Dancer's Queer Hutt

Whenever I go through periods of painful beautification rituals about my body that probably borders on some definition of unhealthy I think about cybernetics. In Cyberpunk, cybernetics are often portrayed one of two ways.

Combat augments. Shooty go bang bang kill kill kill. While not usually my cup of tea it's a valid interpretation of how human augmentation augments everything human, including our capacity for violence.

Exploration of how they interface with our humanity. The classic Pondsmith style of augmentation as a portrayal of addiction and the inherent unhealthiness of seeking to be 'better' than others through physical means. Of the two I frequently see, this is my preferred.

But then I look at the raw, thrumming skin left behind after I epilate and I think about what I would give to have control over my body. I can work out, I could potentially get gender affirming treatments (unlikely, given I'm a guy that identifies as a guy and just wants to look less like a guy), and a thousand small other things.

But the idea of arms that don't grow hair, a face that I can change daily, hair that grows and changes color without damaging it with dyes. It's a dream, but one that, if it were achievable, I would probably do a lot of things I wouldn't normally to get.

It's not often directly stated in Cyberpunk media, but I think a setting in which you functionally, with resources, can alter everything about yourself until your appearance matches your identity, no matter how fluid, it's a dream I would chase.