#Doctors Protecting Children Declaration

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Erin In The Morning:

On Friday, numerous conservative accounts and news sources promoted headlines that the "American College of Pediatricians" had issued a statement against transgender care. A video accompanied the announcement featuring Dr. Jill Simons, who, wearing a white lab coat, states that there must be an end to "social affirmation, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones" for transgender youth. Despite the official-looking attire and name, the organization's name serves to mislead observers into thinking they are the much larger American Academy of Pediatrics, which represents tens of thousands of pediatricians. In reality, the ACP is a hyper-conservative Christian group of doctors created in 2002 to oppose gay parenting. In the announcement released on Friday, Simons called for an end to social transition and gender-affirming care for transgender youth. One video, which went viral, begins with a statement that the organization has released a "declaration" authored by the American College of Pediatricians, along with "hundreds of doctors and healthcare workers," opposing transgender care. It references the highly-politicized Cass Review from the United Kingdom, whose author controversially blames pornography for being transgender, as well as the Climategate-style leak of the “WPATH Files” to support the statement.

The video, which was viewed over 51 million times on Twitter, cuts off just before the next speaker is introduced: Dr. Andre Van Mol, who represents the Christian Medical and Dental Associations. Van Mol serves on the board of the Bethel Church of Redding, which made headlines in 2019 for attempting to pray a dead child back to life. He is followed by representatives from several other Christian medical organizations that also support banning transgender care. The website promoted at the event lists signatories to the statement, including the Catholic Medical Association, Genspect, The National Catholic Bioethics Center, the Family Research Council, and the Discovery Institute, an organization that promotes intelligent design over evolution in schools.

The American College of Pediatricians has been hugely influential in the promotion of anti-trans policy in the United States, relying in part to its misleading name. Members of the organization testify in state houses and courtrooms across the United States, misleading legislators into thinking they are the much larger American Academy of Pediatrics, the professional society that represents 67,000 pediatricians in the United States. In 2023, the organization inadvertently left a Google Drive public, leading to the leak of a massive trove of files showing their extremist roots. According to these documents, the group received significant donations from the Alliance Defending Freedom, a right-wing organization that has played a large role in the passage and defense of anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the United States. It also received free video production from Family Watch International, a group of Christian fundamentalists opposing homosexuality, birth control, abortion, and sex education. The American College of Pediatricians itself has been listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center since 2012, when the group’s leader stated that “homosexuality poses a danger to children” and that the group was “essentially a Judeo-Christian values organization.”

[...] Despite the widespread misinformation, every major medical organization in the United States supports gender-affirming care. In February, the American Psychological Association, the largest psychological association in the world, released a policy resolution stating that gender-affirming care is medically necessary and saves lives. The American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommends that transgender youth have access to gender-affirming care tailored to their unique needs. The Advocates for Trans Equality maintains a list of over 30 of the largest U.S.-based medical organizations that support transgender care, including the Endocrine Society, the Pediatric Endocrine Society, the American Public Health Association, and the American Medical Association.

Anti-trans extremists such as X owner Elon Musk and numerous right-wing and anti-trans pundits and websites are touting a video from American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) Dr. Jill Simons issuing a statement opposing gender-affirming care for trans children.

In contrast to radical right-wing whacko group ACPeds, mainstream medical organizations support gender-affirming care as a medically necessary.

ACPeds is a radical right-wing medical group that is opposed to abortion, LGBTQ+ rights, and transgender rights, and has trafficked in COVID denialism and anti-vaxxer extremism.

[animeyanderelover]

Yandere Gojo satoru and suguru geto (cult reader one) with non-sorcerer pregnant reader?

Tw: Yandere themes, toxic relationship, possessive behavior, obsession, delusional behavior, overprotective behavior, clinginess, manipulation, forced pregnancy, isolation, birth, angst in Geto's part

Pregnancy Hc's

Gojo Satoru

🩵​Gojo has always gotten away with some stuff since he is the strongest sorcerer currently but at the same time he has also lost a lot. A price for being who he is. He has always been entitled and selfish when it comes to you simply because for the first time he has someone he can wholeheartedly call his own. Even if you may still be uncomfortable with him and even if he has forced you into this position, you're still his. This should be enough for him yet apparently Satoru's greed knows no limits as he wishes for a child. You wish that he would only joke but the usual mischief in his eyes is completely gone as his blue eyes look at you with a silent longing in them, one that threatens to bring you down to your knees. He is fully aware what he is demanding from you and he knows about the risks that you as well as the baby would have to face simply for being his but he can't help the longing of his heart. He wants a child that only belongs to you and him and to no one else.

🩵​Satoru is extremely giddy and excited when he finds out that you are expecting as in that moment, only the two of you and the new life both of you have created seem to exist. He pokes your stomach gently, greets the little life inside with a grin on his face before he wraps you in his arms. As soon as the first wave of euphoria has passed, the fear and paranoia creeps up on him though. Nothing about your pregnancy is made public as he prioritises your safety and privacy. He knows that people are eventually bound to find out and that is what scares him so much. You are kept close by his side and aren't allowed to leave the house, not without him at least. Everything he does is done with an alerted level of awareness as he arranges Shoko to be your doctor and you notice the tighter grip he keeps on you when he takes you out of his home. That caution melts away for a while though when it is revealed during a scan that he's actually going to be a father of two. He has genuine tears in his eyes when he sees their little forms.

🩵​He talks twice as much to your stomach after that as he claims to you that two babies need more attention and love from him after all. Satoru's mood is all over the place as he seems to be even worse than you. He has exactly two moods during the entire timespan of your pregnancy. He is either doting and teasing on you and your stomach or is overly paranoid and protective. The latter feelings increase when news eventually leak out shortly after you have entered your second trimester. His clan acts highly displeased for you are only a non-sorcerer and for that might weaken the strength of his children and at the same time are offended that they weren't informed about this. They demand for him to take you to them yet Satoru denies them as he declares that he doesn't want them to be involved in the lives of his babies. There will be no expectations put on his kid's shoulders from a young age on nor will there be any assassins coming after their heads. Not as long as he is alive.

🩵​As soon as you start showing he is constantly lifting up your shirt to talk to your belly. Attached would be an understatement to use as you have a feeling that both of you will become one person if he sticks any longer to you. Satoru starts discussing pretty early on possible names, especially once Shoko is able to confirm the gender of the two babies. His joy upon knowing that he will have two boys is your personal nightmare as you don't even dare to imagine having three of him in the house. Whilst he has told you that he'd like you to choose one name for one of the boys too, at times you have the feeling he just wants to choose both of their names. Satoru is incredibly eager as he starts purchasing everything and starts preparing the nursery. You are not surprised when he wants everything painted blue as you can already see two babies with his blue eyes in your head. Whilst Gojo isn't opposed to having his boys look like copies of him, he's secretly hoping that they will resemble you from appearance too.

🩵​As soon as they start kicking, you have no doubt that those babies are truly his as they won't give you a minute to rest. Gojo on the other hand loves when he can feel their limbs whenever they make a tumult inside of you. They are awfully active and whenever you have a scan, both of them look like they're performing stunts in your womb and whilst it makes Satoru laugh when he sees the positions the twins are always in when you are visiting the doctor, you hope that they won't do that when you're in labor. Gojo on the other hand gets all silly the more you start showing. He starts painting on your stomach and even puts stuff on it to see if it'll stay on there. All whilst ensuring that you don't hurt yourself but he insists that it is bonding time with the babies if he does stuff like that and whilst you highly doubt it, it's not like he'll stop. It gets pretty exhausting and painful at one point due to their activity and you despise how emotional you get with the only available option for comfort being Satoru.

🩵​Despite your hopes of giving birth in a hospital, Satoru decides against it. He doesn't want to risk anything, especially when you will be completely vulnerable during birth. You're slightly afraid of giving birth at home because whilst Satoru trusts Shoko and the other people she has arranged to assist, you are far too new into this world to make up your mind about anything. Your labor starts a week earlier than expected which causes some panic, especially since neither of the boys are in the right position. For some time a C-section is considered but your prayers are answered when the babies turn in the last moments in the right position. Satoru doesn't leave your side once and in that moment you're thankful for it as everything is so intense and painful for you. Once both of the twins are born, you can't help but be surprised that they don't look just like mini Gojos. One has a tuft of his white hair and the other one has his blue eyes. Satoru couldn't be happier though that both of them turned out to be the perfect mix of him and you.

Geto Suguru

🗻​You don't even notice it as you are still quite stressed with everything that is going on around you. It is Suguru who senses it long before you do and so do all the other sorcerer around you, leaving you once again completely in the darkness about it. This wasn't planned at all and that is what gives Suguru some complicated feelings. His feelings for you have mellowed out somewhat as he has settled more into accepting the fact that he fell in love with what he despised most but he never considered before having a baby with you. Other sorcerers kind of argue about it too as some simply feel like discriminating because you are a non-sorcerer and others argue that Suguru is still the father. A lot of controversy breaks out and that is how you ultimately figure out what is going on and you break down in tears when you find out that you are pregnant. Yet you know that you can only wait for Geto's decision as you know that he would never allow you the freedom of choice.

🗻​To your surprise Mimiko and Nanako take a very protective stance as both of them are excited with the news that you will give birth to his child and both of them actively try to persuade him to let you keep the child. Ultimately Suguru doesn't seem to have the heart to get rid of the child and whilst it is an unpleasant realisation for him that he has gotten very soft simply because the baby is his and yours, he manages to convince everyone who feels iffy about it since there is always the chance that the baby might not be able to see curses and use cursed energy. From that moment on Mimiko and Nanako spend a lot of time with you as both of them are very giddy now that Suguru has decided to keep the baby. They instantly start arguing whether or not the child will be a boy or a girl and whilst you know that they only care about you because you mean so much to Geto and because you carry his baby, their excitement is still welcome and somewhat comforting.

🗻​Suguru is aware that you tend to be under a lot of stress ever since he abducted you so he does his best to take away as much as he can to avoid putting unnecessary stress on your mind and body which could harm the baby. For the first time he seems to consider more what frightens you and what doesn't, something he used to use against you to keep you in line and to remind you of your inferiority. You don't enjoy the fact that he tries to spend more time with you and he isn't ignorant to your clear hesitance and unease about it. You expect him to give you that displeased look that always tells you that you have messed up and will be punished but instead this time he only gives you a sigh. He doesn't feel guilt for what he has done to you ever since he has abducted you but he also doesn't want his child to grow up in a dysfunctional family. Can you at least cooperate with him this time? For the sake of your child? You can only swallow all the anger bubbling up inside of you. Of course this isn't about you. It has never been.

🗻​Your emotions start flaring up as you become more aware of the people around you who are all allies of Suguru. You notice the lingering looks they give you as your stomach becomes visible and sometimes you can even pick up on some of the conversations they have about you and the baby. Suguru, Mimiko and Nanako try their best to keep you away from such things but you know very well how everyone here feels about you. If the baby isn't like them...would they kill it? Mimiko and Nanako assure you that Suguru would never let that happen when you decide to open up to them when they spend time with you but you aren't convinced. This is a man who murdered his own parents after all. You snap one day when you are exposed to such talk once again and storm to where Suguru is, asking him this question that has been plaguing you for a while now. He appears to be shocked that you ask him this question, tries to reassure you but you are too hysteric in that moment and scream at him that someone capable of killing his own parents would be able to kill his own child too.

