yes, very much”, you said, pulling him in for another kiss as you opened his last buckle. You were surprised to hear him hum into the kiss, his hands feeling your thighs through the fabric of your suite, letting you pull on the zipper that went from his collar and all the way down his torso. It was when you pulled back in slight surprise, feeling his chest where the zipper had allowed you to, only to feel his hard plastron, that he took the change. In a shift move he pushed you down onto your stomach, before letting himself rest on top of you, his mouth finding the curve of your ear.

“Then you have to be better than that, little Angel”, he smirked, before nibbling at your earlobe. You shivered, yet refusing to let out the whimper that pressed in your chest. You would not give him that satisfaction. “Now, where the fuck is that dumbass zipper?”, he growled, searching the top of your collar.

You could not help but chuckle. “Getting eager, Watcher?”

“To teach a little brat like you a lesson?”, he asked, a hand coming around to hold your chin. “You bet”.

His other hand finally found the opening of your zipper, pulling it down and showing off your bare back. You could hear the Nightwatcher cures under his breath as he went lower, all the way to the top of your ass.

“Holy shit, have you always been naked under that thing?!”, he asked in surprise. In fact, he was so surprised that he did not fight when you forced him onto his back once more, straddling him again. He watched in awe as your suite came loose, showing off the skin of your shoulder. You smiled smugly at him, feeling proud of the expression he gave you.

“So if I have?”, you asked, pulling further down on his zipper, almost reaching the bottom. “Can’t the Nightwatcher handle that?”

“And here I thought the whole Angel thing had something to do with being pure”, he said, licking his lips as the zipper reached his cloaca.

Unable to resist you leaned down to where his ear would have been, licking your lips before you spoke. “When have brats like me ever been pure?”

That caused him to move quickly once more, trying to force you back onto your stomach, but you resisted on your knees, not letting your stomach touch the roof. As you tried to stand, the Nightwatcher’s hand pressed down on the top of your back, forcing your chest against the roof. In this position your ass was up in the air with him pressing himself against you from behind. With his free hand, he pulled your open suite down your ass, revealing your soaked core to him. And that was when you felt something hard being pressed up against your cheek. He grabbed ahold of himself, slowly sliding himself up and down your slick folds.

“Admitting defeat yet, Angel?”, he asked, his voice dripping with smugness.

“(Y/N). And no, I’m not admitting to anything”, you said, fighting not to moan when his head brushed over your clit.

“In that case, (Y/N), I’ll just have to continue until you admit”, he chuckled, before pushing his swollen head through your drenched entrance.

You gasped out loud at his size, surprised at the pleasurable stretch he provided you. From the back you could hear him let out a satisfied groan, his hands resting on your hips for a moment as he got used to the tight fit. And then, finally, he started moving. You forced your mouth shut when you felt the moans that were about to fall off of your tongue, not wishing to inflate his already big ego. But the Nightwatcher noticed, chuckling once more.

“Oh, now you don’t wanna talk? Too bad, because I wanna hear you”, he said, before grasping a firm grasp on your hips, thrusting much harder and faster into you than before. Your mouth fell open, unwilling moans falling from your lips as you felt him reach further into you.

“Fuck!”, you moaned, slapping a hand against the roof in frustraion. “You, you, oh fuck!”

“Raphael”, he growled, his still gloved hand reaching around the back of your neck. “Call me, Raphael”.

You almost wanted to laugh at the irony. Here you were, the Dark Angel of New York City, getting dicked down on top of a roof top, by the Nightwatcher who just so happened to have the exact same name as an archangel. But instead of laughing, you moaned, feeling his hand move from the back of your neck and into your hair, where Raphael grabbed a fistfull, pulling your head back and in turn forcing your mouth open.

“Fuck!”, you almost screamed. “Raph!”

“That’s right, (Y/N). Scream my name. Let the city know who’s fucking you this good”, he said through a strained voice.

Once again you slapped your hand against the roof, frustration filling you as you moaned out his name once more. But even more frustration over the fact that you did not hate it. You should hate Raph. Even as his cock reached that good spot inside of you, you should hate him. But you just couldn’t. Whatever he was and the way he was fucking you had made your emotions for him soften quite a bit. But in that moment, you could not deny how you wanted him to moan your name the same way you had been moaning his. And it was with that thought in mind that you started moving your hips against him.

Raph gasped as the way you started to bounce back against him, the grasp he had on your hair releasing quite a bit. With every move you made back onto him, he leaned further and further over you, until he just couldn’t stop himself from letting his lips kiss up and down your spine.

