Flying boats are fixed-wing aircraft with hulls like boats, allowing them to land on water instsead of runways. Lakes, seas, reflecting pools, you name it.
In the early history of flight this kind of thing was popular because there were a lot of places without runways and airstrips, and a lot of those that did exist were too small to accomodate larger, long-distance airplanes. There were other advantages too - because their size wasn’t limited by the length of runways, they could be built to an impressive size, and had longer range than land-based airplanes. I imagine it was also comforting to be able to land safely on the water in case of mechanical problems.
I think my favorite flying boat is the Dornier Do X (pictured in the thumbnail) which was made in the 1920’s. In addition to seats for about a hundred passengers, its three decks contained an onboard kitchen, a dining room, multiple bathrooms, and a bar. Each nacelle on the top has two engines, for a total of twelve. There’s just something magnificent about it.
In the 21st century flying boats are quite rare, although there are a few models used for fighting wildfires. The CL-415 Super Scooper for example, can skim the surface of a lake or reservoir for a few seconds and take in more than six thousand liters of water without stopping!
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spoiler
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harassment
So, why is harassment funny sometimes? Like, today some guy walking past me said “damn, I still wouldn’t fuck [unintelligible (possibly ‘that’)]” in a very overemphasized tone, and it just was kinda hilarious. Like, buddy, I wouldn’t fuck you either but ya dont see me whingeing on about it. And I know its supposed to be a put down, and that its rooted in cishet mans self importance that he is the arbiter of who (or rather, what, as the proverbial cishetman doesn’t relate to those he finds attractive as people) is “fuckable”, but goddamn it was just kinda funny. Like, I’m living rent free in this guys head, all his thoughts about me are about sex and how he doesn’t want to have sex with me, and I’m just living my little life over here
goddamn its just constant with these people.
Less funny today.
Normally I just get the odd rando screaming slurs at me, which is eh whatever not fun but not something I’m gonna do anything about.
apparently my fuckability is greatly contested by the local hatemongers
I walk to my car. Fiddle with the keys and hear “would you hit that?”. Get in and look up and see two construction workers glancing off and on my way, one says something and the other acts embarrassed and ashamed in what I read as a “two men doing man play time/ribbing” way. They keep glancing at me. Dollars to donuts one of em recognized I’m trans (the work site has been up for a while, and I walk past every day) and asked the other if he would “hit that”, and then gets to make fun of his bud for “being gay” and “wanting to fuck a removed”.
Just like, goddamn, I’m so glad I’m not attracted to men. The bar is in hell. Sometimes I forget just how entitled and crass and shitty and just like… Why? Genuinely how is this a male bonding fun time thing? I get how it functions but I think I’ll always be baffled as to why people like doing this shit, how is it fun for either of them?
Sometimes I feel very basic for the name I chose, it’s one of the most common trans girl names and is very close to my birth name but female. But I always loved it and wished it was my name if I was a girl.
As long as you like your name, that’s what’s important
I don’t really have any problems with it, but I added a second name because I wanted to be a little creative
girl i had luna on my shortlist, you’re totally fine. so long as you love it, nothing else matters!
I spent 120 Canadian fun bucks to buy ethereum to buy estrogen and fucked it up because I didn’t read a guide and now I don’t have girl juice nor do I have my money and now some random crypto asshole has my womoney because I sent it to the wrong bajillion digit crypto wallet. Pity me, and let my woes be a cautionary tale to do the reading lest you hurl money into the void.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we did it, my husband and I moved to a new city in a new state. We checked it out before and loved the community.
I might finally start trying to leave the house as Me. I can finally get a doctor that can get me hormones. It might finally work out
Congrats!
I’m moving too and excited for it.I can finally get a doctor that can get me hormones.
If there’s going to be literally any wait you should diy.
I’m too afraid to do DIY. I’m not consistent with myself checking my own levels or trying to be sly with a Healthcare professional seems too scary
Congrats on the move, I hope it fills as many of your dreams as it can!
If you change your mind, several of the regulars here know all about it.
Okay so I’ve seized control of the BBC (so much blood gosh).
Doctor Who. Now played by a tall clocky trans woman. Explicitly brought up in episodes that this regeneration has gender going on.
The doctor doesn’t understand because she has had both male and female bodies in the past and is chill. People ask if she’s a man and she say “no galifreyan”
Okay so I’ve seized control of the BBC (so much blood gosh).
10 days hrt woop
WOO HOO CONGRATS
Powerful milestone!
Next up is 100 days on HRT?
I celebrate monthly
Any excuse to get a sweat treat.
Sweat treat?
Yoo, I’m 6 months hrt!!!
CONGRATULATIONS
waow!!
That’s wild, congrats Alisu
You’re on that grind!
At this rate you’ll soon be on your 7th month of HRT!
venting, transmisogyny
Got indefinitely muted and threatened w a ban on a discord server weve been v active in for over 4 years and have a bunch of friends in for being too loud and catty/mean/impatient abt transmisogyny. At one point this server was basically the only place we socialized in and we have a ton of good memories of the ppl there, so were pretty upset that we might now lose all that for being a trans girl
That sucks, I’m sorry.
Discord powermods are a fuck. Always better to make your own server, preferrably on another platform than discord.
Sometimes people keep you around as a token just to convince themselves they are “one of the good ones”. I am so sorry this happened to you. You aren’t the first to experience this and sadly, you won’t be the last
I hate people who go around spreading that they “used” to be trans. Like no, you’re either trans or you were confused. There is no way to resolve being trans. You didn’t have a “trans phase”. You’re a bumfuck cis person. Stop spreading this shit. It hurts trans people.
You know I had this thought a while ago that some of the worst perspectives on a topic are the people who are superficially close to but not in the group being talked about.
Sincere desisters/detransitioners feel a proximity to trans-ness through lived experience, but as you say, they are cis, their experience is fundamentally different.
I saw a similar thing where a feminine twink insisted he understood what trans women go through, because of the discrimination a feminine mans goes through, and no he doesn’t.
Personally for me I thought I was non-binary for a long time, but I wasn’t, I am a binary trans woman. I don’t go around using this to tell people what being non-binary is about. Because I wasn’t non-binary.
I saw a similar thing where a feminine twink insisted he understood what trans women go through
Also yes I was like “Oh baby-girl, is there maybe a deeper reason you might think you understand what a trans woman goes through?” just incase that helped crack anything.
And like yes, some of them are repressing or whatever, but a lot of them are also just straight up cissies.
Actually 90% of them openly state that there are external reasons for them detransitioning. An environment that’s too dangerous, medical complications, family, partners or a workplace that does not accept them. Nothing cis about that. The next biggest group are nonbinary trans people who used to think they’re binary trans and found out they do not want to be on HRT any longer.
There may be cases that do not fall into these categories, but they are very far from making up the majority. Most detransitioners are provably and by their own account still trans people. When somebody says they are ex trans, that does not coincidentally sound like somebody saying they are ex gay because Jesus healed them.
I’m not talking about the sum total of detransitioners, nor enbies. I’m talking about people who explicitly identify as cis. Who say things like “my trans phase” “when I was trans”. Plenty, probably most, of these people were not on hrt. I absolutely think if you were on a proper dose of hrt for like, call it 6+ months, and it didn’t make you feel terrible you’re clearly transsexual.
and by their own account still trans people.
I am explicitly not talking about them. I am talking about people who identify as their agab and say they “used to be trans”. By their own account, that’s a cis person. Sure some of them are trans, and repressing, but some of them are just actual cis people. As they themselves identify.
medical complications
Fertility, sure, but what else? Cis people don’t take cross sex hrt so I have never understood why trans people should stop hrt. It usually strikes me as a cis doctor abusing a trans patient.
