#This is mostly just me getting upset at the representation in Jamie

[a-map-of-gays]

More queer media that doesn't focus on being bullied and harrassed. More queer media that doesn't centre around cis gay men. More queer media that features aros and aces. More queer media that isn't about suffering. More queer media that has genderqueer people. More queer media with characters who use multiple sets of pronouns. More queer media that has supportive parents (especially fathers). More queer media that isn't about wanting to be 'normal'. More queer media that represents all the facets of drag. More queer media that represents the whole queer community

[novelconcepts]

yesterday i saw the discourse about the “queerbaiting” or “bury your gay” you had with some anons and yes, if i may say people — especially who’re watching bly now — don’t catch the metaphors behind the ghosts in the show. i mean, maybe i didn’t see myself people calling it a queerbaiting (mostly I’ve seen them talking about the bury your gay) but i sure saw people saying that dani and jamie were just a privileged couple, and they are bad representation .. and believe me this so hilarious, the proposal scene hint us how the 80s/90s where legal marriage wasn’t a thing were difficult ages for many gay/lesbians, or the scene in the flower shop where dani look outside the window for being sure no one watch them kissing, and mostly important: i think people don’t understand the role eddie’s, especially in his ghost form, has as the dani’s comphet that still haunt her, aside the guilty for his death. some people maybe watch it and didn’t catch how jamie in her monologue explain very well how her life was hard, it’s true we didn’t get many of her life before bly but because the whole show is around the “open to interpretation” we can assume some things, put aside that Amelia in cosycon gave us other “behind the scenes” of her character’s life before the manor. So people either saw them as queerbaiting because they don’t see the metaphor, also i think they think too much about the fact they doesn’t say explicitly they are lesbians, but in this show metaphors are something that are enough for understanding the plot, also mike and his crew tried to not focus too much into this things, trying to give characters that they have a personality aside their sexuality.

I really think people nowadays talk about in too easy way about the queerbaiting or the bury your gays, we have to be more careful about it and try to not see bad representation just because the characters don’t hate everyone around them <\3

Yeah, I think people slide too easily toward lumping everything that doesn’t personally work for them into toxic tropes, and that’s...more than a little disheartening, particularly for queer creators who want to tell complex human stories that don’t always come out shiny. I haven’t seen nearly this level of discourse with Bly, because I tend to stick to my corner of the internet, but I find myself thinking primarily of Happiest Season--a queer movie made by a huge number of queer people that was then torn to shreds by the community because it wasn’t what they expected/wanted to see. Not every piece of media is going to work for everyone, certainly, but the inclination to say “this didn’t do what I would have done, and therefore it is Bad” is really upsetting. And I think it’s dissuading a lot of creators from telling the stories they need to tell, because they just don’t have the energy to deal with the fallout. 

But the idea that Dani and Jamie are a privileged couple is...interesting. Privileged in terms of being two white women, and therefore benefitting from that element, absolutely--the most viable critiques I’ve seen of the show are all based around its treatment of POC, and that’s very fair. But I think there’s also a difference between “privileged” and “more privileged than they could be”, and they fall into the latter camp. They’re still queer women in 1987, they’re still not safe shouting their love from the rooftops, and though the show was really kind in its refusal to give bigots a voice within its framework...the timeframe is still very intentional. Plus, Jamie is a child of trauma and abuse, Dani spends much of the show incredibly caged by comphet and societal expectation, and both are working more blue collar jobs taking care of wealthy kids. I really fail to see how they’d qualify as bad rep just because the show wasn’t willing to give a megaphone to homophobia--it feels to me like the perspective of people who think you can’t tell a gay story without a traumatic coming-out lens. Which, personally, I’m over. I want more stories that prioritize queerness and the normalizing of such in various genres. I’m not interested in a constant swell of “well, now I’m gonna get disowned or abused on-camera, and that’s how you know this isn’t easy.” I want more shows that don’t feel the need to write an essay on what it means to be gay, that just...show it as a normal, human part of living. That feels like the definition of good rep, from where I’m standing. 

