Random Snippets Of Old Trans FTM Newsletters

I am fucking dying

goodnight ✧

50 WORDS TO USE INSTEAD OF “SAID”

Do you ever find yourself over-using the word “said” in your writing? Try using these words/phrases instead:

stated

commented

declared

spoke

responded

voiced

noted

uttered

iterated

explained

remarked

acknowledged

mentioned

announced

shouted

expressed

articulated

exclaimed

proclaimed

whispered

babbled

observed

deadpanned

joked

hinted

informed

coaxed

offered

cried

affirmed

vocalized

laughed

ordered

suggested

admitted

verbalized

indicated

confirmed

apologized

muttered

proposed

chatted

lied

rambled

talked

pointed out

blurted out

chimed in

brought up

wondered aloud

(NOTE: Keep in mind that all of these words have slightly different meanings and are associated with different emotions/scenarios.)

More random tropes that I fucking love: Becoming the mask you wore.

Like oh shit, this character who was sent to spy somewhere under a false identity suddenly realises they've started to genuinely become the person they claimed to be? Someone who's been telling the same lies about who they are for so long that they're actually forgetting that the story isn't true? Finding themselves genuinely doing the things they pretend to do in front of people, when they're alone and nobody's watching? Answering to a name that wasn't supposed to be theirs without thinking?

Ooohh-hoh-hoh, you lost track of yourself in pretending to be someone else? You were only supposed to impersonate somebody, a plausible background and a name you came up with on the spot, and now that the people you were supposed to infiltrate have become your true companions? You lost yourself in the game you played, and no you no longer know who you truly are, and where your true loyalties lie? And both sides would mark you a traitor if you came out with the truth. On a scale of one to ten, how bad did you fuck up.

Fuck that is a good trope. Never seen it done badly. Pour that shit on a table and I'll chop it into lines and snort it.

trans people who are anti t4t make me so sad. because beyond just not knowing what being t4t means, the fact that they believe that t4t is just being a chaser is indicative of a deeper issue, being that cis people have ingrained the idea that we are unfuckable and unloveable, disgusting by nature, and that anybody who would voice attraction to us, a step further, ONLY CHOOSE TO DATE TRANS PEOPLE, would be a pervert with a disgusting fetish who wont see them as equal.

thats not what t4t is.

t4t is the rejection of the idea that we are inherently disgusting, just because we are in the eyes of a cisnormative society.

t4t is the understanding that we are safer and stronger together as a community than apart.

t4t is seeing your trans boyfriend try on clothes from your old boy wardrobe that you hated growing up but now your least favorite shirt is your favorite because its the perfect shade of red that brings out his eyes.

t4t is teaching your trans girlfriend that has been scared to do her own makeup how youve learned from other trans women, who learned from other trans women, who learned from other trans women.

t4t is doing your testosterone shots together and kissing each others sticks after you put the bandaid on.

t4t is holding the door for your trans girlfriend and showing her the chivalry she didn't get from her dad growing up, but its ok because you can show her now.

t4t is being on the phone with your partner who just came out as trans/nonbinary after seeing you, YOU, live your truth, and them asking you to help them find a new name, the perfect name for them, and you hope theyll carry that part of you forever.

you are trans and that is beautiful. your transness is beautiful. trans love is beautiful. dont let ANYBODY make you feel unworthy of sex or love. THATS what being t4t means.

“Do you think he hates me?”

“Hates you? No. No way,”

“…But- how do you know?”

“If he hated you he would not be asleep on you right now. He doesn’t hate you,”

PSA for trans men and trans mascs on T who are afraid of/concerned about or experiencing male pattern baldness: Talk to your endocrinologist who monitors your T about hair loss before you talk to anyone else, you have options!

When the hair in the top of my head started to thin, I talked to my regular GP. She told me it should be fine to use Rogaine topically. There were no other options, either because she was somehow not aware OR was under the impression that alternatives might interfere with HRT. If this was the case, she did not relay this info to me, and if she had, I would have made an early appointment with my endocrinologist, who specialises in HRT for trans people specifically, and asked her about my options.

But, since I only have appointments once a year with my endo now because my levels are generally super consistent, I decided to try Rogaine. I lasted about a month, because it basically meant I had to wear a lined hat at all times to make sure I wasn't getting any on my pillow/cats/child. You need to apply it two to three times a day and leave it on your scalp for a couple of hours for the best results, every day, forever, and if you stop using it, your hair goes back to whatever it was up to before that made you concerned in the first place. I quit after a month and resigned myself to eventually going bald.