🗻​Thick silence falls over the entire room after those words as you can see the way he clenches his fists, his eyes narrowing as he glares at you. He looks like he's about to hurt you and a part of you wants him to do it just so that you know that you are right and that he is a monster. Instead he storms out of the room and leaves you standing there. You can hear how some of the other sorcerers start mumbling as they look at you but you don't care as you glare at all of them. They're all murderer after all. You don't see Geto for the rest for the day and you are very content with that. The only people looking after you are Mimiko and Nanako who appear to be worried. When they try to convince you into thinking that you were too harsh with Suguru, you demand from them to leave you alone as well. They initially don't do as you say and only when you start yelling at them do they leave you alone as well. You glare for a few seconds longer at the door until you start crying and sobbing as you realise once again that you are completely alone and that no one here really cares about you because they like you but because Suguru has told them to do so.

🗻​You fall into depression, snap at everyone until they all start avoiding you. You don't care about it anymore though. They're just finally showing their true faces. You eat less which ends in Geto having to force everything down your throat and you can tell that he is fed up with your behavior as well. You don't care anymore though. You just spend most of your time alone and scare anyone away that tries to talk with you. When Suguru one day decides that he has had enough of it, he storms to your room, fully prepared for your screams. Instead he finds you in your bed, a pillow over your head as he hears sobs and whimpers from you. Despite his plans he feels a twinge of guilt when he sees your lonely and trembling form. When he steps closer though, his heart drops when he realises that your water has broken an entire month too early and you're in labor yet were too stubborn to call for any help. Suddenly all hell breaks loose in your room as everyone who can help tries their best to assist you yet even with contractions you still try to reject them all. You are only able to hear the cries of the newborn and how someone announces that it's a boy before you pass out, hoping to never wake up again.

[girlactionfigure]

Today, 77 Years Ago in the Hebrew Calendar: The Birth of a Nation Surrounded by Fire

On May 14, 1948, as the sun dipped over Tel Aviv, David Ben-Gurion stood before a small crowd in a modest hall and declared the rebirth of the Jewish state. After 2,000 years of exile, persecution, genocide, and broken promises, the dream of generations was finally spoken into existence. “We hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel.”

That night, Jews across the land wept, danced, prayed, and kissed the ground. The moment had come. But as fireworks lit the sky, so did the fires of war. By the next morning, May 15, five Arab armies invaded from all sides. Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon launched a coordinated assault with one goal: to destroy Israel before it could take its first breath.

The new state had no formal army, only a patchwork of militias. Many of its fighters were Holocaust survivors who had stepped off refugee boats still wearing the numbers of Auschwitz on their arms. Israel had almost no tanks, no real air force, and ammunition so scarce that commanders warned their soldiers, “One bullet, one kill.”

But the one thing they had was the one thing the Arab world never understood: the will to live. The will to reclaim a home stolen over centuries. The will to never again rely on anyone else for protection.

Teenagers picked up rifles. Women packed bullets in dark cellars. Farmers left their fields and became fighters. In Jerusalem, Jewish defenders held out under siege while enemy shells struck synagogues, schools, and hospitals. In the Negev, men welded iron plates onto trucks and called them tanks. In every corner of the land, they fought with everything they had, and everything they didn’t.

And yet, Israel did more than survive. It won.

By 1949, armistice lines were drawn. The Jewish state secured more land than it had been offered by the United Nations. Its population swelled with Holocaust survivors and refugees from Arab lands. The flag of Israel flew over its capital. The ancient dream had returned to life.

Today, 77 years later, Israel is no longer a miracle in the making. It is a miracle fulfilled. From a handful of fighters to one of the most powerful armies in the world. From a land of tents and ration cards to a global center of innovation, faith, and freedom. The children of the exiles are now doctors, soldiers, farmers, engineers, and leaders.

This day is not just a celebration of survival. It is a celebration of resurrection. Of light out of darkness. Of life out of ashes.

Happy Independence Day

Am Yisrael Chai!

Open Source Intel

[sweetfirebird]

Americans

I said a lot of this in January, but:

Go get vaccinated.

--RFK Jr's little "I am going to find the cause of autism by September" horseshit is going to end with him and the unlicensed "doctor" on his team declaring the cause is vaccines. He will then relax all the federal guidelines and requirements for vaccines, and a country where measles and polio and other diseases were once eradicated will be... a nightmare. To put it mildly. This is because he wants already disabled people to die and perhaps in his case, genuinely does not realize this would create even more disabled people. (The Project 2025 people, however, definitely know and do not care.) We are pushing back on this, of course. Of fucking course. But get the vaccines anyway. My doctor said I can even get the Shingles vaccine though I am below the recommended age.

--Vaccines are considered preventative care. Most insurers, including the state marketplace plans, cover them. You can also pay for them with an HSA if you have one.

--You want: TDAP (tetanus, diptheria, acelluar pertussis {whooping cough}) especially if you are going to be around small children.

MMR (measles, mumps, rubella {German measles}) If you were vaccinated with a double dose, as most were, you are probably fine. But your doctor can check your protection levels. In older patients, this is a concern. They might only have received one dose as a child.

HPV vaccine. Prevents cancer. Do it.

Chickenpox vaccine if you are of the age to get it and didn't. Shingles vaccine if you are of the age to get it or your doctor okays you getting it early.

Flu vaccines. Covid vaccines. (If we have to add smallpox or polio vaccines back to this list, I am gonna lose it.)

If the FDA is allowed to keep doing them, sign up for their newsletters about product recalls. Cook all meat thoroughly, yeah even if you like it pink. Get a meat thermometer. Do not fuck around. They are cutting FDA safety inspections because we are living in an Upton Sinclair hellscape. Wash all of your raw fruits and vegetables. Wash your hands after handling them. (Some people recommend vinegar as well, but if the vinegar is too diluted, I am not sure it's better than water.)

Wear a mask (if your state allows this.)

--Measles is airborne and people can be infected and contagious four days before showing symptoms. Flu is airborne and this last flu season was bad, and the new one will likely be worse because--see above, fewer vaccines. And I am not even talking about bird flu. At least wear a mask in crowded public spaces or on transportation like trains and planes.

Use hand sanitizer, sure, but also, WASH YOUR HANDS:

--hand sanitizer does not kill things like norovirus. Wash your hands with soap and hot water. Get under your fingernails. Not only does this help prevent you getting sick or getting someone else sick, but those shitheads are going to make the health care system even harder to navigate, so trust me, you do not want to get sick now.

(Don't go on cruises. Cruise ships, already plague vectors, now also no longer have inspectors. Yay! We are the healthiest and most sensible country. Sure am glad those billionaires got a tax break.)

Save your money.

--a recession, at minimum, is on the way. (Fascists love recessions. They can promise desperate people that fashy bullshit will help pull them out of the financial quagmire, while actually holding them down in it.) But also, why contribute to the billionaires? And also, beyond that, the odds of strikes or general strikes happening is high. Prepare for that. Also, if you can, maybe get some cash out and stow it away. Just in case. Learn how to repair and reuse or thrift more durable items from back when America did make things that lasted.

Take the biometrics off your phones and use a passcode instead.

--In many jurisdictions, they do not need a warrant to open your phone if it can be unlocked with a fingerprint or a face ID. You have a right to privacy.

Look into better security on your phones and other devices (Kindles, TVs, laptops, tablets, smart appliances ffs). Look into adblockers. Fuck being a product.

--Related: post less on social media about where you are going and what you are doing. Take back some of your right to privacy. Stop using your real name on the internet. Pretend it's 1997 and you are avoiding a creeper in an AOL chatroom. (Kids, you will have to google that one, but trust me.)

Freeze your credit.

--go to Experian, and for free, freeze your credit. You can unfreeze it whenever you want if you need to buy a car or something. Your data is... who even knows where anymore. Protect yourselves. Set up alerts with your bank as well: get overdraft warnings before they happen or turn off the ability to overdraft at all. Get alerts about unusual spending on your cards. Get alerts about low balances. PROTECT YOURSELVES. Republicans eroded or eliminated most government financial protections. So it's just us to protect us from predatory shit right now.

--Related. If you are trans or queer and worried about your rights being taken away, especially regarding marriage. Go to your bank and assign your chosen loved one/s to be your account beneficiary if you die. YOU are naming who has access to your money if you die. Make a will as well. You don't need to be married to someone to leave them your property. Just make sure the will is solid by your state's laws.

Get your Real ID (fashy crap but get it anyway.)

Get your passport if you can afford it.

--if you have a passport already, you can use that to get your Real ID. Either way, you are going to need a certified copy of your birth certificate. (Or the actual thing, if you have it. But I would send in a copy, personally.) This requires into going into the County Clerk offices where you were born or mailing them in a *notarized* form with a filing fee. Notarizations are cheap in most states (excluding NY and CA, where they are like $15). County Clerk filing fees vary. Once you have the certified copy, make an appointment at the post office. You can download the passport form from the government website--you will need to know things like your parents' birthdates and social security numbers, I believe. Yeah it sucks.) The post office will take the photos for you. Do not wear anything political or even funny or silly. Plain clothes. There is also a fee to pay at the post office for processing this, and then a free to the government for the passport (which is dumb. Citizens should just get them free but we don't live in such a country.) Total passport costs are going to range from $130 to around $200, depending on what you need done and how fast.

But if you can, get the passport, and get it soon. They are overwhelmed as it is and things will be slow.

This is a lot of tasks. And the world is already overwhelming. But you are protecting yourself, and in doing so, helping protect others.

[asksythe]

Hey just read your lovely hands fanfic and the concept of the blood pool being a prison for malevolent entities barred from the cycle of reincarnation is so COOL , is it a thing implied between the lines and we western audiences lack the cultural context to recognise it ?, or is it something you came up with if so can I have permission to incorporate the concept into my own fan works?

It is a cultural thing. It's not even implied in the novel. It's just outright stated. But it's one of those hundreds of tiny cultural details that probably fly over the head of the international audience.

Remember when the Wen people came back as bloody corpses to protect Wei Ying and fought back the fierce corpses riled up by the repaired Yin Hufu?

In this part, the novel describes the events following the first Sige of the Burial Mound. After the hundred cultivator houses slaughtered these defenseless elderlies, women, and children, they threw their corpses into the blood pool, thus forever barring them from reincarnation.

The phrase the novel uses is 永不超生 (lit. to never again be reborn, to be barred from the cycle of reincarnation forever). That's not a figure of speech. The novel is being literal. The Burial Mound itself is already a prison for all kinds of undead and ghost wraiths. The blood pool, by the novel descriptions, amounts to a maximum security cell. A ghost in the Burial Mound can eventually let go of their grudge/resentment and enters the afterlife/reincarnation. But anybody thrown into the blood pool doesn't have this option.

永不超生 is commonly portrayed in Chinese culture as a punishment by the authority of the underworld. That's not a judgment that a mortal is allowed to make.

The fact that the Hundred Houses carried out 永不超生 on the Wen is a detail that speaks of both their arrogance and their awareness of their guilt.

The Hundred Houses are well aware what they did to the Wen remnants is a sin. The custom of the time is, if you profess yourself to be the righteous side and slay someone seen as 'evil/villain,' it's customary to hang their corpses up for all to see.

Remember Nie Mingjue beheading Wen Xu and hanging Wen Xu's head at the gate of Uncleam Realm for all to see? NMJ is not doing that just because he has a vendetta against the Wen. He's doing that as part of ancient customs to declare to all that 'his kill is righteous,' that he doesn't need to hide it, and that Wen Xu and the Wens are villains that need to be put down.

That's the principle. Justice has no need to hide.

But not only did the Hundred Houses hide the corpses of the Wen remnants, but they also imprisoned their souls, hoping that would keep the Wen from coming back as grudge wraiths or for the karmic cycle itself to snap back for this sin.

The Hundred Houses built up the Wen remnants to be this evil army at Wei Ying's beck and call. So they need to be put down. But the truth is that they were just a bunch of elderlies, women, and children who spent all their lives being doctors (as they belong to the Qihuang branch, with their own pacifistic philosophy).

