Not declaring my lycanthropy on the medical declaration required by the interstellar shipping company because we're leaving the solar system anyway and it's probably not going to be a problem right?
I sigh heavily and rub my temples. The doctor opposite from me frowns down at his notes.
"And you say you are one of these earth mammals, canis lupus? You don't match the specimens we have on file"
Once more around the merry-go-around
"No. Well, only some of the time. Actually, that's not really right either, can you just sign the paperwork I gave you? I'll get in trouble if I'm off-ship for too long."
"You said you needed a health evaluation. Our scanners picked up an anomaly, we must investigate further."
I slump a little, scratching at the fur under the sleeves of my boilersuit. This is going to take forever....
"I can't explain it, it won't be in your records, it's not a problem so if you could just go ahead and write down 'ok for travel' on the blue copy...."
The room is grey and oppressively tidy. Soft edges and corners. Virtually featureless, smelling of disinfectant. I don't like the doctor's peculiar red tie.
"I will need confirmation from your immediate superior."
My heart sinks. That means getting the XO down here.
Lightyears away from Earth, and the movement of this planet and its moons are causing havoc with lycanthropy.
I stare bleakly at the ceiling, idly following the lines between the tiles with my eyes. By now someone will have been dispatched from the Pride of Orion to bail me out of quarantine. If I'm lucky, it's one of the nice ones. If not, they'll be in an extremely bad mood.
I lift up my arm and examine the thick fur running all the way down my forearm and creeping along the side of my hand. My nascent claws have painfully inflamed the ends of my fingers. What part of my cycle is this even?
I shuffle awkwardly on the hard plastic bench that is not designed with tails in mind. Maybe now I have a chance to take a nap? I can't distract myself from how uncomfortable my boots feel....
The sound of a door opening somewhere nearby has me sitting bolt upright, but after a while I realise whoever it is isn't coming my way.
Slump. Stare. Idly running my tongue over my fangs.
The doctor kept the canines they replaced.
I give up and lie down on the bench, feet dangling off the end, knocking my heels rhythmically against the end. I hope the time spent sat in this clinically tidy room isn't taken out of my pay. I somehow miss my matchbox on the Orion, to my own surprise. Someone in grey scrubs walks past the observation window, glancing in at me for a moment. This part of the building is eerily quiet. I trace patterns toward the ceiling with my finger, one eye closed.
The click of the door has me scrambling to sit upright, hoping to see one of my shipmates from the Orion. I'd even take the calm disdain of the XO over more time in this room.
My hope melts away into speechless wonder as a figure wrapped in a hazmat suit and holding a clipboard awkwardly struggles through the door. Only two vivid green eyes are visible of the suit's inhabitant through the visor as they look me over, scribbling a few initial observations down. Eventually the speaker grill of the nurse's helmet crackles into life.
"Ms. Luchthonn?"
I stare back.
"You've got to be kidding me.....what's with the fancy dress?"
The nurse seems wounded by the question and shuffles nervously. I immediately regret my hostility and try a reassuring smile, but my inflamed bloody gums lined with jagged lupine teeth doesn't seem to help. There's a very slight stammer to their voice when they talk again.
"According to the Disease Prevention and Ecosphere Protection Protocols, we are required to employ the maximum quarantine procedures to arrivals potentially carrying unknown pathogens, until such a time as we can ascertain the risks inherent with your condition. Full PPE is mandatory."
I blink.
"It doesn't spread by coughs and sneezes if that's what you're asking."
"You stated as much during your appointment with Dr. Crescentii, however according to the Disease Prevention and~"
"Yeah, yeah, I understand."
"May I ask aboard which vessel you arrived today?"
"The Spirit of Orion, freighter, Upslion class."
"And what is your role aboard the vessel?"
"Caulker's Mate"
The nurse looks blankly between her clipboard and me.
"Sorry, Hull Intergrity Supervisor's Assistant."
"Oh, I see."
There's another awkward pause, broken only by the sound of pen on paper and the click-hiss-click-hiss of the hazmat suit's respiratory filter.
"So, as we are unable as of yet to diagnose the transmission pathway of your condition, be it virological, bacteriological, mycological, or venomous, we are waiting on a ranking officer from your vessel to confirm that there is no risk of contagion amongst the local population. Until such a time, you must remain here in quarantine."
"Yeah, I figured. If it helps your research, I'm not a mushroom."