“Admitting defeat yet, Raphael?”, you asked with a self satisfied smile, as you felt one of his arms slide down under you, pulling you closer against him.

“You’re no angel. You’re a demon, (Y/N)”, he growled against your neck.

“Nothing the Nightwatcher hasn't tried before?”

“Oh, fuck you, (Y/N)”, he moaned, his hips trying to catch up with yours.

“You already are, Raphie boy”, you smiled at him, causing him to moan against your skin.

It didn’t take long before his hips started to shutter, moving against you with such speed that you couldn’t keep up anymore.

“Fuck, (Y/N)”, he moaned against your shoulder. “I’m about to cum”.

“Me too, Raph”, you whimpered, feeling your peak reaching closer and closer, stars forming before your very eyes. It only took a few more thrust before you came around him, your walls hugging him tightly as he continued his high speed against you. Then, finally, he came, moaning your name out loud as he came inside of you, coating your walls with him, before he slowly pulled out of you.

You wanted to rest. You wanted to take your time and maybe for once, have a civil conversation with Raphael. But you couldn’t. With the sky getting brighter in the east, you knew it was time to get going. And so did Raphael. Standing up, he helped you back on your feet, zipping up the back of your suit before taking care of himself. He then went to where your mask and helmet was, handing you your mask.

You sighed as you held the mask in your hand, once again looking in the direction Drew and his gang had gone.

“I bet Drew and the others have gone over hills now”, you said, your eyes on the horizon.

“We’ll look for them tomorrow”, Raphael said, making sure the lights on his helmet weren't damaged.

“We?”, you asked, looking at him with a confused frown.

“Yes”, he answered, meeting your eyes with an unreadable expression. “We”.

“I’m sorry”, you chuckled. “But what happened to the dark and broody Nightwatcher that hated working with other people?”

“Oh he never left”, Raph said, turning the helmet in his hands. “But he still has a score to settle with the Dark Angel”.

“Is that so?”, you said, crossing your arms. “What kind of score?”

“She still hasn’t admitted that I was the winner tonight”.

You laughed. A genuine laugh that Raph never had heard from you before, his heart fluttering a little at the sound.

“Keep dreaming”, you said, smacking his arm with your mask.

“I don’t have to dream”, Raph smirked. “Because I’m right”. With those words be brought the helmet back over his head, and for a moment you wished he would keep it off. You enjoyed his brown eyes way more than those bright headlights. “See you later, Angel”.

“See you, Watcher”, you said, pulling the mask down over your face, grabbing your bow and arrow before disappearing over the rooftops while Raph went back to his motorcycle.

[pinkthrone445]

hiii!! can i please request melissa x reader, where they are secretly together and at the holiday party ava hosts for the teachers melissa gets jealous when someone starts flirting with the reader

smut please and some comfort

-I owe it all to you-

Pairing:Melissa Schemmenti x Reader

Gender:Soft, Smut, love

Warning:Mention of cheating, Smut

Summary: You and Melissa were in a secret relationship, you show how much you know her when you help her calm down after a jealous attack.

Hiii, thanks for the request! I'm back to work now, so it's probably going to take me a little longer to write than before. Thank you for your funny and supportive comments, they make my day ❤️

Soft sheets, protective hugs, sweet caresses on your skin, sweet whispers of love, crazy night of passion, legs intertwined, soft snoring by your side, hug around your waist, her body close to yours spooning, simple perfection.

And then, a distant sound calling you to wake up from the perfect morning you were having. You lazily opened your eyes and reached for your cell phone to stop the alarm, only it wasn't your cell phone that rang, it was from the beautiful woman who was hugging you and sleeping next to you. Carefully you turned in her arms to face her and began to give her little kisses to wake her up, the redhead started laughing and hugged you tighter, hiding in your neck with her eyes still closed

-"Mel... I need to get up, or else you're going to have to take me to work and they'll see us together..."-You whispered and she let out a groan

-"5 more minutes like this"-she whispered against your neck and you laughed

-"Fine, but turn off that whiny alarm please..."-You replied and when she let go of you to turn to turn it off, you took the opportunity to get out of her grip and quickly got up from bed

-"Hey!"- The redhead screamed, looking at you a little disappointed that you had gotten up but smiling to see you naked and with your body full of marks that she had made the night before.