Had the Hundred Houses performed the custom and showed their supposedly righteous kill to the world, then the truth would out. That they were either liars or stupid, and that they best be prepared to repay for their transgression on both innocent Wens and on the authority of hell itself.

And that, my friend, is why the second Burial Mound Siege ended the way it did, and why the vast majority of those same cultivators left Wei Ying alone afterward. What do you think those same cultivators think when their victims break out of the supposedly unbreakable maximum security cell to save Wei Ying (another of their victims)? And then those same Wen souls entered the afterlife?

The Western vernacular for this part is: Karma is a tenacious bitch with a long memory. It doesn't matter how much they lie about their crime and act like they are righteous or how good they think they hide the proof of their deeds. Heaven and hell itself are watching.

....Sorry, I have some strong feelings about the treatment of the Wen remnants.

That is to say, feel free to incorporate it in your works.

[theloveinc]

kirishima x reader - kiri really, really, REALLY wants a third child.

(warnings: afab + fem reader who is a mom with two bio babies, breeding, slight sense of dubcon but it really is con, slight voyeurism, heavy on the pregnancy, mention of sick baby + baby coming early (all is well tho), son = mister, daughter = missy, abrupt end)

1.5k+ words. enjoy!!

-

The conversation comes up on a sunny day in Denki’s backyard. His wife and their newest daughter in her lap sunbathing next to you, the baby reaching out for your sleeve every so often as the three of you watch Denki, Kiri and the older children—save for the oldest who claims she’s too big for such things—play in the sprinklers, screaming. 

“Have you thought about a third?” Denki’s wife asks, tipping down her sunglasses to send you an inquisitive stare.

“Oh, god, no. Ei and I are done.” 

“Really?” she seems surprised. “He’s such a good father, you’d think…”

You shrug, taking a sip of the mango slush that was provided to you when you first arrived. “We were considering it, but mister came so early that the stress of another seemed too much.”

“Ah, I know how that goes all too well. Has Kiri gotten, you know…?” She makes a snipping motion with her fingers.

You snort, the thought almost as implausible as Denki with a son. Doctors have recommended that most heroes remain unaltered, at least to reduce the chances of hormone levels fluctuating unexpectedly and causing changes in prowess… and though that didn’t stop Bakugo five years ago and nothing’s changed about his aggression or fighting style, your husband still uses the warning as an excuse to stay hesitant. 

“Oh, hell no. Have you tried talking to him about it? He goes nuts, and the man is stubborn as a bull.” 

“Are you guys using condoms, then?”

At that, you can’t help but laugh. Protected sex after what? Nearly ten years of marriage? Kirishima was far from the type even when you first met, if you tried bringing up latex contraception now, he’d practically consider it offensive, or a threat to his masculinity at the very least. 

“Pills for now. Surprisingly the side effects have been manageable.” 

“Aren’t you worried those might fail?” 

Her persistent concern touches you, and how could it not when she and her husband have to wrangle five, blonde, Kaminari daughters from sunset to sundown on the daily… but it’s nothing you don’t think you and Ei couldn’t navigate together if need be. 

The youngest starts squirming for you and you offer to take her in your arms, trading your slush to plop her on the warmth of your lap which immediately ceases her cooing. 

“Well,” you tickle her baby plump belly, the delighted squeal you get in response making you grin, “I guess an accident wouldn’t be so bad if they turned out like this one.” 

-

Little did you know, Kirishima overheard your little, half-joking declaration. It’s a wonder, given that you’d assumed if the water hadn’t drowned out your voices, the seven screaming children (and Denki) would’ve.

But he catches you the next morning, fresh out of the shower as you stand in the bathroom prepping your skin for the rest of the day.

“I heard,” he leans in behind you, his damp and loose hair reflected in the mirror, “you said you wanted another baby?”

You chuckle, the steamy warmth of his belly pressing into your back almost overwhelming, “I said, accidents happen, my love. I’m perfectly content with the three babies I have now.” 

Kirishima pouts, the hands on your hips tightening as they slowly turn you around to face him. 

“What if we…?” he starts, but you don’t let him finish.

“Haven’t we talked about this?” you yawn, picking a stray piece of thread off of the damp towel hanging around his shoulders, your other hand running down his bare chest. “I thought we agreed two was enough?” 

“I was just thinking, you know, it doesn’t sound so bad now that mister is older and all.”

You wave him off, nudging your way out from between the sink counter and his hips before pressing one quick peck to his cheek. 

“Shoo. You’re going to be late for work,” Kirishima doesn’t let you go so easily, his hands lingering and only falling when you’re finally out of reach. “There’s a lunch in the fridge. Don’t get hung up on it, yeah?”

-

But Kirishima is hung up on it.

He loves being a dad more than anything, feels as though it's one of the many reasons he was placed on this earth, and though he loves you now more than any other time in his life and would love you no matter what happened to your body, he can’t say he wasn’t extremely delighted when you were pregnant... nor that he doesn’t want to see another rounded belly on you again.

Besides, your daughter was so curious about it, so precious and clingy, but she was almost too little to understand what was happening in your belly when you were swollen with your son… that Kirishima really only has a handful of memories of you all together before one baby became two and two babies became children.

And when he spent their babyhood was spent half in a hospital and half with you out of commission, he just can't help but imagine that doing it over with a third would make his whole life complete.

It just makes perfect sense. 

-

It’s couple’s hot yoga the next time it gets brought up, Kirishima helping you hold the warm-up stretches as he ponders the questions out loud.

“Have you thought about it at all?” He whispers, hands pulling your thigh away from your face and into a stretch meant to straighten your hamstrings. 

“Thought about what?”

“Baby number three,” he lowers your leg and helps switch you to the other side. 

You laugh, disturbing the calm of the heated studio, apologizing to the other couples there softly after. “You seem pretty committed.”

Kirishima nods like a desperate puppy, knowing how he must look in his loose tank top and sweatband, his hair pushed back from his forehead revealing a flush that isn’t yet due to the steam in the room. 

“What’s so good about a third, anyway?” you as say as he repositions your leg from straight to bent at the instructors command. “You know how sick mister was. I can’t go through that again.”

“What if you didn’t have to?

You glare, straining your neck to make sure Kiri can get a peak at your angry eyes. “You say that like you know what would happen.”

"I just…” he shrugs, thumb rubbing your ankle. “We missed missy’s toddler years taking care of mister, and by the time he was walking, missy was using full on sentences and demanded that we start treating her like an adult.” 

The instructor commands you turn on your side and begin the same stretches that way. 

“You were also still recovering from the pregnancy, I had to go back to work… and I want to do it again but with just one this time. Savor the baby years the way we should’ve savored theirs.” 

Kirishima lets his palm brush the intersection between your thighs as he keeps your let from falling. Damp and warm with sweat, he can’t help but press his fingers into where your loins hide under your leggings and—

You stick your foot in his face, the other couples amongst the room already shifting. “Up. It’s your turn for stretches.”

-

“Shit.” 

“Ooh, mommy cussed!”

“You didn’t hear that, baby. I’m just—“ you squint at the notification on your device.

“What?” Kirishima asks, holding your daughter in his arms. The tops of her feet are pressing into his belly while they pass a large slice of dripping, red watermelon back and forth. Your son is preoccupied at the coloring table set up in the living room, drawing pictures of semi-naked heroes with enormous hairdos. 

“Pharmacy’s out of my birth control. Won’t be in for a few weeks.”

You don’t miss the way Kiri’s eyebrows immediately raise, though you glance back down at your phone to panic-click more buttons in the hopes that he gets the hint. 

“What’s that mean, babe?” he asks, feigning innocence about a subject you very well know he’s versed in. 

“What do you mean, what’s that mean?” 

“I mean, what are we gonna do about that? You know—“

You groan. 

“Hush. We’re just gonna pretend I didn’t say that and move on,” you turn on your feet to rush out of the room, calling over your shoulder. “And share the watermelon with mister. I’m calling the doctor.” 

“Ooh,” your daughter says again, her sticky hands going to Kiri’s cheeks which are pinched in a funny expression she doesn’t clock, “Daddy’s in trouble!” 

-

But honestly, Kirishima can’t pretend he hadn’t heard what you said… and truly doesn’t know what you were thinking when you suggested that he try. Birth control aside, on it or off it, you were bound to have sex eventually… that was never even the issue. 

Though when you bring up condoms to the whiney redhead barely a few days later, he barely manages to open one before accidentally flinging it across the room in trying to see how well it stretches. 

“I can’t do this,” Kirishima frowns, sitting back down on the bed after pulling his briefs back on to throw away the slimy piece of latex. He curls an arm back around you to pull you in between his legs, hands moving to grip your waist while he admires the cute black, mom panties you’re wearing that sit over the handles of your hips. “I don’t wanna wear a condom.”  

You sigh, your own hands scratching the tops of his shoulders. “You’re not planning on pulling out, either. Are you?”

“No,” he doesn’t even say it shamefully, “I’m not planning on pulling out.” 

“And you’re gonna hope that it sticks?” 

“Yes,” his eyelids flutter looking up at you. You’re so cute frowning like you’re not gonna let him have his way and then pretend it’s all his fault. An accident. “I’m gonna hope it gets you pregnant.” 

That makes you roll your eyes, though it also has you squeezing your legs together. 

“You’re such a dog.”

Kirishima nods, but you don’t stop him from slowing pulling your panties down. 

“Only for you.”

[jeding-png]

Phew... yes, now I can definitely talk about chapter 158. Probably.

Everyone who did not take advantage of the promotion "Buy a new chapter of VADD and get anxiety, tears, anger, despair, and a sleepless night as a gift!" it's time :D

In the previous chapter, we are shown a conversation between the Duke and Derrick ahead of time.

Thanks, we were satisfied with the slap of the young duke, but now the cold colors of the room disappear, and we are immersed again in the events of the coming of age ceremony....

And Penelope's poisoning happened!

Now the author frees us from the brainwashing... that is, from the unreliable narrator, to see the events from the other characters' point of view!

Have you ever heard the fans screaming during a football match? Everyone shouted in this chapter about the same way.

Doctors think they are almost never needed at events, except to give headache pills. That's why Callisto can't figure out where these strange creatures have gone.

No, it's not superman, not a bird, not an angel, not a demon, and not even Jack Frost. This Winter pleases me with his emotions.

In addition to unobtrusively promoting his manicurist, the Marquis says he has an antidote. He's paranoid, remember?

Winter declares that since he's wearing a white coat, he can be mistaken for a doctor and... LET HIM GIVE PENELOPE THE ANTIDOTE, GUYS!

Don't forget, Reynold Eckhart won't let others take his place of honor as a loudmouth! Therefore, he intervenes when everyone has doubts about the effectiveness of the vial in Verdandi's hand.

Even remembering the previous chapters, where Reynold distrusts Winter and looks menacingly in his direction every time, but he wants to help Penelope with all his might. Therefore, he believes in the marquis's power to help save his sister.

So desperate.

And my shipper heart was broken because they weren't shown together.... that's not relevant to the post. Anyway—

Everyone is on their nerves. The characters, the readers... except Penelope and Derrick.

I need the second frame detailed. But in the end, Callisto understands that if nothing is done at all, then Penelope can really die. Of course, under the pressure of all the hesitation, he allows Winter to use the antidote. Nicely warning him. Very gentle.

It was like....

"Okay, weird marquis, I'll let you see the love of my life, the most beautiful and strangest woman in the world, the future crown princess, my future wife and the mother of my future children... but if you do her worse, then know that first I will kill you, and then myself, so that in the next world you will not flirt with her. Got it?"

