A few scattered Trans Ford thoughts. "You took MY name?!" Has deeper meaning, bc it's the name Ford chose for himself. Although I also think his method of choosing a name was to use the answer he got when he asked his mom "what would I have been named if I was a boy?" Ford and Fidds are both trans and them being roommates works whether you imagine backupsmore being progressive enough to let trans students room where they want or if you want more Realism. Also both of them being fairly early in transition when they get to college. Just. Imagine Fidds and Ford transitioning together. (The fact that both their names end in Ford is a coincidence, but they like having similar names). They share tips on alleviating dysphoria. Actually Ford is very early in transition in that he starts his transition in college. And goes back in the closet for holidays. A Tale of Two Stans still goes the same, the way young Stan and Ford look is based on how the kids picture the story, and since Stan doesn't misgender his brother while remembering, no one has any reason to picture Ford looking any different than a skinnier version of Stan with six fingers who actually wears his glasses. Ford used some of his grant money to start his medical transition. He exaggerates his shoulders in the journal illustrations bc he's proud of the effects t is having on him. I'm not sure if he gets top surgery while he's living in gravity falls or while he's dimension hopping. (Or maybe he just doesn't. He tends to wear thick clothes anyway, he might just not bother). Ford never technically came out to Stan. When they were young he told as much as he could tell without having the words for it (Ford probably didn't know being trans wad an option until he was an adult), and Stan was able to connect the dots enough that he wasn't as surprised as he could have been when he met his brother in gravity falls after not seeing him for so long. (Hearing Ford's low pitched voice that time he tried calling definitely caught him off guard though. But that did help him prepare for the fact that Ford was on t). Ford thinks setting himself on fire is better than shaving bc he was never taught to shave with the grain. (But also bc he's just eccentric and that doesn't Have to be a trans thing I just feel like I can't make this post and not bring it up). Ford comes out to his niblings only after finding out that they're trans as well. And even then he's hesitant, but wanting to be a good role model helps him overcome his nerves.
Last night, I was inspired outta nowhere to write some stuff about Sally McGucket (nee Turner). So here’s her backstory: meeting Mearl McGucket, falling in love, having kids, and finding out one of her children was trans. It is way longer than I meant for it to be. Enjoy.
Sally Virginia Turner grew up in a house that expected a lot of her. Luckily, she had everything her parents wanted. She had brains, beauty, and enough charm to fool even a fox. She never wanted for anything, never got her hands dirty, and rarely struggled with anything she faced. At least, until she met Dulcimearl McGucket.
Sally had made the decision to study law at school. Of the fields her parents wished her to go into, it seemed the best suited for her. She had a silver tongue that could turn as sharp as a dagger when it needed to be. But all her wits and charm left her when she saw a dirt-covered farmer peddling his wares at the farmer’s market.
“Howdy there!” the man said cheerfully as she approached.
“Howdy,” Sally replied.
“Are ya one of the students at the school?”
“Yep. Studyin’ law. What ‘bout you?” The man laughed.
“My fam’ly don’t have the funds to send me to school. Barely got the gas money to let me drive into Little Rock every week.”
“Yer not from ‘round here?”
“Nope. I’m from a lil town called Gumption, ‘bout an hour away. What ‘bout you?”
“I’m from Tennessee.”
“Ya look awful young to be on yer own, in an unfamiliar state,” he said. Sally shrugged.
“My folks home-schooled me. I finished and graduated ‘fore most other folks.”
“My folks home-schooled me, too. But that was so’s I could help out ‘round the house more.” Sally put her elbows on the man’s trestle table and leaned forward.
“Sounds like ya had a much dif’rent life than me.”
“Well, given yer dress, I’d say that yer city folk.”
“Yessir. Born and raised in Nashville.”
“I ain’t got any city in me. Minin’ and farmin’ fam’ly.” Sally’s eyes widened.
“Wow.” The man laughed.
