TG Moments, Kusanagi

Something stirred violently inside me when I watched the credits and intro for 'Ghost in the Shell'. In it we are shown the creation of the protagonist, Major Motoko Kusanagi as she goes through a machine which turns her from a robot into a woman, becoming truly beautiful at the end. Add the mesmerizing music and my barriers were melted. It was my own deep buried monolith responding to calls from outer space. I so wished to BE her! She didn't have to care about what others said, she could be a woman and be what she wanted. My kid brother was amused at my obsession with finding pictures of her.
In restrospective, I think it must have been kind of obvious for a watchful eye that everything was not ok with me growing up. I haven't told my kid brother about my transition yet, but I remember him being puzzled as to why I always (always) chose and identified with female characters in games, anime and elsewhere.
My explanation? In games it was that females were generally more versatile and dextrous than males, in anime I didn't give much explanation but I hinted that they were cute and nicer to look at. He was entranced with Pokemon for some time (he stil likes it at 18) and we would watch it together. Brock, Ash, James had no appeal to me, but my heart moved unknown when Misty, the Nurses or especially Jessie would come onscreen. I loved Jessie, she was super cute in that lipstick, skirt and boots, a beauty I thought I could never possess in my life. Shortchanged at birth. Bad luck. Better luck next time. And she was OUT, she was a silly villain, but she was her own self (which I loved).