[fandomshatelgbtqpeople]

mod a’s lgbt musicals

Hi there! I’m a big theatre kid so I thought for pride month I’d put together a list of LGBTQ musicals. Despite its association with queer people, musical theatre is not known for its amazing representation. I’ve put together a list here of musicals I know of with queer characters. I’ve tried to avoid those where the queer characters are incredibly minor roles or those where the representation is just not good enough to be salvageable (*side eyes Legally Blonde*) I know there are many musicals I will have missed out but these are the ones I am most aware of. Feel free to add more! So without further ado, here it is.

Fun Home

The big Tony winner of 2015! Based on Alison Bechdel, a butch lesbian cartoonist. At the age of 43, she looks for new material by trying to explore her past and her relationship with her closeted gay dad. Looks back at a version of herself when she was 10 and a “tomboy” and at 19 when she came out and got her first girlfriend. Has very cute lighthearted moments as well as very sad moments. Has a beautiful song where small Alison sees a butch deliverywoman. Problems in that since the original broadway cast, Alison’s costume has got less butch. Content warning for suicide.

Here’s their Tony performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMAuesRJm1E

The Color Purple

Based on Alice Walker’s novel about black women in the 1930s. Follows Celie who has been abused by men her whole life who discovers she is a lesbian but also makes a journey of self discovery and learns to love herself. Her love interest is a bisexual woman. Won best revival at the Tonys in 2016. Content warning for discussion/implied sexual abuse.

Here’s their Tony performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k2xzQyT2bk

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

A teenage gay boy in Sheffield wants to be a drag queen and go to prom in a dress.Also a nice touch that is does not focus on him having a relationship (since he is sixteen) and him having to come out as he is already out. Focuses on his close relationship with his supportive mother. Has a diverse cast. Jamie is currently played by a black actor and his best friend wears a hijab and has a very diverse ensemble as well. Unfortunately has a part where Jamie responds to a homophobic bully by calling him a bunch of ableist and classist slurs.

Here’s a clip of the most popular song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7C3FuFWDdw

The Prom

Emma is a lesbian teenager in Indiana whose prom is cancelled by the PTA after she requests to bring her girlfriend to it. A group of Broadway actors come down to help her campaign to be allowed to attend prom, as well as styling her, helping her work on her confidence and educating the town’s people. What ensues is basically a two hour musical episode of Queer Eye. Cheesy and fun with so many musical theatre references crammed in. My one issue is that the show is rather harsh on people who are closeted since Emma has conflicted with her girlfriend Alyssa because she is not ready to come out.

Here’s a clip of their Tony performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGcG_r5xv3E

Rent

Probably the most well known on this list. Artists in New York during the AIDS crisis. Two of the main couples featured are queer: Maureen is bisexual and in a relationship with Joanne who is a lesbian, and Angel is a transgender woman of color in a relationship with Collins, a presumably bisexual man. However, she tends to be played bi cis men and there are instances of her being misgendered by the main characters uncritically. In Rent Live (2019), all instances of her being misgendered were removed and her gender identity was confirmed. She was played in this by Valentina, an nb drag queen and has also been played by Pose’s MJ Rodriguez, a trans woman. Very diverse with Jewish characters and people of colour and in the live show, only 1 of the 8 main characters was white. Has been criticised over the years, mainly for its biphobic portrayal of Maureen who is promiscuous and implied to cheat, but in the 90s did a lot for the LGBTQ community and is more progressive than a lot of media even now.

Here’s a clip of Maureen and Joanne from Rent Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06oCfKYYPTY

And here’s some Angel and Collins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hl-M94o_x8

Falsettos

Marvin comes out as gay in the late 70s but decides to move his ex wife and son in with his boyfriend. Addresses AIDS crisis in Act 2. Has “lesbians from next door” in act 2. F Revived on Broadway in 2016. All of the characters are Jewish. Unfortunately, in revival casts, very few actors tend to be Jewish.

Here’s the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjnAHOdMQVk

Come From Away

In the aftermath of 9/11, 38 planes are diverted to a small town in Canada called Gander. Shows people of different races and nationalities bonding in a scary time. Addresses Islamophobia. Has one song called Prayer where prayers from different religions overlap. Has an interracial gay couple called Kevin and Kevin. They break up in the end but are very important characters. Won best direction of a musical in 2017. The Broadway production starred Jenn Colella who has referred to herself as ‘mostly gay’.