Something gets crossed out on the clipboard. The nurse takes a shaky breath and launches into what is clearly a rehearsed spiel
"As you stated in your interview with Dr. Crescentii that your condition can be spread by infected bite, we will require you to wear a mouth guard whilst within our planetary jurisdiction. This can be appealed by providing a comprehensive assessment by your ship's medical centre to lower your risk profile. The mouth guard is to be returned, double sealed in non-permeable polymer recepticals, at the end of your time within our planetary jurisdiction. A fee amounting to the sum of 750 credits will be issued should the mouth guard be lost, damaged, or not returned within three local days of your confirmed departure. Please sign here to signify you understand what I've just explained."
"....what do you mean, a 'mouth guard'?"
"I believe it's called a 'muzzle' in Earth vernacular"
I sit in silence, contemplating exactly how today can get any worse.
"Once you've signed the confirmation slip I can fit the mouth guard immediately, so as not to delay your release from quarantine later."
I prod bleakly at the plastic tray of food in front of me. At least I was told it was food, it seems to be more like a paste scientifically designed to be nutritional. I didn't know I would think fondly on the maintenence canteen food aboard the Orion.
I was told this meal was 'meat based, owing to your designation as a carnivore' but I don't believe them. It's not even hot, rather an unpleasant warm temperature.
I try to manoeuvre some past the metal grill of my 'mouth guard'. It's designed so I can still easily eat and drink, apparently, but experience suggests otherwise. I manage to snake a small spatula loaded with food paste to my mouth, and for the third time grimace at the texture, ears instinctively folding back. No, no more of that. I lay the tray on a small table by the bed and flop down onto the mattress, melancholic and imagining a proper meal.
Are they going to come get me today? Am I going to have to sleep here?
My train of thought is blown off the rails by a horrible lurching in my stomach, like the sudden drop when the artifical gravity is turned back on. I instinctively wrap my arms around my middle and groan, hunched over. There's a high pitched ringing in my ears. I screw my eyes shut as tears roll down my cheeks, gritting my teeth as my snout pushes slightly further into the muzzle. I can smell the food next to me, acrid and synthetic, and lurch to my feet, trying to get away from it. I trip over my boots, no longer suited for my semi-digitigrade feet, and kick them off with a gutteral snarl. The hems of my jumpsuit have ridden up to mid-shin, revealing patchy coarse hair that will at some point be a thick pelt of fur. For a moment I sway unsteadily, alone with the beating of my heart in my head. Eventually my pulse and breathing return to normal.
".....what is going on???!!!"
The words are a barely intelligible growl, causing me to clutch my throat. I'm used to this happening on and around full moon, but now it's gone haywire. I look to my right and see the tray of food upside down on the floor, its contents smeared across the tiles next to the flipped table. I hadn't even noticed that I'd thrown it away from me. I stand up and stretch, cracking all the joints in my body, then turn around.
And freeze.
An ashen face nurse in grey scrubs is staring at me through the observation window, frozen in place. Green eyes above a surgical mask wide with shock. They must've seen the whole thing. All I can do is stare back, hunched over and drawing deep growling breaths. After a pause that feels like an eternity, I try walking up to the glass, but instead I clumsily lurch forward on my half shifted feet. The nurse staggers back from the window, then turns on their heels and disappears as I fall forward and catch myself with both hands against the glass.
I'm left with nothing but a view of the hallway, the reverberation of the glass, and a cold creeping realisation that I have done the exact opposite to convincing them I'm safe and harmless.
Transphobia is about to be signed into law in the UK. We can fight this.
I am begging the UK trans community and its allies to attend the Mass Lobby at Parliament on June 25th, 11am-4pm, organised by Trans Solidarity Alliance.
Last year we broke the record for an LGBT+ mass lobby of Parliament. Will you help us break it again? Join us on 25th June 2026 to demand be
The new EHRC Code of Practice pushes trans people out of toilets, hospital wards, and community spaces. It normalises gender policing based on appearance and stereotypes. It becomes statutory guidance in the UK by the end of June.
Trans people are now legally their assigned gender at birth and must join gendered spaces accordingly, but if they are perceived as their lived gender, they can also be ejected from those spaces. The guidance says: either break the law, or don’t pass too well.
A mass lobby is where you invite your MP to discuss your concerns with you in-person. Ask your MP to:
Demand full parliamentary scrutiny, debate, and use their free vote on the EHRC Code of Practice.