Ahem... this is not a direct quote—

But really, look at this shift in Callisto's gaze, which resembles a wild beast, to genuine hesitation and concern as he looks at Penelope.

His bloody gloves gently hold the face of Penelope, exhausted from the poison, whose hair seems to be losing its vital color. And the red marks on her pale face are as clearly visible as on the crown prince's white gloves.

But really, the whole chapter I just melted from the way he hugged her tenderly, trying to protect her from everyone in the world. His despair, his understanding of powerlessness.

Okay, Calliope's angst scene limit has been reached. It's time to get back to Zombie Derrick and the angry Duke!

Derrick reacts to the Duke's words as I do to my chemistry teacher. "I don't understand anything and in general what you want from me." Yes, like this.

But the following measures were taken:

Becky was imprisoned.

Locked Ivonne in the room because it was her maid.

Derrick was forbidden to question the maid.

So the duke authoritatively shut his eldest son's mouth. But I found it quite interesting to observe Derrick's thoughts and behavior.

Get your tissues ready, because in the next chapter we will see Callisto and Penelope again, and then the investigation itself!

And now I need a hug.

Added: At the end of the chapter, there was a message about merch. This chapter seems to have been a great anti-advertisement company for the merch with Derrick.

[celticcrossanon]

Spicy Lady C tea from her 4/24/25 YT video! "Lady C confirms that Thomas Markle Jr. did in fact say that Trevor Engelson told him that Meghan had a hysterectomy. Her told her this personally and there is a video on YouTube of Thomas Markle Jr. saying this. Lady C thinks the fact that Trevor Engelson is not denying this story confirms that it is true." William better do the right thing about the illegitimate Sussex kids if the coward named King Charles III won't.

April 25 Ask

Hi Nonny,

If this is the case, then I think the BRF would need proof of it before they removed Harry and the kids from the LoS, and how would they get the proof? Someone saying something is not enough - you would need the medical records and they are protected by law.

I am wondering: IF Trevor Engelson makes a Statutory Declaration that he was told this, is that enough to start an investigation into the birth of the children and to look at all Meghan medical records to see if this is true (as otherwise she could just pay a doctor to lie and sign off that they delivered the child)? That could be a very public way of forcing the truth to come out (hopefully) if that was the case.

As I see it right now, most people accept that the children were born by surrogate (or were dolls and Meghan is using other people's kids to pretend to be her kids), the difficulty is proving this in court so that Harry and the kids can be removed from the LoS (the kids because they don't fit the legal requirements to be in the LoS, Harry because he interfered with the LoS). I don't know what level of proof is required and how it can be legally obtained.

I am pretty cure that Prince William will do everything he can to make sure that justice is served in this matter.

[myarmsaretoolong]

Martha wouldn't have been working that Saturday if only the children hadn't stopped. She'd been working flat out since Wednesday, when it first happened.

UNIT had their guy inside, but every report back only sent Martha's level of dread spiking to untold levels. A year spent wandering the Earth trying to convince strangers to trust in a fairytale man, and this was infinitely worse. The constant phone calls from Leo didn't help, him begging to know what was going on with little Keisha.

The emergency call came in that evening-Thames House had gone into spontaneous lockdown with the occupants trapped inside with the 456. And there was something in the air.

UNIT trucks were packed and loaded with gas masks and respirators and hazmat suits in minutes, peeling out of the Tower in record time. Traffic lights were rigged and streets cleared by police, and they arrived in record time.

But it was still too late.

When they arrived, bodies piled up against the glass doors. Stacked one on top another as they desperately scrambled for escape. More were strewn across the foyer, reaching for the exit even in death. Still, UNIT rushed to set up an airlock at the door and get suited.

Martha stood back while they worked on getting the doors open. Her mission-straight from Kate-was to get to the thirteenth floor where the 456 was and… Well, they didn’t know beyond that. Just get there and see what had happened. Do something. Anything.

“We’re through!” one of them shouted, and a flurry of motion kicked up. Everyone had their jobs, everyone focused on their one part no matter how small. But nobody’s job description had been to clear away the bodies so the rest could get in.

They were dead. All of them. That much became clear immediately. Not just unconscious like Martha had hoped. The medics still tried to find pulses, watched for signs of breathing. Martha didn’t hang around in the foyer for very long, she had a job of her own to do.

Climbing the stairs in a full hazmat suit weighed down with oxygen tanks was taxing work. She sweated and tried to keep her breathing as stable as possible so as not to use up the reserves. As she went, all manner of creature surfaced in her mind. Everything she’d ever seen with the Doctor, since joining UNIT. They didn’t have a picture of the 456, their man on the inside simply told them that it was contained. Was it still?

She didn’t know, yet, that what she would find was worse than any alien she could conjure.

At the top of the stairs, she took a short moment to catch her breath. If she was going to face this thing that demanded their children, she was going to do it with bravery and dignity. Even if her every nerve tickled at the prospect. Three deep breaths, and off she went down the hall.

Her footsteps were almost as loud as her pounding heart. Gun a heavy weight in her hand. Finally she reached the room, steeled herself, and entered.

The tank was ten times bigger than she’d expected, fogged up and casting an eerie blue glow over the bodies on the floor. Two of them, one clutched in the others protective arms.

Martha sank to her knees before the truth of it even settled in her chest. Tears pricked her eyes. She almost didn’t want to touch them, together as they were in death as they had been in life.

The thick gloves of her suit made it impossible to feel for a pulse, but even without it she knew Ianto Jones was dead. And the way they’d fallen, Jack must have been holding him as he went. Her heart cracked in two as the tears finally fell. She held Ianto’s forearm, squeezed and shook as though he was just asleep and she could wake him up. When he didn’t wake, she wheeled around to face the tank, drawing up to full height.

“What did you do!?” she demanded. Screamed. Voice muffled by the suit and yet perfectly audible as it echoed around the stone room. All the pain and anger bouncing with it, suffocating the air just like-

“They declared war,” the 456 said back calmly. “They are the first casualties. You will hand over the children or there will be more.”

“Never,” she choked. She looked down at Ianto’s body, at Jack who had cradled him and would wake up to a world irrevocably changed. Ianto had given his life to protect the children of Earth, and Martha wasn’t going to roll over. “You won’t get a single child, do you understand? Because the world is full of people like him! People who won’t take this!”

An insectile mandible smacked against the glass. Martha flinched back in shock, but stood her ground. “Then they will die.”

Martha was done with the creature. What could it do from inside its tank while she was protected from the virus? It screamed and writhed behind her, annoyed that she paid it no kind and instead kneeled next to the bodies.

She put a gloved hand on Ianto’s cheek, stroked his hair back. He looked so young, mouth hanging open with his last breath on his lips. She remembered that boyish grin he’d get when a mission turned exciting, the way he’d glow whenever he looked at Jack.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She didn’t know if she was talking to Ianto, or to Jack.

It felt cruel to separate them so she didn’t. She also didn’t want to leave them alone, so she just sat and waited for someone else to stumble across them.

“Colonel Jones?” a quiet voice asked. Martha looked at the door to find a pair of hazmat suit masks looking back. They surveyed the scene quickly, eyes skirting around the 456’s tank as they crept in. The one that spoke put a hand on Martha’s shoulder and asked, gently, “Who were they?”

She swallowed back the rising lump in her throat. The other person was setting up two body bags on the floor beside them.

“Torchwood. They were Torchwood.”

[lisbeth-kk]

May Prompts (15) Nightmare

The Luckiest Girl in the World (chapter 15)

Summary: Rosie tells us about her family's sanctuary that is 221B, but also about wars over board games. In the end, it's the story about someone else who also needs a safe haven.

Fifteen Years Old

I felt oddly protective of our home from an early age, and I didn’t want it invaded by my friends. Not that I was ashamed of all the bric-a-brac, Papa’s experiments, or how different it was to other homes I’d visited. It was just...our space, a safe haven where we all could lower our guards, Papa in particular. Over the years, his fame had increased exceedingly, and his derisive façade kept journalists and fans at bay. The moment he entered 221B, he discarded said façade by hanging his coat on the peg.

Another thing to consider, were the battles that always ensued whenever one of us challenged the others to a board game. Having an outsider witnessing that…well, we’d surely be sectioned for life if that were to occur. 

(More likely, the person would be granted vicious dreams for eternity.)

But as Papa points out; there’s always something. In this context, someone.  My friend Liwia. Her parents were Polish, and moved to England two years before Liwia was born. They were Catholics, and having to adjust to a society that was more liberal toward queer people than Poland, took its time. When Liwia came out to them as a lesbian the year prior, they’d tried to pin it on her friendship with me. I was after all related to quite a few of the sort and Liwia’s parents seemed to believe the ludicrous lie that queerness was contagious.

It took them some months to get over it, but once they realised that Liwia still was her normal self, they discarded the original idea of sending her to Poland to live with her strictly religious grandparents. Neither of the Barczykowskis was prepared when said grandparents announced that they were visiting London that summer, staying for at least a fortnight. 

***

Dad and I were in the middle of a Scrabble war, when Papa came home. Not that we realised it at the time. We were too engrossed in arguing.

“It’s bloody unfair to use all the medical terms and diseases you can come up with to win, you know!” I exclaimed accusatory.

“Oh, come now, Rosebud,” Dad teased, looking as pleased as the cat that ate the canary.

“Don’t you dare Rosebud me,” I said through clenched teeth. 

Dad only used that pet name when we were at war over the board games, and it rubbed me up the wrong way.

“Children,” Papa chastised, barely able to suppress his glee.

“You’re home,” we said in unison.

I waited for the inevitable eyeroll and his obviously, but none came.

“We have a guest,” Papa said and waved a hand, and that’s when I saw Liwia standing by the sofa wringing her hands, a look of despair in her eyes.

I leapt to my feet and walked over to hug her tight.

“What’s wrong?” I whispered into her hair.

She explained about her grandparents, and with just one look over at Papa, receiving a nod, I turned back to assure my friend that she could stay at Baker Street for as long as she needed, if her biased grandparents started to make her life a living nightmare.

“Thank you, Mr. Holmes and Doctor Watson,” Liwia said politely.

I could literally see the relief wash over her, the tension in her shoulders dissipating and a tiny smile forming on her lips.

“Please, call us John and Sherlock,” Dad said. 

Then he turned his attention to me with a devilish grin.

“Does this mean you declare defeat, Rosebud?”

“You wish!” I snarled and left Liwia’s side to go into battle with my father.

(Before you go all bananas on me - this will continue tomorrow...)

Also available on AO3

@calaisreno @totallysilvergirl @keirgreeneyes @raina-at @helloliriels

More tags in the replies.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

By Henry I. Miller and Jonathan Bloom

The divisiveness pervading science and medicine has intensified since the COVID-19 pandemic, fueled by debates over vaccines, mandates and public health measures. Although anti-vaccine sentiment predates the pandemic, a small number of rogue physicians and influencers have amplified disinformation, jeopardizing public trust.

Medical doctor and Johns Hopkins University Professor Benjamin Mazer described the post-pandemic bitterness in The Atlantic:

[People are] angry about losing a job, getting bullied into vaccination, or watching children fall behind in a virtual classroom. That legacy of bitterness and distrust is now a major political force. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is on the precipice of leading our nation’s health care system as secretary of Health and Human Services … and the Stanford professor Jay Bhattacharya is expected to be picked to run the National Institutes of Health. These men … are united by a lasting rage over COVID.

Bhattacharya’s nomination has since been announced officially. As one of the three authors of the Great Barrington Declaration (GBD), a statement issued by unorthodox scientists during the pandemic, Bhattacharya promoted outdated and dangerous public health strategies, prioritizing mass infection of the population over proven containment measures.

