Forsan et haec olim legisse iuvabit.

and I'm dreading tomorrow, let me just put forth all the rest of the book stuff (as I'm not smart enough to make records of communities I want to rec)

So Books I read last month. There aren't that many but if you're interested in any of them, let's talk. I love doing that



The Witch's Orchard mystery

West by God. Horror

A Spell to Wake the Dead YA urban fantasy

Dark Entry horror

Anima Rising historical fantasy

The Smoke in His Voice. urban fantasy LGBT

Verses for the Dead mystery


I also finished kingstoken's book bingo. I managed a black out. I can't find my graphic fore this so have the original post. You can play along too

I'm just going to list (but not link) my reads. (I'm running low on time)
Over 300 pages - Of Manners and Murder by Anastasia Hastings
Book in a series - Verses for the Dead by Preston & Child
LGBT = Disco Witches of Fire Island by Blair Fell
From your TBR pile - West by God by Tyler Bell
Recommended= Hormones, Hexes, & Exes by J.C. Blake

POC author - Silent Are the Dead by D.M. Rowell
Multiple points of view - The Ten Worst People in New York by Matthew Plass

YA - You Must Not Miss by Katrina Leno
Ebook Another Fine Mess by Lindy Ryan
Classics - The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Female author - Silent Evidence by Clea Koff

SF/Fantasy - Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis
Anthology - Minstrels in the Galaxy: Stories in the Key of Tull, Volume 1 edited by Sam Robb (hey I’m in this one!)
Biography/memoir- The Paranormal Ranger: A Navajo Investigator's Search for the Unexplained by Stanley Milford Jr
Friendship - Last Dance Before Dawn by Katharine Schellman
Banned Book - Under This Red Rock by Mindy McGinnis
Name in the title - H.P. Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P Lovecraft and manga adaptation by Gou Tanabe
Movie/TV tie in Murder by Cheesecake by Rachel Ekstrom Courage (a Golden Girls mystery mash up)

With a woman protagonist - When the Bones Sing by Ginny Myers Sain
From the library - The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
Thriller/Suspense - The Lost House by Melissa Larsen
Set Somewhere you’ve been Lackadaisy vol 1 by Tracy J. Butler
Crime/Mystery - To Slip the Bonds of Earth by Amanda Flower

Non human pov - The Mushroom Knight Vol. 1 by Oliver Bly

That's fun. Woke up this morning to find no pillows on the bed. That was how this day was going to go. I didn't clean nearly anything again but it is what it is.

I got into the two mouse drawers. I still don't know what the hell they were in there for. I'm glad I got new organizers because it was a wash in there (and now I realize that all the pantry drawers on the bottom need to be cleaned out too but that's a problem for future Dana. (and given how exhausted current Dana is, she had better have another hemoglobin test)

I threw out most everything but the stainless steel utensils. they went into bleach water and I'm taking it to the parentals after this because they have a hot water tank that gives more than luke warm water and a dishwasher and I promise you if the autoclave wasn't acting hinky at the end of the semester I'd have taken the spoons and forks with me and autoclaved their ass.

Got another story rejections. Ah well.

I forgot to mention yesterday I went into the Shoe Dept on a whim. I keep forgetting this Chillicothe store and they had the perfect sketchers (which shockingly worked for me. I just hope they're good for standing in long term. So far I've not been too impressed with Sketchers) Anyhow they were 50% off and it was also the last day of my birthday discount. Got them for under 30 so can't complain.


What I did do today: write like a maniac (like 10 pages worth) on a story I have no business working on now but it ain't gonna let me go so trying to get it all out of me. My biggest question, why do I always write nothing but oral sex for these two. I mean really?

And for the Sherlock fans on my list kingstoken is running a Watson Birthday prompt fest. You can find it here. if you'd like to take part


Hey fannish 50 time and I'm taking a week's break from the ladies of fandom but before I even get into that, did anyone watch Peacemaker? I really only knew about it from one of fan artist faves art and a vague idea from Suicide Squad (I was never much of a DC girl) . Anyhow, it's now running on AMC so I recorded S1E1 and as much as I like John Cena (don't even get me started on my 80s era wrestling fetish) this was...the most mean spirited thing I've seen in forever. Does it get better? Couldn't even really enjoy Cena in his tightie whities thanks to the crap they had him spewing.



