cornerofmadness

Out of self preservation

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 03:29:34 GMT

Mom and I went back to the mall. There's a section (this is a collection of about 4 malls over 3 hills) we haven't been to in a long while and now there is Indian, Italian, and Japanese street food. Time to go exploring. Apparently there's a new book store. Time to work a little google fu to find where that is.

I wore my UFO Museum in Roswell shirt today (with the big alien head on it) and several people commented on it. Included in that is the young man checking me out at the liquor store. Who asked me do you believe in aliens?

Me: I don't rule out the possibility

Him: me either. Do you know about the Ariel landing?

Me: No, I don't think so

Him: it was in zimbabwe but there was a problem, they didn't know how to talk with aliens.

Me: making yes I'm listening noises while thinking just give me my vodka please.

Him: You can't ask them a lot of questions. You need to ask one question and let them ask one and go back and forth.

Me: thinking oh boy I'm in for it now. Oh look a line is forming behind me. 'Ah I see oh look a line. Bye.'

well then...

Other than that i didn't do much that was interesting so let's skip to the friday fannish 50 recs

Effloresce Shadows House

Unveil to Us Shadows House

Myth Is Reality. Doctor Who

like something precious Hazbin Hotel

Powdered Sugar Hazbin Hotel

Appetizers Hazbin Hotel

No Time to Live Forever The Case Study of Vanitas

The Wonders Still Awaiting The Case Study of Vanitas

An Important Night Torchwood

missing missing missing Hazbin Hotel

dangerously close to a positivity overdose Hazbin Hotel

Wedded Hazbin Hotel

Have One on Me Lycoris Recoil

Play of Light Lycoris Recoil

Appreciation Should Only Be Spoken Hazbin Hotel

To Get Up There Hazbin Hotel

Bump In The Night Torchwood

About Jack O'Neill Stargate SG-1

when the second chance isn’t quite right, take the third 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV)魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù

we're already past that phase Hazbin Hotel

Vibrant Hazbin Hotel

Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better. Teen wolf

no parking on the dance floor From

smash or pass Hazbin Hotel

My friend JK sent me this. It's longish but a really nice Giles tribute for Anthony

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I am loving this cooler windy weather

Fri, 19 Jun 2026 02:17:01 GMT

All too soon it's be 80+ and boiling. I'll take the 70s any day. I've spent the day going why is one story 500 words too long and the other is 500 too short. At least one will take slightly over because if I cut anymore the story will feel choppy. Ugh to it all. I'm not sure either story is good but I'm not letting self doubts stop me.

I didn't do much productive and I really need to start so I'm not scrambling at the start of the semester.

My cousin's ex, my younger cousins' father passed away today which seems an odd place to put this but he has not been part of my life in years. That said, this is sad and he was a good guy back in the day. He's only a couple years older than me so that's very uncomfortable.

I borrowed some community recs from yinz so I could have a little something here.

beagoldfish A multifandom make-a-thon focusing on shortfic, fanart, and non-traditional or experimental fanworks

genprompt_bingo A Multi-fandom Bingo Challenge Community for Gen Prompts

tvfanfiction fanfiction for TV shows

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Happy Birthday

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 01:27:16 GMT

To my birthday twin thoughtsbykat. Hope it's a good one. Mine was a bit...tense for personal reasons I don't want to get into.

Flippy sent me the image so I'm passing it along.

I did get to go to the mall for awhile so that was nice. I still haven't gotten everything out of the car yet but I'm getting there.

evil_little_dog got me cool stuff last month since we were getting together and Betty sent me super cool Cryptid related scones and jam. Looking forward to some stuff coming from Flippy. I bought myself a while back a blind book chucked full of little stickers, magnets book mark etc. It was a mystery When We Fell Apart, looks good.

What I Just Finished Reading:

nothing

What I am Currently Reading:

The Death Card - currently struggling to get into it

Cloak and Dagger Club - a post WWI mystery that I'm enjoying so far

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy

What I Plan to Read Next: some of my looming arcs and things for popsugar

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I threw myself over the edge

Wed, 17 Jun 2026 03:11:02 GMT

So before I drive to PA I go to the BMV to get my title reissued. Joy, they can do it on the spot. YAY. I literally put my hand on my heart I was so shocked.

ANd then...you don't own this car. It says you still owe on it. OMFG. They never put it in the computer when I took the title there back when I paid off the loan. Head desk. Do you have the letter saying it's paid off? Yes I think so. I don't have it in ANY of the bags (and I'm pretty sure I just saw it and packed it). Then I realized oh fuck me. I cleaned out the fridge but forgot to take the garbage out of my place.

I go back home. Do that. Look for the paperwork. I find all the original purchase stuff for it (plus the two civics before it because I don't throw out paperwork). I can't find the you paid it off letter. Ugh. All I have to do is to get Honda to resend it (or maybe that paperwork is in a bag I couldn't get to). I go home.

There is a silver lining in all this. Can you imagine me being at the car dealership ready to do a trade in only to find out my title isn't valid because OH didn't put it into the system?

The drive was fine. Get here and find out yay, I forgot to pack all my socks. Well then. Guess I'll be buying socks. Dumb ass.

Fannish 50 post (again this is from Buffy tVS

Day 7: Favourite friendship - Buffy and Willow, hands down. You know what, this is a rather shippy show even in canon and there aren't a lot of straight up friendships. Sure there's Xander but since I don't like him, he doesn't count (for me). Buffy and Willow starts mostly as two outcasts and it goes from there. I do like their friendship and that's why I noped out in S7 when Willow participates in throwing Buffy out of her own house. Eye roll. I don't even remember why (I have never rewatched that season or s6)

( all questions under here )

Also since I haven't done this in a while, here are some animatics etc for Hazbin because they're fun and one for Star Trek and I want to share them.

(also my favorite song from Kpop Demon Hunter)

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Standing on the Edge wondering how much more I can take.

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:14:05 GMT

Today was freaking awful. I still have that constant low grade nausea. I wanted to clean the kitchen but I needed to take a check to Jackson and pick up meds and mail something. No problem. that went fine.

Halfway home I realize I forgot to put in my forwarding address for the summer. I can't do it on line without uploading my drivers license and I can't tell you how much I don't want to do that. I also don't want to turn around so I decided to go to the one closer to home, half way to the office. I get there and I swear the clerk is 12 (I will guarantee you she's not 21) I ask for the temporary forwarding paperwork. She stares at me and says there is no such thing. Yes, I do it every year. Do you mean mail hold? No, forwarding. A change of address? No, temporary forwarding, you know like snow birds do only I do it in the summer. I'm new and I have no idea what you're talking about.

Never mind. I'll go to your competitor 3 miles down the road in Rio. She hands me the paperwork without issue (actually it probably IS the change of address paperwork but you have to check temporary. Now it's nearly 2 pm and I'm ripping. I stop off in the office and got something I forgot and one of the new text books are there so I take it.

I get home, start cleaning the kitchen and remember oh fuck, I need to call my doctor about this 'your insurance needs more info' turns out that they billed the old United Healthcare I had and the UH medicaid/medicare supplement. Oh here we fucking go. It's the other Dana in Texas with my exact name and exact birthday.