The GBD proposed addressing COVID-19 by protecting the “vulnerable” (mainly, the elderly) while allowing mass exposure among lower-risk groups to achieve “herd immunity.” Though theoretically plausible early in the pandemic, the rapid emergence of more infectious and dangerous variants made this strategy catastrophic. Even with cautious measures, COVID claimed over 1.3 million lives in the U.S. alone

Allowing the virus to spread among young people inevitably endangered older populations. As NYU neurologist Dr. Jonathan Howard wrote in “We Want Them Infected,” his book that took a critical look at rogue scientists like Bhattacharya: “You cannot hermetically seal off the vulnerable from the rest of society, especially not in a country as interconnected as the United States.”

The GBD also ignored vaccines’ critical role in ending the pandemic. Even after vaccines became available, proponents continued to downplay their importance while opposing measures like masking and testing. This resistance fueled vaccine skepticism, which persists today.

The GBD’s advocates underestimated COVID’s impact, consistently downplaying its risks. For example, Bhattacharya claimed the virus had been “defanged” on five separate occasions between 2021 and 2022, during which 380,000 Americans died. Long COVID — the persistence of symptoms or the appearance of new ones, following the acute infection — continues to afflict millions, including many young, previously healthy individuals.

Howard’s book outlines how herd immunity proponents misled the public, minimizing the virus’ dangers while promoting mass infection. The title, “We Want Them Infected,” is derived from a 2020 email by Paul Alexander, a Trump administration advisor, who advocated infecting young people to accelerate herd immunity.

The GBD became a political tool, embraced by the first Trump administration, to justify lax pandemic policies. Public health measures like masking and vaccination became polarizing issues, undermining trust in science. Diseases like measles, whooping cough and polio, once eradicated, are now resurging as anti-vaccine sentiment spreads.

Proponents of the GBD, including Bhattacharya, continue to influence public health debates. Bhattacharya and coauthor Martin Kulldorff serve on Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Public Health Integrity Committee. Bhattacharya’s nomination to head the NIH raises concerns about the future of that renowned institution and of evidence-based public policy.

The flaws of the GBD offer important lessons. Public health policies must be guided by rigorous science, not ideology. Complacency and political interference exacerbate crises, as demonstrated by the politicization of basic precautions like masking and vaccination. Accountability is essential to restoring trust and ensuring better leadership during future pandemics.

The story of the Great Barrington Declaration is a cautionary tale of how ideology and misinformation can undermine public health. Its failures led to unnecessary suffering and eroded trust in science. As we reflect on the pandemic, it is vital to learn from these mistakes and prioritize evidence-based strategies for future crises. In the words of Dr. Howard: “We owe it to the millions of people who have suffered and died to get this right.”

Henry I. Miller, a physician and molecular biologist, is the Glenn Swogger Distinguished Fellow at the American Council on Science and Health. Formerly a research fellow at the NIH, he was the founding director of the FDA’s Office of Biotechnology. Jonathan Bloom is director of chemical and pharmaceutical sciences at the American Council on Science and Health.

[jeewrites]

Hold Fast | Ch. 3 - Curdles

Series Masterlist

Rating: M for language, but this blog is 18+ MDNI

Summary: We leave the gym! A little bit of angst (that resolves by the end of the chapter)!

A/N: There are things I’m not tagging to avoid giving away the story. Please remember this is a work of fiction. See the endnote for content warning/spoilers. Tyty to @bloviating-vy for being the best beta.

Word Count: 3.8k

Tags: no y/n, reader has a nickname, swearing, reader is a powerlifting girlie in her late 30's described as short and she has hair long enough to put into a ponytail, Tom is alive unfortunately (we hate Tom), Tom owns a bar called Redfly's, Pope owns a gym, reader's mother is a menace, a lot of Frankie POV oops, use of Daddy but not like that 

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[text conversation]

😻🐟: Dinner Friday? Pick you up at 7? 🏋🏻‍♀️: 🎉🎉 😻🐟: Gonna to take that as a yes

🏋🏻‍♀️:  💃🏻💃🏻 😻🐟: Uhh, I don't do dancing

🏋🏻‍♀️: 💃🏻 = I'm excited for Friday 😻🐟: roger that 🫡

😻🐟: 💃🏻💃🏻 😻🐟: Did I do that right 🏋🏻‍♀️: 🎉🎉

It's been a week. Time crawled despite your full patient load. Frankie had texted you about dinner on Monday, but you hadn't heard from him since. It's not like you were great with texting either, seeing patients all day and charting in between, as fast as your fingers could humanly type. And the last thing you needed was for him to be texting and flying.

His last text had you chuckling between patients, a half smile ghosting your lips for the rest of the day. Your co-worker remarked on your good mood and you let it slip that you had a date you were looking forward to, before you remembered why you kept your romantic life private. What does he do? Is he also a doctor? Did you land another surgeon? What do your parents think? Does he want kids? Show us a picture!

As much as you liked and cared about the other physicians at the shared practice, they were also all mothers of young children, busy with playdates and the whirlwind of family life. The group practice was set up so the physicians could work part-time while also raising their babies. As the sole single and childless physician of the practice however, it felt like they lived vicariously through you sometimes. Well intentioned but prying questions into your love life or your life in general (what do you do with all that free time?). When you first started at the practice you declared any discussion about your failed engagement off limits. To distract from the drama of that whole part of your life, you sometimes offered up bits about your online dating adventures much to their interest and amusement. That is, until you heard, "I'm so glad I don't have to date anymore" for the millionth time. Ugh.

As you scarf down the last of your lunch on Friday, you feel your phone vibrate, alerting you to a new message. You take a quick peek, smiling when you see it's from Frankie. Your smile falls the next moment as you open the text.

😻🐟: have to raincheck on dinner sweets 🏋🏻‍♀️: is everything ok?

A text bubble appears after you respond, “...” flickering for what feels like eternity before disappearing. Your stomach curdles in concern and disappointment, was he okay? You didn't think he had his daughter this week. Was she ok? You were so looking forward to dinner with Frankie, especially after your last disastrous date with someone from the dating apps.

Frankie was still interested, right? He had hung around for your entire bench workout on Saturday until he absolutely had to go pick up his daughter from his mom's. He had been so protective at the gym when Mike was being an absolute douchebag.

Although he was also protective of Chloe too, that irritating voice in your head, your mother's voice, reminded you. As you sigh, staring at the phone willing him to respond, your favorite nurse Suze pokes her head into the break room alerting you of your next patient that arrived early.

"Ok, be right there," you respond, trying to keep an upbeat tone as you shove your phone and disappointment into your pocket and throw your trash away.

Frankie isn't sure when was the last time he slept more than two consecutive hours since Wednesday. Fuck, Delta-Force Ops Training was easier than this. First, Vanessa had texted Sunday morning, begging Frankie to keep Gabi this week, her week, for some opaque reason related to work being extra busy and Vanessa needing more time for herself. I never ask you for favors, Francisco, Vanessa had guilted him over the phone.

Frankie figured with his work schedule working in his favor this week, he could keep Gabi and have his mamá watch her on the days he flew and on Friday evening so he could still take you out to dinner. His grand plans came crashing down when Gabi started fussing Wednesday, clinging to Frankie and refusing to go to sleep alone. At breakfast she seemed ok, like maybe she just had a cold or something. By dinner time she was burning up, refusing to eat or drink anything. Snot nosed, congested cough, and crying unless he held her. So he did, rocked her all night in her little toddler bed. Waking up to check her temperature, listen to her breathing, was she getting enough oxygen? and jolting awake at every whimper, cough, or cry. 

Gabi's congested cries snap Frankie’s attention back to her as he smooths her matted curls away from her face. She's still feverish to the touch and absolutely miserable. He briefly considers calling Vanessa in his desperation, but could already hear her biting response laced with resentment and anger. Why are you bothering me, Francisco? You're not doing me a favor by calling me when you agreed to keep her. You're the parent with custody right now, so fucking parent already.

This is the first time Gabi has gotten this sick when he had her on his own. Was this the flu? Did she have RSV? Why wouldn't she eat anything? Why couldn't the pediatrician's office fit her in this afternoon?

Call first thing tomorrow if she's doing worse and the Saturday on-call pediatrician can see her, the nurse's aide at the doctor's office tells him before relaying additional instructions on keeping Gabi comfortable and what signs to look for if she needs to go to the ER. It's only after Frankie hangs up the phone that he realizes it's Friday afternoon. He's supposed to take you out in a few hours.

Fuck.

He carefully sets Gabi down and tucks her blankets in around her before walking to the kitchen to wolf something down (when is the last time he ate something?) and text you. He hopes you'll understand he isn't blowing you off, that he really does want to take you out. You'll understand right? You have to know how much he likes you, admires you, is drawn to you anytime you are in the same place together, just wanting to be in your captivating presence. He still thinks you are miles out of his league, too smart, too pretty, too alive, to waste your time on a washed up someone like him with so. much. baggage. 

The fatigue hits him from left field as he texts you to cancel. Eyelids like lead weights despite the bright afternoon sun. As he reads your text response and tries to type his own reply, Gabi lets out a pained cry that sends his fried nerves into overdrive. He drops his phone on the kitchen counter to rush to her side. He tucks her back into his arms, soft words for comfort, and gently rocks her and himself into a hazy half sleep. 

It is still light out when you finally get home from work, but the apartment feels dark and cold for the first time since you left Chase and moved here. Your safe haven feels... lonely now. Too quiet. A single empty coffee mug sits on the small dining table, a ring of tacky coffee dried on the inside, abandoned where you left it as you rushed out the door this morning.

You flop on your small couch and text Frankie one more time asking if he is okay. The silence you usually welcome sits heavy — dense and gray — as you wait for a response. When none comes, you consider showing up at Redfly's to hangout with Benny and the guys, but you realize you'd have to explain why you are there and not out to dinner with Frankie. This is what Chloé must have meant when she was worried things would get complicated.

You need to get out of your apartment, out of your head, before you drown in the silence. You consider for half a second, phone in hand and thumb hovering over a dating app icon, maybe you should respond to the dozen or so messages in your inbox, before you click your phone off. No, you didn't want to make it more messy and you are just reacting. Running from fucking feelings that spread like tendrils down your spine and around your chest the more you think about Frankie and the way he looked at you with those big brown eyes, listened to you, and showed you that he was, is, interested. There has to be a legitimate reason he canceled on you tonight.

So you decide to do what you always do when you need to work out your big feelings. You go work out your muscles. Bigger muscles to handle bigger feelings. Release the not good enough, never good enough insecurities bubbling up and move through them rep by rep. Between a rare work shift tomorrow and the rest of the guys gathering at Redfly's, it feels like as good a time as any to get your SBD day in. You won't have to worry about getting in that monster of a workout after working six days in a row. Small blessings and all that. You pack extras of your favorite snacks.

"Who do we have on tap today?" you ask Suze as she comes around the corner to your work station. You cup your oat milk latte in both your hands, willing the espresso to work faster. Working Saturdays still sucks even if it is only every six weeks instead of every week. The parents are usually more freaked out and the cases often more severe. Fingers crossed you won't have to admit anyone to the hospital today. At least you got paired with your favorite nurse and you both worked together well as a team. 

"Just the one kiddo with RSV-like symptoms so far. Dad's been calling since Thursday afternoon trying to get in for us to see her. Seems really worried, neither of 'em have slept much. Looks like mom is the one who usually brings her in, parents are divorced, and this is Dad's first time here." She continues with a list of symptoms she collected from the parent, adding her own observations and vitals she'd taken before you thank her and grab the tablet with the patient's chart on it to head to the exam room.

