#heat and light... it sustains life but can also destroy it

[smile-files]

a blackhole of happiness, greedy for the light it cannot give back

[flowersdiceandlove]

What is the ghost!wwx and LQR one about?

this one is so close to being done. It was supposed to be a cracky fic, but got super angsty in the first half of it bc of the premise. Anyway, what it is is that when WWX was thrown into the Burial Mounds by Wen Chao, he died on impact. It was just too high of a drop and the ground too hard. Instead of becoming a demonic cultivator, he becomes a vengeful spirit instead. I took a lot of things from tgcf for this one, so he's able to get a solid and humanlike form. Bc he's in the burial mounds, he takes in a lot of resentful energy, and so that strengthens him, and his stubborn will power lets him control it and not completely lose his senses. When he escapes from the Burial Mounds, he does the same stuff, still has Chenqing and utilizes the resentful energy and ghosts and corpses. The only difference, is that he's a vengeful spirit. I like to think that canon WWX wasn't so much effected by the demonic cultivation and instead what happened to him, but that's just what I like. In this, though, he is being effected simply for the fact that he's a ghost sustained on resentful energy and emotion, wanting revenge on the people who destroyed his clan and home. In this way, it's similar to tgcf ghost logic bc WWX is able to stick around through will power and he'd probably be ranked as a wrath level ghost (at least) on tgcf ghost scale. It's because he's such a strong ghost that he has such a good human form. He's not trying to pass himself off for anything but what he really is--a vengeful ghost bent on revenge--but when he runs into JC and LWJ, they don't realize he's a ghost. They think the heeby-jeeby vibes, and paleness, and lack of body heat, and red eyes, and all the rest are just side effects of his "demonic cultivation." And, he finds he doesn't want to break it to them that he's a ghost. JC and JYL are just so happy to have him back "alive" that he just can't do it. He can't break their hearts like that, telling them that he's already lost to them. So, he stays and pretends he's still alive and a demonic cultivator. Demonic cultivation actually works as a very good excuse for his more ghostly traits. People don't question why he's getting along with ghost and the dead (he's one of them, they know, he knows. the dead stick together when they can. they help each other.), why he looks so pale and like he might just be one of the dead he controls himself in certain light and at certain angles, why his eyes glow with the resentment of a vengeful ghost, ect. And somehow...people buy it. He has such a reputation that no one questions whether he's actually alive or not. He's also strong enough that simple ghost repellents and anti-spirit things don't work on him (like hua cheng when xie lian put the ghost repelling stuff on the curtains of the shrine).

However, he's being effected by the resentful energy. He feels it eat at him more and more, trying to pull him deeper into its clutches until he's just another mindless, bloodthirsty ghost that kills everyone around them. He was a cultivator in his life, so he promises himself that he won't make it so that he needs to be exterminated or suppressed by cultivators after his death. He will not become that. He will just stick around until he's avenged his clan and home, and then he will move on peacefully. He will not put it upon others to subdue him. He simply will not. He keeps telling himself that, repeating it like a lifeline. He won't make them--especially jiang cheng--have to put him down like a rabid dog. He can't let himself become like that. He is only a spirit, though. He does not have a flesh body to insulate his soul from the resentful energy like he did when alive. When the resentful energy tries to eat at him, it has barely any barrier to stop it. He needs a channel. Something to act as conduit so his soul isn't taking the brunt force of resentful energy. This leads him to an idea.

First, he gets the sword from the cave from the Xuanwu of Slaughter. Then, he goes to the burial mounds, finds his dead body, cremates it, and forms it together with the sword in hopes that it will make him able to increase the amount of resentful energy he can use as well as give his soul the respite it needs when commanding the resentful energy. So, in this au, the sword and his ashes form the Yin Tiger Amulet. He finds that it does give him the boost in power he wanted, but also that it's too powerful. The onslaught is too strong for him. This also uses the ashes thing from tgcf, so WWX has to be very careful about how he goes about trying to dismantle the Yin Tiger Amulet because his ashes are so intertwined with it now. If he just destroys it, he could very likely be destroyed right along with it. He also isn't going to let anyone touch that thing. Those are his ashes!! (again tgcf thing where if you possess a ghost's ashes, you can control or destroy the ghost with them)

So, the Sunshot Campaign ends and revenge is taken, the Wen Clan wiped out, but Wei Wuxian just can't move on just yet. Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli need him still. They need his help in rebuilding the Yunmeng Jiang Clan. They still need him, the only other person left from their destroyed home. He still can't tell them he's dead. Not yet. He just needs to wait a bit longer until things are steady again. Then he can tell them and move on. He also needs to figure out what to do with the Yin Tiger Amulet. His ashes are still tightly interwoven with the metal, and he's feeling like it's also tethering him to this world.

So, he stays.

Then Wen Qing shows up, begging for his help, and he finds he has other unfinished business in this world he needs to take care of before he can rest in peace. So, he rescues the Wen from Qiongqi Way. He takes them to the Burial Mounds. He tells Wen Qing that he absolutely can bring Wen Ning's consciousness back.

His fight with Jiang Cheng still happens. When he's back at the Burial Mounds, Wen Qing keeps trying to get him to show her his gut wound that Jiang Cheng gave him, but he dodges. She finally corners him, though, and he has no choice but to show her. He is a ghost, but Jiang Cheng used a spiritual blade. Because of this, there was no blood (unless he willed it) but there is a glowing cut on his "body" clearly marking him as a ghost cut by a spiritual blade. Wen Qing berates him, asking why he didn't tell her he was a ghost, but he asks if it really matters. Does it really change anything for them and their circumstances. The only thing it really means is that people cannot know he's a ghost. If they knew, they'd all come after him wanting to "eradicate the evil ghost" as "righteous cultivators." So, they keep it secret.

When Wen Ning is back as a fierce corpse, the two of them get along even better, bonding over the fact that they're both dead but still a part of the Wen settlement.

Things still happen and Wei Wuxian looses control. After the Bloodbath in Nightless City, WWX holes up in the Demon Subduing Cave trying to figure out how to dismantle the Yin Tiger Amulet. He's worried he's going to lose control again and he promised himself he wouldn't let this happen. That he wouldn't degrade into a vengeful, bloodthirsty ghost that needed to be exterminated. He needed to do this before it was too late and he really lost himself completely.

He doesn't figure out how to do it in time and the Siege of the Burial Mounds comes. The Wen all die (except A-Yuan, of course) and Wei Wuxian decides to just destroy the Yin Tiger Amulet and get it over with, not putting the burden of his destruction on the others. He breaks it apart, destroys it into millions of little pieces that go flying, and his soul is torn apart right with it with a bloodcurdling scream.

People cheer that the Yiling Patriarch is dead (not knowing he's been dead for years and that the "Yiling Patriarch" was a ghost all along). The Jin don't know that Wei Wuxian was a ghost and certainly not that the Yin Tiger Amulet held his ashes in it. So, they try to piece it back together. Xue Yang makes trips to the Burial Mounds and searches for the shards of the Yin Tiger Amulet. Slowly, they piece it back together and as they do, WWX's soul is pieced back together along with it.

Total honesty, I got this idea from misremembering what the donghua’s Yin Tiger Amulet looks like. Imma put a pic, but I thought the bead in the middle was a red gem. I was like “what if that red gem was WWX’s ashes!?” So, just imagine it being a red gem.

He's confused when he becomes conscious, thinking that he never would again, that he would be completely destroyed. It's all fuzzy at first and he drifts in and out of consciousness as a weak, barely there spirit. After a while longer, he finds how odd this really is. He can feel the shards of his ashes still scattered in the Burial Mounds, but he can also feel another location where his ashes are being pieced back together. He investigates when he can, his soul still weak, unable to do much, and he finds Xue Yang's lab. After years of this, he finds that he can't do this by himself. If he tries to collect resentful energy to make himself stronger, the Yin Tiger Amulet that the Jin are in possession of might be alerted. If that happens, they might be able to figure out what the Yin Tiger Amulet really is, and they would be able to control him with it. He cannot let himself he controlled by the Jin. It would be catastrophic. So, he needs help from a cultivator. Figuring out who is the hard part. It can't be Jiang Cheng bc WWX went to Lotus Pier and saw some stuff. Jiang Cheng would just try to eliminate him if he appeared before him. He can't do Lan Wangji bc as far as he knows, LWJ hates him. He can't go to Nie Huaisang bc he needs an actually competent and influential cultivator, and while WWX knows NHS can be tricky, he doesn't have a good reputation. And, in order to go up against the Jin Clan and the Chief Cultivator(JGY) at that, he needs someone people will trust.

So, after thinking through everyone else and against his better judgement, he goes to the Cloud Recesses.

To Lan Qiren.

Definitely not Lan Wangji. He'd probably eliminate Wei Wuxian before he got a single word out. Lan Qiren, however, is highly respected, and Wei Wuxian feels confident that he could out run the man if needed and escape.

Because he's still weak from the scattering of his ashes and also that he's been purposefully not taking in resentful energy, the wards aren't even able to pick up on him, not even able to sense him as a threat. Sneaking into Lan Qiren's home, he approaches him. Lan Qiren, expectedly, freaks out (Lan style) at his appearance. Something to note, is that WWX looks exactly as he did when he died. 17/18 and in his purple Yunmeng Jiang disciple robes. He was able to change his appearance before because of his power, but now he doesn't have and is purposefully keeping it that way so to stay undetected by the Jin.

Wei Wuxian manages to convince Lan Qiren to hear him out. Lan Qiren plays inquiry, and with his skills, knows that Wei Wuxian can't lie through it. So, he believes WWX and knows just how big of a threat this is that the Jin have the Yin Tiger Amulet. WWX avoids telling LQR the part about his ashes bc he doesn't trust LQR. He just asks that LQR help him destroy the amulet and expose the Jin. He says that the Yin Tiger Amulet is his unfinished business in this world and that once it's destroyed, he'll go. He says he'll help LQR destroy it, telling him how to do it. He already destroyed it once, why would he not again? Why try to move on peacefully after all that's happened? He deserves to have his soul destroyed in this way is what he thinks. It's the best plan.