Here’s a clip of Jenn Colella singing a song from the musical: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8ukgH6U-d0

Head Over Heels

Honestly I don’t quite know what this musical is about, even by reading the plot summary and listening to the soundtrack. I know it’s set in a Tudor fantasy world and that there are wlw couples as well as an explicitly non binary character, played by Peppermint, a trans woman, and that there are interracial couples and plus sized actors. It is a jukebox musical using songs by the Go-Gos and yes the wlw anthem that is Heaven is a Place on Earth is one of them. The soundtrack is fantastic even if you can’t follow what is going on.

Here are some show clips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx2qQ7QAPm0

Spring Awakening

German school kids in the 19th century discovering their sexuality. Two of the schoolboy supporting characters, Ernst and Hänschen, have a romance when they have a reprise of an earlier song in Act 2.  A BIG content warning as it has graphic discussions of rape and songs about it and a sex scene with very dubious consent. However there was a very wonderful 2016 revival using deaf actors and sign language.

This is another one you can very easily find the full show of on YouTube which I won’t link. However here’s the Tony performance for the revival: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSagsMcak4Q

If/Then

A woman named Elizabeth (originally played by Idina Menzel) moves to New York after a divorce and contemplated how different her life would be if she took two different paths. Four supporting queer characters. Her ex-boyfriend is bisexual and played by Anthony Rapp (who is bisexual in real life) and he gets a boyfriend in one timeline. Another of her friends is a lesbian called Kate who marries her girlfriend in the musical. Problems occur as in both timelines, cheating goes on in the lesbian relationship although they stay together in one. Elizabeth also says she doesn’t believe in bisexuals, a view no one ever challenges her on, however Lucas is very clearly bisexual which is some proof for the audience that she is wrong.

I’m not going to link it here but there are many very high quality bootlegs on it on YouTube if you want to watch,

Ghost Quartet

A bit of a weird one. This is more of a concept album. There are four performers who each play instruments and they tell the stories of many interconnected timelines. It is very hard to explain but there are souls travelling through time who keep being reincarnated as different people with different relationships to each other which usually end with one woman killing the other. In the song Soldier & Rose, the ghosts Rose and Pearl are lovers as Rose seduces the soldier for her honey.  In the song Four Friends, for one chorus the men sing “I like to put my hand on a pretty girls’s knee” and the women sing “pretty boy’s knee” and then they switch for the next chorus so they’re all bisexual. In general, a lot of fun if you like weird musicals and I mean really weird.

The full show is online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJSaEJm8pCE

Mean Girls

Yes there’s a musical of it. I was not looking forward to it when it was announced but have actually grown to quite like it. It’s hardly lyrical genius but the songs are fun and a lot of the problematic aspects of the film have been fixed. Damian is more explicitly gay in the musical and sings about an ex boyfriend in one song. Janis is heavily implied to be a lesbian (confirmed by actress offstage) and she doesn’t end up with Kevin Gnapoor. She is played by a queer actress in the tour cast. Both queer characters are much bigger roles than in the movie and get several songs each. I’d consider the musical to be quite white feminist but it does address issues such as the sexualisation of teenage girls and the notion that to be ‘sexy’ is ‘empowering’.

Here’s a clip of one of Damian’s songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-zM6QKkxEQ

& Juliet

An English jukebox musical about what might have happened to Juliet in Romeo and Juliet if she had not died at the end. I haven’t seen it but I’ve listened to the soundtrack and it is mainly comprised of 21st century songs by women. One of Juliet’s best friends is non binary although is played by a cis man as far as we know. Also I went to the same school as one of the actors which is a bonus for me. Very diverse cast.

Here’s a trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm2k9nS3o20

In Transit

A capella musical about several people’s adventures on New York public transport. Two of the main characters in this ensemble cast are an interracial gay couple where both are pocs. They are engaged but one of them is having trouble coming out to his mother. I found it refreshing in that his fiance for the most part was not upset with him at his struggles in coming out and they were both able to live fulfilling lives despite this. I am always astonished by the talent of a cappella singers.

