#Sunlight Solar Company

[rishikakraftsolar]

Rishika Kraft Solar is the best solar energy company in IMT Manesar. We provide top-notch solar solutions for homes and companies, focusing on efficiency and sustainability. Our expert team ensures quality installations and excellent customer service, helping you harness solar power for long-term energy savings and a greener future.

[ocdhuacheng]

Could you imagine how amazing it would be if we were allowed to use even a fraction of the police and military budget for infrastructure environmental and social welfare purposes

[eviewglobal24]

Illuminate Your Home: Sunlight Reflector for home India - Eview Global

Elevate your home's brightness with Eview Global's sunlight reflector for home India. Enhance natural light, ambiance, and energy efficiency with our eco-friendly solutions.

[reasonsforhope]

"It is 70 years since AT&T’s Bell Labs unveiled a new technology for turning sunlight into power. The phone company hoped it could replace the batteries that run equipment in out-of-the-way places. It also realised that powering devices with light alone showed how science could make the future seem wonderful; hence a press event at which sunshine kept a toy Ferris wheel spinning round and round.

Today solar power is long past the toy phase. Panels now occupy an area around half that of Wales, and this year they will provide the world with about 6% of its electricity—which is almost three times as much electrical energy as America consumed back in 1954. Yet this historic growth is only the second-most-remarkable thing about the rise of solar power. The most remarkable is that it is nowhere near over.

To call solar power’s rise exponential is not hyperbole, but a statement of fact. Installed solar capacity doubles roughly every three years, and so grows ten-fold each decade. Such sustained growth is seldom seen in anything that matters. That makes it hard for people to get their heads round what is going on. When it was a tenth of its current size ten years ago, solar power was still seen as marginal even by experts who knew how fast it had grown. The next ten-fold increase will be equivalent to multiplying the world’s entire fleet of nuclear reactors by eight in less than the time it typically takes to build just a single one of them.

Solar cells will in all likelihood be the single biggest source of electrical power on the planet by the mid 2030s. By the 2040s they may be the largest source not just of electricity but of all energy. On current trends, the all-in cost of the electricity they produce promises to be less than half as expensive as the cheapest available today. This will not stop climate change, but could slow it a lot faster. Much of the world—including Africa, where 600m people still cannot light their homes—will begin to feel energy-rich. That feeling will be a new and transformational one for humankind.

To grasp that this is not some environmentalist fever dream, consider solar economics. As the cumulative production of a manufactured good increases, costs go down. As costs go down, demand goes up. As demand goes up, production increases—and costs go down further. This cannot go on for ever; production, demand or both always become constrained. In earlier energy transitions—from wood to coal, coal to oil or oil to gas—the efficiency of extraction grew, but it was eventually offset by the cost of finding ever more fuel.

As our essay this week explains, solar power faces no such constraint. The resources needed to produce solar cells and plant them on solar farms are silicon-rich sand, sunny places and human ingenuity, all three of which are abundant. Making cells also takes energy, but solar power is fast making that abundant, too. As for demand, it is both huge and elastic—if you make electricity cheaper, people will find uses for it. The result is that, in contrast to earlier energy sources, solar power has routinely become cheaper and will continue to do so.

Other constraints do exist. Given people’s proclivity for living outside daylight hours, solar power needs to be complemented with storage and supplemented by other technologies. Heavy industry and aviation and freight have been hard to electrify. Fortunately, these problems may be solved as batteries and fuels created by electrolysis gradually become cheaper...

The aim should be for the virtuous circle of solar-power production to turn as fast as possible. That is because it offers the prize of cheaper energy. The benefits start with a boost to productivity. Anything that people use energy for today will cost less—and that includes pretty much everything. Then come the things cheap energy will make possible. People who could never afford to will start lighting their houses or driving a car. Cheap energy can purify water, and even desalinate it. It can drive the hungry machinery of artificial intelligence. It can make billions of homes and offices more bearable in summers that will, for decades to come, be getting hotter.

But it is the things that nobody has yet thought of that will be most consequential. In its radical abundance, cheaper energy will free the imagination, setting tiny Ferris wheels of the mind spinning with excitement and new possibilities.

This week marks the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. The Sun rising to its highest point in the sky will in decades to come shine down on a world where nobody need go without the blessings of electricity and where the access to energy invigorates all those it touches."

-via The Economist, June 20, 2024

[nasa]

Setting Sail to Travel Through Space: 5 Things to Know about our New Mission

Our Advanced Composite Solar Sail System will launch aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from the company’s Launch Complex 1 in Māhia, New Zealand no earlier than April 23, at 6 p.m. EDT. This mission will demonstrate the use of innovative materials and structures to deploy a next-generation solar sail from a CubeSat in low Earth orbit.

Here are five things to know about this upcoming mission:

1. Sailing on Sunshine

Solar sails use the pressure of sunlight for propulsion much like sailboats harness the wind, eliminating the need for rocket fuel after the spacecraft has launched. If all goes according to plan, this technology demonstration will help us test how the solar sail shape and design work in different orbits.

2. Small Package, Big Impact

The Advanced Composite Solar Sail System spacecraft is a CubeSat the size of a microwave, but when the package inside is fully unfurled, it will measure about 860 square feet (80 square meters) which is about the size of six parking spots. Once fully deployed, it will be the biggest, functional solar sail system – capable of controlled propulsion maneuvers – to be tested in space.

3. Second NASA Solar Sail in Space

If successful, the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System will be  the second NASA solar sail to deploy in space, and not only will it be much larger, but this system will also test navigation capabilities to change the spacecraft’s orbit. This will help us gather data for future missions with even larger sails.

4. BOOM: Stronger, Lighter Booms

Just like a sailboat mast supports its cloth sails, a solar sail has support beams called booms that provide structure. The Advanced Composite Solar Sail System mission’s primary objective is to deploy a new type of boom. These booms are made from flexible polymer and carbon fiber materials that are stiffer and 75% lighter than previous boom designs. They can also be flattened and rolled like a tape measure. Two booms spanning the diagonal of the square (23 feet or about 7 meters in length) could be rolled up and fit into the palm of your hand!

5. It’s a bird...it’s a plane...it’s our solar sail!

About one to two months after launch, the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System spacecraft will deploy its booms and unfurl its solar sail. Because of its large size and reflective material, the spacecraft may be visible from Earth with the naked eye if the lighting conditions and orientation are just right!

To learn more about this mission that will inform future space travel and expand our understanding of our Sun and solar system, visit https://www.nasa.gov/mission/acs3/.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

[dandelionsresilience]

Good News - June 8-14

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $Kaybarr1735! And if you tip me and give me a way to contact you, at the end of the month I'll send you a link to all of the articles I found but didn't use each week!

1. Rare foal born on estate for first time in 100 years

“The Food Museum at Abbot's Hall in Stowmarket, Suffolk, is home to a small number of Suffolk Punch horses - a breed considered critically endangered by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. A female foal was born on Saturday and has been named Abbots Juno to honour the last horse born at the museum in 1924. [...] Juno is just one of 12 fillies born so far this year in the country and she could potentially help produce more of the breed in the future.”

2. The cement that could turn your house into a giant battery

“[Scientists] at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found a way of creating an energy storage device known as a supercapacitor from three basic, cheap materials – water, cement and a soot-like substance called carbon black. [... Supercapacitators] can charge much more quickly than a lithium ion battery and don't suffer from the same levels of degradation in performance. [... Future applications of this concrete might include] roads that store solar energy and then release it to recharge electric cars wirelessly as they drive along a road [... and] energy-storing foundations of houses.”

3. New road lights, fewer dead insects—insect-friendly lighting successfully tested

“Tailored and shielded road lights make the light source almost invisible outside the illuminated area and significantly reduces the lethal attraction for flying insects in different environments. [...] The new LED luminaires deliver more focused light, reduce spill light, and are shielded above and to the side to minimize light pollution. [... In contrast,] dimming the conventional lights by a factor of 5 had no significant effect on insect attraction.”

4. When LGBTQ health is at stake, patient navigators are ready to help

“[S]ome health care systems have begun to offer guides, or navigators, to get people the help they need. [... W]hether they're just looking for a new doctor or taking the first step toward getting gender-affirming care, "a lot of our patients really benefit from having someone like me who is there to make sure that they are getting connected with a person who is immediately going to provide a safe environment for them." [... A navigator] also connects people with LGBTQ community organizations, social groups and peer support groups.”

5. Tech company to help tackle invasive plant species

“Himalayan balsam has very sugary nectar which tempts bees and other pollinators away from native plants, thereby preventing them from producing seed. It outcompetes native plant species for resources such as sunlight, space and nutrients. [...] The volunteer scheme is open to all GWT WilderGlos users who have a smartphone and can download the Crowdorsa app, where they can then earn up to 25p per square meter of Balsam removed.”

6. [Fish & Wildlife] Service Provides Over $14 Million to Benefit Local Communities, Clean Waterways and Recreational Boaters

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is distributing more than $14 million in Clean Vessel Act grants to improve water quality and increase opportunities for fishing, shellfish harvests and safe swimming in the nation’s waterways. By helping recreational boaters properly dispose of sewage, this year’s grants will improve conditions for local communities, wildlife and recreational boaters in 18 states and Guam.”

7. Bornean clouded leopard family filmed in wild for first time ever

“Camera traps in Tanjung Puting National Park in Indonesian Borneo have captured a Bornean clouded leopard mother and her two cubs wandering through a forest. It's the first time a family of these endangered leopards has been caught on camera in the wild, according [to] staff from the Orangutan Foundation who placed camera traps throughout the forest to learn more about the elusive species.”