I call the doctor's office and tell them they billed the wrong insurance. But your medicare supplement is your first insurance. I go off like a roman candle. How many years have I been telling you that it the woman in Texas? HOW do you keep doing this? Why is no one using my social security number (Hers is different. She hasn't stolen my ID. I checked this with the texas hospitals back in the day). I told them they ain't getting paid until they resubmit (and the check I was cashing today? Them paying me back from me paying when yet again they billed the wrong insurance and I over paid)

THen I call Edwards durable health goods about my dexcom and why no one called me back from last week. This guy goes you need to talk to the change of insurance people (WHY did no one do this last week?) she quickly said yes I'm in network. My dexcoms will be 20$ BUT she also has Other Dana's fucking insurance as my best insurance. She's stunned by this and goes 'we can't see what state the supplement is from' when I mentioned medicaid is by state so how do you not see I'm in OH and she's in TX? Once they get a fax from my doc I'll get my units.

BUT all of these phone calls was another 2 hours on the phone (mostly me having it on speaker while I scrubbed the kitchen). I planned to do the floor tonight. But I had to get my bank paperwork and my SUV title out of the box like Mom has been nagging me about for 2 weeks. I didn't because I knew where they were. banking paperwork is there. My title is GONE. I have no damn idea where it is. I literally have my last two cars paperwork still in the folder but the title is gone. I tear thru this paper by paper for over an hour. Call mom and say 'did I bring it to your place at Spring Break because I thought maybe I did and forgot it. I know I saw the paperwork in January when I did the clean out and put all the IRS stuff together.

She doesn't see it. I go through more places it might be. I go through my jewelry box (and notice that I see my old passport but not the new one but that's a problem for future Dana) Now it's 10 pm and I give up. I'll stop at the BMV tomorrow before I leave and pay for a new one and pray they'll mail it to PA. I'm so over all of this (and mom the I told you sos don't help)

But I cant understand why it's gone. Mom said you said you were putting it in your suitcase so you wouldn't forget it. But I've been using that for the last month. It's surely not there. It's why I think I did take it at spring break but where did I put it at their house?

The topper is Rocket doesn't want anything to do with me other than meals. He runs in and runs back to the neighbors (who are retired and can spend time with him). They'll take care of him for me. I know he'll be back as soon as it gets cold again but today it hurt because I'm already raw.

Here if you made it through this minefield have something fun. It's the last time for this version of music monday 30 weeks of music. This week's prompt is 30 A song in a different language. I'm betting Suzume has a bunch and I know there are several of you on here with Kpop. Share away. I will say most of mine are old ones in Italian that my grandmothers listened to. I don't actually listen to many foreign language songs that aren't in an anime and the only one I remember listening to a lot from them was the opening theme of Fullmetal Alchemist

( some are cheats )

here's the whole prompt list

( All under here )

And here's one I was going to keep for tomorrow's fannish 50 but what the hell. I didn't put it under the cut because it's not one I know well. It popped up when I looked for the Italian Hazbin stuff. Someone did an anime opening in Japanese for Hazbin and reimagined everyone as bishies (I like them all but Valentino. He looks weird) There is no info so I'm betting this is all AI. No clue if the song makes sense but it's still cool.

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Writerly Ways

Mon, 15 Jun 2026 03:46:21 GMT

I'm feeling pretty awful (stomach) but I think I can bang out the silliest little writerly ways. I'm calling it naming shit is hard.

I need to edit that mermaid story and naming everything in it from a completely alien point of view but still need to make sure the reader knows its a dolphin, a whale etc. I almost hated that story by the end.

I just finished two stories in the past 2 weeks, the mermaid and a ghost story. Neither have titles. Why? Say it with me, naming shit is hard.

In Ezio's story I don't change most names but then I'm thinking would they really call it vaudeville? What would I call it if I change it? If I did call it something new, would the readers know it's vaudeville?

Also half my stories have character names and place names that are just XXX placeholders. Why? Say it with me. Naming shit is hard.

Do you find naming things hard? If so, how do you get around it?

Open Calls

Brink Literary Magazine Theme: Invitation
Genre: Hybrid Writing / Cross-Genre / Literary Fiction / Nonfiction / Poetry / Translation

Space and Time Issue 154. Theme: Prepare to Advance
Genre: Speculative Fiction / Science Fiction / Fantasy / Horror / Weird Fiction

Horrific Scribes Submissions Challenge Theme: Liminal Spaces
Genre: Horror

Exquisite Engines. Theme: Steampunk
Genre: Steampunk / Speculative Fiction

The Submission Pit June 2026 Window Theme: Open speculative fiction
Genre: Science Fiction / Fantasy / Horror

5 Paying Literary Magazines to Submit to in June 2026

Thin Places: Now Seeking Submissions

30 Magazines Publishing Hybrid Writing

From Around the web

Six Reasons I Ask Questions As an Editor I've found point 3 to be important

One Way to Tell If a Publisher Actually Has Distribution

Jewish Demons: The Annoying, the Bad, and the Devilishly Adorable

Cutting Unnecessary Words in Fiction

Point of View Is a Contract with Your Readers

From Betty

Understanding Conflict & Tension

Creating Rites of Passage

Crafting a Winning Title

Seven Ways to Create Rifts Between Close Characters

How to Create a Character That Represents a Group

7 Ways to Make Readers Believe the Improbable in Fiction

Three Ways to Lose a Romance Reader

Want a Twist Readers Will Love? Make Your Protagonist Wrong.

90 Or So Things I Did In a Year To Promote My Book

Jane Yolen, Author of 450 Books Including The Devil's Arithmetic, Dies at 87

The best strategy for sending query letters

Why Writers Should Enter Contests: 6 Lessons That Build Writing Success

How to Choose the Right Character Arc for Your Story

What We Write About When We Write About Grief, Part Two

7 Ways to Make a Small Story Feel Substantial

Why?

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Could be I'm overly sensitive but I doubt it

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 03:14:49 GMT

okay I am a little.

1. overly sensitive to cold milk: I highly doubt that there is more milk in an iced latte than a hot so I'm thinking heating the milk changes the sugar enough that I can tolerate it. I'm noticing iced lattes nauseate me far more than hot ones. Yes I'm taking my lactaid. No I don't want plant milk. I don't care for almond milk (or the unsustainable farming of them), oatmilk is so fatty it triggers my gall bladder issues and soy milk is an estrogen mimic and my cancer is estrogen sensitive (there isn't good data about whether this would be a real issue but it IS enough to help menopause symptoms)

2. Overly sensitive to heat. By the time I hit the library and Kroger I was so overheated (plus that iced latte) that I was far too nauseated to go to the little pride festival going on. Sigh

3. Overly sensitive to toxic male bullshit: So I sailed past Autozone on my way to the coffee shop this morning and I wanted that fix a flat. (my tire pressure is still up) No problem because there is advanced autos on the way home (literally there are three auto parts stores, two side by side (one built out of divorce revenge) and one across the street). I go in, can't find the fix a flat with the tire stuff and get in line to ask. the three people are busy. One guy gets finished. He looks at me, makes a face, turns his back and waits on a guy who had just come in.