While this is very niche, there’s not a lot of these people, their rhetoric is still extremely damaging. Actual cis people who claim they used to be trans, that it was all a phase they grew out of.
Fertility, sure, but what else?
Mostly autoimmune diseases for estradiol HRT. It’s extremely rare that it gets so bad it outweighs hormonally transitioning from the patient’s perspective, i know several girls who have pretty severe autoimmune issues that got worse with starting HRT and they all say it’s still 100% worth it. But the absolutely tiny number of trans women who get such severe autoimmune issues that being on E is actually worse than living with the increased dysphoria is still orders of magnitude more common than a person who claims to be cis and to have had a trans phase.
Cis people don’t take cross sex hrt
Well duh, that’s my point. “Ex trans” is as real as “ex gay”. These people who claim to be cis and to have been trans are almost certainly not cis.
deleted by creator
Me immediately after my coffee and a bowl: why is my voice so ass in the morning
Some questions science just can’t answer
me w a joint in my fingers: wow i’m so hoarse and congested, what could this be
I have an appointment in 30 minutes to hopefully get my gender dysphoria diagnosis. I am bricking it tbh. Also I need to think about
- Do i actually want bottom surgery? It scares me quite a lot and idk if it would benefit me that much other than not having to tuck. And the recovery seems quite bad. But it’s free though so… maybe? I’d have an orchi in a heartbeat if it were available
- Do i want to apply for a gender recognition certificate (mostly worthless since a the government decided that your gender is your sex in most circumstances) as a woman? I’m not a woman but, if forced to pick one of the two available gender options, F would be the least incorrect. In some imaginary timeline where I can afford to travel internationally, I’d be able to get a passport with an F marker rather than M. You don’t need a GRC to change your gender on your driving licence (which is the de-facto state-issued photo id here currently). But, again, you may choose M or F and nothing else.
Comrades, I am officially transgender. Wow.
the first thing that felt official was checking that box with my insurance, so happy for you comrade!
Thank you! We don’t really have medical insurance here (yet…) but it’s definitely good to feel recognised. I specifically remember checking my first “gay” box on a diversity form (my sexuality and gender adventure has taken a while) and, yeah, it felt really kind of affirming.
bottom surgery recovery talk, kinda graphic
Had an orchi last fall, it’s great but when i compare my recovery to all the girls in my friend group who got vaginoplasty i wouldn’t say the recovery is as easy as everybody makes it out to be. You spend several weeks with a sack swollen to the size of a pomegrenade if you’re lucky and a cantaloupe if you’re not, it’s pretty awful both as far as physical discomfort goes and because you spend the hardest part of your recovery with a junk that’s the exact opposite of why you did the surgery. The dysphoria from looking at that was murdering me.
Yes, you get to leave the hospital a few days earlier, you have notably less incisions, you do not have to spend the next two years dialating, but all of these things very quickly get better.
When you weigh your surgery options, base them on which results you want, not how hard it is to get there. You will be able to handle it either way and it will kinda suck either way, but if you go for what you actually want and need it will also absolutely be worth it either way.
Thanks. This is the exact sort of thing I need to hear.
It’s fine if you don’t want to answer
cw: genitals, surgery, sex, dysphoria, etc
Are you fully healed now? how long would you say it took? does the skin eventually tighten up a little or (i’m so sorry and wish there were a better way of putting this) is it still kind of loose and flappy? (sorry)
I think that mine has shrunken over the years (i’ve had good t suppression for 7 years or so, so the testes are small and tend to sit in the bottom of the inguinal canal), so i wonder if it will shrink more when it’s fully empty
Are you happy with the result? Do you regret not getting a zero depth or even full bottom surgery? Has it eased your dysphoria?
Purely from a functional perspective, I can pee just fine and I don’t require a vagina to have sex. But not having to worry about cleaning out or what I’m eating would be nice, and maybe I’d appreciate it more when I’m older.