Okay so what AM I going to do with fannish 50? Music analysis. It's not surprise I love music. I. love. music. I have countless movie soundtracks (probably more of them than I have actual movies). I was in band since 4th grade. Choir until it was obvious I can't sing. Was in multiple bands in college (even played for Bush the first's inaugural festivities)

That said I think the first time I ever really thought about really analyzing music and its use in fandoms was with the Buffy episode The Body where there was NO music and you could see a) how used we are to having musical cues b) how creepy it was without it.

Back in Prodigal Son's hey day one of my Pson friends was a music/film teacher and she did deep dives on each episodes which you can see here. Angie's dissection of the music (and more) was great (and often funny with the memes).

Now I've ben sharing fan musicians efforts for a lot but nothing more. I am not huge into reaction videos (I don't get why they're so popular) unless they have a different slant, such as the psychologist who is going into the psychology of the characters and now, musical analysis by music professionals. There are a few out there but I found myself drawn to Peter Barber, an opera tenor (I oddly have three friends who are former opera singers)

He does a good job with Hazbin Hotel (and I hope he branches out) Strangely enough he didn't watch the show at first but went back and is now hooked on it so he has context. If you like this thing, check him out (also he's not wrong about Keith David's voice. Husk's voice is pure sex, damn, love those bass voices)





And Peter covered Loser Baby. Him I like, his partner for this a little less so.

So I went through the early fog and rain to see the surgeon (at an hour when I usually am waking up so that was a fun drive). He had me up on the table and as I'm getting there, I said I know I'm supposed to be here for the hernia but I have thyroid tumors and here's the report. Do you do that kind of surgery too or do I need ENT? He does it.

He examines me. The actual hernia is actually very small and not in need of surgery (yay) but the real problem is that collagen disorder of mine (the is it Ehlers Danlos or is it something related debate). The aponeurosis that holds the right and left abdominal muscles together (the linea Alba) has pulled apart, a diastasis. They don't operate on that because it's not a hole. That said if I lie back and tense those muscles you can see my stomach like the xenomorph baby is about to pop out. Guess that's something to get used to.

On the other hand, he was STUNNED at how piss poor the ultrasound was from my local hospital. He was rather angry about it. Me too. I said this is why i'm here. He wants another one now but that means staying here all summer (and I have commitments that won't allow for that) because the new ultrasound can't be scheduled for a couple weeks and then if the surgery isn't soon after the insurance goes 'oops you waited too long.'

The surgery is detailed here He doesn't say I need surgery but I know the answer is very likely because I am having obstructive/compressive issues with my esophagus and evil little dog will concur, I'm starting to get a hoarse voice when I talk.

I'm done by 930 in the morning so I go to the coffee house and start a story I said I wasn't going to write last night (I need to be stopped, ha)

I hit TJMaxx which has everything I wanted, two different bamboo utensil organizers (since the mouse pooped on the ones I have and will be tossing), a dish drainer (I need to toss mine) and wood hangers because omg the current flocked ones (which I used to love) are so cheap and breakable I'm over it.

You know I try to avoid politics (for my own sanity more than anything) this article annoys me while on one hand I hope that he does end anyone who votes for this bill but in reality it's a perfect example of the problem with many political systems. At the end of the day most are plutocracies. Most of us remember when Musk was the darling of the democrats only to have him flip and do so. much. fucking. damage. this year. But he's not wrong about this bill. If it does go through I hope every last one who votes for it is never reelected because their base will be hurt by this as much as the democrats. I knew Musk and Trump would flame out, their egos are far too big. It was faster than I thought it would take but longer than I wanted it to take. Sigh.


And of course it's Music Monday. I'm doing the alphabet again concentrating on the last 5 years but you can share whatever you'd like. We're up to the letter M

( M is for Music )

I believe I started with Stephen King, seems good to end with him too

How is this month over already? I’ll be back tomorrow with the final tally. And on July first we move to nafs’s blog for WED.