Suze lowers her voice before adding,“Oh, and between you and me, the dad is gorgeous.” Suze gives you a freckled smirk before heading back to the front. You flash her your best O, rly? face before you both break into maniacal giggles as quietly as possible. Suze always makes the work day better, you think as you make your way to the exam room.

You take a deep breath outside the door, glance at the patient's first name, and flip on your doctor demeanor as you knock on the door. At the muffled come in, you swing the door open and start to say Hi, Gabriella, I'm Dr. — before you realize you're looking at a distraught and disheveled Frankie cradling his daughter in his arms. 

Was he dreaming? Did he forget to wake up and take Gabi to the doctor's? Why did the pediatrician look so much like you? Frankie rubs his eyes and looks up from his seat in the exam room chair. Nope, it is you standing there, white coat on and stethoscope around your neck looking like an angel despite the harsh fluorescent lights.

"Sweets?" he croaks. Ok, yeah, he definitely didn't forget to wake up because he can't wake up if he hadn't fallen asleep. He's sure he sounds as sleep deprived as he looks. 

"Frankie?" you ease the door shut and step towards him. 

Gabi lets out a congested cry and clings tighter to Frankie when she sees you approach. 

"Shh, bebita, it's ok. The doctor's here to help you feel better," Frankie soothes, voice tinged with desperation.

He needs you to help Gabi feel better so he can feel better too. He looks up at you and catches you with knitted brows, chewing your lower lip for a moment before your face smooths, like you thought something over and made a decision. 

You squat down to eye level with Gabi, "Hi Gabriella, I'm Dr. Sweets." 

Gabi eyes you warily, "My. Name. Is. Gabi." Sniffles punctuate each word.

"Nice to meet you Gabi. Can you come sit up here for me?" you ask as you move to pat the exam table. Gabi buries her face into Frankie's flannel, shaking her head no no no.

"Oh, right, uh... she's been going through a big stranger danger phase," Frankie explains. He's worried you'll think he's the worst father, unable to get his daughter to comply.

"That's perfectly normal at this age," you reassure him, stepping back to give Gabi some space.

You hesitate for a moment before looking at Frankie and continuing, "It's kind of a gray area, treating someone or someone's kid I know... uh, socially." You pause for a moment, glancing at your tablet, appearing flustered. "But, um, I know it's Saturday and I don't want Gabi to have to wait until Monday to see someone if I can help her now. You okay with that, uh, Mr. Morales?"

Frankie nods with understanding, after panicking for a moment in his exhaustion, thinking that you are going to kick them out because he was supposed to take you out yesterday. Was that just yesterday? Also, “Mr. Morales” made him feel old.

"Ok then, please hop up on the exam table with Gabi for me then," you direct him, smooth doctor demeanor back on, as you pull the rolling stool over to the wall mounted monitor adjacent to the exam table. You pull up Gabi's chart on the screen and glance over the information. 

"How about we chat a little bit about how Gabi's doing before we work on the stranger danger?" 

Frankie grunts in agreement and stands with a groan before moving to sit on the exam table with Gabi. The exam table paper crinkles under his weight as he settles onto the table, checking to make sure Gabi is comfortable. You chat with him, running through his concerns, Gabi's symptoms, all the while warmly affirming the care he's given Gabi. He finds himself relaxing into the conversation as you lead him through your questions with a gentle and comforting voice. Everything is going to be fine. I'm going to take good care of Gabi. You did a great job taking care of her, Frankie. Delicate pecks on the keyboard as you document in Gabi's chart while also monitoring Gabi's body language towards you.

"Well, I think I have everything I need besides giving Gabi a once over," you conclude with a reassuring smile, standing up slow and steady, as Gabi continues to eye you, a miniature furrow in her brow identical to her father’s. Gabi burrows her face back into Frankie's flannel. 

You offer soft words to Gabi who continues to shake her head “no” into Frankie's shirt before flicking your eyes up to Frankie as if to ask for his permission.

"How about I give your Daddy a quick check up and make sure he's healthy first?" you ask Gabi, a hint of playfulness in your voice, as you look to Frankie to confirm he's okay with it. You could do whatever you want to him if it would help you help his little girl, he thinks. Stab him with a needle and take his blood for all he cares.

Gabi pauses her head shaking and peeks out at you, soft brown curls falling over her eyes.

"Promise it's not going to hurt him, like it's not going to hurt you sweet pea," you soothe.

Gabi looks between Frankie and you with a bit more curiosity than suspicion. Frankie's heart swells as you talk to her with soft patience, explaining what the different scopes are used for, before demonstrating on Frankie, shining a light into his eyes, asking him to open wide and say aaaahhh, so you could look at his throat. Gabi giggles when he lets out an exaggerated aaaahhhh! He hopes he remembered to brush his teeth this morning. 

Through it all, you worked through Gabi's stranger danger, peeling back layer after layer with your playfulness with the utmost patience and care. Frankie can feel Gabi relaxing her grip on his shirt, softening to you. He can feel the remaining tension he was holding in his stomach slowly unravel at your light touches and soft praise as you pretend to assess him and give gentle words of explanation to Gabi. 

When you click on a disposable tip on the otoscope to check his ears, you let out a mock gasp “What's this?” that has Gabi climbing out of Frankie's arms as you magically pull a small stuffie out of his ear. 

"Can you hang on to this little guy for me and keep him safe?" you ask her with your serious face on. Gabi nods and makes grabby hands before settling back into Frankie's lap facing forward towards you and hugging the stuffie within an inch of its life. 

"I'm going to take a look at your ears now Gabi, okay?" you ask as you receive the smallest little nod from her. She allows you to check her eyes and throat as well. You note the redness in her throat before praising her extra loud aaaahhhh! Frankie's pretty sure you're a toddler whisperer at this point.

As you pull the stethoscope from around your neck, Gabi looks up and shrinks at the new equipment. Just going to use this to listen to your heart beat and how you're breathing, sweetpea, you explain, but Gabi starts to shake her head “no” again.

You pause for a beat before digging around the small toy box underneath the exam table before pulling out a play stethoscope. Now we have matching ones, you say as she abandons the stuffie for the new toy. You show her how to put the ear tips in her ears holding the diaphragm against Frankie's chest over his heart. Can you hear your daddy's heartbeat? Does it sound like a thump thump thump? Gabi nods with wide eyes and delight. He's relieved it's Gabi listening to his heart and not you as his heart started to race at your light touch to his chest.  

It's smooth sailing after that. Gabi allows you to complete the physical exam, taking deep breaths on cue as you listen to her lungs, before you sit back down on your rolling stool. As you add to the electronic chart, Frankie catches your small grin as Gabi continues to play with the stethoscope, smooshing it against his cheek, nose, then forehead.

After a few more pecks on the keyboard, you turn to Frankie to give him your diagnosis (no, it's not RSV, thank goodness), but another viral bug that mimicked some of the symptoms of RSV. It’s been making the rounds in the community, but Gabi should recover within the week. As you move to discuss detailed care instructions and prescriptions to help alleviate Gabi's symptoms, Gabi tires of playing with the stethoscope and turns to you instead, arms outstretched.

Frankie can tell you're surprised as Gabi makes the universal toddler motion for "up." You pause before rolling over on the stool. Gabi leaps at you as you get closer and you manage to catch her in your arms despite your surprise. She immediately settles into you, tucking her head under your chin and plopping a thumb into her mouth, anchoring her other little hand on the shoulder of your white coat.

"No more stranger danger," you joke with an amused smile as Gabi cuddles into you with a sniffle.

You finish delivering the care instructions to Frankie as you rock Gabi, double checking with Frankie if he has any questions or further concerns. You reaffirm what a great job he did with Gabi the last few days, a balm to his frayed nerves and self-doubt. He could wrap himself in your reassurance and gentle patience, your soft, gentle words healing him. Is this what falling in love with you feels like?

"You can call the office if something changes or she gets worse," you offer, voice quieting. "Or you know, call me."

Frankie nods, relieved Gabi doesn't have RSV, doesn't need to go to the hospital, but also so moved seeing you with Gabi in such an unexpected situation. Your incredible care and patience for his baby girl, all softness and gentleness from your words to your touch. This side now melds with his experiences with you at Redfly's, at Pope's, the flirty fun side of you and raw strength he knows you possess. It makes him dizzy to think about the multitudes within you that he's experienced so far and hopes to experience more of it. Soft, strong, playful, and so fucking brilliant.

"I'll walk you out to the front where Suze can finish up and get everything sorted," you instruct as you stand and walk for the door. Frankie sees Gabi's grip tighten on your shoulder as you move. Baby girl does not want to leave. As you approach the exit to the waiting room, Gabi fusses, burying her head in your chest, not wanting to leave. Clinging to you as if she didn't spend half the visit hiding from you in Frankie's shirt.

"I know, sweet pea," you comfort. "Just having too much fun with Dr. Sweets, hmm?"

"Don't wanna go," Gabi pouts, refusing to look at Frankie. "I see you tomorrow?" 

You look at Frankie for a beat before responding, "Well, if it's okay with your Daddy, I can stop by tomorrow and check on you. Maybe bring you some tasty chicken noodle soup? Would you like that?" Gabi nods “yes” into your shoulder. 

"Sweets, uh, Dr. Sweets, you don't have to do that," Frankie balks. You've already done so much, he thinks. 

You look up at him with soft eyes, "But I want to. If you're okay with it."

"Wanna see Doc-tah Weee," Gabi whines, pronouncing your name like weee!

"Okay, but you gotta go home with your Daddy first," you say as you manage to untangle yourself from toddler limbs before handing Gabi over to Frankie. "I'll see you tomorrow, 'kay?" before you boop Gabi on her nose and hand her the stuffie. "Take good care of him for me until then." Gabi clutches the stuffie and nods.

"Hey," Frankie places his free hand on your forearm as you turn to go. "Thank you. So much."

"Take care of yourself too, Morales," you murmur, patting his hand and returning his gaze before heading back to your work station.

<< prev next >>

Endnote/SPOILERS: medical jargon, mention of needles and blood once, Frankie’s daughter Gabi gets sick and he cancels his date with you without explaining why. Frankie takes Gabi to see the weekend/on-call pediatrician and it’s you. Frankie falls more for you as he sees you interact with his baby girl. 

👉👈 A little nervous as the story leaves the gym (we'll be back!), but I have such fun, sweet things planned for them. As always, comments and reblogs give me lifeee and keep me writing. I am open to constructive feedback but please be gentle with this baby powerlifting writer, yeah? I might be able to squat you, but I'm a big ol' softie.

Taglist: @katareyoudrilling @christinamadsen @rebel-held @littlemisspascal @burntheedges @darkheartgatita @enretrogue @titabel @copperhalfcent

[nerdyenby]

I get most of my news either online or from a newsletter I subscribe to, but I’m feeling pretty good right now about our democratic candidates so I sat down to watch Walz’s debut at the Philadelphia rally and here are the highlights (imo, of course)

“Before I was elected vice president or elected a United States senator, I was an elected attorney general, and, before that, an elected district attorney and, before that, I was a courtroom prosecutor. So in those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds: predators who abused women, fraudsters who scammed consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump’s type.” -KH

KH talking about fighting for a future where every American can afford to own a home hit me so hard. Why is that such a fantasy? Why have I never even considered it possible?

I am obsessed with the confidence, this is the energy I need. We have plenty of reasons to be afraid but goddamn did I need someone to stand up and calmly declare that we will be okay, and I am so fucking glad it’s a Black woman.

