#and then there's gay mom for the press conference

[hilsoncrater]

not ted melancholy about leaving, sitting in the press room alone. not trent happening to find him there, "of all the press rooms." (it's funny because there's only one, but they're sad when they're laughing.) not them getting an actual one-on-one fucking conversation this season

Also, while ted's future's up in the air. I'm begging ted to also ask about trent's future. because trent's also on the precipice of leaving, with a big who knows the fuck what waiting for him (other than, like ted, his child). they've both found community at richmond, and they're both at a point where they might feel like they have to leave it all behind. just someone (ted) ask trent what he's doing after this book. and please let there be a good answer to that

all of this!! let them confide in and comfort each other. because they're both at this crossroads of What Is Next, sort of like that robert frost poem ted referenced in ep 7.

"Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."

and i 100% agree, they need to have a one-on-one conversation again onscreen. an actual heart-to-heart, because we haven't been privy to that since episode 2.

of course we see them onscreen having these types of private conversations such as here:

and yet we the viewer are never invited in on them.

which is bonkers to me because these two are constantly implied & shown to have grown close to each other throughout the season.

ted letting trent sit-in on the parent-teacher conference.

"hello, ted" "hello, trent" with nothing for roy or beard

ted and trent participating together at girl talk with rebecca.

trent introducing himself to ted's mom

ted actively engaging & being endeared with trent's enthusiastic dork side

ted instinctively filling trent's mug with liquor first, trent instinctively holding his mug to ted. familiar-like, routine-like

we can see trent's crush on ted from space. he's practically singing about it. but on the quieter side, there are all these little heart eye moments ted has for trent, too. they add up. all of ted's gay praises on men & men's physiques (robert redford, oscar wilde, hair, facial hair, clothes, etc) can be read as a subconscious link to trent. it's subtle. it's all blink-and-you-miss-it.

which makes me wonder — since Ted Lasso is in ted's character viewpoint for his scenes — is the reason we haven't seen any of the one-on-one conversations he has with trent (which DO happen offscreen) a reflection on ted? what i mean by that is, are we not fully seeing trent, and the nature of ted's relationship with trent, because ted himself isn't ready to share? to come out? or to even allow himself to recognize what he could potentially be feeling? out of sight (offscreen), out of mind?

we see this storytelling technique be used with colin. how we don't see him come out to the team because that is not what he wanted as a character. his main concern wasn't "i'm gay" it was "how will the team react?". and so to honor his wishes, the team's reaction is what was shown onscreen. the show gave colin's character agency and it gave him privacy, too.

so maybe, hopefully, we will get another one-on-one scene with ted and trent. and this time ted will be ready to share, and this time we get to see their dynamic at full scope instead of these glimpses throughout the season

#im so Normal i swear #ted lasso #trent crimm #tedependent #tedtrent

[mariacallous]

Support groups for parents of LGBTQ+ children have existed in Russia since at least the early 2010s — though it’s more accurate to call them mothers’ groups: in over 13 years of existence, no fathers have joined. Over the past decade, LGBTQ+ rights in Russia have been increasingly under attack, with more and more anti-LGBTQ+ legislation passed. On November 30, 2023, the Russian Supreme Court classified anything to do with the so-called “international LGBT movement” as “extremism,” effectively putting parents under threat of criminal prosecution for caring for their LGBTQ+ children. Two mothers who’ve been part of the LGBTQ+ parent community in Russia for the past decade agreed to speak with Verstka about how they’ve tried to protect their children and fight for their rights in the face of increasing hatred. Meduza shares a retelling in English.

The names of the people in this story who are still in Russia have been changed for safety reasons.

Svetlana

Sixty-two-year-old Svetlana from St. Petersburg raised her son, Yevgeny, as a single parent. Yevgeny, who passed away a few years ago, came out to his mom as gay in the summer of 2009 when he was 22 years old. Svetlana took the news calmly, though she still thought her son should get married and have children. Yevgeny brought home pamphlets from psychologists with answers to common questions that parents of LGBTQ+ children might have. Svetlana read them. “My main conclusion was that a person is born gay. That was enough for me, that it’s not an illness,” she says.

Six months after Yevgeny came out, he and his mom went on vacation together with a gay couple. Svetlana says it already felt completely normal to see two men together. “In that moment, I thought to myself, it would be good if Yevgeny had someone too,” she recalls. That’s usually how it is, she adds: “A parent accepts their child after six months.” Only a few accept their child’s sexuality right away.

On Svetlana’s living room wall, there’s a photo collage of her son and his friends in rainbow colors. Among them are many well-known St. Petersburg LGBTQ+ activists of the 2010s. Yevgeny didn’t hide the fact that he was gay and spent most of his life advocating for LGBTQ+ rights.

Svetlana’s acceptance of her son’s sexuality soon evolved into activism of her own. At an LGBTQ+ festival in St. Petersburg, she saw a screening of Prayers for Bobby, a film which tells the story of a religious mother and her gay son, Bobby, who ultimately takes his life when his mother and the Church refuse to accept him. After his death, Bobby’s mother questions her beliefs and becomes an activist for the U.S. organization Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). Following the screening, there was a discussion with parents of LGBTQ+ children. Svetlana and another mom participated. When asked if they wanted a community like PFLAG in Russia, they said yes.

The first meeting took place in St. Petersburg in January 2011. Svetlana says about seven mothers came — fathers never attended. At the time, they didn’t plan anything political; they just gathered to support each other. In late March 2011, at a press conference, Svetlana, Yevgeny, and Russian LGBT Network founder Igor Kochetkov said that if someone tried to restrict LGBTQ+ people’s rights, they’d appeal to the authorities. Soon, though, conservative United Russia politician and anti-LGBTQ+ rights crusader Vitaly Milonov, then a member of St. Petersburg’s Legislative Assembly, proposed a regional ban on “LGBT propaganda” among minors.

At first, activists still had hope they could stop the bill. LGBTQ+ youth and their moms came and held signs outside the Legislative Assembly. But on March 7, 2012, the law passed. Gradually, more and more mothers began to join the protests. “Anya, the mom of an LGBTQ+ kid from St. Petersburg, used to break dishes, but then she became an activist. There was also a mom of a transgender child; it took her a while, but then she came out holding a sign,” Svetlana recalls.

In 2012, mothers started marching at pride events. While now it seems almost unimaginable, a pride event in 2013 was actually authorized by the authorities. This didn’t protect the activists, though. One person had their face severely beaten, and everyone there was arrested. Svetlana says that even elderly mothers were shoved “very roughly” into a police van. At annual May Day pride marches, police always arrested participants and crowds shouted homophobic phrases. “In 2013, they threw rocks, feces, and rotten eggs at us and shouted all sorts of things. I won’t even quote what they were saying. You feel what hatred your son or daughter faces, and it’s very painful.”

At the beginning of his activism, Yevgeny took an aggressive stance against homophobic legislative initiatives, but after some time, he started to retreat inward and close himself off. “[When Yevgeny passed], he took with him an era where there was hope,” says Svetlana. She believes if he were still alive today, he would find the new repressions unbearable. “So many years of struggle, and all for nothing.”

Tamara

Tamara joined the St. Petersburg parent support group in 2020 when meetings were moved online because of COVID-19 restrictions. She lives in Moscow, but, as far as she knows, there weren’t any similar groups there. Tamara is 74, born during Stalin’s era. “This isn’t my first president,” she says. In the past, everyone in her social circle knew about LGBTQ+ people, but almost no one talked about them — and if they did, it was only when discussing celebrities. In 2016, Tamara learned that her youngest son, Fyodor, is gay. At the time, he was 30 years old. His father found out later.

Fyodor’s partner, Alexey, is four years older than him but looks younger, says Tamara. Despite their differences (Fyodor is a physicist and Alexey is a hairdresser), they share a lot of common interests, including a love of opera. “But most importantly, they know how to compromise with each other,” Tamara adds.

Alexey moved to Moscow with his mother as a teenager after he was attacked for being gay. “Well, that’s who he was, you could tell. There was an attempt on the child’s life. His mom left everything behind and they came to Moscow. Basically, to nowhere. Where could she turn? Who would help?” Tamara says.

Tamara had suspected that her son was gay but was afraid to ask, and he was afraid to tell her. Fyodor struggled with his identity for a long time and tried dating girls. After her son came out, Tamara says she “went through the whole journey parents go through.” “Honestly, at first, my world just collapsed. I didn’t know what to do,” she recalls. More than anything, she worried about how others might treat him. Fyodor did science outreach work with young people; he’d even received awards for it from the mayor. “I was afraid he would be completely banned if anyone, God forbid, found out.” Tamara also says that Vladimir, Fyodor’s father, often made homophobic comments: “Once, he was sitting, watching TV, and he said, ‘It’s all those LGBT people’s fault!’”

Then, Fyodor told his mom he wanted to introduce his boyfriend to the family. “Okay, don’t worry, everything will be fine,” she answered. But internally, she panicked, thinking of how her husband might react. It only got worse when she searched for information about LGBTQ+ people on the Internet and found hate groups. Eventually, she told her husband — and her fears proved unfounded. “Why are you worried?” he said. “You’ve always been tolerant. It is what it is.” Afterward, he wanted to meet his son’s boyfriend. Tamara says the meeting “went well.” Fyodor’s older brother also took the news well. He’s over 50, with his own family — on holidays they all get together with Alexey and Fyodor.

When people inquire if Fyodor has a wife or girlfriend, Tamara doesn’t know how to answer. Once, an acquaintance asked, “Does Fyodor have someone?” and she replied with relief, “Yes, he does.” “How long can one go on like this?” Tamara questions. “It’s very hard to always pretend.” She shared the news about her son and his partner with the people close to her, and everyone took it well. Now, she wonders why these conversations are taboo: “Parents are also in the closet, right? I ask other people about their kids. They all grew up right before our eyes. Why can’t I talk about mine? In our society, kids come out of the closet, but parents go in.”

On online support groups for parents of LGBTQ+ children, Tamara heard other parents’ stories and “saw moms leading completely normal lives.” Some mothers came in tears, saying: “We don't understand what this is. We’ve never heard of it before.” This was especially true for moms of transgender children. “It's hard to imagine what life is like for them now [after the crackdown on LGBTQ+ people],” says Tamara.

Children themselves also came to the groups, worried about how to tell their families. “Some do come out, but their parents don’t accept them. How can we help? How long can you live in secret? It's impossible,” Tamara says. “I know what my child went through. We had a conversation, and he told me: ‘If only you knew how much I needed support.’”

‘How can I make sure my child survives this?’

It’s estimated that LGBTQ+ people make up between 5 to 10 percent of any given society. This means that in Russia, there are at least 7 to 15 million LGBTQ+ individuals and up to 14 to 30 million parents of LGBTQ+ people.

According to kris pokrytan, a psychologist with the Plus Golos project (which mainly supports Russian-speaking families), parents of LGBTQ+ children often go through an acceptance process that isn’t linear or logical. Sometimes, there’s a “mourning period” before they come to terms with their child’s identity. But pokrytan stresses that there’s no one way to process things and not all parents grieve: “For a number of parents, [their child’s] coming out isn’t associated with a feeling of loss. Instead, there can be increased anxiety — where the parent is ready to accept [their child’s identity] but realizes there might be problems at school.”

Psychologists try to support the whole family: a child might feel relief after coming out, whereas a parent might sink into worry about how difficult life may now be — a fear only exacerbated by Russia’s latest anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. What’s dangerous is when parents show their child rejection as they navigate their own feelings. “It’s very difficult when a parent becomes unhappy with who you are,” says pokrytan. It’s possible to help work through stereotypes parents might have, but if they believe they can change who their child is, there’s very little psychologists can do.

Fathers in Russia are far less likely to accept their LGBTQ+ children than mothers, according to pokrytan. When a child comes out, their mom or dad also gets a new identity: the parent of an LGBTQ+ child. Everyone copes with this differently, but Russian fathers often don’t cope at all. The exceptions are few and far between.

After the Russian Supreme Court declared the so-called “international LGBT movement” an extremist organization, fewer people started reaching out to pokrytan. When they do, their questions are filled with a new urgency and fear: “How can I make sure my child survives this? How do we stay out of trouble with the authorities and take care of our mental health?”

‘May your love be infinite’

Fyodor and Alexey come home carrying a New Year’s tree, interrupting the interview. “What if we hadn’t welcomed them?” Tamara reflects. How would our traditions have continued? I think our son would be with us, certainly, but his beloved person, whom he’s been with for many years, wouldn’t be here. That’s a pretty strange thought.”

Tamara’s family puts on a play every New Year’s. “Alexey was very shy the first time, but now he’s gotten the hang of it,” Tamara says. “He called yesterday and said he’d invited his cousin and cousin’s girlfriend to the gathering, and also his friend and her two children. Of course, my older son and his wife and kid will be there too, as well as my husband’s sister. I’ve already assigned the roles.”

The family also organizes pride celebrations at home. At one, they held a symbolic wedding ceremony for Fyodor and Alexey. “Back then, I didn’t realize how serious it was for them. Alexey even cried, and they still wear the rings.” The speech Tamara gave at the ceremony ends with the following words: 

Fate has awarded you its greatest gift — the kind of love that all seek, but only the chosen find. Its tremendous strength gives meaning to life and helps overcome difficulties and conquer any mountains. May your love be infinite. And as for whom and how to love, that’s a personal matter.

After the Supreme Court’s ruling, Alexey’s mom thought her son and Fyodor should leave the country. However, they’ve decided to stay for now. Reflecting on the court’s decision, Tamara says it’s “convenient for propaganda to use LGBTQ+ people as a tool to distract society from real problems.”

Both Svetlana and Tamara say they’re afraid for LGBTQ+ people, not for themselves. Since the new law came into effect, Svetlana says, everyone’s become occupied with figuring out how to survive, whether or not they should leave, and the feeling of community has been somewhat lost. She worries for the young activists: “You feel like you can’t help in any way.”

Tamara says it’s painful to see the situation in Russia growing worse and worse: “I think, why don’t people come to their senses? These are absurd decisions. For what? What are we suffering for? I say ‘we’ because we suffer too. I suffer along with my children. I’m not afraid for myself — nothing will happen to me. I’m only afraid for my children.”