It was an editing day Got about 600 words and the penultimate chapter of Dandelions posted.

Let me know what day you’re reporting in for. If I've missed you on the tally let me know. Feel free to jump in at any time.

Day twenty -nine cornerofmadness, the_siobhan, sylvanwitch, badly_knitted, trobadora, ysilme, goddess47, carenejeans, chanter1944,



( other days )

Usually zwei_hexen does this around half way through and I meant to but this month has been on fire. So why not at the end(ish) Let's see what you've been working on all month if you want to share. The rules of the game are lifted directly from zwei_hexen's usual post.

Do you have a passion project, not-so-guilty pleasure, hot obsession, or slow-burn romance with a fandom? Newest fics you posted? Chapter updates? If so, would you share it with us? Whether it's a 300K WiP or a double drabble, please feel free to leave us a link to it in the comments.

A few simple considerations:

Age restrictions and content warnings: Please keep in mind this journal is public and has no content warning. For your convenience, we've put in an age restriction to this post only, so you can also post headers and summaries to more mature-rated stories. However, please put in warnings if what you share might contain possible triggers and put any mature and/or NSFW content (images, text examples, etc.) behind a text link only, to keep this journal a safe place to visit for everybody.

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For ease of browsing, please name your fandom in the subject line of your comment and consider making different comments for each fandom you’re sharing, if you’d like.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them here or to drop a note to cornerofmadness

We’re looking forward to seeing what you’ve been working on! Also, please check out the older rec-your-work posts you can find under the link on the top right of the journal; we try to keep the fandom tags updated on these entries for your convenience.

So yesterday I cut out the saplings (elm and ash) from my garden. I've been fighting the for years. I didn't get a chance before I left and with all that rain, they are more than sixty percent of the garden and the poison ivy from across the way is now everywhere too. Two years ago one of my two roses was half dead and then all dead last year. this year my remaining rose is nearly dead. It'll be gone by next year.

So I came to the sad conclusion I have to strip the garden down to bare earth. I can't win this fight. My disability makes gardening hard enough. Removing a shit tons of stumps and poison ivy is a bit beyond me. I'm waiting for the fall because I CAN save the lilies and I do have a lot of them.


I've been having my exhaustion episodes. Today was so bad I woke up, tried to read, fell back to sleep. Could hardly stand until 1 in the afternoon. I did what I wanted to do, dug into my bedroom closet and I learned nothing from doing the same in the coat closet. At least this didn't take 4 days to undo the mess but the living room is barely passable and my bedroom is barely usable but I put four garbage bags of shoes/purses/belts/clothes in the car for donation. 1 garbage bag of unsalvable garbage removed. two more piles of t-shirts sorted (one I can wear as work shirts the other are ones I want to use to do quilts)

Why did I still have 6 pairs of high heels in there? (argued with my boomer father over them because he's sure a) I'm too old and fat to be attractive b) women wear them for men only and still wear them in spite of me telling him I spend all my days with young women and for the most part they do NOT wear them any more and there aren't that many for sale in stores these days)

Why do I have a sweatshirt from 1987?

Why do I keep so much junk?

Why does cleaning make me so ill. I DID wear my damn mask. My chest is tickling. I'm coughing. My throat is sore.

I also have three giant bags of manga in there for donation. I managed to get most of it back in the closet. You can't tell i took out 5 literal bags of shit. I'm ridiculous.


And I'm not going to clean all the things I wanted to between selecting that closet AND finally opening the utensil drawers to find out the mouse shit in them. Well fuck. Now I have to go get my gloves, bleach, a better mask, new drawer inserts, fire.... I could cry

One of the artists I like for Hazbin's computer died and they were doing a live VA thing with the people they do that with so I chipped in a few bucks. At least there is something I don't regret about today.

I even regret not holding Rocket who was so desperate to sit on me at the computer he managed to tear bloody ruts in my leg trying to get up on my lap.

Today was extra, so extra I'll talk about it tomorrow. Instead let's just do the fandom rec part of the night for fannish 50

I wrote a story for spikesgirl58's 6 word challenge used also in summerofthe69, comment_fic AND lyricaltitles


Title: Make Me Feel Alive.

