a unicorn of a different color

minorearth:

There’s a fantastic post that talks about asexuality here; if you haven’t read it yet, you should. It speaks to me in a certain way … but not entirely. There never really seems to be a post about sexuality that totally feels like me. No matter what the topic is, it seems like I nod along to a certain point – then there’s a line, or a paragraph, that makes me internally wince and go “… okay, I’m still the weird one.” Not that anyone has an obligation to speak directly to me, or to mirror my own sexuality entirely. It makes me feel so good to see so many different and varied explorations of sexuality out there, to see so many people feeling brave enough to come forward and own who they are. It just seems that no one else’s experiences quite cover me.

So … after having that “nope, I’m still weird” reaction to two or three different posts in the last week or so, I figured it might be time to just talk about my feelings about my own sexuality.

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I love you, lady, and I think it’s really brave and wonderful to put these thoughts out there. You dont need a label if you dont want one, and i think thats important for everyone to remember. And Remember Isabela’s words? “They don’t know me. I know me.”

minorearth:

brennacedria:

minorearth:

brennacedria:

satyrnine:

Sometimes I feel αs though the fαct thαt I don’t listen to much indie/neo-folk/whαtevertheycαllitnowαdαys music kind of kills My αbility to mαke fαnmixes thαt people will like.

Whαtever.
I’ll throw α bunch of metαl songs in α pαiring fαnmix αnd you will like it.

…

Also, I’m going to bed. 

I listen almost exclusively to Japanese techno when I’m not listening to Dragon Age and FF8 OSTs while writing. I’ve got some 80s and early 90s stuff I can work with, but not a lot… >.>

Somehow, I doubt a techno chocobo theme with the words “Fuck DJ” repeated over and over are going to work in any mix I ever try to make… >.<

Oh, man. The original post above sorta leads into my standard fanmix rant that came back up when I was downloading 900 different mixes yesterday. 

Making fanmixes is not just about saying “oh hey, that song has this one line that sorta reminds me of my character!” It’s about matching or complementing the tone of the canon, finding songs in which both lyrics and music seem to fit what you’re mixing for.

The fact that every single fanmix in the world seems to use the same indie rock/neo-folk music sort of drives me insane. Say, for example, you’re making a fanmix for Dean Winchester. I’m not saying you’re limited to 70s and 80s hard rock - that’s just as boring and cliched as putting Mumford & Sons on every single fucking mix you make - but a mix full of Rufus Wainwright and Elliott Smith is not going to sound anything like Dean. One or two quiet songs, picked to emphasize the theme of your mix, are great. But a whole mix of singer songwriter sorts of music is going to just sound weird. 

Making fanmixes is just as complex as writing a story. You still have to think about characterization. Your end product has to sound like the person/pairing you’re making it for - or the theme you’re making it for. A comedic dance-pop mix for Dean Winchester can work, if you’re working the right theme. A friend once made a mix called something like “Dean is a Whiny Emo Pussy”, on which she put all the indie emo stuff that reminded her of Dean, but sounded nothing like him - I think the joke behind it was that Sam replaced one of Dean’s tapes in the Impala with this one. Whatever it was, it was a theme that made sense. 

But for the most part, if you’re playing it straight with a fanmix - if you’re making a basic mix to fit a character, pairing, or canon - then you should really take the personality or tone of the character(s)/canon into account. The best fanmixes are ones that pull from a variety of genres/sounds. A good fanmix really is like a story - it should have peaks and valleys, cover a span of events and/or emotions. It should be just as complex as the characters you’re working with. And, I’m sorry, but Mumford & Sons/Florence + the Machine/Tegan & Sara/Bon Iver/Fleet Foxes/whatever current indie darling is not always going to work. In fact, if I see a mix that’s made up of nothing but those sorts of artists, chances are good I’ll give it a pass. 

If you want to be a good writer, people tell you to make sure you’re familiar with a variety of writing styles and genres. If you want to be a good artist, you should know a variety of artistic styles. If you want to make good fanmixes, then you should know and appreciate a variety of music genres and artists. Being a music hipster is not enough. In fact, being a music hipster usually produces the most boring mixes out there. 

… so I’m particular about my fanmixes. Sue me. ;)

That’s sort of why I’m having so much trouble, though—I don’t know much beyond my techno, Final Fantasy OSTs, and Cyndi Lauper style pop.