Well fuck you too. Sorry there's a woman in the auto parts store. I walk out and go across the street to Autozone. Fix a flat is right where it's supposed to be and I'm out of there in 2 minutes.

Unfortunately I've been rather unwell all day so I did not get much done today not as much as I wanted BUT I was dealing with my ridiculous coffee table. Can anyone tell me why a prayer card from my grandmother's funeral in 1997 is on it? Can anyone tell me why THREE copies of my birth certificate are lying there in an envelope. Because I have no fucking clue. Also I need to get a little fire safe for some of these things just in case. But seriously why was that stuff there? Last I seen either they had been in my jewelry box in my bedroom. I am baffled because I have no idea why they'd be in the living room on the coffee table. I know I have the birth certificate because of my passport (which I need to check the date on. It might be time to renew that) but I did that years ago so why? Do I sleep walk and do shit in my sleep? Sometimes I swear. (also slept like crap)

Rocket now prefers the neighbors to me. Good. They're going to watch him all summer for me.

And hey look I can do a science saturday again. It's been a bit.

Scientists discover 5 million-year-old whale graveyard stretching for hundreds of miles in the Indian Ocean

2 long-vanished 'super Earths' once orbited near Neptune in our outer solar system, new study hints

2,000 years ago in Scotland, people removed a corpse's brain and fashioned the arm bones into tools

Complete skin of an adult horse found with 10th-century woman and newborn in rare Siberian burial

Genetically modified worms can now produce and deliver drugs inside a living body, scientists say

'Geminid Symphony' and 'Galactic Gandalf': See the breathtaking views of our home galaxy from the 2026 Milky Way Photographer of the Year contest

How eliminating sugar may alter the gut microbiome: mouse study It's not good. You know once I get my DexCom situation fixed, I want to see what happens if I do use table sugar for my tea instead of a substitute as that's about the only place I use sugar for.

Does the Mediterranean diet hold the key to longevity?

Vitamin C may help preserve brain gray matter volume as we age

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If the theory we're nothing but a simulation in an advanced computer game

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 03:31:36 GMT

I want to speak to my programmer I have words for them.

Did I mention my tire pressure system alerted last night? So I went out there this morning and all FOUR tires are low. The back ones are minor. the front two are horribly low. Fan-fucking-tastic. I struggled to wake up this morning as is and I don't need this. I call Rio Tire, they're so slammed they can't work me in. That leaves Wal-Mart. They're doing reno so it might take 1-3 hours. But what choice is there?

I get up there and while they're working I try to talk to the pharmacy but they can't run my insurance to see the cost of the dex coms without the prescription so that's no help (meanwhile I can't call cleveland clinic or edwards health or any of the other calls I need to make) Another guy comes in while I'm writing (I came prepared. I was not prepared for plastic grade school chairs and nothing else in the waiting room) and he has been here for FOUR hours while these people try to put on tires. They couldn't even remove his lugnuts. He had to do it himself.

I was going to take my car back at 2:30 after 2 hours of sitting there and give Rio Tire a try anyhow as a walk in and I can walk to my office there and get some work done. But they took my car in and in less than a half hour it's done. 'We replaced all four tire stems.' that seems impossible. I make them repeat it. They charge me 19 bucks...there's no way they did ANYTHING.

Talked to Dad. He looked it up. The stems (with the tire pressure stuff) are 45$ a piece. So you put in four new ones plus labor for 19? Who are we fucking kidding. You put air in my tires and blew some up my ass. If the tires aren't flat again tomorrow I'll drive up to autozone for fix a flat and shove that in. I just need it to last to get home to Costco as these are under warranty.

I don't get home til almost 5 pm. I got nothing done other than the writing. Only to find I wrote the open call's submission dates down wrong (or they closed early). Sigh. Well I have another open call this would fit but it pays much less.

And let's get on to the Fannish 50

Vivziepop has confirmed Valentino will be the spotlight Vee in S3 of Hazbin. I am not surprised by this at all. I just hope Arackniss is in this season (I know he has a voice actor but could be S4 but since the theme of S3 is family I have high hopes) I keep hoping that she's going to announce that they got more episodes like Helluva Boss is. Speaking of which another HB short is out tomorrow.

And here are the Friday Fannish 50 fandom recs

Lines of Data - 50 Sentences of Vox Hazbin Hotel

Blood Ties Hazbin Hotel

stars Hazbin Hotel

Whiskers Hazbin Hotel

using a word he hadn't uttered in over ten years Hazbin Hotel

Stumbling Into Something FAKE

Unending Hazbin Hotel

Learn To Piece My Parts Together The Amazing Digital Circus

creatures hiding in the dark Hazbin Hotel

Swimming Lessons Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins & Final Fantasy XII

To Breathe Easy Supernatural

the Love Songs of the Urban Borahae Bird
방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS

Navigational Skills Bergerac

Always Follow The Recipe Bergerac

Professional Courtesy Bergerac

New Friend, Old Friend, Best Friend The Professionals/due South

Your Princess is in Another Castle Hazbin Hotel

Siren's Song Hazbin Hotel

Ageless Eyes Torchwood

Hazbin Academy Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss

Cuteness Aggression Hazbin Hotel

Concealer Hazbin Hotel

Threatened Hazbin Hotel

The Aftershow The Amazing Digital Circus

Searching for Guidance The Sentinel/Numb3rs

Gently in the Darkness Inspector George Gently

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In the 90s

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 03:07:08 GMT

Both heat and humidity so naturally this is when I'm getting together with my friend MKF. I'm so hot I'm too sick to eat.

But before that I get the laundry done, talk to the newish neighbors whom Rocket loves and they'll help with him. 'I thought he was on your porch yesterday then realized he was with me. It was a raccoon.'

Fan-fucking-tastic

Figured out why my sweeper wasn't sweeping, the hair has bound the beater bar. I fixed it.

I got the recycleables ready and thought about it. I had my missing camera on the arm of my chair where I read the mail and throw it in the recycle bag. Has my camera fallen into the recycle bag? Yes, yes it has.

I head for Walmart in my sandals and sleeveless sun dress. Do I have a bra on? No I do not? Do I care I can kick my boobs out of my way? No I do not. I'm going to Wal-Mart. I'm still the bougiest person in there at this point. Only I realize I don't have my insurance card. I must have left it on the computer so I can't talk to the pharmacist there.

Didn't expect to talk to MKF for over four hours but it's been a while since we've seen each other (March and she was working rathacon so we really didn't get to talk) That was nice. When I go to pay for my tea, I realize I DID have my insurance card. For some reason I out it behind my credit card. Why did I do that? I have no idea.

I stopped for my brisket sandwich but it was SO late and they were sold out. I had to get a KFC sandwich. pouts

Community rec- summerofthe69 is starting up again. I'm not sure I'll be writing for it this year. We'll see. I've had fun with it but I've been very busy with the original writing and I don't want to do any sexy scenes for this book.

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If this is the humidity we're going to have all summer

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 03:27:08 GMT

then I'm ready for October. If I wanted Florida, I would have stayed in Florida. I do not like Florida type weather (okay it's tolerable in Jan/Feb) Ugh. This is why I'm thinking the SW to Snowbird to when I'm older.

