006. And all the people that you hate will love you just the same because you're beautiful

[drydrown]

Those of you that have received physical changes from Retrospec, how long did it take before they stopped seeming fundamentally wrong - do they ever, or am I just going to be handling being mentally inconvenienced every time I try to do anything that involves mirrors for the foreseeable future? I admit that I don't have much to complain about, in the scheme of things - especially since I'm not opposed to the results - but apparently I'm going to do so anyway, simply just because such is social media.

Then again, this particular identity crisis is brought to you by the realization that I haven't seen certain members of my family in two years, and if they were to see me now they wouldn't recognize me on immediate sight. So I think I have some right to be at least mildly distressed.

Comments

[maidofmistakes]

Yeah, I guess that makes sense. It's something you didn't ask for, anyway. I don't really look different, but does it count as a physical change if you can't stop breaking things?

[drydrown]

I'd say it counts, yes. Problems controlling some sort of power of yours, then...?

[maidofmistakes]

I'm pretty sure super strength is overrated.

[liberal_arts]

I guess in a sort of pre-retrospec spiritual connection to my other self, I'd been dying my hair this shade of wisteria purple for ages before it became a permanent part of my scalp. All the other physical changes aren't readily apparent. I suppose I'm fortunate.

[drydrown]

That does sound convenient, if nothing else; I'd imagine the upkeep would have been nightmarish. Unless you were already platinum blond before the change, I suppose.

Is there anything else you've noticed along those lines? Residual connections and all.

[scythegun]

I'm honestly not sure if it'll ever stop feeling weird, though thankfully most of mine don't seem fundamentally wrong anymore.

[Except the one that we don't talk about.]

I've thought about that a lot too, honestly. I don't have any plans on going back to Germany, but if I did I probably would have cancelled them! I simply don't know how to explain the physical changes that have happened to me. It really is a bit frustrating, isn't it?

[drydrown]

That's one way of putting it, I suppose.

It isn't as though it's anything I'll have to worry about, anyway. My sister is the only one that it really matters to, and she doesn't notice that anything is wrong after a month. Everyone else is something of a moot point.

[promisedyou]

I guess it honestly would depend on the physical changes, but mine are purely cosmetic so it doesn't bother me that much... nobody outside of the application seems to notice it to begin with, and the people that do have accepted it as a part of me, so I guess I should, too.

Although identity crisis sure is a thing with all of this, so I get it. I don't even look like my twin sister anymore.

[drydrown]

That's the other part of what's troubling me. We aren't twins, but my sister and I have always looked very similar. We don't anymore, and it's agitating in a way that I hadn't accounted for.

[selfloving]

I can't say I think it ever goes back to feeling exactly "normal." I have experienced only minor cosmetic changes, like the color of my eyes changing, but they still don't look the way I expect them to.

Do you know about "double exposure?" I don't know a lot about photography, but it's when one negative is superimposed over another. Landscapes in a portrait of a woman's face, that sort of thing. Sometimes I think that's the best analogy for what our lives here are like.

[drydrown]

I have some idea of what you're talking about, yes; I don't know if I agree with the metaphor, but I can understand the point that's being made.

My changes have all largely been cosmetic as well, but that doesn't change the fact that it's surreal; minor cosmetic changes are jarring even if they don't put one at a disadvantage, and that's a lot of what I'm experiencing at the moment.

[livingimpaired]

[ He hums a little. ]

I have just received my own, and I find it to be displeasing, as well. So it would seem as though we are in the same boat.

Still, even if they did not immediately recognize you, they would still know you to be you. No matter how much we change, we cannot completely hide ourselves from family.

[drydrown]

Well, it's something of a moot point with most of them anyway. It's just something that was on my mind at the moment, is all.

[redarm]

it doesnt stop
ive had my first physical change for about a year now
and ive gotten used to it, but it still doesnt feel like its a real part of me.

[drydrown]

Good to know, I suppose.

What was it, if you don't mind my asking?

[mercurio]

what did you get?

some of the things that i got are easy to hide with clothing accessories
eyes changed color tho

[drydrown]

Mostly cosmetic things, though some odd things have been done to my body as well.

Eye color changes are obnoxious to deal with, however; I wasn't particularly fond of having to explain any of that at work.

[frostythehitman]

going on month 7 since my change and it's still "wrong"
i'm used to it by now but
it's pretty hard to forget about it being wrong when you have to relearn how to do everything because of it

[drydrown]

So you got one of the more drastic ones, then. My sympathies.

[toobigtohandle]

The changes I got through were rather limited, only my eyes changed color. But after a few weeks, I realized it's seeing myself with my old eye color on photos that was uncomfortable, for some reason. It doesn't feel like it's really me, if that makes sense.

[drydrown]

So you're more attached to the way you are now than the way you were then...?

[flowrite]

I guess maybe mine haven't been the most drastic, and some other people have had the same sorts of things happen, but... I definitely don't spend as much time in front of the mirror as I used to.

I guess some people might consider that a good thing tho!

[drydrown]

Likewise. It's not as though it's anything terrible or disfiguring in my case, even, it's just something I don't care to look at or think about for very long.

[windowdressing]

I don't exactly mind the change in eye color, but I definitely wear sunglasses more frequently than I used to when I'm out in public. I don't want to see any tweets from people thinking I'm trying to cosplay a teenage vampire.

On that note, I did invest in a supply of brown contacts to wear whenever I meet with my family so that I don't have to bullshit an explanation for them. That's worked well enough so far.

[drydrown]

You know, that's an entirely fair move. I tried that for a while just for work's sake, because the eyes were more than a little distracting. The hair was a bit more inconvenient to deal with, so I ended up just dealing with it for a month until no one cared anymore.