“That ain’t the usual reaction city folk got to farm folk. Most folks tend to look down on farmers an’ miners.” He smiled at her. “The name’s Dulcimearl, but ya can call me Mearl.”
“Sally.”
-----
The highlight of Sally’s week rapidly became when she would see Mearl at the farmer’s market. Her classmates were derogatory towards her, but Mearl never treated her poorly.
“It’s just how I was raised,” he said casually. “In my fam’ly, everyone gets taught manners. Like common courtesy. ‘Course, with how many of us there are, if there ain’t manners, nothin’ gets done.”
“How many siblings do ya have?”
“Seven. You?”
“Three.” Sally smiled at him. “An’ I thought I came from a big fam’ly. That’s nothin’ compared to yours.”
“…Would ya like to meet ‘em?” Mearl asked shyly. Sally beamed.
“I would love to.”
----
Unfortunately, it would be some time before Sally could meet Mearl’s family.
Fortunately, by the time she first visited the McGucket farmhouse, Mearl was able to introduce her as his girlfriend.
“So, yer studyin’ law at that school in Little Rock?” Mrs. McGucket asked her.
“Yes, ma’am. It’s nice to be in a place small like Little Rock, especially since it’s far away from my folks.”
“Ya don’t have a good relationship with yer folks?” Mearl’s older brother, Bassett, asked. Sally shrugged.
“It’s all right, I s’pose. I like ‘em well enough. They just put a lot of pressure on me.”
“That’s too bad,” Mrs. McGucket said kindly.
“Can I point out that Little Rock ain’t small?” one of Mearl’s sisters said. Sally couldn’t remember her name.
“Compared to Nashville, it is,” Sally replied.
Later that day, Mearl pulled Sally to the side.
“So, what do ya think of my fam’ly? Ya can be honest.”
“I love ‘em!” Sally said enthusiastically. “Goldarn, I wish my fam’ly were half as welcomin’. Any time some boy showed interest in me, my folks would sit me down and tell me not to settle.” A strange expression crossed Mearl’s face.
“Do ya think yer folks would say the same thing ‘bout me?” he asked timidly. Sally realized what she had said.
“Oh! No, no way. Those boys, I didn’t care ‘bout ‘em. But I love ya, Mearl.” Sally took a hold of Mearl’s hands. “My folks would understand.”
They didn’t.
“How many times do we have to tell ya not to settle?” her father demanded. “Ya really thought ya would fall fer some farmer? Ya could land a doctor, easy as pie!”
“I don’t care!” Sally shouted. “Anyways, I ain’t settlin’. I’m bein’ with the man I love.”
“You’ll just be a farmer’s wife, poppin’ out kid after kid! You’ll be cooped up in a farmhouse all day!” her mother said sharply. “Do ya really want that, Sally?” Sally nodded, determined.
“I do.”
She repeated those words to the love of her life at a ceremony. None of her family attended, but the McGuckets (she was one now, she reminded herself) more than made up for it.
Her mother was right about one thing. Sally had more kids than she ever dreamed she would.
-----
Sally was nineteen when she got pregnant with her first child. Needless to say, she wasn’t planning on this, but she decided to…ignore it, for the time being. She went to class, took notes, and struggled with the worry that she would have to abandon her education once she became a mother. Mearl wasn’t much help, being equal parts supportive and nervous. After all, he was going to be a young parent, too.
But May eventually rolled around, and the day after she finished her last final of the semester, Sally went into labor. On May 8, 1942, she and Mearl welcomed their first child into the world.
“We should name her Lynn,” Sally said softly, stroking her daughter’s bright red curls.
“How ‘bout Violynn?” Mearl suggested.
“What?”
“My fam’ly has a namin’ convention. But if ya want, we don’t have to do that. Lynn is a perfectly lovely name on its own.”
“No, I like it. Violynn.” Violynn made a small sound and Sally held her tighter. She looked at her husband. “But we ain’t havin’ any more kids ‘til I’m through with schoolin’, okay?” Mearl kissed her on the forehead.