Today feels like I accomplished nothing. I cleaned the computer room more. Dropped the task chair on my big toe and made it bleed. Cut the base of my left thumb open on god knows what. Cleaning sucks.

Got rejected from one vampire open call. Plan to look this one over and send it to the new vampire one. It's historic and I think that is really a hard sell in a lot of places.

What I Just Finished Reading:

Our Sisters Keeper - a very weird own voices black magic setting in the 1920s, has some serious creepy vibes

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End vol 1 - A lot of my friends love th is so I did buy vol 2 even though I was kinda bored with this. It's a neat idea. Frieren is an elf so she is going to way outlive her adventuring partners and she is trying to find a way to connect...I guess. I dunno. I didn't much like her so...

Sleeping on Paper Boats (Kami no Fune de Nemuru) I just happened to get drawn in by the cover and for a second I was going to pass because as much as I love queer fic I am NOT a a BL fan and this is BL based on the manga line SuBLime manga. Ha. My problem with BL is how hard SO much of it leans into the ABO omegaverse stuff. I dislike ABO, hard. Also as someone who has had it happen more than once with a NO being heard as a yes I find that shit triggering.

That said this was really interesting to me. It's horror/romance and I am looking forward to getting the next volume.

What I am Currently Reading:

The Death Card - currently struggling to get into it

Cloak and Dagger Club - a post WWI mystery that I'm enjoying so far

What I Plan to Read Next: some of my looming arcs and things for popsugar

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Comment Bingo summer edition

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:22:13 GMT

from comment_bingo I'm excited

fanart	a work inspired by art	art on AO3	a work from your newest fandom	fancomic
a work set in an AU	a work from a science fiction/fantasy canon	a work that made you sad	a work that inspired you	a canon divergent work
a work by a creator you're subscribed to or following	a work from a fandom with a closed canon	FREE SPACE	a oneshot	a fic that's under 1k
an art you go back to	a work with an impressive/eye catching title	a fic that's over 5k	a work from a drama canon	a work you've left kudos on
a work from a movie canon	a fic with multiple chapters	a podfic	a work with under 10 comments	a fic you first read over 1 year ago

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I'm worn out mentally and physically

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 03:41:54 GMT

Cleaning does that to me. I did get part of my computer room cleaned, not entirely but it's under control now and that makes me happy. I have three bags of books that need to go for donation. I had taken them to work but no one wanted this batch. In the process I found the missing parts of my cosplay. I didn't find my damn camera. Really?

Called the Cleveland Clinic and my estimation of them has fallen greatly (well not of the doctors there but god the staff) the call triage people leave so much to be desired. They claim they only called me on the 4th. Dudes, I called you back FIVE times in May. And how can the call center NOT know the damn phone number for the gastroenterologist department. All I want to know is do I need new testing before I come up there (I'm betting yes, already been looking for a doctor. Can't find any)

Called my insurance because I'm locked out of my web page. They get me back in so I can use the chat to ask my question about dexcom (I love that because I then copy and paste ALL of it to keep it to use against them later) They said call CVS and here's a number if they still get the 'there's no authorization' for it and it is a 20$ copay. I call CVS they're not blocked this time but it's 150$ that's 75$ a piece not 20. I tell them not to fill it and tomorrow I have to call all the by mail places UHC gave me because I can't tell what the prices will be. I'm so over all this shit and this fucked up insurance. (Seriously those on my list who aren't American, I know several countries are talking about going from state supported to privatization like America has. Fight as hard as you can. This is a nightmare)

Sent pictures to my landlord of my broke ass porch. No one has responded.

I did do something fun. Adagio offered me a free tin with my picture on it (Yes sadly AI generated) I took the free one, ordered a big tin of it (since it was an earl grey blend and I love it) I paid for the two little sample tins. I know it's silly. I know I shouldn't because it's AI generated. But it's going to be rough birthday and I wanted something fun. (so rough apparently I'm crying just thinking about it).

And now on to the fannish 50 portion of this post

As a reminder I'm using Buffy the Vampire Slayer for this set of questions

Day 6: Least favourite male character. This one is easy. I didn't want to use a one off. And yes sometimes it's Xander but he's more of an annoyance than anything. I know a lot of fans would have put Riley here but I had no issues at all with Riley at first (he was annoying later).

No, it's Andrew Well that I absolutely hated. Yes Warren (and sadly Jonathan who had been a decent side character) were part of it but those two didn't become a recurring thing. Andrew Wells in no particular order, begs and pleads to get a shot at raping Warren's ex, wants to help to turn Buffy into a sex slave, kills Jonathan, tries to kill Dawn and Xander.

And then suddenly he's a fucking Scoobie. He gets into the fringes of the friend group. He ends up a spokesperson for Buffy and Giles and the Watchers. He gets to mock Spike and Angel twice.

This show wanted me to cheer for a would be rapist/murderer.

Worse, fans DID! Because he was funny. Do you want to know how many times I heard that excuse in the heyday of Buffyverse? I wrote a lot of Connor fanfic. I thought this character had (wasted) potential. People gave me shit about writing Connor fanfic. Often the same people would write Andrew in a good way (versus the scum bag he is) and while I'm usually a live and let live fan, write whatever you want but if you come at me and your excuse for a rapist as YOUR character is that 'he's funny and Connor isn't' just don't engage with me about this.

You can tell I had a lot of anger about it. Shockingly I still do. Maybe more than I realized. I didn't even like Spike on Angel so much (though it was better than I expected it to be) but I had nothing but pity for them after dealing with Andrew. And all the other characters dropped a notch (even my well loved Giles) for letting Andrew in. I believe in second chances but I also believe in atonement of which Andrew did nothing

( all questions under here )

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Chillicothe was a mess

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 03:32:43 GMT

They are tearing the main artery out down to bare earth so there is the world's biggest traffic snarl. My car is okay (took it in for oil change) my brakes aren't. BUT shhh I'm going to trade Gojyo in so here's hoping the brakes will last me to Pittsburgh in the next weeek.

I ended up at the Italian restaurant down town. Wasn't planning on it. I checked the hours on the Japanese place in historic downtown. It should have been open. It wasn't. That's okay I wanted to try that Italian anyhow. It was very good.

Somehow this took all day but it was a good one. Right now though, that substernal pressure is back. Can't help but notice more fiberglass has blown up thru my air ducts. I'm beginning to wonder if I have some kind of inflammation going on here as a result (swear to god if this place gives me lung cancer or copd I'm going to become a wrathful spirit)

It's music monday 30 weeks of music. This week's prompt is #29 a song with food or drink in the title

( Notice I know a lot more alcoholic songs than I do food )

here's the whole prompt list

( All under here )

comments

Writerly Ways

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 03:48:54 GMT

So pretty soon I have to dig into the dev edits for my 1980s monster hunting story and thought that is also the perfect time to start writing the synopsis. I'll be going through this novel chapter by chapter so what better time to work on the synopsis as well. My first links will be of synopsis writing but I'm curious for my friends who have done this, how did you approach it? It's been a few years since I've even tried. I remember going chapter by chapter and summing it up in a couple of sentences per chapter.

