#like its definitely a hormone issue

[marginal-effect]

if i get one thing from my trip to the vagina doctor next week i hope that a) it turns out i have a hormone issue and that it also explains the persistent brain fog and fits of violent rage i keep finding myself in, among other things, or b)something is so wrong it puts me out of work on short term long enough for me to rewire my brain

[jamethinks]

Feel like if Yor got pregnant she would just drop it on Loid out of the blue assuming she figures it out before him. At the same time I do believe Yor would go through an entire pregnancy completely unaware of it. Twilight would quicker notice something is off but be too scared to say anything.

Like "Hmm Yor has gained 11.4 pounds, her breast seem perkier, she's getting a bit moody, normally this preclude her period but her cycle is normally irregular but still nothing has changed, she still has the exact same amount of tampons as she did last week, her diet also has changed, increased nausea... maybe she's mad at me? I know I shouldn't have walked Bond for that extra 4 minutes, she noticed and now she's going to divorce me and Handler will chop me up."

If Yor somehow manages to go to the doctor before Twilight finds the confidence to ask a question then she would drop it on him no hesitation. The one she'll actually be concerned about is the Shopkeeper but he knew the moment the egg attached to her uterus but that's neither here nor there.

[theygender]

The more I think about it the more I really feel like the recently coined term mesosex might fit me and it's been shared by several intersex education/advocacy blogs I follow now so I know there's support for the term but I'm still like. Scared I would be Intruding™ on intersex issues if I started using it. Like I mean. I'm an afab & (afaik) perisex person with a reproductive disorder that's likely caused by a (non-intersex) hormone imbalance which I'm now essentially having to take feminizing HRT to fix, and as a result I'm now growing tits and undergoing female-pattern fat redistribution at the age of 25 after years of having little to no secondary sex characteristics. I've always identified with intersex issues but now that I'm essentially having to undergo HRT to make my body match my asab that connection to intersex issues feels even stronger. And like that's what the term is for. But my anxiety is still like "but what if you're intruding tho" lol 🙃

[hearteyesdiaz]

.

[harmoonix]

𓆩♡𓆪 𝔾𝕚𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 II 𓆩♡𓆪

──────────────────────────────

~ This time ya gonna see how we do it like that ~ ──────────────────────────────

𓆩♡𓆪 Sagittarius Sun, Mars, Venus or Mercury will make you such a sassy person, literally "savage" the definition of these placements

𓆩♡𓆪 When you have Mars aspecting the Midheaven people will see you as a competition, they'll try to compete with you

𓆩♡𓆪 Cancer Mars and Moon can have issues with understanding their feelings, but that doesn't stop them from expressing themselves and getting better

─────────────────────────────

We're wide awake now, our eyes are wide open

We're running this world, we keeping it turning

─────────────────────────────

𓆩♡𓆪 Aries and Aquarius Lilith are 2 rebellious forces of nature, Lilith may act like she needs to change something in herself here, it can be in her personality

𓆩♡𓆪 Saturn in the same house as Lilith or conjuncting Lilith can be a dangerous placement because Lilith here won't listen to anybody and will do her own thing. She can feel chained up

𓆩♡𓆪 The aura a Capricorn gives is always dark, I love how Capricorn can resemble the dark "goat", Capricorn always gave Maleficent vibes especially when it comes to being ambitious

𓆩♡𓆪 Mercury/Gemini in the 5H can make you to be attracted be multiple people or to have more crushes, doesn't always have to be a relationship

𓆩♡𓆪 Leo Sun, Risings and Venus are the embodiment of a queen, for some reason I always think of Cleopatra of Egypt everytime I think about Leo placements ( Leo Venus gives highly Bastet vibes)

𓆩♡𓆪 If you have a "yang" moon sign like air or fire signs and you have Pluto aspecting the Moon, the aspects will make your moon to act more dark/misterious than already it is

𓆩♡𓆪 Lilith in Gemini/3rd house will tend to talk more harshly if they're feeling threatened by a person, especially if they want to call that person out for something

𓆩♡𓆪 Everytime I see someone trying to look for a "loyal relationship" I always think they must have Saturn - Venus aspects or Saturn in Libra or Saturn in the 5H or 7H!! major loyal relationship vibes

𓆩♡𓆪 Lilith in Leo. I love this placement but its bad trait can be that, they love the attention and if they don't get it. These natives can get mad or just annoyed about it

𓆩♡𓆪 Saturn in Scorpio or in the 8H talks about a major want or "need" for feeling comfortable with their intimacy or sexuality, they just want to feel good and protected in the same time

𓆩♡𓆪 Virgo Moons aspected by Lilith can act "unholy" which can indicate being more critical than usual maybe more strict even with yourself, is important to give yourself peace of mind

𓆩♡𓆪 Asteroid Sirene (1009) aspecting Saturn can make you to be more attracted in older people than you, sexually, romantically etc

𓆩♡𓆪 Asteroid Sirene (1009) aspecting the Sun will Influence the native to be more aware of their personality and aura, like you know how attractive and beautiful you can be

𓆩♡𓆪 Asteroid Eros (433) in Cancer/4H or Cancer Degrees 4°, 16°, 28° will mostly attract a partner who will be a familist/a person who puts family over everything/traditional spouse too

𓆩♡𓆪 Asteroid Eros (433) in Virgo/6H or Virgo Degrees 6°, 18° will mostly attract a very hardworking spouse, someone will know how important the "devotion" to the world

─────────────────────────────

We're living like giants

─────────────────────────────

𓆩♡𓆪 People don't talk enough about how Mars - Jupiter and Venus - Jupiter aspects can make you horny 24/7, not gonna lie their sexual hormones are crazy

𓆩♡𓆪 Saturn in Gemini or the 3rd house natives will find themselves constantly pushed into situations where the need to have good communication skills will become apparent