[little2nerdy]

thoughts after my first RWRB watch-through (SPOILERS!)

obviously, adaptations can't always be 100% faithful if they want to be less than like five hours long so there are things i wish had been there, however! this is my new comfort movie and i will be forcing everyone i know to watch it for the foreseeable future. here are some of my thoughts - there will be more.

things i loved

i loved the easter eggs from the book - lines taken straight from the page *chefs kiss*

Uma Thurman as president. need i say more?

the closet scene at the hospital

cornbread

the texts being read aloud and them being there but not really being there? ugh, i love.

the entire new year's party was so fucking good ("did he just say till the sweat drop down my balls?" - hrh prince dickhead)

THE RUGBY SCENE

the closet scene at the DNC (the way henry talks about telling his sister as if zara isn't having a heart attack right in front of him is fucking hilarious)

loved zahra so fucking much. the scene at the dnc? pure gold.

they referenced ellen making a power point post alex coming out which is good enough for me (plus the safe sex talk/lgbtq+ jargon was hilarious)

alex is reading one last stop while sitting in the hammock in texas

henry jumping into the lake instead of talking about his feelings has always been a mood and continues to be

the showing up in the middle of the night in the rain + the museum? so dramatic (they played the wrong song in the museum tho)

HISTORY HUH? !!!!!!! my little gay heart almost exploded

the ring + key exchange -> heart melted

THE EMAIL LEAK - there were tears in my eyes when henry found out let me tell you

alex's white house press conference speech post email leak was actually really good, its something that a queer person in America can only dream about

zahra calling shaan post email leak was *chefs kiss*

i know it was a change from the book but henry standing up for himself against Philip & his grandfather was so good

henry's yellow tie

ellen claremont being reelected made me cry because i know the likelyhood of a liberal female president in my lifetime is not something I'm bound to experience (its a scary time politically for queer people in the US so sue me for shedding a few tears over a fictional presidential election, ok?)

the bike ride to texas house post election ❤️

Things i missed

i needed more bea, percy, nora, and I NEEDED JUNE

why tf are alex's parents still together?

i know its because of copyright shit probably but i missed the starwars references and was really hoping for the mural at the end

i wish they'd done more with henry's nonprofit goals instead of just making him some washed up royal while alex was out there making moves

the email leak was such a pivitoal point in the book and i feel like they downplayed it so much. i needed the drama guys.

love stephen fry but where the fuck is henry's mom and the queen?

i missed nora's edible and energy drink fuled texas analysis at the end

i wanted to see them taking the royal couple photos

#ellen claremont #alex claremont diaz #ACD #first prince #firstprince #hrh prince henry #hrh prince dickhead #hrhenryfox #rwrb on prime #prince henry rwrb #rwrb film #rwrb #rwrb movie #rwrb spoilers #Alex Claremont Diaz rwrb #casey mcquiston #red white and royal blue movie #red white and royal blue #red white and royal blue movie spoilers

[tsunflowers]

LIST OF GUYS IN IDOLISH7

idolish7 these are the main guys. the show is named after them. they have a rainbow theme bc there are seven of them

riku

he always works hard and does his best but he has asthma so its hard to be an idol like that

iori and tenn's evil dad think he is a "monster" bc he's so cute and friendly that everyone wants to stan him

tenn is his twin brother but they haven't lived together for years ever since tenn got a new evil dad

not in high school but not of drinking age

iori

hes meticulous and loves planning

wants everyone to take him seriously but secretly loves this hello kitty like brand of cute mascot characters

basically elected himself sub-manager of the group

kind of obsessed with riku and wants to make him a superstar but is afraid of his power (cuteness, singing good)

mitsuki is his older brother and they're close

in high school

mitsuki

he struggled to become an idol and he thinks that people hate him bc he is short and old and talks too much. hes not even old he's 21

iori's older brother

kind of the peacekeeper of the group unless he's mad at them

potentially the most normal guy

an adult

yamato

rude. love him though

calls himself onii-san (embarrassing)

hates his famous actor dad for cheating on his wife

he had beef with yuki that was so wild

loves to pound beers all the time (an adult)

nagi

hes from a made-up Scandinavian country and his dad is nobility there while his mom is from Japan

hes like your classic foreign guy who loves anime

but he also has martial arts skills and is really good at politics and holding press conferences due to being a duke or something

he might be the prince for all I know

not in high school but not old enough to drink

tamaki

basically he's like a son to me

in my mind he is like a large dog that was transmogrified into a human teen by a witch's curse

he just kind of does his own thing, gets emotional easily, and loves food. especially this one brand of pudding

he and his sister were split up so he spent a lot of time looking for her and then found out she lives with tenn and his evil dad

in a subunit with sougo so they're usually together

in high school

sougo

neurotic and a perfectionist so it's funny he has to spend time with tamaki. but he loves tamaki after three seasons

the three main jokes with him are that hes a yandere, he gets wasted easily, and he puts too much spice in food

his family is rich as fuck but they hate entertainers so he is estranged from them. I choose to also interpret this as gay coding and when his family says "entertainers" they mean "gays"

an adult

trigger this is the second set of guys. they are rivals to idolish7 and they got started as idols earlier

gaku

his dad is his boss... embarrassing :/

always mad at his dad

he's cute bc he's pretty aggressive but he's always so sweet when it comes to idolish7's manager bc he has a crush on her. but even if he didn't I think he would still be kind and gentle

sometimes pretends to be a soba delivery guy

an adult

tenn

he loves his fans more than anything and they see him as an angel but he is such a huge jackass to his brother and the guys in his unit

riku is his twin brother but he got adopted by his new evil dad to pay for riku's medical bills

usually you see him either arguing with riku or arguing with gaku and ryunosuke

not in high school but not old enough to drink

ryunosuke

his manufactured showbiz image is a hunky playboy but hes just a sweet guy

for some reason they also pretended he was rich even though his dad is a humble fisherman

AND they made him stop speaking in his native Okinawan dialect but he still does it when he gets drunk

I like him a lot but he's not often involved in insane drama so I probably don't post him a lot

an adult

re:vale they're the longest-running idol group in the series and are the senpais to everyone else. they have so much tasty drama and I love them. these are the ones I stan

momo

he started out as a fan of re:vale and then got to join it. huge success story

when he was younger he had solid black hair

he replaced yuki's former partner so he has a complex about it and thinks yuki doesn't love him as much

fun and energetic but extremely quick to escalate to violence

I feel like his moveset is 1. attack 2. do something gay

an adult

yuki

my #1 special guy in this series

cares about music more than anything else

bad personality. sarcastic. terrible

cold and rude to most people but extremely clingy with the people he's close to

gets SO embarrassed when he has to show feelings openly

also escalates to violence easily

an adult

zool I still don't know what these guys' fucking problem is bc I haven't finished the anime. I'm not actually sure if their deal gets explained in the anime. anyway they're the s3 rival group who all have a personal grudge against one or more of the previously introduced guys

haruka

he's mad bc tenn's evil dad dropped him like a hot potato for tenn

the other zools don't take him seriously bc he's a kid

in high school

touma

his band disbanded after losing to re:vale I think so that's why he's mad

clearly supposed to be the most sympathetic zool and the one who encourages the rest to be friends

BUT I tune him out whenever he speaks bc his voice actor is annoying racist kimura subaru :/

minami

my personal favorite zool

he's soft-spoken and polite but then he says the meanest shit out of nowhere

he's especially mad at nagi for being friends with a famous composer (?) but I feel like he's lashed out at pretty much everyone he's interacted with for no reason

not in high school but not old enough to drink

torao

he really is the guy ryunosuke is marketed as. since he only thinks about fucking babes and his dad is rich

yuki bullied him for being straight

I'm not actually sure which guy he's the most mad at. he did try to tank ryunosuke's career with a scandal so I guess him

an adult

other guys

banri

this is a SPOILER but he was yuki's partner in re:vale before he got hit in the head with a stage light and almost died

he had shorter hair in flashbacks

currently he is one of idolish7's managers

just like a nice and helpful guy who we only ever really see get mad at yuki in flashbacks

an adult

rinto

nickname is okarin

re:vale's manager

a normal guy who tries to stop them from being insane but isn't qualified

an adult

tsumugi's dad

ok his name is takanashi otoharu but I've never in my life called him that

runs the production company idolish7 works for

imo he has something going on with banri

an adult

tenn's evil dad

I included a full sprite so you could understand the vampire vibe this man has going on

his name is actually kujo takamasa

he was obsessed with his bestie who was a famous super idol and now he keeps trying to train random teens he finds to be better idols than that guy

an adult

tsukumo

the manager of the zools. king zool if you will

the devil

he has History with momo

he wants his idol group to be better than anyone else and crush the other companies

he needs to get some new hobbies but he's the type of guy to be like "everything I've tried before was too easy for me... I simply must pivot to doing the thing the show is about in the most evil and annoying way"

an adult

other characters that aren't guys

anesagi

she's trigger's manager

trans woman

fun and friendly but very defensive of her boys (trigger)

has a crush on nagi for some reason??

an adult

tsumugi

the player character from the game

idolish7's manager

her dad is her boss just like gaku and just like with him it's cringe. but she likes him and they don't fight

not in high school but I don't think she's old enough to drink

#shaking your heart

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

BY AMANDA MARCOTTE

Republicans know exactly what they believe is the greatest threat to American students: books.

In Florida, the possibility of a student choosing a book to read was deemed so threatening that teachers were ordered to lock up all the books until they could be — slowly, painfully — combed over by censors. Now, as the censors make their way through the books at a snail's pace, word of what has been officially banned from shelves thus far is starting to trickle out. Unsurprisingly, in a state controlled by a retentive fascist like Gov. Ron DeSantis, the books deemed too dangerous to read mostly involve ideas like "gay couples exist" and "there was once a civil rights movement." As Tom Fontaine of Trib Live reports:

"PEN America, a New York-based nonprofit that works to defend free expression, reported the district had removed at least 176 titles from classrooms. They include works such as ‘My Two Dads and Me,’ ‘My Two Moms and Me,’ ‘Celebrating Different Beliefs,’ ‘The Gift of Ramadan,’ ‘The Berenstain Bears and the Big Question’ and books about Rosa Parks, the Underground Railroad and Japanese internment camps during World War II.

Also removed was ‘Roberto Clemente: The Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates,’ a 2005 book by Dormont's Jonah Winter.

The 32-page book references racism Clemente sometimes endured."

Republicans are also deeply worried that a child might enjoy a drag queen story hour, in which drag performers use their skills at entertaining a crowd to get kids excited about reading. The threat that a funny person in a flashy costume might make a child happy is such that Republicans in state legislatures are considering bans so draconian that they could criminalize merely being a trans person in public or wearing makeup on a stage.

Of course, considering the Republican hostility to children reading, the "story hour" may be as offensive to them as the "drag" part.

The nation woke on Tuesday to familiar news that doesn't get any less disturbing, despite being painfully common. There was another mass shooting, this time at Michigan State. A gunman left three dead and five more critically injured. This is in a year where there has been an average of more than one mass shooting a day. At least one of the survivors of this latest shooting also survived a mass shooting 14 months ago at Oxford High School.

At this point, the Republican callousness to the carnage is so baked in that it barely feels worth remarking upon. Nor is this just a matter, as so many claim, of Republicans being too "afraid" of the NRA to stand up for meaningful gun safety laws. As I've written about before, there's plenty of reason to believe that the reason Republicans block most efforts to prevent mass shootings is that they benefit politically from both the feelings of helplessness and social decay that such shootings sow in the public.

"Please don't tell me you care about the safety of children if you are not willing to have a conversaion about keeping them safe in a place that should be a sanctuary," Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who represents the Michigan district the shooting happened in, said during an emotionally raw press conference Tuesday morning. She didn't need to elaborate on who claims to "care" about children but certainly does not.

We've been subject to a yearslong effort to ban books and gut the rights of LGBTQ people, all justified by GOP claims to be "protecting" children. The College Board, under pressure from DeSantis and the larger Republican establishment, has even gone so far as to remove books by renowned writers and poets like bell hooks, June Jordan, and Ta-Nehisi Coates from an African-American studies course. The excuse is that the fragile self-esteem of white students cannot withstand learning about the realities of racism.

But while Republicans fret and moan over the supposed damage done to students' minds by learning that racism happens or LGBTQ people exist, the much more real danger that comes from a bullet tearing through a body is not considered a priority. In the Republican imagination, a high school or college student is too delicate to read about the Holocaust or slavery, but should also be tough enough to stand up to an armed madman mowing down kids with a semiautomatic weapon. And if such kids do survive the kind of graphic violence that Republicans believe they're too sensitive to read about, then such kids are also expected to be tough enough to endure members of Congress like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., denying the violence ever happened and harassing those who survived it.

After last year's shooting in Uvalde, Texas — which left 19 kids and two teachers dead — a handful of Republicans decided it was becoming politically untenable to maintain the "thoughts and prayers, but nothing can be done" position that has characterized the party for so long. So 15 Republican Senators crossed the aisle to vote for a gun safety bill last June. The Beltway media, longing for a narrative of bipartisan comity, swooned rapturously over this supposed evolution away from sociopathic disregard towards gun violence towards something more humane.

But, at the cost of sounding overly cynical, the whole thing was probably more of a ploy to get people off their backs than anything else.

For one thing, for every Senate Republican who did vote for the bill, there were more than two who refused. Second, while there were some good items in the law that President Joe Biden signed last summer — especially closing the "boyfriend" loophole that let domestic abusers buy guns — the legislation stops well short of what's needed to keep guns out of the hands of unhinged people who want to shoot up nightclubs, schools, and shopping malls.

To make it worse, what little Republicans are willing to do in Congress is in real danger of being dismantled by Republicans in the federal courts.

The same week Congress passed their watered-down gun safety bill, the six Republican Supreme Court justices overturned a New York state law that is over 100 years old, which restricted who can carry guns in public. As Slate's legal expert Mark Joseph Stern wrote at the time, the decision rests on "a maximalist opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas that renders most of the nation's gun control laws presumptively unconstitutional."