Open Calls

Solar Punk Magazine Solarpunk Horror

Otherside Unthemed Speculative Fiction & Poetry

Tails of Terror Animal attack horror centered around pets from Rosco’s Pet Emporium

Last Girls’ Club: Fall 2026 Hive Collapse / Cascade Event

Sideshow Circus sideshow horror / carnival horrors / strange attractions

Ten Publishers Open to Direct Submissions in June 2026

From Around the web

How To Write A Novel Synopsis (With An Example)

How To Write a Book Synopsis: Complete Guide & Examples

How to Live with a Fictional Universe in Your Head

The US Horror Writer’s Guide to Quarterly Taxes and Self-Employment Income

Make Every Sentence Sing

From betty

Six Bad Arguments Against Social Justice in Speculative Fiction

Four Questions to Ask When a Character Is Clever

Six Reasons I Ask Questions As an Editor

What Is a Power Fantasy?

Should Your Tale Start With Dark Backstory?

Literary Pathways for Microtension

The Unreliable Narrator: How to Deceive Readers Without Losing Their Trust

Interiority vs. Visceral Reactions in Deep POV

Charting Your Course #3: Self-Publish Online (Part 2)

The Blueprint that Sells Books

When Deep POV Revisions Feel Flat (And What To Fix Instead)

Marketing, Algorithms, and Tropes

The Crime Fiction Evolution

How Universal Fears Pull Readers into the Story

How to Generate Better Story Ideas Using the Ones That Don’t Work

Coping Mechanism Thesaurus: Cultivating Trust.

Five Truths I Learned Editing Hundreds of Books That Might Change Your Life

8+ Ways to Signal Your Character’s Fear to Readers

Coping Mechanism Thesaurus: Visualization

How to come up with good comp titles for your book

How to research a literary agent

Tending Your Story: How Writers Build a Lasting Writing Habit

How Writers Can Handle Criticism Without Losing Confidence

Why Writers Procrastinate at the Blank Page—and How to Quiet the Mental Chaos

The First Steps to Self-Editing Your Manuscript

How Writers Can Restart Their Writing Routine After a Creative Lull

How to Write Mythic Fiction: Stop Borrowing Old Myths and Start Creating New Ones

What Makes Human Storytelling Human

Anything Is Possible.

A Draft With a Will of Its Own

comments

A little Giles tribute

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 19:36:38 GMT

I have written a lot of Giles stuff. Not all of it is on AO3 but I sorted through the stuff that is on AO3 already where he's the star and/or big supporting character. Also holy shit some of this has been on AO3 for a very long time, coming off of FFN before I tagged things. I need to reread some of these and tag them up. Also there are some Buffy things for challenges where the challenges put stuff up for me (also not tagged). Some I know were written for summer_of_giles and others for other challenges. Lots of Giles/Jenny in this but the first one up is a long fic set in the 1970s with Ethan and a few OCs

Hope you enjoy.

Transitive Nightfall of Diamonds

A Night at the Museum . This is crossed with Angel the series and set at the house on the rock with tons of photo hyperlinks (I took the pics. I used to live in the area. I miss it!)

CATalyst This is crossed with Angel the series, part of my Hyperion's Son story (Giles plays a decent role in that but I didn't link to it as it's more Angel and Connor but you can navigate to it from this story. It's novel length)

One for Sorrow

Worry With a Side of Tea

An Amble Through the Zoo With You

Tomorrow's Getting Harder

comments

A return to Huntington

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 03:52:57 GMT

So today I had tickets to see The Amazing Digital Circus's finale in the movie theater. But if I had to drive 65 miles down there twice in three days I wanted to do something else. I had decided on the art museum as I have not been there in eons (once to see some of my friend's art that was there, once with another friend) So I wanted my camera....and I can't find it.

I know it made it home. I had it on the side of the chair and I remember picking it up so I wouldn't trip on it and I swear to you that I put it on the desk top area but it's not there. Nor is it by the chair. Or in my bedroom. So where the fuck is it? All my KC pictures are still on it. Yay....

Now it's a full hour after I wanted to leave. I give up. I'll use my phone. I get all the way to the top of the road and realize oh right, my flashdrive with music isn't in the car because I took it to KC but ironically I wasn't able to use it because new cars have the itty bitty ports (eye roll, wtf for?) The flash isn't in my purse. I come back home. It's not in my lap top case (I remember putting it in either of those places leaving KC) I have another musical flashdrive on my desk next to the computer. It's not there. Nor is my box of flash drives. UGH. I take my big flash drive but it turns out unlike the newer car my 10 year old one can't figure out document folders from music folders so now I'm stuck with radio,

I knew that the art museum was not downtown but I had forgotten the country road that makes you swear you are nowhere near one of the biggest cities in WV. And I apparently forgot everything about this museum. And I never knew it had a plant conservancy too. in fact the only one IN WV (how is that possible?!?)

ticket lady - you didn't know?

Me - not until I looked it up last night. It's been a long time since I've been here.

ticket lady - must be. It's been here since the 70s

Me -(in my head) how the fuck old do you think I am?

It's not a big museum but I love that they have a section that is the art from the people who come take classes there and one whole room is juried art from the area (which my friend had been in in the past) There was a section of cool guns, a section from a local Iranian (Turkish?) doctor and his wife and then there is the large, multi-room Daywood collection. It started with a wedding gift of art but somehow ended up enough art to have a rotation collection in one full half of a small museum.

Boy that was good for a haunted object story. Imagine being able to curate a private collection donation like that? Imagine ending up haunted.

The conservancy is small. It's about two of my university's green house. They did have poison dart frogs (none visible), two axolatals in another tank, Glowstick who has the jellyfish gene and another one (no name that I saw) who was upside down on the bottom (He's not dead. He's blind). I was chased by a female turtle. They have no males and the girls are running around trying to find one.

But since this was out in the middle of a freaking woodland there was no lunch. Fine. I'll get it at the mall where the movie theater is. No, I won't because I can't find a parking place. So I get a panera bagel (in theory toasted, in reality handed to me toasted but already fucking cold) and shove it in my purse to eat in the movie theater.

You can tell I'm old. I'm nervous about sneaking in food and drink (because damn it in the 80s and 90s they checked your bag) so I have it layered and hidden at the bottom of my purse and my ticket in my pocket so I don't have to open my purse. I go in and there is no ticket person. You buy it from a kiosk but I have mine. I get in the popcorn line. I don't want it. I want the movie exclusive popcorn bucket. They don't have it so screw the popcorn. I go toward the theaters. No movie ticket taker. I can see the TADC theater but I'm like...do I just go in. I go back to the popcorn people and ask. They say just go in.

WTF? I could have just not bought a ticket and strolled in like I belonged there. How is this a system? So I go in. Now the first two days the theater was sold out. I expected mine to be sold out and I was thrilled that there was no one in my seat that I had picked out online. I sit. And...no the theater isn't sold out. Good. BUT there is a couple two seats down from me and a group of friends right behind me.

