Hi from Southwestern Quebec!

Jul. 1st, 2025 08:06 pm
krakathewitch: Close-up of a black crow seemingly looking up at the sky. (Default)
[personal profile] krakathewitch posting in [community profile] dreamwidth_pagans
I'm Kraka, I've been on Dreamwidth before under a different account that was mostly for fandom, but created a new account to journal and share about myself and my path. I'm past mid-40s and used to be on LiveJournal until they sold. I've been a pagan of some stripe for nearly 3 decades. Also am disillusioned with the Book of Faces and other more recent social media.

I'm currently solitary, but I worship mainly Greek and Norse (I know, no relation at all between the religions) with some French-Canadian folk magic and practices thrown in and a heavy dose of animism. I will be studying with a group, starting in September. I used to be part of an Eclectic Wiccan "tradition", had my elevation to 2nd Degree and was teaching, but left due to realizing how toxic a group it really was. Funny how experience makes you realize people aren't what they seem to be on the surface. I've been sort of adrift since, and trying to find my footing again.

I love reading, writing, drawing and painting, learning new things, hiking and camping. I am obsessed with fountain pens and the inks for them, but don't have that extensive a collection because those things are not exactly cheap. I'm nostalgic for the 90s and early 2000s.

I am queer, happily married to my wife since 2017. We have a jenday conure who is almost 3 years old and is named Freyja (she is DNA tested female, since that species of parrots is not sexually dimorphic). She is a veritable toddler with wings.

I don't have icons yet, since I have just set up my account, but I intend to have some soon.

Dear Black Emporium Creator,

Jul. 1st, 2025 04:10 pm
settiai: (Dragon Age -- offensive)
[personal profile] settiai
First of all, relax! I'm far from being picky, and I can pretty much guarantee that I'll love whatever you decide to create for me. These are nothing but guidelines, for you to take to heart or ignore to your heart's content. Also, hey! You're writing me fic or drawing me art! That's automatically a good reason for me to love you, no matter what. So, please, keep that in mind. Trust me, you can pretty much do no wrong.

ExpandMore details under the cut. )

string things

Jul. 1st, 2025 09:13 am
pocketmouse: Two people hugging on a dock in summer. (pmouse_dock)
[personal profile] pocketmouse
I'm still marvelling at having a hobby that I'm willing to spend money on -- I went to a weaving conference last week (got a first-timer scholarship, which covered admission and room and board, but I splurged and got a single room, so paid a little extra) which meant buying extra yarn for the workshop, and then even though I'm well out of storage room and have said multiple times I need to make some things before I buy more stuff, I bought 7 more cones of yarn (some of it was on sale! the rest was just really pretty hand-dyed!). Some of it I can definitely think of things to do with it, the rest I'll just have to try and keep an eye out for ideas, because I don't want it to sit forever.

And I talked to people too, constantly, the whole weekend. My god. By day 2.5 I was wiped, I am not an extrovert by any means. But folks chatted throughout classes, in the hallways, just wherever. I walked out of the dinner hall and ended up talking with some random woman whose name I never caught for like 10 minutes. Plus, also, I ran into a friend from local fandom cons who I hadn't seen in like 10-ish years (MJ and Con.txt). Neither of us were doing fiber things back then, so it was really a (pleasant) surprise.

Anyway now I am back home and waiting for work to ramp back up -- it always slows down in the summer due to end-of-fiscal-year purchasing deadlines, but today starts the new FY, so I'm just waiting for the word that budgets are loaded into the system, and I can start doing work again. Things are also wonky because DC passed an energy savings bill recently, so in order to comply we're finally getting around to converting the building to LED lighting -- which means shuffling folks' offices and encasing the stacks in protective material. We don't have an end date and the last construction project went on and on and on, so folks are just crossing fingers that impact will be minimal on the full-term researchers starting in the fall. I'm planning to hide in my new office with a fucking door so I can avoid chatty opinionated elder coworker for once in my life. My god this would be an amazing time to finally get a new job and quit.

Oh! I almost forgot. I also managed to blitz through all of Elementary in the last month or so, after having had it on my 'to watch' list for years. There are some parts of it that left me kind of 'meh,' and for someone who's great at identifying prosthetic-forehead Star Trek actors in other roles by only their eyes, I could not for the life of me identify Johnny Lee Miller in 3/4 profile shots on multiple occasions. My brain also kept replacing him in my memory with Darren Nichols. I think it was something about the overly upright posture (and also the dramatics). These things mostly resolved themselves by probably midway through season 2, by which point I could focus on things like how unsexy Mycroft was. It's a shame but unsurprising that there isn't more fic. I need to find something to watch that does have a lot of fic, but I haven't come up with anything yet. Though I think the latest season of Leverage: Redemption just finished, or is about to, and that sounds like it should give me something to sink my teeth into.

