Check-Up #41

 So I've had an interesting month which started with some time off. I attended a Doctor Who convention for the first time in over a decade. It was an interesting experience as I had been going to these since 2004 (mainly for Buffy fandom but moving into other shows) when I was in my early 20s. I didn't do cosplay at that time, the first con I did it at was in 2011, and I certainly didn't crossdress at all. I think it must have been lurking at the back of my mind but I never did anything about it. Also at the time and being as young as I was, I saw these events as the place I might be able to find a romantic partner which I think I put a lot of pressure on myself to do so. Although I never got together with anyone I had a few kisses, crushes and near misses. I never also managed to make friends as well so to see everyone greet each other like long lost friends was a bit depressing. 

I wasn't sure if I wanted to recreate all that though so I went with some trepidation but determined to enjoy myself and try to feel like I had moved on emotionally in the last 20 years. In the end I did have a good time. There were some things that I found a bit frustrating but that was to do with the con in general and the odd autograph system they had in place. The convention was quite inclusive though which is nice and of course one of the best parts is the hotel buffet breakfast. I did a couple of cosplays which I enjoyed and when I wasn't doing that I had a couple of dresses for the dances and a red skirt I coupled with some t-shirts I mostly wore to get food and sit around between panels. I even had some nice compliments on just being myself and I managed to find some people to talk to. 

The following weekend I caught up with some friends and we attended a geeky event together. It's always nice to know that I'm (hopefully) on the right track with fashion and I'm always surprised when I get a compliment. In the early days especially I was expecting hate so much that the good caught me quite off guard. The weekend after that I ended up going to a friend's birthday party in full Star Trek cosplay which was probably one of the more nerve wracking times I've spent in cosplay as it involved going into central London. The cosplay was a short red dress from the original series and luckily I had a long black coat to cover it up to walk through the streets. 

I'm in a bit of a funk regarding captions at the moment as a couple of weeks ago I had another unfavourable social media comment. Now, I'm not against someone disliking my work as that's par for the course but someone went to the trouble of retweeting me and accusing me of not being able to speak English! I don't think they even got the kink aspect of the story I was trying to tell (in a small space as well) so I don't know how they stumbled onto my stuff. I have restricted my profile a bit but I've been a little hesitant to stap captioning in that format again. I may start writing some longer form stories instead to scratch that itch and I have started on one already. To be honest I've been thinking of doing it for a while. 

Ok and for a final bit of levity here's a few comments on the costumes for the recently started series 21 of Taskmaster. I'm not sure if I've talked about it before but this series has really been a go to happy place for me in the last few years. Five comedians are given silly things to do and are then assessed by the Taskmaster. There are a number of pre-filmed tasks and more often than not they choose to wear specific costumes to do these in. 

Publicity shot of the American diner themed
Taskmaster series 21

Going from left to right, starting off we have Joel Dommett. I'm not the greatest fan of Joel but here the costume is wonderful: a leather look 90s skateboarder outfit complete with skateboard! Always love a prop and it reminds me of Andy Zaltzman from series 18 with his full cricket whites including helmet and bat. Amy Gledhill is next and she's wearing a kind of jungle woman/cave woman outfit. In particular I notice the fishnets as often those that choose to do tasks in a skirt or dress, like Liza Tarbuck or Victoria Coren-Mitchell, often have leggings on perhaps to do with the more physical nature of the task and the danger of them tearing which I expect is a continuity nightmare. Amy is my tip for the winner of the whole series too. Next we have Kumal (OMG he's so famous!!) Nanjiani who is in a basic but functional jacket, top, jeans and trainers. Sensible but unremarkable. Then we have hosts Greg Davies, the eponymous Taskmaster, and his assistant Little Alex Horne (the series creator and person behind the fiendish tasks). Joanna Page is next wearing dungarees which is a Taskmaster staple much like the jumpsuit and recalls Charlotte Ritchie and Sophie Willan. She's also coupled it with a yellow top which makes her look like a minion however there are questions over whether this is intentional. Joanna is another strong contender for the top spot. Finally Armando Iannucci looking spiffy in a suit and tie. Always respect a man doing the show in suit and tie much like Frank Skinner or John Kearns (who always lobbed a jacket out of shot whenever he started a task). Two episodes have aired so far and I'm looking forward to the rest. 

TV Style

 I just wanted to mention some things from a couple of programmes I've been watching recently. 

Firstly, the latest Star Trek series: Starfleet Academy. The first season has just aired with a second (and now final, sadly, according to this week's news) to follow and personally I quite liked it. Obviously I'm going to talk about uniforms. I cosplay quite a few Star Trek uniforms and one of my favourites and indeed the first one I tried was the red dress from the original series. In fact I went to friend's birthday party in one on Saturday night and getting on a train and the London Underground in it is probably one of the bolder of my crossdressing adventures. 