So, the two of them work together for this. LQR locks WWX up in a spirit trapping pouch or a ghost containing array that WWX agrees to. LQR, after trusting WWX not to cause trouble and be a threat and agreeing to let him out so he can gather more intel for them, makes WWX promise not to let LWJ know about him under any circumstances. WWX agrees, thinking it's bc LWJ hates him and would just eliminate him without letting him explain, and even if he knew, that he still wouldn't allow WWX's spirit to be in this world. LQR really doesn't want LWJ to know bc if he did, LQR knows that LWJ would never let WWX go and protect him at all costs. WWX had agreed to move on after all this, so he's worried it would just hurt LWJ more to lose WWX a second time. LWJ already suffered so much, so he just wants to spare him this pain again.

LQR also pieces together the part where WWX was never a demonic cultivator and only ever a vengeful ghost. In this au, there is a common understanding among the cultivators. Whatever one does as a vengeful ghost or fierce corpse is not to be held against who the person was while alive. They understand that after death, a person can become twisted and so their actions should not be held accountable for it could just be the resentful energy and not the person themselves wanting and doing this. Because of this, LQR has to come to terms with the fact that "Wei Wuxian" died before the Sunshot Campaign even had a chance to really start, and that everything after that point was a vengeful ghost. With principals like his and a rigid following of rules, LQR fights with himself about not blaming WWX for what happened after his death. Wei Wuxian laughs about it.

After gaining enough evidence against the Jin Clan, LQR leads the downfall of them, exposing them and their experiments. He takes the Yin Tiger Amulet into his possession and takes it back to the Cloud Recesses to destroy. It’s been a while since I worked on this and I didn’t reread it so the timeline’s a little fuzzy in my head(also the fact that changed it around a lot while I was working on it), but at some point, WWX comes clean and tells LQR that the Yin Tiger Amulet contains his ashes. Anyway, knowing that Wei Wuxian died an honorable cultivator at the hands of the Wen Clan, he decides that he can't just destroy WWX's soul like this. Instead he decides to try to separate WWX's ashes from the metal. WWX says that he should just destroy it and get this over with, but LQR stays firm. So, WWX tells LQR everything about the Yin Tiger Amulet and tries to help him figure out how to do that.

Even though WWX is still a ghost with ties to the mortal world, he's not as imbued with resentful energy as he was before, so he's more like his previous self. He and LQR have bonding time, and they have been through this entire thing. LQR discovers that by merging WWX's ashes with the metal so stewed in resentful energy, his ashes got linked to that metal and that it was keeping him here, making him unable to move on peacefully. They already went to the Burial Mounds and collected the rest of WWX ashes that the Jin weren't able to since WWX could sense where the pieces were, so they are in possession of all of it.

Anyway, LQR thinks he figured out a way for them to separate WWX's ashes and the metal. Not really wanting to wait any longer, they get to doing so, Lan Qiren draws out the array and puts the Yin Tiger Amulet and the rest of WWX's ashes in it. I forget the specifics of how the do it, but it works. In a way.

--This part was what I was really laughing my ass off about and loved about it. The part I was working towards in writing this fic.--

Lan Qiren resurrected Wei Wuxian.

The metal of the sword lies on the floor, and Wei Wuxian, alive and 17/18, is there too. Lan Qiren can only stare, trying to understand what he just did. Wei Wuxian realizes he's alive and breaths in, a large smile on his face, reveling in the feeling of being alive again. He's been a ghost for so long and he forgot how wonderful living is! He runs outside to LQR's (enclosed and walled) backyard, tripping and stumbling from not being used to walking like this again, and runs around, feeling the sun shining down on him and the grass under his feet, and just enjoying it all, laughing and full of joy.

Lan Qiren rushes over to the door, to watch him because he just resurrected Wei Wuxian. This is bad. He resurrected the Yiling Patriarch.

But, then again. Did he? The Yiling Patriarch was who WWX was as a vengeful ghost. This is Wei Wuxian the cultivator. And, watching WWX run around like this, LQR realizes he was also a cultivator who's life was cut short, ended before his time.

As the one who resurrected him, LQR thinks it's his responsibility to manage this whole situation. First thing he does is get WWX some robes so he's not running around naked anymore. WWX marvels over the feeling of clothes! Fabric!! He's loving every part of being alive again. Even the mundane. When you don't have things for so long, you realize how incredible they are.

oh, wow, this got long. almost done. LQR has a talk with WWX about this all and WWX's like "No way am I doing demonic cultivation again. I never did it in the first place. I was a vengeful ghost. Not a demonic cultivator." The resurrection also gave him the base for a new golden core. He just needs to put work into it and he'll have a strong one again. LQR makes WWX promise to stay here and not let himself be seen. WWX had been locked up in LQR's house before, so he has a lot of stuff to entertain himself and is used to it, so he agrees. LQR goes to tell LXC and the elders about what he did.

This is about where I wrote up to. While I was writing, I got caught up in a part and took it in a direction that I hadn't planned. After that, I felt really stuck on how to proceed and so stopped working on it, trying to think of how to keep going. I'm going to have to delete that and keep going like I had first planned😩 There's really not much more to write to this. LQR is basically just going to keep defending WWX and taking responsibility for him since he's the one who resurrected him. Wangxian is also going to happen. LQR is not looking forward on telling LWJ about this. So, yeah. That's that.

I mostly just wanted to write a fic where LQR resurrected WWX and this is the result.

[high-fantasy-sw]

I need to know EVERYTHING about Kaminoan magic.

If I kill the entire race, will their undersea city sink and the barrier give way? And is their magic like the Force, i.e. a muscle that they can't constantly use or they tire out and they have to put conscious effort to use? Or are they set apart from their magic in some way?

You mention a lot about their lamps being lit by their magic. Are there particular Kaminoan personnel for such jobs? Or is this something any Kaminoan can do?

Basically, how does their magic work?

Also, I'd love it if you could go further into Artificial Magic and True Magic. Which one are the Kammies more heavily reliant on?

OHOHO KAMINOAN MAGIC LET'S GO

Kaminoans are masters of alchemy- they've perfected false magic to the degree that to the undiscerning person it would look almost like True Magic. Their entire civilization is reliant on it- it keeps their barrier erected, powers their life-sustaining faculties (food, fresh water, heat and light, oxygen cycle, et cetera), and provides for them in quite literally every way. They physically could not survive without their alchemy.

The Undersea Barrier is kept sturdy by an enchantment placed upon a pendant worn by the current Prime Minister and passed down through the ages. Every so often, the enchantment does have to be renewed, but other than that, as long as this pendant (and thus, the enchantment it carries) is kept intact, Kamino Fortress is safe- and, even were it to be destroyed, the enchantment is cast so that the barrier would crumble slowly enough for any survivors to escape. (This is how Clone Force 99 is able to escape with their lives when the destruction of Kamino does eventually occur.) So, no, you wouldn't have to kill the entire race. You'd only have to capture the Prime Minister, and destroy the pendant, and wait.

Since Kaminoan magic is all alchemy, and none of it is innate (and, by the by, this is partially what separates True Magic from Artifical Magic), all that is required for life in Kamino to continue is that they are constantly supplied with enough supplies to continue spellcasting. They need enough ingredients to create their elixirs, they need enough physical objects to enchant, they need enough of Jango Fett's genetic material to continue producing Clones, et cetera.

Every Kaminoan is taught the basics of alchemy from a young age, though an individual's aptitude for it does vary. The most powerful alchemist of a generation serves as Prime Minister, and serves for life. However, there are many subdivisions of Kaminoan alchemists, including but not limited to: Herbalists, Fortress Maintenance (though the barrier protects from the waters around the fortress, the structure itself does need to be maintained to prevent it from falling into disrepair), Elixir-Chemists, designated Minders (for young Clones), Physicians, and others. To answer your questions specifically, I'd say that lantern-keepers would fall under the Fortress Maintenance branch. Nala Se (die) would be Head Alchemist of the Medical Division, so, yeah, still Chief Medical Scientist, just with a more fantasy-esque title.

(On a side note: Kaminoan medicine, because of their knowledge of the human body and alchemy in general, is far more advanced than the general science of the world above. It's much closer to what we'd consider modern medicine, while many in the Archipelago are still talking about phrenology and the four humors. The only group that could be truly said to rival their science is, in fact, the Jedi; however, much of their medicine is facilitated by the True Magic of the Force, and therefore many of the common people of the Archipelago don't understand it, and the Kaminoans themselves hold it almost in contempt, passing it off merely as miracle cures and not true medicine.)

You are NEVER pestering me, feel free to send in as many questions as you want, and if you want me to go into more detail about anything, PLEASE let me know and I will GLADLY answer!!

[lady-phasma]

Hey! I'm loving chatting with you on these last posts, so now I'm curious about your IWTVerse faves? Season, episode, scene, character, ship, book, chapter, quote. It can be more than one, btw! I know quotes are more specific and it can be hard remembering, so it doesn't need to be your ultimate favorite, but something you love. Also, how should I call you? 🙃💗

I am so excited to answer this! It's been lovely to meet you! You can call me Auntie but not everyone feels comfortable with that. So Phasma works or Phazzie (I've gotten that one before and it's fun).

My IWTVerse faves... hmm... let's see.

Season 2 is definitely my favorite season for many, many reasons but mostly because Assad got to shine so much more!

Favorite episode of all 15 eps? This is difficult. I love the more dramatic and powerful episodes like 2.05 and 2.07 but I really love the pilot. If I had to choose just one it would be 2.07. The trial is brutal but it showcases all the amazing writing, acting, set design, and camera work even if I watch it with tears running down my cheeks.