Fandom: Hazbin Hotel

Character/Pairing: Angel Dust/Husk
Summary: Angel wants to show Husk a great date night and he succeeds. The only problem with his plan is he needed a car. He helped himself to Arackniss’.
Rating: explicit

( Story at the above link or under this cut. Story is NSFW )

Fandom recs

Romancer? I hardly know 'er! Deadpool

Tired Torchwood

Sharing Is Caring FAKE

Asteroid Adjustment Torchwood

Doing It Right Babylon 5

The Hundred Year Heatwave Stargate Atlantis

Love's a gamble, and baby I'm all in.. Hazbin Hotel

who is in control? The Amazing Digital Circus

Silent and Brooding Deadpool

No Way In Hell!. Torchwood

Raspberry Chambord and Prosecco Cocktail Hazbin Hotel

And A Bucket Of Ice Water Hazbin Hotel

Get Shot, Be Hot Hazbin Hotel

During The Rainstorm. Hazbin Hotel

Help From Above Hazbin Hotel

when you go away, i still see you
Arcane: League of Legends

Two Dozen Roses. Hazbin Hotel


One of Them Was Me Stargate Atlantis

Herding Cattle is Easier than Herding Cats. 911

Singularly Unique Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV)

meddling Star Trek: Voyager

And a fannish resource The Star Wars Galaxy Map

Things forgotten today a) breakfast b) my hairbrush c) my flashdrive d) a new mop Whee.

I put my new sheets on the bed. In the store they were soft with a nice pine branch print 100% cotton. On my bed, putting them on I was transported back to 1976. This are my great grandmother's sheets in look and feel. I can hear her talking to me in broken English. I can feel them against my skin sleeping upstairs in grandma's house, listening to the ghost train rocket by (that's another story)

I did get to jackson, had a nice new coffee (orange rind sprinkles was surprisingly good) but during coffee time I got an email I was waiting on from work about my travel reimbursement. I needed it in by noon monday. Yikes. I can't even remember where to find the paperwork in the stupid place we store this shit. Finally get it and don't remember if we work on fridays in the summer (we keep changing that) turns out yes I didn't have to run down there today

But since I was rushing to get this paperwork in, I leave my office without my flashdrive. Sigh. I was also busy talking to L who is cleaning out her office (post retirement) So I had to go back to get the flashdrive only to find TH there. Had fun talking to him. Didn't get home until 7 pm. I was supposed to be home at 3.

So much for getting cleaning done today. Doesn't matter because my dumb ass forgot to get a new mop

I do have a community rec for you, this one has to do with political activism in the US communityactionusa

Started to pay up to come back to Ohio today. Can't find my purse. Mom, Dad, have you seen my purse. I know it's here of course because my SUV's keys are in it and you can't move that vehicle if the key fob is more than 10 feet away. Dad: did you leave it in the car?
Me: no I'm not that stupid.
Mom: you went down your aunt's to get that glass.
Me: OMG it's in the car.

It was. At dinner I stopped at the Chinese place in Athens for take out and the kid working the counter comes running out after me. You forgot your credit card. Well ain't I a dumbass?

Made it here fine. They have FINALLY opened the damn rest stops on I-70 (they closed almost every one of them from PA to MO that I'm aware of). it's a beautiful new building. Didn't bother to put in a new road/parking lot

Rocket is fine. The mouse traps caught the giant mouse in the kitchen (nothing like coming home to the smell of decomp but it was that or letting that mouse destroy my place for 6 weeks)

Found multiple calls from doctors (including one I have no idea who they are) WHY they didn't fucking call my cell phone is anyone's guess. Apparently they schedule a CT scan for me but no one bothered to let me know (They have my cell phone AND my email so they called the house and sent a fucking paper letter) Last I had heard my insurance had said no... now I need to call all of them. Because if that IS a yes maybe I can go down there and have it sent to Chillicothe without having to ask the insurance for permission again. we'll see and get it done now instead of in sept when I'm back again.