And I'm quickly reminded why I don't go to theaters. So this release was episode 8 of TADC plus the hour long finale. The idiots behind me unwrap snacks thru ALL of E8 and most of the finale. Now most of the audience has seen E8 so naturally the people behind me wait until E9 (which no one has seen) to start talking while they unwrap twizzelers and wtf else they had in god damn wrappers. And then one of them keeps sneezing and saying I hate allergies (well sweetie, right now I hate you)

THen halfway through the finale the guy next to me starts snotting and hawking and snuffling (and as we're leaving he says 'as soon as those people behind us left my nose cleared up') and if that's not that bad I look over and he's blowing his nose IN HIS SHIRT. It's too dark for me to get up and move (and there is enough people it won't be easy). I wanted to throw my tissues (in case I cried) at him but I didn't want to get any closer.

I stay to the end to get the QR code for movie exclusive TADC merch (because I can't resist merch) only to learn my purse charms have somehow slid in between the chairs and are stuck. Fan-fucking-tastic. I get it free but Husk is gone. I sit back down and feel around. He's lodged in the chair housing. I do manage to pry him out unharmed (other than the jump ring) This on top of my Kinger pin that I put on in the car and was poking me by the time I found my seat. The back is gone. I put him on the purse and nearly lose him again. OMG why?

The theater had a claw machine filled with ALL the Glitch shows plushies. I can't work a claw machine to save my soul so I gave it a pass. it was hard. I did come home (my phone can't do data right now) to open that link and bought merch I don't need but wanted. I'm kinda glad they didn't have the popcorn box. I thought it was supposed to have Jax/Kinger/Pomni on it but it was Pomni's head and you ate out of her mouth. Ew.

Took back the used lotion they sold me at Home Goods. Went for dinner at my favorite mexican place there but they gave me rice instead of elote (boo) and the black beans tasted honestly spoiled so the entire basket of chips and salsa was my sides . At least my pineapple/avocado/shrimp tacos were good. AND I beat the storm home, one so bad it was on the emergency alert.

So here are my spoiler rich movie thoughts under a cut

( so don't look under here if you plan to see the movie )

comments

saw the eye doctor

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 02:44:03 GMT

btw how is it already friday? I blinked and the week was gone.

He saw nothing wrong with my eye. To be fair I COULD read at 20/40 with that eye today (which is about all the better I ever get) It could be transient inflammation which sucks because unless I go in as an emergency that day (which most docs won't do) how will they see it? ugh. I may still go see the specialist.

I finally wrote. It has been tiny bits here and there for the last two weeks but fair enough I've been traveling for almost two weeks.

But the kick to the head is the mermaid story. got it typed in. It is 400 words too short. Usually I'm 500 words too many. Sigh.

And I was SO saddened to learn Anthony Stewart Head has died Earlier this week I was clear how much I loved Giles as a character. I have recordings of Tony doing The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This one hit me hard. Not to mention we've lost 3 Buffy main cast in a year (and Michelle and Nick were young).

Have the rest of the stories that have built up in my inbox for fannish50's fandom recs starting with this animatic I stumbled over. The art is great. Staticmoth

Blonds Have More Fun Torchwood

Art; Search For The Hale Relic Teen Wolf

Search for the Hale Relic Teen Wolf

Growing Pains Stargate Atlantis/Marvel Cinematic Universe

Do You Remember? Hazbin Hotel

Not Indestructible Torchwood

If Wishes Were Horses The Fantastic Journey

don't even bother with the ukulele Hazbin Hotel

Soft Hazbin Hotel

Thursday Afternoons with You The Owl House

Chat with Tommy The Hunger Games

Decoupage The Hunger Games

Things that Didn't Happen The Professionals

Rescue Mission Stargate Atlantis

Puzzle Box Stargate Atlantis

Threats Torchwood

Out Of Shape The Fantastic Journey

Quirky Hazbin Hotel

New Friend RWBY

Bodie to the Rescue! The Professionals

The End of the World. due South

Hazbin Hotel as an 'Under The Sea' Parody Hazbin Hotel/ The Little Mermaid (Disney Animated Movies)

Burnt Coffee Torchwood

Precious Hazbin Hotel

Meet-Cute / Cute-Meet The Owl House

Echoes of the Dead Stargate Atlantis/The Sentinel

Peaceful Rest Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening

Mistletoe The Owl House

Cosmic Frontier The Owl House

An Evening at Rosings Pride and Prejudice

Screaming Safewords into the Void Hazbin Hotel

Another Opinion to Set Beside One's Own Pride and Prejudice

A Herm Without Earrings is Like a Cake Without Sugar Vorkosigan Saga

Garden Range Hazbin Hotel

Rebirth The Owl House

Chaos The Owl House

Going After Kate Argent Teen Wolf/FBI

comments

I will miss the gas mileage

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 03:20:12 GMT

That little Jetta got almost 50 mpg but it's back with Enterprise rental.

My psychiatrist upped my meds.

Got my receipts in to the office.

And somehow that was nearly my entire day.

I did go to Jackson's color with happiness first thursday affair. It was meant to have 90 vendors. As predicted not that many showed but there were a couple blocks worth. Too much homemade bread for 15$ and little beaded things. I did find one holiday gift. I need to start writing this stuff down so I don't have a repeat of last year's overbuying. Naturally it was the hottest it's been in forever. I did get to try the x-terrestrial Taco food chuck but now I'm SO hot I can't eat. Luckily I cooled down in the car on the way home. Those birra tacos are literally better than any I've had in any restaurant around here and to the dimbulbs in front of me in line, when the dude offers you a sample, you standing there going but I don't know what it is so why would I want a sample is not helping move the line along. Get out of my way. I know what i want (it wasn't a food allergy issue, his wife was about ready to slap him into next week)

Community recs. I'm doing bad at this. I know one of my friends just started a Buffyverse kink comm but I can't remember which one...(gah I need to start writing this stuff down) so let me just mention comment_bingo is open for a new round.

comments

June's Bingo

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 04:31:17 GMT

from allbingo's pride month

Open relationship	Support	Unconventional family structure	Validation
Community center	Queer anarchy	Hope	Growth
Gender envy	Friendship	Glitter	Presentation
Inclusion	Queer awakening	trips over an ace	Rainbow

And the hazbin hotel fest also at allbingo I'll probably be combining them

Kappa	Jerkass Has a Point	Poltergeist	"the last thing I want to do is spread misinformation"
"sorry starts to lose meaning after a while"	"they clipped your wings"	Berserk Button	Elevator
"today was perfect"	Holding Hands	My Greatest Second Chance	Garden
Embassy	Hooker with a Heart of Gold	Hellhounds	"remember that lesson on boundaries?"

comments

Good news

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 03:17:30 GMT

Not only did I get the you're fine see you in six months go-ahead from my cancer doctor, I also lost those 10 pounds I gained and my BP was 112/57.

