Esbat
Feb. 19th, 2026 12:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmith posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
dreamwidth_pagansThe next full moon will be Tuesday, March 3. But there is also the Festival of Owls on March 6-8. I'm toying with doing an owl themed esbat during that waning moon phase. We have great horned owls around here, which is cool.
Has anyone else done an owl esbat?
Has anyone else done an owl esbat?
the thrusting limbs of deer or beasts
Feb. 18th, 2026 08:07 pmseleniasTitle: the thrusting limbs of deer or beasts
Fandom: Final Fantasy XVI
Characters/pairing: Dion/Terence
Rating: gen
Word Count: 1571
Notes: Written for the MyDearTerence collection. I chose and combined two prompts, "i found a nice place i want to take you' and 'here's a silly object i was given for something virtuous i did.' Much longer than usual. Blaming my Kay Boyle reading.
Vouivre's common French translation is as 'wyvern,' but I liked that... "The word “vouivre” is derived from the Latin vipera, or “viper”. Vouivres themselves are the spiritual descendants of Mélusine, stripped of her human features. They have been described as dragons, serpents, and fairies in the form of great reptiles; they are always the guardians of priceless treasures..." and "...among other places, “vouivre” has become a byword for an unpleasant, nasty woman." Somethingsomething patriarchy, imperialism, decay, self-possession -- and I hit things with hammers.
( An ambivalent departure; you, to your father, and me, exile. Well. )
Fandom: Final Fantasy XVI
Characters/pairing: Dion/Terence
Rating: gen
Word Count: 1571
Notes: Written for the MyDearTerence collection. I chose and combined two prompts, "i found a nice place i want to take you' and 'here's a silly object i was given for something virtuous i did.' Much longer than usual. Blaming my Kay Boyle reading.
Vouivre's common French translation is as 'wyvern,' but I liked that... "The word “vouivre” is derived from the Latin vipera, or “viper”. Vouivres themselves are the spiritual descendants of Mélusine, stripped of her human features. They have been described as dragons, serpents, and fairies in the form of great reptiles; they are always the guardians of priceless treasures..." and "...among other places, “vouivre” has become a byword for an unpleasant, nasty woman." Somethingsomething patriarchy, imperialism, decay, self-possession -- and I hit things with hammers.
( An ambivalent departure; you, to your father, and me, exile. Well. )
Nominations Open!
Feb. 18th, 2026 11:32 pmlettersmod posting in unsent_letters_exchangeNominations for Unsent Letters 2026 are now open (a little late, my apologies)! The tagset is here.
Nominations will remain open until Feb 25, 11:59PM UTC (countdown).
Please disambiguate all relationship nominations (include the fandom in parentheses after the relationship). This will help your nominations get approved faster!
AO3 Collection | Rules
Mod contact: DW PM or unsentlettersexchange @ gmail
Nominations will remain open until Feb 25, 11:59PM UTC (countdown).
Please disambiguate all relationship nominations (include the fandom in parentheses after the relationship). This will help your nominations get approved faster!
AO3 Collection | Rules
Mod contact: DW PM or unsentlettersexchange @ gmail
- You may nominate 7 fandoms, and 7 relationships in each fandom.
- Please disambiguate all nominations: add the fandom in parentheses to the end of the relationship, e.g. Cassian Andor/Jyn Erso (Rogue One).
- Please nominate under a specific media type if possible. Nominations under [Fandom] & Related Fandoms or [Fandom] - All Media Types will be accepted, but please note that requests under All Media Types will not match to an offer under a specific media type, and vice versa.
- Nomination clarifications will be posted to this community. If a clarification question is unanswered by the end of nominations, I will amend the nomination to the best of my knowledge.
- If you spot duplicate nominations, let me know in a comment to this post.
wednesday books about young women
Feb. 18th, 2026 10:30 pmlandofnowhereTies that Bind, Ties that Break, Lensey Namioka. Found in a Little Free Library; I'd previously read the autiobiography of Namioka's mother Buwei Yang Chao, recommended by osprey_archer, so I was curious to see how Namioka wrote historical fiction about her mother's generation. Our protagonist Ailin is very much not based on Buwei -- Buwei is the sort of person, where if you wrote her life as fiction, readers would not find it believable. (There is a minor character in the book who appears to be based on Buwei, and Namioka later wrote a sequel about her, but based on descriptions it sounds like it goes in a different direction.) Instead this is the sort of middle-grade historical novel that I ate up as a kid, and it is a well-written example of this, but as an adult I don't want the story to stop when the protagonist turns 19.
Chroniques du Pays des Mères, Élisabeth Vonarburg. Yep, you'll be getting updates on this every week, though I'll try to avoid spoilers (we are now almost halfway through). In this week's installment the protagonist starts college in the Big City, population 15,000, and so we get a bit of a fun school story, and also some comparative linguistics.
osprey_archer, so I was curious to see how Namioka wrote historical fiction about her mother's generation. Our protagonist Ailin is very much not based on Buwei -- Buwei is the sort of person, where if you wrote her life as fiction, readers would not find it believable. (There is a minor character in the book who appears to be based on Buwei, and Namioka later wrote a sequel about her, but based on descriptions it sounds like it goes in a different direction.) Instead this is the sort of middle-grade historical novel that I ate up as a kid, and it is a well-written example of this, but as an adult I don't want the story to stop when the protagonist turns 19.Chroniques du Pays des Mères, Élisabeth Vonarburg. Yep, you'll be getting updates on this every week, though I'll try to avoid spoilers (we are now almost halfway through). In this week's installment the protagonist starts college in the Big City, population 15,000, and so we get a bit of a fun school story, and also some comparative linguistics.