My favorite scene from any episode is probably Lestat's "little drink" scene with Louis. That is unbelievably hot and never gets less hot no matter how many times I watch it. But specifically, this shot in the room before they get started. The feelings. oof!

Picking a favorite character is probably the most difficult. Lestat has always been the love of my life (since I read IWTV & TVL at 10 years old) but I truly adore all of the main characters in the books and series.

I don't really have a favorite ship. I ship them all with whoever. I am incredibly intrigued by all relationships that Armand has, but no ship in Anne's world is more important to me than another. Each pairing helps us understand something about the characters which is why she shipped them all over the place with each other. LoL

The book answer is easy - The Vampire Lestat. Here's a link to a recent post I made about my 30 year old copies of the books. I read TVL until it fell apart multiple times but I still have it on my shelf.

Favorite chapter from my favorite book or from any of the books? Both? LoL My favorite chapter of TVL is chapter 1 of Part 3: Viaticum for the Marquise (when Lestat turns Gabrielle). My favorite chapter from the entire Chronicles is Chapter 4 of The Vampire Armand. Not only did Anne write one of the most beautiful dead doves, but she tossed in a little of her BDSM flavor in that chapter as well. The scene with Marius and Amadeo's brattiness is delicious every time I read it.

My favorite quote from the series is I had powers now and decades of rage to process, and it was both random and unfortunate the man picked that night to dabble in fuckery. - Louis

My favorite quote from the books is probably the opening of TVL: I am the Vampire Lestat. I'm immortal. More or less. The light of the sun, the sustained heat of an intense fire —these things might destroy me. But then again, they might not.

[wastewarriorsngo]

Understanding Climate Change in India

Climate change is a phenomenon that leads to long-term shifts in temperature, precipitation, and weather patterns across the globe. The primary drivers of climate change are human activities like- burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and improper waste management. Climate change causes extreme weather patterns and unchecked plastic pollution just worsens the problem by clogging rivers and degrading soil quality. Plastic waste not only litters rivers but also suffocates wildlife, and contributes to environmental degradation.

Every year, millions of tons of single-use plastic is generated, with only a small fraction actually getting recycled. Poorly managed landfills are another significant contributor to massive methane emissions, accelerating global warming. Climate change mitigation goes hand-in-hand with the need to tackle plastic pollution. By adopting sustainable practices, promoting waste recycling and implementing effective policy changes, India can combat the climate crisis and work toward a cleaner, more resilient future for generations to come.

Climate change and global warming exacerbate not just environmental challenges but also negatively impact society and the economy.

Societal Effects: Climate change hits the most vulnerable sections of our society, the hardest. It severely affects rural communities, daily-wage laborers, and waste workers whose contribution to the crisis is limited. Climate change-induced rising temperatures and water scarcity have caused rampant livelihoods disruption and displacement. Case-in-point - "Environment Over Caste" campaign sheds light on waste workers like Deepak, who are often marginalized in society. While they play a critical role in tackling plastic pollution and waste recycling, societal biases and lack of recognition hinder their progress. Climate change worsens this inequity. Extreme heat, pollution, and unpredictable weather make waste collection more hazardous and challenging.

2. Environmental Effects: A significant contributor to climate change is the waste management crisis. A lack of good waste management practices in the population along with lack of proper infrastructure - has made landfills and garbage vulnerable points a very common sight across India. The lack of source segregation, which leads to mixed waste in landfills, has contributed unprecedented levels of methane into the atmosphere, which is a very potent greenhouse gas. Case-in-point - In the valley city of Dehradun, unmanaged waste is choking the lush beauty of the city.

At Waste Warriors, we are committed towards climate change mitigation through the setting-up of waste management systems and community activation. This success story from the "Our Journey Toward a Waste-Free World" campaign proves that local solutions can address global challenges. Plastic pollution is another significant contributor to climate change. From its production to its disposal, plastics significantly contribute to climate change. Rivers like the Ganges, lifelines for millions, are clogged with plastics that harm ecosystems and marine life.

Economic Consequences: The costs of inaction with respect to climate change mitigation has far-reaching consequences for the Indian economy. Climate change in India disrupts industries, livelihoods, and infrastructure, with agriculture being the hardest hit. Erratic rainfall, prolonged droughts, and rising temperatures reduce crop yields, directly affecting farmers' incomes. Natural disasters like floods and cyclones destroy infrastructure, causing economic losses worth billions and increasing public spending on recovery efforts.

A crisis as complex as climate change, requires us to build innovations that cater to systemic loopholes that have caused the problem in the first place. For example- in the field of Solid Waste Management, we at Waste Warriors, are evolving systemic solutions in consultation with the community to ensure that the solutions cater to the needs of the community and make them self-reliant in practicing proper waste management, providing them opportunities for economic transformation and environmental conservation.

Climate change is one of the biggest global challenges, which demands collective action. We believe that by empowering communities, breaking stigmas, and promoting innovative solutions, India can lead the fight against climate change. Our collective efforts can go a long way in ensuring that waste is dramatically reduced, and methane emissions are cut-down.

As we move forward in the battle against global warming, let’s remember the words of one of our warriors on the ground: “Change begins with small steps, but every step matters.”

Lend your support to our Sakhis here-

Read about our global collaborations on climate change mitigation - https://www.wastewarriors.org/conquering-times-square-with-the-warrior-spirit/

[bhagvadgita]

Verse 11.29 - Vishwarup Darshan Yoga 

यथा प्रदीप्तं ज्वलनं पतङ्गा विशन्ति नाशाय समृद्धवेगाः। तथैव नाशाय विशन्ति लोकास्तवापि वक्त्राणि समृद्धवेगाः॥

As moths enter a blazing fire with great speed for their own destruction. So also the people enter Your mouths with great speed for their own destruction.

The verse compares the fate of the wicked people to that of moths, who are attracted by the light and heat of a fire, but end up being consumed by it. Similarly, the people who oppose Krishna's will and act unrighteously are drawn by His power and glory, but end up being annihilated by Him. The verse implies that Krishna is the supreme controller of life and death, and that no one can escape His judgement.

The verse also conveys a sense of awe and fear in Arjuna, who realizes the magnitude and majesty of Krishna's Cosmic Form. He sees that Krishna is not only the source of creation, but also the cause of dissolution. He understands that Krishna's purpose is to uphold dharma (righteousness) and to destroy adharma (unrighteousness), and that He is impartial and inevitable in His actions.

Similar verses from Vedic texts are:

- Rig Veda 10.90.15: 

यत्पुरुषं व्यदधुः कतिधा व्यकल्पयन्। मुखं किमस्य कौ बाहू का ऊरू पादा उच्येते॥

What did they do with Purusha, how did they divide him? What was his mouth, what were his arms, what were his thighs and feet called?

This verse is from the Purusha Sukta, which describes the sacrifice of Purusha, the Cosmic Being, from whom all creation emerged. The verse asks how Purusha was dismembered and distributed among the gods, humans, animals, and elements. The verse implies that Purusha is the source and essence of everything, and that His sacrifice was the origin of Cosmic order.

- Yajur Veda 32.3: 

न तस्य प्रतिमा अस्ति यस्य नाम महद्यशः।

हिरण्यगर्भ इत्येष मा मा हिंसीदिति ब्रवीत्॥

There is no image of Him whose name is great glory. He is Hiranyagarbha; let him not harm me, thus he says.

This verse is from the Shvetashvatara Upanishad part of Yajur Veda, which expounds on the nature of Brahman, the Supreme Reality. The verse states that Brahman is beyond any form or representation, and that His name is great glory. It also identifies Him as Hiranyagarbha, the golden womb or the Cosmic Source from which all creation emerged. The verse expresses a sense of reverence and fear towards Brahman, and a prayer for His protection.

- Atharva Veda 10.8.37: 

सर्वं वा इदं प्रोतं सूत्रे मनिगना इव।

सर्वं करोति सर्वस्य सर्वं सर्वेण कल्पते॥

All this is woven on a thread like beads. He does everything for everyone; everything is possible for everyone by Him.

This verse is from the Mundaka Upanishad part of the Atharva Veda, which teaches about the two kinds of knowledge: higher and lower. The higher knowledge is about Brahman, who is compared to a thread that holds all the beads of creation together. The verse declares that Brahman is the cause and sustainer of everything, and that He is the source of all power and potential for everyone. The verse conveys a sense of wonder and devotion towards Brahman, and a recognition of His omnipotence and omnipresence.

[maciek-jozefowicz]

Politically Incorrect Thought #64

Maybe what we should fear is not climate change, but Progressive scientists trying to reverse it. We know what Progressive politicians do to cities (San Francisco is a an apt example) — they ruin them. Imagine what Progressive scientists will do to our planet once they start meddling with its climate.* (To be fair, I wouldn’t trust non-Progressive scientists meddling with the climate, either.)

Besides, they don’t need to because climate warming is good. The warmer it gets, the less energy we have to expend on heating our buildings and the less we pollute the planet doing so.**

As the icecaps melt and the sea level rises, the surface of the oceans expands and the warmer climate creates more water vapor which forms more clouds which bring in more fresh water. More fresh water is good, but only when it falls over the land and not back down directly into the sea.

Therefore, winds and storms, and even hurricanes, are beneficial because they push the rainclouds toward land.

As the climate warms, the lands that were once frozen thaw and become capable of sustaining plant life. More plants is good for the earth as well as for the other life forms on it.

Rather than trying to change the climate, scientists should be exploring how to economically and efficiently and in large volumes turn salt water into fresh water that could be used to irrigate the expanding dry lands and turn them into fertile, food producing, life sustaining ecosystems. (Or have they done that already?) Doing so would have the added benefit of counteracting the projected rise in sea levels.