Sure enough, other Republican-controlled federal courts took note. Earlier this month, the Fifth Circuit used Thomas's decision as a pretext to rule against a law barring domestic abusers from owning guns. This law not only protects the lives of women who are being stalked by former partners, but it's useful in preventing mass shootings. Over half of mass shooters had a known history of domestic violence. Sadly, many of them were able to commit their crimes by taking advantage of the pro-gun, anti-woman views of local Republican politicians, who won't enforce existing gun laws. That appears, for instance, to be the case in the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs in December. The suspect had been previously arrested after a reported domestic violence incident involving his mother, but the right-wing sheriff who had bragged about being a gun rights absolutist did not enforce a law allowing the government to take the shooter's guns from him.

When faced with the carnage that their gun fanaticism inflicts on our nation, Republicans will often pretend that their hands are tied by the constitution. The GOP cowards who rule against the ban on wife beaters owning guns used this excuse. The court claimed there is no "historical tradition of firearm regulation" regarding domestic violence and that therefore they are forced — forced I tell you! — to believe the Second Amendment's language about a "well-regulated militia" somehow covers unregulated, non-militia wife beaters.

This feigned constitutional absolutism is ridiculous on its face. It's even more obviously a lie in the context of GOP enthusiasm for book banning. Unlike the Second Amendment, which puts strong limits ("well-regulated militia") on the right to bear arms, the First Amendment grants Americans expansive rights to free speech. It very clearly states that there should be "no law...abridging the freedom of speech." That's without caveat, unlike the Second Amendment. And there are certainly no exceptions for "unless it offends the bigoted sentiments of Ron DeSantis."

Most of all, of course, this exposes how Republicans are only interested in controlling students, not protecting them. The threat of the targeted books is not to students, who will only benefit from learning more about the world around them. The threat is to the fragile egos of the right-wing bigots who make up the Republican base. This focus on control also explains the GOP's disinterest in doing anything to save students from mad gunmen. They may be saddened by a dead child, but they aren't threatened by them. A murdered child, after all, is unlikely to think for themselves, much less grow up to vote against Republicans. And ultimately, that's all the GOP is really worried about when they talk about "the children."

#us politics #news #op eds #2023 #amanda marcotte #slate #book bans #gov. ron desantis #florida #critical race theory #lgbtqia+ representation #drag queen story hour #mass shootings #gun rights #gun control #gun violence #1st amendment #freedom of speech #2nd amendment #republicans #conservatives #gop policy #gop platform #gop #us supreme court #new york state rifle & pistol association v. bruen #domestic violence #boyfriend loophole #red flag laws

[steveyockey]

this is so vague sorry but im pretty sure u reblogged an article a very long time ago about lgbt media and the idea that some of the most important things we have to say to each other aren’t comprehensible to straight people. do u know which article im talking about? i think it might have been about queer eye

you my dear are thinking of a substack entry by the lovely huw lemmey of bad gays (the podcast AND brand new book!) fame

This is fundamentally different to gay stories for straight allies. Within all of those stories, it’s conceivable that the queer view of heterosexuality might make an accusation of misdeed or oddness in which the heterosexual reader is complicit. But in the gay story for the straight ally, there is always a more pressing concern: to make the good heterosexual feel included. While it may be in some way important to “see yourself on screen”, what good is it if you don’t see yourself within the context of a wider queer culture, if the purpose of your story as a queer person is solely to confer some moral benefit, to offer a fable, for a straight life? It feels like, as queer individuals are ever more present on our screens, actual queer stories are increasingly absent. Mainstream manifestations like RuPaul’s Drag Race feel more like an outreach project for straight people, offering an exciting chance for people to watch competitive TV without having to endure heterosexual men, than anything that speaks to and for queer people. Even the more specific stories of gay life that slipped through in earlier seasons, testimonies against shame, or even the rare invocation of queer solidarity, seem to be replaced with a series of self-help mantras based on personal growth and self-realisation. 

Which brings us back Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. After two seasons, the show abbreviated itself as simply Queer Eye, losing the important dialectic that drove the engine of faggotry at its inception. Cancelled after four years, the show was resurrected in 2018, and the differences between the two versions seem to illustrate both the marked increase in visibility of queer people (the new show being marketed as a huge Netflix production) but also the change in the function of queer community and stories on television. Gone is the antagonism between the lifestyles of the feckless straight and the functioning queers, a dynamic that seemed to overturn supposed heterosexual superiority. Gone is the spirit of an unleashed, even unhinged sexual libertinism, a sexuality that potentially scared the straights. Instead, the queer is a combination of a nurturing, positive cool mom, not like the other moms, and a cheerleader whose own life stories and struggles against the odds help to guide a heterosexual through to a better you. “Ask not what you can do for your queer, but ask what your queer can do for you,” it seems to say, leaving unspoken the real nature and social context of traumas, traumas that are only ever hinted at as signs that these things too shall pass....

A recent commissioning brief I read for a broadcasting opportunity that claimed to be “for and about LGBTQ+ communities” included the following paragraph, which I include here not to pick on them but because I think it sheds a light on one of the reasons for this subtle shift. “Queer perspectives are central to popular entertainment and learning,” it began. “What is key to their success is not only reflecting these characters and issues authentically, but creating a space for a broader audience to engage with the world seen through a Queer lens.” What if the things queer people need to say to each other, the things that we say amongst ourselves, don’t create a space for a broader audience? What if the very point of queer culture is the exclusion of the figure of the heterosexual? What if the things queer people want and need to say and hear with each other are things that straight people might find challenging, unfair, accusatory? 

#if you click the link you can also get huw reading it <3 #anon #answered #reading

[canonicallyanxious]

put on Front Cover (2015) on Netflix because it was an hour and a half and it looked cute and not something i had to think a lot about which i've been wanting a lot recently. was NOT emotionally prepared to deal with an incisive commentary hitting way too fucking close to home about the queer asian experience and the nuances and complexity of navigating the different aspects of your culture and identity that can so often be so alienatingly at odds with each other. i thought it was a sweet and moving and relatable film up until the last five minutes that fucking drop kicked me in the fucking heart made me absolutely unhinged and scratching up the walls. jesus fucking christ.

(spoilers for the ending below the cut)

like i think there will probably be people who watch this movie and feel somehow cheated by the end, when it comes to gay romances people seem to struggle when there are endings where the mains don't end up together (cough the half of it) but i just. i just. how could this have ended any other way. It's been clear from the beginning that Ryan and Ning live in such different worlds. and i think to force one of them to inhabit the other world would have been a disservice to the characters and their values honestly. honestly the deep compassion at the core of this movie's writing to show how different people can choose different ways of achieving self-fulfillment and that they are all worthy of respect and dignity. the growth Ryan went through to find a way to both honor what Ning asked of him and be true to himself and his own values. i'm going to be thinking about that fucking press conference for a WEEK the TEARS in Ning's eyes the weight of what Ryan gave up i will NEVER BE OVER IT.

also can i just say Ryan's relationship with his parents really got to me too i'm skdjfnsdkjfsdnfs THAT CONVERSATION BETWEEN NING AND RYAN'S MOM.......... I CAN'T EXPRESS HOW HARD THAT ONE HIT ME IN THE FUCKING GUT OKAY I JUST..........................

#sarah.txt #front cover (2015) #I CLOWNED MYSELF AGAIN. #ALSO THOUGH NETFLIX HAS THIS TAGGED AS ROMCOM. HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THE IMPACT IT WOULD HAVE ON ME. #going through the fuck through it on this saturday night. #you know. i'm just gonna say it. movies about gay asians directed by gay asians Hit Different. #god fucking damn. #i looked up this director and he has a movie called suk suk about two older gay men who fall in love #and i really want to see it but i need to work myself up to it skdjfnsdhbfskdjfns #based on the premise and how this SUPPOSEDLY LIGHTHEARTED FILM completely took me off guard #i somehow have a feeling that suk suk will fucking roll me over like a train and i need to prepare myself for that emotionally #story meta

[itsmythang]

White House Press Room Troll Tries to Take a Swipe at Karine Jean-Pierre About Her Breakup

People often forget that every reporter standing or sitting in the Press Room with the WH Press Secretary had to get permission to be there. They have to get an actual card they carry, and they have to get called on by the Press Secretary in order to officially ask a question.

Most reporters use their luck and time to get serious concerns addressed. Not Simon Ateba, though.

Ateba is the “Chief White House Correspondent at Today News Africa in Washington.” We’re already reaching with credentials at this point. But Ateba has made himself known for disrupting press conferences and even interrupting Karine Jean-Pierre to admonish her for not taking his questions.

It’s gotten so bad that’s he’s already received a warning: “If you continue to impede briefings or events by shouting over your colleagues who have been called on for a question, even after you have been asked to stop by a White House employee, then your hard pass may be suspended or revoked, following notice and an opportunity to respond.”

But no such suspension has occurred, and he was back in the press room on Friday, trolling Jean-Pierre once again.

In an incredibly disrespectful attempt to get a word in at the end of the presser on the 15th, Ateba shouted over his fellow reporters again, asking Jean-Pierre a very personal question. “Is your breakup affecting your job?”

He asked twice quickly, and was ignored. But what could he possibly have thought that question was going to get him?

Yes, Jean-Pierre had a public breakup with her partner, former CNN correspondent Suzanne Malveaux. But why would Ateba bring it up? Was he trying to play to anti-LGBTQ sentiment by reminding everyone that Jean-Pierre is a gay single mom?

From the tone of his voice in this clip, it sounds like that’s exactly what he’s doing: Simply trying to get a rise out of Jean-Pierre and bring up things he thinks should be uncomfortable.

Simon Ateba to KJP: "Is your breakup affecting your job?"

#Karine Jean-Pierre #Press Conference #Simon Ateba #Rules #inappropriate questions #Unruly

[nityarawal]

Hope you all enjoyed April Fools weekend and lost a few leprauchans of parasitic intent in your lives too!

Hope we can make Thunder happen for my ladies soon - but peace with my family is essential now! Xo

Nitya

Suppanae for 4/3 & 4/13

To be arbitrated & mediated over phone & settled 4/3/23 in Vista Courts 

With my legal team below present, video conference televised or phone.

Sandiego, Riverside, LA Family Courts & PDs to dismiss expired orders for false charges with Pedos from Vista PD: Ashby Clark Sorrensen & Gay silencer Grant Funk who lied & Hustled on video about credentials on Las Calimas videos & calls- also Alibi Darin David Joye to be present & clear foul play with truth from Abi Odam & all testimonies emailed to: [email protected] 

San Diego DA Summer Stephan to collect maximum refunds from all attys & damages + insurance on all their heads for ghosting me and failing their fiduciary duty to me as their clients -as the defense team continues to do- abusing constitutional civil and real estate laws respecting faith and family bonds.

Estrangement is a UK disease. 

We'd like to "Rewind" all businesses with Dr. Sunil Christopher Rawal- Including Rewind & revert back to 16-17 orders with all returned from scoundrels of courts that were involved in global ponzi scam against my family.

Peace - stop the war- on behalf of mothers of Globe & our daughters. 

Gay defense team failed every code of ethic and should never be allowed kids nor marriage rights. 

We gave you privilege - yet you attacked Vows we shared. 

No rapists shall have our privileges of faith again in union under God. 

I agree with Kim Reynolds of Iowa & will rally for that with her & my cause- to help #FreeBritney & #HalfPersianLivesMatter now. Nor more #HalfPrincessesLivesMatter Shaming from these ghouls in county and state offices. They're unpleasant and all are to be suppanaed abd charged on racist bribes.

Women & moms needed those benefits of marriage laws for donestic harmony- yet they violated moms if faith in these bribes- mean dykes that rape women in divorce courts wont get privilege of marriage protections either.

They Lost privilege of divine union under God in America. 

We all need reparations for injustices and are homes, assets, children & assets restored.

Gratzia!

Merci!

Nitya Nella Davigo Azam Moezzi Huntley Rawal 

My team:

Attys: Roseline Farrel - defends against Persian American racism.

Anette & Carrie Hallneville: failed to mediate or change name.

Tara Yelman: revert back to 2016 orders pre Lori Clark Viviano murder.

Mathew Palmer: said Judge Kelly Mok wanted to hide defense team abuse rather than do family court Dissolution. 

Tony Dunne: screamed at me in urgent care hustling for another $50k on bribes!

Alicia Freeze: managed Alan Silverman's senile orders in 2016 and wrongful restraining from my beach home. She will handle emergency Dissolution and has my files. 

DA Summer Stephan ( charge her husband Judge Sabraw with $5m in bribes last year to traffic his daughter, me, mx kids at border and children whom are victims of divorce courts. Charge her officers for all rapes!)

DA Michael Hestrin & Sheriff Chad Bianco- raping and murdering our community

Officers:

Hanby, Mariano, Lopez & Lardaby testified that Dr. Singh attempted life to Judge Clark with whole nursing staff from Moeno Valley Hospital. 

Peggie Lorenz- useless Sheriff

Daniel Hidalgo- bribed Student Investigator 

Metropolitan Hospital:

Rape police reports

Forced drug full disclosures ( what did they dose and rape me with?) 

Allergic reactions to:

Covid parasites

Syphilis spirochetes in Hospitals

(FYI: Spike proteins are amoebas!) 

Haldol

Zyprexa

Geodon etc.

And all psych med abuse! 

Las Calinas:

Press charges for Dr. Anderson bribing cops to dose me with Depakote as vitamin D. 

Press charges against Dr. Tongue and every Dr. / social worker that was bribed to commit medical malpractice for x attys wrongful arrests. 

To charge with attempted murder and 12 rapes of children and I:

Ashby Clark Sorrenson & Grant Funk are notorious neo-nazi pedophiles in Encinitas. Grant Funk stole custody of toddler daughter; pimping mom on heroin to criminal thieving cop. 

Ashby made invitro children to molest from TJ rather than honoring fiduciary duty to me. 

He never should've had RO approved for business crimes in family law. (Nor should Viviano team to block from home settlement!)

Ashby lied and said he did family & real estate law- then extorted more money for Dr's and Theresa Truchi's fees. She shredded files and failed to perform. Darin David Joye is my Alibi and said I was a "job."

On phone safe (from home):

Parents: John & Mitra Huntley

Kids: Isha Kyan Rawal

Anjali Prana Rawal

Brother: Haydn Huntley

Cousin: Mary Mahoney Gill

Cusbands: Alidad Bahrami &

Kvon Moezzi 

My gigolos:

Darin David Joye ( works with Odam mediators on bribes & silencing.org)

Robert Dreyfuss ( father murdered by x-team hookers on acquisition of 2 homes!)