8. Toy library helps parents save money 'and the planet'

“Started in 2015 by Annie Berry, South Bristol's toy library aims to reduce waste and allow more children access to more - and sometimes expensive - toys. [...] Ms Berry partnered with the St Philips recycling centre on a pilot project to rescue items back from landfill, bringing more toys into the library. [...] [P]eople use it to support the environment, take out toys that they might not have the space for at home or be able to afford, and allow children to pick non-gender specific toys.”

9. Chicago Receives $3M Grant to Inventory Its Trees and Create Plan to Manage City’s Urban Forest

“The Chicago Park District received a $1.48 million grant [“made available through the federal Inflation Reduction Act”] to complete a 100% inventory of its estimated 250,000 trees, develop an urban forestry management plan and plant 200 trees in disadvantaged areas with the highest need. As with the city, development of the management plan is expected to involve significant community input.”

10. Strong Public Support for Indigenous Co-Stewardship Plan for Bears Ears National Monument

“[The NFW has a] plan to collaboratively steward Bears Ears National Monument to safeguard wildlife, protect cultural resources, and better manage outdoor recreation. The plan was the result of a two-year collaboration among the five Tribes of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition and upholds Tribal sovereignty, incorporates Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and responsibly manages the monument for hunting, fishing, and other outdoor recreation while ensuring the continued health of the ecosystem.”

June 1-7 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[arminsumi]

Can i request megumi comforting reader after a bad day? i need happy comfort fluff today and you words are magic

★ Stargazing with Megumi

★ Pairings : fem reader / Megumi

★ Synopsis : Megumi takes you stargazing. Who knew he was such a space nerd?

★ Content : fluff, comfort, cheesy/dorky flirting

★ Note : 🪄🔮 sprinkling cosmic happiness dust on u rn!! hope u feel better!!

Arms spread out, laid on your back in the cool grass as a humid summer breeze drifts by, looking up at the dusky purple sky as stars slowly start to appear one by one.

Megumi shifts around next to you, trying to get comfortable. He bends his knees, you glance at his legs and note how much longer his legs are than yours.

A soft sigh leaves his nose. He brings his hands together over his midriff and fidgets his fingers while stealing sideways glances of you.

One particular star in the sky has caught your attention. It shines like a jewel. You blink at it, ignoring all the other littler stars that are coming out.

"Megumi, which star is that?" you ask.

"That's Venus."

You stare at Venus. "Why is it so much brighter than the rest?" you wonder aloud.

Megumi looks over at you, his heart throbs, then he looks back to Venus.

"Because it has thick clouds that reflect lots of sunlight." he answers your curiosity, "Uh, and it's the closest to earth. You know, it's also the hottest planet in our solar system — because of its clouds."

He goes on a long, dorky ramble about planets and constellations. You smile and listen to him geek out about space.

⁕⁕⁕⁕

Just a few hours earlier, Megumi had found you lingering gloomily on the steps outside Jujutsu High.

He did a double take and furrowed his brows when he saw your weighted expression. Characteristically, he sunk his hands into his pockets and approached you coolly.

"What's that heavy face for?" he asked.

"Bad day." you shrugged.

"Oh..." he stiffened, "What happened? Do you want to talk about it?" he asked softly.

"No, nothing in particular happened." you replied, "It's just been one of those days, you know?"

He scrambled his brain for ideas that could make you feel better.

What would the others do?

What would Yuji do? He'd crack jokes until you smiled and then infect you with his contagious laughter. What would Nobara do? She'd take you out on the town for retail therapy — and hype you up in the fitting rooms until you felt like the hottest person in the world. What would Gojo do? Probably give you one of those bone-breaking hugs while saying something dumb like "Don't be sad, it's just life, kid."

But joking didn't come naturally to Megumi, and he didn't believe in retail therapy, and he was too shy and reserved to give you a bone-breaking hug, and he was too sensitive as a person to tell you to just get over it.

"Uh, do you want to stargaze with me?" he asked.

That was the only idea he could come up with. Laying in the grass and stargazing was something he did when life exhausted or disappointed him. The stars could call back his calmness.

⁕⁕⁕⁕

"... I feel bad for Mercury, it must be lonely without moons." Megumi finishes his long ramble about Mercury.

"I think I'm Mercury." you joke, laughing at yourself.

Megumi looks over at you, "Then I'll be your moon and keep you company."

Your cheeks warm up.

"Okay, then let's tell 'em to rename Mercury to Megumi and throw a me into its orbit, too."

Megumi fidgets with his fingers more as you and him flirt like dorks.

"... yeah, and then you can orbit around me." he nods.

"Sounds like a good time. I'd love to orbit around you."

His cheeks go red, but the lamps are too far away to illuminate his face and reveal his blush to you. So you just barely see his lips purse together into a smile.

"I'd also love to orbit around you. I could be like your moon admirer."

You burst out laughing at last, and then Megumi feels accomplished; he could actually fix your mood with some stargazing and dorky astral flirting.

For the rest of the night, he teaches you how to spot famous constellations and passionately talks about outer space. At some point, when he's saying something about Pluto, you zone out to his voice.

"... and you know, personally, if I were Pluto I'd be enraged. How dare they."

"You got a bone to pick with NASA, Megumi?" you chuckle.

"It wasn't NASA it was the IAU. And yes I have a bone to pick with them."

"So, why was Pluto downgraded to a dwarf planet?" you ask.

Megumi clicks his tongue, "Uhhh... something about it not absorbing surrounding debris or something? Like asteroids and stuff. But jeez, maybe the asteroids are Pluto's friends and he doesn't wanna absorb them, you know?"

You turn on your side and use your arm as a pillow. Megumi feels you looking at him, so he looks over at you.

"You're quite passionate."

"That's a nice way of calling me a space nerd."

"No, I mean it! I hardly ever see you talking so heatedly about anything. You're usually pretty calm."

Megumi smiles a little. "Bet it's funny to see me heated about big rocks floating in a vacuum, huh?"

"Yeah it's hilarious. Anyways... we should get back before we fall asleep here."

"Have you never slept under the stars? It's a great experience." Megumi says.

"I have not. But it's getting cold so... you better keep me warm."

Megumi tenses up as you snuggle him. The sudden closeness and feeling of your warmth and softness takes him aback and he goes completely silent.

You rest your head in the crook of his shoulder, sinking into him like a pillow.

"Hey Megumi?"

"Yes?"

"Isn't Venus the planet of love?"

"Yes...?"

"Nothing, nothing... just thinking."

His heart pounds.

© arminsumi

I do not permit the copying/reposting/translation/plagiarism of my works. Do not steal what I've worked hard to create.

This is fictional work.

[stellanix]

something i saw once that has stuck with me ever since was a comment on a post about some scientific discovery made by the mars rover perseverance that said "why are we wasting time looking at rocks when we should be preparing for colonization?

another comment was on a post about the environmental issues surrounding the spacex launch site in southern texas, which said "human expansion to mars delayed to protect some turtles"

and comments like these perplexed me. space is a subject of science, and people interested in space are always talking about the wonders of the unknown, and how many fascinating and beautiful things are out there. so how could people interested in space be so fundamentally uncaring and incurious not only about the places they're supposedly interested in, but about nature in general?

it's not just random people in twitter replies who are like this. elon musk once posted this picture:

thing is, that's not mars, that's the moon during a lunar eclipse (when sunlight tinted red after passing through earth's atmosphere lights up the moon in earth's shadow). you'd think that someone known for wanting to bring people, himself included, to mars would care enough about mars to at least know what it looks like, but apparently not

he also rather infamously says he wants to nuke the ice caps of mars to warm the planet up. the ice caps of mars look like this, by the way (image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/Aster Cowart):

they are beautiful places, that hold an irreplaceable scientific record of the geologically recent martian climate, and are shaped by unique processes. there's no other place quite like them in our solar system. but elon musk thinks we should nuke them. again, no care, no curiosity

nothing has made me feel jaded and cynical about the entire enterprise of spaceflight quite like learning that the people ultimately in charge of it and funding it don't give a shit about space. it's not just elon musk. space nerds love quoting kennedy's "we choose to go the moon" speech as inspiration, but kennedy is also on record saying "I'm not that interested in space" in a conversation where he was arguing to the nasa administrator that they should prioritize beating the soviets to the moon over space science. no curiosity, only a desire for geopolitical showmanship and maintaining hegemony. it's the same thing when many modern politicians only seem to care about space exploration as a way of keeping a technological lead over china

this leaves the people who do genuinely love and care about space in an awkward position. they basically have two choices: A) become jaded and give up on space exploration, or at least parts of it (abandoning human spaceflight but maintaining interest in robotic science missions, for example) or B) give in. work with military contractors. spout the jingoistic rhetoric that the politicians writing the checks want to hear, even if you don't believe it. go along with the colonialist ideology, the hypercapitalism, and the extractivism. sell your soul for pictures of mars and let your passions be exploited for the ends of powerful people who don't care

the sad reality is that our society only values those things deemed useful or profitable. we hear it all the time. the idea that schools should only teach things useful for jobs, that people who try to make a living in fields like art, the humanities, or philosophy are all getting useless degrees and will inevitably end up stuck working retail, and of course, the idea that space exploration is a waste of time and money

space nerds are often deeply insecure about their greatest passion, because it's true, space exploration offers no immediate practical benefit. but they still love space and want to explore it

so they believe the lies. they repeat the colonialist ideology. they say there's money in mining asteroids, that we can terraform planets and let number go up forever. they let themselves be exploited by companies and governments that see everything in the universe and all the people in it as things to be used, and that will ultimately chew them up and spit them out if it's expedient to do so. and those who reject the ideology and keep their love for the cosmos pure often find themselves with no place in the project of space exploration

i don't know how to fix this, but i do hope that i will live to see the day when our curiosity and interest and love for the wider universe is valued for its own sake, and no longer shackled by colonialism, capitalism, and political ambitions

[conundrumoftime]

frosts are slain and flowers begotten

A story for @arafinwean-week: Galadriel in the Second Age. (1200 words, G; also on AO3)

----

On the first day of snow that winter Celebrían rises before the sun does. She refuses to be still, refuses to sit for breakfast, dances through the halls like a whirling silver blizzard herself, so entranced by the dazzling white landscape outside that she cares for nothing else. The past few winters in Ost-in-Edhil have been mild; this will be the first year she is old enough to play at sledges and snowball-fights with the other children and she is delighted beyond words.

