June 2026 in Review

Posted on July 3, 2026 by Thistle

I really need a good month again. Life is no fun right now.

  • Tarot of the month (full year, month by month, drawn Dec 2025): The Hanged Man. There are a lot of subtle different interpretations of this card, but in my mind, there is only one meaning: Sacrifice. It is therefore one of the scariest, but potentially one of the most meaningful, cards in the deck. Drawing it in December, made me nervous, but as time passed, I came to realize that this was likely to do with life circumstances. This is the first month that I was no longer in my old home and neighborhood. It’s the month I lost three of my cats, having not found any homes for them. It’s a month of living in others’ homes. It’s a time when I officially leave life-as-I-knew-it behind. Sacrifice, but one that ought to have been made a decade ago, and which will hopefully lead me to a better place. // This version of The Hanged Man comes from the Moonchild Tarot (no affiliate link). I chose this version in particular because he hangs in front of the moon, which in tarot, represents the beginning of a journey in the dark, not entirely certain what lays on the path in front of you.
  • Song(s) of the month: Darkest Days (Stabbing Westward)

General Life Stuff
It was a month of waiting around, a bit of travel, illness, and a lot of physical pain (I currently have a pinched nerve in my left shoulder blade which is GAH). I really wanted the divorce to be official long before now, but it’s been one delay after another. UGH. Depression is kicking my butt on top of everything else. Plus, it’s summer, and it’s heat, and it’s horrible. Yeah. Honestly, I think the whole month can be summed up in a description of how the first two days went. Despite Marketplace insurance not letting me apply until after my divorce was supposed to be settled, it then wouldn’t start my coverage until July 1st. Jason dropped me from the work insurance even though technically he can’t until we are actually divorced, because it’s not open enrollment. On the 2nd, I got a follow up call on my MRI and I need a biopsy and an ultrasound, but can’t get either, because I’d have to get a new PCP covered by the new insurance, then get referred to the ENT, then get approval for the two procedures – all after July 1st but before July 22nd. Yeeeah not going to happen. While I was panicking about all this, though, the person who adopted Angus and Nimi reached out and let me know Angus was finally adjusting (see pic), and she sent photos, which had me bursting into sobs for the rest of the day, a mixture of all the good and bad wrapped up together. I’m a complete mess.

Goals
I had three official photoshoots this month, and the goal was four for the year, so that’s good! I began building two cosplay outfits. I wrote and submitted a story for the TIC7 Zine, and I’m almost done with the paranormal podcasters fic. Not bad for a what the month was.

Writing
Basically said this in my goals – I wrote a bit on my paranormal podcasters fic, to finish in the next couple weeks, and I wrote a zine story. I also managed to finish my S3 fix-it fic, so that’s good. Otherwise, I’m still feeling really burnt out on writing in general. I did have a slight seedling of an idea the other day, so maybe soon I’ll feel this again? Maybe once I get out of the US and the stupid divorce is finally finalized!

Favorite Photos

(excludes client photos)

Exciting stuff
I visited my sister and that was lovely. That’s about it. I’d really like to celebrate not being married now. Can I do that soon please?

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Fanfic Minis – June 2026

Posted on July 1, 2026 by Thistle

First: Jasmine Cottage by thisisshiny. This is an adorable human AU where Az and Crow both inherit a sentient cottage that they have to visit together per the instructions of the will/estate. Said sentient cottage is a huge fan of romance novels and throws every trope at these two to try to get them together. I adored every second of this.

Second: at least kiss me fast enough by Fell_Angel. Now that they’re retired, Aziraphale and Crowley are pretty happy – except that they still haven’t really talked about their relationship and the lines that should or should not be crossed between them. A cute short story of miscommunication and realizations.

Third: When Sunshine Kisses You by anna_sun. Meet-cute set at a nudist resort. Not something you see everyday, heh. But honestly, this was lovely. I read it on my flight to visit my sister in the PNW and loved every second of it!

Fourth: Hot Dads on Holiday by Afraid_Industry8409. Single dads Az and Crow meet while on vacation with their kids. I don’t normally read kid-lit but this was quite cute and refreshing.

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Winging It With You, by Chip Pons (audio)

Posted on June 26, 2026 by Thistle

Asher is dumped at the airport right before he and his boyfriend are meant to fly out to compete in a reality TV show. Theo is a pilot with too many hours under his belt, and is thus grounded for weeks with a note that he needs to prove he can do work/life balance. The two meet up in an airport restaurant and decide to fake a relationship for this reality show, helping them both with their problems.

