u/Ok-Explanation-1362

I’d never seen a straight up, taking hormones and getting surgeries, trans woman before I read Sandman when I was 19, 23 years ago. It’s a far from perfect portrayal, but Wanda was a human being. She had her faults and she had her better qualities. She had a past and a present and a future that was cut out. Even at that time, I knew how monstrous it was to bury her under her deadname.

After I read Sandman, I read nearly anything that Gaiman wrote. I feel like I learned a lot about myself and shaped myself around his work, due to how they felt like they were written FOR me and people like me. American Gods used to be my favorite novel about America. The Graveyard Book got me to appreciate The Jungle Book more and Coraline had such a distinct voice and just…I could go on.

I got rid of everything that I own that was written by him (except for the first volume of Absolute Sandman, since that was a gift) and even two years later, it still hurts. It still hurts to discover what a monster he is. It still hurts to see someone I used to respect, deny all accountability and reveal himself to have never been worth a damn.

I genuinely don’t know what to do with this grief. Every time I even hear his name is like a wound has been torn open. Why can’t people ever just be decent to each other?

I grew up in Corona in the late nineties, and the first thing I ate from Corona, was a BRC. And like nearly everyone else, love at first bite. Yadda yadda thirty years later, I got my girlfriend into Miguel’s, and we always get more than we strictly need whenever BRCs are 2 for 5. So, my question is, what’s the best way to restore refrigerated BRCs? Should they be frozen or refrigerated? Air fryer, oven, pan or microwave?

Also, while I’m here, what does everyone think of the new sauce packets? Personally, not a fan. Really missing the cups the last few times I’ve eaten at Miguel’s.

I swear to God the amount of these stories I’ve read over the course of my lifetime is in the three digit range. And with things the way they are in terms of trans rights, can anyone blame anyone for just wanting to read stories where people are nice to trans women?

But like, has anyone else remarked on how beautiful and meaningful so many of them are? Even if they aren’t the best written or the most original or realistic (I’m reading one right now where a high school boy is transified due to an accident in chem lab and the relationship between the main character and her girlfriend genuinely brings tears to my eyes), the majority of those that I’ve found, let alone read, are emotionally fulfilling and moving. And a lot of them straight up outline how to DIY HRT! And all of that’s before bringing up Zoe Storm and Alyson Greaves!

Just some of the best wish fulfillment stuff ever made, hand to heart.