Here’s a trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhvik6qoass  Another one where the bootleg can be found very easily on YouTube

Firebringer

Remember A Very Potter Musical? Well, the company that did that are still putting out new pieces of theatre on their YouTube channel. In 2016, they put out their ridiculous comedy musical Firebringer, about a group of bisexual cavewomen. I won’t spoil the ending but trust me, it’s great. You may know it from the viral clip of one of the main characters singing ‘I don’t really wanna do the work today.’

You can watch the full musical here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmVuNlu0LCk

Special Mentions

Company

Musical by Stephen Sondheim about a man unable to commit to a relationship, surrounded by his friends who are all in couples. However, the award-winning 2018 West End revival chose to change the genders of some of the characters. The main character Robert became ‘Bobbie’ (although all of her love interests were gender-swapped as well). One of the originally M/F couples became an M/M couple. It opened on Broadway for about a week before the Covid outbreak so that will be one to look out for.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtDK03y4gT0

In the Heights

A musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda about the Latin American community living in Washington Heights in New York. The original theatre production has no explicitly queer characters. However, in the upcoming movie version (that was meant to be released this summer but has been pushed back to next summer) it has been confirmed that the characters of Daniela and Carla (Daphne Rubin-Vega and Stephanie Beatriz) will be explicitly a couple.

I absolutely love this musical and the trailer for the movie looks beautiful check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0CL-ZSuCrQ

[entergamingxp]

FIFA 20 Premier League TOTSSF Team Stacked to the Gills With Top Players

May 1, 2020 2:17 PM EST

FIFA 20 continues one of its biggest promos of the year with the Premier League getting their very own Team of the Season So Far squad.

Though the Premier League is still trying to decide if they’ll get to continue its season, fans of the league have just gotten an injection of top talent into FIFA 20. EA is running their Team of the Season So Far promo and this week is Premier League week. That always means massive new players and the massive prices they come with. This year is no different, with several players getting cars boosted to Team of the Year or greater levels. Check out the squad below.

The @premierleague Team of the Season So Far

. Available now #TOTSSF #FUT20 pic.twitter.com/Rw4Tgy3Goy

— EA SPORTS FIFA #stayandplay (@EASPORTSFIFA) May 1, 2020

Unsurprisingly, they absolutely juiced the Premier Leauge TOTSSF FIFA 20 team. It includes six players who also made the Team of the Year squad. Liverpool’s Alisson, Sadio Mane, Mo Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Andrew Robertson are joined by Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne as repeats. Only Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante was unable to pull the double from the Premier League’s TOTY representation.

And really, the team is mostly made up of the big names from the big clubs. Of the 20 players, 10 of them come from either Man City or Liverpool. It’s not surprising, but it does stink for fans of smaller clubs. You have to feel for Sheffield United fans who are enjoying one of their best seasons ever and could only get a goalie in the game.

That said, FIFA promos are all about selling packs, and smaller teams just don’t bring in the money like others. There are some gems here though. As always, Wolves’ star Adama Traore has what is sure to be one of the most in-demand super-subs in the game. And, while you’d probably prefer him as a striker, Tottenham’s Heung Min Son has a gnarly LM card. Speaking of strikers, Arsenal’s Aubameyang, Everton’s Richarlison, and Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy look like great options. The only card I’m a bit upset about is Leicester’s Caglar Soyuncu. He’s been having a great season and this card is bang average, at best.

Outside of packs, players can earn Wolves’ forward Raul Jimenez through Rivals’ objectives and Leicester’s Ayoze Perez in Squad Battles. There’s also an SBC out for Leicester’s Wilfred Ndidi that I will be finishing almost immediately. And this is just the start. Last week alone, we got five player SBCs and three objective players. I would expect a similar release cadence this week, especially with a new minor league entering packs next Tuesday.

FIFA 20 is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Now is probably the best time to jump into the game outside of the opening month. There is a ton to do and squad building continues to get easier and more fun. Give it a try if you miss football as much as me!

May 1, 2020 2:17 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/05/fifa-20-premier-league-totssf-team-stacked-to-the-gills-with-top-players/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=fifa-20-premier-league-totssf-team-stacked-to-the-gills-with-top-players

[fandomshatelgbtqpeople]

A Werewolf’s Guide to Lycanthropy

So I asked about nonbinary representation, so I’m going to go ahead and share a book I started (and nearly finished) for NaNoWriMo. It’s still first draft stage and will undergo massive rewrites, but all three of my main characters are trans (and otherwise queer as well), as are many other side characters, so I thought ya’ll might be interested in a snippet? Maybe?