Or, we can put large, rainwater collecting barges out at sea, when they’re full, they sail into a tributary, set anchor and become temporary water reservoirs. If we already have such a system, then we’ve got nothing to worry about — heat is not the problem, dryness is, and it is easier to deal with dry ground than it is with frozen ground.

What if, rather than seeing the changing climate as a threat, an adversary to be overcome, destroyed, changed, which is the way that Progressives see it, we treat the changing climate as an ally, an opportunity, and use science accordingly — not to change it “back” (Back to what? Climate is not, and never has been, static; it is always changing.***), but accept the change and use science to make the change benefit us?

But then, can we actually trust what we are told about the climate? It is, after all, Progressives who are telling us.

———

* I imagine a “comedy of errors” — errors on top of errors on top of errors — and a barrage of excuses and blame for the mess that will be created fighting “climate inequity”.

** Mechanical cooling, i.e. air conditioning, should not be required at all. People have lived, and still live, in high heat climates without mechanical cooling, which is a luxury for the spoiled privileged.

What if, if we are really serious about reducing our energy consumption (but of course we’re not), we eliminate all mechanical heating and cooling from all of our buildings? And let’s judge any building that requires HVAC systems a badly designed building, and make the architect go back to his, or her, drawing board, or BIM software, and try again. The amount of power use that would be eliminated is staggering. (Heating and cooling take far more energy than lighting and are one of the greatest sources of our power use. The use of HVAC systems may be more harmful to our planet than the use of cars.)

Some of the most pernicious buildings we build are high-risers, which use large HVAC systems, and large amount of power to run them, for heating the air, cooling the air and bringing fresh air into the building.

*** I suspect that what scientists, and the privileged rich, want is to treat the earth’s climate like an HVAC system which they want to control with a convenient phone app. Progressives suffer not only from hubris and narcissism, but also from megalomania.

[twf2020]

The Giant Anteater: Protecting the Unusual and Endangered Mammal of the Rainforest Floor

The Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) is an unusual and captivating mammal native to Central and South America. Well-adapted for its unique lifestyle, this species is a master of the rainforest floor, yet it faces significant threats that have led to its status as a vulnerable species. This article will delve into the biology, habits, and challenges of the Giant Anteater, shedding light on the importance of its conservation.

Biology and Unique Characteristics

The Giant Anteater, sometimes called the “ant bear,” is an intriguing blend of biological adaptation and specialization. At first glance, its elongated snout, large bushy tail, and powerful claws make it a truly distinct creature among mammals. Standing up to 1.2 meters at the shoulder, the Giant Anteater’s body length ranges between 5.97 and 7.12 feet, with males typically larger than females. Its long, narrow head equipped with a tongue that can extend up to 60 cm, is an adaptation for consuming its primary food source: ants and termites.

Habitats and Behaviors

The Giant Anteater is predominantly found in multiple habitats such as rainforests, grasslands, and deciduous forests. It is a solitary creature, with territories often overlapping among individuals. They are mainly terrestrial but are adept swimmers and climbers when the situation demands.

Giant Anteaters lead a mostly nocturnal and crepuscular life to avoid extreme heat, although they can be active during the day in areas with less human activity. A fascinating aspect of their behavior is their sleeping habit. They curl up with their bushy tail covering their bodies, mimicking a termite mound or a fallen log, thereby camouflaging themselves from predators.

Threats faced by the Giant Anteater

Classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Giant Anteater is facing a decline in its population due to various threats. Habitat destruction is the most significant threat, with large areas of their habitat lost to agriculture, particularly cattle ranching, and urban development. Hunting for meat and traditional medicine, as well as deaths from road traffic and fires, also contribute to their declining numbers.

How is Giant Anteater being conserved?

Efforts to protect and conserve the Giant Anteater focus on habitat conservation, research, and awareness-raising. Protected areas have been established to conserve the natural habitats of Giant Anteaters. In areas where their natural habitat has been destroyed, efforts are underway to create wildlife corridors that allow them safe passage and access to food sources.

Research initiatives aim to understand better the biology and ecology of Giant Anteaters, which can inform effective conservation strategies. Satellite tracking, for instance, provides information on their movement patterns and habitat use, which is crucial for their protection.

Educating the public about the importance of the Giant Anteater to the ecosystem is another crucial conservation measure. By increasing awareness of the Giant Anteater’s ecological role and the threats it faces, public support for conservation measures can be boosted.

We at Think Wildlife Foundation recently launched our Livelihoods for Conservation project to provide alternative, sustainable livelihoods to the communities living with wildlife. This is with the aim to incentivize conservation while uplifting these communities economically. You can purchase merchandise from these communities here!

Written by: Sanghmitra Singh

Originally published at https://thinkwildlifefoundation.com on June 25, 2023.

[chalogreen]

SUSTAINABLE LIVING: SMALL CHANGES THAT MAKE BIG IMPACT

Technological advancements have taught us that, maintaining Sustainable living starts with doing all we can to protect the world. Going green is easier than ever as more individuals are committed to protecting the environment in whatever manner they can.

Committing to turning green is a key first step in protecting the environment, but where do you begin? Here are some quick ideas for leading a green life.

1. Make sure that your big purchases give considerable environmental benefits

Not everyone has the means to quickly trade their old gas guzzler for the latest eco-friendly hybrid car. It's also not always a negative thing because it uses a lot of resources to make new cars. If you're in the market for a new vehicle, search for a fuel-efficient model. You'll save thousands on petrol and lessen your carbon footprint over time. To identify the most energy-efficient appliances when buying a new refrigerator, washer, or dryer, seek the Energy Star label. A new water heater is required. Think about converting to solar.

2. Stop eating meat once a week

One easy change that has a big effect is giving up meat one day a week. It requires a lot of land, chemicals, water, and other things to raise animals. The resources required to produce meat for meals will be decreased if you decide to go vegetarian for a day. Choose ethically and organically raised meats on the days you do eat meat!

3. Make a note of the labels

There are many options available, from clothing to coffee, and some stand out as having the least impact on the environment. If you enjoy coffee, search for "shade-grown" types that are produced without destroying the forests' important homes for migrating birds and other animals. When buying products, look for Fair Trade certification to support businesses that value fair employment practices and sustainable production. When possible, choose organic foods; while they can cost a little more, they protect your family, farm workers, and wildlife by keeping dangerous pesticides out of your land and water.

4. Donate Your Unwanted Items

Does your house include a bunch of clutter? Donating unwanted items from your house rather than throwing them in the garbage is an environmentally friendly way to get rid of them while also helping those in need. Give away things like shoes, clothes, food, home goods, and more!

5. Green your home

Maintaining a healthy house increases energy efficiency, just as keeping a healthy car increases fuel efficiency. Use a programmable thermostat for more effective heating and cooling, proper insulation, energy-efficient windows, and, of course, energy-saving light bulbs for better lighting in your house. Many states now provide low- or no-cost incentives to help you green your house or rental. To find out if your energy supplier conducts free energy audits or is aware of a business that does, give them a call.

6.��Buy only what you need

How often do you throw away food that you planned to eat but ultimately didn't? Planning your meals, using a list when you shop, and only buying what you need are simple ways to save money and protect the environment. To stop wasting your money away, commit to eating what you buy within a week.

7. Be water-wise

Avoid drinking bottled water. Even though the water from your tap is free and a lot of city water has outperformed name-brand water in taste and quality testing, bottled water companies still attempt to demonize tap water. Additionally, it is well known that the creation of plastic bottles and the extraction of water affect both humans and wildlife. The nation's water resources are under increasing pressure from our expanding population, and we frequently have droughts, therefore water conservation is important. By taking shorter showers, replacing leaking toilets, and selecting low-flow and low-water appliance choices, you can save water. Consider xeriscaping as well, a landscaping strategy that uses local, crop-failure plants that need less water and maintenance over time and offers habitat and food for birds and bees.

8. Choose Wild Energy

To save animals, slow climate change, and protect our lands and rivers, we must give up using fossil fuels. Use a Green-e-certified company that gets at least half of its power from wind, solar, and other clean sources if your state lets you choose your energy supplier. Explore your choices, including tax breaks, for adding solar water heating or rooftop solar panels to your house. You may be able to further reduce your carbon footprint by adding clean electricity to the grid, depending on your productivity.

Your daily routine and way of life don't have to change to go green; these little changes are a great place to start. To know more visit us at Chalo Green Products.

The article was originally posted on: SUSTAINABLE LIVING: SMALL CHANGES THAT MAKE BIG IMPACT

[seeingteacupsindragons]

What are your thoughts on the Yuumori lighthouse/ship at sea imagery, considering that Sherlock and Liam met on a literal ship. Also, considering the fact that the Noatic was probably based of the Titanic, which was supposed to be unsinkable, how do you think the way the ship imagery is used now reflects character progression?

Well, this post wasn't just a joke. I do think it's really interesting how the authors warped the way people normally view a fire/water contrast and turned it into something reaching out to each other and two parts of the same story and the same whole instead of oppositional forces.

Of course, they've been doing that with their entire characters and the entire story the entire time, so it makes sense they'd do it with William and Sherlock's elemental motifs.

As for going all the way back to The Noahtic, let's actually take it back just a touch further: William's introductory chapter ended in fire and his rebirth in flames like a little phoenix, but also because fire is so strongly associated with all parts of him.

And so when Sherlock is introduced, it's surrounded by water so wholly Liam couldn't escape it if he tried--that's sort of how cruise ships work. And Sherlock's first arc On His Own shouldering the narrative himself was characterized by an awful lot of rain. I mean, it's London, but we don't actually see tons of rain most of the time. We see Sherlock get soaked in A Study in 'S', and that's about it for rain.

