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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The Marines are to be withdrawn from LA.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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Seeing as how the Big Beautiful Bill just passed, here's are some websites that offer discounts on medications:

- GoodRx

- SingleCare

- Pharmacy Checker

- WellRx - this one compares prices across different pharmacies

- Cost Plus - thanks to @thedamnqueenofhell for suggesting!

-NeedyMeds - a nonprofit that helps pay for prescriptions. Thank you to @allitdoesispause for the suggestion! They also suggested checking the manufacturers website for a paitent assistance program, which can give you a coupon for free or cheaper meds.

-Ask for a discount card - thank you to @cccshutdown for the reminder!

Stay safe, everyone. Things are about to get much, much worse in the US.

EDIT: if you're worried about doctor/therapy appointments, see if there's a sliding scale clinic near you (and ask your therapist if they offer sliding scale prices)

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Depressed at the state of the world? Think again...

Ways to feel happier in the face of constant bad news

Most of us have been guilty of 'doom-scrolling' at one point or another, but consuming too much bad news can cause very real mental health issues. Psychologists recognize conditions such as 'eco-anxiety' as a very real and growing issue, because people everywhere are feeling overwhelmed, powerless or hopeless after consuming too much news about climate change, species extinction, pollution, and ecological collapse.

So we can be forgiven for thinking, like so many generations throughout history, that the state of the world has never been so dire, and that it is approaching an existential brink. But the underlying facts paint a very different picture—one that gives us plenty of reasons to be hopeful.

For example, humans are often described as the most violent species on earth. Our capacity for war and cruelty is undeniable, but the hard data tells a more nuanced story. For primates, the average number of individuals killed by their own species is around 2%—you might think of this as a genetically-endowed baseline. During the Middle Ages, this figure for humans was around 12% (a time of superstition and hostility to rationality and science)—but since the Renaissance, this number has decreased to a global average of 1.3%. And in the safest, most stable societies, this number can be as low as 0.01%.

Year on year, we find better, evidenced-based ways of cooperating, using centuries of painstaking learning to find alternatives to the zero-sum game of 'might-is-right'.

In his book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, psychologist Steven Pinker argues that we are living in the most peaceful era of human history. He attributes this decline in violence to factors such as the rise of centralized governments, increased literacy, and the spread of values that emphasize human rights and empathy. He says:

“The decline of violence may be the most significant and least appreciated development in the history of our species.”

Indeed, as a general trend, armies globally are shrinking. And nuclear weapons have de-escalated from their peak in the 1960's from 60,000 warheads down to 10,000 today, and continue to fall.

And it's not just in warfare that we see changes. In 1820, 43% of children, globally, died before the age of five. Today, that figure is 3.7% and continues to fall year on year. In 1983, 42% of the world's population lived in extreme poverty. Today that figure is around 9% and falling.

In 1985, 37% of the world lived in a democracy. Now it's over 50%. And with advances such as human rights, votes for women, better access to education, health and information, comes greater cooperation, tolerance and living standards. In other words:

Bad news sells because it is shocking and immediate. Good news is often incremental, nuanced, or goes unnoticed, but—over time—is the more powerful force.

But what about the natural world? If you're like me, when asked about whale populations, the first thing that comes to mind are the shocking images of whaling ships and skinned carcasses that have been seared into my memory. Indeed, humpback whales were hunted to the point where they numbered less than 10,000. But following international cooperation of an unprecedented kind, humans, as a species, banned whaling. Now, slowly and quietly, humpbacks have recovered to pre-industrial numbers. Today, their population is estimated at around 135,000--that's more than there were in the year 1500.

And there are thousands of other stories like these.

We've all seen the upsetting images of industrial deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. We are not, however, regularly shown footage of trees growing, quietly in other parts of the world. But the data shows that from 1982 to 2016, global tree cover has actually expanded, by around 6%, due to global tree-planting initiatives, and people continuing to relocate to cities, leaving large swathes of land to be reclaimed by natural forest. That doesn't mean there isn't lots of work to be done in terms of the environment, or that the felling of ancient rainforests isn't a travesty, but we can be heartened from the fact that it isn't all doom and gloom.

Every year there are more than 9000 international conferences. People everywhere are coming together—often out of the spotlight—combining their expertise to find solutions to our biggest problems. Politicians, scientists, engineers, activists, angel investors, business leaders. A new treaty is signed here, a new initiative started there. And after a brief mention on the news these gigantic worldwide efforts—such as a 7000-mile green corridor to stop Sahara desertification—largely go unnoticed. But under the surface, things generally are getting better, all the time.

We all know the problems society and the world at large faces. Environmental, societal, economic and civil liberties. And yes, the last few years have brought more conflict, and more uncertainty. But it's important to balance that stream of bad news with knowledge about the good things that are happening, and that the overall trend is a positive one.

For those times when the state of the world is getting you down, two books I highly recommend reading are Beautiful News, by David McCandless, and Not the End of The World by Hannah Ritchie.

