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Question Branwen's Status Update

7 years 1 month ago #1 by DrBender
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    • Wow, I went and disappeared for another two months, sorry about that. Christmas, then visiting relatives, then sickness then visiting girlfriends... Stuff happened.

    Writing has been slow because of the aforementioned series of unfortunate events but I'm gearing back up now. Twin Tails will get a new installment then I'll get back to Dissonance and FatIT. I've also been considering picking my pencil back up and doing some art, so maybe I'll have some stuff up on DA at some point.

    Also trying to get progress on my transition but it's hard enough just getting a waxing appointment out here in the styx. Slowly changing my wardrobe, though, and getting back to the gym. Gotta try to find some time for make-up lessons too. So many things to do!
    The statement in my signature is false.
    7 years 1 month ago #2 by Darkmuse
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    • Nice to hear from you, you're on an exciting adventure and we can wait for you.
    7 years 1 month ago - 7 years 1 month ago #3 by Kristin Darken
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    • Might sound a little strange as a means of learning, but there are tons of makeup videos teaching technique on youtube. Alternately, there are some books that we use in theatre to teach young actors the basics too (let me know if you need some book references, you can likely get most of them in ebook format... or used.. its not like the concepts have changed in decades). Stage makeup is 'way too much' for day wear and just a little over the top compared to night club 'glam' looks but the concepts and theories are still the same. It's 100% color/lighting theory... you base with a contrasting tone to negate underlying colors/shadows/highlights and then cover with your result color/shadow/highlights. Wrinkles are overcome by tightening and making the colors consistent or by reversing the color order (a light from above hits the top of the upper and lower ridge of a wrinkle and shadows the deep area between. By darkening the ridges and lightening the valleys, you trick the eye into seeing a smooth surface. You use sharp lines for extreme changes, blended areas of change for slowly curving/arching variations... etc.

    From there, its mainly a matter of trying and learning what colors work best for you... and getting the practice applying them smoothly. As an artist with practice sketching smooth lines and working with layered color, you'll have a bit of a head start on some people.
    Fate guard you and grant you a Light to brighten your Way.
    Last Edit: 7 years 1 month ago by Kristin Darken.
    7 years 1 month ago #4 by DrBender
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    • I've tried YouTube for hair tutorials, so that might be something that can work. Tried beak clips to limited success. ^.^j My hair is really fine and curly but I'm getting a lot more volume out of it these days.

    There are some kind-of-local (if you count a two hour drive) girls that have a group which gets make-up tutorials that I'm seriously considering. Trying to connect with the community beyond people I know personally is a pain! (Yay, social anxiety...)
    The statement in my signature is false.
    7 years 1 month ago #5 by Kristin Darken
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    • Another possibility, assuming you can pull together enough people and subject yourself to the whole sales side of things... is to host an Avon or Mary K cosmetics party/event. If you have those...
    Fate guard you and grant you a Light to brighten your Way.
    7 years 1 month ago #6 by DrBender
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    • We have those but I don't really have people to invite that don't live a looooong way away... One hour drive to the nearest town of note, two hours to the nearest town with a trans community...
    The statement in my signature is false.
    7 years 1 month ago #7 by annachie
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    • DrBender wrote: We have those but I don't really have people to invite that don't live a looooong way away... One hour drive to the nearest town of note, two hours to the nearest town with a trans community...


    Aye. I have no idea where the nearest trans community to me is, but I suspect 100 miles at least.

    OK, turns out to be less than half that. lol.
    6 years 11 months ago #8 by DrBender
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    • Don't worry, I'm still alive and writing. Just wanted to let everyone know, I know it's been over a month again. Things are calming down here somewhat and my living arrangements are working out well.

    Dissonance is still on the move, as well as FatIT. Twin Tails is stalled thanks to the game it's based on stalling for various reasons. That'll give me more time for another project, though, so that's good. I've got some good threads I think I can weave a great story around.

    Love you all and thank you for being patient.
    The statement in my signature is false.
    6 years 11 months ago #9 by CrazyMinh
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    • Shit....I did not know you live in Sydney. Is is Sydeny AU, or Sydney some other place. Fuck, I had no idea a canon author was living so close.
    You can find my stories at Fanfiction.net here .

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    6 years 11 months ago #10 by DrBender
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    • Sydney Australia. Currently in Gosford.
    The statement in my signature is false.
    6 years 11 months ago #11 by CrazyMinh
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    • Chippendale, central park
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    6 years 11 months ago #12 by DrBender
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    • Wow, right in the city? On one hand, awesome, on the other hand you're a braver girl than I.
    The statement in my signature is false.
    6 years 11 months ago - 6 years 11 months ago #13 by Schol-R-LEA
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    • Yeah, I have only just started going out en femme around Athens this week, and really only once so far. While it felt great, I was also really very nervous, even though I know that there are a number of other trans/non-binary folk in town.

