Confessions of a Blind Bookworm

WIP Wednesday

Hello friends! Thanks for the tags today @leithillustration, @blackberrysummerblog, @orange-peony, @artsyunderstudy & @thewholelemon <3 what a cornucopia of delights you're all sharing this week!

I've been thinking a lot about context collapse lately - the digital experience of disparate parts of life happening simultaneously in the same place. My main email account is the thorniest example (bills, email newsletters I'd actually like to read if I can find the time, community events I'd like to attend if I can find the energy, missives from the union, websites that assume I want 3 emails a day just because I put one thing in my shopping cart...) but my phone itself is often a culprit too. I have a bunch of tumblr push notifications turned on, which is sometimes great because I get little bits of fandom joy throughout the day, but often not-so-great because they often come through at times that I can't really devote attention to thoughtful looking, reading, and responding. Which is what I want to do! I'm the worst with A03 comments too: I read them as soon as they land in my fandom email (which is separate from my other email!), but then I hoard them and take forever to reply because, again, I want to give a thoughtful response, which I didn't actually have time for when I gobbled it up initially.

This week I'm on midwinter break from school, so I've been able to devote a little more time and space to actually reading, enjoying, and commenting on everyone's stuff ❤️ I'm hoping I can find a way to maintain this cadence once I go back next week...we'll see.

Now that my 90s AU is out in the world, I've been taking stock of my other projects. I've really been enjoying seeing everyone's lists of their WIPs this week, so here's my own:

She Had Me At... - Stormchaser karaoke meet-cute AU. I have, like, half a page of bullet points and dialogue for this one. It's also a sequel to one of my other fics 😏

Untitled - prequel to The Tower Room that focuses on Penny and Shep's story. I love the dynamic I wrote for them in this fic, and would love to explore it further. This WIP has an untitled google doc with three bullet points. Perhaps one day, it will have a name.

you know you love me - Gossip Girl (2007) AU. This one has about three pages of notes and a couple good jokes scrawled across two notebooks. Plus a really silly art idea.

Meanwhile, I'm working on chapter 6 of my fem snowbaz fic! I felt like chapter 5 was a little weaker and less plotty than the others have been (or maybe I just spent too much time staring at it?), but this chapter is the Solstice Ball (which I teased almost a year ago omg) and it's shaping up to be a delicious one (if one that will require a very serious content warning - I am so, so sorry in advance).

Featuring a spell that took a while to figure out, but I think I got there. Under the cut because the snip is on the long side (and this post was already getting long!) - Simon's POV:

Sick Six Sentence Sunday

Thank you @j-trow-95 @monbons @roomwithanopenfire @facewithoutheart for the tags! Christina one of these days I will do a WIP list but mine are not nearly as exciting as yours.

Whine whine I’m sick whine, imagine this whining going on for a while, it’s just a head cold but I am a baby, the end.

Ok, now that that’s over with, instead of a snippet for When That Light Hits the Sky, and I thought I would share the valentine I made for the discord server valentine’s exchange along with tags below the cut. If you haven’t gotten mine yet, don’t look, okay? It’s best as a surprise.

Six Sentence Sunday

Happy Sunday everyone!!! Thanks @monbons for the tag <3

I come today with excellent news! I've finally, finally finished writing The Way We Are. After I'd resigned myself to the last chapter taking me 5 million more years, yesterday everything started to slot in to place and I'd finished it!! Ofc I've yet to send the chapter off to be betaed, and still need to edit the whole fic, and the last paragraph of the fic is still something like INSERT A COUPLE GOOD ENDING PARAGRAPHS HERE, but I've finished it!!! I'm so so happy, and hopefully I can start posting again within a couple of weeks. (So if you haven't read the first two posted chapters yet, now would be the perfect time)

Also, I posted a fic this week! A cute little Fiona/Ebb oneshot. Here are some sentences from that:

I look back at Fiona. She’s still off-center—I haven’t brought her all back yet, haven’t found the sticking point. “What do you want?” I ask. It’s a dangerous question. Fiona’s wants are dynamite. They always have been. Destructive and explosive, but I’d set them all off. Burn the world down. “I just—” Fiona starts. Then she shakes her head. “Never mind.” “No, tell me.”

