That's how my day is moving. Even working with timers I got so very little done and it was suddenly it was time to go to the endocrinologist. I could use another day down here but I'm afraid to go home friday. Thursday is meant to be nearly 60 and raining but then down to freezing again. I'd rather be home to avoid that.

I'm getting to that overwhelmed, gonna cry state. But at least I finally got the damn holiday lights out there (boy that little solar panel battery is something. They turned on immediately after being in a closet for a year. I put the garland on the other side of my porch, the one that's collapsing. I think at this point the garland is gonna be what's holding up the side rail if it get another heavy snow.


It looks like maybe, just maybe I can keep most of my meds and/or qualify for coupons. I make like 200$ too much a month to qualify for medical assistance. Let that sink in for a little while. We're doctors. We're college professors. Our pay is SO low we almost qualify for medicaid. And If I had kids I WOULD qualify. And oh, I signed up for the new insurance with the 9K deductible. It's costing 1100$ a month. Let that one soak in too. FFS. No wonder they won't hire help for my department.

My blood work is not great. My kidneys are working great but with my HGA1C sneaking ever higher. That's not great. I'm unhappy which is only going to make my sugar higher thanks to the stress. At least my hemoglobin is coming up. I still have too many tiny pale red blood cells but they're functioning better than last time. She did agree I'll probably have to start B12 shots. Cries. But at least the evolutionary bullshit adaptation for malaria is behaving itself for now.

From there I went to Gallipolis for dinner and the Christmas lights. I knew the Mexican place (since it's owned by the same brothers as the one in Jackson) would be giving out those envelopes for free stuff in January. I was laughing at the new offerings. One of them is punny. Juan Huge Burrito.

the lights were beautiful. They always are. I didn't upload the pictures yet. I will. but I haven't even showed you anything for months.


I forgot my tea advent again

Day 12 - Rocky Mountains - National Park Tea Black teas, raspberry leaf, raspberry flavor, sage leaf, and raspberry pieces. How did I miss this one? I had a sample box of these ones. either I had gotten a bad sample then because this was phenomenal very raspberry

Day 13 - Rooibos Sweet Sizzlin Cinnamon Herbal Tisane Rooibos, organic cinnamon pieces, sweet sizzlin cinnamon flavor and safflower petals. At least the cinnamon overpowers the rooibos funk.

Day 14 Apple Sage Black Tea black teas, apple pieces, natural apple sage flavoring and blackberry leaf. oddly weak sauce and boring. At least it didn't taste like sage

Day 15 Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Black Tea Blend Black teas from India, Sri Lanka, China and Taiwan and bergamot oil. They have a whole collection of literature inspired teas (Poe is my favorite) What says Dostoyevsky about this? Nothing but it is a nice complex earl grey

day 16 Snickerdoodle Rooibos Herbal Tisane Organic Green Rooibos, organic cinnamon pieces, sweet blackberry leaf and snickerdoodle flavoring. Needs more snickerdoodle/cinnamon


Fannish 50 ( Spoilers for The Amazing Digital Circus episode 7 )

I'm still rather tired out and lacking motivation but as I was wrapping gifts today I was half watching Hudson & Rex which is about all I ever do (Not a mystery show I'm very invested in but it has a cute dog (who is the least realistic police dog ever)) and this episode brings me back to a point I made a while back with prequels.

When you want to do a flashback (or prequel) you need to be sure of what you want to convey and how effective it'll be. In the above mentioned show it tried hard to add tension with Hudson and Rex's first case together with the well the dog's handler is dead so we're most likely going to euthanize the K9 (something the united States stopped doing in the Clinton era, not sure about Canada where this takes place) But here's the thing it's going back and forth between 3 years in the past and the present where Rex IS Hudson's partner so we know for a fact that Rex isn't euthanized.

So there is NO tension and that is something we have to worry about when we're doing a flashback. You can't build tension when the reader/viewer already knows the answer. We need to be given new information or else the flashback feels pointless or at least a partial waste of time. Learning how Hudson and Rex first met = good use of flashback, trying to make me worry that Rex will be put to sleep = waste of my time. I know he isn't. I'm not going to invest in something I already know (Prequels have even bigger issues with this).

For me, a flash back needs to advance the present plot or fill in backstory we need (or at least want to have). Hazbin Hotel did a pretty good job of this with both Alastor (though his backstory was in the old notes but you can't b e sure they'd be considered canon any more) and Vox's (making so many fan theorists happy) Both flashbacks showed us how they ended up where they were and how they are. Yes we know they both end up overlords in hell but seeing how it happened was character building.

So I guess what I'm saying is know what you wnat from a flashback and be careful as to how you attempt it.