I do have one F+TM song on my Elissa/WD mix I’m working on, but that’s because it fits the scene; to be honest, before I’m Not Calling You a Liar I’d never heard & recognized F+TM. The one I did pick for Elissa—Drumming Song—is one that sounds pseudo-familiar, but even it’s just a place holder in case I can’t find anything that matches better, because while it fits the scene as far as the reader might interpret it in my fic, it doesn’t match how I felt when I wrote it, and that’s what I’m looking for.

(I will admit unabashedly to including This is War on my WD mix, and I’m Not Calling You a Liar on my Hawke/Anders mix. Just because Bioware and/or EA beat us to thinking “these would be awesome songs to cross promote our games with” doesn’t mean those two songs don’t hold a special place in my heart in context.)

Oh, I’m not saying you can’t *ever* use songs by those artists - trust me, one or two of the mixes I have half-made in iTunes have F+tM songs on them - just that they should be thoughtfully interspersed. :) 

Matching how you felt when you wrote the story is exactly the way you should approach making a mix for your own work - you’re trying to evoke the same emotions you hope you evoke with the story. 

For finding more music, though, I recommend branching out - maybe hit up Pandora, plug in a song that you know sorta fits your theme, and listen for a while.  You might come up with something awesome you’ve never heard before! (Or, if you want, poke me - I LOVE introducing people to new music, and finding songs in my ridiculously huge collection that fit a theme. :D)

Minorearth said basically everything I would say about fanmixes.  This is why some of the ones I make take little to no time to make, and others take a terribly long time to put together.  It requires a lot of thought, a lot of listening and a lot of tinkering with sounds and order.  Putting one together is more than just finding a group of songs that you think vaguely remind you of a character and throwing them together in a zip file.  

Most of the time, when I make a mix, I have about twice as many songs as part of the playlist I consider might make a fanmix.  I listen to the songs over and over until I get a feel for the type of theme/feel I want the mix to go for, and then I start messing with order and sounds to make sure that the experience is a good one from start to finish.  

I have a lot more thoughts about mixes.  I could do a whole thing about how I put things together - but thems the basics, and a lot of what minorearth mentions above are the reasons I don’t download a lot of mixes anymore.  No one wants to see the same artists over and over and over again. And eventually, there’s no reason to download them, because you already have all the songs anyway.  :/  

Also, I’m also plenty happy to offer people help on any mixes they’re making.  I love introducing people to new music.  Feel free to hit me up anytime.

(Source: blackthirteen)

… and then this happened

minorearth:

So, earlier this week, cherith and I were talking about various story and RP ideas. She was talking about having played in a modern-day universe in which Cullen is a cop; as the conversation went on, we started thinking about a universe in which the characters were slightly aged up, because if Cullen is a cop, then an older Warden!Bethany would make an interesting FBI agent. 

Anyway, cherith is having a bad week, so I wrote up the beginning of our mythical AU … and now we might actually be writing it. As a real live story. Um. Whoops?

(800-ish words below. Just because.)

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minorearth:

luckynumber78 asked:

Bethany meets the Avengers!

… well, one of them, at least.

*

Given her particular … skills, Bethany supposed she shouldn’t have been surprised to be recruited by a government agency. But SHIELD was somehow not what she was expecting. Less military bunker, more cheerful modern office building. She felt more like a secretary reporting for her first day at work than someone who could set things on fire with her mind. Which, really, wasn’t a bad thing.

She checked in with two different levels of security; when she rounded the corner to head for the third and final checkpoint, she ran into a brick wall. Or what felt like a brick wall. Except brick walls didn’t wear khaki pants, or apologize to you. Usually. “I’m sorry, miss. I wasn’t paying attention.”

Bethany looked up at the brick wall, which turned out to have the most amazing blue eyes and … oh. She recognized him just as he offered his hand. “Steve Rogers. I haven’t seen you here before, are you new?”

“Yes.” She was proud of herself for managing that syllable, and for shaking his hand like a normal person. A moment later, she realized he was waiting for something else. “Bethany,” she said quickly. “Bethany Hawke.”

“Nice to meet you, Bethany. It’s kinda nice to not be the newest kid on the block any more.” Then, he grinned. “Or the oldest. Whatever.”

Bethany stared at him as he walked away - and that was just as pleasant a sight as the front view. “Wow,” she said under her breath. There were definitely perks to her new job. Marian was going to be so jealous.

YES PLEASE.

