Raquel Willis! 10% off merch! Rewards update! Oscar the Grouch lore?

Hey friends,

Hope you’re all hanging in there. Welcome to our season 11 finale!!!

Before I forget: I’m FINALLY catching up on Patreon rewards for the first time since last season. So if you joined a $5+ tier in the last, uh, six months?? (SORRY!) , please check that your address exists and is correct, so I can get you your stickers and whatnot. Thank you!

Anyway, this week on the show, I was lucky enough to speak with activist and all-around icon Raquel Willis. We talked about everything from afrotransmisogyny, feminism, BLM, respectability politics, and complicated family dynamics to dating, video games, podcasts, and trivia. I really hope you enjoy this one!

Meanwhile, you’ve got a week left to order from this month’s merch collection. Use the promo code “TRICKTREAT” for 10% off your order.

Also, LA-area folks!!! I would love to see you on Nov 10 at North Figueroa Bookshop. (Not to be petty, but a sentiment has been expressed (not by me!) that LA people don’t go to events and that perhaps people will not come? Lol? So if you’d like to help me prove them wrong, RSVP for free here, and I’ll see ya next month.)

Photo: A graphic that says that Tuck and Tre'vell Anderson are gonna be talking about 2 Trans 2 Furious at North Figueroa Bookshop on Friday, Nov 10 at 7pm.

We should have a grant announcement and another bonus episode coming soon, but in the meantime, here’s Links & Stuff:

• Gus (from this season’s first episode) wrote a great piece for Defector about transitioning with complex disability and dealing with doctors who, uh, suck.
• Elsewhere on Defector, Kelsey is absolutely doing the Lord’s work.
• And speaking of doctors who suck, Quinn Rhodes wrote for Xtra about how transmascs really need better PrEP access.
• I don’t know what to do with any of this.
• Last night I saw Dicks: The Musical and absolutely lost my mind (complimentary) and this morning I saw this headline and lost my mind again

Photo: A screenshot of an LA Times headline that says "Dicks ending explained: Why A24 Movie calls God a gay slur"

That’s it for this week. Here’s your weekly Rhubarb.

Photo: Ruby laying very flat on a heating pad. She's looking a little bit grumpy and rumpled, but also very cute.

I chose this one because Mckenzee told me to show y’all this early Oscar the Grouch concept sketch… and the bottom right image IS Ruby to me.

Photo: Three sketches of pink versions of Oscar the Grouch. He's outside his trash can and his little muppet blob body is three very different shapes, much like how a cat can be very long or very loaf or very donut depending on mood. The bottom right image is of him laying very flat like a rumpled pancake and side-eyeing something to his left.

Xo,

Yr resident gender detective

PS: Fridge watch update—still no fridge! lol.
PPS: Patreon just did a huge system/style update so if this newsletter looks really wild, sorry about that!!!!! There seems to be a few glitches.