Monthly Recaps 2026-

What's this?

After I decided to stop using Spotify that I was using to make monthly playlists from 2022 to 2026, I opted to create a new form of general recap I could track on my site with a broader scope of what I found most memorable or signature for a given month of my life including not just music but also things I've made, media, experiences, events, & more.

Contents

July '26
June '26
May '26
April '26

July 2026

A tough second chapter of a Tough Summer under the taxing, poison sun. Numerous extra plans were spoiled by the agonies of heat exposure & other ailments to the point that it limited what I was capable of doing greatly, causing more shifts in plans. Planning recreation via streams & trying to do more things for fun without project ties (namely gaming) was a great move.

Hits

• Produced a panel for Pesterfest 2026 that I was ultimately unable to present due to physical ailments, but I still released all the slides/notes content available for anyone interested in literary theory applied to Homestuck classpects through the lens of devising ways to conceptualize alternate systems.
• Started streaming semi-regularly (as my Verbosity Rat PNGtuber sona) to play all of UNDERTALE ahead of a planned Sburban Spectators bonus episode on the game for a total of 8 streams! You can find all the uploaded VOD recordings for the UNDERTALE playthrough & DELTARUNE playthrough in progress (finished Chapter 1 & got through 2-ish hours of Chapter 2). We also released the Bonus Episode for on our recording day I was too UNDERTALE-brained to not. I adore the game & was glad to have been encouraged to try it out & especially on stream where I tapped into a deep love of funny voices!
• After each stream, I got into the habit of sketchbooking based on characters I met/liked most. This helped me start making more fanart like I've been wanting to, mainly drawing a full piece of Queen Deltarune & some extra Ralsei-s (whom I care deeply).
• Started the month drawing my first proper fursona of a Verbosity Rat chimera (Rat-Goat-Crow)! I also did some more sketchbooking & designed as a break furry/anthro forms of each Mythoslain character that mostly will not factor into the comic beyond Xidobo being a furry & probably drawing himself with Temjin often.
• Finished my cosplay of Temjin ahead of Metrocon at the very end of this month & into the next for a dedicated fantroll/Homestuck OC meetup I'm hosting on the 1st! Despite all my offerings to Florida Homestucks, they tried to sacrifice me for a spicy chip challenge, but I (afflicted-cursed) am too old to cave to peer pressure!! I also made a silly Xidobo themed ita bag for the cosplay & DIY badge ribbons.
• Revamped/edited my Eelgeb zine to meet the style of the other cast zines complete with a back poster! I also got my order of pathetic little Eelgeb standee stamps.
• Finally set up & started using my cutting machine (Silhouette) & experimented to make silly shirts only for myself thus far of nonsense I like, merch for my projects, & also merch that doesn't exist for other things like Pathologic. Made some other vinyl decals & started experimenting with sticker printing & cutting, but after the first few wins it's having issues.
• Did some episodes of site edits/tweaks across my three main sites (this one, Mythoslain, & Rat Lore) for clarity+. I also made the formal decision to retire some ziens with contextual information, namely my zines about lesbianism as I no longer identify as such.

Media

Non-comprehensive, just some things worth noting from the month:

Readings: 'The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe' by Kij Johnson & 'Introducing Semiotics: A Graphic Guide' by Paul Cobley & Litza Jansz (+ other assorted semiotics/cultural studies readings)

Games: 'UNDERTALE,' 'DELTARUNE' (Chapter 1 & 2), 'OFF,' 'Yume Nikki,' & 'ULTRAKILL'

Music: 'Metal Crusher' (UNDERTALE OST) by Toby Fox, 'Pepper Steak' (OFF OST) by Alias Conrad Coldwood, & 'The Bullet' by Birdeatsbaby

Other: OFF retrospective videos, catching up on UNDERTALE related things now that I'm in the Know, & aspirational/temptation viewing of bookbinding videos.

What Else?