I finally had a phone appointment with my endo last week (was supposed to be in person but she had an emergency and was working remotely for the day), and when I brought this up and that I had tried Rogaine but couldn't deal with all of the above + my scalp was not reacting well to the alcohol in the foam so I quit, she was like ????? what? why didn't your GP just prescribe you finasteride???

I am now on finasteride! It is a dirt cheap, tiny ass pill. I only need to take a quarter of a pill once a day (my endo also helpfully explained to me that pill cutters exist and are also dirt cheap, so perfectly cutting a pill into quarters takes about 5 seconds and I got it for a whopping $8). Just like Rogaine, I WILL need to take it every day, forever, but it's not going to get all over my pillow and make my cats sick or cause my kid to grow a beard or whatever. It isn't going to dry my scalp out, and it also the cost comparison is a joke. I take it every morning at the same time I take my adhd meds, so it's easy to remember.

I have seen so, so many trans men and mascs online lately worried about this, probably because I've seen so many conservatives and the kind of detrans people that conservatives like to parade around put a lot of emphasis about how T will make you UGLY and make all of your hair fall out. I do feel sorry for any detrans women who are dealing with wonky hairlines or male pattern baldness, but also it sure is convenient that none of them see fit to mention that if you are experiencing those things, you can literally just talk to your endocrinologist about what your options are and then take a quarter of a pill every day to fix it. Almost like making you aware of that might move you away from their end goal, which is getting you to detransition.

If you have any questions

I spent 3 years in the army and was stationed in Bavaria for that whole time. And I think it’s funny how military characters are portrayed in fiction 90% of the time. Half of that is unfamiliarity on the part of creators(no matter how many military consultants they bring on) and half of that is the front soldiers put on to civilians. A few things that might not have been made clear so far, in case anyone is writing characters who are or were soldiers and are looking for more insight: 

They’re not all hard-asses- mostly soldiers are just kids(the main age group the military advertises to and targets in recruitment) not unlike college kids. The difference is they have a 24 hour job and some handle it differently than others. Suicide and depression are huge issues in the military and once people leave. You spend a minimum of 3 years(unless booted or chaptered out for medical reasons) in a completely different world living by completely different rules. It’s jarring for some and sometimes 14 weeks of basic training, which is designed to basically indoctrinate you- break you down and build you back up again into what the military calls for, is not enough to get a kid suited for that kind of life. It’s not for everybody and unfortunately, some don’t find that out until it’s too late. You can’t just quit the Army obviously, so you have to spend 3 years in misery until you’re set loose(me).

Guys who have been in for 1-5 years are pretty normal, usually. A military base is pretty much a microcosm of regular society, except Monday through Friday, 0600 to 1700, we’re all doing jobs geared to one purpose. They’re not all consulate cardboard professionals. Soldiers like the same movies, they like the same video games, there’s nerds who play D&D or LARP on the weekend, there’s guys who do photography in their spare time for couples and families on base. A buddy of mine is in the process of getting his first novel(first in a fantasy series) published. I’m proud of you Davis! 

I can only say this about the Army because that’s where I was, but… The Army is filled with the gayest straight guys you’ll ever meet lmao. Seriously though, 70-80% of guys in the military, especially the younger ones who grew up in the late 90s to early 2000s, are hyper comfortable with their sexuality. Sometimes it goes overboard. I mean, we spent every day together at work, all day. We did a bunch of stupid, senseless shit together and complained about it together. On the weekends, in which we were cut loose, we all lived in the same barracks buildings and saw each other if we weren’t already hanging out anyways. I’ve seen some of the most homoerotic behavior in the military. Gay chicken was a thing. Two guys would lean in and kiss to see who would back out first. But when neither one is scared, gay chicken turns into two guys damn near making out, or taking a bite of food the other guy had in his teeth. We cuddled together in the cold during training exercises, jokingly held hands in morning formation just to get a reaction from our leadership(usually just for them to roll their eyes and ask if we were done). 

Keep reading

T4T Floydsin Cowboys

[click for better quality, reblogs appreciated]

remember this AU? it lives in my brain and haunts me every day now