Anyway, the uniforms from SA are mainly grey with a few flashes of colour to denote which area the cadets are studying. Within this framework they have a coloured t-shirt with a jacket and trousers, jacket and skirt and a dress. As soon as I saw the skirt suits I knew I wanted one and hopefully I will sort that out at some point. Now one other thing I should mention is that one of the boys is seen wearing the skirt suit! Jay-Den the Klingon wears it in a few episodes and this was so good to see. Back in the days of Star Trek; The Next Generation they did introduce a Starfleet dress (the skant) which some male extras were seen wearing in the background however this didn't last very long and was phased out by the second season. 

There's a nice article on it at Everybody Skirts here: Star Trek's Short Lived Skant. 

Now, things have moved on since the 1980s and people are a bit more relaxed about gender fluidity today (or at least they were for a while, things seem to be going backwards), or at least the youth are, this would be the perfect time to try a unisex uniform again. The trouble is however, unless I've missed some more extras, that Jay-Den appears to be the only one wearing it and the production team seems think it's ok for only him to dress like that because he's gay. Perhaps if a few others did it then it might appear more universal. It seems we still may not have come that far since the 1980s which is disappointing. 

The Starfleet Academy Cast (Photo by John Medland/Paramount +)

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I've also been catching up with the rest of the world and watching Ted Lasso. For the uninitiated, this was one of Apple TV's first big hits and centres around a good natured American football coach enlisted by UK football team AFC Richmond to turn around their fortunes. It ran for three series from 2020-2023 with a fourth coming soon and one of the characters I've fallen for is Keeley Jones played by Juno Temple. She's such a wonderful character who, in lesser hands, could have ended up as a typical WAG. Needless to say one big part of that is the outfits she wears which steer just close to OTT at times but have a certain feminine flair. 

Juno Temple as Keeley Jones in Ted Lasso

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Finally, speaking of wonderful outfits, a shout out to Morgan Gillory over at High Potential. This is the latest entry in the police consultant genre and sees Kaitlin Olson star as Morgan, a cleaner with a genius level IQ who starts assisting the LA Police with murder cases. She's a great character and has a wonderfully eclectic sense of style. Certainly one of those characters I watch to see what she's wearing that week. 

Morgan Gillory (Kaitlin Olson) in High Potential

Catch-Up #40

 I've been doing a lot of thinking recently related back to my trip to Italy last year. I said I got some dress envy which normally happens but I think that the root of it is not that there were other people wearing dresses but that I wasn't. I was depressed that I was unable how to present how I wanted to. Thinking about it since and there are times when I've looked in the mirror when I've been dressed and I've loved what I'm wearing. It's made me stupidly happy to do it and I realised that through the years I've never felt that way about any male clothes that I've worn. It doesn't matter whether I'm in a t-shirt and jeans or a suit (and to be honest suits and formal wear in general always made me feel a bit uncomfortable) I've never felt that same way and nowhere near as happy as when I'm in a nice dress or skirt and tights. After all these years, it just feels right. 

When I was a teenager I used to go out to clubs with my friends with the chief reason being to pick up girls. This never worked, not for me anyway, I was never that type of person and the music was mostly the kind of rubbish you get in clubs anyway. At least if it had been the songs in the pop charts I might even have been able to have a dance. Genuinely I used to wish I was a woman sitting atop a stool dressed in a slinky red dress and smoking a cigarette like in the movies. No idea why the cigarette (I don't even smoke) or why it should be a red dress (perhaps related to Michelle Pfeiffer in The Fabulous Baker Boys which I've never actually seen to this day or Jessica Rabbit) but I think it was also that I wanted to take on the more traditional female role and have people talk to me rather than having to make the first move. Later on when I started to go out dressed I went to a club with some friends to celebrate a birthday and there I felt like the odd one out but then I thought about it a bit more and figured out that I didn't really want to dress like the other guys in their plaid shirts and shiny shoes but I just wanted to blend in a bit more and not feel like I was a square peg. This feeling has gone away in later years though and I'm more comfortable with myself now and don't feel like I stick out quite so much although some times are more noticeable than others. 

Thinking about it, I don't think that dressing how I wanted would have been the solution to all my problems but perhaps it would have made me a little happier and a bit more at peace with myself without feeling that I'm being forced to act a certain way. It does feel like that at times though, like I'm being forced to look a certain way and I was the one doing it. Perhaps I've repressed that part of me. Maybe that's the reason. That said though I'm still a believer that things happened when they were supposed to and if I had started earlier I may not have been as comfortable with myself. I needed to get through a set of experiences to become who I am now. 

I've been out dressed a few times recently in fact I think last year I was doing it a couple of times a month. I bought some new skirts recently too and even a dress that was a bit too tight (even after I found the side zip) but it was only £1.00. I'm worried that the enjoyment is starting to slip a bit for me but that may be worries about storage. If I see something I like, I will still go for it. 

Lastly, I've had some really nice comments on my writing recently and one in particular I would like to note. I put my Role Exchanger story Office Christmas Party up the The Changing Mirror back in December due to the Christmas theme (in fact it's been about a decade since I wrote it) and had a lovely comment from TF story legend and Role Exchanger creator Morpheus (I have no reason to believe this wasn't genuinely them, by the way) who said that they enjoyed it and it may even have inspired them return to the concept. Genuinely made up by that. 

