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"If you ever feel heavy because you care deeply about injustice, suffering, and ecological destruction, remember that a trillion dollar propaganda machine was built to make you numb and it didn't work on you"

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"Fifteen years ago, solar power was nearly four times the cost of fossil fuel alternatives. 

For context, 2010 was back when the iPad was first released, Instagram was launched, and “TiK ToK” by Kesha was the number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. 

Needless to say, a lot can change in 15 years — including the affordability of solar power. 

According to two new United Nations reports, renewable energy has passed a “positive tipping point,” and solar power is now 41% cheaper than fossil fuels.

“The fossil fuel age is flailing and failing,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a speech on July 22, as the reports were released. “We are in the dawn of a new energy era. An era where cheap, clean, abundant energy powers a world rich in economic opportunity.”

“The sun is rising on a clean energy age. Just follow the money,” Guterres said frankly, pointing to the figures in the reports which found that green energy outpaced fossil fuel investments by $800 billion in 2024 alone. 

Last year is evidence of a decade-long trend towards renewable energy — despite federal attempts to slash it under Trump’s second presidency. 

“The year 2015 marked a turning point in global climate governance, with the adoption of the landmark Paris Agreement at COP21,” One report, titled “Seizing the moment of opportunity” said, in reference to the promise 195 countries pledged to hold the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius. 

“The cost of utility-scale solar PV has fallen by 80–90% each decade since 1960, whereas the costs of fossil fuels are highly volatile and show no long-term decrease,” it continued. 

“New solar PV has been undercutting new coal- and gas-fired power plants in most of the world for six years, and the gap in their average lifetime electricity generation costs continues to widen in favour of solar. Meanwhile, global manufacturing capacity of renewable energy technologies is outstripping demand: Announced solar PV and battery projects can already cover the global deployment needs of the tripling renewable capacity by 2030 goal.” 

For example, the report noted, electric vehicles are up from 500,000 to 17 million since 2015. 

Other astounding figures from the UN reports stated a 74% growth in electricity generated globally from wind, solar, and other green sources — just in the last year. 

And 92.5% of all new electricity capacity added to the grid worldwide came from renewables in the same time frame. 

“Countries that cling to fossil fuels are not protecting their economies, they are sabotaging them,” Guterres said in his speech, pointing to countries like China, India, and the United States, which still rely heavily on coal, oil, and natural gas.

“[They’re] driving up costs, undermining competitiveness, locking in stranded assets.” 

Guterres’ impassioned speech came to a head as he said that there is security in renewable energy. 

“There are no price spikes for sunlight,” he said. “No embargoes on wind.” 

“This is not inevitable. We have the tools, the instruments, the capacity to change course,” Guterres said. “There are reasons to be hopeful.”"

-via GoodGoodGood, July 26, 2025

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"Dora Richter, the first person to receive gender-affirming surgery, was presumed to have died under nazi rule. Now we know that she survived and died as an old woman in 1966."

Some good trans history news!

Dora Richter is considered an important pioneer. She was the first trans* person to undergo gender reassignment surgery. Her medical journey has long been well documented. Between 1923 and 1931, she underwent several groundbreaking operations in Berlin. Little by little, her body was adapted to the feelings inside her.

Little is known about Dora Richter as a person. What she was like, what she liked. Only a few details are documented. She was very involved in handicrafts. A photo shows Dora Richter at the bobbin lace sack, taken at the Institute for Sexology on Beethovenstrasse. Dora worked there in the household during the Weimar Republic. She was friends with the founder of the institute, doctor and scientist Magnus Hirschfeld. He affectionately called her "Dorchen". Her life story and her will broadened his perspective on people who do not identify with the gender assigned to them at birth.

She survived the war and evaded persecution by the Nazis. Dora went to Bohemia in the 1930s, to her hometown of Seifen.

[She was] known for her handbag. A pigeon always sat in it, like in a nest. The lady was rarely seen without her bag. Now and then she dropped some food into it, several people in town say. Dora Richter was also often in a good mood. But that was a long time ago, they keep saying.

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Oh wow... I see why he passed before as well, he has a handsome jaw on him. (I read his book "Becoming a visible man: Second Edition" which was really helpful both in the viewpoints it gave, and helping me figure out what I wanted with my own body and comfort)

He... wow... I look forward to the day I am just... and old man, happy and proud and an old man because I lived to be old.

Trans activist Jamison Green's passport photos before and after HRT. Left he's age 32 (1980) Right age 41 (1989) after being on testosterone for one year (x)

(read his autobiography here for free)

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Real question from my sibling:

Do transformers have life insurance, or auto insurance?

My answer:

In the United States? They would probably be required to have both, but both policies would back out when they use them.

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Good US news because I think we all could use some of it:

The Marines are to be withdrawn from LA. The extreme escalation many of us feared did not happen thanks to the people of LA and the soldiers themselves who said "no".

