hello! i'd like to write a trans man right before he realizes he's a guy. i don't want it to come off like i'm misgendering him, because him being a guy is already solidified before the story begins. would i avoid using pronouns altogether? would i use he/him? what would be the appropriate way to go about this?
I don't think you would be misgendering them, as this would be set up in a past tense. If you want to aviod any possible conflict you can use They/Them prnouns because those are pretty neutral. You can simply write a piece of monolouge before the story begins as well, explaining that this is past tense or something saying that this was before they figured out their gender.
Personally i would use they/them. I hope this helped!