OPEN CALL


Space and Time January 2026 Window Science fiction, fantasy, horror, steampunk, magical realism

23rd Annual Triangulation Anthology: Bad RomanceBad Romance


SNAFU: Level Up LitRPG: tales of champions and heroes, villains and monsters, all fighting to beat the other into paste

The Deadlands December 2025 Window. Speculative fiction that concerns itself with death–but also everything death may involve

5 Paying Literary Magazines to Submit to in December 2025

Lamp Lit: Now Seeking Submissions

42 Terrific International Literary Journals.


From Around the Web

The Psychology of Faustian Bargains

THE MORAL GHOST STORY: Reviving a Lost Christmas Tradition I keep saying I'm going to write these kind of stories but so far....

How to Edit (or Revise) a Novel Without Feeling Overwhelmed

Best Book Marketing Campaigns: 12 Proven Examples That Still Work Today

How to Write Horror - With Cynthia Pelayo

How To Build Story Tension by Sharing More (Not Less) with Daniel David Wallace

Do You Suck at Celebrating Your Success? Here's How We Change That, and Why It Matters

Six Sneaky Fails That Can Sink A Manuscript

How to Write a Bestselling Thriller: 7 Expert Tips from Lisa Gardner

How to Apply (and Get In) to Writing Mentorship Programs.

The Art of Not Knowing What You’re Writing Yet.

From Betty

Creating Rites of Passage

The Seven Worldbuilding Sins of Storytellers

How to Pace Your Story

Stakes: Everything Storytellers Need to Know

Tech Tips - How to Organize Your Novel Drafts

4 Ways to Protect Your Energy While Writing About Trauma

Freshen Up Tired Tropes Without Losing What Readers Love

What’s More Important: Storytelling or Writing Craft?

Coping Mechanism Thesaurus: Codependence (Caretaking Aspect)

Understanding the Editing Process: What Every Writer Should Know About Working With Editors

How Writers Can Set Achievable Goals for 2026: A Practical Guide to Planning, Deadlines, and Finishing Your Book Boy do I need this one.


ETA - Holy hell just as I posted I saw Rob & Michele Reiner were found dead today, a suspected homicide.

I had such high expectations of getting the cards out, the gifts, grading all the things etc. etc. I should have realized it was no attainable.

I need to keep better records over the year as I tend to buy gifts at cons and festivals and now there is way too much and I got so flustered I left my house to reset at the coffee shop. The post office was fucking nuts because they have ONE person worker (and he's explaining how he is the only one because of the stupid) There is another woman but all she did was ask are you picking up or dropping off. No idea why she couldn't work the other register.

Also a monster storm is coming so like everyone else I go to the store. I get a rotissiere chicken because if I DO lose power I have a whole chicken to pick at in the cold. (bread and peanut butter too) CVS and the dollar store was just as bad and then the bank tells me they no longer have a coin counter. What am I going to do with all these coins? Sigh.

It took until 7 pm to get all the grades done except my two research students (tomorrow's worry) I am fielding are you going to round that up? Yes I am but your 70.2 isn't rounding to a fucking 73%. Sorry, you didn't do nearly well enough to pass.

I also managed to aspirate my lunch and have been coughing up crap off and on for hours since my lungs are pissed at me.

I did however managed to avoid spoilers for The Amazing Digital Circus's episode 7 drop and got to see the episode. More about that maybe on Tuesday.

And I did some writing.


Title: Forget Our Memories, Forget Our Possibilities

Summary: Angel knows he had no choice but to return to Valentino. It was the only way to keep his friends safe from him. He wants them to forget him but he can’t forget them. He writes letters as often as he can. Will he one day be brave enough to send them?

Rating: teen

Notes: written for the allbingo prompt of love letters and the lyrical titles bingo prompt of Lyric with "remember" or "forget". I chose Don’t Stay by Linkin Park.

( story at the above link and under here )

Have the fannish 50 friday recs


Drawn To The Sea Torchwood

Branded FAKE

It Broke His Heart to Hurt Her So, and Yet He Had to Do Hazbin Hotel

Wilful Blindness Torchwood

Out Of Their World The Fantastic Journey

Friends The Murderbot Diaries

Let the Sorrow Go, Its Half the Battle Hazbin Hotel

Outrageous! Torchwood

Young Chainsaw Man

The Dreamcaster Is In Stargate Atlantis

Learning About Magic Teen Wolf

Fool's Rosegold The Owl House

And there's a bunch of that. Some happy tears by those eeking past, some because they realized they can't pass. Actually the afternoon allied health/nursing crew did much better than their morning counterparts. Only 3-4 aren't going to make it. I still have to add in some of the online homework, drop two low labs/homework and add in extra credit (that's a problem for friday)

I wrote a ton during the test PLUS the writers' zoom today. I got 4530 words. WHOO HOO. One fandomtrees is done, one is nearly done and a third is started. Look at me go. Now if only original fiction was this easy.

