- Published on
Life happens at light speed. Seven months ago, I was drenched in sweat, standing in the middle of a half-full storage unit, with three days to save everything we could physically move from being stolen by our landlord.
A week later, the eviction date had passed. Lou and I were spending Christmas alone in a hotel room, living on smuggled extra portions of complimentary continental breakfast. Exhausted, aching, and filled with dread about where we would sleep the week after- but with a roof over our heads. And hey, even a pool.
A week later, the eviction date had passed. Lou and I were spending Christmas alone in a hotel room, living on smuggled extra portions of complimentary continental breakfast. Exhausted, aching, and filled with dread about where we would sleep the week after- but with a roof over our heads. And hey, even a pool.
Before that I thought, perhaps naively, that we would not have been abandoned by the housing tribunal and evicted for needing a mold-free home.
I could not have predicted a single thing about where we landed since then, or what we’ve been through.
I would not have predicted that the sinus spike pain could have possibly gotten any worse, or that a new prime minister in Canada would abandon immigrants, use us as a scapegoat, and that my painstakingly well prepared self-employed visa would then be rejected.
But we were in store for another surprise; the incredible way that our Storybook Inn dream spoke to so many of you, or the 400+ people on GoFundMe and over 200 paying members of Lou’s and my Patreons that would believe in us and band together for it. The overwhelming kindness from those of you who’ve reached out to us, and our hosts who have offered us a place in their home while they have it, have made me actually want to go outside and make friends again.
It’s been nearly a year since we started speaking up about what happened to us, and I want to take a moment to show you what your support and allyship has accomplished in that time.
But we were in store for another surprise; the incredible way that our Storybook Inn dream spoke to so many of you, or the 400+ people on GoFundMe and over 200 paying members of Lou’s and my Patreons that would believe in us and band together for it. The overwhelming kindness from those of you who’ve reached out to us, and our hosts who have offered us a place in their home while they have it, have made me actually want to go outside and make friends again.
It’s been nearly a year since we started speaking up about what happened to us, and I want to take a moment to show you what your support and allyship has accomplished in that time.
List of Achievements Since The Last Threshold First Released:
1. Staying mobile and housed.
2. Staying alive and functional
3. Progress on immigration and long term stability
The price tag of survival is heavy, but we're heavy-hitters. We have a safe place to work and rest for now, without a painful spike driving into my sinuses every day. Because two people who, like you, saw our videos and felt that something had to be done, offered us a place in their home. They are incredible, funny, and kind. Staying with them has not just been a relief- it has been a joy. I didn't expect to make lifelong friends, but I believe we have.
If you’ve been feeling helpless lately in the face of dwindling rights for immigrants, trans people, and anyone who simply becomes sick or injured, just know that this year you have given a huge ‘F*ck you’ to landlords, immigration and medical discrimination through your support for us.
Every case like ours that is won sets the precedent for the next person to get justice a little easier. We will not let this go, and you are the reason that’s possible.
1. Staying mobile and housed.
- 4 Months of emergency shelter: Airbnbs & Hotels following eviction, when we had no other hope of safe housing.
- Car insurance & gas for 10 months- This has allowed us to keep our car and actually drive it. This is why we made it to the safe spot we’re currently in.
- The storage unit your donations rent every month saved our most important worldly possessions from being stolen and sold off by our landlord and a bailiff. Everything we now own was saved by you.
- Upgraded us from homeless to houseless. Airbnbs were shelters, like bunkers in an apocalypse. But our current situation, even temporary, is very much a home.
2. Staying alive and functional
- Kept Lou’s phone bill paid, which means I don’t have to worry every time he goes out by himself.
- ADHD Medication for Lou, which helps us do literally everything else.
- HRT for both of us. This is a medical necessity for people like us and if it stops suddenly, the effects are immediate and dangerous.
- A CT scan and culture tests which are valuable evidence for both my doctors and my lawyers.
- So many desperately needed fillings and dental repair work.
- The antibiotics that kept this dental infection from getting into my brain. I believe these saved my life.
- The extraction of the sinus spike - so I finally have a chance of healing the infection without a spike driving it into my maxillary sinuses.
- Ten months of groceries. Ten months.
3. Progress on immigration and long term stability
- Kept Starwhispers and our mailing list online, which means we have somewhere to show people our vision and ways to be a part of it.
- Hiring our immigration lawyer, Yameena Ansari. Just because it was rejected doesn’t mean this was a waste- That rejection is important information.