𓆩♡𓆪 Gemini Risings are remarcabile in making themselves socially liked by others, I admire their social skills and their friendship commitment

𓆩♡𓆪 Saturn in the 1st/10th and 6th house are big glow up placements, for yourself, career and even your mental health

𓆩♡𓆪 Asteroid Eros (433) in Libra/7H/ or at 7°, 19° degrees, can we talk a bit about how romantic these placements are?? Eros is getting into "addicted" phase here and is just so in love with everything

𓆩♡𓆪 Venus in Virgo/Venus in the 6th or Venus at 6°. 18° degrees can have quality time and acts of service as their love languages and they're honestly trying their best at making people feeling seen and comforted

𓆩♡𓆪 Neptune/Jupiter/Uranus in the 1st house can he gifted with spiritual gifts, they're usually much more spiritual than other people even since from childhood

𓆩♡𓆪 People don't talk enough about how Moon in the 9th house can make you tied to a certain culture or tradition. It can be yours or others, but you'll get so tied in that culture that you'll adore it

𓆩♡𓆪 I have my 7H lord in the 9H in my sidereal/vedic chart and my friends always joke about me marrying someone religious (I PRAY to not), im more spiritual than religious and marrying someone religious will be the end for me (They say I'm gonna marry a priest help 😭😭😭)

𓆩♡𓆪 Pluto in the 11th house will make the native more powerful in their communities, or in their social group, you gain power with community

𓆩♡𓆪 Asteroid Eros (433) in Capricorn/10th house or at 10°, 22° will attract that type of "boss" figure spouse in their lives, it can be a dominant figure too and very influential in their lives

𓆩♡𓆪 Moon or Venus in the 6H are the best placements to have if you love animals 🐶🐈🐨, I adore these placements in the 6H (can't relate I don't have any) but I love seeing them in a chart

𓆩♡𓆪 Some obvs. for your 1H lord in other house

1st house lord in the 6H > Prioritize your health and your capacity for work/service, taking a break is vital for you

1st house lord in the 2nd H > your self worth and is more precious than any gold or diamonds from this earth

1st house lord in the 7H > Relationships are healthy and important for a human but don't forget to prioritize yourself as well

1st house lord in the 5H > Finding your joy and your own talents is the best thing you can do

1st house lord in the 9H > Don't let others to decide your fate, you can do it by yourself! Try to be more free than ever

1st house lord in the 12H > Your subconscious is as powerful as your spirit, you learn that your destiny will always be by your side

𓆩♡𓆪 Having Saturn as your asc ruler like Cap or Aqua risings is not an easy job because Saturn is teaching you how to deal with life independently

𓆩♡𓆪 Venus in Aquarius/Venus at 11°, 23° degrees, people get so easily attached by you with this placement, you like "one of them" and the community support is always so heart warming

𓆩♡𓆪 Saturn or Mercury in the 6H can make you anxious at your job, not that "severe" anxiety but still stressing

𓆩♡𓆪 Lilith in Virgo/6H can be full of storms, because they can feel drained and tired from others energy, people tend to ignore or forget about their needs and these natives can end up in a bad mood

𓆩♡𓆪 Neptune/Pisces/Moon or Cancer in the 2H can get emotionally attached by the things they own. It can be a sentimental relationship with material things

──────────────────────────────

Ya thought that we were weak but we coming right back

This time ya gonna see how we do it like that

──────────────────────────────

𓆩♡𓆪 Saturn aspecting the Moon, especially in harsh aspects, has a hard time dealing with their emotions, is okay to let your feeling out sometimes

𓆩♡𓆪 Asteroid Sirene (1009) having no aspects or sitting empty in a chart can indicate a native who didn't discovered their sexual potential yet

𓆩♡𓆪 Pisces + Taurus combo in a chart can indicate a native who can be a very dreamy and artistic person, their talent can be insane

𓆩♡𓆪 Saturn/Pluto and Lilith in the 4H can grow in very strict households, and it is very important to heal and grow and to NOT be like them and to not fall in their footsteps in case they're toxic

𓆩♡𓆪 Jupiter aspecting the ascendant native is looking hella good because you'll have Jupiter blessing your body. If you don't love your body, start to do so

𓆩♡𓆪 Sagittarius Risings lining up to be some of the most luckiest people in the world because Jupiter, the planet of luck, is rulling their 1st house. The same can apply if you are Jupiter Dominant

𓆩♡𓆪 Having Jupiter aspecting the Neptune makes you the most dreamiest person ever, never stop believing in your dreams, or your magic will fade away literally

𓆩♡𓆪 Sagittarius + Libra combo in a chart can make you to be more bold, wild, sexy, pretty than ever, shine brighter than the diamonds with Venus - Jupiter as your rulers

𓆩♡𓆪 Scoprio + Virgo/Capricorn in a chart can make the native enchanted, mysterious, and even more magnetic. You can have vampire energy

𓆩♡𓆪 North Node aspecting Saturn gives the native the power to go through their obstacles in life, is indeed an indicator for having karmic lessons, but you gonna rise victorious out of this

𓆩♡𓆪 Venus aspecting Neptune or Pluto makes you fall in love with the 'bad' guys. They can be toxic, manipulators, and yes, extremely hot, but that was not the point ;)

𓆩♡𓆪 Sun aspecting Mars natives have that unique energy to make everything possible, they are very ambitious and will make it to happen

𓆩♡𓆪 Mars in the same house as Mercury or Mars aspecting Mercury will be very sassy/dramatic in their talks/conversations, even sarcastic sometimes

𓆩♡𓆪 12H in Leo/South Node in Leo/Saturn in Leo/8H in Leo gives "royalty up to my veins." They can have a presence of a royalty in other people's lives

𓆩♡𓆪 Pluto or Lilith aspecting the ascendant gives major jealousy vibes when it comes to your looks/appearance people wish to look like you