-"Eyes up her sweetheart"-You pointed to your eyes and she nodded, smiling arrogantly

-"Oh, I'm well aware where your eyes are, but I'm well aware where your other beautiful body parts are too. I'm admiring those right now..."-She replied and you laughed, shaking your head-"Can we have a quickie? To start the morning off right..."-Melissa tried to convince you with her beautiful green eyes, but you shook your head and looked away looking for what to wear

-"No matter how much I want to, it's going to get late... Can I wear one of your shirts? No one will know it's yours because I don't fill it out like you do and it looks different on me because you have bigger boobs...-You asked and she nodded, she loved to see you wearing her clothes at work, it was like saying you were hers even though others didn't know.

After getting dressed, you said goodbye to the redhead to go to work.

A few minutes later, Melissa and Barbara arrived together, always sharing a car to spend and pollute less. You greeted them both, as if you hadn't spent the whole night at her house and woke up next to the redhead. Mel started looking for her breakfast things without finding her cup for coffee, when she was about to ask, she saw that you were using it with a big smile on your face, so she didn't say anything and grabbed your cup to make herself a coffee.

-"I thought you would come with us this morning sharing the car, I was surprised when Mel said that we would not pick you up because you were not home because you had not spent the night there but somewhere else..."-Barbara commented in a suggestive tone and you looked sideways at Melissa

-"Yeah... I was at a friend's house" - You replied without giving it much thought

-"And all your friends fill you with marks like you have on your cleavage?"-Barbara commented and you blushed more without knowing what to answer making the two women laugh.

While the three of you were having breakfast, Mel sent a message to your cell phone saying that you had left your bra at her home, after reading it you laughed and blushed a little avoiding looking at the redhead, who was using her cell phone and acting as if nothing had happened.

-"It's that your 'friend'?" - Barbara asked again, and you laughed without answering.

After the long day of school, you went to see Mel in her classroom, to confirm if the two of you would go to the party Ava had organized, when the redhead confirmed it, you greeted her and went home to get dressed.

The atmosphere at school, once the kids left, was a completely different thing. The lights were down, they had rented a bar for drinks and another for food, there was a dj and some lights for the dance, all held in the gym.

Where did the money for that come from? You had no idea, what you did know was that Ava looked very happy to finally put her name on something, the 'Avafest' she called it.

When the doors of the gym opened, you adjusted your tight dress a little and walked in to see how several teachers danced and ate. Your eyes scanned the crowd looking for a certain redhead, when you found her, you smiled to see that she was already looking at you. Melissa was wearing a green dress that hugged her in all the right places next to her leather jacket that you loved so much. You were about to walk towards her until another of the teachers pulled you aside to talk to you and have a few drinks, you only managed to give her a delicate and discreet smile at Mel before you went with the other teachers.

All night long you wanted to join her without making it too obvious, but they took your attention away from her again and again. You felt the redhead's gaze on you, but you couldn't do much to go with her without drawing attention to yourself.

The whole school knew you were single, as your relationship with the redhead was secret, so there was no reason for them to stop flirting with you, especially now that there were no students present. 

One of the teachers, who was very aware that you liked women and who had a couple of drinks on her, invited you to dance. At first you accepted because you didn't see anything wrong with that, but as soon as she started touching your body too much and getting very close to you, you started to feel uncomfortable. You looked up to find some excuse to get out of that situation, but when your gaze met the redhead's, your heart contracted at how upset she looked. Her hands were clenched at her side, her brow furrowed, her cheeks red and her eyes narrowed, she was jealous and you knew it. She didn't like it when they flirted with you, let alone when they were touching you the way they were now. When the teacher behind you played with the hem of your dress, Melissa retreated angrily from the gym into the hallways to try to calm herself down. You quickly pulled away from the teacher and walked out of the gym looking for the redhead.

Jealousy in Melissa wasn't something you liked to see, it wasn't the typical jealousy that made you end up in bed with her mercilessly devouring you all night, Melissa's jealousy was a big trigger to her insecurities, she had already been cheated on once while she was married, who assured her that you, being northing more than her secret girlfriend, you'd still be faithful to her when a better opportunity presented itself.

As you ran after her, you found her in the teacher's room trying to get a bag of snacks out of the machine, which wasn't working very well and wasn't helping the woman's anger. You carefully approached her and took her hand as she was about to hit the machine with her fist

-"Mel..."-You whispered behind her and she sighed turning to look at you, her eyes were red as if she was about to cry. Gently, with your free hand you caressed her cheek and she closed her eyes leaning on your palm-"I'm here, I'm with you...I want to be with you and no one else..."