REVEALS EXTENSION
Feb. 18th, 2026 09:33 pmmgsx_mod posting in mgsxThere are still open assignments, so I will be pushing back reveals for another week.
I'm hoping to have fics reveal on the 23rd!
If you are done with your assignment, this is a great time to do some extra read-overs or touch ups on your art piece! Or, if you're feeling risky, try your hand at a treat?
I'm hoping to have fics reveal on the 23rd!
If you are done with your assignment, this is a great time to do some extra read-overs or touch ups on your art piece! Or, if you're feeling risky, try your hand at a treat?
What Am I Reading Wednesday - February 18
Feb. 18th, 2026 05:17 pmlebateleurA short entry for today since I got home late from work and have to scramble to get to the next thing. Anyway, here's what I read over the last six days:
What I Finished Reading This Week
Lake of Souls - Ann Leckie
This is an excellent book (and I say this as someone who vastly prefers novels to short stories). Lake of Souls has three sections: stand-alone short stories, stories in the Imperial Radch universe, and stories in the Raven Tower universe, and they're all excellent. I enjoyed all but one of the stand-alone stories (and the sole story I didn't like, I didn't enjoy only because it's a bit of a downer. But it's also only 1.5 pages long, so hey). I'd read two of the three Imperial Radch stories prior to this anthology's publication and enjoyed them again here (I won't spoil "She Commands Me And I Obey" but IYKYK...and it's good.) The third, new-to-me story was my least favorite of the bunch, but only because it's so obviously a reskinned version of a standard folktale that didn't add much to the Radch universe or benefit from having Radch elements introduced to it. I was surprised by how much I liked the Raven Tower stories; in fact, I liked many of them more than the novel itself. The Raven Tower worldbuilding constraints just work so well in a short story format. And throughout all three sections, Leckie says a ton of incisive and so-sharp-you-won't-know-you're-cut-and-bleeding things to say about gender. This book was delightful and I will absolutely read it again.
What I Am Currently Reading
A Fate Inked in Blood – Danielle Jensen
I'm only about 50 pages into it but enjoying things so far.
The Laws of Brainjo – Josh Turknett
I'll have this one finished by next week.
What I’m Reading Next
I acquired no new books this week.
これで以上です。
What I Finished Reading This Week
Lake of Souls - Ann Leckie
This is an excellent book (and I say this as someone who vastly prefers novels to short stories). Lake of Souls has three sections: stand-alone short stories, stories in the Imperial Radch universe, and stories in the Raven Tower universe, and they're all excellent. I enjoyed all but one of the stand-alone stories (and the sole story I didn't like, I didn't enjoy only because it's a bit of a downer. But it's also only 1.5 pages long, so hey). I'd read two of the three Imperial Radch stories prior to this anthology's publication and enjoyed them again here (I won't spoil "She Commands Me And I Obey" but IYKYK...and it's good.) The third, new-to-me story was my least favorite of the bunch, but only because it's so obviously a reskinned version of a standard folktale that didn't add much to the Radch universe or benefit from having Radch elements introduced to it. I was surprised by how much I liked the Raven Tower stories; in fact, I liked many of them more than the novel itself. The Raven Tower worldbuilding constraints just work so well in a short story format. And throughout all three sections, Leckie says a ton of incisive and so-sharp-you-won't-know-you're-cut-and-bleeding things to say about gender. This book was delightful and I will absolutely read it again.
What I Am Currently Reading
A Fate Inked in Blood – Danielle Jensen
I'm only about 50 pages into it but enjoying things so far.
The Laws of Brainjo – Josh Turknett
I'll have this one finished by next week.
What I’m Reading Next
I acquired no new books this week.
これで以上です。
(no subject)
Feb. 18th, 2026 12:33 pmkradeelavlil' funny my very real 2 year plan is 'peace out (of so many things) and literally become a bog hag hermit'
i've been slightly joking about going through a midlife crisis but uh, this is suspiciously resembling the 'buy a boat and peace out to the middle of the gaddamn pacific ocean' stereotype some engineers have.... :D;;;;
that said i do think this is going to -oddly- be a lot better for mental health since it's actually a bigger/more varied space than where i'm holed up currently (and i've been on a trending positive upswing of self-improvement even here over the last five years; think the key really is discipline in tackling areas of life where one's unhappy and trimming out the deadweight).
it's also interesting to reflect how there's always been a major life change about every 5 years for me; high school, college, the pre-covid first five years of work, the current stint.
lord, i'm ready for the next one. it's going to be busy for a while.
i've been slightly joking about going through a midlife crisis but uh, this is suspiciously resembling the 'buy a boat and peace out to the middle of the gaddamn pacific ocean' stereotype some engineers have.... :D;;;;
that said i do think this is going to -oddly- be a lot better for mental health since it's actually a bigger/more varied space than where i'm holed up currently (and i've been on a trending positive upswing of self-improvement even here over the last five years; think the key really is discipline in tackling areas of life where one's unhappy and trimming out the deadweight).
it's also interesting to reflect how there's always been a major life change about every 5 years for me; high school, college, the pre-covid first five years of work, the current stint.
lord, i'm ready for the next one. it's going to be busy for a while.