Galadriel finds it harder to wake that morning. Dreams seem to weigh more heavily on her lately and prove themselves more reluctant to depart come the dawn. Waking to the sound of her daughter’s chatter proves a greatly-needed reassurance after the visions the night brought, but her thoughts remain sluggish and dulled, her mind as muffled as the snow-quiet city outside. 

When she gathers together enough of herself to rise from the soft unfocused warmth of her bed, she finds Celebrían kneeling on the window-seat of the solar with her palms pressed to the glass, watching the snow outside while Celeborn combs through her hair. Below, the streets and squares of Ost-in-Edhil are blanketed in white. A few trails of faint cart-wheels mark the passage of those who have already begun the day. 

“Gloves,” Galadriel says. “And keep them on.”

Her daughter nods with enough force that even her tiny shoulders are caught up in it. Celeborn stills the comb until she is settled again and then resumes where he left off, lifting sections from the front to pull into the start of a simple braid. His lips do not move but his voice sounds clear in Galadriel’s mind: is all well?

Nothing. Dreams.

Not a convincing answer but he does not say so. Instead he nods, small enough to be imperceptible to Celebrían even if she were paying attention, and continues the fast work he is making of her hair.

The three of them walk down to the south fountain square together. Celebrían does not take long to find her footing in the snow, balancing on the tops of walls and leaping frozen puddles, flopping down belly-first into low snowdrifts with the other children. She is fascinated, and she is young enough that her way to be fascinated with things is to let them swallow her up whole. 

It is a fine morning. The sky is a sharp clear blue now, the sunlight dancing in the captured light of icicles and frost-rimmed leaves. Galadriel settles herself on a stone bench beside the frozen fountain and watches as Celebrían and the other children race around in whirling chaos.

There is safety here and happiness and her daughter’s hands are warm inside fine leather gloves cuffed with fur, and still Galadriel cannot shake the previous night’s dream. It had been a cloud of images and sensations rather than anything clear: hunger, sorrow. Little Idril’s golden hair matted with ice. Polished aquamarines spilled in the snow. 

Celeborn comes to join her after a while spent talking with some of the others, gathering now in groups of four or five to watch the children play. These are friends – and her friends – but she is too much in the past this morning to wish for their company.

“Guards caught a wolf out near the bridge pastures,” he says, kicking the heel of his boot against the stone to shake off the packed snow.

“So far south?”

“It’s a bad winter, they’re hungry.”

He may not seem troubled but she feels this news to be an ill omen all the same. She has dreamed of wolves here before, wolves circling the fortressed walls of the city in great packs. There is no threat; they are at peace; in Eregion she has what she wanted, what she came to Middle-earth to find; but something in her remains unsettled. 

“We used wolf fur for our clothes on the ice,” she says. “We lined the edges of our hoods with it to keep off the wind.” She remembers fastening little Idril’s with a cloak-pin, the child no older than Celebrían is now tipping up her chin and refusing to cry. 

“You were dreaming of it again,” he says. 

She finds a smile for this. “So obvious?”

“Only when you talk of ice-floes in your sleep.”

She has woken him before - sometimes unintentionally, sometimes in a desperate need to tell him of an unformed fear for the future that has seized her. Others call it foresight but she never has; it is not clear enough, never clear enough. Sorrows of the past and fears of the future and she cannot tell one from the other.

“I dreamed of a necklace I broke,” she says. “It was the first year, I think – maybe the second. I needed the chain to mend a quiver and I let the beads fall into the snow. We were desperate then and so poorly prepared for what we faced that it seemed near impossible to go on. But I looked down at those beads and found that I did not wish to leave them after all, and so I picked them up and cleared the snow from them and carried them with me. The next year I made a new quiver that would not grow brittle and break in the cold and I sewed the beads onto that. It lasted me many years. I don’t know what it means that I should dream of this now.”

He weighs the thought of this as though she has given him a riddle to solve, which she supposes she has. It is a comfort that he never finds her dreams and visions unsettling but it has always troubled her too that he should find them so easy to accept as a part of her. “Perhaps good things. Perhaps that you found hope and beauty still.”

They are interrupted by Celebrían springing up onto the stone between them, her eyes wild and fierce. “We are making a great serpent out of snow,” she announces. “I am looking for eyes.” And then she steps out onto the frozen surface of the fountain’s pool.

There cannot be more than a couple of inches of water beneath the snow and likely it is frozen solid by now anyway, and yet Galadriel feels absolute terror seize her at the thought of it: the ice will break, the sea beneath will never return what it takes. “No,” she barks, lifting Celebrían down in the curve of her arm, “never walk on ice, what were you thinking?”

Celebrían, entirely unused to harsh words, gazes up in shock. 

“Here,” Celeborn says, taking off one of the rings he wears. “An eye for your snow-serpent.” 

It’s a new ring that the mírdain made for him, a round opal with reds and yellows meant to capture the colours of beech-woods in autumn. In Celebrían’s gloved hand its gold rim of it catches the sun’s light and seems to burn like fire. She is delighted and all thoughts of the scolding are fast forgotten; she tugs at her father’s arm demanding he come with her to set it in place.

Be at peace, Galadriel, Celeborn’s voice sounds in her mind as he allows their daughter to drag him to his feet. It is winter; but it is only winter. Spring will come. 

Spring and what else, she thinks. 

That night she dreams of Idril again standing at the shores of a sea. This time Celebrían is with her too, pale as a spirit as she leans into Idril’s shoulder. “I will hold you up,” Idril is telling her. “Spring will come again.” And whether to call this foresight or fear or hope, Galadriel cannot say.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Mother Jones:

The world generates more than 68 million tons of e-waste every year, according to the UN, enough to fill a convoy of trucks stretching right around the equator. By 2030, the total is projected to reach 75 million tons.

Only 22 percent of that e-waste is collected and recycled, the UN estimates. The rest is dumped, burned, or forgotten—particularly in rich countries, where most people have no convenient way to get rid of their old Samsung Galaxy phones, Xbox controllers, and myriad other gadgets. Indeed, every year, humanity is wasting more than $60 billion worth of so-called critical metals—the ones we need not only for electronics, but also for the hardware of renewable energy, from electric vehicle (EV) batteries to wind turbines.

Millions of Americans, like me, spend their workdays on pursuits that lack any physical manifestation beyond the occasional hard-copy book or memo or report. It’s easy to forget that all these livelihoods rely on machines. And that those machines rely on metals torn from the Earth.

Consider your smartphone. Depending on the model, it can contain up to two-thirds of the elements in the periodic table, including dozens of metals. Some are familiar, like the gold and tin in its circuitry and the nickel in its microphone. Others less so: Tiny flecks of indium make the screen sensitive to the touch of a finger. Europium enhances the colors. Neodymium, dysprosium, and terbium are used to build the tiny mechanism that makes your phone vibrate.

Your phone’s battery contains cobalt, lithium, and nickel. Ditto the ones that power your rechargeable drill, Roomba, and electric toothbrush—not to mention our latest modes of transportation, ranging from plug-in scooters and e-bikes to EVs. A Tesla Model S has as much lithium as up to 10,000 smartphones.

The millions of electric cars and trucks hitting the planet’s roads every year don’t spew pollutants directly, but they’ve got a monstrous appetite for electricity, nearly two-thirds of which still comes from burning fossil fuels—about one-third from coal. Harvesting more of our energy from sunlight and wind, as crucial as that is, entails its own Faustian bargain. Capturing, transmitting, storing, and using that cleaner power requires vast numbers of new machines: wind turbines, solar panels, switching stations, power lines, and batteries large and small.

You see where this is going. Our clean energy future, this global drive to save humanity from the ever-worsening ravages of global warming, depends on critical metals. And we’ll be needing more.

In all of human history, we have extracted some 700 million tons of copper from the Earth. To meet our clean energy goals, we’ll have to mine as much again in 20-odd years. By 2050, the International Energy Agency estimates, global demand for cobalt for EVs alone will soar to five times what it was in 2022. Demand for nickel will be 10 times higher. Lithium, 15 times. “The prospect of a rapid increase in demand for critical minerals—well above anything seen previously in most cases—raises huge questions about the availability and reliability of supply,” the agency warns.

Metals are natural products, but the Earth does not relinquish them willingly. Mining conglomerates rip up forests and grasslands and deserts, blasting apart the underlying rock and soil and hauling out the remains. The ore is processed, smelted, and refined using gargantuan, energy-guzzling, pollution-spewing machines and oceans of chemicals. “Mining done wrong can leave centuries of harm,” says Aimee Boulanger, head of the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance, which works with companies to develop more sustainable extraction practices.

The harm is staggering. Metal mining is America’s leading toxic polluter. It has sullied the watersheds of almost half of the rivers in the American West. Chemical leaks and mining runoff foul air and water. The mines also generate mountains of hazardous waste, stored behind dams that have a terrifying tendency to fail. Torrents of poisonous sludge pouring through collapsed tailings dams have contaminated waterways in Brazil, Canada, and elsewhere and killed hundreds of people—in addition to the hundreds, possibly thousands, of miners who die in workplace accidents each year.