I need to look around this apartment to see where I might have left a package of stuff I meant to take to PA. Hope it's here or I have no idea where it is.


What I Just Finished Reading:

Anima rising - this was weird


What I am Currently Reading:


Dark Entry - a short suspense/horror novel I got last year, so far not bad.

Verses for the Dead - a pendergast novel from Preston & Childe. I had forgotten how much I liked this FBI series

Chasing Evil - speaking of the FBI, this is written by an FBI agent (ex) and his professional relationship with psychic John Edward


What I Plan to Read Next: a mystery arc I have and a deep space nine novel

For reasons I don't want to put on public spaces, I took back a lot of my glass today. I should say it was my grandmother's and my aunt wanted to keep it in the china closet. She took care of grandma and I said yes, sure. Now that my uncle's gone, I know things will change so I asked for my glass back. She had no problem with that. Hopefully I don't have some of hers too (I'll give it back if she sees I took something that wasn't grandma's)

My aunt was a HUGE yard sale/flea market/auction fan back in the day. I hauled out four canvas grocery bag's worth of glass and you can't tell I took ANYTHING out of that china hutch. At this point, none of this is worth anything. Millenials and Gen Z have (on average of course) no interest in owning old stuff. This is the reason antique stores are closing everywhere.

As for me I love old things. This glass is very pretty. (I'll take pictures down home). My newish tv stand has a glass front for storage. I will put a lot of this in there. It's probably the only things my grandmother wanted me to have that I'll actually be able to get. (that and her few jewels which I already have)


Had a surprise writers group meeting. I keep forgetting starting in May we've moved to twice a month and now it's not on thursdays. I got my cryptid story edited and sent back. And I worked on the Pennsylvania Appalachian cryptid story but I'm already feeling screwed on it. 5K is SO restrictive. I've got like 1200 words left and I have to admit I can't do the slow ratcheting up scare and one character's backstory needs to go (hell the character may need to go). Oh well, I march on.


For my fannish 50 women of fandom, let me back track to The Owl House (if I'm going in order of fandoms from newest on back). The Owl House has amazing girls and women. Seriously if you haven't seen this Disney animation (which you can barely believe IS a Disney animation) you should watch it. It's only 2 and half seasons so it's not much of a time commitment.

There is not a woman I don't love in this show. Luz, Amity and Willow are well rounded complex characters. Edalyn and Lilith are exactly that too. Even their mother and Luz's are complicated messy people. Camilla, Luz's mom, starts out in one place and it's not until the end of S1, beginning of S2 do we realize she's something entirely different.

Even the bad girls, Boscha and Odalia are interesting. Okay Boscha is the weakest of the main female side characters, basically the mean girl stereotype and almost never rises above it. Odalia is the emotionally abusive tiger mom who is also a borderline sociopath.

But for my favorites I can't pick between these ladies

Luz Noceda is the main character, a creative but misunderstood (but endlessly optimistic) girl from the human realm who goes through a magic portal (yes I know I know I'm tired of portal stories too but this one really works) and falls in love with the Boiling Isles and gets swept up in its magic and it's dangerous politics. She also gives us a Dominican, brown skinned bilingual bisexual teenaged protagonist (See what I mean? Can you believe this is Disney?)

Amity Blight embodies the enemies to lovers (well girlfriends, this IS a kid's show) trope. She's anxious and keyed up because Odalia won't let her be anything but perfect and won't let her choose her own path (and Dad has been cut off by his own work and his wife's manipulations). She is a strong witch, athletic, brilliant and very confident. Amity is lesbian.

Willow Park is relatable, the slightly chubby (which annoyed some of fandom when they made her more the bulky athletic type instead of being more sedentary and belly/thigh rolls type and you'll see that reflected in fan art) She was pressed into a field of study by well meaning fathers (she has two dads) but plant magic is her strong suit and once there, she blossoms, pun intended. She's ferocious and protective and is a big believer in second chances. In many ways she's the glue of the group and probably my personal favorite to write. Willow is pansexual (this is a very queer animation, we also have other bisexual and pansexual character, nonbinaries and ace rep too)

Can't recommend this enough, So glad evil_little_dog pointed me to this one.