Rivaclaw🏳️‍⚧️ΘΔ @renbymon@computerfairi.es

I don't see this talked about like, ever.

So I'll talk about it.

If you realised you're trans but find yourself sometimes not really hating your assigned gender and being like "meh" to it?

1) That doesn't mean you've been cis all along;
2) It doesn't mean you just imagined your dysphoria;
3) You're not "pretending" anything or lying to anyone, least of all yourself.

It just means you're more tired than dysphoric. Your brain can't keep negative feelings at full steam all the time, which is good. It's not supposed to.

Do not measure your transness by how much you CURRENTLY need to transition. Dysphoria comes and goes. So does euphoria, for that matter.

I went through several cycles of "I am trans. Wait... I don't feel strongly about this anymore. Was that real? No, wait, ARGH, I'm trans. Wait..." and so on, before I started transitioning. Fooled me every single time.

I still experience this. I'm experiencing this today. I am currently wondering why this whole transition thing is such a big deal to me.

But guess what. I know I'm trans, I've been through this before. Doubts that something is true are not the same as knowing it is not.

You will have doubts whether you're trans years after you transition to your general satisfaction. You will. It just happens. You will still be almost certainly happy that you transitioned. That's what being trans means.

If you don't MIND your assigned gender at the moment, but still your actual gender sounds neat, you're still trans.

You're allowed to pause things and recalibrate, or focus on something else. Your transition should go at your pace.

But you haven't suddenly become cis. I promise you that you haven't. You still prefer to function as your real gender, don't you?

I've done this enough times that I need to say it. It's OK. It ebbs and flows. As long as you're not actually *satisfied* with your assigned gender, as long as you have ANY overall need to transition, you're not cis. You may be genderfluid or genderflux or bigender or agender or genderqueer or non-binary. Knock yourself out exploring those (I sure did). There's no penalty for concluding with "nah".

You may also very Very, Very Tired.

But none of those things mean "cis". I'm begging you, believe me.

EDIT: one good way to figure this out is - OK, so you don't jump for joy at the thought of transitioning. Now imagine yourself in your actual gender. Imagine it's all done and dealt with. Is your imagined self repulsive, do you want to *avoid* this? Does the idea of HAVING transitioned fill you with discomfort?

If not, then you're not cis. Cis people are *uncomfortable* with the idea of transitioning because they inhabit their AGAB. That's their entire deal.

Network Security:

Folks have degrees in this, so I'm gonna save you a dissertation and just list some personal recommendations. Check the replies, because I'm sure there will be some additional suggestions there!

What I'd recommend at a baseline:
- Pick a DNS provider that you trust (I currently use https://adguard-dns.io/en/welcome.html, and I've heard decent things about https://quad9.net/).
- SSH access should *only* allow keys, no password access. And for fuck's sake, don't allow direct root login. (Do your research on what kind of encryption and such to use, opinions vary)
- Lock down unused ports.
- Try to keep services that don't need to be open to the internet only accessible through LAN (or VPN if you're up for a bit of a challenge).
- SSL everything. At least *try* to do so if you're going to be exposing services to the open internet.
- Use a password manager. Make secure passwords wherever you can.

Researchers confirm what we already knew: Google results really are getting worse

'Search engines seem to lose the cat-and-mouse game that is SEO spam,' says study No, it's not just you - search engine results really are getting worse as the internet is flooded with low-effort garbage from SEO farms and affiliate link sites, a group of German researchers has concluded. …
#theregister #IT
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/17/google_search_results_spam/

Oh, nuuuuuuu!
So, is this sneaky draggy kinda late for #AppreciateADragonDay ?
🫢🥺🥺😋😘

📸 by yote QuickshotCoyote 🤍💜

#AppreciateaDragonDay2024 #hooray

I am now the strange operator of the resurrected VCL furry art archive, at the new domain of https://vixencontrolled.net/

It's an important collection where many well-known artists got their start, and in some cases the only 'official' repository of their art. It needed preserving, so I stepped up to the task. Someone ought to.

Plus it means I get to promote WebP and AVIF. Time to let the old formats die off, and more efficient ones take over.

Open for new pieces. Trying to get bills and rent paid, so here's some of my best work from 2023. Form below. Boosts appreciated.

Commission form: https://forms.gle/ta5ZHbS216QwJMav9

#furry #furryart

Gift piece I did for Roo_Serena

I caught my dragon using my computer without my permission! Third time today!!

A little stretch 💕

🦊

Have a one-dollar-store Sif with a knife instead of Artorias long ass sword haha

I keep forgetting Fursuit Friday! So have a saturday fursuit picture taken at EF in 2023 haha

#furry #fursuitfriday #fursuit #fursuiter #hyenafurry #furryhyena #spottedhyena #ef2023 #eurofurence27 #ef27 #eurofurence2023

Love this online recipe hack!
...

If you add “cooked.wiki/“ to beginning of ANY recipe url (before the https:/) it strips away everything but the recipe and organizes the ingredients and method into separate columns.

Also adds a dictation option too!

#cooking #recipe