Strangers to lovers, fake dating, reality TV – it’s a series of tropes that should work well. And at first, it did. Only after awhile, I started to notice weird inconsistencies in the story – conversations that happened more than once, for instance, with prose that matched up almost word for word. Everything grew far more formulaic than I would expect even from a romance novel. It was as if there were a series of scenes written, then changed just slightly and re-jiggered back into the book. There are only so many times you can have sex for the first time, you know? But these two managed it at least twice, possibly three times (and yes, I mean the same specific act). It was strange. Then there would be moments where, mid-scene, we would just switch to a later moment in time as if everything was resolved, leaving me to wonder if I’d accidentally hit the skip-ahead button on my audiobook.

Overall, despite the cute premise, I was left with the impression of a book that felt like a first draft, complete with all sorts of first draft issues like repeating/moved scenes and unresolved sections. It didn’t feel finished or polished. Since this is my first book by this author, I don’t know if this is normal for him. I have a few others of his on my to-investigate list, but I’ll be proceeding with an abundance of caution, just in case.

Performance: The audio was read by Michael Crouch and Lee Osorio. I have no complaints!

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A Whirlwind Trip to Seattle

Posted on June 25, 2026 by Thistle

Back over Christmas, I talked a bit with my sister, Becky, who lives about an hour north of Seattle. I really wanted to visit her there, but the logistics were going to be hard to figure out given all the legalities and timing issues related to the divorce stuff. The plan was originally for the divorce to be finalized by the end of February, but it dragged on and on (and the paperwork STILL hasn’t been filed!), and so I waited to book my tickets until after I had concrete dates to work with. That ended up being a five-day brief trip in mid-June – flying up on a Tuesday and home the next Sunday.

Now of course I woke up with a cold the day I was set to fly. I masked up for the trip – no one come at me for traveling while sick, it’s not like the airline was going to let me change my tickets last minute so you can blame capitalism instead – and felt dead on my feet by the time I got through two flights and a train ride up to my sister and brother-in-law’s part of the world. For the first couple days, we mostly relaxed at their house, which overlooks Puget Sound from the upstairs balcony. Took slow walks in the neighborhood, hung out with the cats, drank coffee/tea on the deck, watched lots of Bake-Off reruns, etc.

On Thursday evening, Becky dressed up and we went out to do the photoshoot that we had originally discussed back at Christmas. I’d wanted to visit her because I love this part of the world and wanted to see where she lived, and she’d asked me if I could do a photoshoot for her in some of her dancing costumes. Over about 1.5 hours as the light slowly grew more golden, we visited four locations – mostly on her property but some in the neighborhood – and she went through three outfits with various props (accessories? stuff like veils and fans and finger cymbals) as I took photos.

Fun fact about photoshoots: You take a LOT more photos than you end up with. This was especially the case here, because a lot of these were in-motion photos, so the camera would just click away while Becky twirled and tossed fans and veils around. I had to laugh at the number of photos that I ended up with – more than 1300! That dropped to under 800 by the time I deleted the obviously-bad shots, and by the time Becky glanced through the remaining, we’d culled the list down to 100. From those, she chose her favorite 20 to have edited, and I snuck a handful of others to play with. So many of the photos came out so well! This was a delightful photoshoot to do, with gorgeous lighting and really fun shots. The area she lives in is beautiful, so to be able to use it as a background was just perfect. This is why I adore shooting outdoors!

Friday, Becky, Jeff (her husband), and I traveled down to Capitol Hill, which is the gay district of Seattle. We mostly just wandered, popping into Elliot Bay Book Company, half a dozen thrift and vintage shops, a pop up artist gallery, a strange shop filled half with furniture and half with kitsch, and a boba tea shop for drinks before we headed over to Cal Anderson Park. There, it was time for rest, people-watching, photos, and eventually figuring out where we wanted to do dinner. We ended up at Annapurna Cafe, this delicious restaurant that served Indian, Nepalese, and Tibetan food. I have to be careful at these restaurants because I’m allergic to capsaicin, so I usually go with korma dishes as they’re pretty mild. The only kormas they had were seafood-based, so I went with the sea bass one, taking a bit of a risk because I had no idea if that would work. It did. It was delicious. Becky and Jeff loved their dishes, too, and we all highly recommend the restaurant if anyone is ever in that area!

