Firebird, and My Life - Explained · 4:38pm Nov 20th, 2022
My dear readers,
It's been a while since I uploaded a blog, but after uploading Firebird parts 1 & 2, I decided it was a good time to explain a little more about my life and my situation, which hopefully elucidates as to why my chapters take so long to write and upload.
So, since the 9th of November, I've been happily married for FIVE years, quite the milestone.
And over the course of my marriage, my then-wife had always subtly mentioned that she'd have been happier if she'd been born as a boy, and that she'd have chosen the name Phoenix, and not the name she'd been given as a child.
I didn't think much of it, hell, I myself have sometimes wondered what life would be like as a girl.
On the 10th of March, 2021, my spouse entrusted me with giving them a haircut, a drastic one.
For around ten years prior to this, they'd only EVER worn their hair in a ponytail, this was due to being consistently teased as a child for looking like a boy, and despite wanting to BE a boy deep down, it caused a lot of hurt and young mental trauma, and so the ponytail became a obsessive need to appear as female as possible to battle the constant insecurity and inner confusion.
My partner thought that supressing the feelings would make it go away eventually.
It did not.
When I buzzed this mask away, leaving a very masculine hairstyle, my spouse burst into tears.
But it wasn't because they were sad.
It was because they were happy.
For the first time ever, they saw a glimpse of who they were meant to be.
For all the year's we've been married, they've never smiled like that before.
You, my dear reader, don't understand the sheer level of happiness I saw on that face.
It was a moment that I can only describe as biblical.
I will NEVER forget that smile...
We talked about things for many months after that, and about a year ago from the time of uploading this blog post, my now-husband came out to me as transgender, and after witnessing that smile from the haircut, I knew that this was the right path.
Although a fantasy, The Titan's Orb has always carried vestiges of my real life, and the Firebird chapters are very much rooted in truth, and as explained in Firebird Pt.2, ever since he could remember, heās felt like a boy trapped in the wrong body. With many years spent suppressing it, but not a day going by where he didnāt feel enraged and sickened by the sight of himself in the mirror.
I married someone who was deep down, very unhappy.
But since coming out to me, and me accepting him, calling him Phoenix, and using male pronouns, he's been growing happier and more confident as the days go by, and although it's been an adjustment for me, I am very proud to call him my husband.
We've a long way to go, with a LOT of expenses coming up too.
We need to renew our Spouse Visa in a few months which costs around Ā£4000, give or take.
And then there comes the financial side of his transition, top surgery alone will cost at LEAST Ā£6000, with hundreds more for hormone therapy over the years, the sheer amount of stress that comes from an ordeal like this is unreal, it's no surprise to me at all why the suicide rates for trans people are so high, how trans people can get through without a supportive family and/or spouse, is beyond me.
I'm stressed enough just supporting someone going through this, the black bags under my eyes have black bags of their own these days! 
If any of my readers are trans, I hope you know that I've found a whole lot of respect for you and what you go through.
Anyway, before this blog becomes a book chapter of its own, I'm going to cut things short.
But I just wanted to explain a little more in-depth about why I wrote the Firebird chapters, and the significance they hold.
If any of you have questions for me, I will happily answer to the best of my ability.
In a final statement, I'd like to quote the brilliant RuPaul.
"If you can't love yourself, how in the hell are you going to love anyone else?"
Much love, and I genuinely hope you are happy.
- Callum 
Wish you both luck in your endeavors!
This is a bit of a moment of enlightenment for me to be honest. While I donāt mind homosexuality or bisexuality, I was brought up in a world where it was mostly frowned upon, and thus left me biased against it. This post you just made is what can only be described as true love, and it made me realize that it matters not what is on the outside, something most of modern society canāt comprehend. There is also the saying that you canāt judge a person till youāve walked a thousand miles in their shoes. This also applies here. Iāve only gotten the excuse from all the gay people I know as āI just canāt handle men anymoreā or āgirls arenāt too enticingā or something around those lines. Turns out, there is always an explanation for everything, and while it is rude to intrude on anotherās personal feelings, it goes a long way to have it explained to you in order to understand the why. All in all, Old Man Dusters and his husband has my respect, and I wish them both a happy life together for years to come.
(Hopefully this made sense, itās hard to write via phone!)
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I cannot begin to tell you how lovely and meaningful this comment was to read, thank you for everything you've written.
Phoenix too, thanks you for so eloquently speaking your mind, and very much empathises with how you came from a background where homosexuality is frowned upon.
A lot of what I wrote in Firebird was true, Phoenix himself grew up in a very conservative Christian background, he was taught that such things were an abomination and a shameful thing.
So trust me, your background and its outlook are very much understood.
I'm glad the world has people like you in it.
Thanks again.
That is one of the most wholesome ass things I've read in the last 36 hours. Glad to know you and your spouse can come to one another with things like this. Duster, you are a good dude.