my play would to be to send a picture of Dick Cheney and say this will have to do until they sober up and we can talk :)

cis women compliment (and get complimented on) their appearance all the time. trans women like that too. so yeah, without reference to them being trans, 100%.

but getting clocked sucks, so even if you’re supportive and an ally it’s not good to make a reference to them being trans unless they’ve told you. (though definitely don’t lie, even for flattery, since we’re insecure about false compliments in general.)

but if they tell you they’re trans, or if you find out through some way not connected to their appearance (e.g. they show an old ID)… then, and only then, compliments on their physical appearance are absolute catnip. I remember once checking into a motel and showing my old ID, and the person at the front desk said “sorry, he has to be here in person for me to accept his ID” - he thought I was my own sister lol. that was one of the greatest moments of euphoria in my entire life! he was worried he’d offended me once I explained I’d transitioned but I was like “nah bro, you can’t imagine how good that made me feel.”

huh, I could have sworn there was a format for long-term archival, like 50+ years. I guess the GitHub Arctic Code Vault project went with microfilm using some very custom equipment to produce it all. but maybe everyone just uses tape (which is fun! but a bit less durable, and more finicky about being stored well)

I think there are some optical media like that. the discs are cheap but the readers are made of mithril.

let me guess, you’d remove trans people like me from society because you consider us mentally ill? that’s usually how this playbook goes.