This is a snippet maybe a quarter or so of the way into the book. It’s a book re-imagining werewolves based more off of wild wolf behavior than captured wolf behavior. In it, werewolves are basically know but not really acknowledged. People suspect but nobody says it out loud. Our main character is happily living in eir werewolf pack (which is far more of a family and community than it is a hierarchy), though secretly writing a guide on how to adjust to becoming a werewolf to help bring them into a more public eye (and the book is interspersed with snippets of this writing) until some kids from the pack start going missing. Then MC - Jamie - realizes that these kidnappings appear to be something larger than just a local targeting of their specific pack. When the pack council or committee (there to help organize schedules, figure out how to take in new kids, budget, etc.) acts ignorant and secretive, Jamie has to decide between dropping this and potentially losing more kids or defying the council, abandoning eir pack, and getting to the bottom of the disappearances. Where I bring you in on this snippet, Jamie has recently decided to leave the pack and investigate on eir own. In doing so, ey has just managed to run into another pack, where ey just might get some answers...

(For those on mobile, this moves into a read more, as it’s a long post. Anyone please feel free to leave me some feedback!)

Chapter 15

The irresistible smell of sausage woke Jamie up. Ophelia laughed gently. “I see I’ve picked the right breakfast for you. I thought I would save you the trip of having to eat with everyone else. I’m sure you know, everybody already knows who you are by now. I didn’t want you to be overwhelmed with questions.”

Grimacing in an effort to shake off the last vestiges of sleep, Jamie cracked eir back and neck and cleared eir throat. “Thanks.” Ey took the plate of offered food, a generous heap of sausage, eggs, hash browns and a biscuit buttered up nicely. “Really, thanks.”

“I saw the size of your bag. I’m guessing you haven’t had too many meals while not a wolf.” Then she went and sat at the other end of the trailer, looking over papers rather than Jamie. The papers could have been blank, and she could have been looking at them just to put Jamie at ease, but ey was grateful for the thought either way.

Jamie had just finished the food and was deciding what to do with the plate when Ophelia spoke again. “You can leave it outside the door. Boyd will collect it for us. Come, I’m interested to hear why you came.” Nervousness washed over Jamie as ey did as instructed. Even with all the walking in human form, Jamie hadn’t really taken the time to actually think what to do when ey found another pack. Ey honestly hadn’t expected to do so immediately.

“Now I don’t believe we had a proper introduction yesterday. I’m Ophelia, leader of this pack, although the committee helps me greatly. We’ve been here near four decades now. My mentor, Phoebe, began the pack. When she passed a couple years back, the pack became my responsibility. We’re about thirty strong. We get a lot of pack members who come and go, some looking to strike out and start their own packs back in their home towns. Tell me a bit about your own pack, please.”

Jamie nodded. “You know I’m Jamie. Celeste leads our pack, along with six others on the council: Comet, Luna, Terence and Alishya, as well as Lucy and Shannon. The pack’s about as old as me, so just around twenty years, far younger than your own. Since I was one of the first kids of the pack, I got kind of a different view of the pack history than some of the younger ones might, being there longer than some of our council members even. We’re somewhere around 45 - 50 pack members at the moment.”

Ophelia gave a low whistle. “That’s a big pack. A lot of responsibility. How many kids?”

“Around half are underage. We don’t get a lot of people who really leave, and we keep taking in kids and anyone else who wanders by and asks.”

Ophelia nodded. “I’ve never met Celeste, but I have heard of her. I’m not surprised her pack would be so large. I suppose a lot of the adults help out with outside jobs?”

“Yeah. Mostly minimum wage stuff, but we’ve got a couple people with good skills and some who came in with college degrees and good jobs that really help out.”

“But you all were also hit by these disappearances?”

Jamie looked down but nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

“If you can, I’d like to hear some about the kids who went missing. Then I’ll answer any questions of yours.”