Question Meme

Minorearth tagged me, like she does and now there are all these questions I’m supposed to answer.  *stares*

I’m shirking the whole meme process though and just answering questions because I think most people I would tag have already done it more than once.  <3

ON TO THE QUESTIONS!

What’s the first music album you ever bought yourself? 

Don’t laugh: Soul 4 Real - Candy Rain

What do you do when you get stressed out? What calms you down the best?

Talk about it.  Talking to people - even when it’s not about my problems is the best stress relief.  Second to that is gaming.

What is your favorite memory from the past year?

Finishing War is Never Cheap Here.

Where do you want to be in five years - physically, mentally, emotionally, creatively? 

Awesome places.  I’d love to have finished and sold an original fiction novel.  I want to be through with adoption and see the teen grown up and in college.  Possibly either still fostering or adopting or both.  Happy, healthy… better.

Hit shuffle on your music player. What is the next song that plays? Do you associate it with anything? 

Sarah Mclaughlin - Silence.  And yes, it’s very much associated with an old D&D character of mine: Gwen, a bard who saved a god from corruption.  It was a really, really emotional plotline.

Look around you - at your desk, the table nearest you, bookshelf, whatever. Name five things you can see. Tell me a story - even a dumb one - about one of those things.

Three dogs and lots of pillows.  They’re conked out from running around all crazy (the dogs, not the pillows).  No story, it’s the truth.

What’s the last book you read? What’s the best book you’ve read in the past year?

Last book I finished was Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.  The best book was probably The Hunger Games  - but it’s not far enough along in the year yet for me to have a favorite.

Name one fictional character you haven’t written about/drawn (depending on your art form of choice), but would really like to play with someday.

Oh man.  At least for Dragon Age, one of these days I’d like to give some serious writing thought to Sebastian.  And maybe even something with a personal Hawke, because I don’t really do that.

What family member are you closest to? Or, if you’re not close with your blood family, who is the person in your life you consider your closest family?

My dad.  We have always been close.  My dad treated me like an adult in just about every conversation we had - not in a way that I wasn’t allowed to be a kid - but in that he asked my opinions and ideas and listened to them when they were sound.  I’ve always been able to tell him anything.

What’s your favorite piece of clothing you own?

Some really comfy dark wash jeans. They fit right, they’re flattering and I can wear them all day without feeling uncomfortable.

Name one talent - aside from the ones you use in fandom - that you’re proud of.

I have no idea.  I’m told I’m funny?  (Ignoring the fact that once upon a time (and occasionally when I’m bored) I wanted to be a comedian.)

Or… is reading a talent?  *shrugs*

Warden!Bethany’s Alphabet - K is for Kirkwall

minorearth:

We’re back! Since I stupidly managed to delete the entire fic on AO3, you can find previous chapters at this tag until I manage a master list. :)

*

 Kirkwall is burning.

They see the fires as their ship closes in on the dock. The captain pulls up short, while they’re still too far away for Bethany to make out anything happening on shore. “I’m not landing there,” he tells Stroud. “I like my ship too much to let it burn.”

“Maybe we can go on,” Bethany suggests, “and land at Ostwick?” Her heart isn’t in the idea, though. Her heart is on the docks, inside the city, whether she wants it to be or not.

Stroud shakes his head. “We don’t have time. And Ostwick is too far out of our way.”

They’re heading north and west, to a place on the border of Nevarra and Tevinter that Bethany had never heard of, prior to meeting the Fereldan Warden-Commander. For a while, she’d suspected that Stroud chose Kirkwall as their landing port solely for Bethany’s benefit; she should have known better, because he never does anything for personal reasons. But, as if he can read her mind, he turns to Bethany when he next speaks. “We’ll have to get through the city as quickly as possible. Whatever’s happening, unless it involves darkspawn, it doesn’t concern us.”

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minorearth:

cherith:

~1200 words of Regency Teagan (which so far feels like regular old Teagan) written.  I stayed up a little too late to finish the first scene, but it’s done.

Now, it is time for bed.  

\o/

Now THIS is a good way to start my Friday morning!

*runs off to look*

….Now if only he had a pretty Regency girlfriend.  ~.o

miracles (bethany/teagan)

minorearth:

For cherith, because I love her. <3333333333333

*

She’d never thought about it. Everyone knew that Grey Wardens were all but sterile. It generally took a miracle, Bethany was told, for a Warden to end up pregnant.

Apparently, the Maker had decided she was due a miracle.

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oh! this is just the sort of wonderful and fluffy thing I needed right now.  <33333333