To get what they’re after, mining companies devour natural resources on an epic scale. They dig up some 250 tons of ore and waste rock to get just 1 ton of nickel. For copper, the ratio is double that. Just to obtain the metals inside your 4.5-ounce iPhone, 75 pounds of ore had to be pulled up, crushed, and smelted, releasing up to 100 pounds of carbon dioxide. Mining firms also suck up massive quantities of water and deploy fleets of drill rigs, trucks, diggers, and other heavy machinery that collectively belch out up to 7 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Metal recycling is a completely different proposition from recycling the paper and glass we toss into our home bins for pickup. It turns out that retrieving valuable raw materials sustainably from electronic products—toasters, iPhones, power cables—is a fiendishly complex endeavor, requiring many steps carried out in many places. Manufacturing those products required a multistep international supply chain. Recycling them requires a reverse supply chain almost as complicated.

Part of the problem is that our devices typically contain only a small amount of any given metal. In developing countries, though, there are lots of people willing to put in the time and effort required to recover that little bit of value—an estimated tens of thousands of e-waste scavengers in Nigeria alone. Some go door to door with pushcarts, offering to take or even buy unwanted electronics. Others, like Anwar, work the secondhand markets, buying bits of broken gear from small businesses or rescuing them from the trash. Many scavengers earn less than the international poverty wage of about $2.15 per day.

[loveneversleepss]

Play date

Inspired by training wheels by Melanie Martinez, reflections by the neighborhood,

pairing- Yang Jeongin x female reader (As children, teens, adults)

genre- slow burn, childhood friends, fluff(ish), feelings of betrayal, time changes, switch povs.

warnings: heavy kissing, mean nicknames, touching.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't wanna!" Your left foot stomps heavily to the floor. Your eyebrows furrow and your lower lip pouts out. Resisting heavily to having to go to your mom's friend's house. She sighs as she shakes her head walking away from you. You follow a few steps hesitantly after her, tiptoeing. She lifts you quickly as your legs dangle lazily. She sets you on the cold hard surface of the bathroom counter.

"You'll like it, trust me. She has a son a few months older than you. He's gone to some of our parties." Your nose fringes up as if you smelled something bad. Your arms cross angrily across your chest as you stare at the ground. You tend to always be dragged to places your mom wants to go. You're all the company she has, so you try your best to understand.

"okay.. but can we take my bike? I've been wanting to ride it!" You chirp brightly at her and shoot her your best smile. She can't say no to that smile. She laughs as she brushes your hair aside, you turn to face the mirror. "Alright, but you have to play with the boy. His name is Jeongin." Great.

~~

The car slowly pulls up the street to your next 5 hours of torture. You sigh as you look back at your sparkly blue bike in the back, perfect for a 7 year old. Although you're a bit nervous. Your mom took off your training wheels, you haven't properly ridden your bike without them. "Excited?" Your mom brings you out of your nervous bubble. You nod your head and put on a smile. The car parks on the curb and your heart flings down to your stomach. You unleash your seat belt and get off the car slowly.

She opens the trunk and takes your bike out of it. It lands on the floor with a bounce as you stare at it. She tilts her head in confusion as to why you are not immediately grabbing it. "Y/n?" You snap your head up to her, she rolls it over to you. You grab the rubber of your bike and roll it as you follow your mom. She straightens her shirt out as she prepares to knock at the door.

Knock, knock. Her hand calmly hits the door. You hear a dog bark as a woman shushes it. Cool, a doggy to play with. The door swings open as a woman in blue, the same color as your bike, chirps a happy greeting to your mom. Her eyes travel down to you, she analyzes you and giggles.

"Well aren't you a beauty, you must be y/n." You lightly nibble at your lower lip as your hands tighten around the bike handle. "Hi.." She giggles at your shyness, her door widens more. "Come in please, the bike can too." Your mother walks in as you struggle a bit getting the bike through the door. You successfully get it inside as you admire the entrance. You always loved to explore houses, and wonder how different their lives are.

You decide to abandon your bike for a bit, it wouldn't hurt anyone. You run quickly to explore and discover a room. The door is open and you decide to stumble inside. It must be the room of the son that lives here. It's filled with action figures and drawings. The sunlight beams in and lights up the stars hanging from the ceiling. The decoration makes it a solar system theme. You touch a toy that's shaped like a planet, a dwarf planet, Pluto. "Who are you?" You stand shook as you've been caught.

You place the toy back and turn to the speaker. A boy around your age stands before you, his arms crossed and an angry expression. You recognize him, like your mom said, he's been to your house for parties. "Exactly what gives you the right to touch MY things?" You bow to him and ask for forgiveness, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snoop." You hear a scoff from him as you look up to a smirk planted on his lips. "I suppose I forgive you.." He tilts his head as he takes a step closer to you. "What's your name, Snoopy?"

Standing closer you notice you're about 2 inches taller than him, you hold back a snort. You sigh and muster up a smile, "Y/n. What's yours, Pluto?" He frowns as he knows you're referring to his height. He sighs as he lets his arm fall lazily, "Jeongin." You nod and look to the hallway then bring your attention back to him. "I brought a bike so.. imma go ride it now." You run away quickly, not bothering to invite him. You couldn't care less about making a friendship with him. You wheeled your bike out the front door and shut the door behind you.

You get a few steps down the driveway when you hear the door open and shut. A pair of footsteps running, then a wild Jeongin appears. He stops before you, panting heavily, staring into your eyes. You frown, "What are you doing?" You blurt out angrily. He smiles and pats down on your bike seat. "I thought you'd like some company." You roll your eyes at him and scoff dramatically. "Do you even know how to ride a bike? One without training wheels?"

He tilts his head curiously, "Do you?" You bite your bottom lip, you haven't tried. You push him aside in anger and bring your right leg up and over the bike. You place your feet on the pedals and get comfortable in your seat. The angled driveway gives you a boost as you roll down the small hill, quickly getting the hang of it. You don't know why you were so scared, it's so easy. You turn around to see Jeongin smiling brightly as the distance between you gets longer and longer. You decide to turn around and make your way back to him.

You stop right in front of him and set your feet on the ground to hold your balance. "See that? Easy." He laughs softly, amused at your remark. "Wanna try?" His expression changes as he takes a sharp breath. His feet kick softly at a pebble as he avoids eye contact. "Do you not know how to ride a bike?" He shakes his head, "Not one without training wheels.." You stay silent for a moment, thinking of what to say. "Well only one way to learn," you hop off your bike and pat on the seat.

His eyes widen as he understands what you mean. He fidgets his fingers together and looks around. “It’s not like I’m asking to be your wife,” you roll your eyes. He’s Hesitating but willing. “Okay,” his voice sounds soft, uneasy. His right leg plops over and he steadies himself into the seat. “I’ll keep my hand on the seat the whole way around, okay?” He look scared and grabs onto your arm, “promise you won’t push me straight to the dirt?” You sigh and roll your eyes, “if you promise me you won’t break away first.”

He successfully pedals about 10 feet when he starts to get anxious. The handles start to move out of control. And the bike goes falling, you and Jeongin with it..

~

“That really hurt,” Jeongin pouts as you put a gauze on his wound. “You just have to be more still,” You pout your bottom lip too as he squirms from the pain. “Hold still, almost done.” You place down the applicator and grab a bandaid. It’s a Spider-Man themed one and you gently smooth it out over his knee. “All better,” Without thinking, you place a kiss. You’ve realized what you have done too late.

You look up to a red-tomato Jeongin, he looks the opposite direction and tries to conceal his cheeks with his hand. Well, no point in trying to explain. You grab the first aid kit you acquired from Jeongin’s kitchen and grab a few of bandaids, “Keep bandaids on you, for when you hit the jagged ground.” He takes it reluctantly and shoved them into his shorts pocket. “Now let’s try again.” His eyebrow raises in shock and his mouth slightly opens, “what do you mean again?!”

You walk to the bike and bring it upright, “when you fail, you have to try again.” He sighs deeply and looks to the sky, “what have I gotten myself into?” He walks over and plops on the seat again. He travels farther and farther each time. Resulting in a fall each time but it’s getting better. Just when you thought it was time to stop, he does it. You let go of the seat slowly and he keeps going. He screams happily as the speed picks up, he turns around to see you standing from afar.

You smile at him as he turns to make his way back to you. He stops a foot away from you, panting heavily. “I.. did it.” You smile brightly at him and jump on him. “I knew you could do it, Innie!” You hear him giggle as he gives you hugs back. “Y/n!.. Jeongin!” You hear your mom call you two. You both make way back to the house.

"Time to go honey, say goodbye." You turn to Jeongin and he smiles, "We'll see each other soon." You jump into his arms and hold him tight. "Bye snoopy," You hear him softly laugh into your ear and you smile as you pull away. You turn to his mom and say goodbye to her. Your mother drags your bike into the trunk and you head inside. You're about to pull out of the driveway when Jeongin catches your eye. An almost invisible tear sheds down his cheek. He runs after the car and yells something you couldn't make out.

You didn't know that would be the last time you would see him. At least for a while..

~~

9 years later.

In just a blink, everything has changed. Today is your birthday, you turn 16. "Are you excited?" Your makeup artist snaps you out of your dazed state. You plaster a smile across your face, "Why wouldn't I be? I'm.. of age now." It's custom in your family line that once you turn 14, you are considered a woman. "And.. all done! Take a look," you glanced at your reflection in the mirror in front of you. "It looks great, thank you. You may leave." Her hand fists up slightly and she turns to leave.

You sit up from the chair and make way to the long mirror. There you stand in a blue gown. Fluffy sleeves hanging off your shoulders and jewels all about it. A corset top that sucked you in to show curves. 'Smile, y/n, be happy.' You manage to squeeze out a smile, but a tear that glides down your cheek gives you away. You hear a rumbling and turn to the commotion. A man falls into the room and the door shuts. You stand there shocked and step back. He groans in pain and rolls on his back to reveal a bloody nose.

