Hildegarde

A town I sometimes visit has a bear research centre, and I like to go there to see the bears.

I have never wanted to visit a man research station to see men.

The bears keep winning.

Now draw her in shock from accidentally turning on light mode on her computer.

The issue with self driving cars is that the roads are not restricted access. Too many variables to do self driving in shared use spaces. We’ve had self driving cars, on dedicated roads, and they operate safely because they run with the assumption that nothing else will be in their way.

Elevators

Breast growth and infertility were the two main irreversible changes they warned me about. It took about a month before I got the sore nipples which is the first sign of active construction, and it was about 3 months before the growth was noticeable to anyone else. Stopping the HRT at that point would have zero to minimal permanent effects.

As far as infertility goes, its not guaranteed. It does stop semen and sperm production. Reverting the hormones will restart that, but there is a chance it doesn’t. Its wise to take precautions if maintaining fertility is important.

But cis hormones cause irreversible changes too. If your voice drops it cannot be undropped. If your beard follicles activate hormones cannot deactivate them. Irreversible effects can be managed, but not undone. You can voice train, you can get top surgery, you can get electrolosys.

Its very important to teach children about transition, and make sure they have access to medical care early on. Diagnose it early enough and save them from having to suffer through any of the wrong irreversible changes.

Cypro is not approved for use in the US which is the main reason they give us spiro.

I reduced my spiro dose and my pre-transition depression came back around 2-3 weeks later. Finding the right dose can take a bit of trial and error, or guess and check. If you change the meds and things get worse, its probably wise to revert that change.

Spiro itself has some unpleasant side effects, but so does having too much or too little T.

If perfect skin means free instant electrolysis over my entire face, I’ll take that, unless that’s more of the jurisdiction of perfect hair.

as a man

Rule 1: Women only.

Congrats on your transition, ma’am!

For the record, if I died before I came out I would want to be posthumously transitioned.

I never chose my AGAB. Don’t assume.

This one is an electronic drum set so it detects the hit and makes the according sound.

Men’s color palettes are awful. I can’t count the number of times I’ve read menswear advice that tells readers to wear colors from nature, and then pretends that flowers, sunsets, and rainbows don’t exist.

Colors are good I like colors.

How underwhelming and mundane it is. Given how weirdly obsessed society seems to be about it, I expected more.

Congratulations!!! You pass!!!

And I was scared as to how people would react, hence delaying the coming out part. Fortionately I keep good company so it was pretty much a non-issue.

I also had long hair and was clean shaven for over a decade. Would have been nice if I asked myself why I liked looking like that… but no not for a long while.

I could have been much more overt with my transition. Might have been better, who knows. But it was important to stick with what I was comfortable with.

I transitioned socially after starting HRT. Perfectly fine way to go about it.

I gradually changed how I presented myself publicly over around the first 9 months of HRT. I gradually changed my public facing wardrobe from full masc, to plausible deniability, to full fem. Started wearing bras at 4 months. Stared voice training, and began using the new voice in public around 1-2 months. I was out to some people, those who were close friends, and those few who asked. At 9 months my employer published the new annual personnel roster, so I used that as the moment to change my name and pronouns for everyone.

I love the comment about being a bloater. I said very similar things about myself. Worrying self-deprecation was a pre-transition coping mechanism. I liked making that kind of joke, they are funny! But HRT put a stop to it. Insulting myself as a joke no longer lands, because I don’t believe it anymore. Estrogen did that. Negative self-talk is more of a symptom than a cause in my experience.

I transitioned in my 30s. I think there probably is an age component to it. I suffered two full decades of accumulated testosterone damage, and I’m at a stage of life where I’m supposed to have figured myself out. Transitioning socially in advance of HRT felt like a non-option. I imagine if I knew transition was an option in my teenage years, I probably wound have done it social first.

Do what feels right. A gradual social transition after hormones is a fine way of doing things.

It actually doesn’t. The outer skin of the corn doesn’t get broken down, but the rest does. Don’t ask how I know this.

I thought I didn’t want boobs, until I started the E and grew some and that changed my mind.

My brain likes estrogen. When I’m on the right dose I feel fine and good and normal. Testosterone makes me depressed. And changes to my body like boobs are a nice bonus as it turns out.

Don’t delay HRT. I waited about 4 years between realizing I was trans and getting the hormones. It seemed like a big thing, it sounded scary so I put it off. Biggest regret.

Getting hormones, is a timely process. Seeing results takes even longer. No sense adding extra time to the process without reason.

Pretty normal shape for that stage. They grow forward before they grow outward. With time and/or progesterone they’ll round out.

I’m at about 18 months HRT 6 months progesterone, they are slowly becoming fuller and rounder, but are still quite pointy.

But when I wear an underwire bra, or top with a shelf bra, they look full and round. Many women with small breasts have a pointed shape, its normal and fine. Clothes create the shape; breasts are very malleable.

Being a man is a solvable problem :3