u/SylviSweetheart

Oh boy.

I was not blessed with great genetics, especially in the teeth department. My family suffers a hereditary enamel production disorder that left us all with pretty shit teeth, no matter what we did to try and take care of them. My mom had a full set of dentures when she was 14 and 2/3 of my sisters also have dentures.

My teeth obviously caused me a lot of pain and embarrassment throughout the years. I was always afraid to smile because I just hated how they looked, and I would often wake up in the middle of the night with debilitating pain.

In 2018 (at age 24) I decided to finally do what I had wanted for years - get a full set of dentures. I took the first picture a few days before that procedure. The recovery was awful, of course, but I knew I’d finally like how I looked in the end.

Except I didn’t.

Yes, I fixed one problem, but I still didn’t like seeing myself in the mirror. I still didn’t like my smile and felt I had to force it for photos. Some months later is when I had some pretty stark revelations about myself - revelations I kept inside until I fully worked through my own acceptance and came out as trans last year.

Now the image I have of myself is finally complete, or at least on its way. I’ve taken more photos of myself in the last year than every other year of my life combined, literally. I don’t have to force a smile, I don’t have to hide any of my features in shame.

It’s been a long and arduous process, but I’m so happy with where I’ve landed. I’ve never felt this positive or confident in anything I’ve ever done, or in any way that I’ve ever looked. I have a lovely support system and a lot of pride.

Reflecting on these old pictures is really crazy to me. I’m different in so many ways - and all of them for the better. Coming to terms with being trans is the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I’m still just getting started!

Look, I get it. The whole “adding a new child character” trope is usually a pretty disastrous jumping-the-Shark point and the storyline her introduction kicks off is pretty frustrating, but I think the common reaction to the character herself is completely overblown.

For one, I do think it’s kind of an interesting plot point for Luke. We’ve seen him be a surrogate to Rory a lot and we’ve also seen him fight with Christopher about what an absent father he was. So it’s nice to see him putting his money where his mouth is and making a real effort the moment he learns about April. Most of the characters in this show who repeat or echo the cycles of others do so in a disastrous manner, but I think Luke successfully bucks the show’s trend of neglectful parents.

Second and more importantly, I think she’s likable and funny. Again, I know we’ve seen precocious too-smart kid trope too many times, but I think that’s the wrong approach to take with April. What makes her interesting is that she’s as book-smart as Rory, but with none of the street smarts or savvy. She is decidedly uncool in a different way than Rory and I think that presents a good dichotomy in the way that Luke treats both of them.

This is probably the hottest take I have on the show but it’s one I’m sticking to. If April has no defenders, I am dead.

Before I knew I was transgender, I was… trans-a-dental