ALSO this has been such a fun week opening all of the valentines from the valentine exchange. I'm so blown away by all the creativity in this fandom and I can't believe I get to be a part of it! Thank you for brightening my mailbox the past few weeks <333

tags and hellos under the cut

Stitch Sunday

Happy Sunday all! Although it seems quiet on here today, I did want to share my most recently completed stitch projects. I’m super proud of them, and who doesn’t like a behind-the-scenes post? Everything is below the cut because the first is smut and the second is my Valentine's Day card for the Discord exchange. (I agreed to do the full list, so if you haven't received yours yet, stop reading after naked Simon!)

Six Something Sunday

Happy Sunday everyone! Thanks for tagging me @confused-bi-queer <333

I still don't have a lot to share. I'm working on the last chapter of The Way We Are and sharing anything would spoil everything. And I still can't share my COBB because you'd figure out my premise so fast. And everything other WIP i'm working on is still in super early stages.

But I've done so much writing since the last time we talked, and i want to post something, so have six unfinished sentences plucked unedited from a variety of projects for a rare peak into my writing process. All caps for both placeholders and notes to self <3

We go to DATE PLACE and DO THINGS

I’d just be an evil, rich vampire with a dead mother and a QUIP HERE.

“Well, if you change your mind, let me know.” NAME says with a smile.

I soon find that my efforts were for naught GIRL WHAT

Other than that the flat looks the same. BLAHB LAHBALBH NOTICE THINGS.

She runs a hand through her hair. DEAR GOD HAVE HER DO A DIFFERENT ACTION.

let me know your favorite unfinished sentence.

and if you have bright ideas for DATE PLACES and THINGS to do at them let me know.

tag and hellos under the cut

Hello hello all and a happy Sunday to you and you and you 🤍

Thanks @confused-bi-queer, @roomwithanopenfire, @meanjeansjeans, @artsyunderstudy, and @orange-peony for the tags today! I'm so ready for all of this AU fest goodness we've got cooking 🔥

Also a special thank you to @letraspal for recommending my fic on instagram. I burst into tears when I saw that and I felt like I was going to skyrocket directly into space and turn into a shooting star.

I also must say thank you to @thewholelemon for helping me with my @carry-on-au-fest fic earlier this week. I'm trying my hand at non-linear storytelling for the first time and I also started writing whatever scene I felt like whenever the mood struck and so it's a very big mess at the moment.

Here's a bit of Baz's POV:

I’ve been staring at my phone for hours, checking it so frequently that I have to keep recharging the battery with a spell. I’m unwilling to part with it even to plug it in across the room from me. The volume is turned up as high as it will go but it remains painfully silent. Not that it’s surprising. Since when has Snow ever texted me back. Since when has Snow ever texted me period.

Tags & more below:

six sentence sunday

hello honey bunnies. happy sunday. thank you @confused-bi-queer @roomwithanopenfire @meanjeansjeans @monbons @orange-peony

@artsyunderstudy @fiend-for-culture for the tags! I can't wait to go back and see you all have been up to.

This week the Carry On AU Fest starts posting! I'm so excited for a new fic (or start of a fic) every day for the next couple weeks. I also got all my valentines sent out...at long last.

Last night I got to see the symphony perform a Brahms/Radiohead mashup and I can't overstate how gorgeous it was. It made me think about how important art and music are to keeping us human. It mostly featured OK Computer but I found a youtube clip of Creep, which was actually my favorite piece; it's below the cut along with a bit of When That Light Hits the Sky. I managed to find six sentences exactly! I'm not sure I've ever done that before.

It's been a few...mostly because I had so many chapters needing editing and posting that I didn't actually have much time to write! And, like many of you, I've been working on Valentines (still working on Valentines) (a few are gonna be late). I've got writing donethis week, though, so here goes:

Thank you to: @monbons, @thewholelemon, @nausikaaa, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @confused-bi-queer,

@larkral, @bookishbroadwayandblind,@best--dress, @j-nipper-95, @leithillustration,

 @rimeswithpurple, @roomwithanopenfire, @prettygoododds, @noblecorgi, @artsyunderstudy, for tagging me over the last couple of weeks.

The good news is, if I don't have sentences for it below, a chapter probably was posted in the last two weeks. With no further ado, here's a few sets of (probably about) six sentences.

From Stars, Flowers, and Children:

I thought it might take some searching; it’s been years, after all. It would have been unsurprising if Davy's corpse had been carried off in dozens of different pieces by local scavengers. 

But no. He’s right where we left him. 

All of the indestructible parts of him, anyway. Any fragments of clothing or flesh or organs have gone…he’s a pile of sun-bleached bones face down in the sand. A few metal bits like his belt buckle and some copper buttons are scattered amongst  the bones, but no soft parts remain.

From my Visitor Baz AU: 

Penny doesn’t understand why this bothers me so much. She doesn’t get it. Baz is just…indelible. Somehow, Watford isn’t Watford now that he’s gone. I don’t know how to be, without my sneering roommate tossing insults at me all the time. 

Fuck, I even sound pathetic to myself. 

I fold my elbows over my eyes and groan, long and loud. Fuck me, what am I going to do? And that’s when I hear him.

“Problems, Snow?”

 From CORB #1, Baby Mine with @argumentativeantitheticalg

Fuck, I’ve started to think of this situation as if it were going to be long term. I need to stop. I’ll just break my own heart. Simon has a life, a job. If I’m lucky, he’ll agree to weekend visitation with our daughter, once this mystery is solved. I’ll see him for a few minutes in passing as we exchange Abigail at the front door. 

My eyes are stinging. I need to change this train of thought now before I utterly humiliate myself. “When do you need to return to London?” I blurt. 

Oh, well done, Basilton. That’s absolutely changing the subject.

From CORB #2: The Stoves Come On At Night, with @ebbpettier

I’ve learned a few things from Vera, who’s nearly old enough to have served the Pitches when they lived here. She told me that the room I chose belonged to Mordelia’s brother who died young. Apparently, after he died, the Grimms kept the boy’s room as it was when he’d lived, like some sort of memorial. And their daughter has continued the tradition since the property descended to her. I guess that explains why the decor is simpler in my room. 

Maybe it should creep me out that my bedroom belonged to a dead kid, but it’s an old house. Probably every bedroom has belonged to someone who’s since died. And I’m not superstitious. 

Tags and air kisses to : @chen-chen-chen-again-chen, @dragoneggos, @erzbethluna, @palimpsessed,  @fatalfangirl,

@melodysmash, @moments-au-crayon22, @moodandmist,  @mostlymaudlin, @onepintobean, \

@raenestee, @tea-brigade, @upuntil6am, @whogaveyoupermission, @carryonsimoncarryonbaz, \

@krisrix, @shemakesmeforget, @nightimedreamersghost, @mooncello, @shrekgogurt,

@cosmicalart,  @theearlgreymage, @iamamythologicalcreature, @ileadacharmedlife, @thehoneyedhufflepuff,

@facewithoutheart,@skeedelvee, @ivelovedhimthroughworse, @messofthejess, @alexalexinii, 

@hushed-chorus,  @blackberrysummerblog, @cutestkilla,@letraspal, @wellbelesbian,

@ic3-que3n, @emeryhalll, @ebbpettier, @argumentativeantitheticalg, @bookish-bogwitch,

Thanks @noblecorgi, @rimeswithpurple, @stitchyqueer, @thewholelemon, and @artsyunderstudy for the tags on this very fine WIP Wednesday.

The mods of the @carry-on-au-fest were kind enough to grant me an extension on my fic which I have been working on diligently now that all of my Valentine's are in the mail 💌 (I even went to the dentist today and spent the hour while I got my cavities filled thinking of my fic.) (This was after the panic attack I had when the dentist numbed me.) (Happy to report that after five hours, I can once again feel my face.)

