About
Rooster Tails is a weekly autobio comic and pet project (to keep me out of trouble), exploring the life of a simple transguy transitioning in New Zealand.
It’s written by me! (Sam). A geeky, chubby transguy who spends too much time on the internet, messing about, and reading comics. It’s a way to pass the time while I try and get hairier…. (that sounded way more weird than I intended it to, sorry.)
And it also quite often features Joe (my gentleman companion), who is an incredibly smart, verbose (articulate, is perhaps I nicer word) trans/political/feminist theory nerd. He also seems to be reading a lot of dragon fiction lately.
Anyway, that’s enough for now – Roostertails updates Sundays… or Mondays, depending on which hemisphere you’re in.
Also – here’s a gratuitous picture of Joe and I… because we’re perverted like that:
Hi Sam,
I’ve read through all the comics you’ve posted on this blog and I love them! Thanks for sharing yourself with the world. I especially liked the “magically gendered” one, it made me laugh a lot.
(In case you’re curious, I got here because Erika Moen linked you and I read her stuff.)
Yay thanks heaps! Yeh, I love that one too, aaah harry potter
Hello from a fellow trans person who is no longer in NZ, but was for a while. (Wellington.)
I hope to keep checking back here; your comic is light, a nice breath of fresh air. I’m enjoying it!
Hey thanks heaps! The comic is bound to be here for a long time
where abouts are you now?
Ach, I’m returned to the States now, a hemisphere away. Parents are still in Welly though!
*goes back to reading*
Hi Sam.
I’m a transguy from Nelson(one of two) XD And I have to say all your comics really make me smile. There have been several that I really related to. And I’m looking forward to more comics!
Adam
Hey Adam, thanks so much, awesome to hear of new south island transmen
I hope Nelson is treating you well
Hey Sam,
It’s great to read your comics again, post-thatothermagazine – you’re pretty much awesome. Internet high five!
David
Awesome! Yes, I miss the glory days of critic, alas. Internet thumbs up!
Hi there,
I was wondering if I could pay you to do a commission. I’d give you a photo of my boyfriend and I, and you would do a comic-book version of us. A single image, for a price you set. Would you be interested?
- Julien
Heya,
Yeh I’d totally be interested! you can email me at s orchard at ymail dot com and we can have a chat bout it
s.orchard gave me an error – after googling I tried shane.orchard… is this correct? Mine is julien$WEE$jmcardle.com, where the “$WEE$” is actually an “@” symbol.
Just sending you an email now…
Hey Sam,
your comics are the bomb! they are funny-sweet-serious and i feel better after reading them.
You’re a hero.
Pip
Yay!! You are!
I thought I’d let you know my boyfriend’s reaction after I gave him the comic you drew as a birthday gift:
——-
———
Thank you for what you did!
- Julien
Hahaha!! That’s SO great! So glad to have been a part of the epicness
Hello my dear,
Found your comicblog, it is awesome, high five. You and Joe have the cutest photos:). But you’re in Colorado?? Hope you are coming back this way some time. Anyway, drop me a line with your current email sometime.
yaha! Sent you an email
Hi, I just wanted to say as a fellow transman and artist, I absolutely love your work. Very relatable, and what isn’t making me roll on the floor laughing is making me choke back tears from remembering the same experiences.
I really just wanted to say keep up the good work, you seem like a fantastic human being.
PS, just my own little plug, but if you ever feel like checking out my video blog, I’m a Canadian Transman and it covers from 6 months pre-t until now (6 months post T and also documenting my topsurgery). I try to keep a comedic spin on things, so often times the vlogs will just be me ranting, but none-the-less I enjoy making them, and I hear people even like to watch.
Anyways, once again, thank you for the fantastic comics and contribution to the internets. I’ll be frequenting your site!
PPS Oh, I’m gay/pan too, and also live with my partner, so your work is even MORE relatable.
Hey thanks Mark! It’s so awesome to feel like I’m not the only one going through this sort of stuff, I am so glad I started the blog, it’s such an awesome way to share stories and connect up with people – being down at the bottom of the world can feel pretty isolating at times. I’ll be sure to tune into your vlog too, cheers for the link! I quite often watch guys videos as I’m drawing and colouring, so it’s cool to add to the list.
Hey there.
I just read all of your comics and I must say, they are awesome. You two are adorable (can I even say that without ever having met you?).
I also really love the phrase ‘gentleman lover’. I’m going to tell all of my future partners to call me that.
Thanks for making this comic. It’s nice to know that there are transguys out there doing cool stuff, even though we don’t live in the same country (I’m up in Canada) or anything.
I hope you and Joe are doing well.
Cheers.
Beck
or possibly Oliver. Haven’t decided yet.
Thanks so much! And, yes, anytime anyone wants to call me/us adorable they are most welcome to!
Ahh, I can’t believe I only just found this! I was on ‘genderqueer’ at Tumblr and clicked through to find this blog, and that it’s written by a fellow NZer – yay! This is great!
I feel like I never see anyone in NZ’s queer community really putting themselves out there (probably because NZ itself is so small), especially from the trans community, and especially online, which is why I was so glad to find your blog. And you love Erika Moen! And Stephen Fry! Ahhh! You are wonderful!
Anyway, I’m a student up in Wellington, at Vic, and quite heavily involved in the Women’s Group here and such, and also an ally for all things queer. <3 Just wanted to say hi, and I look forward to more of your posts!
Hey Jo, so awesome to see other kiwis reading my blog – yay! Thanks for the kind words, and hope the studying is going well
Hi Sasm!
I came across your site via a truly awesome illustration you did for a friend, and I came across a video project this morning that I thought you might like to participate in and spread around to the people you know – it was started by Dan Savage and he created a YouTube channel called It Gets Better – it’s an opportunity for LGBT people (and the people who love them) to make videos aimed at bullied LGBT youth to get the message out to hang in there, and that life will indeed get better. Here’s the link – http://www.youtube.com/itgetsbetterproject
Love your blog!!
Hey Tina,
Wow, this looks like a great idea I’ll definitely pass it around – awesome!
Hi Sam,
I followed a link here from Genderfork and just stayed up well past my bedtime reading through your entire archive! Awesome stuff.
Intending to point a few people your way…
Cheers heath, yeh genderfork has sent crazy amounts of people my way, it’s soooo cool!
Hey Sam,
Your comic has made me walk around feeling happy for days! It’s really super funny, and it’s also been good to see some of the tricky stuff about life, esp trans life, presented in a way that allows for anxiety and sadness but is also so witty and quirkily cheerful.
I’m in melbourne and involved a bit in the melbourne trans/gender variant/trannyfag/genderweird community that is slowly growing in numbers here, if you and Joe are ever in the area and would like to, drop me a line
That’s so great! It’s been really awesome for me to try and reframe the tricky stuff into something empowering, that can hold the hard stuff as well as the good stuff. I love genderweird communities!! I grew up in Melbourne and I really love it there, it’d be awesome to meet up if we ever come over for a holiday
ps I just realised that i don’t know if my email will be published from my last post, it’s alessandra_s@optusnet.com.au
cheers, thanks for writing this great comic =)
This blog makes me smile on days when I think nothing else can. Thank you for bringing your journey to us who need to laugh at ourselves sometimes.
Happy Trails
Oh wow thanks so much, that means a lot!
Hey!
. I appreciate the Wolverine-pictures, he is my hero 
.
My name is Elias and I’m a transguy from Sweden.
LOVING your comics! Just found out about your blog the other day and already I’m spreading the word about your awesomeness to all my friends
You make me happy!
/Spiderman and Wolverines lovechild.
Rarr yay! Thanks so much! You have the best sign-off name ever!
Hey Sam,
I love your comics! there are a few in particular that I especially love (your recent one about Trans Day of Remembrance, for one). I work in the LGBT resource center at my university and I really wanted to print out some copies of some of your comics to hang up in our center, but I wanted your permission first. Would you be opposed to some extra advertisement to your blog?
Thanks,
Tiffany
Hi Tiffany,
Thanks so much! Yes you can definitely print them out to hang up in the LGBT center, I’d be honoured! Would you be able to tell me which uni you go to (just so I know where my stuff goes)? You can email me if ya don’t wanna write it up here – I’m at: sorchard at ymail dot com
-Sam
I’m at the University of Kentucky in the US. I’m the resource coordinator so it’s my job to acquire new media for the center and I thought this would be a cool thing to hang up. I’m trying to find new blogs and internet resources for people to check out.
