This Man Has Spent Years Transforming Himself Into an Actual Platypus

This transformation is certainly…something. (Beautiful? Terrifying? You decide!) (Please watch in a well-lit room in case it’s the latter.)

Meet Jenya Bolotov, a man who loves platypuses so much that he has decided to become one. Taking eight years to change from a human to one of nature’s biggest mysteries, Bolotov now boasts lips that two inches long and he will continue stretching everything out until he feels he is a platypus on both the outside and the inside. Right now, unfortunately, he’s only a platypus on the outside.

“Externally, I am now a platypus. My resemblance is the way I want it to be. It takes bravery to do what I’ve done and I will keep modifying my body until I am happy.”

You can see photos of his transformation here. Or you could just rock quietly back and forth for a while. I don’t know. It’s really admirable that Bolotov is living his dream, but it all looks so, so painful.