You step closer to him, standing above him, "How did you get in here?" His eyes widen and he quickly scrambles to his feet. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to pry. Iwasjustlostandopenedthedoorandthereyouwereand.. Inoticedyouwerecryinganddidn'twannabargein!" You shut your eyes to try to understand what just uttered out of his mouth. "It's fine, I don't mind. I snoop around sometimes too." You walk over to your vanity and grab a tissue, you hold it out to him. "You have a little something.." You point to his nose and he takes it.

He begins to clean his nose when you notice something familiar about him. "Have we met before?" He tilts his head and analyzes you. "We have.. I swear it," you mumble loudly. You step closer to him, only a foot away from him now. He steps back to gain more space but discovers the wall behind him. "You're a little close," his face begins to redden. This snaps your memory. Your mind flashes back to several years ago,

“All better,” Without thinking, I placed a kiss. I’ve realized what I have done too late. I look up to a red-tomato Jeongin, he looks in the opposite direction and tries to conceal his cheeks with his hand.

You step back as he recreates the same motion, concealing his face with his hand. "Jeongin?" He responds to the name as his eyebrow raises. "It's you!" You jump and wrap your arms around him. His hands pause but you hear a small exhale and he finally holds you close. He swings you in his arms. "Y/n," he says as he places you back on the floor. "It's you!" His hands cup your cheeks as he wipes the stray tear off your cheek. "You're so old now," you giggle and pretend to frown.

"Old? Says the one who is older than me." You scoff and pretend to walk away. "Where you going?" He grabs you by your waist and drags you back into him. This makes you feel squirmy in your tummy, it feels like butterflies. You turn to him, his face inches from yours. "Where have you been, hmm?" You feel it again, stronger this time. "Oh, Pluto. I've missed you." He laughs softly at the nickname you've made for him. "I've missed you too, Snoopy."

His scent lures you in, this feeling is so unfamiliar to you. It's like, you want something. "Why were you crying?" He whispers as his forehead leans against yours. You pull away from him, "I guess.. ever since we've seen each other." You sat down on the chair from earlier, "I haven't been happy.." He looks at you with such ache in his eyes, he steps towards you. "Y/n-" He's interrupted by a knock on the door. You both turn to see your mother.

"Oh my, Jeongin! You've grown up!" You smile as she runs over to him. "My, My. Let me look at you." She walks in a circle around him, "Why you've gotten so tall." You giggle a bit and lay your chin against the chair. "Guess I'd have to stop calling you pluto now." He smiles and shakes his head, "I actually quite like it." Oh, how you could get lost in his eyes. You could spend all day looking at him. "Why don't we all go downstairs now. The party's starting!"

~~

Seems like hundreds of people arrived, a never ending of 'hello's spill out your mouth. You lose sight of Jeongin easy and keep cursing about the people who stop you from looking for him. You had slowly made your way to the dance floor when you got bombarded with people asking you to dance. You couldn't say no as they were already dragging you to dance. You couldn't help but keep an eye out for him. Just when you lost all hope, someone taps on your shoulder.

"Such a chore, isn't it?" You jump from him whispering in your ear. "Jeongin!" You push him away softly. He reaches out his arm, "Care for a dance?" You sigh and take his arm, "Couldn't hurt." Oh, but how it affected you. You make your way to the center as the music starts. His hand curls around your waist and his other hand in yours. His hand around your waist ignites your body. His smile is driving you crazy as he leads your body along with his, perfectly matching the rhythm.

This heat ignites hotter and hotter, his lips inches away from you. You want to feel them so bad, pressed against yours. For his hands to slip elsewhere. Thankfully, the song ends and you bow to each other. "I'm feeling a bit tired. I think I'm going to go up to my vanity room." He catches your arm softly, "can if I go with?"

~~

God, you wished you had the guts to say no. But, the words slipped out of your mouth before you could've stopped it. 'yes.'

You had plopped down on the cushioned couch you have as soon as you entered the room. "I got you something," he says as he reaches into his pocket. You reluctantly sat up and he handed you a tiny gift box. "What is it?" He sits down next to you, "open it and find out." You untie the bow and slip it off. You lift the top off and you freeze at the item.

I grab the first aid kit I acquired from Jeongin’s kitchen and grab a few of bandaids, “Keep bandaids on you, for when you hit the jagged ground.” He takes it reluctantly and shoved them into his shorts pocket.

"You kept this?" He nods his head. You inhale sharply and stand up. "This dress is too tight, I need to change." You walk into the closet and grab the spare dress in there. "Untie me," you walk to him and turn your back to him. He unties it slowly, his fingers brushing softly on the skin there. You want to lean into his touch but resist doing so. "Turn around and lock the door." He obeys and faces the door, you wait till you hear the click of the lock and slip off the dress.

You pull up the short dress and pull the spaghetti straps on. You walk to your vanity and take off your necklace. "Little help please," he walks slowly and you turn so your back is to him again. He zips up the back of your dress dangerously slow. Once it reaches the top, his hands rest on your waist again. It catches you by surprise and you gasp softly as your hands land on the vanity. "What's wrong?" He comes closer to your body, his hand slides your hair off your shoulder to one side. He leans into your ear, "cat got your tongue?"

You lean your head to the side, just begging for his lips to land there. You're rewarded as his lips attach to your neck, your body jolts at the sudden feeling. His soft lips create a chain leading up your neck. You can't help but let a noise of relief leave you. His hand slightly tightens around your waist and you begin to be impatient. You turn to face him and jump on the counter. You wrap your legs around his back and pull him into you. Holding onto his face, you attach his lips into yours.

The feeling of his body and lips finally so close to you is so gratifying. Your body is hungry, and you want more. He groans into the kiss and tangles his hand into your hair. He leans his body forward onto you, his hands placed on the desk behind you. You feel his belt pressed up against you and feel the great pleasure it brings. Your hips begin to move as the friction ignites a glow. "Mm, baby?" You nod your head, half-listening, "That's not my belt."

Your eyes open and look down to see his hard-on poking a tent in his pants. "Oh.." His eyes look at you with such hunger, it's so captivating. "Well, do you wanna stop?" He shakes his head, "No." He continues the kiss and you begin to move your hips again. He starts to groan into the kiss more and more. It sends a tingle through your body each time. "Y/n." He breaks away again. "Am I allowed to do something to you?" You tilt your head curiously, "What do you mean?"

He picks you up, he sets you down on the couch. Your legs are spread as he lays in between them. His hand lays on your shoulder, "Can I touch you?" You nod your head and smile, you find it sweet he's asking for permission. His hand drags down your collarbones, in between your breasts, your stomach and stops right before he hits it. "Even here? Can I?" You think about it for a second then nod.

His hand disappears under your skirt and drags down your panties.

~~

TO BE CONTINUED

heh

[itmeansiris]

The Solar System Legacy Challenge: In Memory of Jorden Gen 1 pt.52

The morning after the funeral Spirit walks around the house checking on everyone. Its early, not long after sunrise, but she was accustomed to being up in the morning to tend to the garden and fix breakfast and coffee before Jorden awoke. But on this morning she paced the halls checking cramped bedrooms to make sure everyone was sleeping comfortably. She's opens the door to find Zohreh awake and smiling, while the triplets sleep soundly. She sits on the edge of the toddler bed closes to his portable crib.

Spirit: Good morning Sunlight.

The name she bestowed on Zohreh for becoming a bright spot in her daughters life when everything seemed so bleak and stark in comparison at the time. He was also the only one of four kids to have Kason's blonde hair color.

Spirit: It seems only you and I know there is a day to be lived. No worries your grandma enjoys getting to monopolize your attention.

While she continues chatting Zohreh waves to Spirit and blows her a kiss. 2 milestones.

Spirit: Oh my aren't we full of life! That's just what your mommy needs from you my Sunlight. You're growing up so fast, and your birthday is in less than a week.

Spirit felt pure bliss at being the first to witness Zohreh's new milestones.

Out front Kason wakes up and grabs a cup of coffee. He hadn't slept much (checking on M and the kids through the night) and the couch hadn't been the most comfortable place to sleep. He doesn't hear her approach and Spirit scares him purposely. Kason jumps, startled by Spirits silent approach. She doubles over laughing. He takes a seat trying to recover.

Spirit: Thought I'd scare some life into you. Everyone around here seems so lifeless. Only one of us died. We do not need to act as if we are all gone.

Kason smiles happy to see Spirit her normal self.

Kason: How about you take a seat and I start on some breakfast. Oh care for a cup of Joe I started a pot its still hot.

Spirit: I'll pass on the coffee but breakfast sounds wonderful we do have a house to feed. How about French Toast.

Kason: I think I can make that happen.

Kason sets to task getting French toast made for the whole family, chatting animatedly with Spirit.

Spirit: I'll go check on Zohreh, he was up last time I checked. He's in good spirits today. He even laughed and blew his old grandma a kiss this morning.

In the hallway on the way to check on the kids Spirit runs into Mercury.

Spirit: Good morning Little Planet.

M: Good morning mom.

Spirit: Sunlight?

Mercury breaks into a grin following her mother into the kitchen.

M: He waved to me for the first time. He's been having a lot of first lately.

Spirit: Kisses, smiles, waves I think he's a feeler that one.

M: Good morning my love.

Kason: Good morning beautiful, how are you feeling this morning. Spirit requested French Toast for breakfast.

Spirit eardrops on the exchange having chose French Toast for one reason. Kason flips the last of the French Toast onto a plate.

M: French Toast sounds great. Look mom its even better than daddy's.

Kason softly exhales and Spirit smiles

Spirit: Anything was better than your fathers French Toast.

The rest of the family joins them.

That evening Beckett joins M in the yard. She'd been looking at the stars.

Beckett: Find anything interesting?

M: Wanna take a look?