(no subject)

Jun. 29th, 2025 07:05 pm
teaotter: (Default)
[personal profile] teaotter
I got TWO utterly lovely stories for [community profile] femgiftboxes! Both of them were for my original fiction prompt: Woman who reads in public/the monster who keeps men from interrupting her reading

Shared Time, by [personal profile] anagrrl

She waits, and she keeps herself to herself, tightly contained, as the time draws nearer.

And then she arrives. The Reader.


*flails* This was SO GOOD. A really very alien point of view character and just so much of what I love about books, all wrapped up together.


Ends and Beginnings, by [personal profile] kalloway

There was a wisp of shadow and a pressure around Allie's ankles as she stood at the tiny counter of her tiny kitchen, having just chopped vegetables to go with the rice in the little cooker she'd only just remembered to turn on.

*flails more* This one is cozy and mysterious and warm and still has that utter love of books and reading that draws me right in. SO GOOD.

I'm so glad my prompt resonated and got me such good stories!
settiai: (Kes -- settiai (TriaElf9))
[personal profile] settiai
In tonight's game, Expandthe rest under a cut for those who don't care. )

And that's where we left off.

Hail and Farewell, Ace

Jun. 27th, 2025 09:02 pm
contrarywise: (big tree)
[personal profile] contrarywise
Several of my DW friends are also friends of [personal profile] acelightning, so I want to let you all know that she died unexpectedly, early this morning.

I knew her IRL, as we were both regulars at an annual gathering in the Catskills for many years. Her signature purple hair and attire ensured that you'd never miss her in a crowd. She had many skills and talents that she shared widely, and an expansive circle of friends both online and IRL. She was both a Wiccan Priestess and an engineer, and a geek about both pursuits.

I'm glad to have known her, and sad to see her go.

Aurendor D&D: Summary for 6/25 Game

Jun. 26th, 2025 12:16 am
settiai: (Siân -- settiai)
[personal profile] settiai
In tonight's game, Expandthe rest under a cut for those who don't care. )

And that's where we left off and will be picking up next week for our in-person weekend.

On the fannish front...

Jun. 25th, 2025 08:08 pm
settiai: (AO3 -- stultiloquentia)
[personal profile] settiai
Okay, I just have two more days of work to get through, and then I have an entire week off. Nine whole days. The first five of which will hopefully be spent not leaving the hotel if I can manage it, because I desperately need to recharge. I'm even going to try to wash clothes either tomorrow or Friday so that I won't have to leave my suite unless there's an emergency of some type. A complete removal from all human interaction will do me so much good.

I'm hoping to set aside at least a few days to curl up and properly lose myself in video games, probably Baldur's Gate 3 or Dragon Age: The Veilguard although I might try something new. Or maybe something old, like a new Mass Effect playthrough. There are a lots of options. Whatever I go with, I keep saying that I'm going to play video games on the weekend, and then I don't manage it, so I'm really going to try during this break.

I also want to attempt to do some fic writing just for myself. I've had a bad habit of only writing for exchanges lately, but I have a ton of WIPs so it would be nice if I could set aside at least a few hours here and there during the break to work on getting back in the writing habit.

My Wednesday night D&D group is going to be getting together in person to play next weekend. Everyone's flying in on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, and then we're going to jump in around lunchtime on Friday as soon as the last person arrives. Then plan is that we're going to play pretty much the rest of the day on Friday, all day Saturday, and until mid-afternoon on Sunday.

Titansfall D&D: Summary for 6/22 Game

Jun. 22nd, 2025 11:08 pm
settiai: (Sim -- settiai (TriaElf9))
[personal profile] settiai
In tonight's game, Expandthe rest under a cut for those who don't care. )

And that's where we left off.
settiai: (Kes -- settiai (TriaElf9))
[personal profile] settiai
In tonight's game, Expandthe rest under a cut for those who don't care. )

And that's where we left off.

/o\

Jun. 20th, 2025 11:12 am
settiai: (Son Goku -- moshesque)
[personal profile] settiai
For the record, it's definitely possible to get a sunburn in less than ten minutes. As the top of my buzzed head can confirm.

I walked to a nearby shopping center yesterday to run some errands, which is something like a 7-8 minute walk away, and I didn't think anything of it despite it being miserably hot because of the humidity. At least, not until last night, when I realized that I had a noticeable sunburn on my head from that walk.

Oops?