A history teacher as our next VP <3

Their motif of fighting for the future is so much more potent coming from a woman of color and a man who has dedicated so much of his life to youth and to supporting them and their futures. Like damn, maybe the kids really will be okay. Fighting poverty, securing free school lunches for kids, protecting bodily autonomy, and founding his schools first GSA as a straight white man? I don’t know much about Walz but what I’ve learned so far has earned him a lot of respect in my book.

Fuck, Harris talking about Walz’s background and reputation in his school has me tearing up.

“We will win.” Okay, yeah, I’m crying now. These two make me feel so safe, it’s not fair I’ve never felt this way before.

Friendly reminder that one of our main political candidates does not value disabled lives and will openly say as much. Trump wants us dead, don’t let him win.

“Tim and I have a message for Trump and others who want to turn back the clock on our fundamental freedoms: we’re not going back.” -KH

“After Roe was overturned [TW] was the first governor in the country to sign a new law that enshrined reproductive freedom as a fundamental right.” -KH

“Ultimately in this election, we each face a question: what kind of country do we want to live in? A county of freedom, compassion, and rule of law or a country of chaos, fear, and hate?” -KH

“We love our country, and I believe it is the highest form of patriotism to fight for the ideals of our country.” -KH

“Don’t ever underestimate teachers.” -TW (preach)

“It was my students, they encouraged me to run for office. They saw in me what I was hoping to instill in them: a commitment of common good, a belief that one person can make a difference.” -TW

“Now, Donald Trump sees the world a little differently than us. First of all, he doesn’t know the first thing about service. He doesn’t have time for it because he’s too busy serving himself. Again and again and again, Trump weakens our economy to strengthen his own hand. He mocks our laws, he sows chaos and division, and that’s to say nothing of his record as president.” -TW

“Some of us in here are old enough to remember — I see you down there, I see those old white guys — some of us are old enough to remember when it was republicans who were talking about freedom. It turns out now what they meant was the government should be free to invade your doctors office. In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make. Even if we wouldn’t make the same choice for ourselves, there’s a golden rule: mind your own damn business. ” -TW

“When Vice President and I talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make your own healthcare decisions and for our children to be free to go to school without worrying they’ll be shot dead in their classrooms.” -TW

“Vice President Harris’s idea: freedom is a ticket, for education to be that ticket to the middle class. Not crippling debt, air that’s clean, water that’s pure, communities that are safe.” -TW

TW: “Donald Trump isn’t fighting for you or your family-” random audience member: “You are!” Walz: *allows himself a breath of a laugh before continuing on just as strong as before*

“I gotta tell you, pointing out just an observation of mine that I made, I just have to say it. You know it, you feel it [the republican candidates] are creepy and, yes, just weird as hell.” -TW

“So we got 91 days. My god, that’s easy. Well sleep when we’re dead! Over those next 91 days and every day in the White House, I’ll have Vice President Harris’s back, every single day, and we’ll have yours.” -TW

This is the broadcast I watched

[mandsleanan]

“We have this rapidly changing landscape around reproductive health, and seeking information about it or posting on social media feels like a way to take back control,” Stein said. “It feels empowering to claim authority and to normalize these life choices.”

Text & Doctors' link under cut.

Madison Clark did not celebrate when Donald Trump won the 2024 election. But one thought gave her solace: “At least I don’t have to worry about having a baby.”

In September, Clark, a 24-year-old nursing student from Battle Creek, Michigan, underwent a bilateral salpingectomy, a sterilization procedure that removed her fallopian tubes, ensuring she will never get pregnant. Clark considers the procedure her fail-safe against any further rollbacks of reproductive rights that might occur under the new Trump administration.

Clark had always known she didn’t want to have children. “I just don’t personally see myself on that path,” she said. In 2022, when she learned she was pregnant, she got an abortion. But that same year, the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade with its decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, leading Clark to seriously consider permanent contraception. She’s not the only one.

‘The news cycle was a huge, huge reason that I took sterilization seriously and decided to spring into action.’

The study also found that vasectomy procedures, a form of male birth control, increased 95% – but were still not as popular as tubal sterilizations. A previous study, published last spring, found the number of tubal ligations among women ages 18 to 30 shot up after Dobbs, at a rate of increase double that of vasectomies.

“Patients are scared of losing access to all kinds of reproductive care,” said Dr Sarah K Horvath, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Penn State College of Medicine. “There are people who had the idea of permanent contraception hovering somewhere on their to-do list, and now they’re pushing it up to number one.”

On TikTok, sterilization content has swelled. In one video with more than 73,000 likes, a creator posted footage of herself driving to an appointment and waiting on a hospital bed, with the caption: “Getting sterilized because y’all couldn’t act right in the voting booth.” One popular TikTok doctor shared a “how to” video about tubal sterilization a week after Trump’s inauguration. “I go on Thursday to get this procedure done,” a user wrote in the comments. “I was so worried the current administration would prevent this option so we got it scheduled Asap.”

Krysten Stein, an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College who studies doctor influencers on TikTok, said that conversations on social media about sterilization reflect gen Z’s current political anxieties.

“We have this rapidly changing landscape around reproductive health, and seeking information about it or posting on social media feels like a way to take back control,” Stein said. “It feels empowering to claim authority and to normalize these life choices.”

In some states – including Michigan, where Clark lives – voters have enshrined abortion protections in state constitutions, and according to a recent Gallup poll, a majority (54%) of Americans consider themselves “pro-choice”. That has not stopped Trump from cozying up to an invigorated anti-abortion movement. His first week in office saw him pardon activists who illegally blockaded the entrances to reproductive health clinics, limit funding for overseas groups that provide or advocate for abortions, and sign an executive order declaring gender begins “at conception”, a tenet of the “fetal personhood” doctrine.

Robert F Kennedy Jr, Trump’s nominee for secretary of health and human services, said at his confirmation hearing on Thursday that he believed that “every abortion is a tragedy”.

Trump indicated that he was also open to regulating contraception last May – though the president later posted on Truth Social that he “WILL NEVER ADVOCATE IMPOSING RESTRICTIONS ON BIRTH CONTROL”. This month, the supreme court, stacked with anti-abortion justices, agreed to hear a case that threatens the Affordable Care Act’s coverage of preventative care such as birth control and pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV (PrEP).

“The news cycle was a huge, huge reason that I took sterilization seriously and decided to spring into action,” Clark said. “Now, it’s a common conversation between my boyfriend and me: ‘God, at least we don’t have to worry about having to travel to get an abortion, or having to leave the country for one, or even being forced to carry a child, which is the most scary option in all of this.’”

Julia Wolf: ‘It’s naive to think that other things aren’t on the line, like contraceptives or sterilization.’

“Whether you agree with a woman’s right to choose or not, it’s naive to think that other things aren’t on the line, like contraceptives or sterilization,” said Wolf, who works in social media.

After the 2024 election results rolled in, Wolf scheduled her bilateral salpingectomy procedure as soon as she could – the first Monday in December. Her gynecologist told her that she performed three other sterilization procedures for women that same week.

“I don’t worry that I am going to regret this,” Wolf said. “I’m 100% confident in this decision, and I’m just really glad I did it, especially because everything’s moving so fast since Trump’s been president.”

This month, the congressman Andy Biggs of Arizona introduced a House resolution aiming to set a new standard for women’s healthcare that “should also address the needs of men, families and communities as they relate to women’s healthcare”. The line scared Wolf.

“I just know for a fact that women will never have any input on men’s health, and so for it to be the other way around is just crazy,” she said.

‘I’d change doctors, get denied again’

Not every person who wants a sterilization will receive one – or else they might find the process to get one needlessly arduous.

Some doctors are hesitant to sterilize women under the age of 30, especially if they are unmarried or do not already have children. Though studies show that most women do not regret getting permanent contraception, those who do tend to be between the ages of 21 and 30 at the time of their procedure. (Sterilization is the most common form of contraception for married couples, with 700,000 performed on women annually, half of which are performed postpartum.)

The United States has an ugly history of forced sterilizations. In the 20th century, they were performed under eugenics programs aimed at controlling “undesirable” populations such as minorities, poor people, unmarried women or the mentally ill. Today, people on Medicaid are legally required to wait 30 days after signing a consent form to be sterilized – in theory, to prevent vulnerable people from being manipulated into undergoing forced sterilization as they were in the past. But activists say this practice is outdated and unfair. For one, there is no such restriction for people on private insurance. Thirty-day waiting periods also recall delaying tactics used in red states to limit abortion access.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) says doctors should advise patients about “reversible alternatives” such as vasectomy or other forms of birth control, and emphasize the permanence of tubal ligation or salpingectomy. But the ACOG also notes that doctors should “avoid paternalism” and “not [impose] thresholds based on age or parity or both for permanent contraception”.

“Respect for an individual patient’s reproductive autonomy should be the primary concern guiding permanent contraception provision and policy,” the ACOG says.

In her own practice, Horvath, the OB-GYN, doesn’t care so much why a person wants the procedure. She just wants them to be sure they’re making the best decision. “There are 18 different contraceptive methods, and no one is perfect,” Horvath said. “I ask that people think through all of the choices. If they’re just really worried about getting through the next four years, have they thought about an IUD? That might leave the door open for you, if permanent sterilization doesn’t feel like the right thing yet, or if you feel like you’re really just having this reaction out of fear.”

Some young people say they’ve been turned away from the procedure for sexist reasons. Kasey Peterson, a 25-year-old property manager who lives in Oceanside, California, remembers playing with Barbies as a child and hearing her father say: “You’re going to make a really great mother one day.”

‘People are worried about protecting themselves in the future.’

The doctors’ reasoning for delaying the procedure seemed straight out of the 1950s: her “future husband” might want children; she wasn’t mature enough to make a permanent decision. They said to come back in a couple of years, and then maybe they’d talk.

“The overall tone was that I didn’t know what I wanted as an individual,” Peterson said. “It was irritating. They were basically telling me that if I was pregnant right now, they would want me to keep the pregnancy, that I was emotionally mature enough for that, but I wasn’t emotionally mature enough to decide that I don’t want children.”

Peterson’s partner considered getting a vasectomy, which his doctors were more than happy to perform. “But I decided I would rather do it for myself, for insurance reasons, but also because if I were to get assaulted by someone else, his vasectomy wouldn’t cover that.”

Young people navigating the serpentine process of finding OB-GYNs willing to perform sterilizations come together in forums on Facebook and Reddit, where they vent their frustrations, cheer each other on and share a Google doc of vetted doctors. Peterson eventually found her doctor through that list, and she now serves as an administrator for the Childfree and Sterile/Seeking Sterilization Facebook group.

“When Roe v Wade was overturned, and when Trump got elected, our group got absolutely flooded,” Peterson said. “It’s great that people are finding a community and a resource, but I hate how it happened. People are worried about protecting themselves in the future.”

-CF Reddit's List of Childfree-Friendly Doctors-

[mariacallous]

Abortion is a top issue in the 2024 election, with a “growing share of voters in swing states now say[ing] abortion is central to their decision this fall,” according to Times/Siena College polls published in August. It is the “single most important issue” for women under 45.

On September 3, Vice President Kamala Harris began a “Fighting for Reproductive Freedom” bus tour in Florida, a state the Democratic Party has lost in the last two presidential elections, but which has abortion on the ballot this year. On November 5, citizens of Florida will be able to vote on an amendment that would restore legal access to abortion “before viability or when necessary to protect a patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.” Florida currently has a six-week abortion ban, a law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in the wake of Dobbs.

The Harris bus tour began about a twenty-minute drive from Mar-a-Lago, the home of the former president who has declared responsibility for the fall of Roe under the Dobbs decision. The decision spawned multiple state abortion bans with severe repercussions upon a woman’s ability in ban states to receive critical or life-saving health care that may necessarily involve an abortion. At the September 10 presidential debate, Harris directly spoke to the post-Roe experiences of women suffering miscarriages and bleeding out in hospital parking lots because they couldn’t get treatment from doctors who were afraid of being prosecuted.

