I am a mosaic of everyone I have ever known and loved and touched and I find fragments of them in my playlists and how I make my tea. we may not know each other any more but we will stay connected like this. I hope a fragment of me is with you too.
“How many people have died to achieve this world domination of yours?” “769.” “…What?” “769 people died to achieve my plans. I counted them, and had each of their names etched on my throne so I never forget what my victory cost the world. Now tell me, how many have you killed to see me dead?”
"Hey, pretty girl," I murmured to the Púca I adopted when she was a small filly.
She grunted a quiet greeting before she came up to me. She grabbed a bit of the fabric on my shoulder and gave it a gentle tug.
"How long has it been since I last saw you?"
She whinnied but let go of my shoulder.
"Since yesterday?" I gave a fake frustrated sigh, "That's too long!" I hugged her around her neck. Her fur was coarser than that of other horses and ponies I've met but I wouldn't change anything about her. The other ones are nice but they aren't her.
She nudged me enough to take a small step back, reminding me why I originally came down to visit her.
"Do you want a snack?" I asked her. "Snack?"
She nuzzled me a bit harder.
"Which hand is the snack in?" She was always a smart girl.
She stood there for a moment before nudging my right shoulder. I rolled the apple to my right hand and held it out to her.
"Smart girl," I murmured as she ate the apple. I rubbed her ears just the way she likes it. "I'm going to talk to my big, fat, mean brother to see if I can't bring you into the court so I can give you all the love and rubs you want." I couldn't stop a soft chuckle. "He isn't big, fat, or mean."
The Púca I've known since she was a filly nickered in agreement. She's met my brother and likes him well enough but still doesn't like how he keeps her from me.
"You be nice to him the next time you see him, okay?" I murmured against her forehead.
A basic point of Solarpunk is it's focus on local communities. So, get to know your communities!
Local Politics
How does your local Govenment work? Who are the people involved in it?
What is the main political climate and view in your area?
What are the most active community organisations?
What are Grasrootmovements in your areas?
Are there known leftist organisations or communities?
Local Infrastrucure
Libraries and Archives
independent buisnesses like bakerys, bookstores etc
central community centres
Thrift stores
Nature preservation centres or organisations
Food kitchens
package-free and bulk stores
Local Newspapers
Bus lines and scedules
Bike repair shops
Queer Bars and Centres
Tailors and shoe repair shops
abandoned or empty buildings/ properites
Local History
How did people live in your area 50 Years ago? 100? 200? 500? What are their trades, culture, how did they get their food?
What is the geological and ecological history of your area? The quality of the soil? The availability of water? Local Plants?
What are some major historical events your area went through? How did they shape the peoples point of view?
What are the oldest buildings in Town? Research the architecture and building materials, as they commonly are localy sourced and help with sustainable building in your area!
These are just some ideas so please feel free to add!
We were at the base of a stone tree made by men. The tree had stiff branches all the way at the top. But what held the attention of the man beside me was a stone in the tree. There were markings but I couldn't understand them.
"What do they say?" I asked before I reached out.
He took my hand as gentle as he could.
"It says, 'Bitter are the wars between brothers.' It is a proverb from ages past."
"But why is it here?" There was an unspeakable pain in his eyes. Why was he hurt? Was it because of the proverb?
"The king put this here as a reminder of what happened, I imagine," he answered, leading me away after taking one last good look at the stone.
"Why are there so many sunflowers, especially by the boarders?" my stranger asked when we passed a field of some bowing sunflowers.
"There's some bad magic, I don't know what, that the king has tried to protect the kingdom from. But everything he tried didn't work. Ages ago, the mages who used the magic I use figured out that sunflowers were the best defense."
"Did they ever tell the king what they found out?"
I knew he was looking at me but I couldn't tell which he was more concerned for - me or if the king found out sunflowers were good protectors against magic in general.
I stopped to look over the elderly sunflower field. They should be getting ready to go to seed so the next generation could defend the kingdom. But that also means that I have to work in some black gold deep into the soil for them.
"No. They never told him and he never found out," I solemnly stated. It's just not how we were.
The young mage whimpered in my arms when the first soldier passed by our hiding spot. It had been awhile and I'd have to be careful not to overdo it.
Taking a calming breath, I pulled her closer to me and pulled the light from the area, bathing our spot in shadow.
A few men stopped and started going over the area. The metal in their shoes and legs were deafeningly loud.
I tugged the mage closer to me still. I could feel her erratic heartbeat as we waited for our fate.
They had moved to another section of the surrounding wooded area before they were suddenly called back to where they came from.
When they were gone, I allowed the mage to go.
"What caused them to go back?" she asked me.
How could I answer? I had a feeling I knew but didn't want to scare the poor girl.
"They might be getting ready to rotate the guards," I offered, "and they might be the replacements."
She seemed satisfied with my answer.
"Come on, we're almost to the capital," I encouraged her, not so subtle about the change of subject.
something that i will always remember of technoblade is how he was kind just for the sake of it.
i will remember him claiming the monopoly sound was too loud for him to hear wilbur when he spoke of techno staying up all night to comfort him when he was sick. i will remember him taking the time to add watermarks for his artists when they themselves forgot. i will remember niki and sophie saying how he always somehow made sure they never felt excluded or neglected and how he would hate it, it would embarrass him when they spoke of his kindness publicly. i will remember him personally dming ponk to thank them for sending a 45-minute video of someone feeding hotdogs to raccoons in chat and timestamping his favorite part. i will remember his love for the people who created for him, how he would keep his mentions on for everyone before his fanart tag was formed and would just scroll and scroll to make sure not to miss any art someone made for him. i will remember half his friends and peers having some kind of a story of him reaching out to them during tough days, reassuring them, believing in them, making them feel loved.
i will remember him in every act of kindness i receive and i will remember him during times in my life when i will need to remind myself to be kind despite it all.
I looked down at the young boy my brother found in the streets with no one to care for him and I wondered how he could sleep through such an earth - shattering thunderstorm.
What had he been through for this to be peaceful?
Or is it the fact that he was finally safe that kept him calm?
The only thing I've seen about this kid is his autumnal colored hair.
The Northern Vulpes is always the first constellation to appear in the autumn sky. I loved how the kids would create stories for each other about how mischievous or clever or generous it was to the other constellations.
During one of the celestial festivals, the moon released some animals that looked like the Northern Vulpes. They had illuminated pelts that even shone in the day.
Coyotes had warm colors while the wolves, who were much larger like real wolves, had cooler tones.
The children loved them. Some preferred the coyotes while others preferred the wolves.
Over the years, some of those beings just… ran away. This was a couple hundred years ago, though. There have been sightings of some but the beings always run off before anything can be done.
Mostly, though, they don't bother us and we don't bother them.