It's my CAKEDAY!

This is a compilation of stuff I've posted over the years that you degenerates liked. A best-of mix from That Other Girl You Know #cakeday

This is the first time I've remembered to make a cakeday post! Be gentle with me.
Warning: This post contains Lara Croft and Wonder Woman making out, rants about Nazis, bugs bunny, The Matrix, Goth IHop, Wednesday Addams, and whatever else you have upvoted in your thousands over the years. I'm including any transition image of mine that got to the FP with 3000+ upvotes. Oh, and of course it includes Moon Night's endless quest to get money back from Dracula. I'll end with a comic that seems to have resonated with a lot of people.

~ By: candylion.cos
~ From: Instagram
~ candylion.cos On Instagram :
https://www.instagram.com/candylion.cos/

I joined imgur 4 years ago to share my transition story, but you crazy psychos and your memes kept me around.

My early transition. I started hormones in 2019 at the age of 41. My journey from depressed overweight suicidal guy to well adjusted woman. i didn't lose any weight though, it just redistributed.
(I did lose two stones though :D )

Historical context on anti-trans stuff currently happening. Not fun, but informative. More fun stuff later.

So what can YOU as an ally do?
1. Vote. That is obvious.
2. Run for local office. School board elections especially are vital grass-roots positions, and you don't have to be a parent to run for a school board position.
3. Listen to LGBTQ+ people, especially in this current moment trans and non-binary people.
4. Look out for those spouting far-right talking points ('child mutilation', 'just a phase', 'both sides', 'fairness in sports', etc.) and shut that shit down. If you have the time and energy to do so, point them towards stuff that can educate them, but remember that trolls love to 'debate'. There is no 'trans debate' any more than there was a 'negro problem' in America or 'jewish question' in Germany. If you don't want to engage, just add your voice to the chorus of others telling them that they are wrong. Remember that report buttons exist.

What can YOU as a member of the LGBTQ+ community?
1. Organize locally. This could be as small as getting to know your neighbours.
2. If you are not out, and it is safe for you to do so, consider coming out. Living openly is a radical act of defiance. The more of us that are out together, the harder it is for the far-right to attack us. If you cannot come out where you are, if it is not the right time for you to come out yet, consider coming out online and let your light be seen.
3. LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE! Live your best life, if for nothing else than to spite those that would see us vanish or perish.

Since I made that post there's been a sudden spate of 'concern' about 'fairness' in women's sports from the far-reich. Lots of lies about how somebody "born a man" has an unfair advantage over those "born a woman". Nobody is born a man or a woman, we are born babies. Hormones change how our bodies work. Switch out testosterone for estrogen and within about 4 months you're at the same level of competitiveness as if you had been on that hormone all along. Bone alignment, muscle mass and density, blood O2 transportation, tendons, ligaments, height, shoe size, heck even things like body odor and hair texture all change. Even bones start to change (bones are not set, but continually change as cells are replaced and the bone matrix wears down and is repaired). If you were good at a sport before you'll be good after, if you were bad at that sport before you'll be bad at it afterwards. Sorry trans guys, going onto testosterone won't make you Usain Bolt.

The idea that trans people have a magical mystic advantage has as its arguments the exact same arguments about fairness in sports that led to racially segregated sports in the 20th century.

#heartwarming

(It's a bad book though. Like gets the whole consent thing wrong. Deeply ick. Seriously, if you are into that sort of thing, there are MUCH better books, I'm sure there are comments below recommending some) There are some images I had to leave out of this best of, but you can see them here: https://imgur.com/gallery/GXYb7Vd

For the record, Jenna Ortega knocked it out of the park. Did you know she trained herself to not blink while the camera was rolling? Johnny Depp had to use a camera trick for that in Dark Shadows, she saw his CGI-enhanced performance and did it through sheer willpower!

"Egg" is slang that trans people use when we are talking about our past selves before we realized we were trans, or before we had the words to properlly express it to ourselves. I always knew, but growing up in 70s and 80s Britain I didn't even hear about of the existance of trans people until the mid 00s. I knew, but I didn't know what I knew.

When these two women wrote their trans allegory sci-fi kung-fu extravaganza they knew exactly what they were doing. Just listen to this dialog.
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Morpheus: At last. Welcome, Neo. As you no doubt have guessed, I am Morpheus.

Neo: It’s an honor to meet you.

Morpheus: No, the honor is mine. Please, come. Sit. I imagine that right now you’re feeling a bit like Alice, tumbling down the rabbit hole? Hm?

Neo: You could say that.

Morpheus: I can see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?

Neo: No.

Morpheus: Why not?

Neo: Because I don’t like the idea that I’m not in control of my life.

Morpheus: I know exactly what you mean. Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something.
What you know you can’t explain. But you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life.
That there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I’m talking about?

Neo: The Matrix?

Morpheus: Do you want to know what it is? The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us, even now in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.

Neo: What truth?

Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage, born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch. A prison for your mind…. Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. This is your last chance. After this there is no turning back. You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes… Remember, all I’m offering is the truth, nothing more… Follow me… Apoc, are we online?

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Nobody can tell you if you are trans or not, and it takes some trans people longer than others to figure out that they are trans. But its never a new thing. Like Morpheus says, it's like a splinter in your mind, something always there.
"You’re here because you know something.
What you know you can’t explain. But you feel it.
You’ve felt it your entire life.
That there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind driving you mad."

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(For the record both I and Mae are pro-union. Except the police unions. Screw those guys)

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When I came out to my son he had two very important questions for me. Only two.
"Does this mean I get more candy?"
(no)
"Does this mean I'm let off chores?"
(no)
...and then he shrugged and proceeded to tell me the plot of the movie Shazam

14.
If you need or want to ask some questions of a trans person, my DMs are always open.

15. That last copyright notice at the end always gets me.

A. Mae's continuing adventures. I'm leaving out a ton of stuff. The comic is mostly about gaming.

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E.
A trans guy friend of mine literally printed this out, crossed out 'girl' and wrote 'guy', and gave it to his doctor. I met up with him recently after not seeing him for a few years and he's a bit of a stud now. His two daughters are friends with my son and we watched them play in the park and then went for a curry

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The craving is real! After 3 months HRT my muscle mass and tone had dropped to a level where my wife had top open jars for me. Strong girl. Farm.

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Thankfully Planned Parenthood is cheap for transition, and uses the modern Informed Consent model instead of the older outdated get-a-dozen-therapist-letters-and-a-notarized-affidavit-from-two-living-ex-presidents-and-learn-lion-taming-before-we'll-see-you method from the 1950s. Informed Consent is supported and recommended by all reputable healthcare organizations, the older one is a favorite of Ron DeSantis, kinda tells you all you need to know about the two approaches to care.
Planned Parenthood, not just abortions but cancer screenings, transition care, sexual health, and a whole lot more.

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Finishing off with a recent image of me. Transition progress shots are exempt from the NO SELFIES rule, so there. I'm proud of how far I've come. Still got a ways to go, but I'm happy, I'm mentally healthy, well-adjusted, and living my best life. Go me.