Selyle

Seems pretty easy to become one. I am slightly interested in becoming one and offering services to the gender diverse people in my area and community!

I do get the idea, but I feel like if I’m sending in so many supporting documents, plus a check, that should suffice… I was told that UPS usually has a notary on staff, so that’s my plan!

Also wondering this. I actually have a change open right now, but I guess I needed a notary to sign something… I’ve been waiting each day to see if I should get the form signed and send it back.

Mild rant… but I don’t understand why I need a notary (someone who knows nothing about me) involved in the process. Like, how are my court documents, updated driver’s license, and updated Social Security card not enough to prove my identity…

I know you’ve said that you’ve asked her, and she’s stated she’s fine, but I think it matters how you ask. Sit down with her, mention the behaviors you’ve observed, explain how these things make you feel (I assume you’re worried about a friend), and just let her know you’re there for her if she ever wants to talk. Try not to make it too much about yourself, but be honest with your emotions… and try not to offer fixes for anything unless she asks. Myself and a lot of other women aren’t always open with men, even friends, because it can be exhausting dealing with their problem solver personalities; we normally know how to fix things already, but doesn’t mean they don’t weigh on our minds.

I’m so sorry you’re going through this, and I hope you can find new things and people that bring light to your life 🫂 I went through the same thing last year with my friend group Discord server. I started to notice that I was the only one inviting them to play, trying to find games that fit all their random criteria, and then feeling terrible when I’d get every excuse only for those excuses not to apply to other friends. Recommend a game - no interest, another friend recommends the same game, all the interest. I eventually realized I was just at a different place mentally and emotionally and left. They’re still my friends, but being in a server that makes me feel alone just wasn’t good for me. Started putting my time into new friendships, but I’m just lucky these new people reached out to me because I’m incredibly shy. Gaming with friends is probably my favorite activity in life - not having that right now makes me sad, but I do now have friends to do irl things, which makes me happy. I don’t like reading, but I did start reading manga (all wlw/yuri) and would force myself out of the house to a local coffee shop to do that; that’s how I meant my new friends!

No experiences with stage fright after starting HRT (mainly because I haven’t been on stage for anything 🤭), but there are a variety of other feelings and experiences that are different!

There’s a lot of physical changes, but these are the more mental/unexpected ones for me:

• Just happier and more positive; life feels brighter

• Less physical anxiety symptoms overall (think there’s a lot of reasons for this)

• My cannabis tolerance reset in the first month (super did not expect that)

• Libido/desire is absolutely gone (I’m hoping it’s more that I haven’t been in a situation that ignites that within me… because I miss those feelings)

• There’s a general edge that is no longer there (it’s like there used to be this weight that was always present that I wasn’t aware of - hard to describe!)

• I’ve always connected to people more emotionally, but now it’s waaay more important - drifted apart from some friends who are more closed off in that regard

There’s more, but it’s late, and my brain is melty 🫠

Anecdotally, most of my explore is lgbtq posts with plenty of comments and interaction. Some posts are many days old. I’m 100% sure there is and will be further censorship, but I’ve not really encountered it yet… I’ve also been seeing articles about there being a large amount of specific content (Luigi, guns, etc) that I haven’t encountered at all.

I think these types of feelings tend to come from a bunch of different places for everyone, and it takes each of us different amounts of time and effort to push through them. It’s all super overwhelming, especially starting, and sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint what’s fear, anxiety, embarrassment, or some mental construct that society has programmed into us. It’s all new, and sometimes learning and the fear of not being good at something will manifest as different negative emotions (thanks education system).