Strange summer Part 2(?). I ultimately had to adjust my plans for comic work due to health & energy limitations that caused me to spiral toward burn out anyways. Future summers, if the weather continues to be this terrible, might have to be dedicated break months for me. Streaming games where I could do funny voices for a variable audience beyond my trusty two mods was a delightful treat, especially since it meant tapping into a huge part of my fandom cultures that I confusingly evaded until now. It upsets me that some of my plans I worked hard for weren't able to pan out as I would have liked, but I am proud of the work I maanged none the less & know that attending to my needs/rest will be invaluable. Becoming a gamer again in a way that doesn't feel terrible has also been great! I'm optimistic that I can, in time, reframe many of my present difficulties as less a battle against the ticking/random clock of ailment or pain, but instead a collaborative effort with its own exploratory learning.

June 2026

Constant Highs & Lows of all kinds! Still made some major breakthroughs & managed things that I had not previously considered possible or in the cards any time soon.

Hits

• Made & released a trailer for Mythoslain that you can read about/watch at this site NEWS POST that debuted as part of VOFT Dub's 2026 Charitystuck livestream which was an amazing thing to be a part of!
• Attended an awesome 2 day local Homestuck cupsleeve event hosted by the Floridastuck community that was an oddly lovely networking opportunity & chance to get to meet many new & familiar digital faces!
• Attended DCAZ 2026 in Jacksonville with my dear friends Mads & Ian to conduct the 1 year anniversary poll of our oft-kicked friend Trolldeer who was also polled most viciously at the Homestuck cupsleeve.
• Released the 2nd to last update of Mythoslain Act 1 & finalized the Act 1 word count/text.
• Did an intense complete deep clean & organization of my living space that was sorely needed.
• Thought things about myself on the marg of the month in Jacksonville.
• Bought a bookshelf on a solo adventure because I could.
• Had some moments of profound satisfaction with my art & creative pursuits as a whole.

Media

Non-comprehensive, just some things worth noting from the month:

Readings: 'A Game in Yellow' by Hailey Piper, 'The King in Yellow' by Robert W. Chambers, & 'If on a winter's night a traveler' by Italo Calvino

Games: 'Cult of the Lamb' & 'ULTRAKILL'

Music: 'Remember Something Beautiful' by Machinery of the Human Heart, 'Death, Thrice Drawn' by The Scary Jokes, & 'Strange Home' by Sons of An Illustrious Father

Other: Learned how to DIY cardboard cut outs to make one of Eelgeb (at great personal cost) & rewatched a lot of old video essays as background noise.

What Else?

Health & physical concerns remain issues, but in a different way. It's far too hot to exist & I had wrist pain towards the end of the month that made it hard to do much of anything. Despite the lows of the period, much of it was caused by external factors beyond my control & many of the highs were born directly from the fruits of my creative exploits & passion for what I do. I felt amazingly about my capacity to execute on my visions for artwork & stories that I embarked upon this month. I had to put a stop to some things that were taxing me too month, but I'm really proud of the work I've done. It's weird how long this month, like all other months this year, felt like it took to pass, but I'm not complaining.

May 2026

RAT MONTH! Narrowly focused on Rat Exploits in the lead up to Rat Lore Con 2026, the first Rat Lore Con as the anniversary of the Rat emergence.

Hits

• Released the RAT LORE site featuring Lore info & two new releases of Rat Hack (a Rat themed hack of The Quiet Year) & the first issue of Rat Criticism introducing literary theory concepts.
• Finished revamping the Mythoslain main cast lineup & designed intro layouts modeled after Hiveswap troll calls to include in their profiles.
• Posted a near daily Rat Lore post on RatLoreDaily ahead of the awaited Rat Lore Con on the 30th.
• Started & later dropped a Disco Elysium style Rat Lore visual novel, but learned helpful refreshers about Ren'py that will be useful later.
• Formatted Mythoslain's prologue into a physical zine format with all the same images & needed adaptational changes.
• Designed fanart stickers for the characters depicted in my fictional tastes zine for a possible revamp, manging to finish The Fury (Slay the Princess), Snowman (Homestuck), Ianthe (The Locked Tomb), & Anna Angel (Pathologic). I also finally finished my Clara Pathologic sticker after ages.
• Made a bunch of other drawings/artworks I'm proud of experimenting with different styles & color, even trying to figure out lighting.

