I knew I was attracted to men. I also knew that I wanted to continue to present in a masculine way as an adult and occupy a masculine social role. I had never seen anything like that growing up. So I naturally assumed I was some kind of freak.

You hit the nail on the head. I agree Brienne from GoT is a great example. I still can't think of many other examples in the media and I never saw it happening in real life. I remember googling if any men liked masculine women, being really disappointed that the answer was basically 'no', and figured well might as well mess with my gender identity.

I also felt stuck because even when I did see a GNC person they were always GNC. Butch girls were always butch. Feminine guys were always feminine. I liked to express myself in a lot of ways. The idea of committing to masculinity or femininity 100% felt stifling to me, but people expect you to be one thing all the time.

The in-betweenness of trans/nonbinary was very attractive because it allowed more freedom in that regard. If I called myself nonbinary or trans no one looked at me funny for showing up really masc one day and really femme the next and really andro another day. Ofc later on I learned about soft butches and such, and that did help a little.