“Okay, darlin’.”
They had two more children while she was pursuing her law degree. Harper, born in 1945, and Sebasstian, born in 1948. The day she took the bar exam, Sally McGucket kissed her children on the way out the door. Violynn and Harper wished her good luck, but Basstian, being only a grand total of four months old, merely waved chubby arms at her as she left.
She passed the bar exam.
But she didn’t do anything with her degree.
Sally was content to sit at home with her children, and be there for the moments that she’d had to miss while she was at school. Her friends asked her why she seemed happy with being just a farmer’s wife, a housewife.
“My law degree was fer me, and me alone. I never wanted to use it; I just wanted to learn everythin’ that came along with it,” she replied. “And now, I want to learn everythin’ that comes along with this part of life. Bein’ a mom, and a wife. And maybe legal counsel if’n one of Mearl’s cousins gets caught riding a cow down the highway while drunk. Again.”
After Basstian was two years old, they tried to have more children, with no success. Finally, after two years of attempts, and a rough pregnancy, they had their second daughter, Viola, in 1952. Eventually, they would learn that Viola wasn’t their daughter. But that was some time away.
Lute followed, a whisker over a year later, in 1953. By this time, the multiple pregnancies were leaving their mark on Sally, who was beginning to regret marrying a man from a very fertile family.
“I love ‘em all,” she said to her sister-in-law, Banjolina (Banjey, for short). “But Lord, there’s so many of ‘em!” Lute, a few months old, grabbed at her hair eagerly. “Ouch!” Banjey took Lute from her.
“Yer tough, even though yer city folk. My parents weren’t completely sure ya could handle two Gucklings, let alone five. McGuckets are notoriously exuberant as children, and usually, only folks from big fam’lies can raise ‘em without their hair turnin’ grey in their thirties.” Sally frowned.
“Why are ya tellin’ me that?”
“To make a point. Yer tough, Sally. Tougher than ya give yourself credit fer. You’ll be a great ma to all yer kids, no matter how many there are. And if ya ever need help, I’m only a phone call away.”
As Lute got older, Sally began to feel a sadness. Sure, she’d had some issues during the last pregnancies, but she was rapidly running out of time to have another child. Violynn was eleven years old, and Sally didn’t want a significant age gap between her children. So she made the split decision to have just one more.
Mearl supported her.
“I always wanted lots of kids,” he said gently, feeling his last child kicking in his wife’s stomach. “An’ ya know how I am ‘bout numbers. Havin’ an even number of kids, why, that’s perfect.”
“Yer a goon, Dulcimearl.”
“I’m yer goon, Sally.”
They welcomed their last child, a daughter, on April 1, 1955. Complications resulted in an emergency C-section. The doctor told Sally that she shouldn’t have any more children.
“I mean, you can. I just would not recommend it.” Sally laughed.
“It ain’t a problem, doc. I’m fine with just the six kids.” They named her after Mearl’s older sister, who had always been there for Sally and Mearl when they struggled with their many children.
-----
By 1968, Sally was confident that she could handle anything her large family did. Sure, the youngest two were over-eager, hyperactive, and could be clumsy, but Viola was responsible enough to make up for it. Home life almost ran on its own, to the point where Sally had taken on a job teaching law at the community college in the nearby town of Hog Swill. After all, she had been itching to use her law degree for quite some time.
It was while she was doing the dishes one night that her sweet, quiet daughter walked into the kitchen.
“Sweetheart, could ya help me out a bit?” Sally asked without looking up. “These need to be dried.”
“Actually, Ma…” Sally picked up on the nervous tone in her child’s voice. She looked up.
“Oh, Lord! What happened to yer hair?” she gasped, drying off her hands. Sally gently guided Viola over to the table and sat down with her. “Did one of yer younger siblings do this to ya? Was it Lute or Banjey? Was it both of ‘em?”