Media

Non-comprehensive, just some things worth noting from the month:

Readings: 'Mythologies' by Roland Barthes & 'The One Hand and the Six Fingers' by Ram V & Dan Watters (also read a lot of assorted theory essays)

Games: 'Darkest Dungeon,' 'Slay the Princess,' & 'Fear & Hunger 2: Termina'

Music: 'You Are the Apple' - Lady Lamb, 'Restless Eye' - Skippocalyptic, & 'Rough Untitled' - Mars Argo

Other: Listened to a lot of Fear & Hunger videos while drawing & other long form classics to reduce interruption. Also tried to listen to more OSTs as background tracks while writing, namely those for Spore, Pathologic, Fear & Hunter, Slay the Princess, & others depending on how stressed I wanted to be.

What Else?

My health issues remain a mystery, but I managed to make it through at a slower pace to get a decent amount of work done, even if my priorities have been a bit haphazard & required me to drop or devalue some projects. I'm taking steps towards finding ways to reduce back & hand pain from drawing, which is at least something I can manage more meaningfully than whatever else is going on. I've reached a new tier of satisfaction & shock with my art wherein I can't believe what I'm capable of now, more than able to solve problems that would have been an exhausting enigma to a past me on top of requiring fewer references to draw things!

April 2026

Unexpected zine challenge month of some strangeness & health scares, but ultimately a fulfilling tribute to my self this time last year that was going through it.

Hits

• Did a daily zine challenge (April Zines take 2) where I put out zines on 28 days for a total of 29 zines & if you include a podcast zine I made 30 whole zines for the month!
• Tabled at both an amazing zine & poetry market at Deviant Libation in Tampa as well as teh April Goblin Market.
• Released side whenever podcast 'Jamphage Jailers' with my regular co-host.
• Celebrated another 4/13 (which was also my podcast anniversary proper) at a local event drawing for other fans.
• Honored the anniversary of the day I got the proper idea to make my comic Mythoslain when I got my Homestuck tattoo last 4/20.
• Made a 9' worm for my dear friend AM's bug birthday party, a Komaeda cosplay in 2 hours for their birthday dinner the next day, & some silly DIY photocards.
• Revisited old projects & made zines about them, including my dark fantasy experimental novel series, Deaths' Defiance, & a visual novel concept, Gnarled Holiday.
• Started revamping official lineup art for the Mythoslains & making the site more mobile friendly.

Media

Non-comprehensive, just some things worth noting from the month:

Readings: '17776' by Jon Bois, 'Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?' by Mark Fisher, & 'Rise of the Videogame Zinesters: How Freaks, Normals, Amateurs, Artists, Dreamers, Drop-outs, Queers, Housewives,and People Like You Are Taking Back an Art Form' by Anna Anthropy.

Podcasts: 'Our Wars Have Ended' first episode by the amazing people behind I Am in Eskew & The Silt Verses (Jon & Muna).

Music: 'Drown Me!' - Junie & TheHutFriends & 'Gallery Piece' - of Montreal

Other: Listened to longform & tier ranking Danganronpa videos, playthroughs if the game 'Dead Signal,' & analyses of the game 'Immortality.'

What Else?

Despite the issues with my body crashing randomly, I had a great time making a bunch of zines I feel proud of & working on assorted projects. I put out the longest (page count) update for Mythoslain so far which shook up some styles for good effect, continued my work on the style shift for the comic, made 4 zines about other characters from the comic (+ other zines connected to Mythoslain), got to hang out with some new art/zine world friends, experienced the highs & lows of waifu gambling, didn't have a health crash immediately after Goblin Market, read more theory, met people who identified themselves as fans of my work, & generally made it out okay! I still need to keep working on a way to pracice self-care more efficiently & figure out what's going on in that body of mine, but I'm feeling optimistic.