-"I know, I'm sorry for running away, I just don't like to see  them flirt with you or touching you... Like if you were single" - She muttered without opening her eyes and you laughed

-"I don't like to be touched either... But in their defense, I AM single..."-You replied and she rolled her eyes walking a little away from you. Taking advantage of the distance, you locked the door to the break room and sat down on the counter looking at the redhead-"I'm single, but I'm yours..."-You smiled and began to pull your dress up to your waist under the woman's intense gaze

-"What are you doing?"-The redhead asked, walking up to you and standing between your legs

-"I know you... And I know you want to mark me so they know I'm yours, so they keep their hands away from me... Do it"-You suggested and the redhead smiled, in seconds her lips were on yours, desperate but loving, eager to try you again, eager to feel you close again. You carefully wrapped your legs in her, pulling her closer to you, her hands gripping your bare waist and she squeezed you tightly. You knew how Mel was, on occasions like these when she was jealous, she needed to have her time to feel you fully, to kiss every part of you, to engrave your body in her mind and engrave her kisses on your body, but it was only a matter of time before someone noticed that you were no longer there and went out to find you and interrupted you-"Melissa... We don't have much time"-You whispered and she nodded biting your lip, easily lifting your body off the counter for a few seconds and taking off your underwear and then leaving you sitting again. Melissa's kisses moved down from your lips to your jaw and then to your neck, as her hands forcefully massaged your thighs. Small moans escaped your lips, but the redhead gave you a warning look to keep quiet. With her long fingers, Mel parted your outer lips smiling at the skin of your neck as she felt how wet you were. Her full lips began to leave kisses and marks from your collarbone down, even between your breasts, they were very visible marks with the dress you were wearing but they were also easy to cover for when you had to teach the next day. You bit your lip hard as you felt the redhead's fingers part your walls and entering you, her cold rings only added to the pleasure when they touched your skin as the redhead had stuck two of her fingers completely into you. After she covered you with marks, the redhead kissed you again with strength and passion as her fingers went in and out of you. Only a few seconds had passed and your walls were already contracting against her, Melissa always knew how to touch you to be melting for her in a matter of minutes, playing the right moves, touching the right places, in addition to the adrenaline of the moment, only added to your desire. When the redhead began to caress your clit with her thumb without stopping pumping inside you, the spasms began, and seconds later, you came on the redhead's fingers kissing her hard to hide your moans.

Mel kissed you for a few more seconds as you recovered and hugged her. Then she withdrew her fingers from you and licked them smiling at you with a smug face making you laugh.

-"Better?" - You whispered almost airlessly

-"Much better. You look so gorgeous, I love you so much" - The redhead replied without realizing it and you blushed, it was the first time she said it. You couldn't contain your smile and kissed her again

-"I love you too.."-You whispered against her lips.

After a few more kisses, Melissa helped you arrange your clothes and remove her lip gloss from your face and then go back to the party together.

As soon as you entered, the dark lights and loud music surrounded you again.

While the music was playing, you took the opportunity to stay close to the redhead listening to how the remix of Black Eyed Peas the Time sounded on the speakers, you jumped next to her dancing, smiling and singing to her while she smiled and sang next to you.

Everyone else took that interaction as normal, except for Barbara who was watching you from afar, who had seen the redhead's anger, how you ran after her and how, when she came back, Mel's mood had completely changed and your body was full of marks that were noticeable even with the low lights. Everything started to fall into place when she saw how the redhead smiled at you and looked adoringly as she sang "I had the time of my life, and I never felt this way before, and I swear this is true and I owe it all to you". Tomorrow she would have a long conversation with her best friend, but today she would let her enjoy herself.

[reasonsforhope]

"Clothing tags, travel cards, hotel room key cards, parcel labels … a whole host of components in supply chains of everything from cars to clothes. What do they have in common? RFID tags.  

Every RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag contains a microchip and a tiny metal strip of an antenna. A cool 18bn of these are made – and disposed of – each year. And with demands for product traceability increasing, ironically in part because of concerns for the social and environmental health of the supply chain, that’s set to soar. 

And guess where most of these tags end up? Yup, landfill – adding to the burgeoning volumes of e-waste polluting our soils, rivers and skies. It’s a sorry tale, but it’s one in which two young graduates of Imperial College London and Royal College of Art are putting a great big green twist. Under the name of PulpaTronics, Chloe So and Barna Soma Biro reckon they’ve hit on a beguilingly simple sounding solution: make the tags out of paper. No plastic, no chips, no metal strips. Just paper, pure and … simple … ? Well, not quite, as we shall see. 

