July 2026 in Review

Posted on August 3, 2026 by Thistle

Moving month – let’s get into it!

  • Tarot of the month (full year, month by month, drawn Dec 2025): The Chariot. This is a card about trying to keep yourself in balance when you’re internally being pulled in opposite/different directions. The traditional art has two horses being wrangled to run together, which would of course allow you to reach your destination quickly. But if you can’t get your wants/needs into alignment, you’ll come to a screeching halt on the path. Honestly, given that this is a month of trying to get everything I need to get done before I move, while also trying to move, it makes a lot of sense. // This version of The Chariot comes from the Tarot of Mystical Moments (no affiliate link).
  • Song(s) of the month: Fallen Angel (Three Days Grace), The Lessen (Umbrella Brigade)

General Life Stuff
I spent the first three weeks of the year trying to finalize everything I needed to do to move. Most of this was divorce-related, though the papers still weren’t signed by the time I flew out. I managed to sell my car and book movers, at least. Then it was a matter of updating my information for post-Germany, signing the rental agreement, getting my residence registered, etc. I’m far from settled, but hey, I did go do some grocery shopping on my own, and I managed to handle the train system solo, so yay me! Jet lag is almost gone, and I’m mostly trying to take steps one by one over the next few weeks as I get school and visa-registration set up. I can’t say I’m fully out of my poor mental health spiral, but I’m at least moving again (physically, mentally, geographically…) and that helps.

Goals
The big one is obviously moving to Germany, which I’ve done. It’s not finalized, of course, but at least I’m here and the ball is rolling. I’ve applied to the school and just received the last of the forms I need to apply for my visa. The second big one is that I finished writing my Summer Bang fic, which crosses out two of my writing goals. I also got my one cat memorial tattoo, and I’m almost finished with my two cosplays. And look! I sewed on my own buttons! (Ha. This is about the extent of my sewing “skills.”)

Writing
As I said above, I finished my Bang fic. I also wrote a short one-shot on the plane to Germany, meant to post in October for an event. There’s a daily prompt list, and I might write a few more before then. But honestly, I’m not really feeling much like writing GO fanfic anymore. The urge was already dying for most of the last year, and while I hoped the finale would reinvigorate me, it did the opposite. The schisms in the fandom have made that even worse. Perhaps this means it’s time to branch out into original fic again.

Favorite Photos

Exciting stuff
Being back in Germany, of course. And let me tell you, when you manage to navigate spaces solo, while not speaking the language a whole lot, it gives you a lot of confidence. Like, I AM competent. Heh. It’s also been nice to see Rainstorm again. And on another note, a friend of mine is entering a new relationship, and is very giddy, and it’s been lovely to share in her excitement and NRE. I’ll see her later in August, and I’m really looking forward to that.

I’d still like to not be married, though… One of these months, I’m going to be able to celebrate!

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Fanfic Minis – July 2026

Posted on August 1, 2026 by Thistle

Two of the fics below were read either in April or May, but I was traveling/moving and so completely forgot to put them on my book list. Good thing ao3 has a good history feature!

First: Hired Heart by GayDemonicDisaster. This is a post-S1 classic that pairs an aging-and-about-to-retire escort Crowley with a late-in-life coming-out Az. Sweet, silly, sexy, and very enjoyable. Last third or so was a bit slower paced but probably that’s because the author has a special interest in vintage car restoration, which I have zero interest in, so I skimmed a lot of those parts.

Second: One Last Hurrah by Thinkinginscripts, illustrated by Always Tuesday. Before starting a new job, Aziraphale visits Valencia, where he connects with his witty tour guide in a grand romance neither of them ever expected to have. This was so sweet, and the art is breathtaking.

Third: In the Margins by thisisshiny. In all the moving I’ve done since April, there were two smaller fics that I forgot to post on my list. This and the next. I don’t know what months I read them, but I’m reviewing them in July! This was a cute story of two people meeting through marginalia in a library book, then debating philosophy in a scavenger hunt type game with bookmarks before they finally meet in person.

Fourth: beach bums by quitequaintrelle. And this was a fun post-canon romp involving accidental use of sunscreen laced with a sex-pollen-type substance. Established relationship pushed into the physical earlier than expected, but in a very enthusiastic way. And if you aren’t familiar with sex pollen tropes, maybe don’t read this one.

Fifth: Summers At Northwoods by bohoteacher. The was the softest, sweetest story I’ve read in quite some time. I’m terrible at writing slow burn, but I love reading it. Especially when it comes along with strong, healthy friendships. This was the perfect read to end July.

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Just as You Are, by Cameron Kellogg (audio)

Posted on July 30, 2026 by Thistle

Liz writes for a small lesbian magazine that is slowly failing. Just when the magazine thinks they’re closing the doors for good, two new investors swoop in to try to keep it going. Bailey seems nice enough – if overly interested in the head writer, Jane – but Darcy is a real piece of work, and Liz is determined to hate her, no matter how attractive she is.

If the names didn’t already make this click for you, this is a Pride and Prejudice remake in modern-day queer NYC. The author uses the Austen classic to explore queer and gender themes and dynamics, and they very cleverly adapt the original story without pushing overly hard to get in every plot-point. It was a nice balance.

It was also a nice break from lesbian novels that are way too intent on a Hallmark-movie-esque style setup, allowing these women and nonbinary folks to just be people rather than Women With Capital Ws. Where they happen to be women and nonbinary folks, rather than that being their Whole Identity. This is the kind of book we need more of in the publishing world.

PS – The book cover seems to only be available under the author’s former name. I couldn’t find a version that said Cameron Kellogg. Props to StoryGraph, though, for making sure this book is listed properly even if it was originally published under a different name!

Performance: The audiobook was read by Bailey Carr, who put in a very solid performance. Given the number of characters often in the same room at the same time, I never struggled with keeping them separate as I listened, which is impressive!

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The Disaster Gay Detective Agency, by Lev AC Rosen (audio)

Posted on July 24, 2026 by Thistle

A series of bad choices gets a group of friends mixed up in espionage and murder. I’m not going to say anything more than that about the plot, because it’s best going in knowing as little as possible.

This was a really fun little romp. For the most part, I liked the multiple viewpoints and the snippets of text conversations. In the second half, however, events often got retold multiple times from different POVs, which made the story a bit repetitive. I don’t know if there might be a sequel in progress – it’s set up so that there could be, cozy mystery style – but if there is, I’d definitely try it again. But if the same repetition occurs, I probably wouldn’t continue. So I’d say this was a 75% win for me.

Performance: The audiobook was read by Vikas Adam, Tyla Collier, Logan Rozos, Nicky Endres. I liked some of the narrators more than others, but I have no idea which was which. It was a decent performance though.

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The Library After Dark, by Ande Pilego (audio)

Posted on July 20, 2026 by Thistle

From StoryGraph: A bookseller must escape the infamously haunted library that holds her darkest secrets, but with a murderer in her tour group, escaping alive is not as simple as it seems.

That’s only a partial description but honestly that’s enough to be going on with. This is the story of a group of people all on a special nighttime tour of a library dedicated to all things death. Everyone has a reason for being there, or for not wanting to be there. No one is telling the truth. Then one by one, people start dying. Secrets are slowly revealed, twists get twisty, and in the end, few escape. It’s a story of family feuds, forgery, murder, and attempts at redemption.

To be honest, I loved this book when it began but slowly started to wonder why I was reading it. It had an interesting story, but didn’t seem to have a real point, if that makes sense. I didn’t feel satisfied at the ending, because despite all the secrets being revealed, the whole thing just seemed a tragic waste of life due to misunderstandings and miscommunications. It felt akin to unwrapping a big box at Christmas only to get through all the layers of paper to find something very mundane inside, like a stapler or a box of q-tips. Not worth all the effort/excitement/lead-up. Meh.

Performance: The audiobook was read by so many folks that I’m not going to list them one by one. Not my favorite format for audio but few of the readers were off-putting so I didn’t mind.

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Tattoo Tour: The Fabled Fox Tattoos (23-25)

Posted on July 17, 2026 by Thistle

When I first moved in with Stephanie, she mentioned that a new tattoo shop – Fabled Fox – had opened up not far from her house. It was queer and neurodivergent owned, so that weekend, we decided to stop by and check out their flash. I wasn’t actually planning to get anything, but then I saw her:

Every once in awhile, I fall in love with a tattoo design instantly. This was one of them, and the artist had her on a pretty deep discount because she was flash and the artist really wanted to tattoo her. I decided that I wanted her in the colors of the lesbian flag, figured out that I wanted to tuck her in on my thigh that already has a bunch of pieces on it, and scheduled the appointment. A few days later, I was in the chair for what turned out to be one of the most painful tattoos I’ve ever gotten. Oof. At least she’s pretty. I named her Paisley.