The "Good Trouble Lives On" protests may not have been as big as the previous "Hands Off" and "No Kings" protests (likely due to heat + being planned on a weekday), but still 1.6k protests were held across the USA with thousands joining in with the peaceful protest.

The Trump administration has been ordered to restore $6.2 million in grant funding to nine LGBTQ+ and HIV-related nonprofits. This is fantastic.

Pittsburgh City Council has passed bills to protect its LGBTQ+ citizens.

California has stepped up to partner with and support The Trevor Project. Let's go, Cali!

Another win for California: Reports show that California is powered by two-thirds clean energy. This is a historic first and it keeps getting better!

The ACLU of Louisiana has secured the release of two wrongfully detained Iranian LSU students.

The Republican governor of New Hampshire has defied her party and shot down a book banning bill.

Shareholders have pushed back on corporations' anti-DEI proposals, forcing companies to face the fact that diversity is good for business... And reminds us that the majority does not agree with the removal of DEI, no matter what MAGA wants us to believe.

Since November, 69 of the 110 Supreme Court lawyers tasked with defending the Trump admin's policies have quit.

Don't let anyone tell you that there isn't hope, that there aren't people fighting and working and just as scared and angry as you are. You are not alone. Peaceful protests, contacting reps, and simple non-cooperation is how we sustainably and successfully push back against authoritarianism.

"We're cooked" is the devil talking. Giving up, rolling over, and perpetuating the idea that we've already failed is exactly what MAGA wants. Don't give them the satisfaction. Don't make it easy. Continue to look after each other and support your communities where you can. Keep protesting, keep calling, keep writing, keep loving. The heart is a muscle the size of your fist; we can get through this as long as we continue to stand up and say "no".

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"If you stand for nothing Burr, than what will you fall for?"

I think about this quote alot. When I struggle to sleep and nihilism wracks my chest, hopelessness pushing me down.

I could give up. Hope for nothing. See only horror and pain and forget the joy.

But... then what am I falling for? A belief that there is nothing to do? Disassociation given a philosophy?

I can't. I can't do that. Because through the worst, most terrible moments of my life, when I was at my most nihilist, there was someone there for me who never gave up hope. And I though they were stupid and idiotic.

But here's the catch: they knew what they stood for. They believed in kindness, in helping others and firm boundaries that benefit everyone. When life fell apart at their feet they let themselves cry and feel. But they never let go. They cried because it hurt and they stood up again because they knew there was still so much left for them, even through the pain.

It always confounded me. How they had such a deep, ingrained belief that "life is worth it". All parts of life. The highs, the lows, and most of all the mediocre.

I think I am starting to understand now.

I'll never be as joyous as them, but that's okay. Because joy isn't the point. Its sitting in all the parts of life and realizing how grateful I am. And sometimes that sounds crazy.

How can I be grateful that my loved one has died? That my house had a fire or the seizures that took my right to drive...

This pain. This pain comes from that love. I am so grateful for every moment I had, and I will let myself cry, even though its been years, because I loved them and all this pain, is because I remember all that joy. I am happy and sad and want to talk to them again. And I am so grateful I knew them, in this life.

My house is burned, but I am still alive. It was chaotic and horrible and by god I still feel helpless but by god I am still alive. I saw the one who always smiles break down, and then they did the next step. And the next. As the world was crazy and pain and they cried they still kept going forward. And I did too. This is not the end. And throughout that, others kindness supported us. How can I not be grateful, when it was people, humans, who chose to volunteer, to start organizations and non-profits that help so many?

I can't drive and that makes me frustrated and angry. By god I hate it. But by the gods I won't let this be the thing to turn me spiteful. I can be frustrated and keep going forward. I can be angry and still find a reason to accept it.

If you stand for nothing, what do you fall for?

I want to stand for joy. For hope and kindness. Not in some great way, for I am not great.

But in the mediocre. In a smile and help. In sparing money when I can, in volunteering. In believing that humanity, that people, the complexities of this earth, are worth living for. That there is more kindness than hate that humans can dream of.

That I can add to that.

I can donate blood, to help someone I'll never meet. I can make gifts to show people I care, and write stories that might reach one other person in this world.

I can add to the kindness and softness in the world.

And that will be enough.

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Hope is punk, and I will hold that to my chest until the day I see the stars twinkle for the last time.

The world is scary, terrifying even.

It is also beautiful, and full of so much hope. Even in the horror I see the kindness of ordinary people who care and I remember...

There is so much worth living for. Worth fighting for.

People always ask: Would you die for a cause you believe in?

I'll add to that.

Would you live? Would you hold on to hope and live to see it through? Would you live, exist in all your complexities that make you... you?