Jeremiah Curcie- marine who drunkenly raped me from Barbara Bradford Farm. (Suppanae mom Sarita Fischer, landladies Barbara & Mary Jane Bradford & handyman Eddy Lyons.)

Oliver Walker- dirty Marine college friend also estranged from mom and gave me bronchitis and ingrown hair infections at urgent care.

Justin Wild: Secret Service set up from Mary Schmitz ( aka defense team daughter and hooker- niece of Mary Kay Letourneau.)

Handymen:

Dennis Sketchley ( attempted murder with Alex Grover AKA Dustin and beat me out of Scenic home after slumlording from 54399 Valleyview with rat disease from Shane Stewart of Idyllwild Realty. Their gang killed Adrien on country club.)

Ryan Wickoff- also referred to Joan

James- referred me to Mary Schmitz

Mark Flannigan- brought used bed and sister works with County to steal children. 

Dr's- saw 9 since Valentine's health crisis from Lymes,, Giardia, Gingivitis - filling fell out last summer! 4 medical dentists only cared about filling.

covid Germ warfare:

Carole Meredith

Amy Bell

Tima Ivanova (her bff witnessed murders of property manager Emily Pearson & husband.)

Dr.  Adam Cash

Red Alinsod ( he had to get me anti biotics in OC when urgent care discriminated against me on head injury and ingrown hair!)

Julie Anne Steiger- Calm and Ground Counseling- CPS hooker took bribes to quit one month shy if 12 month comittment from Ashby Clark Sorrenson. 

Dr Natalya

Dr. Queresheri

Dr. Sina & Staff- Western Dental - cancelled filling 3 days in row- is having a dispute with their corporate office abd is court contentious & racist.

Dr. Nissan & Staff

All IEHP therapists at Calm & Ground Counseling:

Erin Bird 

Dr. Browning

Dr. Judi Milin

Dentists:

Dr. Galli

Dr. Cary O' Reilly

Dr. Tower

Dr. Yudin

Dr. Demorey

All 4 'Medical" Dentists & Metro dentists /Dr's. 

Good Drs:

Dr Blaine Jackson- Solana Beach

Dr. Red Alinsod urogyn.org

Dr. Eric Eisen- kids Dr doesn't feel forced drugs have been good for kids nor Sunils weaponising inside of my family with every low dirty trick possible. 

OBGYN- Encinitas

Naturopaths

Ayurvedic Drs

X- Team 

Dr. Sunil Rawal

Attys: Dr. Alan Silverman (senile)

Jeff Fritz (sociopath who represented Lori Clark Viviano & Diane Monteill Silverman on 7 year custody battle and real estate acquisition I managed. This is a conflict of interest.)

Dorian Silverman & husband Josh.

Monika & Ildiko Fodor - mail order spies

Sonya Sweitch Goodwin- Texas pedophile

Christopher Sunnen- atty attempted murder with investigator Mark Milton 

Daniel Smachtenberger- Dr. Sunil Rawal's pimp with Dr. David Farley Kaplan- bribed Dr. Singh and staff to attempt life with forced drugs, rapes and advertise my head as a Probate on Riverside Healthcare System. (See #FramingBritney & I Care Alot to understand psychiatry murder. Dr. Singh is reported to murder over 70 moms a year at Moreno Valley Hospital on bribes.)

James Smachtenberger- uses Daniel's hookers and pimps experimental illegal drugs to Daniel's  businessmen. 

Cathy Minchkin Bliss- worked for David Farley Kaplan at our NC Spiritual center selling real estate and groomed son in Osho pedophile sex cukt- see wild country on Netflix. 

Morgan Viviano on behalf of dead mom- Lori Clark Viviano

Judges:

Kelly Mok- fired

Assistant presiding judge Judith Clark- recall 

Judge Mathew Brower- recall for pedophilia as a Marine vet

Commissioner Ratekin- recall- doesn't understand real estate or ethics laws.

Judge Sawbraw- recall for pedophile scam at border & divorce courts.

Real Estate:

Neda Nourani

Atty Ken Carlsson

Broker: Roger Lee of Homesmart Realty

Broker: Mike Smith

Broker: Ryan Mahelona

Tina Molina on Tollgate murder of her mom Leslie Wiedner while hospitalized. 

Lexus:

David Santa Monica

California Car Rental wrongful arrest

Toyota Highlander Hit And run- arranged by x's  atty Jeff Fritz Thanksgiving 2016

Lexus Escondido to settle lemon with corporate + maximim damages for years of abuse/terrorism from gay defense team.

Airbnb:

All Raimondis 

Public Defense:

Jay Curatolo

Olesya Adam's

Jordan

Peter Pwun

Kristin Scogin

Mathew Robert's

Sherry Stone

Michael Ruiz

Melissa Ruiz

Whitney Ryan

Marni Entin

(50+ more generic PDs, rotating judges on bribes & Drs need to be added from files.) 

Congressman: Scott Peters

Governors: Jerry Brown

Gavin Newsom

Pilot/Sheriff/Mason/Mother Divine Peace Palace TM teacher & x fiance: Wally Devasier 

To bring airplane from Fairfield, Iowa MIU:

Dr. John Hagelin- Dr. Sunil's mentor that Begged me to date him for 3 years while Dr. Rawal was courting me. 

God mother: Helene Lindblom

Husband: Dennis Raimondi

Stepdaughter: Ayni Raimondi- AirBnb Manager witnessed foul play 

Lakshmi team:

Bruce Hauptmann

Daniel Martinez Hauptmann

Alex Martinez Valponi Devasier Taft

Wallers

Dr Eugene

Rewind Ap Dissolution Team:

Hunt Team:

Jessica Michelle

Mischa

Alan Hunt

James

Jonathan Budd

Andy 

Apple aps 

Rewind ap:

Elon Musk 

Dmv.org 

Reparations for Dr. Sunil Rawal & Daniel Smachtenberger's gay foul play. 

Herahub:

Bonnie Fletcher- viviano foul play client

Felena Hansen: owner

Vanessa Lillegren Elle: tried to hire Lori Clark Viviano- also given lymes std by sex sting thru divorce. 

Pro Bono attys:

Viveka Hess

Nadia Moussa

Atty Brendon Nelson (Wally's father-in-law whose probably younger than him!) 

Honorable Benny Waggoner (Wally's other father-in-law whose younger than him! Magistrate Judge in Iowa who sued our boss Bruce Hauptman- need reperations & recall their degrees.)

Mathew Rosengart- representing Britney Spears and I.

Laura 

Alicia Freeze- is to close case with Ashby Clark sorensen and do emergency divorce Dissolution with courts. 

Dad's atty:

Ed Noyes- need reparations on $50m Tahoe Sands Resort.

Len Labagh - dead- daughter Amy can come in his place.

Partners:

Bob Bernard's

Joel Bernard's

Hollies Bernard's

Judi Bernard's

Jeremy Bernard's 

Manager: Craig Rothen 

Wrongful arrests:

Reparations for every violent officer and atty since 2016 lies on DV record from Dr. SUNIL RAWAL- ALICIA FREEZE CLEARED FROM RECORDS!

Need $50b in reperations. 

1067 Neptune Ave in Encinitas, CA to be reinstated abd custody orders. I was found competent over 6 times. We've found court to be parasitic on bribes and cancerous in bodies- failing to perform ethically. 

Alibis: Najah Dawaji

Moral Askar

Kelsey Mullen - father is a probation officer in Iowa

Matt Dixon- ™ center chair

Ed Mally- Mayor- son was murdered in California

Jyoti- neighbor on country club murder 

Oceana Cotton

Dennis Sketchly

Radar

Alex Grover (aka Dustin)

Liquor Store Alex

Dorian

Radar

Jeremy Parsons- Sheriff

Sergeant Protero 

Moreno Valley Hospital Sergeant Vasquez 

[mariacallous]

(JTA) – After two years of Florida schools making headlines for pulling Anne Frank’s diary, “Schindler’s List,” Saul Bellow novels and other Jewish books, Ron DeSantis has conceded that his state’s book challenge policy has gone too far.

DeSantis, the governor and former Republican presidential candidate, pinned the blame not on the policy itself but on activists who he said have made excessive use of the regulations.

“Although we like people wanting to be involved in what’s going on, to just show up and object to every single book under the sun, that is not an appropriate situation here and we’ve seen that occasionally,” he said during a press conference Thursday where he announced his intent to “prevent abuses in the objection process and ensure that districts aren’t overwhelmed by frivolous challenges.”

It was an abrupt about-face for DeSantis, who had staked much of his national reputation on being a conservative culture warrior and cultivated the growth of active book-challenge groups such as Moms For Liberty in his state.

High on his list of suggestions is a plan to fine individuals who challenge more than a certain number of books. The governor endorsed a proposed law that would let districts impose a $100 fee on parents who object to more than five books. He also stated that people without children in the district shouldn’t be filing an abundance of challenges.

Under this plan, one parent in particular could be hit with more fines than any other: Bruce Friedman, a Jewish father in the Jacksonville area who has become a national symbol of the book-ban movement.

Friedman has filed challenges against hundreds of books in his public school district that he says are inappropriate for students, making him the most frequent book challenger in the state — and possibly the most prolific in the country. He has pushed his school to pull “Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation,” claiming a small illustration of Anne’s recounting of same-sex attraction made it inappropriate for children.

He has also challenged books including the young-adult Holocaust novel “The Librarian of Auschwitz” and the middle-grade novel “Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen,” about an autistic Jewish girl and her gay best friend. While the district agreed to pull “Anne Frank’s Diary,” both of the latter books were restored to shelves after Friedman’s district found nothing wrong with them.

But he says he isn’t scared of the policy change.

“They think the fee will stop me. That’s funny,” he told the Miami Herald, arguing that state lawmakers were the ones to blame for his flurry of challenges because they failed to clearly define the terms of their initial law restricting content in schools.

Friedman elaborated on his position in an email to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

“The only thing that will stop me, other than G-d, is if my district creates a community approved guideline and rubric and institutes action including a modicum of discernment,” he wrote Tuesday.

Friedman proudly noted that more than 300 books have been permanently removed from the district “as a result of my diligent and stubborn efforts,” and that he has submitted 160 challenges in the last four months, adding, “Some of these may or may not have been written about, or written by, Jews. I do not feel this is important at all.”

In his view, all of the titles he’s challenged were “pornographic.”

He gave the example of “Sophie’s Choice”, William Styron’s best-selling 1979 novel about a Holocaust survivor that contains sexual content, which Friedman successfully pushed his school to remove. “You just can’t leave it laying around innocent children in public school here,” Friedman wrote.

Beyond Friedman, Florida’s laws have made it easy for a number of right-wing activists to file book challenges, and the vagueness of the law has led some districts to preemptively empty their collections or wall off their entire libraries (which has in turn induced some teachers to resign). One district put a diversity-themed collection of books, including a picture book about making cholent on Shabbat, in “review” for more than a year before returning the titles to shelves.

The literary free-expression group PEN America, publishing giant Penguin Random House and several bestselling authors have brought a lawsuit against one such district in the Panhandle, which removed Frank’s original diary, “Schindler’s List” and “The Librarian of Auschwitz” from its shelves alongside 1,600 other titles including the dictionary.

The vast majority of challenged and pulled books, both in the state and nationwide, involve gender, sexuality and race. Most of Friedman’s own challenges also tie into similar objections. For example, his November 2023 challenge form for “Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen,” by Sarah Kapit, objects to a scene in which a gay character comes out to his parents.

“Stop shoving alternative sexualities at children!” he wrote on his form objecting to the book, which has been distributed elsewhere by the Jewish nonprofit PJ Library, which sends free Jewish-themed books to children. He included passages from the book that he found objectionable, along with his own notes in the margins: “Gay boyfriend — whatever.” At another point he objects to a character’s comment that “our rabbi is married to another woman,” writing in the margins a list of words on the page he finds objectionable: “Gay/Gay/Bigots/Gay/Married Woman (incl. Rabbi)/Bigoted/Bigots.” (Friedman’s challenge form for “The Librarian of Auschwitz,” by contrast, states, “Unsupervised forays into the horrors of the Holocaust can be traumatizing for children.”)

Parents and Moms For Liberty activists in other Florida districts have successfully pushed schools to remove the Anne Frank illustrated diary as well as a Jodi Picoult novel about the Holocaust. One of those parents has since appeared on an antisemitic livestream, but later said she didn’t know about the host’s history of antisemitic remarks.

Nationwide, restrictive book policies in both schools and public libraries remain in place in several states. This month, the board of a public library in Prattville, Alabama, outside Montgomery, said it was suspending the purchase of any children’s or young adult books containing “obscenity, sexual conduct, sexual intercourse, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender discordance.”

Friedman told JTA he doesn’t care if the governor is pulling back on his movement; he’s in it for the long haul.

“At some point, librarians and principals will tire of me including their names in my publicly available reports — when I uncover porn,” he wrote. “Maybe they’ll begin to do the right thing (weed the prurient and age-inappropriate rubbish) for the wrong reasons. Works for me.”