Anyways, here's a little bit of Baz's POV from the first chapter of my (still untitled) fic for the AU fest:

I huff in feigned annoyance to hide how in awe I truly am. [A (vampire) friend] took me to a magickal bar in the 14th arrondissement when we were both living in Paris but it was nothing like this. That place was shabby and narrow and we hadn't even finished half a glass of terrible wine before a man who smelled of onions attempted to convince us to join him in a late night tryst. We never went back.

Yes, that's right. I've given Baz a vampire friend. (And I like him. I hope you like him as well.)

Tags, hellos, ramblings, & other various sentiments below the cut:

WIP Wednesday

Y'all. EGF is around the corner and we are at <20 days until Baz's birthday, which is *also* my birthday---my FANDOM birthday. I am vibrating with excitement.

To get you excited too, find some filth below the cut.

thanks for the tags @that-disabled-princess @blackberrysummerblog @roomwithanopenfire @bookishbroadwayandblind @orange-peony @thewholelemon @j-nipper-95 and @forabeatofadrum!

hey y'all! i didn't get around to posting on wednesday and i don't have much to show today either as i've had a super busy week! on monday i met up with a friend i haven't seen in a while, on tuesday i had an eye test, and then wednesday i was busy cleaning the house and packing, because on thursday i went to Manchester to see Dan and Phil's Terrible Influence tour, which was fantastic btw. then from friday to today i've been helping take care of my nephew, as his mum/my sister and her partner have been to Amsterdam. he's 15 months old, so like a whirlwind. but they got back tonight and he's going home tomorrow morning, so i should be more productive this coming week.

as a result i haven't written anything since monday night, and none of it is really up to sharing standard, so i'll just share my word count since it's the end of the month. i decided to count the weeks by each wednesday rather than sunday, since both the 1st of January and the 31st of December this year land on wednesday.

01/01/25: 76,450

08/01/25: +5110 =81,560

15/01/25: +1644 =83,204

22/01/25: +1806 =85,010

29/01/25: +1270 =86,280

January total word count: 9830

Hey everyone! For once, I’m not *completely* fried. Things improved at work this month, and my 50 hour work weeks are soon to be a thing of the past. Probably going to miss that 20 hours of OT on every pay check, but comme ci, comme ça XD.

If you missed it, @rimeswithpurple and I posted Chapter 4 (out of a planned 5) for our COBB, Time Will Lie Down and Be Still. The art for this one is outstanding, so please go check it out. And the story is moving along apace! I’m hoping to have the whole thing finished pretty soon.

In the meantime, here’s six sentences from something I’ll be posting very soon:

“Gonna go start on my Elocution assignment,” I mumble through a mouthful of steamed bun—what? As long as I’m taking extra for Baz, I may as well eat a few more myself.

”Start by not having food in your mouth,” Penny advises, barely looking up from her Astronomy text.

I nab a clean plate on my way out so that I can lay my buns out for Baz when I get back to the room. I’m hoping he’s not still mad about this morning. If I’m honest, I’m kind of hoping I can get him to share the bed with me again.

WIP Wednesday

Thank you @bookishbroadwayandblind for the tag! Excited for your last Phantom chapter! (And @rimeswithpurple even though tumblr foiled your art)

My notebook is a mess, folks, but in that respect it matches the rest of the world, doesn’t it?

Snippet and tags under the cut, honeybees.

Six Sentence Sunday

Thank you for the tags @run-for-chamo-miles and @j-nipper-95! (and this was not a tag but also @cutestkilla I see your gregorian mage's heir chant and it is excellent.)

Happy Penny's birthday! In her honor, I hope you're experiencing a well-deserved burst of self-confidence, hugging an orphan, and winning all your arguments today. Below the cut, some Penny-centric sentences from my @carry-on-au-fest fic, When That Light Hits the Sky, and some words about that. Y'all were very divided on how you feel about spoilers but some of you were VERY against them, so I'm sticking everything under the cut just in case.