Where The Road Ends

Back when I was studying interior glass design (like how you make those church windows and stuff), most of my schoolmates were a collection of the gayest looking alt girls considerably possible. Like my class year was about 8-12 people (depending on how you count) and in that section there were two that had a mohawk, two that had dreadlocks, and two that had blue hair. Notable mention to the one who was standing firmly in all three categories, having a blue dreadlock mohawk. But anyway I digress.

On my third year there, the new class of students had a girl who looked so wildly out of place there. Dressed all in soft vintage-y pastels with never-been-dyed sandy blonde hair, no piercings save for pearl earrings, no tattoos. Sweet, quiet, so soft-spoken that she was almost inaudible - to the point that we made jokes that we all have to learn sign language because it's the only way she could make herself heard in a rowdy art school classroom. If you've ever been in a zoo that had one of those tropical enclosures with parrots and monkeys all screaming at ear-shattering volumes and tackling each other for shits and giggles, imagine one of those rooms but there's a tiny little big-eyed white-dotted baby fawn sitting shyly in one corner.

Anyway this one time I was out with schoolmates, and she had come along. Having been at the bar for a few drinks, we retired to another classmate's place - she didn't live in the same student housing as I and most of the rest, she had her own apartment and an adorable pink hairless cat who was oddly extroverted and wanted to personally greet and inspect all guests. Didn't like me very much, on account of my hands being cold.

Anyway we sat in the living room - some on the sofa, some on the floor, drinking beers and other such beverages, talking random shit - when I noticed that Little Fawn Girl wasn't there. I knew she didn't smoke so she had definitely not snuck out for a quick one, so I had to go find her. That didn't take long, she was sitting at the hallway by the door, in the dark, with her shoulders hunched up and the hairless cat loudly purring on her lap. She was softly, very softly, petting the cat's smooth leathery skin.

Figuring she wouldn't be here if she'd want to make a scene of all this, I quietly got to her and asked if she's okay. She had tears running down her face and she was shaking, trying to draw a shivery breath to talk, clearly having difficulties to just form a sentence, not to mention also being audible over the loud rumbling engine of Pink Leather Therapy Goblin 3000 on her lap. Eventually, not being able to speak up any better, she leaned in to whisper into my ear.

but I'm hearing there's a NSFW-friendly ko-fi alternative built on atproto that's actively in the works, and being vetted by lawyers right now. as torrent-princess (OP) says, you should be able to swap out payment processors while keeping your account intact. this matters since even if stripe removes support, you'll still have a shop and all of your links intact. (ATproto is an infrastructure that bsky is built on, but is far bigger than bsky with far more opportunities.)

additionally, the Free Speech Coalition is working on a credit union specifically for adult work (including kink art) - here's the link so you can add your interest & support. Since this will be built by sex workers, there'll be far less risk of being debanked for spurious and puritanical reasons.

on a domain TLD level, there's an initiative here for a .furry domain built from the ground up by seasoned furries; it's unclear whether they'll support NSFW, but it's yet another promising turn of events for a group that's been similarly affected by censorship.

How are we more than halfway through 2026?! Wasn’t it just January yesterday? 🥴 Either way, each new month brings new positive news headlines, and July was no exception! ☀️ Come recap five good news stories from July! 🩵🌺🌊

1. ❤️‍🩹😷 Uganda has been declared free from Ebola!

Authorities in Uganda declared the country free of Ebola following the discharge of the country’s last patient! The country reported cases in May alongside its neighbor Democratic Republic of Congo, which continues to deal with the outbreak — Uganda, however, only ever recorded 20 cases and two deaths, with authorities finding no indication of further spread within the country! Uganda responded swiftly to the public health threat, including contact tracing and postponing potential superspreader events. Part of the reason the response was so successful was due to Uganda having experience in swiftly responding to health crises like Ebola. Uganda for now can breathe a sigh of relief as it continues to educate the public on prevention measures as well as send healthcare workers to Congo to help tackle the virus!

2. 📍🗺️ 7 natural wonders just became UNESCO World Heritage sites — and one country gained its very first!

These newly-christened landmarks highlight Earth’s cultural and natural diversity, from the massive ancient landscape of Greece’s Mount Olympus, to climate-resilient coral reefs in Jordan, to fossils in Denmark that provide clues into the evolution of life on Earth! Joining the World Heritage List’s 26 new sites for 2026, these natural landmarks include the first ever World Heritage site in South Sudan, which annually hosts the world’s largest land mammal migration of six million antelopes!

3. 🚫🧪 Sweden plans to ban all forever chemicals in everyday products by 2028!

PFAs, or “forever chemicals,” are synthetic chemicals that take thousands of years to degrade and pollute the environment, all while being linked to harmful health impacts. The ban’s prohibition of PFAs in commonly-used products like kitchen appliances, clothes, and cosmetics is a victory for both the environment and human health!

4. 💧🌱 Water is returning to the African Sahel!

Groundwater reserves are rising after decades of drought in the region, restoring water to dried water sources! While part of the shift unfortunately comes from increasingly stronger rainfall due to climate change, it is also largely in part to rain-water harvesting. From Ethiopia to Senegal, the drought of the 1970s and 1980s fueled hunger and disease, but as monsoons now grow stronger, today the region shows a vastly different story — near-extinct wildlife are resurging, farmers are planting thriving trees and harvesting higher-yielding crops, and wells and new ponds are filling! One of the most notable transformations can be seen in Lake Chad — one of Africa’s largest bodies of water before drying up during the droughts, the lake is now almost as big as in the 1960s, and is 10 times its mid-1980s size!

5. 💉🍼 Childhood immunization continues to grow globally!

Despite vaccine efforts being threatened by conflict and vaccine hesitancy, in 2025, 90% of infants globally received at least one dose of a diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine, and 85% completed the full three-dose series, an increase from 2024. Compared to 2024, the number of unvaccinated children with no doses fell by nearly 750,000! These numbers reflects the strides made in protecting children's health — in just the past 25 years, government investment, community efforts, and public trust have reduced the annual number of unvaccinated children by 40%!