The apparent simplicity is achieved by some pretty cutting-edge technical innovation, aimed at stripping away both the metal antennae and the chips. If you can get rid of those, as Biro explains, you solve the e-waste problem at a stroke. But getting rid of things isn’t the typical approach to technical solutions, he adds. “I read a paper in Nature that set out how humans have a bias for solving problems through addition – by adding something new, rather than removing complexity, even if that’s the best approach.”   

And adding stuff to a world already stuffed, as it were, can create more problems than it solves. “So that became one of the guiding principles of PulpaTronics”, he says: stripping things down “to the bare minimum, where they are still functional, but have as low an environmental impact as possible”.  

...how did they achieve this magical simplification? The answer lies in lasers: these turn the paper into a conductive material, Biro explains, printing a pattern on the surface that can be ‘read’ by a scanner, rather like a QR code. It sounds like frontier technology, but it works, and PulpaTronics have patents pending to protect it. 

The resulting tag comes in two forms: in one, there is still a microchip, so that it can be read by existing scanners of the sort common within retailers, for example. The more advanced version does away with the chip altogether. This will need a different kind of scanner, currently in development, which PulpaTronics envisages issuing licences for others to manufacture. 

Crucially, the cost of both versions is significantly cheaper than existing RFID kit – making this a highly viable proposition. Then there are the carbon savings: up to 70% for the chipless version – so a no-brainer from a sustainability viewpoint too. All the same, industry interest was slow to start with but when PulpaTronics won a coveted Dezeen magazine award in late 2023, it snowballed, says So. Big brands such as UPS, DHL, Marks & Spencer and Decathlon came calling. “We were just bombarded.” Brands were fascinated by the innovation, she says, but even more by the price point, “because, like any business, they knew that green products can’t come with a premium”."

-via Positive.News, April 29, 2024

--

Note: I know it's still in the very early stages, but this is such a relief to see in the context of the environmental and human rights catastrophes associated with lithium mining and mining for rare earth metals, and the way that EVs and other green infrastructure are massively increasing the demand for those materials.

I'll take a future with paper-based, more humane alternatives for sure! Fingers crossed this keeps developing and develops well (and quickly).

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Morgan Stephens at Daily Kos:

California is gearing up for a high-stakes clash with President-elect Donald Trump over environmental policy and immigration—and it’s happening before Trump is even sworn into office.  On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a bold warning announcing he would intervene if the Trump administration rolls back the federal tax credit for electric vehicle rebates. If the credit is removed, Newsom pledged to provide a state-funded $7,500 rebate for electric vehicle buyers in California.  “[Z]ero-emission vehicles are here to stay,” Newsom said in a press release. “We will intervene if the Trump administration eliminates the federal tax credit, doubling down on our commitment to clean air and green jobs in California. We’re not turning back on a clean transportation future—we’re going to make it more affordable for people to drive vehicles that don’t pollute.”

California’s environmental transformation has been nothing short of remarkable.  Los Angeles was once shrouded in a thick haze of smog, and the state struggled with dangerous air quality into the late 20th century. Following the creation of the California Air Resources Board and the Federal Air Quality Act, both in 1967, the state began to dramatically improve its air quality. And now California is a national leader in the fight against climate change. It recently reached its goal of 100 days with 100% carbon-free, renewable electricity for at least a part of each day. The state hit another milestone this year, with more than 2 million zero-emission vehicles sold in the state.  "This milestone comes a little over two years after California eclipsed the 1 million ZEV sales mark," Newsom’s office stated in a press release. But the fight isn’t just about clean cars.  California Attorney General Rob Bonta is preparing for a legal showdown with Trump over immigration policies, including Trump’s planned mass deportations. 

In a recent interview with The Nation, Bonta made it clear the state will take every available step to protect its immigrant communities—no matter what the Trump administration throws at them. “I’ve been preparing and readying for this possible moment for months, and in some cases years, depending on the topic,” said Bonta, adding, “They want to do what they want, when they want, how they want it, even if it violates the Constitution or a federal statute.”  Bonta’s team is also worried about “the harm that will be visited on Americans, including Californians, that will be the result of unlawful activity and, in the immigration space, xenophobia, racism, discrimination, fearmongering, scapegoating,” he said.

California is a key state in the battle against Donald Trump in his 2nd term, just like his first term.