The other presidential candidate, former president Donald Trump, has bragged about overturning Roe v. Wade as a personal achievement of consummate importance. Public opinion polling shows, however, that the majority of Americans support legalized abortion. Moreover, the pro-reproductive rights position has won on abortion-related ballot measures following the Dobbs decision in conservative states like Ohio, Kansas, and Kentucky, and abortion measures are on the ballot this November in key states like Florida, Nevada, Colorado, and Arizona. Trump is now trying to downplay his involvement because the issue of abortion has become an albatross around the neck of the Trump campaign and the Republican Party itself. No wonder, then, in recent comments Trump has stated that abortion policy should be left to the states, and he has been publicly unwilling to endorse a nationwide abortion ban. At the debate, however, he repeatedly refused to answer whether he would veto legislation containing such a ban if it were presented to him as president, rejecting the question as an unlikely hypothetical while claiming he did the country “a great service” by helping overturn Roe.

In the wake of threats to in vitro fertilization (IVF) spurred by the Alabama Supreme Court decision that frozen embryos are children and the corresponding religious view held by some in the anti-abortion movement that a fertilized egg is a full-fledged person, Trump said both that he would mandate insurance companies cover IVF and the federal government would cover it for all Americans in need.

Attempting to persuade women who want their reproductive rights back, he suggested that Florida’s six-week abortion ban is “too short,” stating that he will be “voting that we need more than six weeks.” Later, however, his campaign walked this statement back, indicating that he “has not yet said how he will vote on the ballot initiative in Florida.” Trump attempted to rehabilitate his position on abortion further for his far right, evangelical base by spreading the disinformation that some states allow the legal execution of babies after birth. At the debate, he repeated this false statement, and one of the debate moderators fact-checked him on that. These are just a few examples of the ducking, bobbing, and weaving on abortion that Trump has been doing over the past few weeks. 

But Trump’s attempts to obfuscate the abortion policy of his party and his future administration are laid bare by what is stated in the 2024 Republican Party platform and in the 2025 Presidential Transition Project (also known as Project 2025), a detailed blueprint for overhauling the executive branch, published by the Heritage Foundation, which involves at least 140 people who worked in the last Trump administration.

The word “abortion” only appears once in the 28-page Republican Party platform with the statement “[w]e will oppose Late Term Abortion, while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF.” But that statement must be understood in the context of the sentence that immediately precedes it: “We believe that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees that no person can be denied Life or Liberty without Due Process, and that the States are, therefore, free to pass Laws protecting those Rights.” By invoking the 14th Amendment to the Constitution in the context of abortion, the platform projects consistency with a religious belief that fertilized eggs, or so-called “unborn children” are full-fledged people deserving all of the rights and protections afforded by the U.S. Constitution. Neither abortion nor IVF, where some embryos may be discarded, is consistent with this “personhood” view. The limited and coded treatment of abortion in the platform is, however, consistent with Trump’s stated belief that the issue is harming the Republican Party and his candidacy with women.

But the Republican Party platform’s concise treatment of abortion should not be separated from Project 2025—a 922-page document replete with instances of the word abortion, along with detailed plans for how a Republican administration should promote “pro-life” policies and, in doing so, further curtail reproductive rights and access to reproductive healthcare.

Project 2025’s explicit anti-abortion positions and goals are summarized in the forward section of the document, which proclaims that “conservatives should gratefully celebrate the greatest pro-family win in a generation: overturning Roe v. Wade, a decision that for five decades made a mockery of our Constitution and facilitated the deaths of tens of millions of unborn children. But the Dobbs decision is just the beginning.”

A national abortion ban emerges as a prominent goal, as the document instructs that “[c]onservatives in the states and in Washington, including in the next conservative Administration, should push as hard as possible to protect the unborn in every jurisdiction in America. In particular, the next conservative President should work with Congress to enact the most robust protections for the unborn that Congress will support . . . .”

Some of the most noteworthy ideas and policies construed to achieve these outcomes presented in the rest of the document include:

A series of actions focused on preventing access to medication abortion nationwide. It is important to recognize that medication abortion accounted for 63% of all abortions in 2023—and that number does not account for pills that were mailed to people in states with an abortion ban, so the overall percentage is likely higher. It can be a particularly useful way to circumvent abortion bans. From the perspective of Project 2025, “[a]bortion pills pose the single greatest threat to unborn children in a post-Roe world.” Accordingly, Project 2025 recommends, among other things, that the FDA “reverse its approval of chemical abortion drugs,” and “stop promoting or approving mail-order abortions.” It also recommends that the DOJ “enforce the Comstock Act,” a law passed in 1873 that would, if read literally, make the mailing of any kind of abortifacient unlawful, effectively resulting in a nationwide ban on medication abortion.

Preventing both HHS and the CDC from treating or promoting abortion as health care. Consistent with this goal, and in furtherance of a “Life Agenda,” Project 2025 states that HHS should be known as the “Department of Life” through “explicitly rejecting the notion that abortion is health care.” Accordingly, Project 2025 recommends that the next Secretary of HHS eliminate the current HHS Reproductive Access Task Force and replace it with “a pro-life task force to ensure that all of the department’s divisions seek to use their authority to promote the life and health of women and their unborn children.” With respect to the CDC, Project 2025 recommends that it “should eliminate programs and projects that do not respect human life and conscious rights and that undermine family formation.” This would include the types of research it chooses to fund.

Preventing any kind of federal funding from supporting abortion care, including helping women travel out of state to receive an abortion. Project 2025 would also prohibit Planned Parenthood or any other abortion provider from receiving Medicaid funds. Two steps recommended in furtherance of this goal are having HHS “[i]ssue guidance reemphasizing that states are free to defund Planned Parenthood in their state Medicaid plans” and “[p]ropose rulemaking to interpret the Medicaid statute to disqualify providers of elective abortion from the Medicaid program.”

In stark contrast, the Democratic Party platform, written when President Biden was still the Democratic candidate for president, has its own section on “Reproductive Freedom” that embraces the idea that abortion is health care. It begins by acknowledging that since the fall of Roe, “more than 20 states have imposed extreme and dangerous abortion bans—many of which include no exception even for rape or incest—that put the health and lives of women in jeopardy, force women to travel hundreds of miles for care, and threaten to criminalize doctors for providing the health care that their patients need and that they are trained to provide.”

The platform looks to the range of actions taken during the Biden-Harris administration as a foundation for continuing efforts to protect reproductive rights and health care. Some of the most notable actions mentioned, which are opposite of the policies promoted by Project 2025, include enabling pharmacies to dispense medication abortion and defending FDA approval of medication abortion in court, expanding reproductive health care for service members and veterans, defending access to emergency abortion care, challenging threats by a Republican attorney general to prosecute those who assist women traveling out of state for abortion care, and assisting states in expanding access under Medicaid for people who travel from states where they are denied access to abortion care.

Going forward, the platform states that Democrats will, among other things, work to restore abortion rights through legislation (assuming a Congress with sufficient Democratic control), protect the right to access IVF, strengthen access to contraception, and continue to support access to medication abortion. The platform also indicates that Democrats will work to repeal the Hyde amendment, which “restricts federally funded abortions under major federal health care programs.”

The contrast between the parties’ platforms and policies is clear. Simply put, the Democratic Party platform explicitly states that “President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats are committed to restoring the reproductive rights Trump ripped away.” As the presidential candidate who has proudly claimed responsibility for the fall of Roe, Trump’s rhetoric resembles the defensive moves of a boxer ducking, bobbing, and weaving to slip an opponent’s punches: he has tried to disavow Project 2025, tried to obfuscate Republican Party positions and plans, and backtracked on some of his positions in an attempt to portray his future administration as “great for women and their reproductive rights.”

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Colin Wright

Published: Apr 22, 2025

The last four months have been a whirlwind of change in the gender debate. Just eight days into his second term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order provocatively titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.” It declared that the United States would no longer “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another.” The order arrived as the Supreme Court was deliberating U.S. v. Skrmetti, a pivotal case challenging Tennessee’s ban on sex-trait modification procedures for minors.

As the U.S. enters an era of legal warfare over pediatric “gender-affirming” care, it’s time to shift the terms of debate from outcomes to the foundational premises of the practice.

I have served as an expert witness for several court cases on gender-affirming care. These courtroom debates fixate almost entirely on whether the treatments show evidence of benefit. This is a mistake.

True, the evidence is almost nonexistent. Last year, British authorities released the Cass Review, a devastating critique of the evidence supporting pediatric sex-trait modification. The report was grounded in seven systematic evidence reviews—the gold standard in evidence-based medicine. One of the reviews, consistent with the others, described the evidence in favor of “gender-affirming treatment” in children and adolescents as “remarkably weak.”

But while it’s not wrong to highlight this evidentiary void, focusing solely on outcomes cedes too much ground to proponents by implying that outcomes alone could legitimize the practice gender transition. The deeper flaw in gender-affirming care lies not in the data but in their premises. If the foundational assumptions used to justify these treatments collapse under scrutiny, the interventions would remain unjustifiable, even if some evidence of benefit eventually emerged.

At its core, gender-affirming care rests on two claims. First, it posits that biological sex is not a fixed binary but a malleable continuum, shaped by traits like sex chromosomes, hormones, genital morphology, and other physical characteristics—most of which doctors can alter with hormones and surgeries.

Second, it asserts that a person can have a “brain sex”—equated with “gender identity”—that diverges from his body, creating a mismatch that drives gender dysphoria. The goal, then, is to align the body with this purportedly immutable “brain sex” through hormones and surgeries.

Both premises are scientifically untenable. Sex is not a spectrum. It’s a binary biological reality defined by reproductive function: males have the function to produce sperm, and females, ova. No hormonal or surgical intervention can change a person’s sex. Likewise, the notion that a person can have a “brain sex” incongruent with his body defies both biology and logic. Our bodies are an integrated whole, not a patchwork of independently sexed traits.

These unsound premises make gender-affirming care a house built on sand, not solid medical science.

Consider an analogy: exorcism might comfort a troubled patient who believes in demonic possession, but the practice’s legitimacy hinges on demons being real. Absent that, it’s a ritual, not medicine.

Similarly, gender-affirming care presupposes both a “sex spectrum” and “brain sex,” which do not exist. No amount of reported benefit can salvage a practice rooted in pseudoscience.

This distinction exposes a contradiction among the defenders of gender medicine in U.S. v. Skrmetti. The litigants against Tennessee argue that bans on “gender-affirming” procedures for minors constitute a form of discrimination based on sex. The ACLU, representing private plaintiffs in the case, attempted to spotlight potential benefits of gender-affirming care while sidestepping the shaky premises, yet its legal arguments invoking sex discrimination implicitly relied on sex being concrete and immutable. This undermines the justification for the gender-affirming care it supports, which requires that sex be fluid and changeable. They can’t have it both ways.

The legal battle over gender-affirming care must shift focus. Legislation should not merely target procedures but dismantle the pseudoscientific terminology and concepts—“gender identity,” “brain sex,” and “sex assigned at birth”—that prop them up. Medical institutions must face accountability for embracing these falsehoods.

This is a rare moment to halt the medicalization of confused, distressed, and vulnerable youth. By attacking gender medicine at its ideological foundation, we can end this harmful practice.

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Never lose sight of the fact the underlying claim is the same kind of mystical mind-body dualism as Xianity's eternal soul or Scientology's thetans. That we are not entirely biological beings, but possessed by some biology-independent spiritual gender essence.

It's completely retarded.