Question Saw this making the rounds

I saw this making the rounds on Facebook and thought that this would either be the most interesting or least interesting place to put it.

My answer is 'check what clothes still fit, then go shopping for what I don't have.'

Allow me to add the caveat of opposite your birth gender.

Be very, very thankful.

Admittedly, I have no idea if I would be happier as a female - I doubt that happiness is something I am capable of, and gender has always been sort of a 'meh' thing for me anyway - but I doubt I would be any more unhappy than I've been as a male.

OTOH, I have been considering, ah, experimenting with presenting as female, but I haven't really been able to get my self to do anything with it yet, out of a mix of apathy (given my horrific appearance, anything I do about changing my presentation would be polishing a turd) and fear (that it actually would go well, which is something I don't know how I would deal with).

Schol-R-LEA wrote: Be very, very thankful.

Hell. Yes.

If there's a ROB that can do sex changes / gender changes, I'd be VERY thankful that they didn't decide to alter me in drastic / disturbing ways.

EDIT: I don't think that's what you meant, but it's where my mind went when you said that.

I think I'd wonder how it happened, and maybe try and find out.

Sue me, I'd be a little curious.

First thank whoever/whatever did this to me, as it is a dream come true for a m-t-f ts like me. Then start living my life how I've always dreamed of being able to.

Personally, my first reaction -well, past 'beewwwbbbsss...', would be 'Okay, what's the catch?' I'd want to know why it happened, because there's always a catch. I'd want to know who or what or why this happened, and what they want in return. Why? Because it would totally SUCK to get used to being young, healthy, beautiful and busty, only to have some vicious snickering demonic gnome come knocking at the door with a laundry list of things guaranteed to get me eternally damned, no matter what I did to try to repay it, or lose that delicious state.

Hey, my grandfather was a farmer, and he once told me, 'Always look a gift horse in the mouth. Because nobody gives away a good horse, but there's always someone looking to stick you with the costs of taking care of a broken down nag.'

You wake one morning in the opposite gender

The wording here lends itself to a pun, but I can't figure out how to say it without being crude.


I would meet this discovery with a great deal of thought. Because the rules of the universe as I understand them do not allow such transformations - which means that the universe isn't structured the way I thought it was and I don't know the rules or what is dangerous.

Of course, I'd probably eventually get distracted by my curiosity, because while I'm fortunate enough to be comfortable in my gender, I would not be adverse to finding myself as another.

Very first thing is try to explain things to my daughter. Because she usually wakes me up in the morning and she'll be freaked at the stranger in Daddy's bed.
Then I have to worry about practical things like figuring out how I'd keep custody of her when I'm not me anymore.
If I got all of that settled, well then it's time to explore if the female orgasm really is better than the male one.

Arcanist Lupus wrote:

You wake one morning in the opposite gender

The wording here lends itself to a pun, but I can't figure out how to say it without being crude.

Could also be taken in another direction entirely? Ever heard of reincarnation? Say hi to your new mom!

Back to the original concept...

After the original 5 minutes of WTF...

"Time to EXPERIMENT!"

Yeah, I'd prolly let out my inner devisor, and poke everything.

Because I don't think I'd be real disturbed in being the new gender, and why pinch yourself, when you can do a bit of exploration? Get to know the new frame, and make sure you're not dreaming.

Bek does have a point though. There's always a catch. Always.

Domoviye wrote: Very first thing is try to explain things to my daughter. Because she usually wakes me up in the morning and she'll be freaked at the stranger in Daddy's bed.
Then I have to worry about practical things like figuring out how I'd keep custody of her when I'm not me anymore.
If I got all of that settled, well then it's time to explore if the female orgasm really is better than the male one.

Hmm... What do we look like, anyway? Are we just an AU of ourselves where we're born the opposite sex, somehow, and had perfect health? Or what?

If we are genetically the same except for the sex chromosomes, then we can do genetic testing, and have beyond a reasonable doubt in our favor?

Also memories to confirm self...

Anyone reminded of A-Eadie's - He Always Gets His Man, with the resleeving of mind in a opposite sex body?

Shock, immediately giving way to curiosity that quickly gets interrupted by a bunch of panic regarding identity - legal and social in particular. I think my gender identity is unattached enough to not be worried in such a scenario, but being recognised by others and the legal system is a major concern.

Uh, hmm, shock, wonder how this happened, was it magic, high tech? Check out the new packaging while checking the news for other reports of this happening.

Wonder how the hell I'm going explain/prove who I am.

Has everything else changed, clothes etc.

Like Bek said, wonder what catch is, because sure as hell Murphy's Law(s) will be invoked.

Nothing different from normal.

BTW the correct question would be "What if you woke up as the opposite sex?" Because as worded the TGs would now be comfortable in their original bodies, and the non TGs would now be TGs.

Once I'd got over my different anatomical configuration, I'd probably have a poke around my flat to see what else had been changed - did the magic (or whatever) just flip my gender (so all my clothes would still be from 'before' as would all identity documents) or did it rewrite reality (so clothes and identity documents match the new reality).