Idk though. It’s not a huge source of dysphoria for me (I have a face and ribcage to fulfil that role) so maybe I should just leave it as-is.
spoiler
Are you fully healed now?
Scar tissue can shrink for up to 2 years, but i have no actual wounds anymore or anything like it.
how long would you say it took?
About 3 months in total, but i likely took longer due to the wound getting infected after i left the hospital.
does the skin eventually tighten up a little or (i’m so sorry and wish there were a better way of putting this) is it still kind of loose and flappy? (sorry)
It can do that, but that usually takes time. I’m about 7 months post surgery and haven’t noticed anything. I also don’t have any notable scarring, and besides the fact that there are no more balls, the only visible difference is a slight fold where the outer incision was made, but that is only visible when i hold the scrotum up a little. The scar itself isn’t really visible.
It is possible to tighten the remaining skin surgically right away, but that can lead to complications like painfully stretched skin during erections or less material for an eventual future vaginoplasty, so i decided against that.
Are you happy with the result?
Yes, it feels wonderful. I would not have thought the absence of something can feel so relaxing and affirming.
Do you regret not getting a zero depth or even full bottom surgery?
Honestly, i sometimes regret not having gone for a full vaginoplasty or salmacian. I like having a dick, i’m kinda top leaning, but i still get phantom vagina from time to time and i regularly think to myself “i could be fully healed from my second round of vaginoplasty by now” (i originally had an earlier bottom surgery date, delayed that bc i was unsure and decided to have an orchi instead, so i would be more than a year after my original surgery date now). But it would have been fairly difficult in the situation i’m in rn, i live fairly far from almost my entire support network and have unmedicated ADHD. I could have pulled a bigger type of surgery off if i would have moved to where anybody else lives and if i was in a different spot as far as managing my ADHD goes, but as it is it would have been overwhelming to do more than this and may have led to me suffering another burnout. Or maybe not, but it would have been tough.
Has it eased your dysphoria?
Massively, my balls were my biggest bottom dysphoria trigger. Anything else is so-so, some days there is dysphoria, some days i’m ok with things as they are and i have a lot of moments where my girldick actually makes me feel euphoric. I more or less expected it to go like this, too.
I can easily tuck now, that was impossible before bc i always felt pain after just a few minutes. Now i can tuck all day without issues. My testo levels are basically the same as before with EEn monotherapy.
spoiler
Your comment earlier about having a sac the size of a cantaloupe was really funny. Idk why why I didn’t process it the first time but yeah I’m having a little giggle.
Thank you so much for this and I’m glad you’re mostly very happy with your result. Hope your ADHD is more under control now, too.
It’s making me feel like, for me, it would be a half-measure. It’s less that I hate my current genitals and more that I wouldn’t mind if they were gone and I’d really like if they were replaced. I’m a bit same though re support network. People aren’t a million miles away but it’s a long way to travel frequently and I don’t have much space here. And i’d never get rent this “low” again if i moved… unless???
salmacian
Oh i’ve seen pics of this before. Cool af honestly. You could still get that right, if you wanted?
Did you do the whole recovery on your own?
I mostly did that on my own, yeah. I mean, i was obviously in contact with my friends daily via VC n stuff, but i had little physical contact to the rest of the world for the first month or so. My mom came over a few times, a close friend visited me about weekly and she helped me a lot during that time, but i was really isolated before i had healed up enough that i could travel again.
more details, pain meds
Important note: If somebody tells you that you can easily do an orchi as an outpatient procedure, they are not completely wrong but it’s just cruel. Also you will regret not getting a good donut cushion bc you think that’s just for more invasive forms of bottom surgery. The two cuts they make to sever the balls can still hurt like hell and that can last a long time. Doesn’t have to, i almost never even felt the cut on the right side, but the nerve that used to be hooked up to my left ball really hated me for a while. Took me two months before i could drive without painkillers again (metamizol, i actually didn’t need opioid medication past the first day after surgery).
