John O'Hara (he/they/er/xier)
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johnhpohara.bsky.social
John O'Hara (he/they/er/xier)
@johnhpohara.bsky.social
1.2K followers 370 following 240 posts
PhD student in German studies, trans studies, medical humanities | devotional polytheist reaching to queer and trans spirits | living on Duwamish lands, studying on Musqueam lands
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johnhpohara.bsky.social
I transitioned via the Reluctant Bear Bait to Bear Pipeline.
L: 2011, 1 month pre-T
R: 2025, nearly 14 years on T
#transitiontimeline
An image showing two photos with a white line dividing them. On the left John is an 18 year old white man with wavy chestnut hair, glasses, blue face paint, and a beard of red brown eyeshadow. He wears a t shirt under a red and yellow vest with a fox tail pinned to one end, and he pulls the fox tail to his shoulder height to stim with it. In one hand he holds a camera. On the right John is a 32 year old man with a mustache, curly beard, shaved head. He sits with one hand gripping the other wrist and looks into the camera. There is a tattoo of a raven visible on one arm and tattoos of a medic's armband and an ear of wheat on the other.
August 10, 2025 at 2:22 AM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
In honor of Trans Day of Visibility / Trans Day of Having a Nice Snack, I hope everyone gets some time with loved ones and maybe even a little treat. I got gelato.
A photo of John's hand holding a cone of gelato against the background of a cafe table and shop floor. The gelato has been formed into little petals rather than scoops so that it looks like a little rose formed onto the cone.
March 31, 2025 at 3:06 PM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
In Durham market, there's a great bookstore called the Bookwyrm, which has this fabulous chair. When we asked if we could take photos in the chair, the shop owner asked if we'd like to hold Lesbian the teddy for the photos. So here's me with my new BFF Lesbian.
I, a white person with a shaved head and a beard, sit in an armchair festooned with bright fabrics in a variety of textures. I'm also holding a pastel rainbow colored teddy bear in one arm.
March 28, 2025 at 2:05 PM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
Had to bring the old lady to the vet last week. Turns out she looks her age (16?!) now that she's missing a few teeth.
A tortoiseshell cat sits in a pile of pillows and blankets. A tortoiseshell cat sleeps on a blue blanket.
March 10, 2025 at 6:12 PM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
happy Paczki Day, y'all!
A white person's hand holding a glazed, cream-filled paczki.
March 4, 2025 at 7:57 PM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
This is a screencap from the State Dept webpage for queer travelers. If you're thinking that acronym seems short, it's because this page used to reference more people. 🫠🥲
Black text on a white background. LGB Travelers LGB travelers can face special challenges abroad. Laws and attitudes in some countries may affect safety and ease of travel. Many countries do not recognize same-sex marriage. Many countries also only recognize the male and female sex markers in passports and do not have IT systems at ports of entry that can accept other sex markers. About 70 countries still consider consensual same-sex relations a crime. In some of these countries, individuals who engage in same-sex sexual relations may face severe punishment.
February 1, 2025 at 6:09 AM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
Really interesting tool. I checked the data for my high school, which was predominantly white when I attended in the 00s-10s and almost exclusively white when my brother graduated in the 90s. Turns out it's mostly Black students now.
A screencap from the tool mentioned in the quoted sheet. It reads "Compared to its local public school district, where the student body was predominantly Black, this school had a similar share of such students in the 2021-22 school year. Overall, the schools student body had about the same racial diversity as the districts." Below are bars showing demographic percentages with the school names redacted. The private school bar shows the school was mostly Black, then white, then Hispanic students, while the public school was Black and Hispanic students with a smaller portion white students.
January 18, 2025 at 3:36 PM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
From this weekend when the mountain was out.
A photo of Tahoma, the mountain / stratovolcano formally named Mt Rainier, in setting sunlight. The mountain looks over a highway overpass, trees, and cityscape in the foreground.
January 16, 2025 at 7:10 PM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
You've got to wonder what these folks think people do in bathrooms. This is about as reasonable as male fantasy descriptions of girls' slumber parties.
White text on a black background from the text version of Reed's reporting described below. The text reads: Only a few Republicans spoke in favor of the bill, including Representative Jedediah Hinkle, who argued that it was necessary to prevent people from “getting off” on bathroom sounds. Hinkle also pointed out that some transgender women are attracted to other women, raising questions about whether the same logic could be used to target lesbians as well. The phrase "it was necessary to prevent people from getting off on bathroom sounds" is highlighted poorly in yellow.
January 14, 2025 at 5:16 PM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
Congrats. Here's my cat being annoyed that I made a noise (opened a drink can) while they were asleep.
An annoyed-looking black, brown, and orange cat rests their head on a blue rumpled blanket.
January 13, 2025 at 9:17 PM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
Here's the cover with alt text since I forgot in the original.
A book cover for The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White. In the center is an illustration of Silas, a white trans teen with long, wavy hair, purple eyes, and a purple dress. He holds a jagged piece of mirror in one hand. The image of Silas is in a gold frame surrounded by a banner with the title and a background of black areas with interspersed images of purple eyes. Some appear to be medical diagrams. There is a gold border with tears and eyes. The cover has a silver stamp designating it a Stonewall Honor Book.
