See title. I'm on HRT for over 11 months now, thoroughly enjoying it. I've a hunch the dose is a bit low, though. I get androgen blockers every 2-3 months, my last one was one month ago.

Normally my arm hairs aren't very visible, so I didn't have much dysphoria from that. However, recently my arm hair seems to be growing a lot and thicker, and I'm concerned. Is this normal?

My mum doesn't really have a lot of arm hair, nor do other gals in my family.

So me and a close one have been discussing twinks (totally straight and gay) but then we got to the topic of gals and now I'm wondering.

Is there a female equivalent to a twink? What about a bear? Help

Orignal author: CookieCaffine, on Reddit.

See title. I'm trying to do training at home, and found this https://youtu.be/-x5B8F9ubdc (KetchBeauty). Are these good? Or would running help more?

I mostly aim to train my stomach to be flatter and to show more muscle, as well as wider hips. I've been taking E fot 11 months and that's doing good work, but still, I feel the E effects are not strong (I'm using spray).

I think I'll go for femfitmaxxing (/j). I'm told that my fat distribution changes are mostly hormonal and that doing exercise will mainly affect the muscle, not the fat. Is this correct?

Original author unknown. Will make a comic of my own soon though.. (y'all, also feel happy to do so! :3)

where they transmasc homies at, rise up :3

Original author unknown.

Womensstuff is a trans and enby+ inclusive women's only community. If you are not one, it's kindly asked to refrain from posting - thank you :)

So, there's two parts to this; cramps, and skincare. Boldened questions. Thanks everyone in advance, whether cis, trans, or femby - this place feels welcoming <3

Cramps
Basically, my nonexistent uterus is giving me cramps rn :3

So far I've had about a few periods, since starting E, and it's been both incredibly affirming and aching for me haha. They occur varyingly around once per 20 days to 35 for me.

Currently, i mostly just use a hot water bottle that i put onto my crotch, or I cope with eating quite a bit of chocolate. are there more methods?

I don't bleed so there's that. I also don't think i experience bloating, so i'm curious what that is like?

I seem to usually get a bit of a nausea (but instead of at the stomach, it's down there), rising and fading with the half hours, and I don't know if I'm bad at math, but I feel like it can pop up again in a timespan of a few days. It's also a bit like you press gently with the knuckles against that area. not much beside that, though. Oh, and a little bit grumpy, like when you're past the 'stomach is hungry' phase and start being mildly annoyed. So, all that said...

What methods help well against period symptoms? And out of curiosity, how much does the experience vary between us?

Skincare

Bit of an age old and stereotypical question, but I'm only starting to go into this as a gal.

My skin has been smoother a lot since I started estrogen, and I tend to wash my face with just cold water, putting night cream, and estrogen's also doing wonders. But I still notice I get pimples on my legs and feel my skin is a bit too 'oily/fatty, rough'. I'm not sure if the following contributes, but gonna put it out there. I replace pillow covers once every few weeks, don't eat a lot of greens or fruits, and often eat chocolate, but other than that I don't eat that unhealthily. I never go to snackbars and eat one/two plates per meal, three meals a day. I take walks everyday and bicycle.

Sure, there's foundation and concealer. But they hide it artificially and I'd rather think of a 'natural feel of smooth' due to lifestyle, rather than created through all sorts of creams and the like.

What would then help best, in getting the skin to feel more soft and look smoother?

Clothing

The northern spring is coming and (far away, but still) summer too. I seem to pass for a lot of people nowadays, though I don't have this feel yet for myself.

I have long hair, a Roman nose, a sadly masculine though smooth jaw and chin (thanks laser!), getting gentle curves which makes me happy.

I like the idea of skirts, though I would probably tuck until I've had surgery. And tucking feels kind of like a reminder to me of the wrong part being there. I don't mind neutral clothing.

So, what would be some 'safe' choices for clothing that could fit either gender for summer, but also maybe make me feel girly enough?

Alt text: Scene from Kung Fu Panda, depicting Oogwa as relieved, saying "Finally, inner peace". End alt text.

Figured I'd ask a positive question. For me it was the first time I'd put on estrogen. The HUGE relief I felt... and a few months in when I no longer felt I'd needed a breast form.

I saw gals describe their first time on E as seeing everything in a much more vibrant tint, but I didn't experience that. - is that really a thing, or is it more metaphorical? :3

Original author unknown.

See title. I'm considering to shift to Linux and maybe e/OS (coming from Macintosh and iPhone). I don't know where to begin, so have an infodump (please do not sudo rm -rf /* this post, just redirect me elsewhere if that's needed). TL:DR; below.

I'm a "beginner" in the sense that I haven't worked with Linux before. I'm a casual user in that I mostly use my laptop for browsing, mail, gaming. I want to learn to get away from Big Tech, though, and hopefully manage to selfhost someday.

I want to take my privacy more seriously, though, and I'm familiar with some FOSS software (LibreOffice, GIMP, VLC, Signal, etc.). I'm also not a digibete à la "grandma doesn't know what the red X" does, or not knowing how to troubleshoot using wikis. Compared to the median Linux user, I have a lot to learn, though.

I know some basics (what is a terminal, what's a kernel), but not what a shell is, nor how to configurate an IP address. So I think I'm comparable to an average Sally on this. I'm open to learning more about all that though!

Did a bit of research and currently, I'm considering to choose between Fedora and OpenSUSE, but I'm open to other suggestions. I've heard Mint is good for beginners, but the GUI seems more Windows-oriented, and Mint also contains proprietary elements, and I'm not exactly a fan of stuff being locked down. I like MacOS-like interfaces, but customisation of the interface is also a big thing for me, but I presume this shouldn't be an issue.

So, my questions are:

1) When Linux users talk about distrohopping - how do ye do that, converting from one OS to another?
I see it mentioned often and it sounds like it's really easy to do from one Linux distro to another. Just straight up plug in a USB stick with the new distro, have a menu say "Do you want to replace this distro with this, or just run parallel", and then follow?

2) How do I make the transition from Macintosh to a Linux OS?
For preparation, I could put everything from iCloud onto the device itself, and then back it up, but how do I do the actual steps?

3) What distro should I start with?
OpenSUSE Tumbleweed, Fedora Linux, or something else?
My priorities are that:
a) it's privacy friendly and has good security (regular-ish updates too),
b) it's friendly for the level of beginner that I am,
c) its interface is highly customisable (a Mac look with a twist would be my ideal)
d) it works with gaming, and still adheres to FOSS principles

4) For phones, what would be the best option?
I mostly care about privacy, independence from big tech, and ethics. I know GrapheneOS would be the best, but they only work on Google Pixels, and I strongly dislike the idea of depending on Google. Fairphone with e/OS is one I've my eyes on currently; would that work?

5) Keeping devices & laptop question
My laptop is 9 years old (phone is 5 years old). Should I keep them both, or would it be more worthwhile to switch over to new devices? If so, would a laptop from Slimbook or Starlab be a good option? I wholly oppose American stuff, prefer European the and like, the rest I'm indifferent about.

TL:DR; buncha questions about starting with linux, see boldened questions.