𓆩♡𓆪 Moon in the 11H/Moon in Aquarius natives are gifted with incredible friends in this life. The meaning of these placements is to find friends you can relate with, very underrated placements ♡

𓆩♡𓆪 Lilith in the 4H and Cancer Lilith can be placements because you're not always surrounded with love or kindness, that's why is hard for you to give the same energy back

𓆩♡𓆪 Air Risings remind me of 90's songs. For some reason, I have always considered the 90s to be Air Risings era, related to music style kinda makes sense because

Libra Risings because Venus gives them the gift of arts and music, Libra because of their unique fashion (The 90's fashion in music industry was BOMB)

Gemini Risings because Mercury is heavy tied with music and with what we hear, Gemini because is tied with communication and learning skills in music

Aquarius Risings because of Uranus's help to bring uniqueness and difference in music styles, also to make it widely more known, Aquarius to make it comfortable for the community of music

Not me debating the reason 😭😭 i got too deep with this subject lol

𓆩♡𓆪 Let me tell ya guys ,it happens to have my Lilith [1181] conj my Aphrodite in the 5H (house of kids😭😭), these both make me to not want kids never, and I actually like it because i am a generational curse breaker anyway. Thanks to Lilith, i know Lady Aphrodite can act more "baby fever" in the 5H!!! Not my in case 💅💅💅

𓆩♡𓆪 Speaking of Lilith 1181 aspecting your Neptune can make you to act more dreamy & enchanted, also very intutive

𓆩♡𓆪 Lilith 1181 aspecting your Moon makes you to be vulnerable at times, need to take care and to protect your energy! Dont depend on others

𓆩♡𓆪 Lilith 1181 aspecting your Venus will make you to act more possessive your relationships/spouse, will make you to be more in love even obsessed at times.

♡■ New week, a new post for yall☆!! Enjoy it♡♡♡ ♡

I hope you all have a very beautiful Monday ♡♡♡

Harm♡♡nix

[probablyasocialecologist]

The methodology for the Cass review was established by a team from the University of York including Tilly Langdon, who has previously been involved in promoting Gender Exploratory Therapy – an approach which, despite its neutral-sounding name, discourages children from identifying as trans and has been likened to conversion therapy. Her approach included setting a very high bar for evidence to be considered in the review, ruling out 100 of the existing 103 studies into the use of puberty blockers and hormones to treat trans children. The reason given for excluding all these studies was that they did not incorporate a double blind approach – in other words, they did not involve giving puberty blockers to some patients and placebos to others. This might sound like a reasonable objection on the face of it – until one considers that puberty is a dramatic physical and psychological process, and people can easily tell when it’s happening to them, so a double blind simply wouldn’t work in practice. The Cass review called for more research and, again, few would disagree with this. The suggestion that treatment should be withheld in the process, however, is not neutral. It presupposes that the harm done by puberty blockers (demineralisation of bones, which is usually temporary in the short-term treatment recommended and is similar to what occurs in pregnancy) is more severe than the harm done to a trans child by going through the wrong sort of puberty. The latter is linked to high rates of self-harm and suicidal ideation, together with the need, in many cases, for extensive surgical procedures. Confusingly, the review states that children taking puberty blockers showed “no changes in gender dysphoria or body satisfaction”, which suggests that the author didn’t actually understand what puberty blockers do at all. They don’t make children feel better – they just delay a process that makes them feel worse. This is one of several oddities in a report that lacks internal consistency. It states that there is no established definition of social transition, for instance, and does not offer one, but goes on to talk about it as if there were. It also talks about autistic ‘girls’ identifying as trans in increasing numbers, treating this as mysterious and as cause for concern, despite acknowledging elsewhere that more and more girls are being diagnosed as autistic, so one would expect more diagnoses to be present within any subsection of the young female-assigned population.  Perhaps the most worrying of the review’s conclusions – which should concern people far beyond the trans community – is the suggestion that as far as NHS treatment is concerned, trans people should be treated as children until they are 25. The rational for this is that 25 is the age when (on average) the brain stops developing. As any neurologist will tell you, the brain is in fact never static, and within ten years or so of that age, it begins to shrink. Deciding who has the capacity to make decisions based on brain age could have unintended consequences for the likes of Cass (64).  That aside, what would setting the age of true adulthood at 25 mean for everybody else? If we couldn’t allow people to consent to medical treatment at 24, should we ask them to risk dying for us? If not, then at a stroke we could lose a quarter of our armed forces. Likewise, we would have to give serious thought to what to do about a third of parents who might not be considered competent to look after their newborn children.  And then there are issues like contraception. Right-wingers have long contended, on one pretext or another, that teenage girls shouldn’t have the right to take the pill without their parents’ consent. This is where the review’s suggestion starts to look less like a double standard and more like the thin end of a very nasty wedge.

[teaboot]

seeing the NSFW question and answers you've got happening here

my vulva is really itchy and sore but I haven't had any kind of sex recently or even used any sex toys recently. I haven't changed my washing powder. I haven't douched ever or used soap inside my vulva or used any lotions or scents around my vulva. I last shaved 2 weeks ago with a razor and the same body wash I always use. I don't think it's BV or thrush and its driving me mad. help?

CW DISCUSSION OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

Shaving public hair can increase your odds of developing bacterial infections, yeast infections, and UTIs, all of which can present as soreness or itchiness. Underwear made of synthetic fabrics can, too. High-sugar diets, hormone fluctuations, thong underwear, dehydration, bath water quality, and some lubes can, too, as well as touching without washing hands thoroughly first. Long nails especially are fantastic at holding onto and transporting bacteria and fungi. Antibiotics can cause these issues, and antibiotics can cure these issues. Medications, too.

Short and simple annoying answer: Could be anything.

I recommend drinking lots of water and cranberry juice and seeing a doctor- if it is BV then using a yeast infection treatment will burn like holy hellfire and you dont want that. Getting a urine test is your best bet.