Support any motions rejecting the EHRC guidance. As of June 4th, Labour MP Nadia Whittome has submitted a prayer motion - Early Day Motion 240.
Write to Bridget Phillipson, the Minister for Women and Equalities about our concerns
Your MP does not have to be an ally, they do not have to respond to your email for you to show up and greencard them (details below the cut.) What matters is that as many people as possible show up.
I cannot stress this enough: Showing up in person matters. It is much more effective than petitions, emails, and letters.
It is a horrible, stressful time, and I am so sorry if you're trans and live in the UK. But I was at last year's mass lobby and the line for greencarding alone stretched around the back gates. It was a record breaking mass lobby and made us impossible to ignore. Let's do even better this time. Details under the cut:
Worried about what to say?
Bring your personal worries about transphobia being signed into law, and trans friends being excluded from public spaces. You are a living person who deserves dignity. Remind your MP of that. You will also get guidance and brochures from Trans Solidarity Alliance that outlines our demands. This is mine from last year.
Money issues?
Trans Solidarity Alliance provides a travel bursary that you can sign up for via the link.
Got a refusal or no response from your MP?
Come anyway! You can request a same-day appointment with your MP through a process called greencarding. They will come and see you if they’re already in Parliament. Even if they don’t, they’re made acutely aware of your cause because you showed up in person. This is my greencard from last year.
Here is the EHRC Code of Practice in full. It's a tough read, but some highlights are:
Organisations can’t provide trans-inclusive, single-sex services, or they risk being sued for discrimination.
e.g. domestic violence support for women including trans women, men’s rugby group including trans men (12.68).
Trans people will have nowhere safe to pee.
If you’re a trans man, businesses can't allow you to pee in the men's, and you can also be ejected from women’s bathrooms if you’re perceived as a man. Vice versa for trans women. EHRC suggests a ‘third space’ bathroom, which is discriminatory and unworkable for most businesses. (13.130-133)
Sports organisations must exclude trans people from single-sex competitions (13.73).
A women’s only sports competition must exclude trans women because of their biological advantage or face potential lawsuits (13.74), but a trans man who has undergone testosterone treatment can also be excluded based on fairness rules (13.81).
Trans women are stripped of the legal definition of ‘lesbian’, and therefore no longer have legal protections if they’re discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation. (2.50, 2.92).
Here is the Good Law Project's better explanation of the EHRC Code.
I have also made a PDF printout of QR codes for the government petition, email your MP tool, and mass lobby link to pass around your communities. DM me and I'll send it to you.
The pervert lesbian is wearing a floral print bikini and has managed to awkwardly insert the saying "stop and smell the flowers" into your conversation 6 times in an hour
This Pride, Please Consider Helping an Unemployed Trans Woman
My fundraiser from last month fell significantly short and I really need help. I am so sorry that I’m still in a position where I have to ask for help. But I am. I’m an unemployed transgender woman living in wildly conservative Orange County, CA. I had to leave my job because of consistent transphobic and sexual harassment. It’s a hard and stressful time, and I’m so broke that I don’t know how I’m going to keep paying for groceries, let alone medication, therapy for cptsd and depression, paying off the phone I had to buy after my old one stopped charging. I am hoping to raise $500 but literally any little bit you can give helps. Thank you all so much.
from a strategic outlook the problem with polyamory is very like that of cooperatives or communes under capitalism; without a direct assault on the centres of power, you’re constantly at risk of being annihilated or absorbed by the very norms and systems you set out to escape. as such, it is imperative as a matter of pragmatic tactics, of ideological survival even, for you to sleep with other peoples’ girlfriends
as you guys know my grandparents got scammed months ago, some man told them he was going to send them medical equipment they needed for $500 dollars, we were desperate, not only they lost all the money they had, my grandpa has gotten significantly worse, he's starting to lose vision in his good eye and my grandma is losing mobility as well (evidence), I know I sound annoying always coming here and begging for money for my grandparents and for my college, I don't know how to anticipate the grief, losing my grandpa everyday to his illness, losing my college education cause I can't afford it, in México the situation it's just getting worse and even though I feel lonely I have found a community here and I'm forever grateful for that, even a dollar goes a long way and all the money will go to their medical needs since I'm very sure I won't be able to cover college expenses, please share and donate if you can, you can help via p*ypal or any way you want through ko-fi, here's the link! 💕 thank you sm
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