Now considering I ate a lot last week I'm surprised and I think there is something to what's been knocking in my head. My increasing weight and blood pressure might be related to stress and cortisol levels. This isn't something we really test for often (more when we suspect adrenal tumors) now I'm off work a couple weeks and everything is going back to normal (for me)

I wasn't going to go to the mall since I'll be back on Saturday (the theater is at the mall) but my appointment was at 1 and I was back in my car at 140. I hit the comic book store and finally walked to this Chinese restaurant I've been wanting to go to for years (no parking but I always have to park in the garage and it was a good day to walk). And....it was closed for the week. Sigh. I went to the German place instead but it's still not even 3 pm so I go to the mall to Home Goods and now I have to take something back on Saturday. The clearance body butter. I assumed that was packing tape on it. No, I got it open (which is weird because I wasn't going to open it. I don't usually need it unless the heaters are on) and someone had broken the seal and dug a finger's worth out of the cream. Yep, no thanks.

On my drive home that cardiologist I don't like called me. This is the second time his office has done this. Last time it was his NP, this time it was him, just checking in with me. It was unexpected. How are you feeling? Did you know your holter monitor study was normal (yes we already talked about this but obviously you didn't put it in your note) When will you be coming back to see me? August (unless I change that)

What I Just Finished Reading:
The Faraway Inn - a cozy fantasy (portal) set in Vermont. a really sweet YA cozy fantasy. I enjoyed it to pieces

The Gay Disaster Detective Agency - one of my arcs. I usually like Lev AC Rosen but this isn't working for me. Yeah there are better gay books out there for Pride month. Go read Rosen's Evander Mills series instead (but it is post WWII so it's not exactly happy gay stuff)

The Kindness of Strangers - another arc that wasn't for me

What I am Currently Reading:

Our Sisters Keeper - a very weird own voices black magic setting in the 1920s, has some serious creepy vibes

The Death Card - currently struggling to get into it

What I Plan to Read Next: some of my looming arcs

May's Reads - I didn't read as much as I would have liked to. But as always if you want to talk about any of them, please let's do it.

Dungeons and Danger cozy mystery

That Which Feeds Us Sapphic horror (set in Hawai'i)

Hooked on Murder cozy mystery

The Colour Out of Space Horror manga (Lovecraftian)

We Burned So Bright dystopian (with mature gay couple)

Death al Dente mystery

Lumine Volume One fantasy graphic novel

Impure Blood Volume 1 steampunk graphic novel

comments

How to know I'm too tired

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 03:58:37 GMT

I was planning to go put in my travel expenses but I'm not getting my rental car paperwork until Thursday. I was too tired to think about that last night when I made a decision.

So I did laundry, got some groceries and somehow the whole day was gone.

Did call Capitol One, I was at my limit (Forgot all about being in Louisville two weeks ago and running up a big bill) Paid it all off because they don't deserve any interest after trying to tell me my limit wasn't lowered ever.

Here's my fannish 50 stuff

As a reminder I'm using Buffy the Vampire Slayer for this set of questions

Day 5: Favourite male character - This was harder than it should be. I guess push comes to shove it's still Rupert Giles. I know, I know, why not Spike or Angel. Here's the thing I like all three men almost equally and they all failed me in the course of this show. I think what I liked about Giles was smart didn't mean he was useless in battle like so many other places. His various choices weren't my favorite but over all I really liked him. I very much like Angel too and of course Spike but season 6-7 took care of that.

( all questions under here )

and some fandom recs because I was too tired to do it on Friday. Still exhausted so I'll finish this all up on Friday

I Miss You Hazbin Hotel

Kaleidoscope Hazbin Hotel

Lost And Forgotten Torchwood.

One Step at a Time Stargate Atlantis

The Baby Hazbin Hotel

Settling Into the Future Teen Wolf

Dealing with Frustration 911

If I Should Die Torchwood

Rescue Mission Stargate Atlantis

comments

Made it home

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 03:02:40 GMT

Evil Little Dog and I had a leisurely morning and then I took off. over 100 miles on I-64 and not a single rest stop. Not. One. Had to stop at a Pilot truck stop. Finally north of Louisville KY there was a rest stop. It was closed.

I got off the road to find food twice only to see no restaurant anywhere. Dudes if your restaurant is more than a mile off the highway DONT be on the highway sign. Finally found a rest stop just outside of Florence KY (Meaning I'm nearly in Cincinnati) and in there was a mom trying to get her daughter to take a picture talking on the pay phone. Yes you read that right, there was a living pay phone.

Finally found food in a freaking sit down Skyline chili (it's now like 330) and then I realized I'm literally 20 miles from Jungle Jim's in Cinci. I was going to stop there but I was already not getting home until 730 and I'm like are you really up to shopping (I just wanted the cheese) If I had realized I was almost there, I would have skipped Skyline and stopped there to eat.

On the negative side, I realized that my eyes were tired so I shut my left eye and things went bad. The right eye, the one that has been inflamed twice...I could barely see through it. Couldn't see the cars in front of me, not the road signs or the billboards. I mean I could see them but they were unreadable, like everything was smeared with vaseline. I thought it has gotten a little better and the eye doc said he saw nothing wrong but this was worse than I realized and when I was on 32 which has relatively few cars, I played with it more just to prove to myself this was real. Sadly it was. I have another eye doc appointment on friday. If he STILL says there is nothing wrong with my eye when it is demonstrably worse (and frankly it was when we did the eye test) I'm going to find an eye specialist because I'm not fucking around with my sight. Did that inflammation damage my cornea? Has the cataract gotten bigger? Because there is no way being unable to see anything but blurry shapes with one eye is normal. And I'm honestly scared about it.

Also my card got declined at breakfast. I figured it finally had enough. But I got a text later in the day saying I'm at my limit. I thought I had a 10K limit on this card. I'm hoping to hell they lowered the limit and didn't tell me because there is no way I spent 10K in a week.

Rocket is fine. Being here has sent my anxiety up and I hate that. There are things I need to fix because I can't have my home be a place of anxiety.

It's music monday 30 weeks of music. This week's prompt is #28 A song that makes you feel empowered

( meh, I don't really get that kind of thing from songs )

here's the whole prompt list

( All under here )

comments

I regret everything about today

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 03:24:10 GMT

It stormed all night and I was afraid it was going to storm the whole way home. I ran down and got the egg/bacon breakfast burrito. The flour tortilla was welded to the paper but the worst of it was it was 90% potato and I don't like potato. But later I found the breakfast buffet that we saw on line but it was only on Sunday so that's why I didn't know about it and it didn't start until 9 after I already choked down that burrito. By the time I left the rain had stopped.

And off the jump the GPS says 9 north's exit is closed. Yeah, no shit, we've been going around it for the last 3 days but you never noticed it was closed then. God I regret NOT going to Union Station because from downtown to 70 E is a short trip. So my GPS tries to go around the closed road or so I think. I figured we were looping around downtown since we don't need to go there.