To end I thought I would add a story I read just last night that I liked about a trio of friends at a music festival who slowly get turned into fans of a pop princess rather than the band they were actually there to see. 

Gaining New Fans by DeviantNabu

Valentines Day 2026

 As ever I've been meaning to put some more posts up recently but I've just not had the time. Today is a Saturday though and Valentine's Day so I thought I would put up a few themed caps based around love and the day itself. 

Chocolate Addict (2013)

This caption was created for Rachel's Haven's February 2013 caption competition which had 'Candy' as a theme. 

Run For Love (2015)

This caption was created for the February 2015 caption contest on Rachel's Haven which had the theme of  'This body is a canvas waiting for you to paint your desires with your sweet kisses, soft touch, and gentle caress...'

Crushed (2021)

This cap was created for Brittany7 over at the Haven and was part of my Love Witch caption offer in which my witchy character Ember offers to assist members with their love lives for fun and profit. This has become a favourite of mine especially with the suggested changes and the Witch Advisor gag. 

A Walk in the Park (2022)

This cap was created for Jeannie over at the Haven and was part of a lesbian themed cap offer I had on at the time. 

The Gender Dysphoria Bible

 I thought I would do a little public service announcement. Now, I don't know why people mainly read this blog and I guess you either like following one man's adventures in crossdressing or you're just here to read stories about guys magically turning into bimbos. Perhaps a combination of the two. Anyway, I recently came across, and spent a while reading, The Gender Dysphoria Bible which can be found online. 

The Gender Dysphoria Bible 

It's a great resource if you're questioning your gender or just looking to find out more about trans people in general. Certainly the piece on sexual dysphoria was interesting to me as it helped make more sense of how I've always viewed women and the "do I want to fuck her or do I want to be her?" conundrum. Anyway, I don't know if me putting a link up will help anyone but I hope it will. 

Stories Stories Stories #2

So far it's not been the best start to the year although I have got myself a couple of new dresses recently and a lovely pink jumper with hearts on that has an Enid from Wednesday vibe. 

Anyway, here are some stories I've been reading recently: 

Frat House Feminization by Sissy Girl Sammi

This is a fun tale set at Halloween as a witch takes revenge on a bunch of frat boys. Anyone who has read my Ember Montoya caps will know how much I like this sort of stuff plus multiple transformations is always fun. I must just mark out one fate, that of Eric who is made transgender. Nothing physically happens to him but mentally he's starting to think about things he never has before. Wonderfully he later sounds out another of the gang regarding crossdressing at Halloween because, hey, everyone does it. Aww, we've all been there, sweetie. Whether or not Erica would become someone who stands up for trans rights or continues on as a rich arsehole trampling all over her trans brothers and sisters remains to be seen. 

Tomboy Trouble by Razmagurk

This one by the ever reliable Razmagurk is for those that love the 'what if girls acted like boys' trope and is also a lot of fun especially how it ends up. 

The Wrong Uniform by Grace Fairway

Always nice to see new stories from Grace especially involving clothes swapping. This one is set in a school and takes place between a teacher and her chavvy student in detention. It was influenced by another story I read for the first time recently Spanking the Teacher by Netsylph which I enjoyed. One for people who enjoy F2F clothes swapping and power swaps

Finally I would just like to mention Evie Hyde's blog Evie's Emporium where Evie has been posting new stories every day so far this year. Great for those who enjoy M2F, F2F, power swaps corruption and especially bitchification. My recent faves include the Fit Bitch universe, De-Gen-Erate, the Role With It universe (which I love playing in), Hate Me Harder and Softening. I'm also honoured to be writing a story with Evie which I'm really enjoying the process of. I have wanted to start doing some longer stuff. 

Christmas Captions #2

 Here's another batch of captions created for the Haven's 12 Caps of Christmas this year. 

My Christmas was fine overall although I'm not too pleased to be back at work so soon. Here's a little tale though, over the last few weeks I went to see a favourite Christmas movie of mine played in a church with a live soundtrack. I was wearing a red maxi skirt, t-shirt, yellow cardigan and a pink coat and I headed to the toilet before the show kicked off. A very nice lady directed me to the ladies - which I did not want to go in for obvious reasons so for a few moments I was staring at the various toilet signs on the wall like I was trying to decipher hieroglyphics until she left. She didn't but she suggested the disabled toilets instead which I duly took somewhat sheepishly. I also posted my Role Exchanger: Office Christmas Party story on The Changing Mirror and it's elicited some nice comments. If anyone is interested this story, which is about 9-10 years old now is elsewhere on the site but anyway captions...

A Hot Girlfriend for Christmas (2025)

My first idea needed a bit more work so I came up with this as a replacement and I quite like it even though I couldn't decide on a TG method and nearly left it as a mystery.

Christmas at the Lodge (2025)

With this one, I was inspired by the picture which just screamed 'bimbo discovering snow' and I worked back from there. 

The Night Before (2025)

I was working on this one for quite a while. The picture is AI generated but it had a storybook look to it so I tried writing some poetry and parodying Clement Clarke-Moore's classic 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas.