Thevenin

Most of what I have to say is just signal boosting everyone else here.

• Get your hormones tested, and note what point in your cycle the levels were recorded.
• Birth control measures can affect hormones, so switching measures might change things for you, for better or worse.
• Tell the doctor about any major life changes or potential stressors that could trigger a hormone imbalance. My (cisgendered) sister ended up with low progesterone in her 30s due to a stressful divorce.
• Be prepared for the doc to hear "hormone problems" and prescribe "weight loss." This is a common cop-out for overworked doctors in the USA who don't want to actually understand the problem.
• If you're in the UK, don't tell the doc you relate to trans women, or that you took advice from us. Nothing good will come from that.

Since you identify as cisgendered, it's a good idea to speak with a therapist about your self-image and feelings of worth, as those may either be caused by or be the cause of the wrongness you're experiencing. Ask the therapist about body dysmorphia, not gender dysphoria. They're similar, but not identical. And finally, a few things that we trans girls do to help ourselves through the bad days:

• Try to remind yourself that in the modern world, almost all women have similar feelings of self-loathing to one degree or another. We're all taught to feel like our faces and hair and bodies need fixing, because it makes us better consumers for cosmetics, media, surgeries, clothing, you name it. It's just like men "negging." Desperation gives them leverage. (Sorry, you're on a trans server, you have to sit through at least one anticapitalist rant.)
• Try to remember that your worth is not defined by your appearance. Beauty is temporary, courage is forever. Anyone who can't see that doesn't deserve you.
• Go on a detox from Instagram, Tik-Tok, magazines, or anywhere that you might see highly curated, highly filtered, and carefully lit pictures of models. They're unrealistic and will wreck your self-image.
• Try taking some flattering pictures of yourself on the days when you feel good. It helps save the feeling for later. I recommend a ring light.
• On the days you feel awful, something performatively feminine can really hit the spot. For me, nail polish is great because it helps me feel pretty and decorated without looking in a mirror.

If you're willing to hit up Ebay for "new in box" options, you can get some pretty good stuff under $180. For wireless:

Fairbuds XL: Made by the Fairphone folks, who have a very good reputation for repairability and longevity.

Sonos Ace: Stainless steel pivots, replaceable earpads, huge battery, no glitchy touch controls. Mine have treated me well so far. Absurd you can find them this cheap, considering the original MSRP.

About 1 months to lose, 2 to regain. ~3.5% of body mass. Normal amounts of weekly exercise throughout (walking, stair climbing, calisthenics).

• Curves: Curves take a lot of time, because fat redistribution is a slow process. I've been told it kicks in after several years. Excercise helps, and I think it's mostly because it improves your metabolism. Despite what some have said, cycles of (unintentional) weight loss and gain absolutely did not accelerate redistribution for me.
• Diet: Honestly, just eat what's healthy. Hydrate. Get good quality sleep. You're a growing young woman, and they don't call it "second puberty" for nothing.
• Breast Growth: Congrats on the cup size! But I can't say if it's slow or fast. The spectrum of "normal" breast growth is wide and nonlinear (growth spurts). If your nipples hurt, then it's working, so celebrate and treat yourself to ibuprofen and a hot pack.
• Fem Appearance: Get hair advice from a trans-inclusive hairdresser. Good conditioner made more difference than I thought. Painting my nails is a special euphoria for me; even when I feel like a ceramic construction material, I can look down and see pretty colors on my hands. Try on lots of clothes, including stuff outside your comfort zone.
• Mannerisms: Fem-coded mannerisms are a wildly deep topic. I'd suggest looking at photoshoots to see what they're doing with their hands, how they touch their faces, and how they carry themselves. Important: try to only look at photoshoots of people whose bodies remind you of yourself, and remember that magazines are designed to trigger self-loathing spirals in their readers.
• General Advice: "Try everything and keep doing whatever felt good" seems to be a winning strategy. You have a new body, new hormones, and a new outlook on life. Who knows what kind of person you could be. Discover yourself!

I hardly speak for everyone, but I though the objective was pretty clear: attract cameras and control the narrative for once.

The first round was intentionally scheduled so that the news would publish pictures of massive protests alongside Trump's pathetic military parade. I'd speculate the date for the second round was chosen in anticipation of a deadlock over the appropriations bill (it was selected by August 23rd).

Optics aren't my thing. I'm not good at them, and I care a lot more about direct action. Nevertheless, I still think seizing control of the narrative is important work. Trump relies on image projection and promises of power to corral Republicans, after all. Put him on the defensive, and the image falters.

Spoiler: sadly not true. EO 10834 (called out in 4 USC SS5) specifies placement and proportions and colors of all elements.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/US_Flag_spec_TIOH_5-1-17_1967.jpg

I really wanted this to be true :( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Flag_Code

Just started Beyond Good and Evil on GameCube.

I never played many console games in 2003, so I don't have much point of reference, but I'm impressed so far. I think the stylized graphics aged well. Environments look organic and detailed without losing readability, and characters look like they belong. The voice acting is solid, and I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Porco-Rosso's banter is good. I don't expect much from the plot, but the characters and world seem well-realized.

I don't recommend the upcoming Lenovo Legion Go 2. The Go 2 is around $1300, and only offers some 20% performance increase over the previous gen (with the Z1E CPU) which is currently $750. The ROG Xbox Ally X pricing is yet to be revealed.

The elephant in the room is the Steam Deck OLED, which you can find refurbished/certified for $440. It's not as powerful, but power is never going to be a handheld's strong suit anyway. They're everywhere and tons of indie games are made with it in mind.

If you're willing to get a bit nerdy, game streaming is getting pretty good these days, and is really easy on battery life. Moonlight lets you stream games from your desktop PC, while Xbox Remote Play can stream from your Xbox. If cloud gaming is your jam, Nvidia Geforce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming are available. For any of these, the Steam Deck would be perfectly adequate, but if you want something smaller and lighter, you could also go with an AYN Odin 2 Portal, which is an Android-based handheld with WiFi 7 and a nice 120Hz OLED screen for around $330.

Not an expert, but here are some good ones:

Earthbound (SNES) - Kids-on-bikes fight aliens and meet cryptids in a quest to stop a cosmic horror in a JRPG set in suburban America. It's weird, wonderful, musical, and sometimes startlingly heartfelt. Not too grindy as JRPGs go, but keep the 2x fast,forward button handy anyway.

Chrono Trigger (SNES) - Another must-play. It's a time-travelling fantasy JRPG with one of the best OSTs ever made. While playing it, I had an existential crisis realizing I'd never run a D&D campaign this cool.

Metroid Fusion (GBA) - A metroidvania (duh) set in an infested space station, where an injured Samus races to arm herself against an unknown enemy. It manages to feel desperate, claustrophobic, and fast-paced, which -- hot take -- I feel is rare for the genre.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA) - A self-indulgent pick for me, as I imprinted on this short-but-sweet game at an early age. It's the last isometric Zelda and a swansong to the genre. The central gimmick, shrinking Link to the size of a mouse, gives the pixel artists the rare chance to show environments in lush, up-close detail that makes the world spring to life. Also: Ezlo sounds like Danny Devito. That is all.

Google's ongoing Android lockdown feels like the end of an era, with the understanding that eras don't end overnight. They fade away slowly.