In the meantime, again, drink lots of water and urinate frequently. Don't wash with soap, but do wash, and do so with clean water. Wear loose clothing when possible made of breathable fabrics like cotton. Change underwear daily.

I'm not a doctor or a medical professional. These are just things I've picked up through work and life. My first recommendation is always to contact a doctor, and if you start producing unusual discharge, experiencing pain during urination, developing sores, welts, or a rash, or end up with swelling or pain in your lower back, DEFINITELY seek medical assistance.

Good luck, bud 👍

[butch-reidentified]

Pitching New Terminology: GLAP (Gamete-Linked Anatomy and Physiology)

A little while back, I remember seeing someone on here talk about 2nd wave feminist attempts to coin new terminology/alter existing terms as part of their feminism ("herstory" and "womyn" for example) + my wife and I have been talking a ton for a few months now about how language can feel so limiting, as counterintuitive as most people likely would find that. One of the things my wife brought up is that it bothers and bewilders her that "sex" can refer to biological categories, to the state of being male or female, but can also mean intercourse. She said this feels very male to her, and thinks that this word being used to mean both of these things (both of which are very charged concepts with heavy connotations - but only because of patriarchy) is not only unnecessary, but arguably harmful to the feminist cause as well.

Not only that, but sex (as in maleness/femaleness) is itself very much in contention these days - its existence itself is challenged in addition to its definition and the parameters of its categories. Even outside of gender identity ideology (GII) and the conversation surrounding transgender identities, there is a fair amount of inconsistency in what exactly people think makes a human being male or female, be it large or small gamete production, the presence of either a penis or a vagina, some sort of checklist-like combination of sex characteristics, karyotype, hormone dominance, the infamous pseudoscientific "brain sex," or something else.

I agree with Dr. Rashad Rehman's succinct statement that "sex is defined by gamete production," from his paper (which I've posted on several previous occasions and you can read at this link) refuting both GII and the catholic church regarding human sex biology & intersex conditions. As I've said countless times on this blog and he says in his paper, this manner of categorizing human beings as male or female does not require successful production of large or small gametes. Rather, it defines a human being's sex according to which of two overall developmental pathways their body follows; has your body (your anatomy and your physiology, as referenced in the GLAP acronym's A and P) developed around the "intention," so to speak, of producing large gametes or small gametes?

This is what led to the acronym GLAP (for "Gamete-Linked Anatomy and Physiology"), which I introduced in a recent reblog. She and I coined this term together to offer a more precise, better delineated alternative to "[biological] sex," and an alternative bearing zero denotative or connotative relationship to sexual intercourse.

By not only defining sex in relation to gametes, but placing the very word "gamete" at the literal forefront of the term itself, GLAP leaves little room for debate or misunderstanding when it comes to discussions of maleness and femaleness in human beings. The importance of this is well-stated in Dr. Rehman's paper, particularly in the following section containing two quotes from the writings of MIT philosophy professor Alex Byrne. The first of these two quotes references Brown-educated feminist scientist (and GNC lesbian!) Dr. Anne Fausto-Sterling, and the second cites Simone de Beauvoir's "The Second Sex."

[Please let me know if image description is needed; screen reader test worked on my end, but who knows?]

We believe this terminology has the potential to combat misinformation surrounding human biology as well as to open doors within the discourse pertaining to GII and transgender issues. We suspect - and hope - that removing the word "sex," thus removing the messiness that tends to come along with the word, could perhaps reduce tensions and reactivity in order to allow for conversations to be had that otherwise would rapidly escalate or be avoided entirely. Additionally, introducing a new term like this requires providing an explanation of its meaning and purpose, the process of which we believe will help facilitate such conversations. We also feel that the novelty and hint of silly-sounding-ness could support the goal of reducing the tension and emotional charge currently embedded in gender discourse.

[freyjas-musings]

I often see posts on who would win the "blood duel" between Lucien and Azriel and then see some eluciens and some elriels cat fight because you know.... boredom

It got me thinking and here are a few points and my thoughts on the "blood duel"

First and foremost nobody knows the parameters of said duel , so we cannot really compare notes and see who would actually win. They each come with a different skill set so please calm your hormones.

Note to Eluciens - the whole Lucien will come into his full power so he will be.... no stop.... Az isn't Cass , Rhys couldn't do shit to Azriel's shield in the high lords meeting... so just ✋️ stop. If it's only brute strength and magic Az has the upper hand , deal with it.

Now , we are talking about comparing who is more powerful. For 2 groups whose general anthem is strength comes in different forms ... Brute strength isn't the only form of strength ..... its shameful that when it comes to Az and Lucien their only comparison is based on brute strength. SHAME SHAME SMH.

It pains me as an Az stan but here is the truth the minute Az agreed to "defeat" Lucien in a fight , he lost . He agreed to engage in violence over someone who detests violence ? See , how he just proved he isn't right for said person right there ?

If Canon info is anything to go by, Lucien will not even invoke the blood duel. It's not because he is a coward ... its the opposite it's because he is a stronger, better male, one who would respect what Elain wants and walk away. So sorry, Lucien in this case is definitely the stronger male and the bigger male .... and given his strength in not resorting to violence makes him automatically compatible with his mate.

Now, about Azriel or Lucien needing to be humbled .... neither need to be humbled, you see their problem isn't with each other so just chill you guys . They each need to have their own healing and growth. You idiots need to stop. People like me love both of them and would love to be in a sandwich situation there ... if I were to pick it would helion and Eris but I will take the other as well. The only form of humbling I will expect is Lucien saving Azriel's life in some situation and given Azriel has gotten hurt in every single book he has appeared that's a big possibility. See , how it was more positive and doesn't change who Lucien is as a character or how it's not to make Az look smaller or weaker .... some of you all need to touch grass taking fictional situations that personally.