[opedguy]

Biden’s New Press Secretary

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), May 5, 2022.--Picking 44-year-old Karine Jean-Pierre to replace his 43-year-old Jenn Psaki, 79-year-old Joe Biden continued his tradition of breaking glass ceilings, picking a Black Haitian lesbian to replace his trusted spokeswoman.  Pskai served from Day One finding the job a lot easier than her 34-tear-old predecessor in the Trump White House Kaleigh McEnany.  Former President Donald Trump faced relentless persecution by the Democrat-controlled press, with his press secretaries constantly in the hot seat.  Unlike Trump’s press secretaries, it was a piece of cake for Psaki who was offered a job at MSNBC, the perfect place for a died-in-the-wool liberal, who resonated with almost all Washington correspondents.  For all of Trump’s press secretaries, they were relentlessly harassed by the White House liberal press corps, something no longer hidden from public consumption.    Picking Jean-Pierre was seamless transition already working as Deputy Principal Press Secretary since January 20, 2021.  But Biden gets the additional benefit politically of reminding his base not to give up on him, watching his approval ratings drop to around 41%, not good news heading into the Midterm Elections. Picking Jean-Pierre reminds Biden’s base that he’s the affirmative action president, willing to advance anyone for the first time to work in important White House jobs. Biden was the first to pick a Black Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, 68, another pick that panders to Biden’s progressive base.  Jean-Pierre comes with a unique resume, a Columbia University M.A. in International Relations.  Taking the podium May 13, Jean-Pierre will face even less opposition than Psaki, who famously, liked to mix it up with 34-year-old Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy.    Every minute of every press conference was a love-fest with Psaki, promising to be the same with Jean-Pieree, who protective status as a black lesbian makes it difficult for anyone to get after her, even on the merits.  Doocy will no doubt try to rattle Jean-Pieerre, but like Psaki, has the entire White House press corps behind her.  McEnany, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Sean Spicer all faced relentless harassment by liberal correspondents looking to pick a fight with the Trump White House.  Jean-Pierre can expect the same halcyon days as White House Spokeswoman, not because it’s fair but because pure politics prevail at the White House.  “She is passionate.  She is smart and she has a moral core that makes her not just a great colleague, but an amazing Mom and human.  Plus, she has a great sense of humor,” Psaki tweeted.  Yes to Psaki Jean-Pierre has the same liberal core.    Liberal publicans describe Psaki’s tenure of restoring dignity to the White House press corps, knowing, that only one imposing a combative atmosphere were liberals going after Trump’s press secretaries.  Since a two-party system is really no longer tolerated in Washington, it means that Jean-Pierre will rule by oligarchy, one party, one philosophy rule at the Biden White House.  “Representation matters.  She will give a voice to so many, and show so many what is truly possible when you dream big.  And that matters.  And we should celebrate that,” Psaki said.  So Jean-Pierre represents African Americans 13% of population, adding another 2% for lesbians.  Combined Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer [LGBTQ] in the U.S. is estimated at 5.6%, a percentage far lower than most people think.  Psaki said she tried to keep White House briefs free of Trump-era drama.    How convenient of Paki to blame comportment of the White House press corps at the Trump White House, rather than on the resentment exhibited by White House journalists. “But I want to also make clear what all of her qualifications are . . . She comes to this job with decades of experience,” Psaki said, gladly hand over the reins and moving on to a new career in broadcast journalism.  MSNBC, one of the networks most liberal new outlets, lead by lesbian anchor Rachel Maddow, welcome Psaki into the fold, knowing she could hit the ground running.  Handing the job to Jean-Pierre, Biden hopes to rev up his base who’s forgotten over the last year to give the president passing-grades. approval ratings.  Jean-Pierre should help get the White House diversity message out this fall when voters decide whether or not to return Democrats or send the GOP back to the House and Senate in November.    Jean-Pierre promise to have an easy ride as press secretary much the same as Psaki but with the additional load of political correctness serving as a black lesbian. Psaki takes a parting shot at the Trump White House, where press secretaries got a bad rap because they were Republicans. No one at the Trump White House wanted drama, only fairly represented in the White House press corps.  McEnany, Huckabee-Sanders and Spicer were relentlessly abused by the White House press corps, with only Doocy offering up relevant questions.  Over the last 18 months Psaki proved a loyal Biden apologist, not once questioning any White House policy, especially on the Ukraine War.  Psaki was a leading voice for Biden prosecuting the Ukraine proxy war to undermine the Russian Federation.  No matter how close to WW III, Psaki always said Biden never wrong or at fault for anything. About the Author John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

[transgenderteensurvivalguide]

“Elliot Page doesn’t remember exactly how long he had been asking.

But he does remember the acute feeling of triumph when, around age 9, he was finally allowed to cut his hair short. “I felt like a boy,” Page says. “I wanted to be a boy. I would ask my mom if I could be someday.” Growing up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Page visualized himself as a boy in imaginary games, freed from the discomfort of how other people saw him: as a girl. After the haircut, strangers finally started perceiving him the way he saw himself, and it felt both right and exciting.

The joy was short-lived. Months later, Page got his first break, landing a part as a daughter in a Canadian mining family in the TV movie Pit Pony. He wore a wig for the film, and when Pit Pony became a TV show, he grew his hair out again. “I became a professional actor at the age of 10,” Page says. And pursuing that passion came with a difficult compromise. “Of course I had to look a certain way.”

We are speaking in late February. It is the first interview Page, 34, has given since disclosing in December that he is transgender, in a heartfelt letter posted to Instagram, and he is crying before I have even uttered a question. “Sorry, I’m going to be emotional, but that’s cool, right?” he says, smiling through his tears.

It’s hard for him to talk about the days that led up to that disclosure. When I ask how he was feeling, he looks away, his neck exposed by a new short haircut. After a pause, he presses his hand to his heart and closes his eyes. “This feeling of true excitement and deep gratitude to have made it to this point in my life,” he says, “mixed with a lot of fear and anxiety.”

It’s not hard to understand why a trans person would be dealing with conflicting feelings in this moment. Increased social acceptance has led to more young people describing themselves as trans—1.8% of Gen Z compared with 0.2% of boomers, according to a recent Gallup poll—yet this has fueled conservatives who are stoking fears about a “transgender craze.” President Joe Biden has restored the right of transgender military members to serve openly, and in Hollywood, trans people have never had more meaningful time onscreen. Meanwhile, J.K. Rowling is leveraging her cultural capital to oppose transgender equality in the name of feminism, and lawmakers are arguing in the halls of Congress over the validity of gender identities. “Sex has become a political football in the culture wars,” says Chase Strangio, deputy director for transgender justice at the ACLU.

(Full article with photos continued under the “read more”)

And so Page—who charmed America as a precocious pregnant teenager in Juno, constructed dreamscapes in Inception and now stars in Netflix’s hit superhero show The Umbrella Academy, the third season of which he’s filming in Toronto—expected that his news would be met with both applause and vitriol. “What I was anticipating was a lot of support and love and a massive amount of hatred and transphobia,” says Page. “That’s essentially what happened.” What he did not anticipate was just how big this story would be. Page’s announcement, which made him one of the most famous out trans people in the world, started trending on Twitter in more than 20 countries. He gained more than 400,000 new followers on Instagram on that day alone. Thousands of articles were published. Likes and shares reached the millions. Right-wing podcasters readied their rhetoric about “women in men’s locker rooms.” Casting directors reached out to Page’s manager saying it would be an honor to cast Page in their next big movie.

So, it was a lot. Over the course of two conversations, Page will say that understanding himself in all the specifics remains a work in progress. Fathoming one’s gender, an identity innate and performed, personal and social, fixed and evolving, is complicated enough without being under a spotlight that never seems to turn off. But having arrived at a critical juncture, Page feels a deep sense of responsibility to share his truth. “Extremely influential people are spreading these myths and damaging rhetoric—every day you’re seeing our existence debated,” Page says. “Transgender people are so very real.”

That role in Pit Pony led to other productions and eventually, when Page was 16, to a film called Mouth to Mouth. Playing a young anarchist, Page had a chance to cut his hair again. This time, he shaved it off completely. The kids at his high school teased him, but in photos he has posted from that time on social media he looks at ease. Page’s head was still shaved when he mailed in an audition tape for the 2005 thriller Hard Candy. The people in charge of casting asked him to audition again in a wig. Soon, the hair was back.

Page’s tour de force performance in Hard Candy led, two years later, to Juno, a low-budget indie film that brought Page Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations and sudden megafame. The actor, then 21, struggled with the stresses of that ascension. The endless primping, red carpets and magazine spreads were all agonizing reminders of the disconnect between how the world saw Page and who he knew himself to be. “I just never recognized myself,” Page says. “For a long time I could not even look at a photo of myself.” It was difficult to watch the movies too, especially ones in which he played more feminine roles.

Page loved making movies, but he also felt alienated by Hollywood and its standards. Alia Shawkat, a close friend and co-star in 2009’s Whip It,describes all the attention from Juno as scarring. “He had a really hard time with the press and expectations,” Shawkat says. “‘Put this on! And look this way! And this is sexy!’”

By the time he appeared in blockbusters like X-Men: The Last Stand and Inception, Page was suffering from depression, anxiety and panic attacks. He didn’t know, he says, “how to explain to people that even though [I was] an actor, just putting on a T-shirt cut for a woman would make me so unwell.” Shawkat recalls Page’s struggles with clothes. “I’d be like, ‘Hey, look at all these nice outfits you’re getting,’ and he would say, ‘It’s not me. It feels like a costume,’” she says. Page tried to convince himself that he was fine, that someone who was fortunate enough to have made it shouldn’t have complaints. But he felt exhausted by the work required to “just exist,” and thought more than once about quitting acting.

In 2014, Page came out as gay, despite feeling for years that “being out was impossible” given his career. (Gender identity and sexual orientation are, of course, distinct, but one queer identity can coexist with another.) In an emotional speech at a Human Rights Campaign conference, Page talked about being part of an industry “that places crushing standards” on actors and viewers alike. “There are pervasive stereotypes about masculinity and femininity that define how we’re all supposed to act, dress and speak,” Page went on. “And they serve no one.”

The actor started wearing suits on the red carpet. He found love, marrying choreographer Emma Portner in 2018. He asserted more agency in his career, producing his own films with LGBTQ leads like Freeheld and My Days of Mercy. And he made a masculine wardrobe a condition of taking roles. Yet the daily discord was becoming unbearable. “The difference in how I felt before coming out as gay to after was massive,” says Page. “But did the discomfort in my body ever go away? No, no, no, no.”

In part, it was the isolation forced by the pandemic that brought to a head Page’s wrestling with gender. (Page and Portner separated last summer, and the two divorced in early 2021. “We’ve remained close friends,” Page says.) “I had a lot of time on my own to really focus on things that I think, in so many ways, unconsciously, I was avoiding,” he says. He was inspired by trailblazing trans icons like Janet Mock and Laverne Cox, who found success in Hollywood while living authentically. Trans writers helped him understand his feelings; Page saw himself reflected in P. Carl’s memoir Becoming a Man. Eventually “shame and discomfort” gave way to revelation. “I was finally able to embrace being transgender,” Page says, “and letting myself fully become who I am.”

This led to a series of decisions. One was asking the world to call him by a different name, Elliot, which he says he’s always liked. Page has a tattoo that says E.P. PHONE HOME, a reference to a movie about a young boy with that name. “I loved E.T. when I was a kid and always wanted to look like the boys in the movies, right?” he says. The other decision was to use different pronouns—for the record, both he/him and they/them are fine. (When I ask if he has a preference on pronouns for the purposes of this story, Page says, “He/him is great.”)

A day before we first speak, Page will talk to his mom about this interview and she will tell him, “I’m just so proud of my son.” He grows emotional relating this and tries to explain that his mom, the daughter of a minister, who was born in the 1950s, was always trying to do what she thought was best for her child, even if that meant encouraging young Page to act like a girl. “She wants me to be who I am and supports me fully,” Page says. “It is a testament to how people really change.”

Another decision was to get top surgery. Page volunteers this information early in our conversation; at the time he posted his disclosure on Instagram, he was recovering in Toronto. Like many trans people, Page emphasizes being trans isn’t all about surgery. For some people, it’s unnecessary. For others, it’s unaffordable. For the wider world, the media’s focus on it has sensationalized transgender bodies, inviting invasive and inappropriate questions. But Page describes surgery as something that, for him, has made it possible to finally recognize himself when he looks in the mirror, providing catharsis he’s been waiting for since the “total hell” of puberty. “It has completely transformed my life,” he says. So much of his energy was spent on being uncomfortable in his body, he says. Now he has that energy back.

For the transgender community at large, visibility does not automatically lead to acceptance. Around the globe, transgender people deal disproportionately with violence and discrimination. Anti-trans hate crimes are on the rise in the U.K. along with increasingly transphobic rhetoric in newspapers and tabloids. In the U.S., in addition to the perennial challenges trans people face with issues like poverty and homelessness, a flurry of bills in state legislatures would make it a crime to provide transition-related medical care to trans youth. And crass old jokes are still in circulation. When Biden lifted the ban on open service for transgender troops, Saturday Night Live’s Michael Che did a bit on Weekend Update about the policy being called “don’t ask, don’t tuck.”

Page says coming out as trans was “selfish” on one level: “It’s for me. I want to live and be who I am.” But he also felt a moral imperative to do so, given the times. Human identity is complicated and mysterious, but politics insists on fitting everything into boxes. In today’s culture wars, simplistic beliefs about gender—e.g., chromosomes = destiny—are so widespread and so deep-seated that many people who hold those beliefs don’t feel compelled to consider whether they might be incomplete or prejudiced. On Feb. 24, after a passionate debate on legislation that would ban discrimination against LGBTQ people, Representative Marie Newman, an Illinois Democrat, proudly displayed the pride flag in support of her daughter, who is trans. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, responded by hanging a poster outside her office that read: There are TWO genders: MALE & FEMALE.

The next day Dr. Rachel Levine, who stands to become the first openly transgender federal official confirmed by the Senate, endured a tirade from Senator Rand Paul about “genital mutilation” during her confirmation hearing. My second conversation with Page happens shortly after this. He brings it up almost immediately, and seems both heartbroken and determined. He wants to emphasize that top surgery, for him, was “not only life-changing but lifesaving.” He implores people to educate themselves about trans lives, to learn how crucial medical care can be, to understand that lack of access to it is one of the many reasons that an estimated 41% of transgender people have attempted suicide, according to one survey.

Page has been in the political trenches for a while, having leaned into progressive activism after coming out as queer in 2014. For two seasons, he and best friend Ian Daniel filmed Gaycation, a Viceland series that explored LGBTQ culture around the world and, at one point, showed Page grilling Senator Ted Cruz at the Iowa State Fair about discrimination against queer people. In 2019, Page made a documentary called There’s Something in the Water, which explores environmental hardships experienced by communities of color in Nova Scotia, with $350,000 of his own money. That activism extends to his own industry: in 2017, he published a Facebook post that, among other things, accused director Brett Ratner of forcibly outing him as gay on the set of an X-Men movie. (A representative for Ratner did not respond to a request for comment.)