    (The thought of going anywhere else in Georgia this way, except maybe Atlanta, seems a bit of dicey proposition, though. I would only need to run into one trouble-making asshole for it to go badly, and while the odds of that seem acceptable in the area near UGA, I wouldn't want to risk it in, say, Commerce, or Jefferson, or even Norcross).

    I did finally find support group last month, which is great; but oddly enough, it was one of my neighbors in this building, a drag queen named Reco (who was nice, but pushy and more than a little shady), who really gave me the push to get going on this. While I eventually decided that Reco was trouble (and if I hadn't already figured that out, the fact that they are now in jail for a parole violation is sort of a hint), but they did help me meet a few other drag queens and transfolk who are also in this complex. That by itself has helped.
    Out, damnéd Spot! Bad Doggy!
    Last Edit: 6 years 11 months ago by Schol-R-LEA.
    6 years 11 months ago #14 by E. E. Nalley
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    • I didn't know you were in Athens, Schol! Come out to ATL some time, we'll have a coffee or beer or something!
    I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.
    Thomas Jefferson, to Archibald Stuart, 1791
    6 years 11 months ago #15 by CrazyMinh
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    • DrBender wrote: Wow, right in the city? On one hand, awesome, on the other hand you're a braver girl than I.


    Eeer,,,as I'm SURE I've said before, I'm a cis straight guy. Honestly, don't know where you're coming from Doctor.
    You can find my stories at Fanfiction.net here .

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    6 years 11 months ago #16 by null0trooper
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    • CrazyMinh wrote:

    DrBender wrote: Wow, right in the city? On one hand, awesome, on the other hand you're a braver girl than I.


    Eeer,,,as I'm SURE I've said before, I'm a cis straight guy. Honestly, don't know where you're coming from Doctor.


    You've never heard the compliment "You're a braver man than me"?

    Changing it to "braver girl" makes more sense for the statement coming from a woman.
    Forum-posted ideas are freely adoptable.

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    6 years 11 months ago #17 by CrazyMinh
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    • Not really, but thanks for telling me 'bout it. Never heard that one before...
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    6 years 11 months ago #18 by Kristin Darken
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    • CrazyMinh wrote:

    DrBender wrote: Wow, right in the city? On one hand, awesome, on the other hand you're a braver girl than I.


    Eeer,,,as I'm SURE I've said before, I'm a cis straight guy. Honestly, don't know where you're coming from Doctor.


    Oh come on, we gender flip far too much around here for any sort of reaction to a Miss-aimed pronoun or identifier :-p
    Fate guard you and grant you a Light to brighten your Way.
    6 years 11 months ago #19 by CrazyMinh
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    • Kristin Darken wrote:

    CrazyMinh wrote:

    DrBender wrote: Wow, right in the city? On one hand, awesome, on the other hand you're a braver girl than I.


    Eeer,,,as I'm SURE I've said before, I'm a cis straight guy. Honestly, don't know where you're coming from Doctor.


    Oh come on, we gender flip far too much around here for any sort of reaction to a Miss-aimed pronoun or identifier :-p

    ...?...?....Wha??? I'm sorry, but that sentence made no sense in context.
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    6 years 11 months ago #20 by Sir Lee
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    • Points:
    1. Some users here HAVE changed genders. Some users appear to be rather coy about their gender.
    2. Even among the ones who haven't or aren't publicly in transition, it's sometimes hard to keep track their preferred form of address. There are so many users, you know... and adopting non-obviously-gendered usernames and avatars does not help one to keep it straight. That's part of the reason I chose an obviously male username and avatar -- to avoid confusion.

    So, there are a number of users here I'm quite unsure of their gender, and I'm bound to make mistakes about. In your case, I was also under the mistaken impression you identified as female -- I guess it's the "Minh" part of your username, which is close to "Min" which is usually assumed to be a female name.
    Don't call me "Shirley." You will surely make me surly.
    6 years 11 months ago #21 by CrazyMinh
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    • Sir Lee wrote: So, there are a number of users here I'm quite unsure of their gender, and I'm bound to make mistakes about. In your case, I was also under the mistaken impression you identified as female -- I guess it's the "Minh" part of your username, which is close to "Min" which is usually assumed to be a female name.