Now I have given up on my fridge. I realized I have like 3 days left before I go home so even if I get the kitchen pristine when could the landlord come? The freezer is fine and I always empty the fridge when I leave. I'll clean it all up and then call them when I'm back in January. Please call them. This has gone on too long.


But it's not one of my days without some kind of annoyance. So I've been waiting on the drop for the Hazbin Hotel S2 trading cards. There was a preorder option that I couldn't do for some reason. I tried to get a ticket, didn't see it (probably sold out) so they had 2 days of preordering. It opened today for the rest of us at noon. I had the cart loaded. 1200 pm I hit buy. Gone. Sold Out. In the hour after that I needed to dress and get to the test, they put out the second run and it was sold out too by the time I sat back down at 120. OMFG. I know that there'll be other runs. I don't actually care that it's not first run. I love trading cards. I just wanted them to look at them. Hell I'm so old by the time they're really worth anything I'll be dead. Of course knowing this fandom as I now do, the preorders were bought out by scalpers and those cards will be sold in the thousands of dollars (oh hell no). End of the world, no? Annoying, yes.

1. Why are you asking me for extra credit when you didn't do the REAL credit?
2. Why are you emailing me after the final and asking me what you can do to save your grade?
3. No, you can't have extra extra credit (okay I DO say this one all the time but no one listens)
4. How do you NOT KNOW what chapters are on the test?
5. Why do you think THOSE chapters are on the test? When the hell did we ever touch that chapter?
6. Why do you think you can ask for a pity D (that's 60% btw) when you have a 30% in class
7. Why do you think I'll give you extra anything when you haven't even shown up for exams
8. No I don't care that you're a senior and you won't graduate if you fail. The time to worry about that was weeks ago when I COULD have helped you.
9. How the fuck do you think leg muscles are LUNGS?


At any rate two are done and one to go. Some people are not going to have happy holidays.

At least I busted out a replacement fandomtrees story that I really like as well.


I have forgotten that I got an advent calendar from Simpson and Vail tea and haven't done my yearly tea tasting so buckle up, here comes 8 days at once
1. glacier national park - Black teas, organic juniper berries, birch bark, huckleberry flavor, uva ursi leaf (bearberry), and white cornflowers petals. One of my favorites (I get this one all the time)

2. Cinnamon Chocolate Brownie - Organic Chinese black tea, organic cacao nibs, organic cinnamon pieces and natural chocolate flavoring. - Not as a cinnamon as I would have liked

3. Snowberry Frost - Black teas, organic cacao nibs, cranberries (cranberries, sugar, sunflower oil), cranberry cream flavoring, and white cornflower petals. = I'm not a fan of cranberries but this one is good

4. Herbal Chai Masala- Organic cinnamon pieces, cardamom seeds, organic black peppercorns, organic whole cloves, orange peel, organic ginger pieces, organic anise seed and Indian sarsaparilla. - THANK YOU for no rooibos in this or chamomile

5. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Black Tea Blend - Black teas, lapsang souchong tea, hibiscus flowers, wild cherry flavor, orange blossoms, and bourbon whiskey flavor. - This is one of my go tos and I love it

6. Candy Cane Organic Rooibos Herbal Tisane - Organic green Rooibos, natural candy cane flavor and organic stevia. - As much as I don't like red rooibos I do like green and the peppermint is really nice in this and the stevia doesn't give me a headache like it often does nor tastes bitter

7. Victorian Earl Grey Tea - Rose Congou black tea, lavender petals, rose petals, rosemary and natural bergamot oil. - Another of my favorites from them. I'm not sure what really makes it Victorian, probably the flowers. Rosemary is a strong flavor but here it works

8. Rooibos Pear Herbal Tisane - Rooibos, pear flavor, alfalfa leaf and marigold petals.- Literally the worst of the bunch. Of course I don't like red rooibos and that's all you can taste. Some one should know pear is too delicate to stand up to rooibos


And for Music Monday the prompt today is A Song by someone Who has Passed away. I have two

The sound of my college days

And since I'll be heading back to his hometown soon

That part of what the academic coaches did was sit these students down and really look at them and ask are you SURE about your career pathway? I try hard not to judge because I don't know everyone's hardships but it's HARD not to when you tell me leg muscles are the carotid artery or lungs. I know they're going down the word bank and just picking out words but surely by the time you hit college you have to know your lungs and your carotids are NOT in your fucking legs. You just want to say healthcare is not for you or maybe, if possible, come back when the hardship isn't in your way (or talk to someone about whatever it is) because if they fail twice, the third time is nearly impossible to pass and I'm not sure what hospital is going to hire someone who fails anatomy multiple times (and the last time I interviewed in a hospital they wanted grades all the way back to middle school which was nuts.