Azriel resorting to violence isn't new or unique , we saw that with Mor as well . His anger issues are a big part of the character's description, so growth and healing for Azriel would be more about not resorting to rage and violence. That will be one of the things that his story will most likely to deal with. I look forward to his icy rage thawing because I love him enough to want that for him. To want to see him give up on that ice in his veins.

There is a reason why Gwyn was written the way she was , she was written to be compatible with Azriel . Ultimately, that is what matters each of these characters finding healing and happiness and being with someone who is compatible with them , someone who would bring out the best in them.

Just because one side is rage baiting you, it doesn't mean you get down to their level and try resorting to petty posts spewing poison. If it is wrong to compare Gwyn and Elain (and it is ), it's just as wrong to compare Lucien and Az ... It's mighty sexist of people to think it isn't.

[genderqueerdykes]

is it bad to be scared to start hrt?

i feel a little ashamed that i am. i try my hardest to be positive about all the things that make men & mascs masculine. i try to appreciate the parts that arent valued by society, like male pattern baldness, being fat, hairiness (love that part especially lol), etc.

but im 15, and i go back and fourth over whether or not i want to start testosterone. i had terrible cystic acne before i started acne medication, i have male pattern baldness on my dads side etc. im not a binary trans guy, so i kinda doubt ill be on it forever anyway if i DO wind up doing it, but its really scary to be told all the stuff that WILL make me a man when im… just a boy. that feels infantalizing but i suppose its true. im scared to be a man admittedly, im angry i never got to have a “true” boyhood because in currently at that age, and im scared of being thrust into it after not getting to be one. theres so much stuff about becoming “ugly” after starting testosterone. i know thats not true, logically, but ive faced so much bullying for not being pretty enough as an afab that i guess i still have that vanity embedded within me.

i feel ashamed for it, do you have any advice?

no, absolutely not- i think it's super reasonable to be scared to start HRT. it's a huge change, it affects your body and mentality in many different ways. it's a lot to take on at once especially considering there are permanent effects if taken for long enough at a high enough dose

i get why you'd be worried at that age. i didn't start HRT until i was in my early 20s. i think its okay to give yourself some time, especially considering you have some concerns about it potentially affecting your health. it would be ideal to find a way to get your blood tested for a few things- liver enzymes, red blood cell count, estrogen and testosterone levels, and so on. if you can't do that, it's understandable. i know it's not easy for someone your age to get a ride to a place like that discretely

is it possible to contact your dermatologist about your acne and see if they would be able to weigh in on that? baldness is a tricky thing. some people do bald but really late in life. some people don't. a lot of transmascs have their hairline recede by a few inches and then it usually stops. the nice thing about hair loss is there are medications that work very well that can help mitigate that. gender affirming care specialists or other doctors who prescribe testosterone are usually aware of the effects on scalp hair, and usually they'll help you test for high blood pressure, any issues like that

honestly i get where you're coming from here. i've seen this way too many times. people get pissed off about someone being a type of trans they don't like so they just bully the person until they consider detransitioning or never start transition at all, and then continue to mock and harass them anyway. i see this all the damn time and it bugs me like why would you do that to someone. who cares

people think it's ok to bully trans men & mascs right now because of all of the transandrophobia and antimasculism in general. testosterone doesn't make anyone "ugly", people are projecting their hatred of men and mascs on to a hormone that almost everyone produces naturally. it's just hateful senseless bullying. people think the younger the trans man/boy/masc is, the more valid they are to bully them.

it's okay to identify as a boy for as long as you need. you actually never have any obligation to adopt the label man if it doesn't fit you. many people identify as boys instead of men. some people are guys and not men. it's okay some people find they have to take their time to transition from boy to man. you're only 15 you are still a child, you don't have to worry about being a man for quite a while

it's definitely okay to feel conflicted and confused here. if you're able to, take time to yourself where you shut all that noise from other people out. if you're able to just ask yourself a few questions like why do i identify as a boy, what about it makes me happy, what kinds of things do i want to do in transition. just try to get a feel for what's going on so it makes it hard for people to get in your head

remember that when people attack you like this they're projecting something they deeply hate about themselves on to you. my therapist told me that last week and i thought i would just relay that. it's alright to be affected by it, but they really are just being assholes. it's good to be a trans man/boy/masc. transmasculinity is good. testosterone is good. testosterone saved my life. i'm glad to get up in the morning every day because i at least look and sound like myself. i love my body. i love the way i look. i'm stronger. i stand taller. my face is the right shape. my voice sounds right.

life is good

i hope you found any of this helpful. good luck, it's okay to feel guilt or shame for a bit. i did NOT want to come out as FtM for a VERY long time it was hard. i get it. take care of yourself, let me know if you have any more questions

[certifiedsexed]

me and my girlfriend have been slightly sexually active before and I’ve kinda found out that I don’t physically feel certain stimulation?

for a little more context, I’m transmasc and a teen. I haven’t transitioned medically or done any sort of hormones other than birth control. She’s a teen as well and it’s been fully consensual (I feel that this is important)

I’ve noticed that it doesn’t feel very good to touch my chest although it does for her, I’ve noticed that I can’t really grind or be fingered with pleasure. Close to nothing feels actually good. I don’t know if there’s something wrong with my body, or if I’m just not turned on enough? I am ace but I don’t know the extent.

is there something wrong or is it just normal? I have no idea

Okay! So, the first part about your chest: very normal. The sensitivity of people's chest really varies from person-to-person. Some people hate having their chests touched, other people can orgasm from it! The spectrum is broad.

Grinding also varies. Especially depending on if you're using lube and how exposed your genitals are. [For example, if you have a clitoris, sometimes they're small and not very exposed and that can make grinding less pleasurable!]

Fingering can also vary, though I'd note if it hurts or if you feel genuinely numb to it, that's a health concern.

But I don't know whether there's something wrong here-Especially when you're new to sexual experimentation, I don't like to say there's definitely something wrong, especially if you're not experiencing pain.