(There's also some fun things about how in A Scandal in the British Empire, Adler got soaked to the bone so badly that Sherlock had to loan her dry clothing, but later we see Bond singed with ash from a fire in The Final Problem. Good stuff)

Anyway, as most motifs, what they mean in a story really depends on how an author wants to portray it. And Fire and Water are both so well-worn ones that there's a millions ways those could be taken. Fire is heat and warmth and life and rage and anger and comfort and passion and love and light and uncontrollability and danger and purification and destruction and rebirth and incineration, and William is...all of those things. Water is tumult and chaos and danger and endless, unknowable depths and relentlessness and life and safety and peace and clarity and understanding and purity and cleansing and soothing and rebirth and baptism, and...Sherlock is all of those things.

And if you note those long lists, there's a lot of overlap between the two despite how oppositional they seem. Fire can evaporate water. Water can extinguish flame.

But this is fire and water, and you wanted lighthouse and ship.

I think what it really did with this new image is taking William's raging fire and putting it to a specific purpose. It has a calling and a use and a need. It's a signal of safety and shore. And a ship is something fighting through the tumult of water while using it to its own advantage, something which brings a fire what it needs to sustain itself all alone.

Ships and lighthouses need each other.

But it's also yet another twist--if Sherlock is the darkness of sea and ship, than William is the light of fire and shore. Sherlock is the one who presented that idea--William has always said the opposite, but it puts William as Sherlock's light, too.

The Titanic, ironically enough, was destroyed by ice (and carelessness and various other things). Water, without the warmth of fire to keep it liquid. Perhaps that could have been what Sherlock became without the fire in his life, who knows.

But I just like how their elemental motifs keep on giving and are being made full use of as the characters themselves reinterpret what they mean to themselves and to each other. Those ideas mean what they need them to mean. And those ideas change as they change as characters.

I don't know if I properly answered your question. I feel like I went off on several tangents here. Feel free to try again if I fucked up.

[fruit-salad-ship]

Not to steal from avatar’s amazing philosophy but i think fire powers also suit peach bc of its nurturing/less destructive abilities too, like keeping someone grey/plum warm providing a light in the dark

Theres a lot of development within fire too. Peach is as we know, a notoriously self critical person, she will hold her standards almost unachievable high, and settle for no less. Power seems to be her only focus, at least as a young hero, she believes if she is strong enough, she can handle anything. What she has yet to figure out is that strength comes in a number of formats.

Strong enough to let someone in for example? She can burn you up in a literal hot second, so allowing folks close was always a problem for her, she would rather not risk it, and stay far away from others, than put them in a position where they may not be entirely safe close to her.

her chosen isolation would mean she's not working to control what power she has at the start, and may end up unable to regulate her own heat, or otherwise control what she does in times of great stress or fear. Too much anger may also lead her to an uncontrollable burn, so again, she's got a lot of work to keep it all in check.

fire can destroy, but its also a great unifier, historically humans have gathered around flames since the dawn of man. a fire is a community, its often tended by many, used and fuelled to sustain life, to clean, we use it to cook, to warm, to shine a light in the dark. All things peach wouldn't be so good at for a long while, hell, they don't even occur to the woman until someone else points it out. The general consensus would be that she's unruly and quite hard to handle, especially as a new hero on the scene. She will however age into it, with the help of her new found hero friends.

Plum and Grey would nurture that in her I think, certainly a pair with buckets of patience given the right circumstance.

obvious angst of her hurting one of the others and feeling terrible about it, avoiding them, trying to secret train to get better at handling her powers.

sorry for rambling, i have a lot of thoughts about peach and fire, seeing as she's got one hell of a burn scar on her in canon, something sustained in the family home a long time ago, and she handles a lot of fire pokemon and comes from a house of fire type specialists, theres just a lot there to work with.

The bitter irony of it all is quite special, suits her.

[ichayalovesyou]

hi you know loads of stuff about vulcans, do you know anything abt their funerals? particularly songs/poems they might recite? i know neelix sang part of a funeral dirge in voyager but i can't find any others.

Vulcan Funerals

I appreciate the compliment! Unfortunately, aside from the fraction of a funeral dirge we see in Voyager, there is little canonical information on the technical practices. However if you want a funeral dirge for T’Khasi and all the Vulcans who perished when Niro destroyed Vulcan in the Kelvin timeline, check out Nadordatoran na’o T’Khasi by T’Prion. OR if you want to delve into a modern human dirge translated into Vulcan, Denatonia did a cover of How To Save A Life by The Fray (which I nicknamed Remembering A Friend in my head, because of the slight change of lyrics in the translation).

Here is all the information we have on Vulcan funerary practices to make up for the tragic lack of canonical music! (Star Trek II & III, & Star Trek: Enterprise & TNG spoilers ahead!)

The most we know about Vulcan funerary practices we can extrapolate from Spock’s death (and resurrection) in Wrath of Khan & The Search For Spock. As well as the temples Mount Seleya & T’Karath Sanctuary, the existence of Katric Arks, and the knowledge of Surak’s Disciple, T’Klass’s body. On top of all that, parallels to human cultures.

The starting point of a Vulcan death is the transference of the Katra (if possible) or the Vulcan soul. When a Vulcan knows they will die soon, they transfer their Katra to another individual. Sarek’s accusations toward Jim in The Search For Spock, and Spock’s internal commentary in the Wrath of Khan novelization imply a few things. That the carrier of the deceased’s Katra must be trained or at least prepared, and close to the deceased, physically if not emotionally. Spock ruled out Saavik because he wasn’t prepared/close enough, and Jim because he could not get to him in time, choosing then to take the unprecedented act of placing his own Katra into a human, McCoy. I only say unprecedented because Syrran put someone else’s Katra, Surak’s, into Archer’s mind before his death, forfeiting the chance to preserve his own Katra.

It is a notable fact that Katras have a significant mortality rate, resulting in the true and permanent death of a Vulcan, especially when off-world or not amongst their own people. Many things can go wrong. A Vulcan cannot transfer their Katra if they die suddenly and unexpectedly. The Katra can also be lost if they fail to transfer it to another host properly, or if the host dies before transferring the Katra to a practitioner. Who knows how to transfer the Katra to a Katric Ark, like the priestesses at Mt. Seleya. Even then, the only known successful Katric Ark transfer and maintenance of a Katra was Surak’s, all other discovered Katric Arks have appeared empty.

That being said, there may be rituals and alternatives. Such as the deceased’s Katra selecting loved ones to be transferred to over time (whose Katra gets transferred upon death may vary) almost like a sort of Soul Swap Meet. Alternatively a ritualistic releasing of a Katra if one does not believe in the merit of Katric Arks or wish to burden loved ones/future generations with sustaining their Katra. We see evidence of the first example in The Guiding Light, when Spock transfers his deceased father’s Katra from Picard to himself. Although we do not know whether Spock still harbors it, or what became of Sarek’s Katra after the scene.

So what happens to the body once the Katra has left or is no more? The only funeral/burial for a Vulcan we see in-canon is Spock’s. His is more of a generic Federation burial-at-sea with no other Vulcans present aside from Saavik, I do not think we can use his funeral as a quintessential example. Although I do think it’s worth noting he is interred in his Kohlinar robe, this may be a legitimate practice even for those who did not complete Kohlinar to be buried in their robe, or it may have just so happened to be the most appropriate clothing he had aboard to be buried in (by human standards, I’m sure it was at least not disrespectful, I’m sure Saavik would’ve said something otherwise).

The only named body we ever see interred however is T’Klass. His mummified remains entombed at the T’Karath Sanctuary along with the Kir’Shara. This implies that mummification, at least for highly regarded members of Vulcan spiritual/philosophical society, was a sacred (if not common practice).

T’Karath Sanctuary also contains catacombs, we do not know who else is interred there, it may only be a burial place for Vulcans of T’Klass’s stature, or of slightly less importance but still revered, that are also mummified, likely not members of the common population. I have a theory based on the logical philosophy of modern Vulcan, and the way the cycles of life are regarded in the (fan authored) Kir’Shara chapter, The Thread of Life. Vulcans may actually practice a form of Sky Burial for those who are not interred with the same pomp and circumstance as the Vulcan spiritual elite. Sky Burial is a type of excarnation (removing the flesh and organs from the body before burial) practiced in Tibet on Earth, or, perhaps in addition to excarnation, Vulcans may practice cremation.

Possible Burial Styles (Fanon)

Sky Burial/Excarnation- the body is left in a chosen excarnation place (in Tibetan practice the body is taken to a mountain top, like Mt. Seleya on Vulcan) to be stripped of its flesh by natural elements, predators & carrion eaters until only the skeleton remains, which is then interred in local/familial catacombs or other burial places. This idea coming from the Logic in sustaining the ecosystems of Vulcan with the flesh that the Katra no longer has need of, the same result could come from donating one’s remains to science as well (for educational or scientific purposes), perpetuating the axiom that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one, where the need for the body no longer exists other than its natural course of consumption and decay.

Cremation- Fire and heat are no rare commodities on Vulcan, and this practice could potentially be done post excarnation or perhaps in some cases instead of. The Fire Plains are a sacred place that we see in Enterprise, and are part of Falor’s pilgrimage to seek the monks of Kir in the ballad “Falor’s Journey” (as sung by Tuvok in Voyager), I could imagine it being a sacred place of cremation. Perhaps the remains are to be cremated when the Katra is lost or released, whether excarnation still occurs prior is optional. The flames consuming the organic remains is symbolic of sending the body where the Katra has gone, disseminated into infinite oblivion.

[wishingicouldfly]

I've been actively blogging for more than six months, even though I've had a tumblr account for ten years. I started reading One Direction (specifically Larry) fanfiction about the same time.

Originally, I read exclusively canon compliant fiction--I was hungry for industry insider, what-could-have-happened narratives. But I've slowly branched out into other genres. I find fanfic--good fanfic--super calming. When I've had too much stunting, too much noise, I grab a fanfic and immerse myself. So I thought it was time to do a post about my favorites. Keep in mind, I'm terrible at cataloging, and I have over 150 bookmarks on my A03 Account, so this is by no means an exhaustive list.