“Ma, relax,” Viola said softly. “No one did this to me. I- I did it to myself.” Sally ran her hands through her daughter’s roughly chopped hair.
“Why?”
“I can’t have long hair no more, Ma, I can’t! It don’t sit right with me!”
“Oh, shush, darlin’, it’ll be fine. We’ll get this trimmed, and turned into a bob all nice-like.”
“No! I can’t live like this no more. I-I hate it when I look in the mirror.” Sally’s heart sunk. She’d done her best to ensure all her children had high self-esteem, but things were bound to slip through, particularly with Mearl’s mental background.
“Sweetie, yer a very pretty girl,” she said reassuringly, rubbing her daughter’s back. Viola took a deep breath.
“That’s the thing, Ma. I ain’t a girl.” Sally blinked.
“What?”
“I’m- I’m a boy.”
“Sweetie, what are ya talkin’ ‘bout?”
“I know it’s confusin’, Ma, but it’s who I am,” Viola said in a rush. Mearl walked into the kitchen.
“There’s my girls!” he said jovially, giving them each a kiss.
“Pa, I ain’t a girl,” Viola said. Mearl froze. He very slowly took a seat at the table with Sally and Viola.
“What do ya mean?”
“I’m a boy.”
“A boy? I think we would know if you were a boy, hon. We were there when you were born. Doctor said ya were a girl and everythin’.”
“The doctor was wrong, Pa. I ain’t a girl. I’m a- a trans-gender.” Mearl took a deep, steadying breath.
“Is that anythin’ like bein’ a homosexual?”
“N-no, Pa. It’s a dif’rent thing. But I s’pose it is the same, in that it means I’m dif’rent from most folks.”
“Sweetheart, yer pa and I ‘re goin’ to need some time to handle this,” Sally said gently. “But know somethin’. No matter who or what ya are, we love ya. If ya want to be a boy-”
“I don’t want to be a boy!” Viola interrupted. Sally blinked, surprised by the outburst from her normally well-behaved child. “I am a boy.”
“Don’t raise yer voice at yer ma,” Mearl scolded.
“Mearl, it’s fine,” Sally said quickly. “If yer a boy, then we still love ya and support ya. Right, Mearl?” Mearl nodded. “See?”
“And if yer lookin’ fer a boy name, ya can use the one we planned fer ya before ya were born,” Mearl said. “The one we’d give ya if ya turned out to be a boy.” He cracked a small smile. “I guess ya turned out to be a boy after all.”
“What name?”
“Fiddleford. It’s a fam’ly name.” Viola nodded.
“I like it. Can y’all call me Fiddleford, then?”
“‘Course, sweetie,” Sally said. “But darlin’, could ya leave us be fer a bit? Yer pa and I will need to talk ‘bout this.”
“O-okay.”
“In the meantime, don’t tell Lute and Banjey. They’re too young.”
“Okay, Ma.” Sally gave her child one last kiss before she- no, he got up. Once he’d left the kitchen, she looked at Mearl helplessly.
“What are we goin’ to do?”
“Support our child,” Mearl said simply. Sally nodded.
“If’n she- he sticks with this, we’ll need to get her- him some new identification.”
“Good thing yer a lawyer, then, ain’t it?” Sally smiled at her husband.
“I knew that law degree would come in handy for things other than teachin’ classes.” Her smile faded. “But, Mearl, this is goin’ to turn everythin’ upside down. We’ll need to change things.”
“So what? We can do that. We’ve done it before.” Mearl put an arm around Sally’s shoulders. “When we became parents, we promised to love our children. We promised to take care of ‘em, support ‘em. Just ‘cause this changed, don’t mean that has to change.” Sally blinked rapidly as her eyes filled with tears. She laced her fingers with Mearl’s.
“Yer right, darlin’. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” He kissed her. “I love ya, Sally.” She kissed him back.