A better way to tell if there's an issue with your sexual function is testing your genitals. Does touching your genitals feel good at all? Is there a numbness? Can you orgasm? Is orgasming easy or hard for you?

See, if you have a clitoris [You didn't mention, so sorry if I'm making assumptions], most people with clitoris' need clitoral stimulation to orgasm. Its also a huge pleasure center. You might need to focus more on that!

It could also be a sexual function issue that you'd need to bring up to a doctor and/or a therapist. [It could even be caused by your birth control. Sometimes they mess with libido and general sexual function.]

It could also be a dysphoria thing! If you have dysphoria, it can cause things like this too!

I can't tell you if something is wrong without more information but I hope something here helps! Let me know if you have any more questions. <3

[librarycard]

i feel like testosterone makes you gay and i mean that in the literal sense. Like i know its also just very common and observed as a legitimate medical phenomenon. but also practically after no longer taking testosterone (or at least not taking it as regularly) i like men less now. i like men basically as much as i did before testosterone. all of this is neutral there is no issue with any of this at all in fact for some people its very good and excellent. but nevertheless I feel like hormones activate some kind of homosexual biological sleeper agent in the same way that heterosocialization is definitely a psyop that keeps people from realizing theyre gay

[lordmushroomkat]

《The strong association of PCOS with cis womanhood, the defining of it as a disorder or syndrome, and its framing as a “women’s health issue” obscures the fact that PCOS is a natural hormonal variation, an endocrine difference that is illustrated through secondary sex characteristics. 

During my initial search for resources and community, I also learned that PCOS, given its characterization as a hormonal variance, falls under the intersex umbrella. This intersex umbrella covers a wide range of “individuals born with a hormonal, chromosomal, gonadal or genital variation which is considered outside of the male and female norms,” and PCOS meets that definition. 

This is not an attempt to sway every person who has PCOS to identify themselves as intersex—though it is an acknowledgment that we have the option and the right to do so if it rings true to us. Rather, this is to say that shifting my perspective on PCOS and viewing it through an intersex lens allowed me to better understand it as a natural human variation rather than an affliction causing my body to do the “wrong” thing. 

“I believe that someone with PCOS has every right to use the term intersex for themselves if they want, but I also understand it if they don’t,” said writer and intersex advocate Amanda Saenz.

“As an advocate and an intersex person, I opt to use a definition of intersex that is open ended and expansive,” Saenz explains. “The experiences that a term like ‘intersex’ hopes to define include differences in hormonal production and hormone reception, and the phenotypic effects these differences have on the body. To me, this is inclusive of things like PCOS.”

Discussing PCOS in this way is often met with indignation and resistance. Our society has a hard time separating gender from sex. This has resulted in a widespread misunderstanding of intersex identity as equivalent to transgender identity. Many who vehemently resist the idea of PCOS being under the intersex umbrella do so because they categorically link “female” with “woman,” and therefore misinterpret any acceptance of intersex identity as a denial of womanhood. Moreover, the stigma around and marginalization of intersex communities prevents many people from feeling comfortable with embracing it. 

“You can be intersex and cisgender, transgender, or nonbinary. The ‘opposite’ of intersex is endosex, not cisgender,” explained Eshe Kiama Zuri, founder of U.K. Mutual Aid. As a nonbinary intersex person, Zuri approaches these ideas with a clear understanding of how the bodies of intersex individuals as well as many people with PCOS interrupt binary thinking about both sex and gender. 

“The resistance to PCOS falling under the intersex umbrella is due to a white supremacist society’s desperation to cling to binary genders, which we know [have been] used as a colonial tool of control,” they offer. 

The same medical and surgical interventions that legislators seek to ban trans and nonbinary people from accessing—which would be gender-affirming, life-saving care for them—are often forced on intersex infants and children who are unable to consent. This is done in efforts to align intersex bodies with social expectations of female and male, man and woman; the same logic undergirds the societal and medical pressure to “feminize” the female-assigned bodies of PCOS patients. 

PCOS is “shockingly common [and] the most frequently occurring hormone-related disorder.” However, according to Medical News Today, “up to 75% of [people] with PCOS do not receive a diagnosis for their condition.” If we were to understand and accept something like PCOS as intersex, considering how “shockingly common” it is, the dominant idea of binary sex, with intersex being thought of as nothing more than a fringe occurrence, would be shattered. 

“PCOS is only one of many conditions that could fall under the intersex umbrella, and care for people with PCOS would be considerably better if it wasn’t for the forced gendering and resistance to providing actual support for people with PCOS, even if it challenges society’s ideas of gender,” says Zuri. 

Combating myths built around the gender and sex binaries would create more space to understand PCOS traits as part of normal human variation, rather than inherent problems to be fixed, symptoms to be eradicated. As Zuri so beautifully put it, “When we start to accept that this is not a body behaving ‘wrong’ and it is just a body, we stop blaming and punishing people for how their bodies work and start challenging societal expectations.”》

I was fucking right!

[emcapi-gaming]

"So you're here to try and save the world?" She gives a single, bitter laugh. "Bit late for that. I mean, I appreciate the thought, but it's not worth it. This place is too far gone. You're just gonna get yourself killed - or worse."

"I've come this far, haven't I? I have to try."

"…Just what this place needs, another stubborn heroic dumbass." She shakes her head. "There's no arguing with you, is there."

"You've got that much right."

"Well. If you don't mind the extra company, I might as well follow you around and yell at you when you're about to do something particularly stupid. Sure could have used that, myself. Besides, it sounds more interesting than moping my way across every square ilm of Norvrandt like I've been doing."

Ardbert chuckles. "I've seen some pretty strange things, but I think being yelled at by a ghost would be a new one. Sure. Why not? Although I'll have to try and explain you to my friends, lest they assume I've started talking to myself."

(fun facts/notes/lore under cut as usual!)