He declines

Beckett: That was always you and dads thing I was never any good with a telescope. But I don't mind keeping you company.

M: You weren't any good cause you never used yours. You were too busy knocking it over with your soccer ball or your bike.

She teased. Beckett stretched out on the blanket

Beckett: Actually that was yours. Besides I used it right once...to look into the neighbors windows

M: Beckett! Oh my watcher! Did you really?

Beckett: Trust me all I got was a close up on parts of Mr.Linh that should never be seen by a child.

He stutter recalling the image

M: Which one?  Chánh or Arturo?

He rolls his eyes as she comes over to join him

Beckett: Really M does it matter? Besides I was trying to get a look at Ms.Cahyaputri daughter.

M: Ha, you were at the wrong window! Wait...is that why your telescope went missing in the middle of the night? And you told dad someone stole it.

Beckett: I thought he would kill me, it was so expensive and he really did try his best to teach me. But after what I saw I could never go near that thing again.

M: He didn't even ground you. He just went out and bought a chess table.

Beckett: Which I was much better at I might add. He must have known. No one in the neighborhood would have stolen the telescope and I made no secret how much I disliked the cursed thing.

M: Classic dad...I'm not sure I ever saw him mad.

Beckett: Nah. Dad didn't know how to be angry, everything just bounced off him. I used to think he was bottling up his anger until one day I realized he just embraced his carefree nature. It must have been nice not letting anything get you down...

Beckett:.......

He drops his head to his knees and buries his face. His next words raw with emotion.

Beckett: I miss him M....I know mom says to celebrate his life but it hurts...

Mercury was only a year older than Beckett and because they were so close in age and he was bigger than she was by the time they were 15 he always behaved and secretly told people he was her "Big Brother"

She pulled her little brother close

M: I know Bek. It's okay, I know how much it hurts.

She gets up and gets the jar of marbles below the stairs. She can see the remains of the last chalk circle her father had likely drawn.

M: How about a game?

PREV

NEXT

[duckprintspress]

June 2023 Releases: 6 All-New Titles from Duck Prints Press Just in Time for Pride Month!

Happy Release Day, Everyone! We publish new short stories and novelettes for our General Imprint on the fourth Thursday of the month, and here we are with five new short stories and a novelette! 

-

June 22nd Releases:

Title: Of Loops and Weaves Author: Catherine E. Green

F/F, Getting Together, Maximum Fluff

Robin loves to sit in the local coffee shop, crocheting a sweater for her friend Dee, who she hopes will become more than a friend.

She doesn’t expect to need to frog a chunk of project.

And she really doesn’t expect Dee to walk in on her doing so…

-

Title: Solarpunks: Viva la Revolución (a story in the Solarpunks ‘verse) Author: J. D. Harlock

Found Family, Utopian Future, the Very Teenage Urge to Rebel Against Authority

The future is perfect, with strong community ties, collective ownership, plenty for all, and an ideal balance of private life and public life.

In such a setting, what’s a group of bored teenagers to do to shake up the order of things?

Sami, Ros, and Amara aren’t sure…but Sami has a plan.

-

Title: Seal Island Author: K. B. Vimes

M/M, Queerplatonic Relationship, Ace Trans Main Character, Selkies

Michael has always known he was a boy, and always known he didn’t fit in with either the boys or girls around him in the quiet fishing community where he grows up. To escape the insistence of his friends and family that he become a “proper young lady,” he seeks refuge on the island in the bay where the seals sun themselves during the summer.

It’s not until he’s 18 that he realizes he might be able to make the island a more permanent home. Will the seals welcome the young man who’s never felt like he’s belonged?

-

Title: More Than We Deserve Author: Nicola Kapron

M/M, Finding a Slice of Hope Amidst Dystopia, Trans Main Character, Spies and Super Soldiers

Every year, the employees of The Winterborne Group have to fill out Form 301-A, checking off boxes related to gender and sexuality to enhance the megacorp’s diversity numbers. 

This year, Dice uses this opportunity to finally, after years of passing, tell the company he’s trans.

That’s not the problem.

The problem is that Grey, Dice’s favorite company-owned Horizon super soldier, has asked for Dice’s help completing his Form 301-A.

-

Title: Live Like There’s No Tomorrow (a short prequel story in the Welcome to PHU ‘verse) Author: Tris Lawrence

Family Feels, Surviving Cancer, Finding Hope Through Everyday Struggles

Middle-school student Jackson is not particularly upset about his cancer; the doctor’s assure him he’ll recover, and his biggest concern is that his friends will be a grade or more above him by the time he’s able to get back to school.

Well, that and that he’s sure that his mother is keeping a secret from him, but he can’t figure out what that secret is and she’s not talking about it.

-

Title: Moongatherer Author: Willa Blythe

F/F, PTSD, Recovery From Trauma, Bonding While on a Quest Together

The Summer Solstice is approaching, the day when the sunlight lasts the longest and the dangers of being out in the world, exposed to the harsh rays, is greatest. As is their way, Clan Firefox has once again chosen two representatives to travel to Moon’s Rest and make an offering to the Goddess to bring the moonlight back.

No one is surprised that Pomegranate will be making the journey.

But everyone is shocked when Honeycomb is selected, and no one more so than Honeycomb herself.

And, as they set out on their journey, all Honeycomb can see is the memory of harsh solar rays and burning fires…

Maybe during this journey, these two young women can find more than they ever thought to seek…

-

Think they all sound amazing? Well, you should, because they are. And we’ve got you covered – you can buy ALL SIX of these new titles in one awesome bundle – and save 20% off the list price for buying each story individually! 

Come on over to the Duck Prints Press webstore and find your new favorite short story! And, while you’re at it, don’t forget to check out the anthology we’re Kickstarting!

Want more stories, and to support our awesome, queer-owned, fandom-based small business indie Press? We rely on your backing on Patreon to keep our prices low and maximize the royalties we pay to authors! Support us, and get free stories every month – the higher your backer level, the more you get!

[sepdet]

Pres Carter & the Road Not Taken

On June 20, 1979, the Carter administration installed 32 panels designed to harvest the sun's rays and use them to heat water.

Here is what Carter predicted at the dedication ceremony:

"In the year 2000 this solar water heater behind me, which is being dedicated today, will still be here supplying cheap, efficient energy…. A generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people."

For some of the solar panels it is the former that has come to pass: one resides at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, one at the Carter Library and, as of this week, one will join the collection of the Solar Science and Technology Museum in Dezhou, China. Huang Ming, chairman of Himin Solar Energy Group Co., the largest manufacturer of such solar hot water heaters in the world, accepted the donation for permanent display there on August 5. After all, companies like his in China now produce some 80 percent of the solar water heaters used in the world today.

But they are based on the same technology developed here in the U.S. and once manufactured in Warrentown, Va., by InterTechnology/Solar Corp., the company behind the Carter panels. Roughly three meters long, one meter wide and just 10 centimeters deep, the blue-black panels absorb sunlight to heat water piped through their innards. The Carter administration set a goal of deriving 20 percent of U.S. energy needs from such renewable sources by the turn of the century. Today, the U.S. gets a mere 7 percent of its energy from renewables, the bulk of that from the massive hydroelectric dams constructed in the middle of the 20th century. Solar thermal and photovoltaic technology combined provide less than 0.1 percent.

[Note: this article was written in 2010; by the end of 2023 the figures were a respectable 21% renewables, 3.9% from solar and 10.1% from wind. ]

By 1986, the Reagan administration had gutted the research and development budgets for renewable energy at the then-fledgling U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) and eliminated tax breaks for the deployment of wind turbines and solar technologies—recommitting the nation to reliance on cheap but polluting fossil fuels, often from foreign suppliers. "The Department of Energy has a multibillion-dollar budget, in excess of $10 billion," Reagan said during an election debate with Carter, justifying his opposition to the latter's energy policies. "It hasn't produced a quart of oil or a lump of coal or anything else in the line of energy."

And in 1986 the Reagan administration quietly dismantled the White House solar panel installation while resurfacing the roof. "Hey! That system is working. Why don't you keep it?" recalls mechanical engineer Fred Morse, now of Abengoa Solar, who helped install the original solar panels as director of the solar energy program during the Carter years and then watched as they were dismantled during his tenure in the same job under Reagan. "Hey! This whole [renewable] R&D program is working, why don't you keep it?"

[...]

It was the oil shock that pretty much caused the government to take a very serious look at its domestic solar resource," recalls Abengoa's Morse, who has spent decades aiding and abetting the still fledgling solar thermal industry both in government and out. "The motivation was energy independence," a motive that remains recognizable in political rhetoric today because, as Carter himself put it, the sun cannot be embargoed, referring to the 1973–74 Arab oil embargo. "We have this big solar resource, we should use it," Morse explains.

Carter was the first president to take that idea seriously, warming the reviewing stand for his inauguration on January 20, 1977 with the sun's heat harvested by roughly 1,000 square meters of solar thermal panels, according to Morse. "President Carter saw [solar] as a really valid energy resource, and he understood it. I mean, it is a domestic resource and it is huge," Morse recalls, although he admits the inaugural solar system left some chilly. "It was the symbolism of the president wanting to bring solar energy immediately into his administration."

That symbolism became more concrete in the form of a vastly increased budget for energy technology research and development (pdf)—levels still unmatched by succeeding administrations—and tax credits for installing wind turbines or solar power that caused a first boom in renewable energy installation. In a sense alternative energy was finally getting the same government support used to develop and maintain other energy technologies, such as oil drilling or nuclear power. "It did not take long for the U.S. government to realize that energy was a great national interest and subsidize it," Morse notes.

But the real symbolism was the Carter family using hot water heated by the sun for some of their daily activities. "It was used for the cafeteria, in the laundry and other parts of the White House," Morse says.