Thanks. Super helpful again. I hadn’t even considered long-term nerve pain actually. Has that gone away fully now?
Yeah, that has fully gone away by now.
spoiler
you do not have to spend the next two years dialating
Fuck my chud life
A gender recognition certificate might be useful if you want to move to another country right? Because it lets you change your birth certificate.
Then if you’re living in say Australia and are asked for a birth certificate you just have one in the gender that you feel closer to.
Yes, that’s true. Perhaps I’ll apply for it then. Thank you :)
bottom surgery, sex
I had full depth vaginoplasty this year in January, and my recovery has been very smooth compared to people I know. I wish I could say what I did differently, I ate right, stayed hydrated, was fairly fit, ate a lot of protein (like whey and beans lol), stayed active, stayed on top of my dilation schedule, live alone and no pets so didnt have to clean my tub or whatever any more than usual. The first month dilation schedule does suck, its a full time job and thats not an exaggeration all the dilating, cleaning, drying, 4x a day. The months after get easier and easier but its still a lot of work. I was also lucky my union got us short term disability benefits so I never had to worry about money either.
Not tucking again is definitely great - but you dont need full depth for that. You could have an orchi which Ive heard makes it easier to tuck, or zero depth vaginoplasty. Then it just looks like any other vagina but there’s no cavity. Recovery is simpler and significantly faster with zero depth. I didnt get orchi pre bottom surgery.
I wanted full depth because I knew I wanted to have sex with a vagina. I always considered myself a top, and I still pretty much top even though… I aint got the equipment for it unless I use a strap lol. I was having sex with my vagina about 4 months in? Which is a little faster than most people but I healed great. It feels great and I’d highly recommend it if its something you’d ever want. Otherwise, if its not something you want theres not much point going for the longer recovery surgery.
I do remember thinking that if they said “you either get FFS or bottom surgery free, pick” I wouldve picked FFS. Im actually quite happy with a vagina though, its great!
Thank you.
(Sorry if i’m grossing everyone out. i’m far too awkward with the irl people i could ask these things to actually ask them in this level of detail)
cw: surgery, sex, masturbation
Yeah I’d pick FFS first too if it were an option. But I’m glad you’re happy with your bottom surgery and you’ve definitely got me thinking about getting full depth. Like, imagine just being able to have sex whenever with no planning or preparation. I know you said you’re a top, but are you able to say how vaginal feels compared to anal or nah? I think they position everything so you still get prostate stimulation, right? Did you keep full sensitivity of the various tissue that got moved around? How’s masturbation? I typically use a magic wand, but the idea of perhaps just being able to use my fingers is kind of nice. Do you ever miss having the bits to top with? Do you feel more comfortable topping with a strap?
Oh also, did you need to get electrolysis on the area first? Was it more painful than face or about the same? And was it done at a hospital or in a regular hair removal salon? The latter concerns me quite a lot because they’re all (presumably) cis women at the one I go to.
spoiler
I was never interested in bottoming anal, so I have nothing to compare it to lol. From the people who I know whove had both, its comparable ish. Some people still need prep with a neovagina, I dont and I dont think Im rare for it - I get wet and all just fine. As far as I know most people are able to get wet after, but some people still need a little prep - but not full on bottoming prep, like just lube. Which is the same as plenty of cis women with vaginas they were born with.
Youre able to check and touch and otherwise stimulate the prostate from the front yeah~ also they save a bundle of tissue and nerves that acts more or less like a g spot too. I kept sensitivity, and for me it does feel more sensitive and pleasurable but it might be more down to no more bottom dysphoria rather than anything they did to nerves or tissue. Fingers feels great, vibe feels WONDERFUL. I did not know how good it felt. Its also nice how long it can go? And it just keeps going and going too, with my gock it was like - build up then its more or less done in one release. It has not been like that post op.