As a trans person who is white, wealthy and famous, Page has a unique kind of privilege, and with it an opportunity to advocate for those with less. According to the U.S. Trans Survey, a large-scale report from 2015, transgender people of color are more likely to experience unemployment, harassment by police and refusals of medical care. Nearly half of all Black respondents reported being denied equal treatment, verbally harassed and/or physically attacked in the past year. Trans people as a group fare much worse on such stats than the general population. “My privilege has allowed me to have resources to get through and to be where I am today,” Page says, “and of course I want to use that privilege and platform to help in the ways I can.”

Since his disclosure, Page has been mostly quiet on social media. One exception has been to tweet on behalf of the ACLU, which is in the midst of fighting anti-trans bills and laws around the country, including those that ban transgender girls and women from participating in sports. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves says he will sign such a bill in the name of “protect[ing] young girls.” Page played competitive soccer and vividly recalls the agony of being told he would have to play on the girls’ team once he aged out of mixed-gender squads. After an appeal, Page was allowed to play with the boys for an additional year. Today, several bills list genitalia as a requirement for deciding who plays on which team. “I would have been in that position as a kid,” Page says. “It’s horrific.”

All this advocacy is unlikely to make life easier. “You can’t enter into certain spaces as a public trans person,” says the ACLU’s Strangio, “without being prepared to spend some percentage of your life being threatened and harassed.” Yet, while he seems overwhelmed at times, Page is also eager. Many of the political attacks on trans people—whether it is a mandate that bathroom use be determined by birth sex, a blanket ban on medical interventions for trans kids or the suggestion that trans men are simply wayward women beguiled by male privilege—carry the same subtext: that trans people are mistaken about who they are. “We know who we are,” Page says. “People cling to these firm ideas [about gender] because it makes people feel safe. But if we could just celebrate all the wonderful complexities of people, the world would be such a better place.”

Even if Page weren’t vocal, his public presence would communicate something powerful. That is in part because of what Paisley Currah, a professor of political science at Brooklyn College, calls “visibility gaps.” Historically, trans women have been more visible, in culture and in Hollywood, than trans men. There are many explanations: Our culture is obsessed with femininity. Men’s bodies are less policed and scrutinized. Patriarchal people tend to get more emotional about who is considered to be in the same category as their daughters. “And a lot of trans men don’t stand out as trans,” says Currah, who is a trans man himself. “I think we’ve taken up less of the public’s attention because masculinity is sort of the norm.”

During our interviews, Page will repeatedly refer to himself as a “transgender guy.” He also calls himself nonbinary and queer, but for him, transmasculinity is at the center of the conversation right now. “It’s a complicated journey,” he says, “and an ongoing process.”

While the visibility gap means that trans men have been spared some of the hate endured by trans women, it has also meant that people like Page have had fewer models. “There were no examples,” Page says of growing up in Halifax in the 1990s. There are many queer people who have felt “that how they feel deep inside isn’t a real thing because they never saw it reflected back to them,” says Tiq Milan, an activist, author and transgender man. Page offers a reflection: “They can see that and say, ‘You know what, that’s who I am too,’” Milan says. When there aren’t examples, he says, “people make monsters of us.”

For decades, that was something Hollywood did. As detailed in the 2020 Netflix documentary Disclosure, transgender people have been portrayed onscreen as villainous and deceitful, tragic subplots or the butt of jokes. In a sign of just how far the industry has come—spurred on by productions like Pose and trailblazers like Mock—Netflix offered to change the credits on The Umbrella Academy the same day that its star posted his statement on social media. Now when an episode ends, the first words viewers see are “Elliot Page.”

Today, there are many out trans and nonbinary actors, directors and producers. Storylines involving trans people are more common, more respectful. Sometimes that aspect of identity is even incidental, rather than the crux of a morality tale. And yet Hollywood can still seem a frightening place for LGBTQ people to come out. “It’s an industry that says, ‘Don’t do that,’” says director Silas Howard, who got his break on Amazon’s show Transparent, which made efforts to hire transgender crew members. “I wouldn’t have been hired if they didn’t have a trans initiative,” Howard says. “I’m always aware of that.”

So what will it mean for Page’s career? While Page has appeared in many projects, he also faced challenges landing female leads because he didn’t fit Hollywood’s narrow mold. Since Page’s Instagram post, his team is seeing more activity than they have in years. Many of the offers coming in—to direct, to produce, to act—are trans-related, but there are also some “dude roles.”

Downtime in quarantine helped Page accept his gender identity. “I was finally able to embrace being transgender,” he says.

Page was attracted to the role of Vanya in The Umbrella Academy because—in the first season, released in 2019—Vanya is crushed by self-loathing, believing herself to be the only ordinary sibling in an extraordinary family. The character can barely summon the courage to move through the world. “I related to how much Vanya was closed off,” Page says. Now on set filming the third season, co-workers have seen a change in the actor. “It seems like there’s a tremendous weight off his shoulders, a feeling of comfort,” says showrunner Steve Blackman. “There’s a lightness, a lot more smiling.” For Page, returning to set has been validating, if awkward at times. Yes, people accidentally use the wrong pronouns—“It’s going to be an adjustment,” Page says—but co-workers also see and acknowledge him.

The debate over whether cisgender people, who have repeatedly collected awards for playing trans characters, should continue to do so has largely been settled. However, trans actors have rarely been considered for cisgender parts. Whatever challenges might lie ahead, Page seems exuberant about playing a new spectrum of roles. “I’m really excited to act, now that I’m fully who I am, in this body,” Page says. “No matter the challenges and difficult moments of this, nothing amounts to getting to feel how I feel now.”

This includes having short hair again. During our interview, Page keeps rearranging strands on his forehead. It took a long time for him to return to the barber’s chair and ask to cut it short, but he got there. And how did that haircut feel?

Page tears up again, then smiles. “I just could not have enjoyed it more,” he says.”

#suicide m #transphobia m #Elliot Page #transgender #representation #celebrities #actors #tv #movies #rep #trans #transmasculine #nonbinary #queer #long post

[chibinightowl]

uhh, for the trope mashup, 20 + 66 + jaytim?

Teacher AU and It's Not You, It's My Enemies

So this got me thinking back to an AU of mine where Jason is a teacher and he's got the rather precocious daughter of Tim and Stephanie in his class. Now, Tim and Steph never married in this AU but they co-parent quite well. Tim gets fully custody of Abby (I think that was her name) when Steph goes overseas for work. Makes sense especially since Tim lives in the better school district. Abby discovers Mr. Todd is gay and has recently learned what bisexual means. So she thinks her daddy and Mr. Todd are perfect for each other and acts up just enough to cause Mr. Todd to call Tim for a parent teacher conference.

They talk about Abby and at the end, agree that if Abby weren't in Jason's class, Jason would very much like to go out for coffee sometime.

So let's fast forward to the end of the school year. It's summer vacation and Tim dares to call the number he'd been given all those months ago. Jason answers right away.

"Yeah, I'm free on Tuesday. I'll see you then."

The summer is fantastic. Jason and Tim hit it off well and Abby crows in delight because she got her daddy a boyfriend. The fact that it's her favorite teacher is a bonus.

But then the new school year rolls around and Jason shares some grim news. "It's not you, it's my enemies," he says when he tells Tim they need to keep their relationship on the down low.

"What enemies?"

"The PTA. They're all either stepford wives or shrews and can make my life a miserable hell if they find out I'm dating the parent of a former student."

"This didn't bother you before..."

"I'm a pessimist at heart when it comes to my love life. I didn't think we'd make it this long." Jason sighs and looks away.

Tim gently touches his shoulder. "Hey, it's fine. Not like I go to those meetings anyway. Steph did once and nearly got into a fistfight with another mom."

"About what?"

"I think it was over the snickerdoodles."

Jason shakes his head and starts laughing. "You guys are something else."

Tim presses a kiss to the back of Jason's hand. "Anyway, I'm fine if we have to keep things quiet for awhile longer. We'll play it by ear and come out when the PTA won't be assholes."

"You're the best, Tim. Thanks."

#jaytim #jason todd #tim drake #not!fic #prompt fill

[mattzerella-sticks]

i really like your batflash idea you wrote in your tags, would love to read it one day (no pressure tho)

Thanks! It's one (of many) I've been working on in my head. I've got a lot of Batflash ideas... unfortunately they're pretty expansive so they stay daydreams lol.

Besides that one with the youngest member of the League!Bruce Wayne, my favorites are:

- an 80s Batflash EPIC that deals with a gay Barry and bisexual Bruce Wayne that has a lot of stuff I can't explain effectively here - it needs a post of its own - but I've got multiple plotlines (so far I've gotten up to Bruce, after being kidnapped by the Court of Owls for his support of a certain candidate for governor in his home state, uses the Press Conference that the Owls' replacement was going to hold to announce "Bruce selling his shares to Owl members" but instead reveals he's not only the major to the candidate but also asked her to run as he believes in a lot of what she stands for, as well as for selfish reasons so he can proudly marry the man he's in love with). It's gotten so large I've even expanded to include a whole host of other plot stuff (the Rogues are all queer, Bruce Wayne is well-known in queer circles in Gotham, gay Jason Todd, etc.), a lot of references to the times (AIDs, homophobia in the workplace as well as within the government, international relations). I've even expanded the universe and thought of other characters' backstories (Hispanic Superman, Wonder Woman active in the 40s before retreating but then coming back, British-Indian Alfred, Donna/Kory/Dick love triangle, Steve Trevor using they/them pronouns). This only scratches the surface and if I were given the chance to do something big for DC this is where I would pull from lol.

- a high school AU where Barry and his dad move from Central City after Barry's mom was murdered (when he was older) and his dad was acquitted, but he still lost his job so he has to take a position in Gotham at the clinic where Leslie Thompkins works; and it's a classic enemies to lovers because Barry and Bruce first meet when Barry almost runs into traffic (distracted) but Bruce saves him and then chews him out; they'll meet again in school, and become lab partners for forensics; Barry is also the recipient of the Wayne Science scholarship; Barry and Bruce will grow closer together and just be teen boys exploring their feelings while also keeping it on the DL since Bruce's mom is SUPER overprotective of him since Thomas was murdered in the alley (she survived). Plus Barry's best friend, Hal Jordan, hates Bruce Wayne for percieved slights. We also have Barry on the track team and Bruce on speech and debate, and they start to bond over an obscure book series that they both read, where Bruce lends Barry an advanced copy of the next book. They're both awkward in their own ways lol. There's ALSO a lot of guest stars from across the DCU in this, too

- a canon-divergent where, after Crisis on Infinite Earths, Barry became a Speed Force Ghost. And after being freed from an infinite loop where he haunted the building in Gotham he 'died' in by Bruce, could only be seen by Bruce. I've written about this idea, I feel, already in a separate post.

- another canon-divergence where, after Final Crisis, Barry tries adjusting to being back but it's hard because - after moving back to the present - Iris married someone else. So he feels adrift and disconnected, unsure why he was brought back, and also sad because Bruce died. And over time he finds out that Bruce tried finding ways to save him, and that he was in love with him and, after some self-reflection, realizes he has some feelings there as well. So when Bruce comes back, they both decide to see where these feelings lead them.

While I might not write them, or write them to the extent I'd like, I'm always down to talk about batflash lol

#dc comics #dcu #batman #bruce wayne #flash #barry allen #batflash #batflash plot ideas I've has simmering for a LONG time

[emberfrostlovesloki]

#4 Reader X SickSpencer

Gif credit: @stunudo​

Prompt: Reader X SickSpencer - Spencer catches a cold and doesn’t come into work on Monday morning. The reader goes to his apartment to check and see if he is doing alright. 

Category: Fluff / Comfort

Content Warning: Language (maybe) 

A/N: After watching the episode where Spencer gets tortured I had an infinite need to write something where he gets comforted by someone. This is pretty domestic and fluffy, but it’s what I needed right now. I want to thank @veraiconcos​ for helping me with the inspiration for this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it. Please like / reblog!

Link to all stories

_y/n_ = your name

_y/l/n_ = you’re last name

_h/c_ = hair color

_b/s_ = brother/ sister

_h/l_ = hair length

_f/c_ favorite color

_Y/n_ walked into the headquarters of the BAU with a pep in her step. She had spent most of the weekend hiking the paths of Ricketts Glenn State Park in Pennsylvania. She had taken the train up after she had clocked out of work and spent the rest of the weekend disconnecting from the world. She found the forested paths relaxing compared to her normal job she was bound to. She had asked if Morgan or Prentiss wanted to join her, but both of her teammates already had plans for the weekend.  In total the woman had walked over fifty miles. At noon on Sunday _y/n_ sadly said goodbye to her campsite, and drove herself to the airport. She had arrive at the office before everyone on Monday morning. She hadn’t gotten any work done during her outdoor experience. Because of this she arrived at her desk early in order to make a dent in the pile of paperwork she had left behind on Friday. When she sat down at the white desk _y/n_ noticed that some of the files she was least looking forward to were nowhere to be found. She didn’t think too hard about it for the moment, and just grabbed another file instead. After an hour, the other members of the team started streaming into the bullpen. _Y/n_ noticed that at 8:00 A.M. Morgan, Prentiss, J.J., Hotch and Gideon were all present, except for Dr. Reid. Agent _y/l/n_ looked around the room once more just to make sure that the young man wasn’t actually there, and she was just missing him. Spencer had never been late to work before. He had actually picked her up multiple times when she had texted him in a panic that it was raining and the trains would run late, and she’d probably get fired for being two minutes late. She knew that her fears were unfounded, she also knew that Spencer knew her fear was stupid. None the less he would pull up to her apartment and swing the passenger side door open from the inside. Those had been good rides. When _y/n_ was very sure she had not missed Spencer she walked up to Morgan who was just now walking up to his desk. She leaned against his desk and asked, “Morning, do you know where Reid is? Also, I’m missing some files from my desk, any idea where they may be?” Derek smiled and said, “I can explain both questions sweetness.” _Y/n_ rolled her eye’s at Morgans flattery but still raised her eyebrows, non verbally telling him to continue. Morgan took a seat and continued, “Reid is sick, apparently he caught a cold. About your missing files, your boyfriend stayed late last Friday, last I saw of him he had taken about ten of your case files to his desk, and was filling them out himself.” Before _y/n_ had a chance to process that Derek had called Spencer her boyfriend she replied, “Oh my gosh, is he okay? When did he get sick?” Morgan smiled as she realized what term he had used for her friend. She grabbed one of his case files and started hitting him over the head with it. The athletic agent put his hands over his head and said, “Reid got sick on Saturday. He texted us on Sunday that he had a fever and Hotch told him to stay home.” 

Before _y/n_ could ask more questions, J.J. entered the room and said, “We have a case, let’s head into the conference room to talk over the details.” When the team was assembled, Hotcher stood up and started explaining the case. “We’re looking for an unsub that has killed congressman Luke Allen. The murder took place in the senators office last night at 1:00 A.M. His body was found today by his aid, Gracie Suveua. There was no apparent forced entry. The senators most popular contributions on Capitol Hill have been his working and signing the bill regarding Obergefell vs. Hodges in 2015.” The team nodded and agent _y/l/n_ commented, “So we may be looking for a person that has problems with the implications of gay marriage in the Supreme Court: religious extremists, opposing party members or a person from another radical religions that oppose LGBTQ+ rights.” Gideon agreed and replied, “That’s a great start for a profile. Hotch and Derek, would you head over to the sight of the murder. J.J. would you give Penelope our main facts so far and get her to do a database search based off of those criteria. Prentiss, _y/n_ and I will head over to the police precinct to ask some questions and gather information from the force.” After a minute of gathering in their separate groups, the teams went their separate ways to begin the hard work of the new case. Prentiss and _y/n_ weren’t thrilled to be going to the prescient. The officers were mostly of a male demographic, and often ignored comments that both female agents had made before, and turned out to be true later. Nonetheless, the trio whisked away to the station. When they arrived, the Police chief heartily shook Jason’s hand, but chose not to shake Emily of _y/n’s_. The two agents looked at each other, shrugged and moved into the sleek building after Gideon. It wasn’t until 9: 30 P.M. that the team was back to the conference room debriefing the information that they had accrued during the course of the day. After the debrief was over Aaron said, “I think we will be better use to this case if we all get some sleep and pick this up tomorrow. I don’t think that we aren’t at risk of another victim being killed tonight. If we work hard there won’t be a second death  to follow the first. Get some sleep and I’ll see you all tomorrow morning.” Each member of the team slowly got up, in their fatigue and moved out of the bright room and back toward their desks. When _y/n_ got to her desk she slumped down in her swivel chair. She pulled out her phone and looked at the message she had missed. She ignored a text from her mom and instantly scrolled down to the text that Spencer had sent her. The message read, “I’m still feeling pretty bad. I’m sorry that I can’t be useful in this case.” _y/n_ observed the text, and thought about how Spencer threw himself into his work 110% of the time and maybe it was batter that he had a break from work, even if he had to feel like shit to get to that place. 

Before she could respond to the message that Reid had sent three hours ago Morgan approached _y/l/n_ and asked, “Do you need a ride home? Taking the train right now isn’t exactly safe.”_Y/n_ looked up to him and said, “I think I’ll go check on Reid first. Would you mind taking me to his apartment?” Morgan raised his eyebrows at the statement, and after a moment of silence said, “Sure thing.” The agents moved to the parking lot where Derek’s car sat ready to take off. _Y/n_ had sold her car when she had moved to D.C. to pay the deposit on her crappy apartment. She had always told herself that she would buy a new car when she had the money. Even though she  had been working on the BAU unit for over a year she had never bought a car. She preferred the train anyway. When the agent got onto the car Morgan smoothly moved out of his spot and into the empty road. _Y/n_ pulled out her phone and texted Spencer back saying, “Sorry you’re still feeling bad. I am going to come over and see if you’re doing okay. Be there in about twenty minutes.” When she finished sending the text she put her phone in her pocket and looked out the front window at the empty road. After a minute Derek commented, “You really like him, don’t you?” The male agent had his big brother voice on when he asked the question. _Y/n_ pulled her hand through her _h/c_ before responding, “Derek you know how I feel about him. You don’t have to interrogate me. But it might be helpful if you didn’t call Spencer my boyfriend in front of him. You know how he gets when it comes to affection.” Morgan smiled. He knew that both agents had spent a good amount of time together outside of work. He thought that they made a good couple, but also that they hadn’t said anything about their feelings to each other yet. Morgan respected that they were moving slowly, that really was more their style anyway. Derek replied, “I get you. Plus, I wouldn’t want to jeopardize any chance you might have in letting him tell you that he likes you.” As he finished his statement the duo pulled into the front of Reid apartment building. She looked over to her friend and said, “You know nothing may happen. If it’s just platonic I’d get it. But I do love him.” Derek smiled at the fact that she had actually said the words out loud. He responded, “Go get him tiger.” She rolled her eyes and stepped out of the car. _Y/n_ leaned back in to say, “If I get anything it will probably be a cold from our resident genius,” before closing the door, waving and walking into the apartment. 

When she was in the apartment she took a moment to enjoy the sleek interior of the building. She was always jealous of the coffee shop that the contained. She had to walk three blocks to get to a coffee shop from her apartment. Secretly she was grateful for this fact, because if her apartment had a cafe she knew she would spend all her money there. She was brought back to the moment when the elevator dinged and opened. The agent waited for the occupants of the elevator to get out, and she stepped in once it was empty. She pressed the cool round metal button that read ‘5.’ The moving contraption stopped twice for other residents to get in the metal box before _y/n_ got out on floor five. When she was outside Spencer’s door she realized that she had never checked her messages before just showing up at his room. She pulled out her cellular device, and saw that he had not responded. _Y/l/n_ thought, ‘Maybe he’s asleep? Or maybe he’s feeling really bad and didn’t want me to come?’ The agent panicked for a moment, considering that Spencer might be too ill to respond. After a moment she calmed down and knocked on the door. It took a minute before she heard light shuffling outside the door. She could barely hear her friend say, “Who is it?” _Y/n_ rolled hey eyes at the question; all he had to do was look out his peep hole. After quietly laughing she said, “It’s _y/n_. Can I come in?” The door opened slightly and _y/n_ could see a small sliver of Dr. Reid. She tried to ascertain his sickness level from the shade of his face. Spencer stood for a minute calculating how risky it would be for him to let her in. He said in a raspy voice, “I might get you sick. You know that 3% of American’s have a 64% chance of getting a  cold during the year.” _Y/n_ smiled and replied, “I’m happy you’re still coherent enough to give me statistics Spence, and if I’m going to get a cold I’d rather it be from you, and not some random person on the street. I’m just here to make sure you don’t stay sick for longer than necessary.” Reid reconsidered the odds. How old _y/n_ was, how active she was and her general health. After he finished his assessment the young man opened the door and allowed his friend in. 

When she was in the apartment the female agent set her backpack by the front of the door. Spencer had stepped back in an attempt to lower the rate of transmission. While he was doing this _y/n_ looked him over. He was paler than usual, and his cheeks were flushed red. His hair was limply hanging around his cheeks that were more sunken in than usual. Even in his comfortable looking Yale sweatshirt and grey shorts, the man looked miserable. _Y/n_ looked at him sympathetically and said, “Maybe you should take a seat?” Reid replied, “Do I really look that bad?” She shrugged her shoulders and sighed, but didn’t tell him verbally that he looked like a kid who had fallen into a swimming pool in his clothes by accident. She walked over to the coach and Spencer followed her. He sunk down into the dark fabric of the couch leaning his head against the back. She pulled a chair up while he was seated and asked, “Can I feel your forehead?” When the words were out of her mouth _y/n_ realized how strange it sounded, but Spencer didn’t seem to think it was weird - maybe because he was slightly delirious - or he just knew to expect strange expressions that he didn’t understand come out form her lips. So he replied, “Okay.” _Y/n_ stood up from her chair and knelt on the couch next to Spencer and lifted her hand. She placed it on his forehead. His skin was hot. For the moment that _y/n’s_ hand was on his head Spencer enjoyed it. The cool sensation of her hand was relaxing. He wished it stayed there for a moment longer. The genius realized that the concept was completely illogical because the heat of his fevered body would simply begin transferring to her hand. It only took a second for _y/n_ to realize that Spencer was still running a high temperature, and even though she didn’t need to, she slipped her hand under his chin to check the temperature there too. She assumed she did this because her mom had done it when she was a kid. She pulled her hand away again for the second time and got up. Spencer leaned his head back to look at _y/n_ as his friend moved toward his bathroom. He heard the tap turn on, and after a few seconds, she returned to his side with a small hand towel. She was holding her hand under it so that it didn’t drip water on his wooden floors. “When did you last check your temperature, and how high was it?” _Y/n_ inquired as she placed the damp towel on his hot forehead. Spencer breathed a sigh of relief at the coolness of the cloth. He then responded, “I checked it two hours ago. I think it was around 100.72 degrees. She nodded at the reply and then asked, “Have you eaten yet today?” The young genius was notorious for completely forgetting that he needed to nourish his slender body on a regular basis. So she could only imagine that while he was sick, food was the last thing on his mind. He gave the response she expected of, “No. I’ve felt kind of nauseous all day, I didn’t think eating was going to help with that.” _Y/n_ rolled her eyes and said, “Have you ever considered that not eating could make you nauseous too?” The young woman got up and went into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and only found a carton of eggs and a few containers of leftovers. She turned to Spencer and asked, “Why don’t you have any food Reid?” Spencer gave a cough before defended himself by saying, “I normally go grocery shopping on Sunday, but I was sick, so I didn’t go.” _Y/l/n_ understood and said, “Okay. Well I’m going to run down to the corner store and make you some dinner. Do you have a favorite comfort food?” Spencer stood and took a few steps toward her and said, “You really don’t have to. I can take care of myself.” _Y/n_ replied, “I know you can Spence. I just want to be here to show you you don’t have to all the time. Especially when you’re sick.’ Reid bit his lip as he usually did when he was thinking. After a moment he strode to his counter and grabbed the keys to his apartment, and car, and tossed them at _y/n_. She quickly shifted left and grabbed the object being flung at her. Spencer said, “I really like grilled cheese sandwiches.” She smiled and said, “I’ll be back in ten minutes.” Before walking out of his living room and into the hall. She locked the door behind her and moved toward the elevator. 

The corner store was limited in it’s selections. But all that really mattered was that _y/n_ had a loaf of white bread, some American cheese, a kind of pathetic looking can of tomato soup, and some orange juice. With these items in her basket the girl moved to the counter and paid for the groceries with cash from her wallet. It wasn’t until she was at the counter paying that she noticed the time. The Digital clock that was displayed behind the cashier glowed in red letters 10:25 P.M. She knew that if she went back to Spencer and made dinner she was going to miss the last train. To the woman it was just a small thought that quickly came and went. She wasn’t going to leave her friend right now. If he was uncomfortable with her staying at his place overnight _y/n_ would get a taxi back to her apartment. Spencer heard the key slide in the door and knew that _y/n_ had returned. He was currently lying down on the couch and didn’t really move that much as she set down a bag on his counter. There was a moment where some glass clinked together, and a second later she was in front of him with a glass of ice water and a glass of orange juice for him. She set them down on the table next to the couch and he said, “Thanks. I’m feeling a little better now.” _Y/n_ smiled and said, “Good, if you want a distraction while I’m making the food you can look over the new case. We’ve been working on it all day and haven’t gotten very far. The files in my bag.” Spencer jolted at the chance of doing something other than feeling miserable, and he got up and found the file in _y/n’s_ backpack. As he walked back toward the couch he noticed that _y/n_ had bought herself a coffee from the shop in the lobby. She shared his taste for sugar filled beverages. Unlike him, she preferred milk in her caffeinated drinks. Spencer grabbed the warm polystyrene cup and took a sip of it while she was digging in his fridge for some butter. Spencer often stole _y/n’s_ snacks or drinks. It was the type of thing that would make her  angry for a second and then she would laugh it off for five more. He would always buy her a replacement item, often he would make it a bigger cup of coffee or bar of chocolate than the one she had before. Spencer knew that the young agent was trying to save up money so she could fly down to her _b/s’s_ college graduation in a month. It was the least he could do. After all living in D.C. could be hard on the bank account. 

It wasn’t until the soup was on the stove heating up, and the grilled cheese sandwiches were in the pan getting melty that _y/n_ started looking around for her coffee cup. After a minute of futile searching she spotted it in Spencer’s hand. She smirked, moving to the back of the couch, she pretended to look over Reid’s shoulder at the information he was examining. When the man removed the cup from his lips and lowered it toward his leg she grabbed it out of his grasp and said, “Really Reid. This is how you repay me for my help.” Halfway through the sentence and she was already laughing at his antics. She glided to a position in front of him and started bringing the drink to her own mouth when she remembered Spencer was sick. She examined the lid of the cup, and obviously some of his saliva was on the rim of the cup. Reid looked up at her and said, “Sorry I also haven’t had any coffee yet today either.” _Y/n_ sighed and handed him back the cup replying, “You know, I fear that if you asked me to murder someone I would consider it.” Spence smiled up at her.  After another five minutes or so the pair were eating a very late dinner at the kitchen table. They were talking about the details of the case. As soon as they had finished eating Spencer asked, “Are you planning on going back to your apartment tonight? The train stopped running a half hour ago.” A blush rose to _y/n’s_ cheeks and replied, “Well. I was wondering if I could just stay here tonight? I need to look through the details of the case again, and do some research. I’ll be quiet.” It wasn’t a super odd request. The pair had stayed up all night before working on cases or having movie marathons, but they had never been at one of their apartments when one, or both of them was going to be sleeping. Spencer looked over to her and said, “Of course you can. I can help you with the research if you want.” _Y/n_ smiled and said, “Thanks for letting me stay. And offering the help, but I think you should get some rest. You aren’t going to get better without sleep.” She smiled at him and began picking up the dishes from their dinner. Spencer helped her put them in the sink and said, “I promise next time it’s my turn to cook. I’ll finish the dishes if you want to take a shower before I turn in.” _Y/n_ considered that she had been in the same clothes for over ten hours and knew that a shower would relax her she said, “that would be great.” She was embarrassed to ask it, but managed to stutter out, “Do you think I could borrow one of your shirts to wear while  I work. These aren’t the most comfortable clothes.” Spencer opened his mouth for a moment at the idea and tried to clear his head of the image of her in one of his shirts. The man snapped his mouth shut and his jawline tightened before he responded, “Um, yeah. In my closet on the left hand side are all my t-shirts and sweaters. You can wear any of them.” She said, “Okay. I’ll just be a bit.” She rubbed her hand over his shoulder as she walked in the direction of his bedroom. After a minute Spencer could hear the water running. 