Fabled Fox then had a Pride event in late June. Stephanie had already gotten her tattoo (scheduled the same day as me) as well, and we both really loved the shop, so we stopped by to check out the vendors and such. At that point, I let myself get talked into a Pride flash tattoo, all of which were only $60. The irony about this tattoo is that three years ago, I was such a snob about fanfiction and had all sorts of stupid, ignorant beliefs about the quality of writing on ff sites. Little did I know that I would eventually discover 1) amazing writers, 2) that my own writing got so much better through writing fanfic, and 3) wonderful communities of friends. So I memorialized that, choosing the AO3 logo tattoo for my spoopy leg.

One of my goals for the year was to get one of my cat memorial tattoos, and I loved the artist who did my ao3 tattoo so much that I decided to commission them for this before I left for Germany. I looked through their work and decided Gavroche would be the best cat for them, so we scheduled a date, and they got information on where his name came from (Les Mis) as well as some pictures. The design came out better than I could have imagined!!

The story of HOW the tattoo got put on is hilarious, though – there was a flood and the electricity went out two lines into my tattoo, so my artist had to do the rest by headlamp! First time for both of us, lol. The lights finally came back on after we finished, ironically.

So that was my last tattoo in the US, at least as of now, because who knows if/when I might be back. I’m not banking my future on anything right now. I know I’d like to spend a year in Germany to get as fluent as possible in the language, and then after that, I have to decide if I want to stay there and try to get residence in the EU, or do something else. That’s for future-Thistle to decide!

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Heartstopper, by Alice Oseman

Posted on July 15, 2026 by Thistle

Back in January 2024, I picked up the first volume of Heartstopper while out at Nowhere Bookshop. I got sucked in and read the whole thing while at the shop. Then I ended up ordering the other four volumes from the library, reading them all back to back. Because I didn’t have a blog at the time, I didn’t review them, and I honestly don’t have much to say about them now, 2.5 years later. They were delightful. I liked the first two best, probably because the third started to get a little angsty. Not teen-angsty, even though these are teen characters, but eating disorder angsty. EDs are very real problems, and the one addressed here was handled with amazing delicacy. Still, it’s a heavy topic and so it was also much harder to read after the first two books were generally a bit fluffier.

After those five volumes, I watched all three seasons of Heartstopper (the show) out at the time, including quite a number of episodes while visiting Rainstorm in Germany last year. The show, while not exactly the same as the graphic novels, is also so lovely, and features a range of people from all throughout the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. It’s a celebration of queer culture and queer identity, and I can’t wait to see the fourth season/movie when it releases later this week!

Which brings me to Vol 6. I didn’t know this book was coming out. Monday, I was getting my hair done and then I had a few hours to kill before my next appointment. I was on the other side of town from home, so I decided to spend that time in a bookstore. When I walked in, Heartstopper Vol 6 was on display right up front. I grabbed it, found a place to sit, and spent the next hour devouring the final volume of this series. It was like sinking into a warm bath, the return to comfort characters. Since much of this series is slice of life, I can’t say much about the plot, but I can say that it ended on the perfect note, and I’m excited to see the book and show end in the same week, hopefully both with lovely wrap-ups!

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Legends & Lattes, by Travis Baldree (audio)

Posted on July 6, 2026 by Thistle

Viv is a retired warrior intent on opening a coffee shop and settling down to a quiet life. She didn’t expect opposition, nor the community that slowly becomes found family.

I’ve had my eye on this one for years. I’m not really a fantasy-creatures type of reader even when I read fantasy, so it’s never been super pressing to get to. Then I learned it’s a sapphic story, and I grew a lot more interested. And it was cute. Honestly, it was a bit slow and took a long time to build up – written a bit like the way the community Viv slowly builds – but it was a good read. Cozy. I enjoyed it.

Performance: The audiobook was read by the author. Normally, I avoid these, but I didn’t realize this was an author-read one until the very end for some reason, and I didn’t mind it at all. It was actually quite good.

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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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