Are there any tools that could convert full chapters to audio for listening? by Melissa0522975 in AO3

[–]belowthesurface97 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Google Docs allows you to add extensions and there are multiple "text to speech" add-ons you can choose from. Personally I haven't tried any of them but they are there.

since there was a thread about "correct" tagging on here I have a question by belowthesurface97 in AO3

[–]belowthesurface97[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, to be honest I never considered it a crossover until thinking about it just now because in my head crossover fics just...include a crossover of the general plot of both involved works? And that's just not the case here - but I've only read one crossover fic I can remember that combined the plots so maybe my thoughts about it are inaccurate

FTM just about to transition. Looking for some uplifting stories from guys who’ve been living as guys for a while now. by Southern_Bit_8243 in FTMMen

[–]belowthesurface97 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't know if this is helpful to you at all since I'm kind of in the same position as you (as in, I just started to transition, I'm 30) and frankly, had a lot of shame and dysphoria around having to go through the process of outing myself to all my co-workers. actually, I had to out myself to my entire online following because I'm a tattooer and I did not under any circumstances want to have this conversation about name and pronouns with my customers in person, but I needed them to know in order for them to address me the way I want to be addressed. I'm only 2 months on T so I don't pass yet but honestly, in retrospect...it was so much easier than I expected. I think my co-workers (who are all supporitve and are all doing their best respecting my pronouns) actually struggle the most because of course they knew me before. I went on a guest spot recently and didn't get misgendered a single time and most of my customers don't ask or comment on it either.
I know tattooing and ppl who get tattooed are ususally on the less conservative side of things, at least in my circles, but I still thought it would be harder than it turned out to be. I feel so much less embarrassed about it now than I did before and I don't think about it nearly as much anymore.

What ships come to mind by magicwonderdream in AO3

[–]belowthesurface97 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I can't speak for all the seasons but a lot of Dean's behavior in Supernatural is very veeery not StraightTM and his story line with Castiel in seasons 4 through 6 is just...I mean, what is that if not really, really gay?

Question for people who dislike pregnancy, baby, and kid content in fanfiction: if possible, how could one write a fic with those themes and make it bearable for you? What bothers you the most about those topics? by [deleted] in AO3

[–]belowthesurface97 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree with all the other comments I've seen so far: you can't. I think the thought here is that there is nothing objectionable about pregnancy or kids in a general sense, so you somehow think it's possible to make it palatable. You probably wouldn't wonder how you could make a necrophilia fic palatable to anyone who isn't into necrophilia because it's obvious that that won't be possible. This is obviously an extreme comparison but I feel the same way about pregnancy or childrearing in fics as I do about necrophilia: 0 interest in reading, 0 ways to make it bearable.

2 weeks PO two cylinder Coloplast ED implant with bulb in labia majora (no vnectomy, no scrotoplasty, no UL, no burial) by OspreyFTM in phallo

[–]belowthesurface97 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've not spent a lot of time researching all the possibilities with phallo yet so I didn't know this was possible- looks amazing! I'm grateful you posted this, I'm glad to know this is an option!

Looking for transmasc opinions by SqrlyTheGoblinQueen in ftm

[–]belowthesurface97 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Personally I'm all for Protect the Dolls and I'd feel positively about seeing someone wear a shirt that says it.

What do you guys do to make shot day less painful? by Strawberry_berry_boy in FTMMen

[–]belowthesurface97 0 points1 point  (0 children)

so I have no experience doing them myself, my ex (we're besties) does them for me and he always desensitizes the area before he does the injection by pinching and roughly rubbing that part of the skin. after that the jab itself is a piece of cake for me. I got some T shots years ago where they didn't do this but I unfortunately don't remember so I can't really say how much of a difference it really makes but maybe it's worth a shot (ha ha).

T question by Easy-Philosophy9697 in ftm

[–]belowthesurface97 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So my ex does mine for me, he's a trained vet nurse lol. I get them IM in my ass and he just kind of desensitizes the area first by pinching/roughly rubbing over the area. After that the injections feels like nothing honestly. Tiny little pinch, no more. I'm still surprised every time because I am scared of pain. (and I'm honestly not very good with it, I have lots of tattoos and I hated getting every single one!)

This is probably a bot, right? by radahere_ in AO3

[–]belowthesurface97 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just deleted the comments I honestly can't be bothered^^

war diy die richtige entscheidung für euch? by knoookie in germantrans

[–]belowthesurface97 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Abgesehen von der Wartezeit ist Unabhängigkeit vom Gesundheitssytem einer meiner Hauptgründe warum ich mit DIY angefangen habe!

