Livin' in a New York state of mind

They were free.

They were fucking free.

They were maybe ¢60 of acrylic yarn each at the most, and the whole ziploc bag of them took 2 hours max.

Three people gave me sad eyes until I took their money.

Someone who was clearly the mom friend of their group made me take a $5 and gave a 10 minute pep talk.

At least four more people insisted on getting change to pay for the, once again, free bracelets.

In spite of all these shenanigans, the absolute best was this one person who I can only describe as, “queer surfer dude who looks like a boyfriend who looks like a girlfriend.” I can remember nothing of the outfit, only the impeccable vibes. I did the same thing I did with everyone else, explaining the bracelets were free, and they nodded along as they took the last 6 strand rainbow bracelet. As soon as they had it on their wrist, they pointed at something over my shoulder and, like a fool, I looked.

Next thing I know, they’re running off cackling, yelling, “YOU’LL NEVER CATCH ME!” and I’m holding a fucking $20. I had to stop at least two people from chasing them, cause they thought the person stole something, and then they tried to give me money cause they thought it was funny seeing me flail over people being Too Nice.

Rest in Peace, Tony.

I'll always remember your smile.

So, if any trans men are being told about this, it’s not true!! Smoking will not change your voice, at least not until you’re about forty years down the line and you’ve already irreparably destroyed your lungs and throat and mouth and pretty much every other organ in your body. When you hear heavy smokers with deeper, scratchier voices it is literally because their vocal cords have been ruined. This is not a passive effect of smoking, it is a very very damaging one!

It’s simply not worth it! There will be no meaningful changes except terrible ones. Voice training will do a lot more for you than cigarettes will, I promise that the people urging you to start smoking as a voice training method do not have your best interests at heart!

(And you know what, this also goes for not eating due to the idea that starving yourself will decrease your chest size. Like with smoking, there will be no meaningful changes except terrible ones. Your body is worth so much more than that and there will always be healthier alternatives!)

(Btw, afaik smoking only has this effect on estrogen from HRT. Estrogen that AFAB bodies produce naturally is not affected, so smoking is still bad for trans men)

I think also in that conversation, I had a couple people tell me that the book The Easy Way to Quit Smoking is, despite the gimmicky title, genuinely helpful.

If quitting for yourself seems too abstract and it’s hard to care, think about everyone around you. Someone with asthma or migraines will breathe easier if they’re not risking an attack from standing near you.

Lastly, some queer history: a 90’s tobacco marketing campaign that targeted gay men was literally called Project SCUM. That’s what they think of us. Don’t give them your money.

obviously, it's kind of understandable since she’s really only in season 1 before she disappears early in s2, but she deserves so much more recognition

she was such an incredible character like. tough, brilliant, completely straightforward, and utterly, fiercely unapologetically herself. she literally almost gets blown to pieces by a van, and instead of taking things easy, it triggers this wild, reckless, completely fearless adrenaline rush. she decides she's going to live exactly how she wants, on her own terms, rules be damned.

and they tried to police her private life and put her on desk duty, she literally stared down Cragen and the whole NYPD hierarchy. she told them straight up that her personal life was none of their fckn business and refused to apologize for a single thing. she knew her worth and wasn't about to let them shrink her or make her feel small.

ALSO?? can we PLEASE talk about her being Munch’s partner? their dynamic was absolutely the fucking best. Munch being...you know, Munch, and Jeffries just standing her ground, giving it to him straight, and matching his vibe perfectly omfgggg chefs kiss like not gonna lie... they were both so sexy together lol.

linked tree (includes options to donate to Ghanaian projects)