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Moraine

@boxwood-print.com

72 followers 233 following 123 posts

She/her. Trans and in love. I write code and poems.

Moraine @boxwood-print.com · 31/03/2026

It's important to note that not everyone's story will look the same. I wrote up the following blurb to add to this comic when I put it together as a physical zine.

A note from the author: "I am a transgender woman. These are my stories from my youth, before I came to understand that. They are just my stories, and other stories may look different. You can be trans and not relate to them. You can relate to them and not be trans."
"It took me years to realize that I'm a woman. From age 12 to 34 I hid who I was. I'm much happier now that I'm not hiding. If you're wondering if you might be trans, it might help to check out https://genderdysphoria.fyi. I also found it really helpful to talk to a therapist who is familiar with the LGBTQ+ experience."
"May you find hope and truth in every story of your life.
-Moraine" The author's signature contains a small heart.

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Moraine @boxwood-print.com · 03/12/2025

(6/6) I don't know why the tiger is there. That's just the way the dream goes.

Ever since I started puberty, I've had recurring dreams of a woman, old and quiet, her frizzy silver hair done up in a bun. She sits behind a desk at an antique store, or a library, or a museum. (The image contains only text.)

...her white tiger asleep by her side. (A woman as described sits at a sturdy antique desk leafing through an oversized book. Behind her, next to an arched open doorway, is a shelf full of varied antiques. Beside her, curled around the corner of the desk, is a large white tiger, eyes closed, head resting on its paws.)

Vases surround her, and polished silver pitchers, and shining glassware. They never reflect my face, though. All I can see is her. (Assorted metal and glass vessels, stacked together, sparkle with light.)

Perhaps one day I'll get a job at an antique store. (An ornate antique mirror, ready to be picked up.)

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Moraine @boxwood-print.com · 03/12/2025

(5/6)

I was "mistaken for a girl" once, at a gas station. My polite, lilting voice, coming from within my fuzzy jacket hood, must have been what lead the clerk to hand me the key to the women's room. (A metal key has a women's restroom sign attached to its keyring indicating its use and preventing its loss.)

I thought it was funny. My scout leaders did not. (The image contains only text.)

They tripped over themselves to desperately reassure me that no; I was manly, I was masculine, I was all boy. As though a girl would be a horrible thing for me to be. (A pile of scout-related items: a compass, pocketknife, and merit badges. Scattered among them is the symbolic glyph for the male gender.)

Or were they trying to reassure themselves? (A Polaroid photograph shows a car with a luggage container on the roof, driving along a winding road deep into the woods.)

1996

Moraine @boxwood-print.com · 03/12/2025

(4/6)

I used to stuff a ball under my shirt and pretend I was pregnant. After "disappearing to the hospital," I'd return with my baby. (A soft plush baby doll lays in a wicker bassinet.)

When I watched the kittens being born in Milo & Otis, I was a mama cat. (A plush toy Beanie Baby cat is pictured.) When the snow fell and Christmas drew near, I was the Virgin Mary. (A battery-operated electric candle, a common Christmas decoration, is pictured.)

I told my mother once how badly I wished I was a woman, so that I could bear a child. She told me that not all women can have children; some women have conditions that prevent them from getting pregnant. (Warm incandescent light shines from the windows of a small suburban house surrounded by pine trees. A full moon shines above.)

I cried like I was one of them. (In the darkness of the pines, the words are lit faintly, leaving the image mostly black.)

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Moraine @boxwood-print.com · 03/12/2025

(3/6) I still think about that guy sometimes and wonder how he's doing.

My mom apologized to him but he was pretty cool about it. I assume she explained to me later that sometimes boys just have long hair. (The image contains only text.)

All I can remember is the joy and hope I'd felt. (A McDonald's Happy Meal sits ready to be eaten. The toy is a striped inchworm from the popular 90's Beanie Baby Happy Meals.)

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Moraine @boxwood-print.com · 03/12/2025

(2/6)

One time, my mom and I were at McDonald's. (Exterior view of a McDonald's restaurant in a wooded area.)

Waiting in line to order, I spotted a young man with a ponytail. "Look, mom!" I shouted... (A woman and her young child are standing in line behind a man in a ponytail with a motorcycle jacket and wallet chain.)

"That boy grew up to be a girl!" (The man's face is in silhouette, turned slightly over his shoulder. His hair, long and luxurious, sparkles with light and flows across an entire two-page spread.)

1964

Moraine @boxwood-print.com · 03/12/2025

As I learn more about myself, memories come into focus that make a lot more sense given what I know now. I've collected them into a story called Before I Knew It. (1/6)

The following are all panels of a comic. We begin with the words: When I was young, I would sometimes daydream that a woman would appear from the future... (The image contains only text.)

...and tell me that she was me. (An adult woman's hand reaches down towards the hand of a young person.)

"In the future," she would tell me, "There is amazing medicine and surgery that can change your body." (The woman is now shown stepping through an arched open doorway and holding the young person's hand in a gesture of comfort.)

She would do a turn, her dress flowing, her hair long and beautiful. Then I'd force myself back to reality and tell myself: "Those drugs don't exist, that's not possible. It's all fantasy. Forget this." (The daydream over, the young person sits at a desk, sadly resting their head in their hand.)

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Moraine @boxwood-print.com · 12/09/2025

Sending you the placidity of our girls Princess Peach Bellini and Juniper “June” Bug, and encouragement to take care of yourself and save your energy for things that make a difference.

Two long-haired cat sisters laying back to back. One is orange and one is a classic tabby. Their eyes are mostly closed as if drifting off into a nap.

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Moraine @boxwood-print.com · 24/06/2025

Reposting because wait oh no dangit I literally just forgot to turn a layer on. I swear I didn't make it any less terrible. #makeaterriblecomicday2025

A hastily-drawn comic. The title in the center reads "Terrible Comic of Wonderful Things." Surround the title are six vignettes. A bottle of Baja Blast soda explodes open in a whirlwind of soda; a caption in the foam reads "You can get Baja Blast in stores now!" A pill bottle is surrounded by flowers, pink swirls, and purple oval pills; the caption reads "A medical miracle is transforming me into me!" A person with curly hair and a skirt sits on the sofa. A cozy cat curls up in their lap, while an energetic cat sits by their shoulder. The person is thinking "Our cats love me." A bottle of nail polish is spilled. In the spill is a caption reading "My friend wants to help paint my nails!" A small car is driving among tall pine trees. The caption reads "We can drive into the woods in less than a day." Finally, there is a drawing of a polaroid photo of a tiny bunny, with lines indicating importance or rapid action. The caption reads "According to my wife, there's a tiny bunny in our yard. Every time I look, he's gone... a tiny, round cryptid."
(side note: the pill bottle in the second drawing reads in small text: "shhh... don't tell the TERFs.")

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