Jamie nodded again, glad that Ophelia was leading the conversation so far. As long as she was being honest about answering questions, Jamie wasn’t here to hide anything. “Jemele was kidnapped first. She’s 14 with a bad past. Her aunt was jealous that she had a better relationship with her mother and bit and turned Jemele to try and change that. Celeste probably knows, but all I know other than that is that Jemele’s mom showed up with her in tow one day and dropped her off. The aunt may not have succeeded in being closer with Jemele, but she sure helped destroy Jemele’s relationship with her mother. Jemele had some younger siblings that her mother won’t let her see anymore, even though she’s totally in control of the transformations now. Her mom comes for regularly scheduled visits, but Jemele really only sits through those because council makes her. She’s a good kid. Very quiet. She never asks to go out on extra runs, just participates in scheduled ones, so I suspect she’s still angry and accepts being a werewolf but hasn’t come to love or enjoy it yet.”

“Understandable.”

“Sometimes she needed some space and time to herself, so she’d disappear every now and then, but we’d always find her sleeping somewhere odd or she’d wander back into camp. The three girls she shared a trailer with developed a system with her so she could let them know when she was going, so they’d always know they didn’t need to go looking for her. But one night, she just wasn’t there and there was no note. It’s like she just disappeared. Evelyn went missing next. She’s only eight. She’s at that phase where she’s missing a lot of baby teeth and her new ones haven’t grown in yet, so she’s a little darling for most the adults. She’s very extraverted and outgoing. She came to us a pretty young, so she might have been born a wolf, but I’ve never really gotten her story. She’s very well adjusted, though, if a bit bossy. She went missing when one of the pack adults took a small group for a bathroom break. One minute she was there, the next Pam realized she was gone. We had to have known almost immediately, yet still couldn’t recover her.

“And Zoo…” Jamie closed eir eyes and took a deep breath, giving eirself a moment to hate eirself for leaving, even though it was unlikely Jamie would have stopped anything from happening. “Zoo’s 11. I don’t know much of her story either, but I do know it’s another traumatic one. She’s been through a lot - developed DID. The first two years she lived with us, she barely spoke and never played. A year and a half or so ago, she really blossomed and opened up. She’s friendly and loving and very funny. Some of the kids can get mean sometimes just because they’re defensive about their past, but Zoo just got nicer, I think.” Jamie could say a ton more about all three. Their favorite food, their favorite games, how to calm them when they had nightmares… But ey wasn’t sure it was important that Ophelia knew too much. Not to mention Jamie’s heart was clenched and tight.

“And what about you, Jamie? What’s your story?”

Jamie shrugged. “I don’t really have much of one beyond the pack. I was born a wolf. Mom died in childbirth and dad ran away when he found out what I was. I’m not sure how Celeste found me, but the pack’s the only life I’ve known.”

“So how did you come to be here?”

Maybe it was a little rude, but it was Jamie’s turn for answers. Ophelia had only asked for information on the kids; it wasn’t fair to drag more out of Jamie without offering something first. “I’d like to ask some questions first. Then maybe we can talk more about me.”

Ophelia stared at Jamie for a good minute before nodding. “Fair enough, you have given what I’ve asked for. Go ahead.”

“Are you in communication with any of the other packs who’ve had kids stolen away from them?”

“Yes, but not all of them. Is your pack?” Her answer confirmed two things at once: the disappearances were definitely something to do with werewolves and council was definitely not telling the pack everything they knew.

“What can you tell me about what they’ve said? What do they know that the papers haven’t reported?”

Ophelia’s mouth quirked up a bit. She seemed amused with Jamie, even though Jamie had specifically ignored her question. “Honestly, not much, unfortunately. They all scented something weird when searching for the kids. None I’ve talked to could really describe it. They said the scent was familiar, like a word on the tip of your tongue that your brain just can’t complete. Musky, probably a man - or, more likely, several. And very vague. No one could pick up a trail.”

Jamie deflated. “Yeah, council couldn’t pick up a trail either. Neither could I, although it would have been several days old by then.”

After a beat, Ophelia stood. “Here, I will show you something, but it requires going to my personal trailer, so we have to fend off some curious stragglers,” she winked. Despite the seriousness of the conversation, Jamie relaxed a bit. It was hard to stay stressed and upset with innocent kids being cheery around you.

