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This trans artist turned his awkward moments into a painfully honest web comic.

"Man Time" is a comic about life as a trans man, by a trans man, and it's awesome.

After noodling on a few ideas for a web comic about coming out and living as a trans man, Sam, a 26-year-old designer and artist from New Jersey decided to bring a few to life. Sam himself came out as a transgender man about seven years ago.

"I had a few funny ideas one day and figured I should at least give it a try and see if anyone liked them," Sam writes in an e-mail interview.

Spoiler alert: They did.

[rebelmouse-image 19469731 dam="1" original_size="750x857" caption="All comics by Sam for "Man Time," used with permission." expand=1]All comics by Sam for "Man Time," used with permission.

The cartoons are comic relief and a welcome break from what can be a very stressful transition.

"Our families or friends might not be supportive, we might be having trouble with the medical side of transitioning, and we hear rude jokes about trans people when we least expect it," Sam writes. "All of that takes a toll on you, and it’s easy to get depressed."

That's why Sam created "Man Time" — to laugh, commiserate, and connect with other people going through the exact same thing.

"I think that one of the most important things in life is to be able to laugh," he writes. "Sharing stories and laughing together is the best way to make friends and build a community."

Sam's community has grown considerably as "Man Time" has more than 10,000 followers on Tumblr. Not bad for its first nine months.

Laugh along and get some insight into the lives of a few trans men through Sam's characters in five more of his favorite pieces.

1. Coming out can be nerve-wracking,  especially to friends and family.

2. Though sometimes, it seems like they knew all along.

3. Transitioning isn't something that happens overnight. There's often a new name and pronouns.

4. And sometimes new hormones too.

5. But each change, medical or not, takes serious courage.

While "Man Time" may focus on the experiences of trans men, everyone can appreciate its sincerity, heart, and humor.

Supporting, reading, listening to, and watching content by transgender creators is a good way to get a greater understanding of what it's like to be trans. It's also one of the many ways you can stand with trans and non-binary people during what's been a really scary and challenging time.

So as Sam suggests, take a minute to laugh. What better way to connect, build community, and celebrate our diversity and our common ground?

Note: Sam requested not to use his last name in this piece, and we obliged. We respect his privacy and thank him for sharing his work with us.

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Korean mom has a perfect response to the teacher who called her son's lunches 'disgusting'

Good for her for standing up for her child's culture.

via Roman Harak/Flickr

A Korean mother and her son

A recently posted story on Reddit shows a mother confidently standing up for her family after being bullied by a teacher for her culture. Reddit user Flowergardens0 posted the story to the AITA forum, where people ask whether they are wrong in a specific situation.

Over 5,600 people commented on the story, and an overwhelming majority thought the mother was right. Here’s what went down:

“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."

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Rick Astley covered Foo Fighters' 'Everlong' and it's shockingly great

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Rick Astley/YouTube

Rick Astley rocking his Foo Fighters 'Everlong' cover.

Rick Astley has to be the luckiest '80s musician on the planet. The whole "Rickrolling" phenomenon has given his hit song "Never Gonna Give You Up" a reach far beyond its natural life span, and kept the guy a household name far longer than he probably would have been.

(For those who are unfamiliar, Rickrolling is when you make someone think they're being sent to a website, but the link goes to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" video instead as a joke. It's a silly viral bait-and-switch gag that's been going since 2006.)

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Dad found out his son bullied a kid at school and came up with a brilliant teaching moment

"I told him that we have the opportunity to make things right."

@thehalfdeaddad/TikTok

Dad on TikTok shared how he addressed his son's bullying.

What do you do when you find out your kid bullied someone? For many parents, the first step is forcing an apology. While this response is of course warranted, is it really effective? Some might argue that there are more constructive ways of handling the situation that teach a kid not only what they did wrong, but how to make things right again.

Single dadPatrick Forseth recently shared how he made a truly teachable moment out of his son, Lincoln, getting into trouble for bullying. Rather than forcing an apology, Forseth made sure his son was actively part of a solution.


The thought process behind his decision, which he explained in a now-viral TikTok video, is both simple and somewhat racial compared to how many parents have been encouraged to handle similar situations.
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People are raving about how much easier it is to read with 'bionic reading' font

This viral tool could be a game-changer for some.

Photo via Canva, @WhattheADHD/Twitter

The 'bionic reading' font is designed to help keep you focused and read faster.

Reading is a fundamental tool of learning for most people, which is why it's one of the first things kids learn in school and why nations set literacy goals.

But even those of us who are able to read fluently might sometimes struggle with the act of reading itself. Perhaps we don't read as quickly as we wish we could or maybe our minds wander as our eyes move across the words. Sometimes we get to the end of a paragraph and realize we didn't retain anything we just read.

People with focus or attention issues can struggle with reading, despite having no actual reading disabilities. It can be extremely frustrating to want to read something and have no issues with understanding the material, yet be unable to keep your mind engaged with the text long enough to get "into" what you're reading.

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Airbnb host wakes his guest up in the middle of the night so she wouldn't miss the northern lights

Best. Host. Ever.

@penslucero/TikTok

Pency Lucero taking in the Northern Lights

Seeing the northern lights is a common bucket list adventure for many people. After all, it ticks a lot of boxes—being a dazzling light show, rich historical experience and scientific phenomenon all rolled into one. Plus there’s the uncertainty of it all, never quite knowing if you’ll witness a vivid streak of otherworldly colors dance across the sky…or simply see an oddly colored cloud. It’s nature’s slot machine, if you will.

Traveler and content creator Pency Lucero was willing to take that gamble. After thorough research, she stumbled upon an Airbnb in Rörbäck, Sweden with an actual picture of the northern lights shining above the cabin in the listing. With that kind of photo evidence, she felt good about her odds.

However, as soon as she landed, snow began falling so hard that the entire sky was “barely visible,” she told Upworthy. Martin, the Airbnb host, was nonetheless determined to do everything he could to ensure his guests got to see the spectacle, even offering to wake Lucero up in the middle of the night if he saw anything.

Then one night, the knock came.

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Badass bikers show up for abused children, offering advocacy and protection

They become an abused child's "biker family," and they let the child—and everyone else—know that NO ONE messes with their family.

Bikers Against Child Abuse/YouTube

When you are a child who has been abused by people who are supposed to protect you, how do you feel safe?

That question is the heart of Bikers Against Child Abuse International (B.A.C.A.), an organization dedicated to creating "a safer environment for abused children." With specific training and extensive security checks, the frequently big and burly members of B.A.C.A. serve as protectors of chid abuse survivors, giving vulnerable children people to call on when they feel scared, and even showing up in court when a child asks them to.

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