That was symbolism that Morse suggests the Reagan administration did not support as wholeheartedly. "We had a new administration that really did not like renewables very much. I don't know if you remember those days when it was called alternative energy and there was something about 'alternative' that did not sit very well." So when the time came to resurface the roof, the panels were taken down. "It was working fine, but the decision was it was not cost-effective."

[...]

And those solar-thermal collectors also symbolize an alternative history. "We certainly didn't address the oil and energy issues going back to when Carter tried," Tardif says. "Maybe it would be different if Americans understood what actually happened. We were poised to achieve 20 percent renewables by 2000. What happened?"

What happened?

Big Oil's internal scientists concurred with public scientists, predicting global warming creates by fossil fuels, like this 1982 internal document at Exxon corp:

Source:

These projections turned out to be surprisingly accurate, 40 years later.

But Exxon and other fossil fuel companies used hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies to fund a multi-pronged, decades-long disinformation campaign, ranging from funding pro-fossil-fuels politicians to creating fake thinktanks of energy experts to advise news media to subsidizing university programs and professors in exchange for favorable research, as extensively documented by this spring 2024 US Congressional investigation which the press ignored:

This is not simply a history lesson. Trump put sone of his most diligent efforts in his first term into dismantling as much of his predecessor's' signature accomplishments as possible.

Biden's biggest accomplishment is the Infrastructure Act which included aggressive tax breaks, incentives and subsidies for renewables, jobs in the renewables industry, and R&D. Biden got us over the 20% renewables goal Jimmy Carter set.

We cannot afford to let Donald Trump imitate Reagan and put the renewables industry back another 40 years, no matter how many billions of dollars Big Oil gave his campaign.

[darkpoisonouslove]

Any Company of Light headcanons you feel like sharing?

Boy, do I have headcanons, anon! Do I!

You can check these out if you haven't already - Marion & Griffin (&Oritel), height, Griffin & motherhood (!), rewrite arcs (but those are my general headcanons for all CoL members), Griffin joining the CoL

Griffin Sylvane:

- grew up on the planet Erebhus in the Andros solar system. The planet is swampy land with lots of water bodies all over that catch and reflect light even throughout the night.

- her hair can change color naturally (bc of Erebhusian genes) depending on how much sunlight she's exposed to, which is the reason why her hair was a lighter shade of purple when she was young but grew darker once she became headmistress of CT because of the limited sunlight around the castle. (Darcy's hair also changes from dark brown to blond for the same reason since I headcanon her to be Griffin and Valtor's daughter.)

- the golden eyes are also an Erebhusian gene.

- her mother - Emalyn - was a very powerful witch that studied at CT herself. She chose to become a housewife, however, and would do freelance work on translating and restoring ancient spells from home. Griffin learned most of what she knows about magic and about botany from her.

- her father - Aryan - had scarce formal education but knew how pretty much anything worked and could build and fix an unlimited number of things.

- Griffin went to boarding school on Erebhus until it was time to go to CT. After that she's only returned home briefly for summer breaks and post-graduation only on several occasions, including her father's funeral. He died (from stress) when she was 20-something and she felt guilty for adding on to his worries with her reckless and ruthless pursuit of her goals (of helping dark magic users against their oppression).

- she met Valtor in a secret library on Erebhus and his power convinced her to join him since she was getting frustrated with how long it was taking her to accomplish her goals, especially after what she believed she had to sacrifice for them.

(I'm gonna skip the whole Coven/Company era because I've talked about that a lot and I am still unclear on certain specifics.)

- post Domino's fall she joined the CT faculty after an extremely hasty process of getting credentials. She managed that with ease but she was depressed and feeling that survivor's guilt so her heart wasn't in it when she announced her candidacy for the post of headmistress. She was doing it to keep CT out of the Council's hands, who would otherwise hire their own pawn and control the most prominent school for witches.

- she won the election with significant support from important political figures such as Faragonda's mother and, surprising everyone, Erendor (who was feeling guilty for betraying his alliance with Domino to save his own skin and thus felt it his duty to help out those who were there and fought - including Griffin).

Faragonda Lydiriev:

- was born on a(n unnamed as of yet) planet from the Zenith solar system.

- her parents weren't married and she rarely got to see her father even when she was little.

- her mother - Sylvia - is a very powerful witch and her political influence is greater than that of the monarch of their planet.

- Faragonda has Spherian heritage. Her ancestors were the witches of Spheria (a place mentioned in s2 4kids (in 2x11)) who practiced the vilest of black magic. That is to say magic that was powered by negative emotions (like dark magic) but twisted things out of their natural order and is forbidden. (Just fyi white magic - powered by positive emotions but still twisting things out of their natural order - is also forbidden.)

- Faragonda's magic was powerful from a very early age but she had a lot of trouble controlling it. She was always accidentally destroying things or harming others.

- her mother sent her away to boarding school where she met Griffin and gradually she started staying with Griffin's family even over the holidays. They were the only ones who didn't treat her like something was wrong with her. Emalyn even gave her helpful tips on controlling her magic by balancing out her negative emotions with positive ones but she was refusing to use that method since she felt that it would disappoint her mother and reflect badly on their family name.

- she enrolled in CT along with Griffin and studied there for the first semester until it became glaringly obvious that dark magic just wasn't the thing for her.

- she transferred to Alfea when she chose to become a fairy. Her mother disowned her for it and her new classmates had opinions about a witch deciding to be a fairy but she was lucky to be roommates with Griselda in whom she found a new friend.

- her friendship with Griffin also suffered some by the change in her but they remained close until graduation when Griffin fell off the face of the Magic Dimension. Faragonda was hurt but decided that she'd rather keep their good memories than hunt down Griffin only to be rejected.

- she focused on her work on the fairy animal park (she was always an animal person) outside Magix City and on further studies and a career in Alfea. The idea was to eventually head the college and work on improving relations between dark and light magic users in general.

- that was until headmistress Mavilla (of Alfea) asked her to assist the Crown Princess of Domino on a diplomatic mission and Faragonda found herself face to face with Griffin... and the Coven.

- she was pissed that Mavilla had not told her of this because she figured it was all set up this way to use her against Griffin. Still, she decided to join Marion and Oritel's fight with the idea of helping Griffin and protecting her from execution. Plus, as time went on, she was convinced that the fight with the Coven matters more than anything else she could be doing currently.

- she does not remember this because she took a forgetting potion (*insert OUAT gif here*) on Griffin's ardent plea but she was the one who helped Griffin hide her pregnancy. They used an ancient Spherian curse to speed up the pregnancy (the original intended purpose of the curse was for it to allow the witch to collect the child that she was promised as payment for her services). Combined with Valtor's genetic material in Darcy, it almost killed her and Griffin but Faragonda literally used her life force to save them, which made her age somewhat faster than normal. Then Faragonda left Darcy in an orphanage on Erebhus and took the forgetting potion, leaving Griffin the only one to know that there ever was a baby (aside from the Ancestral Witches).

- started dating Hagen only after Griffin joined the Company because she was too focused on the situation with her to think about anything else beforehand.

- became headmistress of Alfea almost immediately after the last battle on Domino when Mavilla retired. She endorsed Faragonda as the new head of Alfea because of her political prowess (picked up both from her mother and Marion) that would allow her to maneuver the current circumstances better than any other member of the faculty.

- her mother, who helped a couple times against the Coven, showed up in person to ask Faragonda not to take the position of headmistress of Alfea but Faragonda told her off.

- she went through a heavy depressive episode herself after the last battle on Domino. She felt like she was too broken to really be a support to any of her friends and mostly felt like she could no longer be the person to brighten Griffin and Hagen's lives so she figured that it makes sense that Hagen left. Still, that hurt her even further to the point where she was stubbornly avoiding any mention of Hagen in an attempt to bury the pain deep down. She did the same with her pain over Marion and Oritel and stopped looking for any traces of them because she was afraid of what they'd find and how much worse that could break her. It was Griffin's relentless search of the truth about what happened on Domino that rekindled her hope of finding their friends but due to outside interference, they lost access to all clues as to what happened on Domino and were forced to give up on their mission to find Marion and Oritel and move on with their lives.

- eventually, she makes up with her mother who admits that she was wrong about the way she treated Faragonda. She didn't really know how to help her gain control of her magic, which is why she sent her away to people, who hopefully would know, but in Faragonda it created the sense that she was a disappointment and a failure and the entire relationship fell apart from there. Still, Sylvia was the adult and it was her responsibility to figure parenting out, which she failed. She is ecstatic when Griffin and Faragonda finally get together and she helps Faragonda through the realization that Darcy is Griffin's daughter from Valtor (that's when they make up).

Hagen:

- comes from the same planet as Oritel. In fact, his father used to work as the royal blacksmith and he's been best friends with Oritel since they were little.

- his mother made pottery and was the one of his parents who was quite direct and even brash when talking to someone else. His father was one to use flowery language and tons of metaphors in every day conversation.

- he studied to be a blacksmith under his father but went to work for Marion's parents instead of Oritel's because Marion won him over with her attitude and views.

- he would not go home in order to nudge Oritel to come visit him and set up meetings with Marion. He knew that they only did not like each other because of wrong first impressions and set out to bring them closer and help them reveal their true self to the other. Not entirely out of selflessness as having his two best friends living on different planets was quite exhausting.

- he never meant to be a warrior. He only studied combat in order to be able to test the weapons that he made himself. He was always more passionate about the craft of metalworking but when Marion and Oritel grew restless because of the Coven's activity, he put his life on hold to help them.

- that was until he met Faragonda and realized that he could die any day without having pursued what he himself really wants. Still, his commitment to Marion and Oritel was too strong for him to fully devote himself to his relationship with Faragonda and when the political circus and legal procedures around Domino's destruction settled, he left to go search for Marion and Oritel.