Originally this was supposed to be part of a poly week prompt (combination of role/outfit swap + alternate universe) but I never got around to the other part with Zero. Ah well! I'm still happy with how this turned out.

I think the most interesting part of this shot + bonus drabble was thinking about some of the ways they're different! They have, frankly, an absurd amount of things in common - most of which were unintentional! - but I like exploring how they differ as individuals also.

In this case: Ardbert is way more of a (justifiably) grumpy little shit here in canon, lol. Between the two of them, he definitely has more of a temper and is more likely to default to anger as a reaction. Ardwin will absolutely snap if pushed, but outside of battle, she is, by comparison, a little more patient and willing to laugh things off or pretend they don't bother her. (Although her tendency to bottle things up comes with its own issues.)

Some of that difference is just down to different hormonal systems. (I have it on good authority from my husband that going on T shifted his default emotional response when upset from being sad/crying to getting angry.) However, some of it is just that: a personal difference!

Thinking about it a little more, maybe Ardwin would be a bit more expressive in this AU. I think that Heavensward, in particular, amplified her pre-existing tendency to repress her shit and Not Talk About It, because Alphinaud and Tataru were really relying on her to be their anchor. She absolutely did not wanna burden them with her own problems. (Let alone the whole, uh, "a smile better suits a hero" bit, which, come to think of it, also absolutely did not help.)

In this AU, though, Ardwin would have been running around with Ardbert's friends. This means she no longer would have been the only Warrior of Light, or the only one being relied on to be The Strong One (given that between Branden, Cylva, and Ard___, the First WoLs have 3 tanks lmao). She definitely would still feel like she should be the stoic leader, but they would probably successfully (lovingly) bully her into talking about her feelings every so often, so she doesn't end up with the Pit of Emotional Repression in the same way.

[mushroomnoodles]

Is there a lot of mutual pining in the Wizard Betty AU? Do either of them assume their love is unrequited, or is a result of hormones or madness?

Does either of them quietly worry in their head that they only feel that is an alternate version of their dead love one and they are still grieving, so anything would be :/ in the long run or that pursuing each other would be disrespectful to their versions of Simon and Betty?

Or do they think that there is no way the other could love them because they are too different from the versions they originally knew?

There is so much angst and existential tension here waiting, I love it

this post is again, a little long so i'm putting the juicy bits under a cut and slapping on the general cw/tw for sfw and non kink mpreg (there's a picture in there! it's some lovely complicated petrigrof if you wanna click on it!)

i definitely like to think so. betty so much isn't worried her love is unrequited, but that her loneliness and crazy is making her think she loves simon. at first, she could hardly stand that sight of him, and now she feels.. like this. plus, her simon? she killed him. her marcy died too.

and was it really fair to her simon to hook up with.. well.. another him? was she even ready to be in a relationship? would it even be fair to this simon? she still dreams so vividly about her own simon, about losing him and now she's dreaming about losing this one too.

plus, simon is pregnant. she feels a moral obligation to the little impossibility in his belly, since its mother is another her and all.. and she worries she's conditioning herself to have feelings for simon due to that too. oh fuck, what if the maternal instincts are her loneliness and crazy too?? this isn't even her baby! she hasn't even known this simon more than four months! what is betty actually feeling???

simon, on the other hand, is definitely weighing the issue on his grief. he misses his betty dearly, even if he's accepted she's gone now. and then here's another one, except this one is his age, that he's been dropped in front of.. and she is going through some shit. she's just as beautiful as any other betty, but she is going through the Wizard Crazy.

it would hardly be fair to her to dump his baggage on her, not even considering the thought that maybe he's just replacing his own betty in his head. he doesn't want to replace his betty- wizard betty is her own person, and he is desperate to distinguish them in his brain. and even if he and GOLBetty have moved on, then there's the fact he personally feels shitty trying to find someone else. granted, GOLBetty did this, but he's still got his own personal convictions.

and then he finds out he's pregnant. wait, are GOLBetty and him over with? it's just it seemed so final when they said goodbye, and, well, knocking him up is giving him mixed signals. but if that was the case, why did she send him here, with a living betty? what do you want from him????

but they have a nice talk. they're both kind of going through something right now and they're alone in the apocalypse.

no expectations. cool, despite the fact they.. both have feelings for each other. i guess what i'm saying it they were both just.. afraid? for different and very valid reasons.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Madison Pauly and Henry Carnell at Mother Jones:

The conversion therapists met last November at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip. Behind the closed doors and drawn blinds of a Hampton Inn conference room, a middle-aged woman wearing white stockings and a Virgin Mary blue dress issued a call to arms to the 20-some people in attendance. “In our current culture, in which children are being indoctrinated with transgender belief from the moment they’re out of the womb, if we are confronted with a gender-confused child, you must help,” declared Michelle Cretella, a board member of the Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity. “We must do something.” Cretella was delivering a keynote speech at the first in-person conference in four years of the Alliance, which describes itself as a “professional and scientific organization” with “Judeo-Christian values.” Its purpose: to defend and promote the practice of conversion therapy by licensed counselors.

Not that they’d call what they do “conversion therapy.” That term lacks a precise definition, but it is used colloquially to describe attempts to shift a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. In the 1960s, some psychologists tried to make gay men straight by pairing aversive stimuli, like electric shocks or chemically induced nausea, with images of gay porn—techniques that ran the risk of causing serious psychological damage even as they failed to change participants’ sexual orientation, researchers eventually concluded. Today, “conversion therapy” generally takes the form of verbal counseling. Participants are typically conservative Christians who engage voluntarily—motivated by internalized stigma, family pressure, and the belief that their feelings are incompatible with their faith. Others are children, brought into therapy by their parents.

