Ayy, congrats!

Practical matters first: for gel you apply it in the area between crotch and knee, on the inner front side of the leg, if my mind fails me not. Follow the instructions on the gel.

You’ll have to let it dry for 10 min and not let the area come in contact with other things, before putting clothes on (and then you can go about with your day). Don’t shower/bathe in the hour after, after that it should be fully absorbed.

Do you use anti-androgens? I’m not sure if gel should ( @WillStealYourUsername@piefed.blahaj.zone , please tell me), but if so, you should get anti-androgen injections once every 8-12 weeks.

The anti-androgen injections will affect your libido (usually crashing it, you’ll notice a few days after). The estrogen’s effects vary on the body and with time, but generally, the first you’ll notice is mentally. Some people report a brain fog being lifted, others feel like they’re happier, others as if they see more ‘life’ with their eyes. Not everyone has those, but they occur in the first month.

Your fertility will also be affected (the longer, the more it’s affected), so if you want biological children and don’t want to risk having to discontinue HRT for three months, I’d freeze your reproductive cells first before starting. HRT by itself does not halt fertility altogether.

Don’t feel like you’re missing out on what to do in your transition! Your body, your choice.

Up to about 3 months, most stuff is reversible, giving you ample time to reflect on how you feel. Once breast buds appear, that is irreversible (barring surgery). In case you doubt whether to start, my advice is that only you can decide. It’s a big jump, but whether or not you decide what to do, you got support 🩷🩵🤍

The voice won’t rise by itself, so if that is a source for dysphoria for you, I’d recommend voice training. Voice Tools is a handy app for that, alongside Acoustic Gender Box(?).

Breast and hip growth takes the longest, about 2 years minimum but it can easily take 5, less often even 10 years to fully round out (progesteron may help with rounding, as well fem libido). If you start HRT before 21-ish, your hips will widen more.

That explains a lot tbh, I always felt like I looked ‘off’ before HRT. But now, oh boy, I feel so much better!

Whatever your goals are, let it help you well, man! It’s so much nicer when one can fully express themselves.

Just call 'em fascists, that’s what they are now. Had they been conservative we’d see more reps like Charlie Baker.

I feel like MAGAhats are deep enough in the sinkhole that they’d do anything, even that, for their Daddy Rapist.

Nah, they don’t do the same things.

Antifascists strive for humanity. Fascists don’t.

Domestic terrorists ride the metro and intimidate a good person*

Congrats!!

Tell them also of the International Fixed Calendar and my ideas on it!

This is why so many of us go DIY!

Corruption

There is no wrong or right order, nor do you have to do ‘everything’. Do what makes you most comfortable with your gender.

Depending on your country, you may or may not need a diagnosis, or at least need access to DIY. That said, the few things I really would recommend:

1. If you want the chance to have biological children of your own, then freeze your reproductive cells first. If you want to freeze after you’ve started HRT, you should get off HRT for a few months, which can give you menopausal symptoms, hence why: freeze before HRT.
2. Start HRT after freezing; I would suggest you look at this list. Don’t take the doctor’s advice regarding dosing (they often give way too low doses), go instead for what transfem science says. Here, especially Table 5 is relevant.

If you wish to reduce body hair, you can laser before or during HRT. In my case I did it before, since you need multiple sessions to laser it all away. I felt that the ‘intermediate’ period between starting and passing is then easier, since your skin is already smooth.

For voice training, you can do that anytime. I started just before E, again to make the intermediate period easier.

Lucky bitch, C cups?? I have B/C, not full C…

Such as? (For transfem people, I mean)

I presume the blocking T requirement is no longer necessary if one has had orchiectomy (or further surgery that also involves orchiectomy)?

usually lo-fi music distracts me nicely

I think the best way to make it work for the fediverse is to have it be accessible by all instances (sans Threads).

Does Mbin have no up- or downvotes altogether? Cool, that sounds like having a sort of forum feel.

No one should earn beyond multiple people’s year salaries. It’s a sign of corruption.

o2?

I had the opposite problem. I had very few friends IRL, and wasn’t happy. I made a lot more online. Had social media been banned for children, I’m not sure how my life would have gone.

I think the issue is not so much social media inasmuch it’s abilities for parental and user controls lacking (or being unbalanced), or algorithms promoting severe polarisation and radicalisation towards fascism.

That and the cost of living as well the ginormous malevolent oligarch class, which affect all the above. Those are the root issues.

It’d be better to addres those.