    Ok. First off, Minh is a male name, as well as a female one, as it is a sirname in vietnam and china. I'm not from that heritage, I just use it cause of it's meaning. It means bright, which is my second counterpoint. My username means 'Crazy Bright', and has the double meaning of being a reference to Spinward Fringe by Lawrence Raldophe.
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    6 years 11 months ago #22 by Kristin Darken
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    • This being a web site in English, the odds of anyone knowing that are slim to none. Not the point though. I was simply, jokingly pointing out that given one of the primary conventions of the story universe; no one should hold anyone accountable for mistakes in gender guessing. More importantly, no one here cares which you are... we're not exclusive of people for gender identity or sexual orientation. You don't have to 'defend' yourself by making an extra point of clarifying that you are male, hetero or otherwise.

    Having to spend two pages of posts to clarify though... kinda prevented the potential for amusing follow up jokes...
    Fate guard you and grant you a Light to brighten your Way.
    6 years 11 months ago #23 by Schol-R-LEA
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    • While I would love to, I don't have much in the way of transportation right now; indeed, part of why we chose for me to be in Athens was that it had excellent public transit, and was closer to my brother's home than ATL.

    The only ways into ATL for me right now would be to get someone to give me a ride; rent a car for the day; spend $60+ on a taxi or Uber; or take MegaBus (which would have a one-day turnaround due to the limited schedule). The second wasn't an option until two months ago due to financial concerns, and even now would be problematic.

    When I was in Norcross and Alpharetta, I did have a car, but despite this I never really got into ATL all that often, mostly due to money concerns. Also, I was still dealing with my father, whom I was living with during most of that time, and that didn't exactly help my state of mind any.

    I have a feeling this topic may need to be Jeffed to another thread, as I imagine that I may need to explain more about that.
    Out, damnéd Spot! Bad Doggy!
    6 years 11 months ago #24 by E. E. Nalley
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    • Well, I'm out by Six Flags these days, but sure, send me a PM.
    I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.
    Thomas Jefferson, to Archibald Stuart, 1791
    6 years 11 months ago #25 by DrBender
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    • Hey Minh, sorry for the misgendering, I misunderstood.
    The statement in my signature is false.
    6 years 10 months ago #26 by CrazyMinh
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    • It's OK. I don't even have the name 'minh', and it's just a username. I do have asian heritage, but considering my Dad doesn't speak a word of Chinese, and grew up in Oz, I consider that part of my heritage to be Australian. Plus, I don't even LOOK that Chinese, so there's really not much to be offended about on my side. Really, people get confused about that username all the time. I have to correct plenty of people on the net about it. So, no biggie.
    You can find my stories at Fanfiction.net here .

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    6 years 9 months ago #27 by DrBender
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    • Well, I'm still alive, just so everyone knows. Trying to write but haven't accomplished very much lately. Still, I'll plug away at things and let you know how I'm going. Money's tight and I'm not even sure how much I'm going to be able to save this year for the surgery I need. Living off fumes, working to lose weight, usual thing. Good news: My father is calling me by my new name now, so that's nice and happy.

    Speaking of:

    Dissonance Part 1 is still mostly done, I just have to sit down and finish it then go into editing mode.

    Fate and the Iron Tiger Part VI I haven't touched since I looked at it last, a few months ago.

    Witch's Mirror 2 (Title pending) I've got to bang this one out before the end of October, for which I will be away at PAX AUS.
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    6 years 9 months ago #28 by Sir Lee
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    • I would say that, other than the financial part (a sort of news that I have seen from too many people lately, unfortunately), that these are good news. You are around, your father is coming around, there's some writing on the table even if it's going slowly.
    Don't call me "Shirley." You will surely make me surly.
    6 years 9 months ago #29 by Katssun
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    • Writing is harder than people think. Sometimes it writes itself, sometimes you have to work at it to get your muse to come back and pay attention and help you out again, and sometimes...it just doesn't ever come together.

    Prioritize your health and personal life. We'll be here, ready to hear you out when you need to vent.
    6 years 9 months ago #30 by Anne
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    • Katssun wrote: Writing is harder than people think. Sometimes it writes itself, sometimes you have to work at it to get your muse to come back and pay attention and help you out again, and sometimes...it just doesn't ever come together.

    Prioritize your health and personal life. We'll be here, ready to hear you out when you need to vent.

    I have to agree with you there! There are times when pieces (never ever a complete story) just seem to leap whole into my mind. And others where writing is at least as difficult, without the whole terror to the point of heart palpitation, as outside sales is to me.
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