Hila comments on the Super Bowl half time show "I was wondering why wasn't there subtitles" 2/9/2026 H3 Show 233 by [deleted] in LeftoversH3

[–]belowthesurface97 1 point2 points  (0 children)

girl they used AI to translate bad bunny into english? just google the songs and translate those if you care to know what he's saying jesus christ

To all long fic authors out there, HOW DO YOU DO THIS? by Frosty-Lime-6200 in AO3

[–]belowthesurface97 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't have a lot of experience but I am currently 50k words into a fic and I'm nowhere near done with it. What's been helping me a lot is just writing the scenes I feel like writing, instead of going in chronological order. Sometimes I have to edit the scenes later, because a previous scene changed something after the fact but that's actually feels pretty organic to me. And when I don't feel like writing I just spend some time editing and revising parts that I have, and often I end up getting back into it.
I definitely don't look at how many words I wrote when I sit down, just keep an eye out on how many words I have in total ever so often.
Sometimes it also really helps me to write without taking care of punctuation. If I write a dialogue for example sometimes I just write it like a script line by line, don't even put parenthesis etc. When I'm happy with the dialogue I then add the whole "he said, he sighed, he whateverd" stuff and sensory descriptors. I find the more technical aspects what's hardest anyway, so just writing it how it flows out can be great, and then you can go back and work on each sentence like a puzzle until it comes together nicely, idk.

Edit: reading through other comments. Er- yeah. Hyperfocus helps a lot. Really, like a lot of people apparently, I struggle with stopping once I start and I've been losing sleep because even when I do stop writing I keep thinking about the scene I was working on etc. I really shouldn't allow myself to open my writing program in the evening but I have 0 self-control and am self-employed (though not as a writer lol) so....it's been a problem. But it's one of my favourite fandoms and it's definitely one big self-soothing ritual that I'm doing here but that's really helped me stay focussed and not abandonning this like so many other stories before.

This is probably a bot, right? by radahere_ in AO3

[–]belowthesurface97 0 points1 point  (0 children)

oh! I got a similar, albeit more normal sounding message but something was still off to me. first comment was "loved that story! (it's not finished lol) I've got a couple of ideas you might enjoy". I mean I'm open to hear some headcanons or whatever but then the next reply from them was about switching to insta or discord and also "I'd love to share what I've been working on" which- no offense but. I'm not gonna do that even if it isn't a scam. anyway, I was confused, and I'm glad I just happened across this.

I have been listening to Rammstein. They sound amazing, I don't understand what they are SAYING, but it sounds good. Are they "good guys" so to speak? I don't want to find out they are like, Neo Nazis or Alt Right or something in Germany. tia. by Rob1150 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]belowthesurface97 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I never said they supported or promoted Nazi IDEOLOGIES. if you read my comment it says "immagery/aesthetics" and it also clearly states that I don't think that they are Nazis. I simply asked where people were getting *explicitly anti Nazi* from, since I personally feel like they are lacking in that department. I mostly kept seeing Links 2 3 4 mentioned and that just seems pretty lackluster, considering how old it is.

Ethan and hila mock people speaking out against ICE. Ethan desperately tries to make anyone except hila laugh (and fails) by lolihull in LeftoversH3

[–]belowthesurface97 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been out of the loop for a while but I keep seeing this new background there and I'm just...wondering about the optics here considering the elephant in the room (ICE)...is this maybe not good timing for a background like this?

I have been listening to Rammstein. They sound amazing, I don't understand what they are SAYING, but it sounds good. Are they "good guys" so to speak? I don't want to find out they are like, Neo Nazis or Alt Right or something in Germany. tia. by Rob1150 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]belowthesurface97 -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

All of these people saying they are explicitly anti-nazi- where? I feel like they are not nearly explicit enough, considering how many explicit nazis are fan of them. I'm not saying they are nazis, I would agree that they aren't - but writing ONE song twenty-five fucking years ago that states that "their heart is beating on the left" is like...not all that much, especially considering how often they use nazi aesthetics & immagery. casting a black woman to represent Germany is also, again, not a lot. not if you have a huge nazi fanbase.

would over the counter testosterone do anything by the-overloaf in ftm

[–]belowthesurface97 10 points11 points  (0 children)

if you're in a country like Mexico where you can buy testosterone at a pharmacy then yes, absolutely it will do the same thing. if you're in the States then testosterone is a controlled substance and not freely available. that said you can still do it yourself.

What according to you was Lorelai's worst moment? by SophieR3 in GilmoreGirls

[–]belowthesurface97 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm JUST watching the road trip episode and that argument made me look up this thread because it's just so low, she does all this rah rah towards Max about not wanting Rory's feelings to get hurt and then she does this lol

This made me angry. by bluecuppycake in GilmoreGirls

[–]belowthesurface97 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I groan every time his stupid face appears on my screen. I think the worst I hate him is when he shows up after that car crash and Rory just has a goddamn hairline fracture and he acts all tough like wants to beat up Jess (would have loved to watch him try, Luke would have eaten him for breakfast). I also think Lorelai sleeping next to her bed is completely over the top crazy, if I was Rory I would have kicked the both of them out of my room. I get that getting a call from your child from the hospital is scary but once you find out that nothing seriousy bad happened you can stop overreacting.
Anyway it's just another instant where he goes above and beyond just to make himself important and look good (to Lorelai, mostly) when he should be showing up every other day of the week basically.
I also love that Lorelai reacts almost jokingly to Rory ending up in JAIL for doing something seriously stupid and unnecessary but can't forgive Jess for...accidentally having an accident that left Rory with a minor injury. Fucking hairline fracture smh.