is this really my life?

And like, sure, that can be a valid question for some people exploring their identity. But I think it misses something important: some people’s gender is literally that.

Some people’s gender is grounded in not being a woman. It’s not always about moving toward some idealized version of masculinity, it can also be about moving away from womanhood because it’s not you. And that’s still entirely valid.

For example, I identify as a demiboy. I don’t often tell people that. I usually just say I’m a trans guy because it’s easier, and honestly I don’t think about the label all the time. But at the core of my gender is the fact that I’m not a woman. I feel about 80% male and 20% nothing, and that “nothing” isn’t confusion, it’s part of who I am. The exact mix of feeling male and feeling like “nothing” changes from time to time, but what’s always consistent is that I don’t identify as a woman. (Of course this doesn’t apply to everyone who uses that label but it‘s my personal experience)

As of this morning I was reluctantly looking for jobs because I love my job and don't want to leave it, but see: $10k raise problem solver.

As of noon today this was no longer an issue, because my boss called me with the news that I was getting a $10K merit raise.

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. This is roughly $200 extra per paycheck. Enough to pay off debt faster, rebuild my savings, and spend a weekend a month in Milwaukee getting obscenely laid. The sex I'm going to have on $200 extra per paycheck. You can't even.

- gun nut insists 6 year olds getting shot in elementary school are a necessary sacrifice so that we can all have the 2nd amendment *gets shot at a school

- gun nut literally advocated for public executions to make kids stronger *gets shot in public in front of a bunch of students

- gun nut was an open racist, who constantly tried to incite race wars *got shot by a white guy in the whitest state in america

- gun nut insists empathy is fake *no empathy for him online, except from the same people who gleefully mock the deaths of trans people and Democrat politicians and anyone they don't like on a daily basis

Moonbows

imagining the number

of takes this required

going through your children’s things (phone, journals, backpack)

talking badly aBout your kid to other people

insulting your kid both to their face and behind their back

“this is my house you have no privacy”

hitting your kid

that your life path was made worse

by having your kid.