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Question: I am writing a dark Soulmates fanfic, where their bond causes Hawks to be more dubious, and Dabi less violent. (Their very opposite morals merging basically.)

I know how I plan on writing this from Hawks side,

But I need help figuring out ways Dabi would change. Perhaps a sense of hope again? A core tenet of his character (canon) seems to be nihilism, so giving him hope would also allow him to have wants again.

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favorite character from any media BUT it has to be a woman. in the tags now go (pls talk to me about your favorite fictional women pls pls pls pls)

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There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book.

Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.

-Oscar Wilde, The picture of dorian gray

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Hi! It seems like you've developed a very specific idea of What Art Must Do and now you spend your time getting angry at art you consume that doesn't fit your expected formula of What Art Should Be! Have you considered applying Art Has No Rules and Not All Art Is For You Specifically to the problem? It might help you!

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Of Sons and Daughters and Other Such Things

For @transtimdrakeweek 2025!

Days 1,2, and 3

Fanfic for the art (written by the amazing @rbundollie ):

https://archiveofourown.org/works/67503296

Prompts used:

-Childhood

-Coming Out

-Gala/Formal Event

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I think one of the most damaging ideologies towards children is the conviction that having children isn’t a calling but a moral obligation.

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This! Yes!

She did her best to survive, and even then, she chose to help her brother when she could... when she did NOT need too.

And this was never acknowledged by Zuko and used against her.

I *hate* when people say she is evil, and forget that she was 14. Fourteen years old.

She would have been around 11 when she saw her own father banish Zuko.

She was a little kid when she saw her mother banished trying to save Zuko. She knows, better than anyone, the cost of sympathy.

She also knows that while others had a safe person, it was up to her to keep herself safe.

Srs. Zuko had his mother, and then Iroh.

Azula had.... not even her father, although her father was the basis her safety hinged on.

I full believe part of her mother not caring for her, was a combination of post-partum depression and the fact that Azula looks just like Ozai.

Whereas Zuko looked different enough that Ozai was easily led to believe that Zuko was a bastard.

And Azula looking like her father would explain her mother's quickness to call Azula a 'monster'. Imagine growing up, and your mother flinched when she sees you. Because you look like your father. I believe their mother did her best, but her best was still not enough. And that's understandable.

I think that play a big part into the mirror scene, where Azula see's her mother. Her father betrayed her. The one person she had left. Her own friends, people she surrounded herself with to 'feel safe', and whom she interacted with following the rules she was taught to survive, betrayed her.

And her mother? The person who should have loved her?

All she remembers is how her mother looked at her and saw a monster.

(I love Azula's complex character so much, alot more then Zuko's actually.)

the crucial fact of zuko and azula's relationship that makes it so insanely compelling is not the tried and true facets of siblings on opposite sides of a war, sibling rivalry turned murderous, or siblings who are divided by their parents' favoritism; it's the fact that despite being the older sibling, zuko is the one who doesn't care about azula while azula cares about him even when it goes against her best interest to do so. i think this makes a lot of people who want to see zuko through the fanon lens of this awkward turtle duck who's just doing his best and isn't super angry and volatile deeply uncomfortable because it so directly contradicts that reading of him unless they completely strip azula of her sympathetic and human traits. but that reading is not only unsupported by canon, it's boring.

the truth is that azula cares about zuko (in a very distorted way given how her upbringing and trauma restrict her ability to express it in a way anywhere in the area code of healthy) to the extent that because she chooses him over herself in bringing him home (because it is an insane retcon that implies she is near omnipotent to say she knew for certain the avatar was not really dead and was just going to scapegoat zuko, not to mention it makes very little sense and is, again, boring), she loses everything. and zuko cares so little for azula that he only feels anything remotely close to grief about it all when he sees just how badly she's hurting.

as much as i think his redemption arc leaves to be desired in terms of the political implications of it, zuko does have a good heart. he does want to do the right thing. it's just that azula has always been his blind spot, and that makes their relationship so much more interesting.

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And adding that next to the Bats trained stealthiness...

It would be funny if the Kryptonians are constantly spooked by a Bat showing up next to them, and then realize that the bat... had been next to them for hours.

I feel like it might become a challenge. How long can a Bat walk next to a kryptonian without them noticing?

(Cass wins, of course. )

(I imagine supes walking into a JL meeting, yawning, and wondering why everyone is staring at him when Bruce kindly asks Cass to get off of Supes back. That she was clinging too this whole time. Setting the record at 18 hours. Supes nearly had a heart attack when this grown adult Bat/entity jumped off of him and latched onto the back of Bruce's chair to glare at everyone.)

Tim : I have an idea.

Kon, turns in fear : Where did you come from ?

Tim : Kon, I've been walking next to you this entire time.

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Artfight Attack against @nullsleepy

(Going back to traditional art for my attacks this year)