On Saturday, we drove down to Fremont with the intention to visit Charlie’s Queer Books, and to see “the troll under the bridge.” As we got close to our destination, though, a bunch of roads were closed and the area was super busy. I looked it up, and we realized we’d come to Fremont just before the huge Solstice Parade. Whoops! We were definitely not going to find a parking spot anywhere, so we moved on to Ballard, which had been our second potential location for the day. In Ballard, we wandered again, stopping at a cool tattoo shop whose QR code on their placard had rickrolled me (ha!), a bunch more thrift/vintage shops (I was looking for something specific, but never found it sadly), a Kavu store, a vegan donut shop, and a somewhat disappointing bookshop.

A few hours of wandering later and the Solstice Parade was supposedly over, so we drove back to Fremont. Finding parking wasn’t much easier because the actual festivities continued on with whole streets shut down for vendors and performers, but we did find a spot! We went straight to Charlie’s, and good thing too because it was closing early for a special event only 15 mins after we arrived. I bought far too much there, but it was worth it! We then walked up this giant hill to see the troll.

Now, I was expecting this to be a statue of a troll roughly 3-4 feet tall. Something similar to what I saw all over the place in Norway in 2024. I was NOT expecting a multi-story high giant carved as if it was emerging from the underpass. It was really cool! I’m told there are several of these types of trolls in Seattle. And there was a place there were you could stamp a passport that (I believe?) was for different art installations in the city? That was cool.

[Note: The troll is holding a soccer ball because of the World Cup, that’s not normally there!]

After the troll, we went down and spend some time exploring the various vendors and such before heading back to the car and home again.

All in all, despite being sick and having limited days to explore, it was quite a nice trip. I love that part of the world, especially how cool it is compared to where I live, and being able to have the windows open, or sit on the deck while drinking coffee, etc. I loved hanging out with the cats (I miss my cats so much!!) and just relaxing with family. It was a short trip, but lovely.

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The Ending Writes Itself, by Evelyn Clarke (audio)

Posted on June 23, 2026 by Thistle

When a prestigious author dies, a group of mid-list authors are brought to his remote Scottish island to write the end of his last book. They aren’t working together, though. It’s a competition, with a major payout and a book deal on the line. The stakes are high…and murder is on the menu.

I meant to draft a review of this book before I left on vacation for a week. But I didn’t, and now I’m trying to remember more than fragments because I listened to it basically nonstop for several days rather than taking my time with it. It sucked me in immediately. I liked that the chapters were narrated from the point of view of multiple characters. Because I was on audio, I never knew how much of the book was left and therefore didn’t know which characters may or may not get a POV chapter. As characters systematically began to die (whether by murder or accident or something spookier), their POV chapters died with them, leaving fewer characters to question for murder. It had very And Then There Were None vibes.

I quite enjoyed the book, though as I said before, I’m not sure it’ll particularly stick in my memory. Fun, quick romp, with a lovely quote that I enjoyed immensely:

He who holds the pen tells the truth.

Performance: The audiobook was read by Fiona Hardingham and was quite nice.

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Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, by VE Schwab (audio)

Posted on June 12, 2026 by Thistle

This is a three-part story of three women from three different time periods, drawn together by a combination of events over time. I know that’s very vague, but there’s not much more I can say about this without giving away huge parts of the plot. It’s about immortality, and toxic relationships, and the ways that unlimited time and unlimited hunger twist and warp a person from who they once were.

I’m not sure how to review this one. I suppose I can start by saying that it was an incredible book. It drew me in immediately and kept me captivated the whole time. The distribution between the three stories was a bit uneven, but I didn’t mind so much. I never caught on to the source of the immortality until it was revealed. My brain has been wrapped up so much with soul-hopping and reincarnation stories recently, so I don’t know if I just missed obvious cues or if the story was clever enough to hide the reveal quite well. In any case, I was clearly just along for the ride.

There were two quotes that really hit home for me, especially coming out of a longterm situation that was really not good, which becomes clearer the longer I’m away and seeing things from an outside perspective. When you’re stuck in a bad situation, you often don’t see all the little things keeping you there – you’re too focused on trying to hold things together, never questioning if you should be trying, or if it’s worth saving. So these two quotes hit me powerfully. The first:

It is easy, isn’t it, in retrospect? To spot the cracks. To see them spread. But in the moment, there is only the urge to mend each one. To smooth the lines. And keep the surface whole.

And the second:

Why does Charlotte stay? That is like asking—why stay inside a house on fire? Easy to say when you are standing on the street, a safe distance from the flames. Harder when you are still inside, convinced you can douse the blaze before it spreads, or rushing room to room, trying to save what you love before it burns. [emphasis added]

It was generally a very powerful book, a masterpiece of a tale. I’ve seen some reviews where people say the end is dissatisfying or anticlimatic, but I completely disagree. I think it’s a perfect ending, exactly what I’d hoped for. It made me love everything that came before even more.

Performance: This book was read by Marisa Calin, Katie Leung, and Julia Whelan. All three narrators were good, but I especially loved Katie Leung’s performance. Possibly because I just love the Scottish accent so much. (But also, she and the others all did great with a multitude of accents!)

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The Bones Beneath My Skin, by TJ Klune (audio)

Posted on June 5, 2026 by Thistle

Nate only wanted to go back to the family cabin to sort out his life. He didn’t expect to meet two squatters, a military man and a strange young girl, hiding out in his cabin. He didn’t expect the gun pressed to his head. He certainly didn’t expect to find himself on the run from government agencies intent on keeping their secrets.

This is my first experience with Klune. Years ago, when The House on the Cerulean Sea published, it quickly gained popularity. I tried it out and it felt too young for my liking. After a few pages, I returned it to the library. Since then, I’ve seen a bajillion books come out from the author. The first one that really caught my attention was The Secret Lives of Puppets, though I never got around to reading it. The second was more recent, called We Burned So Bright. But then a week ago, I desperately needed an audiobook to listen to and this one was available from Libby. I don’t know that it was the best Klune to start with, but this is how I began.

My reaction to the book is mixed. On the good side: The story was intriguing. The girl (Art) was obviously strange from the beginning, though I couldn’t tell if she was an artificial construct, some kind of cyborg, an alien, a transplanted soul, a clone, etc – she was just obviously Not Right. The truth is revealed slowly as Nate, Alex, and Art go on the run from secret agents. It was intriguing. The 90s setting was quite nostalgic, and I liked that part a lot.

Toward the 75% mark, though, the book started feeling a bit heavy-handed. A lot of moral lessons were taught outright. The romance that developed between Alex and Nate, which I enjoyed and thought was well done, veered sideways into erotica for one scene. Normally, I’m fine with that, but this one was, um, very spit-heavy, and no thank you. It also seemed a bit out of place in a book that gave no hint of adult content through all the rest before and after. The ending wrapped up very quickly and ambiguously in a way that left me unsettled. Not unsettled by the story, but unsettled like I’m not sure I really caught what the intention of the book was meant to be. That might simply be because I was literally moving house while I listened to it, but others I know have said they also found it to be a strange/unsettling ending.

I’m sure I’ll read more Klune. I’m still interested in those two books mentioned above. After that, I’ll be able to better decide if I should dive into others that have not really caught my attention in the past. It was a strange beginning, but not off-putting.

Performance: This audiobook was read by Kirt Graves. I was a little thrown by the accents he chose for the characters, which were very southeastern-US when the bulk of the story took place in the Oregon/Washington-to-North Dakota corridor. I was also not a fan of his voice for Art (but I rarely like when people make “children’s” voices in audiobooks). Also: “vague” does not rhyme with “bag.” It startled me every time he said it. Not my favorite performance, but not the worst either.

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Fanfic Minis – May 2026

Posted on June 3, 2026 by Thistle

I didn’t read much this month. My brain is starting to float away from fanfics and back into tradpub. It’s funny how these things float around. I thought I’d have much more drive to read FF after S3 but…yeah.

First: Until It Is by Sakascal. Post-canon angst-driven story of capture, torture, rescue, and (finally) talking. This was sooooo good. I might be a bit biased because 1) the author is a friend and 2) I helped beta the first five chapters. Still. I was feral asking for the next chapters to edit while this was ongoing, heh.

Second: Where We Land by badwolfgirlicouldkissyou. This is a story about a (literal) fall and the fallout (no pun intended) for both the person hurt and his caregiver. No punches are pulled. This is a heavy but also hopeful story.

Third: Still We Know Each Other So Well by PaperclipNinja. I have been following this story for two years now. It feels strange to add it to May’s tally, as only the last two chapters posted in 2026. But that’s how it is sometimes in fanfic, and I was never worried that Ninja wouldn’t finish this one. It’s a lovely story that shot me right in the chest from the beginning. It’s a memory-wipe fic where Az and Crow unknowingly learn what it is to experience humanity from within, rather than living beside it, and all the complications that entails. It’s tender and sweet and bittersweet and hard in places, and in the end, so worth everything. This has long been one of my favorites, and I can’t wait to go back and read the whole thing as a completed fic.

Fourth: All the Pieces You Are by Create_Serenity. This is the second of three (so far) novels in this series. I’ve read the first and the third, and finally got the last chapter of this one this month. It came out the day before the season finale, and I read it two days later. I didn’t realize it was going to leave on a major angst cliffhanger. Gah! I adore the author, she’s a lovely person, and I’m going to strangle her for doing this to me while also encouraging her to get back to the page so she can write the resolution for all of us!

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May 2026 in Review

Posted on June 1, 2026 by Thistle

I thought this month was going to be a good one. It was not.

  • Tarot of the month (full year, month by month, drawn Dec 2025): The Two of Cups. This card is the closest thing in the minor arcana as you can get to The Lovers. It represents a strong bond, be that romantic or platonic, and harmonic synchronization. Frankly, when I learned that Good Omens S3 would release in May, I immediately associated this card with Aziracrow. Because of course I did! Instead, this ended up being about holding tight to friendships for comfort when things go to shit. // This version of the Two of Cups comes from the Light Seer’s Tarot (no affiliate link).
  • Song(s) of the month: Desperate Now (Stabbing Westward), Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper), heavens in ashes (eli.)

General Life Stuff
Life hasn’t been kind. Ghost and Gherkin got rejected from the Humane Society in their intake appointment for being too nervous. Every other shelter is full. The poor kitties – including Jojo – have intake appointments with Animal Care Services in June, which is unfortunately a kill-shelter. I’m devastated, and I can’t write about it anymore without breaking down. I’m glad I got three of my babies to good new homes, but for these three, I just have to hope that one of the shelters around town (the ones that tell me they pull from the euthanasia list rather than from the public) will save them.

The rest of the month – ignoring the whole Good Omens debacle that left the fandom grieving and fractured – was filled with getting in as many doctor’s appointments as possible before I lose health insurance. Dentist, Ob/gyn, an MRI (first time I’ve done one of those in a closed MRI rather than one of the open ones!), therapy, blood work, etc. And with packing, taking stuff to a storage shed, figuring out what needs to stay with me over the next few months vs getting shipped to Europe later, etc. Lots of bureaucracy too, and that’s never fun. I moved in with a friend this past weekend and will be with her for the next few months. I’m really grateful that she’s letting me stay with her during this time as I transition to the next stage of life!!

Goals
Again, little has passed here. I got more done on my Bang fic. I have an idea of what I want to write for the TIC Zine, though honestly, this may be too ambitious of a goal in my current circumstances. I did schedule two photoshoots for June! I also have a good idea of two of my cosplay choices, and I’ve begun watching some ProCreate tutorials via TikTok unexpectedly when they started showing up in my feed. No active learning, just watching random things. Hopefully in June I’ll be able to put some new skills to the test because I haven’t drawn anything in ages.

Writing
Mostly just the stuff I mentioned under my goals, though I did begin writing a short fix-it S3 fic that addressed the stupid Book of Plot Holes issue to make a choose-your-own S3 situation. I hope to finish that one quickly.

Favorite Photos

Exciting stuff
I’m not sure there was anything exciting this month. No! I take that back. My middle child wrote the family Discord group on the 28th to let us all know that she was getting married – that day – to her longtime girlfriend. It was their two-year anniversary. (And yes, this is always how my child shares her news – in last minute snippets. It’s nbd. I’m happy for her and glad she and her wife are happy!) But really, the big exciting thing that was meant to be this month did not end up being very exciting, and the next exciting bit will be coming in the next week or so as my divorce becomes official! So yeah. Boo for May in general.

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Best Laid Plaids, by Ella Stainton (audio)

Posted on May 29, 2026 by Thistle

Joachim is a student on the verge of finishing his thesis on delusional minds. He goes to Scotland to study his friend’s brother, Ainsley, a once-prominent academic who lost his reputation by claiming to speak with ghosts. Ainsley is determined to make Joachim believe in ghosts. And to get him in his bed. Joachim is determined to stick with the rational and avoid accidentally falling in love.

You can imagine how all that goes. Essentially, this is spicy M/M historical romance with a bit of a paranormal twist. Quite a fun book. Can’t complain. Bonus in that it was read by Cornell Collins, whom I’ve grown very fond of as an audio narrator by now!

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