This is beautiful, and I am grateful to be here for it. I have travelled so much further than I expected to want to travel with this, and I keep learning that I want to try more things, and I always bring it here, and there are people who understand what I mean, and can see what I am aiming at, even thought their own experience is in a completely different direction, but, we are ALL people, and we can all understand how It feels to have and want sensory experiences that are different from what assigned biology allowed, and appreciating each step of understanding how being human in the world and applying these thing feels for EACH person, in their own way adds to everyone's feeling and experience and belonging. Especially when it is all received and shared openly with care and acceptance. 

Yes! Likewise! Had someone told me a year ago that I'd be here, having these conversations AND having these feelings - both about these things AND about the conversations themselves... I'd have thought they'd lost their minds.   I've always held onto hope that people could share their innermost feelings - desires, fears, all of it - and receive it openly and recognize the ways that we are all the same at our core. I feel like we're doing that here, and that, to me, is absolutely priceless.

Very much this, and I am very grateful for ALL of you. It has been life changing for me, and I learn more than I ever imagined I would. And more than imagined I WANTED to know. 

The more i share the more I realise that I am not alone. A lot of people have similar anxieties or experiences even when coming at it from a completely different direction. Its nice being able to connect with others in that way 

It IS fun to pursue peace, fulfillment, and satisfaction, isn't it? Especially when you discover new clues!   I guess I feel like HRT and surgery and other bodily changes aren't any different ethically/morally from the discussion over here about there not needing to be "shoulds" or "shouldn'ts" about "accessories." If something feels *right* for us, especially like deep down inside *right*, then who is harmed by HRT or surgeries - other than possibly ourselves, which is why it's important to involve medical professionals to help assess risk.   I see realistic comparisons being having dental work done or various cosmetic surgeries or joint replacements or carpal tunnel surgery... Modern medicine offers a variety of options for improving the quality of our lives. I don't see gender-affirming being care any different from the others.

It's so much fun to have this conversation with a fellow nerd!   I guess if I'm being more honest and vulnerable, fun isn't a strong enough word. Fulfilling? Satisfying? Peaceful? It is also fun, but it's a deeper kind of fun.

As long as you're okay and the bigots are getting it worse 😂

There's no travel board?    Anyway, we are travelling.    So, any super awesome things to do / know about / try in Austria? Specifically Vienna / Salzburg.   Any cool LGBTQ+ stuff?    Any things to be wary of? (I am not usually a very wary person, and am pretty confident) 

I actually did, thank you for asking.    I turned up at Pride with no ticket, due to complicated reasons, and the people on the gate let me in anyway, with VIP band and everything, and it made me feel like SOMEONE WHO WASN'T ME believed that I belonged and should be there.    Which was joyful.    But then I spent ten minutes there and got overwhelmed and lonely and did not feel belonging so I left.    But, still...   I think, like Hannah Gadsby, I need to just find where the quiet version of my people hang out.   I have had other joyful, gender led experiences this month, but that was my pride specific one.

It *really* is.    Properly.    I *never* had any intention of knowing that this is a thing I have *any* kind of feeling about. And now here I am not only having feelings but ALSO knowing a bunch of people who have SIMILAR feelings. It's kind of confusing and comforting all at once. Which I guess means it really does help to share even the things that feel like they should *definitely* stay inside my head!   

I agree, Max. Life is always a mixed bag of "bad" and "good" stuff, and I think it's important to be able to hold it all (whenever possible). When things are going really poorly, I like to look around and remind myself of the ways that there is still good in my life. And even when things are going well, I try not to become complacent and remember that I'm on a "lucky streak," and more difficult times will eventually come.   I hope the paint comes off easily and I hope the pierogis are excellent.

I love all of that, too, Toli. These, really, are the kinds of things I've longed to discuss with people - the parts that are about what we're experiencing INSIDE ourselves, how odd it feels, how sometimes conflicted the feelings are, trying to figure out how to USE those feelings to guide us to knowing what to DO so that we can BE who we actually are instead of what we were taught we were supposed to be.   And it's damned confusing when "accessories" have an unexpected (and pleasant?!?) effect. So having other people say, "Yes! I have a very similar experience (even coming at it from a very different direction)!" tells me that this is getting at something hugely significant about who and what we are, and it goes beyond appearance or acceptance or community.   I don't know... I just feel like this is gold. And yet, there is likely no one who can "tell us what it means." Fortunately, we have each other and this ongoing conversation to help us work through it.

Love this 😂 Honestly its ridiculous isnt it    The UK is pretty good with this stuff so i could make a big fuss of it if i wanted. For now im letting the others have fun at my expense because they aren't being directly horrible to me. They are messing with him using me if that makes sense. Im hoping it will die down but if it gets worse ill have to rethink.

This is my general feeling towards the body. It might sound slightly cliche, but I fully believe i am only my brain. If you were to take my brain out and put it in a fully feminine mecha body i would not change at all I would just have a different vehicle and would still completely be the me I am now. If I discover that my brain is feminine coded then to me at least it would make sense to change the outward characteristics meet with the me (brain)  Real life character customisation 😂    

I'm deeply sorry for your loss. ❤️

A very dear friend passed of cancer yesterday. Still in shock :(    

Deaf friend died, I'm in shock.