January 13, 2025 at 4:02 PM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
Last night I read about half of The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White. In a horrifying alt history where spiritualism is interpreted through biology, the protagonist Silas is a trans teen with a gift for spirit work that makes him a prime candidate for eugenics-based marriage.
January 13, 2025 at 3:54 PM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
It's definitely a Monday, and so here's a rainbow from the weekend. Good luck, y'all.
A photo looking out the front windshield of a car onto a highway shows a rainbow that seems to touch the road on the horizon. Part of the dashboard is visible in the bottom of the photo. The view shows a stretch of highway bordered on both sides by tall conifer trees, and there is a blue sky above with large clouds above the road. The rainbow appears about halfway through one large cloud and reaches down behind a green highway sign and some cars ahead.
November 25, 2024 at 10:44 PM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
Age yourself with your first computer.

My ma has worked weekend software deployments my entire life, and so the home computer predated me. I can remember "working" (gaming) on our IBM 486 as a toddler.
An IBM 486 from the early 1990s. The one pictured is a grey monitor with a black screen sitting on an off-white case. In the foreground is the upper half of the matching off white keyboard. The computer is on a dark brown desk, and in the background is a windowsill with blinds and some green and red objects this writer does not recognize. The image is from reddit.
November 23, 2024 at 12:12 AM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
Schnitzler has transmasc grandpa energy.
A photo of Artur Schnitzler, a bearded man in a dark buttoned coat and white collared shirt, sitting in an armchair with a book open on his lap. He looks warily into the camera.
November 18, 2024 at 10:26 PM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
Passed my candidacy exams!
A blurry photo of a white person lying on a carpeted floor, covered in a pile of books. Also visible is a low table covered in a blue crocheted blanket.
November 16, 2024 at 9:45 PM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
Clearing out at the other place yielded this photo - one of my favorite shrine set-ups.
A photo of a shrine on a dark wood table against a white wall. The central figure is a white marble statue of Hermes/Mercury on a green piece of fabric, surrounded by currency, candles, smoking incense in a small bronze holder, a plant in a bottle, alcohol in a bottle and a small glass, animal bones, and a wooden spirit board.
November 13, 2024 at 9:12 PM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
In Ernst Lubitsch's 1918 film Ich möchte kein Mann sein (I don't want to be a man), the protagonist Ossi is binding and is SO flat. I wonder if there are still notes from the costuming department on how they made this happen.
A still from Ich möchte kein Mann sein, 1918, directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Ossi Oswalda. In the still, a young white transmasc person (Ossi) stands in a finely decorated dressing room and dresses in 1910s evening wear. Ossi is already wearing dark trousers, suspenders, and a high collared shirt, and they are attempting to pin the collar while looking off camera.
November 13, 2024 at 7:26 PM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
Show your pet's baby photo.

Here's Random on the day that I pulled her out of a bush.
A close-up photo of a kitten's face against a grey background. The kitten tilts their head and looks into the camera with amber eyes. The kitten's face is mostly black with patches of light brown and orange stripes. Parts of the kitten's neck and back can be seen out of focus behind their face.
October 30, 2024 at 4:57 AM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
This weekend, I added another flower to the pegboards that T and I use to store our gear. Debating whether a third will be too busy with all the accessories on it.
A photo of two white rectangular pegboards painted with roses in pinks, reds, and greens, in the style of cross stitch. The boards hang on either side of the corner of an off-white wall.
October 14, 2024 at 7:33 PM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
Beautiful sky this morning.
A photo shows the sky in pink and purple tones through the window of a dark room. Before the partly open window sits a black cat in profile. Above the window hangs a trans pride flag, and the light outside has made the stripes of the flag appear mostly pink.
October 4, 2024 at 5:53 PM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
Since military history isn't my strong suit, I'm just kinda wondering what the difference between "crossing into" somewhere, which is described as an "incursion" in the next sentence, and "invading" the same place.
A photo of a Washington Post newspaper that focuses on the opening lines of an article by Matthew Lee, Josef Federman, and Abby Sewell at the associated press. The visible part of the article reads "JERUSALEM- Israeli ground forces crossed into southern Lebanon early Tuesday, marking a significant escalation of an offen-" before moving to a new column, which is not pictured.
October 1, 2024 at 4:59 PM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
Biding my time until the blackberries turn.
A photo of blackberries and leaves on a bush. The darker green leaves fill much of the frame while a cluster of lighter green unripe berries feature in the center of the frame.
August 4, 2024 at 6:22 PM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
T's junior partner (purrtner) has joined the reading nook.
A brown and black cat and a larger black cat lie on a rumpled botanical bedspread. An open book sits on the bed, partially on the black cat.
June 18, 2024 at 11:14 PM
johnhpohara.bsky.social
The sky was so clear yesterday, and Tahoma was so beautiful
Image of the mountain Tahoma viewed from a car window. The peak is white and partially covered in clouds. The body of the mountain appears in darker blue against the sky. In front of the mountain are trees of various sizes and distant buildings.
June 10, 2024 at 7:57 PM