I couldn't have been MORE wrong. The detour added THREE hours to my 6 hour trip. I was getting ready to pull over and put the address back in for evil little dog's place only to finally see 70 East was my next turn nearly 70 miles away. so it took me nearly 200 miles out of my way. I have no idea why. It's set for either fastest route or shortest but this was neither. It took me 9 hours to get to ELD's place

So I'm too tired for a writerly ways so you get some links

Open Call

Exquisite Undead vampires

10 EXTRA Writing Calls and Opportunities for JUNE

the reckoning ecojustice

FUN IN THE DARK small town weirdness

The Book of Demons Demons, daemons, evil spirits, supernatural entities, possession, trauma, addiction, folklore, and infernal mythology

Tractor Beam: The Water Issue Water, ecosystems, agriculture, migration, drought, island ecologies, and anti-apocalyptic futures

Baneberry – A Literary Horror Annual Literary horror and psychologically rich dark fiction

Baffling Magazine June 2026 Window “Gossip” theme plus open/unthemed speculative submissions

Sley House Patreon June 2026 Window Ecopunk

58 Literary Journals that Pay their Authors

From Around the Web

The Author Who Cannot Write (About Themselves)

How Could You Do This to Me? When Characters Betray Other Characters.

Writing Away From Yourself: How to Fictionalize a Character

The Elements of Horror: Building Suspense and Tension in Your Writing

Notes from the Editor’s Desk: May 2026

Writing Stakes Without Raising the Volume

I believe Betty is traveling this weekend too so no links from here.

comments

Spent the morning in Prohibition

Sun, 31 May 2026 04:13:32 GMT

This was the first morning here that I was awoken by noise, thunder I think at 6 AM and I did fall back to sleep only to wake up an hour later when it sounded like a drawer slammed in my room. It didn't of course and I'm at the end of the hall so not sure where it came from.

Even waking up early I was late getting out of here in the pouring rain which wasn't fun especially since there was no time for breakfast. Worse I forgot my list of addresses in the hotel but luckily GPS can also find things by name. I did get to Union Station in time and they had the same coffee shop chain as here so I did get breakfast after all.

The Gangster Tour wasn't as expected. In spite of all my worry I was the first person on the bus. The driver and the tour guide were both in 1920s period dress (okay for men that's just a suit (pinstripe) and fedoras. It was a mix of the guide's patter/info dumps and a tv screen with a news reporter, Johnny Holiday's (our guide) brother or his girlfriend so it looked interactive. Really nice info about John Lazia and Tom Pendergast the underworld crime boss and the political boss respectfully. Pendergast apparently never found a thing he couldn't turn into graft (like literally everything his cement business was involved in) and yet oddly he was also a friend of Harry Truman even after his corruption (Pendergast's) was exposed. Learned a ton about various buildings (including places Al Capone partied and where Pretty Boy Floyd was in theory involved in a massacre outside the Union Station. It was almost a 2 hour tour so worth the money.

After lunch in the Union I headed to the Steamboat Arabia museum (which is closing down at the end of the year) but it is in some artist market district with nothing but food traffic and zero parking other than on street which was never going to happen. After circling around for several minute (and thinking I could try tomorrow morning) I gave up and said fine, WWI memorial museum it is...right back at Union Station but up the hill.

SO...every road to the parking garage was closed. After circling it three times I gave up and since it was still raining off and on I decided no zoo. I went back to the Nelson Atkins art museum. I could have gone to the Kemper Modern art museum but I think it was 20$ and I am not a huge art fan.

Revisiting the other museum is good call. Found a whole wing I missed the first time. Found my hotel mate there too. I rode up in the elevator yesterday with a lady who liked my Huskerdust shirt. Found her again at the Red Lotus Asian restaurant (in the casino) and found her again at the museum. Told mom watch me see her again tonight.

And I go to the sports bar at the casino and who's there, my hotel mate sitting with an African American woman at the 6 seater table, the only thing open in the place. She said sit with us. She's Marta (Mexican American from CA) and Melinda is her table mate, retired today. They were also happy to see me because the two trainee waitresses kept ignoring them but responded to me. On our way out, Marta said she wondered if there was a racial component in addition to the two waitresses being new to the job and bad at it and got better when I showed up. Yeah...probably

Slot machines gobbled my money and I came back and after fighting for days to get my room to cool off, now it finally is (and almost too cold) and looking outside the street lights look like shower heads its raining so hard. Figures because I'm driving towards home tomorrow. And ooooo that was big lightning. Gonna be a fun night

comments

Fishies!

Sat, 30 May 2026 04:54:09 GMT

So I went to Sea Life Aquarium which turns out to be IN Crown Center, down the block from the Sheraton and I could have always snuck off to see this. Snort. It's geared more to kids and is side by side with Legoland (which does not allow adults without kids in it) it was a nice (if a bit pricy) aquarium. It had sea dragons and jellyfish so I was happy (and bought an axolatol plushie I didn't need)

And it turned out this place is there with the Hallmark visitor center museum thing so why not, right? I had no idea that JC Hall started this with gathering up pre-done postcards and sending them to retailers and hoped to get paid (it's practically a scam) And did you know his first greeting card with sound was in 1924? I sure didn't. Didn't know it wasn't called Hallmark until 1954 either (it was Hall Brothers before then) Loved the display of Christmas trees. Mom loves ornaments so I wasn't leaving here without one. All the gift shop had was baby's first Xmas, first Xmas in our new home and a creepy baby's first xmas sonogram) maybe because of mother's day. So I went into the big three story mall complex to the big hallmark and they only had the same one with a couple of birds and butterflies. Got one of a peep in a egg, dumb, tiny but I have it.

From there I went to the Museum of Kansas City. It was a private residence Corinthian Hall, but only used from 1910 to 1934 and became a museum in 1940 (seems rather a waste) The ground level was preserved as it was when the Long family lived there (hope to get the pics up in the next few days) They allow no photo shoots but I could take pics with my cell phone no flash.

Me - can I use my better camera with no flash?
Them - no, just your cell phone camera
Me - um...okay, why? they're both cameras
Them - we don't allow camera cameras

I let it go because what's the point in arguing with stupid? The upstairs was modern art (including from the Native people and African American communities) One was a recorded (I think, maybe entirely AI) talk with a former Polish Jewish woman who was in one of the camps and you could ask 'her' interactive questions and the AI would find the bits to play in the prerecording (or make shit up, who knows)

It was now after 3 so I'm like yeah, not trying for another museum for less than 2 hours. I went back to Elmwood cemetery now that I have a map in my head of where Leannah Loveall (prostitute turned Madame turned religious pillar) and I found her instantly. Must have driven past her 5 times the first time I was there.

I went to historic Union Cemetery (which has well put together historic literature for you to go on a scavenger hunt with), not a lot of impressive stones but it was super inner city now and reminded me of my college dorm, with the headstones right up to the apartments (You could have slapped a headstone from my dorm room window). One had this pool side full of hammocks and loungers with a view of the cemetery. You know there's a story in that.

Came back to the casino, played Voodoo Jackpots and accidentally dragged my finger over the touchscreen, jumping my .66 cent wager to 6.60$ without me knowing it until I hit bet. And hit a free spin bonus and won 225$. I wanted to stay for more but I did the hard thing and walked away without trying to hit another one and losing it all.

here's my intoabar rough draft Hazbin Hotel/The Amazing Digital Circus. It's not ready yet to post there but I also wrote it for spikesgirl58's 6 word challenge and that's due tonight. I'll edit it and post it once I get home. Also too tired to do the fannish 50 fandom recs. I'll do that on Tuesday

the six words were Pneumonia Achieve Company Smooth Ensure Gallery

( story draft under here )

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