I'm not including the classics like Tired, Tired Sea and Escapade. While I do love both of those (so well written), because a lot of people know about those already.

My all time favorites are by @helloamhere

1. The Multipicity of Powers - https://archiveofourown.org/works/28580229

Maybe in another universe he isn’t different. Maybe he hadn’t been given an impossible choice. Maybe he wouldn’t have lost everything and broken everything and then fallen impossibly, irrevocably in love with the first next thing that was kind. Maybe in that universe he doesn’t feel like he’s never breathing, always pretending, teaching the kids even though they all have to learn alone, trying hard not to read the headlines, and so afraid, every day, that he won’t be a good enough teammate to the superhero he can’t live without. He knows that love isn’t supposed to feel this way, slid secret under your skin like a surgical razor, an invisible war held close over the tender vein that keeps you alive. On the other hand, Louis wonders, had he ever known how to do it any other way?

Maybe there’s a universe where he doesn’t have to keep all his secrets on the inside.

But this isn’t that universe.

//an X-Men AU.

Me: I never thought I'd love a super hero 1D cross over, but this is so well done. The backstory, the pacing, the characterization, the friendship. Read it.

2. Saving Symphony Hall and it's prequel Night Out - https://archiveofourown.org/works/12633921

“I think I have an idea,” Louis said. Slowly, and reluctantly, but with a growing sense of the inevitable. “God damnit, I think I have a really good idea.”

“Oh christ, that's the problem-solving face,” Babs said. “Last time we saw that face, he sold a company.”

“Wait, what?” Zayn asked.

“Right place, right time,” Louis said. “Also, fuck my life,”

“What?” Zayn repeated. Niall patted his hand.

“I usually just roll with whatever Louis is about to do,” he said. “It’s better for us all.”

“That’s the attitude,” said Louis, “I’ll tell you tomorrow. Tonight, I need to do some research. Zayn, give me your number. I’m gonna save our symphony.”

Me: The best sex scene I've ever read is in the prequel Night Out. Sexy, but tender. I love the characterizations in this duo--ABO but not traditional. Doesn't feel out of character.

3. Just Let Me -https://archiveofourown.org/works/11695350

The party was going well. So well, Niall had already sworn undying love to one multi-tiered chocolate cake, two friendly corgi-poodle mixes, Zayn’s hair, and the entire population of Los Angeles. So well, Zayn had only laughed and ruffled Niall’s hair and not even twitched towards a cigarette. So well, nearly everyone had spilled far past the boundaries of the night’s original plans, extracting bottles of vodka from the cabinets and losing a lot of clothes. Harry had proclaimed that he was finally going to throw a small and very grownup dinner party and of course here they were three hours later, fifty people half-naked in the pool. Soon to be full-naked, if Louis had to guess. Everybody in LA loved a heated pool. Everybody loved Harry.

Me: I love love love this. Harry is so gentle, and Louis is so stubborn and needy. It's ABO but subtle. I'll read this one again and again. It's comforting.

@HelloAmHere is one of the best writers I know--amazing stuff. I also love their werewolf story, but it's not finished, so I won't link it here.

Other favorites:

1. Seven Up by cherrystreet - https://archiveofourown.org/works/5828539

Very loosely based on the British TV show "The Up Series" and somewhat inspired by the song “Something I Need” by Onerepublic, we follow the lives of Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson in an interview setting every seven years. They fall apart and come together, their lives and emotions recorded. Harry calls it a time capsule. Louis calls it a pain in the arse.

Me: Trigger Warning, major character death. I literally SOBBED through the end of this. It was lovely and devastating. So good. But be warned.

2. Light, Spark and Fire series by @greenfeelings

Life’s pretty ordinary for Harry. He lives with his best friend, got into university just like he’s planned, and manages to support himself just fine for an unbonded omega. If he sustains that lifestyle by getting paid to help alphas through their rut every now and then, that’s nothing to be hung up on. Until he’s hired by an alpha that turns everything upside down.

Or, Louis and Zayn run a music label, Liam is Britain’s up-and-coming pop star, Harry’s working on taking Louis’ walls down until he builds his own up, and Niall holds them all together without realising he does.

Me: A nice healthy three-parter. Characters you just want to live with for a while.

3. Relief Next to Me by dolce_piccante - https://archiveofourown.org/works/1117942

AU. What happens when a baker and a graphic designer meet via a very specific Craigslist post? Fate, friendship, food, and maybe more.

Me: This one is super long, so be prepared when you dive in. It's got a lot of lovely bits, and some great smut.

4. 2012 'Verse by ashavahishta - https://archiveofourown.org/series/27601

Me: This is a five-parter and satisfies my love of canon compliant stories. It spans most of 2012 and into 2013, and illustrates the difficulties of Harry and Louis' relationship amid the band success and management disapproval.

5. Love After the End of the World by mercurial-madhouse (writing_practice) - https://archiveofourown.org/works/31251434/chapters/77248901

Society shattered when all electricity suddenly cut off across the globe, plunging the world into darkness. Now, Prometheus Industries is the sole remaining supply of power, a saving grace to those who survived Lights Out. As fugitives in no-man’s land struggling to break into Prometheus HQ, death lurks around every corner for Louis and Zayn. Things get complicated when a routine recon falls apart and Louis collides with Harry and his mates Niall and Liam, survivors with their own agenda.

When staying alive is already a constant battle, the deadliest weakness is to be in love. For Harry and Louis, finding each other sits on top of the endless list of What Else Could Go Wrong.

Me: Really unusual (as far as I can tell) end of the world story. I loved the characterizations of soul mates here at the end of the world.

6. Flightless Bird by audreyhheart - https://archiveofourown.org/works/6401653/chapters/14656807

AU where Louis Tomlinson is a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet. When his rival from ballet school, moody dance prodigy Harry Styles joins the company, old wounds are reopened and old passions reignited. During the company's production of Swan Lake the secret that doomed their love is finally revealed, but will it be too late?

Me: Trigger Warning, sexual assault (by an original character to a major character). This was a little brutal because I hated to see a broken Harry, but it was well written and has a happy ending.

7. Wear It Like A Crown by zarah5 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/1816771/chapters/3900322

AU. As part of a team of fixers hired to handle a gay scandal in Buckingham Palace, Louis expects Prince Harry to be a lot of things—most notably a royally spoilt brat. Never mind that the very same Prince Harry used to star in quite a number of Louis' teenage fantasies.

Me: I loved Louis in this one--actually they are both pretty great. Scratch that, they are ALL pretty great.

8. Shake Me Down by AGreatPerhaps12 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/3331958/chapters/7285322

Harry's new to college, fresh out of Catholic school and conversion therapy camp, and Louis runs the campus LGBTQIA organization.

Me: I don't like the self-hate here, but it was necessary for the story and H comes around. Found family vibe.

9. Gods & Monsters by Velvetoscar - https://archiveofourown.org/works/2090982/chapters/4550871

The instructions were simple: seduce and destroy Harry Styles. Not once did they discuss the option of Louis actually falling in love. So, naturally, that's exactly what he did.

Me: I loved Harry in this one. Louis gets there. I don't like Liam, but I don't think you're supposed to. Zayn is great.

10. Own the Scars by crinkle-eyed-boo (KimmieRocks) - https://archiveofourown.org/series/1010796

Louis has never felt like he was good enough: for his stepdad, for his life-long best friend, for the life he's supposed to want. After an accident that nearly costs him his life, Louis' parents send him to rehab where he’s forced to face his demons. On the long and difficult road to recovery, Louis must confront the truths he’s been avoiding about his future, his relationships, and his sense of self-worth. Because before he can love anyone else, he’s got to learn how to love himself first.

Me: Harry is lovely in this one. Trigger warning, substance abuse and near death.

11. Wild Love by purpledaisy - https://archiveofourown.org/series/1030904

AU: Two best friends try to date each other for forty days. It's supposed to be fun until emotions make it complicated.

Me: I loved this way more than I thought I would. It's lovely and messy and I love it.

12. Victorian Boy by audreyhheart - https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosann1986/readings?page=6

Victorian AU. Harry the virgin Duke of Somerset knows little of love, while Louis the sly Duke of Warwick knows too much. When the two dukes come together for the Bilsdale fox hunt in York, Harry finds himself drawn into Louis' bed. But when secrets from Louis' dark past come to light, Harry fears that the fox isn't the only one being hunted.

Me: Historical fiction I didn't intend to love. I LOVE Harry in this one. LOTS of smut, so be warned.

13. Keep Me Closer by zanni_scaramouche - https://archiveofourown.org/works/30752633

Louis expects Harry to react poorly, maybe even file a formal complaint and that’s gonna suck ass but Louis won’t say shit cause he knows he deserves it, so he prepares an apology before Harry’s even turned around.

What he doesn’t expect is Harry to fucking drop.

Me: lovely, protective Louis just trying to do the right thing.

14. Turning Page by purpledaisy for SockstheDog

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11826345

AU: Harry Styles tries to get lost in a place he’s never been.  Louis Tomlinson has been perfecting the art of being lost for years. What they don’t expect to find is each other.

Me: sweet love story. Niall owns a bar, and is pretty great.

15. Freedom Always Comes With a Price by Cyantific - https://archiveofourown.org/works/30278514/chapters/74624262

A shared dream brings them together onto the X-factor stage, but one decision changes Harry and Louis’ lives overnight. Thrust into a world of instant stardom, they're forced to live a lie to sustain their dreams, but years of living in the shadows and under strict management takes its toll.

With the bands impending hiatus, there’s no better time for change, so they think.

Desperate for a solution, they turn to an unlikely source with a radical plan. An unfortunate accident sets everything in motion, but not how they intended, leaving Louis’ memories altered, Harry broken-hearted and full of regret.