Habit change: If there's one change you can make to boost your overall happiness, it might be to restrict your daily news intake to perhaps once a week. A Sunday paper, or equivalent, for example. Believe me, you can still be just as informed about the most important current events, without having to consume the oft-repetitive coverage as it unfolds.

Since we know that news skews generally towards the negative, and that news outlets and social media expertly tap into our sense of outrage and anxiety, perhaps we can redress this imbalance by dedicating much of the time we spend doom-scrolling and instead commit to reading books that collate those less sensational, but more positive stories that are unfolding constantly, behind the scenes.

Reasons to feel happy... Though it may not always feel like it, the fact is that for a human beings in general, we are living in the safest, most enlightened period of time so far. Women's rights, life expectancy, medicine, education, living standards, knowledge, legislation to protect minorities, awareness of our impact on the environment—globally, these are at an all time high, and continue to improve as society progresses.

Yes, the current rise of anti-science populism may be causing schisms and uncertainty, but there are good people, all over the world, pulling together to continue to solve the problems that face us. It might not get always on the evening news, but be happy in the knowledge that it's happening.

Source: Depressed at the state of the world? Think again...

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Whenever someone complains about the $80 USD sticker price on new games, some folks like to bring up the fact that many Super Nintendo cartridges were retailing for the same price way back in the 90s.

The subtext of these observations is usually that AAA game prices have been effectively static for thirty years, so really, once you take inflation into account, AAA games are cheaper than ever.

A more pointed observation would be that, in spite of those thirty years of inflation, that $80 price tag has managed to become less affordable to the average gamer in 2025 than it was in 1995, which is an indictment that reaches much further than the AAA gaming industry.

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Look man, I don't know. There are a lot of fascist fuckwits trying their best to ruin everything for everyone right now. There have often been a lot of fascist fuckwits trying to ruin everything for everyone. Not to downplay the pain and trauma we're all feeling at having to struggle through this particular go-round when the future looks especially dark, but it's not exactly a new thing in human history. Alas.

There are still many, many people telling the fascist fuckwits to eat shit. There are still long green spring evenings and slow golden summer afternoons and winter nights and autumn leaves. There are still coffee shops and weird little bookstores and small businesses on sidewalks lined with flowered trees. There are still sunrises and sunsets and blue skies and ocean shores and mountains. Oh yes, there are still mountains, which I have an especial fondness for. High up there in thin air, you can see forever.

There are still Gay People In Your Phone and texts and in-jokes. There are your blorbos. There is still fic and fanart. There are still books and music and games and art. There is a lot of art. Even with the AI beast trying to gobble and commercialize everything, there's still art! There are still people who think using your own brain to do things is important! There are still universities and publishing houses and other places where it's our job to think about things that matter!

There is still work that feels fulfilling to do. There are still constant little moments of quiet and beauty and rest. There are still jaw-dropping pictures of nebulae and galaxies and the great immensity of space, as we continue to learn things we never knew before. And amid all those stars, there is still a tiny, beautiful, and vulnerable blue planet which we only get to live on for a very short time, and there are still kids who are counting on us to make sure they get to inherit it in some kind of recognizable form. There is still the weird fact that when you give someone a hug and sit with them for a while and tell them over and over that it will be okay, it actually feels like it might be okay. I think that all means something.

Doomerism is really easy right now. I get it. I honestly 100% do. But I also don't see any point whatsoever in throwing up our hands and letting said fascist fuckwits gleefully terrify us into submission and make us live in fear and act like they're the Actual Meaning of the World (they are not). They suck so incredibly hard, but they're also so small and so stupid and so ultimately insignificant. They will not define this particular moment if we don't let them, and if we stick around to make sure they don't. Fuck 'em. I believe in you.

Courage, etc.

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we got another good news roundup!

the fight is still on! don’t give up!

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wha t if oregon trail was called wagon age: oregons

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Guides to self-managed abortion:

Resources for medication:

Abortion fund and provider resources:

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Ooooh “Manfred this” and “Assan that” shut the fuck up and look at mud lizard. I love these fucking creatures

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idk I just think eluvian expert fade expert spirit expert blood magic expert elven gods expert merrill would have shut all this shit down instantaneously. they kept her from the narrative because she was too powerful

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Wait wait hold on what do you mean I’m gonna be playing Dragon Age the Veilguard for the first time and I won’t know the consequences of my actions until the conscies come quencing?

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I have many thoughts after that gameplay trailer, but this is the one I'll share for now.

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All of the Prehistoric Pride guys in one collective post to celebrate pride month. Choose your fighter and have an awesome time :D

More suggestions are always welcome, I sadly was not able to cover everyone, but I will do more of these in the future!

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my relationship with dragon age as a series is so twisted it’s like my ex-husband i divorced in the messiest way possible but i still have feelings for him nobody knows me like he does and we have occasional passionate love affairs still but also i daydream about killing him in his sleep quite often