If I had a nickel for every notable creator from my childhood that came out as a trans woman in my 20s... I'd have at least two nickels.
A few weeks ago, in a conversation, I brought up Real Life Comics in a discussion of old Gamer Webcomics, and someone dropped that the creator was trans. This was news to me, so I rushed to look into it, and sure enough, it was true!
I then pretty much decided to start binging from the comic that kickstarted her public coming out. The conversation she details between her "egg" self and her true self was really heartwarming, especially the comic where she finally assumes her identity as Mae Dean in the copyright (7-19-2026). Also, "You got us this far. Let me take it from there"... ugh, feels. Then, the comic details Mae's journey coming out to her wife, and then her own experiences with seeking medical and social transition, with the same kind of humor she injects in her wacky sci-fi plots and game critiques.
And it can't be overstated how joyous it makes me to find this out about an artist I'd followed in my high school years. Of all the Couch Gamer Comics out there, hers was the one that stuck with me the most at the time. For a while, my art style was essentially a carbon copy of hers, dot eyes and line mouths and all. I remember being bummed out when I found out the comic had gone dormant in the mid 2010s. So finding out that she'd been back for many years now, AND had come out as trans, was like a double treat kinda situation.
But I think one of the key reasons why this matters so much to me... is getting to see someone older than me going through the same things I've been going through. It often feels like you're meant to figure that stuff out by your early 20s at the latest, and it took me all the way until I was 27 to even start chipping away at the idea of being a cishet man. So seeing someone have this realization in her late 30s feels like a sigh of relief. Like yes, it doesn't make it any less real just because it took me, or Mae, this long to figure it out.
Honestly, having read through her journey, I can't help but see it like peering into my future. I've begun looking more into transitioning recently, and I am slowly but surely gearing towards starting the process. So being able to see what it's like for someone else, whose situation is not too unsimilar from mine, really helps to crystalize the idea in my mind. It almost makes it seem so much more realistic, like it's something I can actually achieve. Even if Mae's depicted journey is simplified by her own admission, it still kind of makes me hopeful that it won't be as much of a nightmare as I fear it will be. Plus, knowing what awaits me gives me something to strive for. And given how nebulous and frightening it's all been for the last 2 or so years, this is honestly so invaluable to me.
It seems like Real Life Comics has gone dormant as of the end of last year, which is a bit of a shame. I would love to be able to slip back into the old rhythm of tuning in to that website every few days for a new page, like I did at age 15. But the comic has had many smaller and larger hiatuses since Mae's return from the Mega Hiatus in 2018, so that's totally understandable. As one of the least productive creatives out there, I'm honestly more impressed at her ability to keep getting back up and keeping it going. Mad respect for that one, really. (That's something I really oughta work on... I still owe a video from my last blog post :V )
But yeah. Incredibly happy for Mae. What I've read of the comic from 2020 onward has been a nice blast from the past, and it felt like meeting up with an old friend. I'm incredibly happy to have rediscovered this comic. Maybe I'll take the plunge through the entire archives if I feel like reading 25 years of comics, though even by Mae's admission it hasn't aged amazingly. Could still be fun for nostalgia's sake though.
As for me, well as I've alluded to earlier, I haven't exactly... progressed much since I finally realized I was actually a girl back in 2024. However, thanks to a combination of reading Mae's transition journey, and friends pushing me to go through with medical transition, I've had that fire reignited in me. 2026 is gonna be the year. It's girl time.
Anyway expect more blogs soon, there's so much stuff I've been itching to ramble about. Especially with Lost Records' anniversary, and one particular kid's game from my childhood that has unexpectedly been brought back to the forefront of my mind.
See y'all on the next post!
-Billie
| Feeling: | Joyous |
|---|---|
| Listening: | Big Thief - Vampire Empire |
| Watching: | Breaking Bad |
| Playing: | Pikmin Squared (by PikHacker) |
| Reading: | Order of the Stick: Don't Split The Party |