Thanks!
Tiffany
Sam- i’ve been reading your comics for a while now, and i just wanted to let you know that i think they’re absolutely fantastic! thank you so much for giving me something so great to read!
also, i recently heard you on the Webcomic Beacon podcast (it was great, by the way), and it was strange- since i’ve been reading your journal comic for a while, i felt like it was someone i’m friends with on the show, and i had to remind myself that i just know you from your comics. i thought it was pretty funny.
anyway, keep it up! i always love it when i see a new update!
-Pete
Aw dude! That’s such an awesome comment! Thanks sooo much! I know exactly what you mean, when you’ve been reading someone you know for a while and you’re like “oh yeh me and _____ go waaaay back!…. oh. wait.” hahaha. Anyway, thanks heaps! Working on a new update as we speak
Hi. I know this is a small thing, but I wanted to thank you for acknowledging that aces exist and are an okay thing to be in your introductory comic. Even in LGBTetc spaces that can be uncomfortably rare.
So… thanks.
No worries at all – I actually did a bit of a poo job of articulating the asexuality stuff in the first draft, and got some really awesome feedback from people so the second version is much improved. The whole thing is still pretty flawed but it’s a nice start I think. It’s definitely exciting to me to see that asexuality is becoming more and more common in queer spaces, it’s something I’ve definitely related to before and it’s awesome to see more visibility and acceptance going on (even if it’s sadly still rare)
Hi Sam.
I just found this blog today, but I already love it. I’m a genderqueer student who just started college. Your comics are inspiring to me as I try to find my place in the world and who I am. Thank you so much for being amazing!
Yay thanks so much! Goodluck with college too!
Really interesting blog, keep up the good work!
Oh Sam I’m glad you’re getting to start T
Enjoying these comics too.
Yay! Thanks so much Adam, hope you’re doing well!
I’m heading to the endo tomorrow armed with a card from the trans support group here
I guess you could say that means things look up.
Thank you for being brave enough to share your story. The comics are sad, at points, but hopeful. I have some transgendered friends I’ll be passing the link for this comic onto. You are awesome, man. Don’t change that.
hi sam
My name’s J, short for Jackie or Jean depending on my day XD I just found your blog, and it’s really cheered me up alot. I’ve been really scared and nervous lately because I just discovered this year that I’m genderqueer and though my family knows I’m pansexual they’re not gonna be okay when they find out about my gender -_- you put a really bright spin on things and it’s awesome and it’s been cheering me up! thanks alot!!!!
Oh thanks J! Goodluck with your family, and hope everything goes ok in the end!
Hello – I’m an LGBTQ Graduate Assistant at a University in New Hampshire, USA. Your comic was just recommended to me. I am putting together a flyer for the new “How to be an LGBTQ ally” series – it is going to have different representations of healthy relationships. However, I want to be inclusive but I do not have anyone under the transgender umbrella to pose for a picture of a trans inclusive / gender queer relationship. I was wondering if I could use a picture of your artwork – with proper citation of course.? I would greatly appreciate it!
Yeh for sure, I’d love to help out – can you send me a copy of the resource when it’s done??
Dude, I just wanted to tell you how. totally. awesome. you. are. Really. I found your comic today, and read every single one in the span of a few hours. As a gay girl that feels like she might actually be a gay guy, your comic was like a hail mary or something. I didn’t know if there were people out there that could understand that. Your comics are a mixture of sweetness, critical theory, and hilarity that just makes me want to be brave. Thank you. Truly. I think you may have changed my life.
Oh yay – that’s soooo awesome!!!!!!
Sam,
I’ve had a cool idea. I can give you the front and back inside covers for your comic version of Queer 101 so that it won’t be interfered with by the title of the magazine intruding on art work etc. Also people who love it all to bits can tear the cover off the magazine (ouch) and have it as a double page spread. I know I’ll have one on the notice board above my desk.
So, can I get it soon (very soon) in two A4 bits for the April-June issue?
Kate (Sorry, I’m at home and your email address is at work)
hi there Sam – urgently trying to get in touch with you for an article I’m writing for The listener….. do you have an email address??
cheers!
Ruth Laugesen, staff writer, The Listener
Hi Ruth – yep, my email is sorchard AT ymail DOT com (and yep, that’s a Y not a G, ’cause I’m weird
)