“Okay.”

Ophelia successfully shooed three children away from them on their way to her trailer, but not before Jamie shook hands with each of them, introducing eirself and learning their names. Jason, Patty, and Jenn. Once inside Ophelia’s trailer, nobody bothered them, just like when they were in committee’s trailer.

The trailer was beautiful. Either Ophelia or someone else in the pack was an artist. The inside was dark with dozens of stars dotted in glow-in-the-dark paint, bringing several constellations to life. Jamie had always liked the basic astronomy classes in the pack, and it seemed the artist did, too. Ophelia paused to let Jamie soak up in the night sky, then with a simple “light’s”, flicked the lights on. The walls were as gorgeous in the light as they were the dark. Bright colors swirled in abstract patterns. After a moment, Jamie placed them as a rendering of the Northern lights.

“Here,” Ophelia announced, breaking Jamie’s reverie. She stood by a thin, wide cabinet. When Jamie looked over, she opened the doors, laying them flat, and revealing a large map of the States. Jamie came closer.

“These are the cities where packs have had multiple kidnappings,” she explained, pointing to the red pins on the map. “These,” she said, pointing to several blue pins,” represent cities where pack’s have only had one kid stolen away. And these,” she said, gesturing to some green pins, “are cities where kids that I believe were werewolves were kidnapped, but I haven’t confirmed yet.” Jamie studied the pins, downhearted by just how many there were. Ey hadn’t even thought about any single kidnappings. Those might not have even made anything but local news.

Gently grabbing eir shoulders, Ophelia forced Jamie to take a step back. “See anything?”

Jamie stopped studying the detail and looked at the larger picture. Immediately, ey thought ey saw a pattern. Taking a step forward, Jamie traced the outline of the pins in the map. “It’s… Is there a pattern? Circles - rings of circles. Oh…” Jamie stepped back again. “A bullseye? Multiple kidnappings in the larger rings and single kidnappings in the smaller rings.”

A solemn look was affixed to Ophelia’s face. “Yes, that’s what I see, too. Your council didn’t say anything about this to you?”

Finally giving in, Jamie admitted, “council’s been pretty secretive. Weeks before Jemele was kidnapped, I asked if the disappearances might be related to werewolf packs and was told to drop it. With the kidnappings, we’ve been on a strict schedule where no one is supposed to be anywhere without an escort or buddy, except work as long as other workers are around, but they still haven’t told us anything more. I’ve no idea what they do no.”

Ophelia’s face creased in a frown. “Nothing? Really. We’ve already been talking with the pack and set up a buddy system. Celeste waited until kids were kidnapped to do anything?”

A weird clash of emotions conflicted within Jamie. On one hand, it was nice to have eir frustrations and anger confirmed as valid. On the other, Jamie still trusted Celeste and all of council with eir life, and didn’t like this woman she didn’t even know passing judgement. “Maybe council was keeping a close eye. I don’t know. They didn’t have us doing anything, anyway.” When Ophelia didn’t reply, Jamie asked the question that was bothering eir. “If this is a bullseye, what’s at the center?”

Turning back to the map, Ophelia was silent and thoughtful. She ran her finger over the map where the center of the bullseye seemed to be. “That is an excellent question.” Turning to face Jamie again, Ophelia’s face seemed carefully blank. “Jamie, I’m not sure what your purpose is in being here, but I suspect this is not a trip your council approved.” Jamie shook eir head no. “I would not ask you to walk directly into danger; I do not usually ask strangers to just risk their lives, but it seems you  may already be intending to. Would you investigate the bullseye, Jamie? Something is happening, and I do not know what, but there is something larger at play here than a couple of kidnapping cases. I cannot go and still protect my pack. I must stay here. Will you go?”

Jamie wasn’t normally very touchy-feely, but ey reached out to grab Ophelia’s hand. “Council couldn’t stop me from leaving to find answers. You couldn’t stop me from trying to find them wherever that bullseye is or whatever else it takes.”

Ophelia reached out to cup Jamie’s face. “Spend another night here - or a few. Whatever you need to recover. I saw the stiffness in you when you came. Rest, and I will gather supplies for you.”