The only stuff I miss about my old gock is the ease of peeing standing up and how much faster masturbation was. I can still pee standing up but it takes some awkward stances and muscles lol, and while masturbating was a lot faster - it also wasnt fun, more of a chore. I topped with a strap before (occasionally) and after, I preferred it to my gock even before. Now, I get to use a strapless strap on (like a double sided dildo kinda, you hold on to one end inside you and use the other) - thats been great.
I got laser for one session before, but honestly it wasnt necessary. It didnt hurt much, I have a high pain tolerance but honestly it barely hurt compared to my face. They like scrape off your hair follicles during the surgery? I dont have any hair inside my neo vagina, and out of the other post op trans women I know I think only one had a couple hairs inside? Anyway, they can get rid of any spare hairs inside if some happen to make it past surgery. I had my laser session at a place that has a lot of trans and gender diverse clients, and I had the same tech for my face as I did for full brazillian. Cis guys get it too, not often but they do so if you wanna boymode aboht it - well you can.
cw: more
Def not me only just finding out that vagina-havers can pee standing up. Humans are truly magical creatures.
Thanks for answering so thoroughly and being so patient. That all seems really good and I kind of think i want it.
Do you mind me just asking a little more about recovery? How long were you bedbound for? Did you have someone to look after you to begin with? How long until you were able to go up and down stairs and stand long enough to shower and prepare food? Did you need a ring cushion to sit down (I guess there’s a lot of swelling in the whole surrounding area)? If you work out/cycle/run, how long until you were able to start again?
spoiler
I was up and walking day after surgery! They get you to walk, early mobilization helps with keeping inflammation down - which means better healing and less pain. I was walking up and down a couple flights of stairs I think… a couple days after surgery? And then at home, my apartment is on the 6th floor - and I used the stairs.
I was never bedbound or strict bedrest, closest was the first day after. I didn’t move tons for the first month, besides bed or couch. Sitting did hurt - they had little cushion rings for us at the recovery house but I do wish I had my own for the flight home and then for the first few weeks. I took a class during recovery, it was only an hour but it definitely felt a little sore the first couple weeks.
I had my mom with me the first week, my sister helped with groceries or chores, I also had a lot of friends who helped with tasks for the first couple months but I stopped needing much of any help after about 6 weeks. It was a strict 10 lbs lifting limit, which can be like a big house cat - so it doesnt take much to stress the surgery site and stitches that first critical month. I showered at the recovery house! It was very nice. So maybe a few days or a week in?
I didnt start working out again until after the first month, and then it was very gentle bodyweight stuff the next two months. But I stayed active with walking, stairs, etc. I stayed active the whole time, starting from post op day 1 or 2.
As much as recovery sucks, it is a temporary part of your life - and then the rest is, you have a vagina, and jts just there~ ♡
Amazing. Tysm for all of this. I’m so happy for you!
spoiler
Some people still need prep with a neovagina, I dont and I dont think Im rare for it
More prep then lube?
Edit: oh idk how I missed the rest of that paragraph, I swear I read the whole thread. But is it just lube? Like because you said it’s not full on bottom prep… Is there still more/other stuff then natal vaginas?
spoiler
Dilators were invented for women with vaginisumus I think, so even natal vaginas sometimes need some pain control or numbing. Otherwise, more or less all of the prep is foreplay and/or lube depending on the person.
I’ve brought up cartoons by allies that depict trans people in transphobic ways, I really like this cartoon because it doesn’t do that.
In part because it doesn’t have a big arrow to the trans people
But short boy with undercut gives me transmasc vibes, and tall girl with hoop earrings gives me transfem vibes. And I get non binary vibes from the teal topped person between them.
Also I saw a comment where a boomer said. “Why is there three lesbian couples?” Which was really funny.
This teenager at work called a 13~ year old, to their face mind you, a cum dumpster. What possessed you to do that. Kid’s mom was not happy.
Didn’t get fired btw.
…wtf… 
Me personally? I would not do that.
Update to this: got banned now