The American Psychological Association (APA) has concluded that conversion therapy lacks “sufficient bases in scientific principles” and that people who have undergone it are “significantly more likely to experience suicidality and depression.” Similarly, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), part of the Department of Health and Human Services, published a report concluding that “none of the existing research supports the premise that mental or behavioral health interventions can alter gender identity or sexual orientation. Interventions aimed at a fixed outcome, such as gender conformity or heterosexual orientation…are coercive, can be harmful, and should not be part of behavioral health treatment.”

Accordingly, the Alliance and the ideas it promotes have been relegated to the scientific and political fringes. In the 2010s, as acceptance of gay rights grew rapidly, 18 states and dozens of local governments passed laws forbidding mental health professionals from attempting conversion therapy on minors. Yet by 2020, a new front had opened in the war against LGBTQ people. Republican state legislatures started passing laws targeting transgender and nonbinary children at school—restricting their access to bathrooms, barring them from participating in sports, and stopping educators from teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity. The most intense attacks have banned doctors from providing the treatments for gender dysphoria backed by all major US medical associations. Nearly 114,000 trans youth live in states where access to puberty blockers and hormone therapy has been wiped out.

Last year, I received leaked emails illustrating how these laws are crafted and pushed by a network of anti-trans activists and powerful Christian-right organizations. The Alliance is deeply enmeshed in this constellation of actors. Although small, with an annual budget of under $200,000, it provides both unsubstantiated arguments suggesting LGBTQ identities are changeable and a network of licensed counselors to lend their credibility to these efforts. Among the collaborators were David Pickup, the Alliance’s president-elect; Laura Haynes, an Alliance advocate; and Cretella, the former executive director of an anti-trans pediatrics group who described gender-affirming medical care at the Las Vegas conference as “evil” and part of a “New World Order.” (“I’m not a conspiracy theorist,” she assured attendees. “I’m just someone who has been in the battle of the culture of life versus the culture of death long enough to see the big picture.”) All three have testified before state legislatures against gender-affirming care. When a US senator introduced a pair of bills to restrict trans youth health care in 2021, his press release quoted Cretella calling gender-affirming treatments “eugenics.”

[...]

If the Las Vegas conference made one thing clear, it’s that conversion therapy is alive and well, even in places where it’s been banned. One counselor told me he makes it a habit not to document his treatment plans in writing to avoid getting in trouble and simply treats “family dynamics” in states with conversion therapy bans. In a 2015 survey of more than 27,000 trans adults, nearly 1 in 7 said that a professional, such as a therapist, doctor, or religious adviser, had tried to make them not transgender; about half of respondents said they were minors at the time. By applying this rate to population estimates, the Williams Institute at UCLA projects that more than 135,000 trans adults nationwide have experienced some form of conversion therapy.

Despite the data, lawmakers frequently don’t believe that conversion therapy is still happening in their community, says Casey Pick, director of law and policy at the Trevor Project, the LGBTQ suicide prevention group. “We’re constantly running up against this misconception that this is an artifact of the past,” she says. So, five years ago, the Trevor Project began scouring psychologists’ websites and books, records of public testimony, and known conversion therapy referral services, looking for counselors who said they could alter someone’s gender identity or sexual orientation. As the research stretched on, Pick noticed webpages being revised to reflect changing times. “We saw many folks who seemed to leave the industry entirely,” she says. “But others changed their website, changed their keywords, [from] talking about creating ex-gays to talking about ex-trans.” Last December, Pick’s team published their report documenting active conversion therapists. They found more than 600 were licensed health care professionals and an additional 716 were clergy, lay ministers, or other unlicensed religious counselors.

According to Pick, some conversion therapists have embraced a new label for what they do: “gender exploratory therapy.” It’s a term that Cretella used to describe the approach she recommended, and unlike the other euphemisms thrown around at the conference, this has gained traction. In 2021, a group of therapists, who ranged from conflicted about medical interventions for kids with gender dysphoria to skeptical of the very concept of transgender identity, formed the Gender Exploratory Therapy Association (GETA) to promote an approach they characterize as neither conversion nor affirmation.

Some current and former leaders of the group, which claims a membership of 300 mental health providers, have been involved in influential organizations lobbying against gender-affirming care across the world, such as the Ireland-based Genspect and the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine, a nonprofit registered in Idaho. They’ve notched some big wins: In November 2023, the UK Council for Psychotherapy—the nation’s top professional association—declared that it was fine for counselors to take GETA’s “exploratory” approach to gender. This April, a long-awaited review of gender-related care for youth in England’s National Health Service endorsed exploratory therapy, according to Alex Keuroghlian, an associate psychiatry professor at Harvard Medical School. And in the United States, in cases in which families of trans children have sued states for banning gender-affirming care, the state often calls expert witnesses who endorse “exploratory” psychotherapy as their preferred alternative treatment.

After all, the idea of “exploring” one’s gender identity sounds benign. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health, which issues guidelines on gender-­affirming treatment, recommends that clinicians working with teens “facilitate the exploration and expression of gender openly and respectfully so that no one particular identity is favored.” Yet, as with mindfulness, “that term has now been hijacked by folks on the other side,” says Judith Glassgold, a clinical psychologist who chaired the APA task force that in 2009 documented the lack of science behind conversion therapy.

GETA’s guidelines instruct therapists to dig deep into “the entire landscape of the young person’s life and subjective experience,” probing all possible reasons they might identify as transgender. The catch, says Glassgold, is that “exploration” means “trying to find negative reasons why someone’s diverse.” Last year, SAMHSA issued a report saying that “approaches that discourage youth from identifying as transgender or gender-diverse, and/or from expressing their gender identity” are sometimes “misleadingly referred to as ‘exploratory therapy.’” These approaches are “harmful and never appropriate,” the report concluded.

Mother Jones has a detailed report on a new form of the medically discredited practice known as conversion therapy called gender exploratory therapy. Gender exploratory therapy is the practice of making a person revert to their gender assigned at birth, which is essentially forced detransition by another name.

Read the full story at Mother Jones.