Jamie should have been scared, but ey was nearly ecstatic at finally receiving some answers - some help. This wasn’t all in eir head.

Chapter 16

In the four days (that Jamie only meant to be two) that Jamie stayed at Ophelia’s camp, ey made a lot of new friends, found a lot more younger siblings. Between meetings with Ophelia on the bullseye, Jamie hung out with the pack; besides getting to know them, ey was also probing to see if any of them perhaps knew anything more about the disappearances - perhaps something they didn’t realize they knew.

The bullseye was located in, as best Ophelia and ey could tell by the topo map, a surprisingly uninhabited area. There were no roads going in and out, at least not marked on the map. The area appeared to be fairly flat land with some outlying hills but nothing too big or seemingly populated close to the bullseye. There were always people living out in surprising areas, though, so Jamie couldn’t count on the area being completely abandoned of folk with nothing to do with this developing controversy. Finally, the last - and most obvious - concrete piece of information they could gather was that the bullseye was in Montana. The flatness seemed a bit of an odd coincidence for a state known for its mountains, but Montana was overall considerably flatter than Jamie may have guessed. Considering Jamie was currently in Indiana, ey had quite a ways to go, even traveling most the way via wolf. Ey was considering hitchhiking part of the way if at all possible.

Suzy, Eric, and Lala were the kids that Jamie got to know the best. Suzy and Eric were fraternal twins, 15 years old, and surprisingly peppy for their age. Lala was just a year younger and followed the twins everywhere. She called herself their triplet, which they happily agreed with. Even though they were unrelated, Lala did look surprisingly similar to the twins, and the three got along very well. They had latched onto Jamie because of their own interest (and fear) of the kidnappings. It had been Suzy that suggested to Ophelia that she actually plot the disappearances on a map, like she’d seen on TV. Eric was the conspiracy theorist and inundated Jamie with theories of what the disappearances were. He suggested everything ranging from aliens to anti-werewolf hunters but with no really solid ideas on why the kids were actually being kidnapped. And Lala made up stories of what all the kids were like. All three of them proposed some good questions. Was there a pattern to if kidnapped wolves were born or bitten? Why the specific age range so far observed? How did kidnapped kids between different packs disappear so quickly? All in all, they left Jamie with several more questions than ey’d started with.

On the night Jamie was setting out, ey had said good-bye, hugged some folk (including, most surreal of all, Ophelia), and only gone a few feet into the woods when ey was confronted.

“We’re coming with you.” Jamie turned and squinted, recognizing the two from eir few days in the pack. The speaker was Lucasia, an outspoken 20 year old that Jamie felt ey’d already learned the whole life story of. Lucasia had only been a wolf for a few years. It’d been a tough transition for her and ultimately what made her realize and accept that she was actually a girl. Sadly enough, her family had adapted to her lycanthropy just fine - if not a little interested in it - but being trans was too much from them. After they disowned her, she’d lived on the streets for a year before one of the committee members of the pack found her and brought her back. She’d lived there ever since, completely accepted by the pack for who she was.

Lucasia’s more silent partner was Ty, a shy bigender wolf that Jamie hadn’t learned much about. He was almost always reading, and Jamie didn’t know him well enough to know if he followed Lucasia because he really wanted to or simply because she dragged him along and he didn’t mind going. He seemed nice, though.

“I’m not really looking for company.”

“Wasn’t asking. Besides, Ophelia said she thought it was a good idea, so we’re going whether you like it or not. Good luck losing us. Ty’s the fastest runner in the pack.”

Jamie frowned. It looked like these tagalongs weren’t going to give up easy, and Jamie didn’t want to waste time arguing about it. Besides, it wasn’t like the company would hurt Jamie. It had been oddly lonely when ey had been by eirself. Decision made, Jamie shrugged, then stepped behind a large tree to get a bit of privacy (although that would likely disappear in a few days when the group became more comfortable with each other), shifted with a groan that turned into a growl, and shook eirself out. Grabbing the larger, heavier bag courtesy of Ophelia and her pack, ey padded out from behind the tree. A moment after ey did, two wolves appeared from the side of another tree, two large bags in their mouths as well. Together, on instinct, they took off towards Montana.