New preprint out! 'The "No Mid-Flight Energy" Principle: Operational Consistency and Ontological Implications for the Timeless Link Model (TLM)' – Exploring why photons have no tappable energy in transit, and how TLM makes this ontological. Aligns with QM but cuts the baggage. Check it: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo… #QuantumPhysics #TLM #physics This preprint examines the operational principle that no accessible store of usable energy exists in the "mid-flight" path of a single photon between emission and absorption. This fact, well-established in standard quantum mechanics and electromagnetism, aligns seamlessly with the Timeless Link Model (TLM), a relational interpretation positing photons as timeless instructions that bind emitter and absorber events without propagating entities. We demonstrate how TLM elevates this principle from an empirical observation to an ontological foundation, eliminating the need for in-transit energy carriers. Drawing on mathematical formulations like Mass-Delay Duality and connections to Wheeler-Feynman absorber theory, we explore alignments with standard physics, key differences, and testable implications for redshift, entanglement, and conservation in curved spacetimes. While not a definitive proof, this consistency positions TLM as a parsimonious alternative, potentially resolving foundational puzzles in quantum optics and cosmology. McKinley, J. C. W. (2025). The "No Mid-Flight Energy" Principle: Operational Consistency and Ontological Implications for the Timeless Light Model (TLM) (v1.1). Zenodo. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo…