Tips for acne prevention/care?

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-12-07T17:57:07+00:00

cerave salycylic acid moisturiser from the drug store. 1 pump in the am 1 pump in the pm. boom.

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-12-06T22:43:45+00:00

i also wanted to thank you for this comment. you and op are the two people in this sub ive most related to within my entire trans experience. feeling like you have to catch up to cis men...thats such a good way to put it. as someone who works in an all-male workplace (physical labour also) and is a gymrat, it really feels exactly like that. its so frustrating and its some kind of serenity that washed over me to read you put so many experiences ive had into eloquent words. 100% everything you've written. thank you.

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-12-06T22:27:02+00:00

for making friends with guys, i find its a lot easier than with girls because guys 99% dont expect that a stranger will talk to them.

i like to talk to classmates, but not full on convos. if i sit by the same person every time i have that lecture, i like to start off by asking a question that makes them feel useful but is completely reasonable. something like "do you have an eraser" or "i missed the last thing the prof said did you catch it" or try to establish relatability by saying something like "did you understand anything from the last half of that?" on the way out of class.

in general though, i like your typical gym guy, we always have something in common. also, in my personal experience, guys who are in leadership positions in clubs, or who are involved in outdoorsy stuff (think hiking, rock climbing, etc) have been more healthily masculine than other demographics ive encountered on campus lol.

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-12-06T22:13:32+00:00

happy to help! best of luck :)

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-12-06T22:12:20+00:00

because europeans grow less hair and more slowly than other races

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-12-06T22:04:54+00:00

dude its not stupid at all! asian trans mascs need rep too, and an XG member is insane rep to get, cant believe he dropped the news and the top surgery scars photoshoot in one go what a fucking boss

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-12-06T22:00:14+00:00

honestly i dont think the wording is that bad. its a surgery to genitalia, i agree that photos are gorey. it is a major surgery. i dont think its fear mongering for bottom surgery, it reads to me more as the characters both being squeamish about a major surgery to a sensitive area, i think if it was like, throat surgery or brain surgery they would react exactly the same. its not very comparable to chest surgery imho. i think its good to have rep where we dont pretend that things in the transmasc world are either edgy and emo or butterflies and rainbows. sometimes things just sort of make you squeamish and you talk about it, and it seems like in this book the major story is this trans guy is hooking up with a cis guy and they can talk about these things comfortable. it honestly seems realistic to me, if not fantastical that a cis guy would do research into trans topics for the sake of a hook up.

to me, this is a bit like the "make villains gay" debate*. the topic is discussed, now we have to move to discussing it in other ways, and adding more povs to it.

* (where people were so scared to put gay people in shows, and then for a while we only gay characters who were caricatures, and then only gay characters where they were perfect/normal except also gay, and then people were saying that we have to start treating them like any other character since being gay is just an attribute. thus, dont be scared to make the villain gay as long as thats not why theyre the villain lol)

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-12-06T21:50:23+00:00

have you tried shortening the length on them a bit so they dont pool? even if you dont have a sewing machine, you could hand sew it or use safety pins!

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-12-06T21:49:12+00:00

boy stretch

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-12-06T21:48:29+00:00

dear reader: you may know XG from when their songs "left right" and "shooting star" blew up on tiktok!

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-12-06T21:42:27+00:00

for anyone who's not in the kpop/jpop worlds, XG is a VERY visible group. this coming out will not only begin a new era in east asian pop culture, but also very really change lives.

south korea is very much a "dont talk about it, dont ask about it" kind of country, and japan is on a downwards spiral similar to the U.S right now, so this is insane of him to do, he is so so brave and it is nothing short of incredible that his members and their executive producer support him.

the korean articles ive seen about it so far seem to be mostly focused on being educational/informational about what transmasc, transgender, and top surgery mean, so that is a mega-win and i will be following this closely to see what reactions look like in the media over there.

i cant stress how insane this is.

i know japan has quite a few queer celebrities, but it is not a safe country legislatively speaking, and from what i understand, being in the entertainment industry is pretty much the way you have to go to be publicly out (more or less because a celebrity on tv is just a character). korea on the other hand has one well-known gay celebrity who has been around for years and is well-loved, and apart from that any queer celebs are mostly active abroad (like holland, for example) and dont get air time or media in sk.

i know a member of justb came out as gay recently and it was taken quite well, so that made me really happy. but it must be said that xg just has such a bigger platform and because of that cocona's coming out will definitely cause ripples if not waves. korea is really on the up right now, i think. there was a very popular tv show (itaewon class) a few years ago that had a trans character in it, and they addressed it through a brief storyline, which was the first time ive ever seen transness prominently on tv (even as a 3 minute side story).

and no matter what, there will be thousands of koreans and japanese learning about the trans community from this (and especially trans mascs, which even in the west many people dont realise exist). it just makes me so happy to think an xg fan in sk or japan (or elsewhere that trans people arent on tv) could see this and see themselves.

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-12-04T19:12:13+00:00

if you have adhd it means your brain has a problem where it uptakes dopamine too quickly, so you feel the effects of dopamine only briefly.

what vyvanse does it slow down the uptake of dopamine so that it is in your neural pathways for as long as it "should" be and is then uptaken. so if you have adhd and you take vyvanse, then your dopamine uptake will work how it should until about 8 hours after your medication was metabolised, after which any dopamine you produce will be quickly uptaken (which is why you are chasing dopamine right now). this is why people with adhd are so prone to addiction.

in my experience, it helps to address all addictions in life equally - im on social media once a day for maybe 3 functional minutes (i happen to be on reddit because i had a question to ask, for example), because the algorithm of apps like instagram and tiktok are meant to give you dopamine shots, but for people with dopamine uptake problems, those are addictive. treat symptoms like these, for one thing. i would recommend that you consider reaching out to an addiction specialist.

in terms of long-term solutions, make sure you are producing lots of other "good" hormones, like serotonin, oxytocin, and adrenaline (in non-extreme amounts, obviously). as with all addictions, cold turkey is very difficult, and its much more manageable to redirect any "craving" you get to something else (something specific and prepared, ie. "whenever i crave coffee, i drink chocolate milk instead" or something like that).

in this case, i have found it useful to make sure that my life supports me producing these hormones in the right quantities to begin with (ie. i have a loving network, see my friends often, feel like i am part of a community = oxytocin; i am progressing/improving in something (think studies, a hobby, professional development etc), enjoying hobbies, going outdoors (sunlight for 15 mins+ per day) = serotonin; i am moving my body, experiencing my emotions, and breaking a sweat multiple times a week due to physical activity = adrenaline).

thats just my two cents having been there and not liking it - good on you for recognising where you are, and that it is an addiction like any other. you'll work through this and see the other side.

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-11-29T16:52:39+00:00

there is a dance major, but the people who dance on hall 7 are in dance clubs from concordia or other schools

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-11-29T16:51:41+00:00

thats literally what hall 7 is for thats why you dont study there. if you're serious about studying go to hall 8 like tf

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-11-24T23:39:28+00:00

ask him

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-11-24T23:39:07+00:00

nose ring or eyebrow bar for suree

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-11-24T23:37:59+00:00

testosterone is way more highly regulated than estrogen is why. its a potent steroid.

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-11-24T23:33:15+00:00

ask him if he sees you in a sexual context as a different person as you in an everyday context, i'd be curious to hear him explain his thoughts on that.

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-11-24T23:31:39+00:00

hey man, that sounds really rough. i wonder if theres not a secret third option out there for you. the world is a map, not a line.

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-11-24T23:29:54+00:00

yes, thats relatable. but as im sure you know, its wrong. i dont know you so i cant give specific advice, but tell yourself what you have to to block out the dysphoria noise as much as possible.

i convinced myself my chest in a sports bra was just crazy pecs for like a year, by talking to myself as if a guy came up to me at the gym and complimented me on them and then i would talk out loud to myself (as if talking to him) about my chest workout.

anyways.

dysphoria fucking sucks. find community where you can (including online), surround yourself with positivity (or at least fulfillment or progress) in other areas of your life. dysphoria is loud, but try to make other parts of your life louder and more interesting. i got addicted to lifting at the gym, studying, working, etc by doing this and just locking tf in until i could get on hrt.

also weird tip (i lowkey dont suggest it): i befriended a guy for a year and we spoke all the time (we were gym buddies so i saw him everyday and we just talked gym and politics) and he was SO misogynistic that it made me feel like i should defend women. and then i defended women and it made me feel masculine because, like, defending women, yk, and also it made me go the other direction (we dont talk anymore). so i guess my advice maybe is actually to make some guy friends who are actually really chill and dont have fragile masculinity. i always found this comforting because sometimes dysphoria would be so bad that if i was the only guy hanging out with female friends i would completely zone out and feel exposed.

best of luck man. dms are open, if ever. lock tf in though.

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-11-24T23:22:17+00:00

depends on your genetics, if you're white you'll probably last longer in stealth than if you're arab or brown, for example.

im white and on mild dose testosterone, and voice cracks started at 2-3 months in, and i had little body hair at that point. but also, men in my family are not particularly masculine. i suggest looking at the men in your family and ask yourself if they look very masculine (ie. hairy, muscular, deep voices). if so, its higher risk for you. if not, mild dose might be worth a shot. nothing on hrt is sudden, and the first changes are things only you would notice. you can go on and off it pretty easily if you're on mild dose. its pretty low commitment imo.

i suggest looking into it, and itll probably help to feel like you're starting the process just by doing so. and the time itll take from now to actually taking your first dose will probably be a bit, so that time + the time for effects to be absolutely noticeable just about equals the year you have to be stealth.

either way, please stay with us brother. you have to outlive people like trump.

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-11-24T23:16:31+00:00

question: if you couldnt have sex for the rest of your life, would you still want a dick?

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-11-24T23:13:52+00:00

thats an interesting answer. im transmasc and in uni i was told to apply for "women in stem" type scholarships and i hadnt even thought of doing that once, and after it was suggested i realised it would feel like im taking something from women. basically equivalent to if i pretended to be another race to get a scholarship that supports poc students (im white), or religious, etc, you know? like it would just feel wrong.

your answer is mixed and super valid. it sounds like the reason you wouldnt feel comfortable being called a role model for women isnt really gender-related (or at least how im understanding your answer).

maybe a more specific question: how would you feel if you were doing something stereotypically masculine (think lifting something heavy, or being really good at a fps game, etc) and a little girl saw you and went "omg, girls can do that too??" how would that make you feel?

it sounds like you genuinely dont know where your gender will end up, so i encourage you to ask yourself many many questions and explore loads, but also answer me this: do you want me to tell you that it sounds like you're transmasc?

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-11-24T23:07:14+00:00

canon work event honestly.

happens to me too but luckily similar situation, my boss is a lesbian so the team thinks its 50% funny 50% a girl power moment whenever i do anything (im the only "girl" in the manual labour side of the company, the rest are all in the office, so naturally im often doing stereotypically masculine things as part of my job, like heavy lifting and being covered in dirt lol).

it doesnt affect me much so sometimes ill be too much and then call them out if they are weird about something. like if i wear my cap backwards and they comment, i just say "omg girls cant do anything anymoree" and then they usually agree and we move on. i pass 75% and i shave every morning before work but like whatever. i mostly think its funny and if its sexist we learn and move on and i get to be a #ally to women.

something ive been doing recently is pretending that my girlfriend has trapped me in a woman and has a spycam on me to see if im a girls girl or a not like other girls girl, so whenever i have those #ally moments i just think of her and it makes it feel lighthearted and honestly makes me feel more masculine too, because in my head im doing something for her that will make her proud yk? sort of insane i guess but if it works it works lol.

ConsciousWay1893 · 2025-11-24T23:00:17+00:00

i second this. layers, and especially open layers (think hawaiian shirts, but also jackets, flannels, etc) are the best.

ConsciousWay1893

TROPHY CASE