I did get to the coffee shop today and Krogers and to CVS and who do I see in the window but one of my former students. Do you recognize me she asks. Yes (I did but not her name) She's here doing her pharmacy post-grad internship waiting to pass her boards so at least some of my student do goo.

This day disappeared like it was a race car at the Daytona 500.

I have a fanfic I wanted to make look like hand written letters. I'm struggling with work skins on AO3 and some of the fonts are hard (and honestly I'm not sure the younger readers could even read script) so I guess I'll just use Italics (it was easier to read than some of those fonts)


Have some science saturday


Science history: Female chemist initially barred from research helps helps develop drug for remarkable-but-short-lived recovery in children with leukemia — Dec. 6, 1954


MIT invention uses ultrasound to shake drinking water out of the air, even in dry regions Oh look it's Uncle Owen's water condensers that Luke was supposed to be fixing


Volcanic eruption triggered 'butterfly effect' that led to the Black Death, researchers find

Geminids 2025: The year's best meteor shower is coming, with a second shower hot on its tail

How a bacterial toxin linked to colon cancer messes with DNA

Moss spores survived in space for 9 months

allbingo does an amnesty round in December using any open old card so what I like to do is look over my old bingos and cherry pick fun prompts I didn't get to and remix them into a new card.

Sarcasm	Listen to the Nerd if You Want to Live	"Puttin' on the Ritz"	Healing	three sheets to the wind
If you are running for your life and are being chased by a monster/psychopath/axe murderer and you happen to be female take the high-heeled shoes OFF!	As a general rule don't solve puzzles that open portals to Hell.	black and blue	Manipulating People	gray hair
Bisexual / biromantic	Sometimes what we don't want is actually what we need	FREE SPACE	Vampires Love Eclipses	It is not strength that overcomes darkness but light.
Book	Pansexual / panromantic	Fear Stalks the Village	white as a sheet	All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.
Love letters	"(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue"	You have three choices. You can give up - give in or give it your all	Consent is sexy	Serpents in Eden

love letters - story for sarajay
consent is sexy - can't fight this feeling
serpents in eden - amoldfield's story

The oncologist has graduated me to only having to come twice a year instead of every three months so that's good news. Quite happy about that.

So I did damage to my wallet in celebration. I went to Bahnhof WVrsthaus & Biergarten for a reuben. Was going to get a cocktail with my lunch but wanted to try the giant cream puff. Both of which were the same price as the sandwich and didn't want to have a 50$ lunch.

I got the cream puff

This is enough for 3 days of desserts. It was chocolate peppermint. Next time I'll do the cocktail. Wish I could have stayed for their Krampus nacht but this is in a dodgy area near downtown/Marshall's campus.

Hit the comic book store, Michael's and lost my ever loving mind in the Italian section of HomeGoods.


So a while back I got two of the mooncat nail polishes which I mentioned. Here are my thoughts

Hell is Other People Side note: this is a color match to my living room curtains (I have a preference apparently)

It covers well with just one coat compared to say OPI, China Glaze or Morgan Taylor (which are the other pro ones I've used) That said even with Mooncat's overpriced top coat, this stuff chipped within hours. By day three I had to remove it. So, while pretty I can't see it for the price.


404: Soul Not Found Okay I totally failed with the magnet but to be fair 1) I have no idea what I'm doing 2) I have almost no nail right now so I can't put the magnet UNDER the nail as instructed.

Amazing coverage. 2 coats and you can't even see how terribly ridged my nails are from the anemia. Also I am absolutely fascinated with the color change. I've had color change polish before but not one of this quality. Some light it's emerald in other purple, and yet others teal blue to almost black. It took 48 hours to chip it (also had the over coat) Now this one I would do again and would consider other magnetics.

Also there has to be bad news in one of my days right? At 130 I got a text from the company my insurance uses for Dexcom and they can't fill my order because they always do it for a quarter and I'm losing this insurance in 3 weeks. At 230 my sensor acts up. At 5 the sensor dies 3 days early. Guess who has to call the endocrinologist tomorrow for some emergency test strips to carry me over til January because I don't even know if the shit new insurance will even cover a CGM.

alter