- Added a lot of medical evidence which expanded the counter offer for the dental case, which means that recompense could be on the horizon.
- A consultation with housing lawyer who might be able to help us get justice for what that landlord did to us. We have a chance to be compensated for those damages, which we can put toward the Storybook Inn.
- Enabled us to do just a little more creative work, like painting whimsical medieval boxes, re-doing the Storybook Inn pitch deck (coming soon!), and starting a podcast- something Lou and I can do even if my head explodes again- which reminds everyone why we're all here together in the first place.
The price tag of survival is heavy, but we're heavy-hitters. We have a safe place to work and rest for now, without a painful spike driving into my sinuses every day. Because two people who, like you, saw our videos and felt that something had to be done, offered us a place in their home. They are incredible, funny, and kind. Staying with them has not just been a relief- it has been a joy. I didn't expect to make lifelong friends, but I believe we have.
If you’ve been feeling helpless lately in the face of dwindling rights for immigrants, trans people, and anyone who simply becomes sick or injured, just know that this year you have given a huge ‘F*ck you’ to landlords, immigration and medical discrimination through your support for us.
Every case like ours that is won sets the precedent for the next person to get justice a little easier. We will not let this go, and you are the reason that’s possible.
If over 400 people had not given over $43,000.00 CAD, we’d be living illegally in our car, being forcibly detransitioned and dying from preventable infections.
Now is an exciting time for us. At least until November 2026, your support no longer has to go to AirBnb landlords to keep us off the streets. If we can raise enough to live, pay our lawyers, and buy a camper in the next five months, no money ever has to pass from our hands into a landlords pocket again. Landlords will be a little poorer forever if we can get this done. (#vanlife.)
If you want to be a part of where we’re going next, we’re right here, kicking and clawing our way forward. Every pledge on Patreon and donation on GoFundMe right now goes to getting us to that goal: no more desperation, repair and survival, but actually building the Storybook Inn. For all of us. If we make it, you’ll be the reason why.
Now is an exciting time for us. At least until November 2026, your support no longer has to go to AirBnb landlords to keep us off the streets. If we can raise enough to live, pay our lawyers, and buy a camper in the next five months, no money ever has to pass from our hands into a landlords pocket again. Landlords will be a little poorer forever if we can get this done. (#vanlife.)
If you want to be a part of where we’re going next, we’re right here, kicking and clawing our way forward. Every pledge on Patreon and donation on GoFundMe right now goes to getting us to that goal: no more desperation, repair and survival, but actually building the Storybook Inn. For all of us. If we make it, you’ll be the reason why.
For dauntless allies who want to be part of the rescue party and show these oppressive forces that they ain't shit
For steadfast allies who are in it for the long haul and want to actually build a castle in a housing crisis.
- Published on
StarWhispers Podcast EP 01
Listen to the full episode free on Patreon
How roleplaying a fairytale apocalypse on TikTok led to Trystan and Lou finding each other, their own gender identities, and an unexpected storytelling phenomenon.
The oral history of a TikTok renaissance broken down by two of the people who were in the thick of it, and athe accidental real-life story of self discovery and love that came out of it.
Starting off with a tag we are retroactively calling the “#PigfartsProfessors” story, we talk about how TikTok's duet feature accidentally invented a new form of collaborative storytelling, what it was like to create the Asunderland universe and watch as the tag accumulated over 60 million views, and the way Lou and Trystan spent six months romancing each other through fictional characters before actually talking to each other about it.
Also discussed: what queer time actually is, the specific film education that happens when you spend two years as cosplayers making cinema on their phones, and why being cringe is good actually.
Listen to the full episode free on Patreon
How roleplaying a fairytale apocalypse on TikTok led to Trystan and Lou finding each other, their own gender identities, and an unexpected storytelling phenomenon.
The oral history of a TikTok renaissance broken down by two of the people who were in the thick of it, and athe accidental real-life story of self discovery and love that came out of it.
Starting off with a tag we are retroactively calling the “#PigfartsProfessors” story, we talk about how TikTok's duet feature accidentally invented a new form of collaborative storytelling, what it was like to create the Asunderland universe and watch as the tag accumulated over 60 million views, and the way Lou and Trystan spent six months romancing each other through fictional characters before actually talking to each other about it.
Also discussed: what queer time actually is, the specific film education that happens when you spend two years as cosplayers making cinema on their phones, and why being cringe is good actually.
By joining Azrai's Patreon (both free and paid memberships)