- he didn't even show up at either of his parents' funerals, feeling like the part of him that was their son had long ceased to exist. It wasn't because he knew Faragonda would be there (he introduced her to his parents during the war when they both accepted the idea that anything could happen to them and saving the development of their relationship for peaceful times was not a risk they wanted to take; both his parents loved her and she felt that she could be a part of their family but she only went to Hagen's mother's funeral because she wanted to see him; she later figured that he may not have shown up because he knew she'd be there and she didn't go to his father's funeral to give Hagen the chance to go if he wanted but he didn't). Still, avoiding her was another point in favor of not going since he felt guilty about the way that he left her to deal with the loss of their friends even though he did it so that he wouldn't drag her down with him when he couldn't let go.

- he tried to hide it from his friends once they were reunited but his returns to Domino's cursed ruins ended up with him falling victim of a curse that renders him unable to feel any kind of touch and/or pain. Everyone learned when Bloom accidentally burned him and he didn't even notice. Normally, magic can't fix tissue damage (even if it is caused by magic) but Griffin's magic allows some healing to take place as long as the other person opens up their mind and body to her willingly. Not the easiest of tasks since she and Hagen were never particularly close but they manage to make some progress and Hagen can finally feel the warmth of his friends again.

- after he learns that Marion chose to join Oritel in his imprisonment, Hagen got extremely upset, which forced him to reevaluate his feelings for and his commitment to them. He'd always put them first to the point where he ignored himself, which is the reason why he refused to be reinstated as their counselor.

- he chose to restore the Magic School for Forgers in Hoggar (which is NOT the planet that he comes from; fuck canon/Wiki) instead and teach there.

Oritel:

- youngest out of six brothers and therefore not of interest to his parents since his chances for inheriting the throne were practically non-existent.

- doesn't have a very good relationship with his brothers, who tend to ignore him similarly to their parents.

- he has magic but thanks to his parents' neglect he never really got proper magical education and training how to use it. His raw power is actually quite impressive, considering how little practice he had to develop it. His magical core is underground waters.

- hated Marion for "stealing" his best friend but with time fell in love with her.

- he knows that Marion went against her parents' wishes and societal expectations to marry him and it makes him feel like he's detrimental to her. Marrying him was her first decision as heir to Domino's throne that the whole universe witnessed and it was one that left people looking down on her for the choice. Those that respect it only do so because of her heritage, not out of respect for her.

- he compensates for feeling like he's dragging her down by being a perfectionist and a - self-proclaimed - paragon of virtue. He tends to easily veer into self-righteous territory because of all the pressure on him as Prince Consort of Domino (yeah, that's right, no kings of Domino in this fucking household).

- is close friends with Erendor despite the age difference between them (Erendor is at least a decade younger than him) since he knows what it's like to be young and not taken seriously. There are extreme homoerotic undertones to that relationship that Oritel is completely oblivious to, Erendor is too blinded by internalized homophobia and toxic masculinity to notice and Marion and Samara pointedly ignore although for different reasons.

- after the Coven attacked Domino, killed Marion's parents and damaged the Roc - which was part of Domino's defense systems - Oritel used his magic in combination with the Dragon Fire in the core of Domino (thanks to his close connection to Marion and Daphne and their pieces of the flame) to raise a shield around the whole planet that would stop unauthorized teleportation. He and Marion also repurposed the Roc - repaired by Hagen - as a library to keep safe Domino's magical archives.

(...aaaaaand that's pretty much it for Oritel; I need to think about him more but I haven't gotten to that point yet.)

Marion:

- has a younger sister (based on the family tree fake!Avalon showed Bloom).

- very strained relationship with her mother and an almost non-existent relationship with her father. She's not close with her sister either since their mother didn't have a lot of interest in her Dragon-Fire-less child and Marion never had free time with all the grooming to be the next Queen of Domino.

- resigned to a loveless marriage since young age only to slowly fall in love with Oritel and decide to fight for her own happiness. Was engaged to someone else before but she broke it off and married Oritel.

- had horrible doubts about becoming a mother due to her own relationships with her parents and the way she was raised. Still, Daphne instantly became the light of her life.

- Marion was tutored at home but she allowed Daphne to do specialized studies at Alfea, much to Marion's own mother's chagrin. She always believed that Marion was raising Daphne wrong and allowing her to mingle with the nobodies at Alfea was just further proof.

- Marion was the one who started noticing the pattern of concerning magical thefts all over the dimension. Her mother did not pay attention to her worries but Oritel supported her and the two decided to take matters in their own hands. The Coven was very successful in turning that against them and making them as well as Domino look suspicious in front of many of the other monarchs. They only really managed to start getting the upper hand once Faragonda and Saladin joined them.

- the death of her parents is an awful time for her because she had a lot of negative emotions to deal with (mostly guilt and self-hatred for not really feeling much about her deceased parents rather than the typical grief and melancholy but that wasn't any easier to handle) and a ton of bureaucratic nonsense that she was stuck with instead of fighting the Coven. The only thing that saved her sanity was trusting the other Company members to hold the front while she was assuming her new queenly duties.

- was suspicious of Griffin's sudden and untimely decision to defect from the Coven but was also interested in exploiting the opportunities that could provide (unlike Oritel). Did not appreciate the realization of how much Faragonda's presence has shaken Hagen's loyalty to her and Oritel and how it twists her arm into respecting Faragonda's - unreasonable - demands. They all had to do a lot of work on functioning as a team but eventually succeeded.

- had a panic attack when she learned she was pregnant again. The timing was awful. Not only was her whole planet under vicious attack, but she was also the Company's strongest fighter. A pregnancy would incapacitate her for months on end and provide the Coven with significant advantage. She was out of her mind with worry over the complications this would create for the whole universe.

- late one night when she couldn't sleep, she instinctively found Griffin and confessed that she was considering having an abortion. She knew she could count on Griffin's cold rationality to give her the push to do what she couldn't make herself do but she was surprised when Griffin vehemently defended her right to choose and encouraged her to do what is best for herself. She decided to keep the baby because she'd already sacrificed so much of herself and her own life for the sake of her kingdom. Besides, she didn't want to give into her fear of being unable to protect her children from the Coven.

- speaking of, Daphne was insistent on being included in the battle with her own Dragon Fire and her Nymph powers. Marion was firmly against, dead set on protecting Daphne and keeping her as far away from the fight as possible. She and Griffin got into a fight about that once when Griffin allowed Daphne to accompany her on a minor mission. Ultimately, Griffin's point that Marion was letting her fears control not just her, but Daphne as well got through to her and Marion allowed Daphne to be included in the planning but mostly on the periphery of the action. Daphne's most prominent role in the war was her task during the final battle to protect her baby sister.

- Marion knew there was a possibility that the information they were given was incorrect and that their daughters were alive out there, yet she still chose to transfer her spirit into Oritel's sword. She didn't have time to truly think through her decision and she couldn't bear the thought of staying behind only to find out that her daughters were truly dead and she'd lost Oritel as well. She feels intense guilt for essentially abandoning her girls.

Saladin:

- has a sister (Helia is his nephew since Saladin never felt ready to pursue romantic relationships after the war with the Coven). The two are relatively close and Saladin loves Helia like his own child.

- he did two-time Griffin and Faragonda. The two were both reluctant about sharing that they were dating a certain Specialist because of the turbulence in their own relationship at the time thanks to Faragonda transferring to Alfea. So for a time, he got away with it. His intention was never to hurt either one of them. He preferred being with Faragonda but he could tell that she was going through a lot and didn't want to rush her into a relationship. At the same time Griffin really understood his commitment to a cause (he signed up for RF because he believed in fighting for a better future) and they were already "dating". It was casual anyway so why should he have to break up with her when he's not really cheating with Faragonda, right? It was... quite the fallout when the truth came out but Griffin and Faragonda were also somewhat relieved to learn they were dating the same guy because they both chose to interpret it as proof of their continued similarities despite the recent changes in Faragonda and their relationship. Plus, Saladin was last year at RF at the time and later he was busy on missions all over the dimension so the distance from him helped them both get over the fiasco.

- Saladin was sent along with Faragonda on the diplomatic mission to help out Marion and Oritel. Mavilla mostly arranged his presence as cover for her true intentions of orchestrating the meeting between Griffin and Faragonda (not that that deceived Faragonda for long). Still, he took to Marion and Oritel's cause and decided to help them out as much as he could while maintaining his career at RF. He had reservations about Faragonda's trust in and protection of Griffin but he chose to support her. He didn't have her blind faith in Griffin but knew enough to understand why that was so important to Faragonda and to agree that there was still hope for Griffin to make the right choices. Plus, he still felt bad for two-timing them and wanted to help them both with whatever he could.

- splitting time between RF and the CoL made him feel like he was failing in both of his missions but both felt too important for him to be able to give up on either. The Company afforded him the opportunity to act in situations in which the Specialists would not be allowed to due to concerns of political nature. Having Marion and Oritel's influence to fall back on provides him with a lot more opportunities to help, however, and he really believed in what they were doing.

- Saladin was the one to find out that the headmaster of RF allied with the Coven. He saved one of the wands of the Ancestral Fairies (s6) from destruction and with the endorsement of Domino and Eraklyon was elected the next head of RF (which only complicated his work with the Company further but it was preferable to having to worry about whether or not the head of RF is corrupt and working for the Coven).

- he was the first to recover from the losses that they suffered during the final battle on Domino. He was scarred by losing their friends just like everyone else and he had survivor's guilt and intense feelings of failure as well but he also had a purpose to return to. All that time he was holding on to his role at RF because he knew that even if the war with the Coven was won, it wouldn't be the last one. The dimension would still need protection from new rising threats and he could continue working on being the defense. He also helped Griffin and Faragonda's recovery immensely.

[mericaelpasotx]

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