Actually playing games during dire emotional states throws fuel unto my dissociation/depersonalization/derealization problems; but just mindfully sitting in my favorite place in the Temple of the Moon on a private vanilla WoW server works great for me. The sounds, music, colors, lighting effects, and water create a very zen space that helps me observe my thoughts and feelings without getting so tangled up in them. That kind of presence helps me better understand what is really going on and how it all happened.

If things are merely bad then maybe I’ll play some original Sims 1 or Rimworld on the coziest of settings. So long as there’s no nest of trash around then it’s probably okay. Eufloria in relaxed mode is a lovely RTS game that hasn’t ever caused me any problems.

Hopefully you find your way through this soon!

Illinois will issue trans refugees a new birth certificate! This is a recent development and the other sanctuary states will hopefully be pressured to step up and do likewise. So call your state politicians :) Make it happen!

https://www.courthousenews.com/new-illinois-law-to-assist-transgender-residents-with-updating-their-birth-certificates/

Wikipedia states that NGO Monitor’s focus is to “End promotion of ‘politically and ideologically motivated anti-Israel agendas’ by certain NGOs,” that they report “on international NGO activity from a pro-Israel perspective,” and that a former online communication editor employed with the group was indefinitely banned for biased editing. Personally I’m more inclined to trust a Wikipedia article with 75 sources unless there is substantial evidence to the contrary.

I’m a hyper-logical type, does engineering things for fun

That’s totally cool! Many so far have presented philosophical answers based more in application of reason than empirical inquiry when you might perhaps prefer an answer based in biological science.

I suppose my followup to that would be what gives someone a specific sense of gender?

As a binary trans woman my very being in and for myself imparts upon me a capacity for directly revealed self-knowledge regarding my gender, which is to say how I wish to be as a presence and present myself to others within the world.

To say ‘I am a woman’ is taking societies interpretation of woman as being right.

Perish the thought! In general however I might reveal my gender it is as an invitation to others for them to interact with me and understand me as a woman. Try to think of this as less a matter of being right or wrong and more one of how you and another might best both enjoy your interactions together.

What differentiates that from ‘I am a man who likes womanly things’?

Gender does! It is literally that simple.

What separates the ‘tomboy’ woman from a trans-masc?

They would through their understanding of their own genders which grants truth or grants falsehood to statements regarding their gender.

Yeah the boot process is a mess! Debian’s noisy GRUB and unsightly boot text is an obvious and unnecessary paint point for a desktop user but very desirable for server installations. You do have some options though!

Carlo Contavalli apparently has a relatively simple work-around discussed at https://rabexc.org/posts/grub-shush. What I’ve done in the past is rebuilding Ubuntu’s source deb package for GRUB against my Debian system. You can grab it at https://packages.ubuntu.com/source/lunar/grub2. Build instructions can be found here https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/117503/how-to-compile-a-debian-package-from-source.

The great thing about Debian, Linux, and FLOSS is that you can even automate downloading Debian’s source package when it gets updated, applying the silent patch, applying Ubuntu’s compilation options, compiling the deb, and installing the deb! But yeah why can some package maintainer not provide such as an option in the repository! It’s really an annoyance for many and almost makes me feel like I’m not the type of user the Debian community desires. Like, “Wait… what? You like pretty stuff? GTFO!” Maybe its even true? Hopefully you will enjoy using Debian! Its most preferable to Ubuntu in many ways these days!

Isn’t combat just so boring? While none of the games you mentioned are familiar to me, story focused games are my main interest. My personal favorite is definitely The Wink and Kiss Part 2 for Neverwinter Nights. Its an adult romance damsel in distress bard’s tale in which there’s almost always a social solution. Whenever combat is apparently unavoidable even the nicest and most harmless character can prevail with the help of her friends! Still though, it is all based on the 3rd edition of DND, so don’t expect things to be easy!

If an old DND game doesn’t interest you, then perhaps consider The Sims 1. Its one of the best selling role-playing games of all time. The Sims is just so awesome it doesn’t even need combat to be creepy, scary, and hard! Right now that’s the game capturing all of my spare time.

There is also a really good visual-novel with enough different paths to cross over into similar territory: Cinders! Its a contemplative retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale which focuses on the player character’s own agency and freedom in an oppressive world. Perhaps its best described as being a game about the true meaning of freedom and independence.

Since you’ve already received many excellent suggestions in this thread by now you hopefully won’t mind these more unusual options. Have fun with which ever game you choose and good luck!

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Thank you! According to Wikipedia only 5 countries prohibit mutilation of intersex children. The other 190 countries do not. This affects as many people as have red hair. Being intersex is a normal and natural variation, not a disorder or mutation.

There are a number of nice skeuomorphic tagged themes on pling and other icons and such also are available there. The best option might be to just abandon the trendy GTK scene and embrace good old TDE! TDE has KDE3’s Plastik theme which looks great to me! (And there is a new port available for current KDE if anyone is interested.) But the early pre-gummy version of ClearLooks would be my favorite if it existed. Raleigh is pretty nice with those classic zebra stripes! Please do let us all know what you find because there are many of us not so happy with the corporate minimalist aesthetic.

While I didn’t read the politico article, the California Attorney General’s press release regarding this lawsuit is informative.

https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-announces-lawsuit-challenging-chino-valley-unified-school

“The lawsuit also asserts this the Board’s plain motivations in adopting the policy were to create and harbor animosity, discrimination, and prejudice towards transgender and gender-nonconforming students, without any compelling reason to do so, as evidenced by statements made during the Board’s hearing. In discussing the policy before its passage, board members made a number of statements describing students who are transgender or gender-nonconforming as suffering from a “mental illness” or “perversion”, or as being a threat to the integrity of the nation and the family. The Board President went so far as to state that transgender and gender nonbinary individuals needed “non-affirming” parental actions so that they could “get better.””

Its wonderful to hear some good news these days! Thanks!

Extreme Tux Racer is a nice ski racing game but tux the penguin has some aerial maneuverability for long jumps.

Psyche!

Oh my goddesses! Thanks to this thread I see that Heilung will be in my city later in the year!

Faun, Omnia, Eluveitie, Sava, Night Wish, Cultus Ferox, Corvus Corax, Schandmaul, Schelmish, Arkona, Danheim.

If On A Winter’s Night, Four Travelers was a beautiful masterpiece which I just finished. If you enjoy pixel art and pensive point and click narratives then you should check it out!

NEET Girl Date Night will be the next game I play.

https://tech.lgbt/@gtfomystate

https://www.2023transport.org

Sorry :/ Hopefully it’s not too bad where you’re at?

hugs

It’s good to hear that you’ve found a safer place and things are uncomplicated there! Missing some aspects of the culture you grew up around, the landscapes, friends and some family is definitely something I can relate to but it seems a small sacrifice for a better future. Thank you for sharing your perspective!

Thanks, that sounds wonderful! It’s good just to read about a real alternative place where things are so much better for people! I’m happy for you!