If the former, things could get awkward very quickly...

Even in the latter, what happens next depends on whether reality has been changed from that point onwards or if the reality warping extends into history - e.g. do you now just have your original set of memories (in which case everyone's going to think you're acting rather oddly over the next few days while you adapt to your new circumstances), or do you have an overlapping set of your growth and development as the other gender (in which case, no-one's likely to notice anything different and you're likely to autonomously behave as your new gender - so it's more a case of thinking over the day just gone by in the evening and reconciling your memories / behaviour from 'before' with that from 'after)?

First I would freak the fuck out, because I'm more likely to be insane than to have gotten a magic overnight sex change. The universe is now upside down and I must try not to fall off.

Once done panicking, I would feed my probably very annoyed cat and then make myself breakfast. In fact, I'd probably pull out all the stops and make cheesy scrambled eggs with a side of bacon, because this is the sort of psychotic bullshit that I'm just plain not going to deal with without a good breakfast in my belly first. Pop-Tarts just aren't gonna cut it this time.

Now calm and fed, I'd start investigating. Does what I feel match what I see? Does the mirror match what I see? What if I bounce the light between two mirrors? With glasses? Without? Peripheral vision? How about my shadow? What about my cellphone camera? What about a still taken with a timer and viewed later? How about audio? Grab my tape measure, close my eyes, measure myself, open eyes, and check the measurement -- does the measurement match what I see? Eventually I'll need to get a fellow human to provide a second opinion, but that can wait until RPG night on Saturday. I trust my friends way more than my neighbors. For now though, I'd have to assume what I see is what is (unless my tests showed otherwise, obviously, but that wouldn't be in keeping with the scenario).

At some point I would try to fly, just in case. I'd also do some exercises to see if there's been a strength change, and weigh myself to see if there's been a mass change. And I'd look around my apartment to see if this was a transformation or a reality-retcon/memory-shenanigans. (Webcomics have prepared me for this!)

After that, I'd shrug, fire up my computer, and get to work. I work over the net with people on the opposite coast who I've never met and haven't even talked to on the phone in years. We just use chat and email. So they'd never notice a sex change.

After work, I'd start doing research to find out what I'd have to do to get my identity updated. I wouldn't start working on actually doing any of that for a few months though, since this might be temporary, but I'd want to start researching the process now so that I can plan ahead.

If there had been no change by the weekend, I'd go shopping to get just a few clothes (unless my old ones fit). No need to get lots of clothes yet, since it might be temporary and that would waste money. Just need a few for now so that I'm decent when I make a grocery run or meet my friends for RPGs. I'll get more clothes later if it seems like I'm stuck this way.

If I hadn't reverted within a month or so, I'd go ahead and let my immediate family know since it would be time to visit them anyway. They might be weirded out, but they wouldn't reject me or anything. Extended family, I'm not so sure about... but none of them live nearby and I don't really care if they reject me. I would be a little worried about my grandma though; she might take it pretty hard, and she's old. She can reject me all she wants, but I'd feel pretty bad if she had a literal heart attack over it. Oh well. I'd rather risk that than deal with hiding the change.

If a neighbor saw me entering or exiting my apartment or truck and questioned me during this time, I'd claim to be one of my siblings apartment-sitting for myself. After a few months, I'd start getting serious about updating my ID, and after that I'd probably move to avoid having to deal with my neighbors. Been meaning to move anyway, just haven't quite had enough reason to justify the hassle and likely greater rent I'd end up with elsewhere. This would be sufficient reason.

Otherwise, I'd pretty much carry on as usual. Basically none of my hobbies would be impacted in a meaningful way, and my gender identity is weak and maybe even a little fluid, so I don't expect any trauma. Just annoyance at the hassle, and maybe some initial amusement at the novelty followed by a bunch of ho-hum. Also a bit of lasting anxiety due to the uncertainty of whether or not it's actually permanent, or if things are going to get tossed on their head again somewhere down the road.

Well, I wonder what the doc will make of this new symptom?

E. E. Nalley wrote: Well, I wonder what the doc will make of this new symptom?

Maybe it's just that I need coffee, but I laughed over this one. Thanks, EE.

Nagrij wrote:

E. E. Nalley wrote: Well, I wonder what the doc will make of this new symptom?

Maybe it's just that I need coffee, but I laughed over this one. Thanks, EE.

To quote one of my favorite lines in the tech support business, "working as intended."

E. E. Nalley wrote: Well, I wonder what the doc will make of this new symptom?

At my first guess, 'I don't think this will be covered by the HMO even if it's not a pre-existing condition'

Malady wrote:

Schol-R-LEA wrote: Be very, very thankful.

Hell. Yes.

If there's a ROB that can do sex changes / gender changes, I'd be VERY thankful that they didn't decide to alter me in drastic / disturbing ways.

EDIT: I don't think that's what you meant, but it's where my mind went when you said that.

It wasn't, but it's an excellent point. I hadn't considered that until you brought it up, and thinking back, I should have. Maybe I want this more than I am ready to admit?