Well, it certainly has been a long time since I made one of these. Read through my last one, and things were certainly dire back then. Fortunately, that car accident had no lasting damage besides some scarring and the ability to pop my sternum.

Obviously, I haven't modded in a while, or at least haven't released anything. I've been busy: college that took way longer than it should have (got my Associates in 2020 after 4 years), some programming here and there (nothing paid), general living, and of course a lot of D&D / Pathfinder throughout that time. But I'm glad to say that I have an Associate of Science - Oregon Transfer degree and I'm enrolled for the Bachelor's in the fall. COVID really delayed things, but I was fortunate to keep working as a janitor all throughout.

However, these weren't the only reasons I was kept away from the community I know and love. By the way, I'm glad to see things didn't slow down while I was gone! Another big reason I've been away was fear. It's scary when you discover something about yourself, but you don't know how the rest of the world will react. It doesn't help when you yourself are so ignorant about it that you didn't think it was a real thing until the repressed thoughts and emotions pop up. If anyone's read the "About Me" section on my profile recently, you probably already know.

In 2019, I realized I was transgender. It wasn't just one thing, thought, or experience that showed me; instead, it was a culmination of things from my childhood and throughout my life up till then. But like I said, that's scary. It takes a lot of time to adjust your thinking, to research and evaluate yourself. To test the waters, so-to-speak, and see what things are like in your new reality. And that was the case for most of 2019 and all of 2020. I spent my time hidden away, trying to fly under the radar and not draw attention to myself. My friends from college and my roommates knew, of course. But the outside world? No, no, no. Much too risky, of course.

In 2021, I decided to get the ball rolling on the rest of my life. I'd spent a couple of years finding my new sense of self, recentering, and getting a new sense of style. For the most part, things have been pretty quiet. But recently, I've had some pretty good experiences re-connecting with a few of you people, and it's been wonderfully refreshing to be "back". So, I'm ready to come out of the shadows and say

"Hi! I'm Tristan. For those of you that used to guess I was a woman... well, looks like you were right. "