When you can, try to focus on every small victory! It’s silly, but honestly, it is often one step at a time! Shaving different parts of your body and enjoying how smooth your skin is, starting your skincare routine/ritual, researching a new fashion aesthetic and buying your first pieces of clothing, or to make it easier - wearing colors which you may have avoided before, styling your hair differently, getting your nails painted, etc. Each little thing will feel like a huge mountain, but like anything, as you do them more, they’ll start to feel more natural 🩷 You will stumble, but just do your best to be patient with yourself! Clothing might not fit or look quite right, that cute hairstyle might not fit your face quite yet, your hands will be a bit clumsy with that make-up brush - all these things are sooo normal, but we’re just so used to only being exposed to the curated, 100th take, years of experience, perfect versions of others through social media.

Something that helped me was expanding my circle a bit and being present in queer spaces - physically or digitally. My ideas of gender completely crumbled as I started interacting with gender diverse people and people on their own journey exploring their gender identity. This will also help you find events or friends that will offer a safe space for you to build confidence outside of your home!

Soo it’s nowhere near the same- but in FFXIV I once spent weeks after an expansion crafting/gathering to make money to buy a large housing plot. By the end of it I had around ~600million (an absurd amount). Unfortunately my luck just wasn’t here and I lost every lottery I entered. Now- I probably have like 5 million. Where did it all go? To other players. I’d just buy people things. Someone in chat said they really wanted this or that- I’d buy it. People wanted a small/medium plot and didn’t have the money? I’d give them the gil. I found literally no reason to have so much gil just for the sake of having it, and I love seeing people get excited. I’d put together little welcome packages with expensive mounts, minions, clothes, etc and gift them to new players. I kind of started doing this in real life to, just to a lesser degree as a stranger handing you a gift can be a bit weird. I’d like to imagine, with infinite wealth, I’d do the same thing to a larger scale- really find ways to improve and bring joy to the lives of others. I’d obviously spoil myself with things, but I imagine I’d spend most of it on other people.

It could be that Gemini was unsettled by the user’s research about elder abuse, or simply tired of doing its homework.

That’s… not how these work. Even if they were capable of feeling unsettled, that’s kind of a huge leap from a true or false question.

I think these types of games would be a great place to start; maybe even something like Inscryption since it shows how deep games can be even when they appear to start off fairly simple.

You’ll find that in queer culture, there’s not just top/bottom but a wide spectrum to define or describe preferences; I’m sure this all also applies to the BDSM world as well. There’s a variety of tops and bottoms and preferences like Bambi lesbians who don’t want sexual dynamics beyond cuddling and kissing.

Depends where you live! There’s weekly/monthly cannabis events where I’m at. I’ve made some great friends at them!

Unfortunately this is some of the best advice. I think different people are more susceptible to existential anxiety - or moreso anxiety over things that will never be able to change or control. Some people can channel that emotion into advocacy, volunteer work, etc while others mentally drown in thought loops. As rude as it sounds, sometimes it really is a ‘touch grass’ type of thing. You HAVE to watch out for your own mental health and oftentimes that means disconnecting from triggers and focusing on your own life and interests. Play a game, watch something, read a book, go to the zoo, meet up with friends - live in the moment and outside your head. I also recommend using the internet purposefully and not just to kill time - use social media for discovery and research of specific topics and not for just general consumption.

Rituals and setting myself up to enjoy the morning- super yummy overnight oats, skincare routine, pour over coffee or a visit to my favorite coffee shop, watching my favorite GTA RP streamer… After all that, my brain has released the entirety of its dopamine for the day, and I crawl back into bed until lunch/dinner 🥹

I could be super wrong, but I don’t think people who purchase music think about the value of those songs in that way anymore. Some people buy songs for the physical display of the package, the potentially higher quality playback, to avoid music from disappearing due to copyright or label issues, to support an artist since streaming is like fractions of a penny, for offline listening which isn’t tied to a subscription feature, just for collections sake, for more emotional reasons - physically connecting with a song/album, to justify their recent impulse record player purchase, etc. Sometimes people just want to spend money (retail therapy), so they’ll buy an album (digital or physical), never open it, and just keep streaming.

The thing I want natively is a built-in way to control volume per tab- not just mute, not through a plugin… Just a simple volume slider that works.