Can Harry figure out a way to fix everything? Will he even want to once he sees how Louis moved on after the hiatus? Will Louis ever find out the truth of their past and can he forgive Harry after all this time?

In the end, two friends find out that memories are elusive, trust is everything and love is the only antidote.

Me: Heartbreaking when they lose each other, but really good in the end.

16. Little Technicolor Things by scary_crow - https://archiveofourown.org/works/6025519/chapters/13821628

Louis is a poor writer and recent university graduate, depressed, anxious, and living in London when he meets Harry, an artist with a secret who likes to paint sunrises and pretty boys from California.

17. Hold You Now by solvetheminourdreams - https://archiveofourown.org/works/30253536/chapters/74556744

Three years ago, Harry Styles said goodbye to communications consultancy firm McQuiston Worldwide, leaving a life of travel and agency PR behind. When he accompanies his best friend to a family wedding across the Atlantic, he'll be forced to reopen old wounds and face his past—one that no one wants to hash out, but may just have to.

Me: Niall is great. They almost miss each other in this one, and you just want to bash them over the head. But they figure it out.

18. At Risk, I Fold by clare328 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/26542480

2015 is a stream of hotel rooms and whisky on the rocks, tired glances and touching hands under tables. It’s the bears and the bees under a rainbow sky, and Harry and Louis have to figure out how to grow up together, instead of apart.

Me: A canon compliant fic that feels like it could have really happened. Set in 2015. Lovely first chapter and scene where Harry writes If I Could Fly--i could read that chapter over and over.

19. Into The Blue by zarah5 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/1035822/chapters/2065499

AU. In which Louis is Harry's scuba instructor and quite happy to provide the requested special treatment, pun fully intended. It can't be all that difficult to convince Harry that they're on the same page, right? Also, Niall and Liam may or may not be dating, and Zayn is surrounded by emotionally stunted idiots. He bears it with dignity.

Me: AKA the Scuba fic.

20. Tie Your Heart by ArcadianMaggie - https://archiveofourown.org/works/546688/chapters/973236

Harry grows wings.

Me: How can you not love a fic where Harry grows wings? Trigger warning: injury of a major character.

21. I think I'll end this here. My last and probably first favorite (read it more than once) is...

my heart is breathing for this moment in time by usedtothebeach - https://archiveofourown.org/works/934996/chapters/1820282

When Louis first saw Harry at the 2010 X Factor Auditions, he thought he was watching a peculiarly special stranger. But Harry has known Louis ever since he was five years old.

Because Louis has a rare genetic disorder that causes him to Time Travel to important moments in his past and in his future - and to Harry, always to Harry. When they're put into a band together, it seems like everything Harry has been waiting and wishing for has finally come true. Except for the small fact that Louis doesn't know that Harry is in love with him- that Harry's always been in love with him. Fate, it would seem, is just getting started.

A story about growing up and growing together, and the impossible love that makes it all worthwhile.

Me: I LOVED the Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, and I'm a huge fan of time travel, so this is right up my alley. It's really well done, weaving canon into fantasy and then going years forward in tme. I love everything about it. Great character development. Really good smut. Trigger warning, there's a little underage sex, so be aware. Anyway, LOVE this one so much.

I'll add to this but it's already longer than I meant it to be.

[voiceless-terror]

20. “I can’t see anything!” for Jonmartin if you are so inclined. I so enjoy reading your fics.:)

Hello there! Thanks so much for the prompt! I also got a similar request from @balanced-to-a-tea, so this is for the both of you. Post Season Four, but Martin managed to disrupt Jonah’s ritual, and these are the consequences. Hope you enjoy!

“Martin, tell Tim I need that follow up as soon as possible.”

“Okay, Jon.”

Sometimes, it’s easier to play along. When his mother was deep in the throes of her dementia, they told him to stop correcting her, to stop asking what she remembered. There’s no use in making someone relive their trauma all over again, like a new and open wound.

Martin made that mistake with Jon.

“Love, Tim...Tim’s not here. You know that, right?” Jon’s brow furrows and those cloudy, unseeing eyes don’t blink.

“I- I don’t understand-”

“He’s...he died, Jon. Remember?” As soon as the words left his mouth he ached to take them back. It took all night to calm Jon down and even then he stormed off to their room, stumbling over unfamiliar terrain. 

He never really gets used to being blind. Mostly because he never remembers he is.

Martin had been in the other room when Jon began to read the statement; the familiar, gloating cadences alerting him to Jonah’s attempted ritual. He managed to wrestle it out of Jon’s hands, trying to hold it out of his reach. The look in his eyes was wrong, filled with a sort of desperate, primal need as he screeched and yelled until Martin grabbed that lighter- the one with the strange, twisting web design- and set the thing alight.

Then, he went quiet. And Martin watched in horror as his eyes went from that strange, bright green to a cloudy white and Jon collapsed on the floor.

He hasn’t been the same since.

It’s like situations...meld together, for him. Like the Eye lets him see some things, but only in his mind and never the right ones. Sometimes he’s back in the archives, playing at being Head Archivist. Martin will set him in a chair, put some papers in front of him. Bring him tea. He hates these times worst of all. Because it means soon, he’ll have to feed him a statement. And Jon hates statements now, but he needs them all the same. 

When things get bad, he sits him on the couch. Makes sure he’s comfortable, ignores his confusion as Martin starts to read a statement aloud. He holds down his hands when they inevitably move to claw at his eyes and cover his ears. But soon Jon settles and listens, like a child sitting rapt at a campfire while someone narrates a ghost story. He comes back to himself, remembers where he is. Apologizes, goes quiet. They get a few days of companionable grief- a sadness that comes with a shared history like theirs. Jon gets used to the cottage again and doesn’t flinch at the touch of Martin’s hands. It’s nice. And then it starts all over again.

Jon tries to light a cigarette and almost burns the house down. Martin doesn’t know how he found the lighter, tucked away as it is. And he doesn’t know where the cigarettes came from. Jon apologizes, face bewildered. “I didn’t mean to,” he stutters but Martin only sighs and tells him it’s okay.

Basira calls. No sign of Jonah, no sign of Daisy. She’ll send more statements when she can. Is everything alright? How’s Jon?

Everything’s fine. Jon’s fine.

Today he finds him outside, standing in the sun. Jon likes the heat. Just a few weeks back Martin remembers the two of them strolling through fields, basking in the sun. But now the light shines on his silver strands and he’s crying, tears streaming down his face in two neat little lines. He looks beatific, like some sort of blinded saint from a painting or a stained-glass window. 

“I can’t see,” he weeps as Martin gathers him in his arms and takes him inside. “I can’t see anything.” When it's early days, Martin can remind him. Give him little nudges in the right direction and Jon puts the pieces together himself. It’s an odd, liminal space between awareness and illusion. Martin never quite knows where he stands at those moments. Jon pulls away and he feels desperately lonely once again. 

The house gets colder. Jon wanders. Martin makes tea and calls Basira and tells her everything’s fine. The cycle repeats.

Perhaps it's some sort of punishment. A divine retribution from the Eye. Martin heard enough of the statement to know Jonah’s machinations, what he’d been preparing Jon for. How much horror he holds with no way of releasing it. Jon makes no statements, records no follow ups. He just sits and lets Martin spoon-feed him these bits of knowledge that barely sustain him. The days he’s lucid remain few and far between now, each period of relief lasting only a day or two before he’s somewhere else entirely and Martin is alone again.

Maybe he should have let it happen, he thinks in his most desperate moments. What would the world be like? Would Jon still be Jon? Would he have him back, powerful and knowing but still him? He curses himself for such selfish thoughts. The destruction of the world is not worth the happiness of two people. Damaged and barely living, at that.

When Martin wakes that night, the bed is cold.

That’s not right, he immediately thinks. This is their only sanctuary, where even in his far away moments Jon clings to his warmth, desperate for any kind touch. Martin will wake with Jon’s limbs entwined with his and raven hair in his face. But tonight it’s freezing and the bed is empty. There’s no Jon to be seen. 

He calls his name. No answer. The words echo and the house is unbearably big, cold and uncomfortable. The window’s open.

When did he let the fog pour in?

It’s all over the house, in every room and every corner and he’s back, back there where Jon came for him and pulled him back but Jon’s not pulling him back this time, there’s just an endless sea of fog and he’s gone-

It should feel comfortable, though. Gentle. But it doesn’t, because Jon is out there somewhere, lost and afraid. And Martin’s going to find him.

There’s a beach by the cottage. There shouldn’t be. He follows the coast for hours, calling Jon’s name until his voice grows hoarse. He can feel him in here, somewhere between the salt and the brine and the numbing sea spray. 

When he finally finds him he’s sitting on a rock, completely unresponsive, his eyes finally closed. He doesn’t turn at the sound of Martin’s voice, doesn’t so much as show a sign of living until Martin takes a cold hand in his, squeezing it tightly. 

“I can’t see you,” he finally whispers, his voice a shade of what it once was. Martin remembers the man who once strode on this beach, destroyed Peter Lukas in his seat of power and smiled gently at him, taking him by the hand and leading him out. “I can’t see you.”

“I know.” The words are a cold comfort, but he cannot give Jon his sight back. He can only give him this strange half-life, terrible as it may be. “But I can see you.”

Martin pulls him to his feet, tries to rub warmth back into his arms as the fog dissipates. “C’mon. Let’s go home.”

“How?” Jon asks, though he follows Martin’s lead as he turns them toward the land. He stumbles but Martin catches him when he falls, urges him on.

“Don’t worry. I know the way.”

The cottage is still cold but the fog is gone. Martin lights a fire, throws a blanket around Jon’s shoulders and talks of nothing in particular. Jon has yet to smile but the color is returning to his cheeks and he leans into his side. It’s a start. Martin will call Basira tomorrow and give her an update.

Maybe he’ll be a bit more honest this time.

ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27633482

[wastewarriorsngo]

Understanding Climate Change in India

Climate change is a phenomenon that leads to long-term shifts in temperature, precipitation, and weather patterns across the globe. The primary drivers of climate change are human activities like- burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and improper waste management. Climate change causes extreme weather patterns and unchecked plastic pollution just worsens the problem by clogging rivers and degrading soil quality. Plastic waste not only litters rivers but also suffocates wildlife, and contributes to environmental degradation.

Every year, millions of tons of single-use plastic is generated, with only a small fraction actually getting recycled. Poorly managed landfills are another significant contributor to massive methane emissions, accelerating global warming. Climate change mitigation goes hand-in-hand with the need to tackle plastic pollution. By adopting sustainable practices, promoting waste recycling and implementing effective policy changes, India can combat the climate crisis and work toward a cleaner, more resilient future for generations to come.

Climate change and global warming exacerbate not just environmental challenges but also negatively impact society and the economy.

Societal Effects: Climate change hits the most vulnerable sections of our society, the hardest. It severely affects rural communities, daily-wage laborers, and waste workers whose contribution to the crisis is limited. Climate change-induced rising temperatures and water scarcity have caused rampant livelihoods disruption and displacement. Case-in-point - "Environment Over Caste" campaign sheds light on waste workers like Deepak, who are often marginalized in society. While they play a critical role in tackling plastic pollution and waste recycling, societal biases and lack of recognition hinder their progress. Climate change worsens this inequity. Extreme heat, pollution, and unpredictable weather make waste collection more hazardous and challenging.

2. Environmental Effects: A significant contributor to climate change is the waste management crisis. A lack of good waste management practices in the population along with lack of proper infrastructure - has made landfills and garbage vulnerable points a very common sight across India. The lack of source segregation, which leads to mixed waste in landfills, has contributed unprecedented levels of methane into the atmosphere, which is a very potent greenhouse gas. Case-in-point - In the valley city of Dehradun, unmanaged waste is choking the lush beauty of the city.

At Waste Warriors, we are committed towards climate change mitigation through the setting-up of waste management systems and community activation. This success story from the "Our Journey Toward a Waste-Free World" campaign proves that local solutions can address global challenges. Plastic pollution is another significant contributor to climate change. From its production to its disposal, plastics significantly contribute to climate change. Rivers like the Ganges, lifelines for millions, are clogged with plastics that harm ecosystems and marine life.

Economic Consequences: The costs of inaction with respect to climate change mitigation has far-reaching consequences for the Indian economy. Climate change in India disrupts industries, livelihoods, and infrastructure, with agriculture being the hardest hit. Erratic rainfall, prolonged droughts, and rising temperatures reduce crop yields, directly affecting farmers' incomes. Natural disasters like floods and cyclones destroy infrastructure, causing economic losses worth billions and increasing public spending on recovery efforts.

A crisis as complex as climate change, requires us to build innovations that cater to systemic loopholes that have caused the problem in the first place. For example- in the field of Solid Waste Management, we at Waste Warriors, are evolving systemic solutions in consultation with the community to ensure that the solutions cater to the needs of the community and make them self-reliant in practicing proper waste management, providing them opportunities for economic transformation and environmental conservation.

Climate change is one of the biggest global challenges, which demands collective action. We believe that by empowering communities, breaking stigmas, and promoting innovative solutions, India can lead the fight against climate change. Our collective efforts can go a long way in ensuring that waste is dramatically reduced, and methane emissions are cut-down.

As we move forward in the battle against global warming, let’s remember the words of one of our warriors on the ground: “Change begins with small steps, but every step matters.”

Lend your support to our Sakhis here-

Read about our global collaborations on climate change mitigation - https://www.wastewarriors.org/conquering-times-square-with-the-warrior-spirit/

[yaimlight]

Prologue

The theory of how the world would finally come to an end has been the subject of heated discussion for many years, centuries even. Some believed that it would end in war, countries growing too greedy, too hateful and turning on one another until all that remained was an irradiated wasteland, rendered inhabitable by man’s own foolishness. Others believed that it would come when the sun finally died, exploding across the solar system and taking every planet with it. Then there were the ones who were convinced it would be a zombie apocalypse, a government experiment gone horribly wrong that would finally wipe humanity as it was known off the face of the planet. They were all wrong of course but it’s always nice to remember the hack theories of the past, they never fail to make people laugh.

The truth is a little more heartbreaking but to be expected. We, humanity that is, destroyed it. What with our chemicals and pollution, our lack of understanding or the ability to care for the world we were slowly poisoning. Not to mention the small case of over population, millions of people draining the earth’s resources without questioning what would happen when they ran out. We stood by and watched as we forced the world to its knees and then delivered a swift kick between the legs just for good measure.

By 2047 it had gotten so bad that we had little choice but to leave, abandoning our home planet and looking to the stars for refuge. One thousand great ships were built, arks designed to sustain the life of its crew and cargo for thirty years. It took almost forty years but eventually they were all ready, each one standing proud and waiting to carry the human race onward.

Governments promised that no person would be left behind, no living soul damned to the poisonous wasteland that was now earth. It wasn’t till centuries latter when someone finally managed to get inside the archives that the truth was brought to light. The old, sick and frail. The young and weak. The poor and uneducated. They were all left behind, abandoned, screaming and begging for some form of salvation but it never came. No one looked back, no one even felt any guilt over leaving their fellow man behind. In their desperation for survival they lost their humanity and some would say they never got it back.

The human race spread out across the stars, each ark heading in a different direction to search out a new planet to call their own amounts the vast black of space, each ship going further than any human had dared to go before. Eventually, when the ships numbers had dwindled down by almost half and with their supplies almost gone, one was found.

This planet, this new home was smaller than earth but had the same sort of atmosphere and climate. It had one sun, still relatively young and two moons, one of which was always visible in the sky no matter what time of day or night it was. It was a shimmering beacon of hope in the bleak endlessness of space, a chance for humanity to be reborn and was named according.

As was agreed a message of success was sent out into the stars but no other ark answered and after many years of failed attempts the search for the others was abandoned, the worst assumed. Great minds were lost, loved ones vanishing into the empty void of space but as the old earth saying goes; when one door closes another opens.and with the door to the past firmly shut the way forward opened up, humanity free to flourish once more.

It took no time at all for man to make their home amongst the sweeping landscapes of lush forests and crystal blue seas, learning from our forefathers mistakes. Great buildings like no one had seen before were constructed, great towers of metal and glass reaching up into the clear sky’s and glistening in the bright sun.

Technology advanced in a way that had only once existed insolence fiction but was now a reality. Cars that needed no road filled the sky’s, moving silently through the clouds like birds. Computer screens became a thing of the past, forgotten in favour of interactive holographic images and the computers themselves now so small they fit in the palm of your hand. Robotics advanced so much that most people would never know that the pretty girl that smiled at them every morning when they picked up their coffee was an Android, a swirling grinding mass of electronics and gears hidden behind soft skin and gentle eyes.

People were equals, religion forgotten in exchange for having faith in ourselves. People learnt to work together, to truly appreciate their fellow man and it was glorious. Humanity grew into a loving and peaceful race, the seemingly perfect society where no one man was better than the other, where no religion or opinion decided a nation. And so Renatus was born. The new earth. The second chance.

Centuries passed and soon the story of old earth became nothing more than a silly story to tell children at night, reminding them of the consequences of ignorance and greed. Not only on people but also the planet that had sustained our race for so long. But like the saying goes history had a bad habit of repeating itself and as it turns out perfect doesn’t last, if it was even there to start with.

Like our forefathers we found ourselves on the brink of war, a few men’s greed becoming more important than the well-being of the many. The once proud nation split down the middle, decided by their opinions and their own sense of entitlement. Friend turned on friend, father’s against sons and mother’s against their daughter’s. Family meant nothing now, everything that was becoming irrelevant in the harsh and all consuming reach of war.

The once peaceful streets ran red with the blood of the innocent and the guilty, the clear blue sky’s filled with the violent screams of battle and the pained cries of the bereaved, thousands of people were massacred in the space of a few days, burned in their homes to just cut down in the streets. Darkness consumed the world, shattering the souls of those who survived the first Great War but even amongst the darkest of times the shinning light of hope can still be found, gleaming like gold and calling those who were still willing to fight for their freedom to arms, to make a stand for what was right.

The Children of Renatus, or the COR as they were known as, swept through the cities liberating prisoners of war and bringing much needed aid to the people left in poverty, forced from their homes and left to fight for their survival on the streets. With every attack on the Senate, the Children of Renatus’s numbers swelled more and more, people finally daring to stand up against the tyrants that now ruled over the world and for a while it worked. It seemed like the COR were winning, beating back the Senate until they were on the cusp of winning but good things never do last.

Betrayed by their own leader who had been consumed by greed the location of their headquarters was given up. The COR were almost wiped out in the span of a few hours, taken by surprise and and unable to get the upper hand to defend themselves. Hundreds of men and women were slaughtered and those that were unlucky enough to survive were taken prisoner, a fate all knew was worse than death. Their screams could be heard throughout the Iustitia Praetorium as they were tortured to within an inch of their lives for information on those few who had slipped through the Senates grasp. Once they were broken, no longer the masters of their own. Ines they were publicly executed, a reminder to all that the Senate was all powerful and would always win. Resistance was futile and a,, that nonsense that went with it.

The remaining members of the COR slipped into hiding, scattering into the wind but slowly the Senate found the, eradicating them from existence. Eventually only one stronghold remained, hidden deep within the mountains of Spero. That one last small glimpse of light in the dark.

By order of the High Senate an army’s worth of men were dispatched, moving silently in the shadows of night, their intended target unaware of the hell that was about to rain down upon them. Death’s cold gaze watched them, waiting to strike and claim the souls that foolishly tried to outrun him. They hadn’t stood a chance.

I am a Child of Renatus and this is the story of how I died.