The lean agent scrubbed down the dishes and put them in the drainer next to the sink. When he finished with the plates and bowls, he sat back down on the couch with the intention of looking at the case again. His thoughts didn’t allow him to. Instead he was considering how he was feeling. He wondered if it was alright to want these kinds of evenings to happen more often. He knew that he wasn’t that good with women. His few attempts to woe the friends and strangers he had been interesting in had usually gone horribly wrong. Yet, unbelievably a friend had come to check up on him, and was comfortable enough to spend the night at his place. He couldn’t figure out if he had done anything differently with _y/n_ than his other friends. He also was unsure if she felt the same way he did. Maybe she was uncomfortable being here and just needed to stay out of convenience. While Reid was considering the current situation _y/n_ was doing the same. She was running shampoo through her _h/l_ hair and musing over what had happened over the last two hours. She had always wanted, hoped, to get closer to Spencer, but she was afraid that if she moved too fast that he wouldn’t be interested, or worse not want to hang around her at all. She and Spencer did share some of the same hobbies but she hoped that she knew him better than that. She knew how he shied away from physical affection, and how he always seemed so happy when she or Jason told him he had done a good job, and how she knew what his shampoo was going to smell like before she even opened the bottle. She really hoped that her presence, both literally and metaphorically wasn’t making him uncomfortable now. When she was finished with her reverie _y/n_ rinsed out her hair and stepped out of the shower, After another ten minutes Spencer looked up to see _y/n_ in another one of his YALE sweatshirt. It was so long on her shorter body that it covered her like an ill fitting dress. However, Spencer thought she could wear a potato sack and pull it off. He quickly looked away from her to hide his blush. 

The duo looked over the cases and _y/n_ hooked up to his WiFi on her computer. After this was finished and _y/n_ had bought herself another coffee (using Reid’s card), she recommended he go to bed. It was already 12:00 A.M. at this point. Spencer relented and headed to his bedroom. Before he went in he said, “Goodnight. If you’ve got any questions you can ask. Just knock on the door.” She smiled and said goodnight back, and told him to sleep well. The agent continued her work for another three hours before she moved to the couch to try and get more comfortable to do her work. The next morning Spencer found _y/n_ laying down on the couch she was clutching a pillow to her chest and had her left leg draped over the blanket she had covered her body with. Spencer dared not walk past her torso in case she was indecent below the leg she had over the blanket. He was feeling much better today, and wished that he could go into work with her, however, it was company policy to wait a full twenty-four hours after a fever to return to work. Spencer knew it was for the safety of his coworkers, but he hated being away from his job. The man knelt down and tapped _y/n_ on the shoulder. She sighed slightly before opening her eyes to see him. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. Spencer quickly averted her eyes as she rose. She looked down at herself and realized that her _f/c_ boy shorts were peeking out from beneath Spencer’s YALE sweater. Her face turned red and she coughed, stood up and pulled the sweater down. She looked at her phone and quietly cursed, “Fuck, I’m going to be late.” Spencer knew that if _y/n_ was fast, and hurried she could catch the train and make it in time. He said, “Go change. If you’re fast you can make the 7:30 A.M. train.” _Y/n_ nodded and grabbed her clothes and ran into his bedroom. She shut the door and didn’t even bother to lock it as she stripped and quickly changed. Reid, who had woken up about thirty minutes before her, and had grabbed some coffee for her and himself. He had meant to wake her up once he had woken up, but he couldn’t disturb her when he had seen her so peaceful. When the woman came out of his room in her usual black pants and satin shirt, she looked ready to fight the crime in the city as she usually did. She put on her shoes and grabbed her things, stuffing them into her backpack. Spencer cleared his throat after she was finished and handed her the coffee. She smiled at him and said, “Thank you so much Spencer, for letting me stay, and the coffee.” Spencer smiled and hesitantly asked, “Would you come back again tonight? In case I need help again. Or feel bad?” It took a moment for the words to register and _y/n_ said “Huh?” And maybe it was because it was from lack of sleep, or her just being awake for five minutes, but the meaning of the words struck her after she had responded. She realized that Spencer wanted, that he really wanted to spend another night like they had had yesterday. She smiled up at him and replied, “Of course I’ll come back tonight Spence. I’d love that.” The word love was not lost on the genius, and he took a minute trying to and express his feeling, saying, “You know I really like you. I mean I appreciate you, or I feel things about you…” _Y/n_ wanted really really badly to hear the words come from him, but she knew that she didn’t have a moment to lose or she would be late. She hated cutting him off, but reluctantly said, “I know Spencer, me too.” 

At hearing this Spencer gave a heartwarming smile and leaned down to hug her. She quickly gave him a kiss on the forehead and cheek. She then let go of him, and ran out the door, shouting over her shoulder, “I’ll see you tonight!”

#spencer reid #dr. spencer reid #criminal minds #cm #aaron hotchner #j.j. #jason gideon #emily prentiss #derek morgan #fanfic #comfort #sick spencer #fluff #domestic reid #reader x spencer reid #reader x specer #spencer x reader #spencer reid x reader #one shot #i need to comfort spencer rn #is this too many tags

[pawprintsmoon]

You and me, Part III

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30337365/chapters/74893146#workskin

The proposal

After a shower and clean pajamas, Alex finished packing his suitcase, tucking the ring safely inside. The next morning, he was so focused on not losing it again that he ended up misplacing his coffee filled travel mug. He had put it down for one second, and suddenly it was nowhere to be seen. Henry found it in minutes and they left for the airport. Distracted beyond reason, Alex had to hop out of the car to race back inside to grab his wallet. Then he had to hop out of the car again to run inside and get his phone.

After speeding to the JFK airport, they crossed the Atlantic and spent one night in Kensington recovering from jet lag. They spent their first full day at a trans* equity conference. The English press greeted their visiting prince with union jacks and rainbows. Naturally, they responded with charming comments and smiling photos. Alex took the opportunity to livestream a message to his followers: ‘of course transgender high schoolers should be allowed on the sports team that aligns with their gender, and here’s why…’

Privately, in the car back to the palace, Henry expressed the opinion that public schools ought to have polo teams, because it’s a coed sport and ideal for nonbinary teens who don’t like to rock the boat. Alex responded with similar sentiments about quidditch. The rest of the drive they shared a familiar rant about how Harry Potter belongs to the fans (including the trans* fans) and not only to JKR.

That night, just past 2am, Alex turned over in bed to ask, “You awake?”

“Always.”

“Good. We’re going on a fieldtrip. Come on.” Alex pulled them both out of bed, and they got dressed, Alex swinging on his Gucci jacket. He would have worn a hoodie, the incognito uniform of the internationally recognizable, but tonight he didn’t want to hide himself. It was worth the risk. Besides, they didn’t really need to sneak around anymore, did they? Old habits.

He led them out of the palace, down Prince Consort Road. He stopped for a selfie with the sign, because he really had wanted to last time. A second selfie included them both, looking goofy and not caring. When they reached the back entrance of the Victoria and Albert Museum, they kissed lazily against the wall. Once Henry’s lips melted Alex’s nerves, he drew back to take the next step.

“Thing about dating the prince,” he said, holding up keys, “is that you can borrow pretty much anything he owns. And he can get the keys to anywhere if he asks nicely.”

“You’re a thief,” snarked Henry, walking through the door that Alex held open for him. “And a knave, and a scoundrel.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Alex gave the security guard a wad of cash. “Thanks, Gavin. It’ll be Renaissance City.”

They walked past sculptures, artifacts, and paintings, surrounded by the history that they were a part of. They got to the piazza, Henry’s sacred place. Just like last time, the first statue, Samson Slaying a Philistine took away what little breath Alex had, and he had to lean on Henry for support. Like windswept magnets, their lips met, for no reason at all.

Most of the time, Alex had a strong sense of Henry and himself being part of the current moment of history, changing the world in the here and now. But right then, time seemed to melt, and they were surrounded by historical sculptures telling timeless stories. Zephyr the Greek god of the west wind, Proserpina in the underworld, and Jason and his golden fleece. Archetypical and expansive.

And then there was Henry: the national gay landmark, prince charming, an obtuse fucking asshole. Hopefully his future husband. Sticking with his plan, he pulled away from Henry and got out his phone to open Spotify. Taking a deep breath, he pressed play. “Your Song” came from the tinny speakers.

“It’s a little bit funny, these feelings inside. I’m not one of those who can easily hide.”

“Why am I getting deja vu?” Henry asked, as Alex wrapped his arms around Henry’s waist.

“No clue.”

They began to sway, slow and intimate, cheek to cheek. He recognized the swelling in his chest as the same ache he’d felt when Henry first played this song for him years ago in the music parlor. Back then, he’d been trying so hard to repress his love for Henry, gripping the settee and wondering how long they would fly across the world to touch each other without talking about it. Now they let love dance around them, unbridled and openly declared in front of the world.

Other memories stirred up unbidden. Henry ghosting him after their first kiss, leaving him out in the snow and questioning everything. And then again when Alex hinted at love, leaving him in the lake with his heart carved out. Twice is not a pattern though, is it. Ever since the last time they were in this museum together, Henry had given his entire self to Alex. He had decided to be with Alex for real that night. That had been when they decided to love each other on purpose.

“I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words. How wonderful life is, now you’re in the world.”

For several beats of silence, he just looked at Henry. And Henry looked at him, and the museum disappeared. The whole world faded away except Henry and himself. It was now. He knelt down to one knee slowly, never losing eye contact. Henry’s loving smile showed no surprise as Alex spoke.

“Henry George Edward James Fox-Mounchristen-Windsor,” he said, making Henry roll his eyes. “I have a question to ask you. You see, my mom asked me, back in our early days, if I felt forever about you. I knew it then, and I know it now. I want to spend my life with you. So... ”

He paused, reached into his jacket, and pulled out the bedazzled box, rhinestones spelling out ‘love.’ Henry had probably guessed that it was never intended for June’s earrings, because he laughed like the box was an inside joke. Despite knowing what was coming, he inhaled audibly when Alex opened the box to reveal a simple silver ring.

“Will you marry me?”

Henry laughed again, a laugh like the birds of sunrise. “Yes, Alex. I will marry you.”

The prince reached into his pocket and pulled out a small leather box, the same size as the one Alex held. Then, he knelt down on one knee as well, mirroring his fiancé. He opened it to reveal a thick antique gold ring inlaid with a gem that Alex couldn’t identify. Beautiful. “Alex Claremont-Diaz, will you spend forever with me as your partner, confidant, and best friend?”

“I,” Alex choked, “yeah, fuck, of course-”

Henry cut him off with a swift and passionate kiss, both of them on their knees, fumbling the engagement rings onto their fingers. Alex felt like the deceased king that had probably worn his engagement ring. They kissed until their knees grew sore, and they collapsed on the tile.

“How did you think to bring a ring and everything?”

“Believe it or not, I somehow predicted that you might do this,” Henry teased.

Their buzzing bodies urged them to get back to the palace, to Henry’s room, to the bed. So they pulled each other to their feet, both dizzy and desperate. Before leaving the piazza they held each other for just a little longer.

“I love you,” whispered Henry.

“Fuck, I know you do.” It’s an amazing thing, to know completely and utterly that somebody loves you. “I love you too.”

“I know.” Henry held him around the waist and their foreheads pressed together. “Hey, so, I know we’re going to have to have a big, gay, traditional, royal wedding and all that -”

“Which we’ll make fun!” Alex said, with the positivity of a camp counselor. The world could really benefit from a big, gay, royal wedding. “There will be so many rainbows, even only if the crowd brings them.”

“And we’ll definitely have an adequate number of champagne fountains.” Henry winked at him. “But you interrupted-”

“Sorry!”

“-me. I was saying that I know we’re doing the public wedding for the audience, and the press, but...” Suddenly Henry looked nervous. “Well, would you maybe want to…”

“Spit it out babe,” Alex kissed Henry lightly on the lips before pulling back to show that Henry had his entire attention. “I’m listening, for real.”

“Would you, would you maybe want to elope first?”

“I… um. Would we, you know, still do the royal wedding afterwards?” Alex asked. “Keep it a secret?”

“Well, yes.” The words tumbled out. “But it would be a secret that we’re keeping for ourselves. We wouldn’t be keeping a secret for an election, or family expectations, or our god damned publicists. It would be ours, and we would keep it because we want to.

“Because I want to keep you to myself, just a little bit.” Henry shrugged, sheepish. “You give so much of yourself to your country, to the world, and I love that about you, but I want this to be just us. I’d be open to inviting Bea, Pez, June, and Nora, and our parents too, if you want.”

“And honestly, I don’t really want there to be a minister or priest… maybe Pez could do it?” Henry continued. “It doesn’t even have to be legal, so people don’t find out. I don’t know, I just thought, it could be just us, making a promise. Not with the crown, not with the church, not with all your adoring fans. Just the people that really matter.”

“I…” A grin spread slowly across Alex’s face. “I love it. Yes. Hell yes. Where? Not Vegas. Paris?”

“Paris.” Relief sweetened Henry’s smile. “And I could play my vows for you on the piano, if you’d like.”

“Yes I’d like! We could do it on a sailboat with a captain! Can you bring a piano on a sailboat?” Henry shook his head and kissed Alex’s grin, nuzzling their noses together. Alex whispered, “Okay, I’ll slow down and we can figure it out together. You and me.”

“You and me.” They fell into each other, a blissful act of entropy, all lips and hands.

“Besides,” Alex said as they stopped to catch their breath. “Secrets can be kind of hot if I remember correctly.”

AN: So, I thought I'd end with the proposal, but I feel like there's maybe more here? Like, this scene was kinda building up to some 'just got engaged' smut, or it could go on to show their elopement. I'm feeling a tinsy bit uninspired for their vows though, so if any of y'all feel like writing those, I could insert to the rest of the marriage scene that could be fun. If anyone feels like doing the post-proposal smut (or the wedding night smut lol) lemme know! Otherwise, thank you for reading! Check out my other rwrb fics, if you feel like it :)

#you and me #part 3 #first prince #rwrb #proposal story #henry fox mountchristen windsor #alex claremont diaz #red white and royal blue