Adventures Marking Papers

I’m a teacher marking my students’ work.

[sienafocuses]

Ok, I need some phone free time to get some writing done! And conveniently the library has little charging station lockboxes to use while you’re doing other things. The last few days I have set myself challenges of not touching my phone for 1 to 3 hours at a time, to give me more time for other things and yo build up my stamina, and it’s been going well. But today let’s make it slightly unpredictable just for novelty’s sake.

Add a number of minutes I need to wait before touching my phone again so I can be creative (serious situations excepted, of course):

10 minutes freed from the phone

15 minutes freed from the phone

20 minutes freed from the phone

Voting ended onApr 1

There will also be an upper limit: whatever the results, I am allowed to check my messages at 9 pm my time.

[sienafocuses]

A Library Challenge Approaches! ⚠️⚠️

Rise from your seat at the library and walk up and down until you have found the following things (or until eight minutes have passed):

A book on display with an animal on the cover

A movie with a color word in the title

An unoccupied computer station or desk

Something in a language other than English (preferably a periodical, but substitutions permitted)

Then either sketch or take photos to commemorate your noble quest! Go forth! Acquire your restedness!!

And for @valiantarcher who challenged me to find a book with a pretty dress:

[sienafocuses]

Right. I thought last week was the last busy weekend, but it was not. This weekend is. I am determined. Making a special trip to my favourite library to get the work done, as a morale booster.

I really loved @hold-fast-to-hope’s tiny scavenger hunt prompts she made for me to find between work sprints at the mall last week. If anyone has library-based things for me to find, it could be fun!

[sienafocuses]

Stuck. Must get going.

[sienafocuses]

Motivational sketch—hopefully you see this at a good time! Since I’m all done with the sketch asks I just challenged myself to sketch the first photo in my references that fit a character that I thought you’d like, and I decided this could be Noemie.

AHHH - This is a LOVELY take on Noemie! I am just goggling at her! She's so very wistful - she's got so very many juggling balls to keep in the air right now, each one such a disaster if it fell to the ground. I love her pose, the way he clasps her hands around her knee. Her tumbler's trousers under her skirts and her flexible shoes. The hints of detailing on her bodice/vest, and the pattern on her khustka, and the thickness of her braid down her back, and her freckling. SO good - this is her to a T! I love her, and I am so grateful!

[sienafocuses]

What's your favourite hot chocolate topping/mix-in (or multiple favourites)? Or your favourite treat with tea, if you're not a hot chocolate fan?

I love both! For me, the most luxurious hot chocolate is topped with whipped cream, a drizzle of caramel, and a pinch of salt! And the other day I dipped some shortbread in my Earl Grey, and it was just perfect.

[sienafocuses]

Right - here we go!

[sienafocuses]

The Brilliant Hour/The Blackberry Bushes crossover--what might this look like?

I love this idea! And I love it so much i want to tackle it when I have more imagination. Right now all my imagination is getting used up on my project in progress. I do know one thing - it's going to be heavy on the politics and palatial spaces.

I may end up just putting characters' name on two picker wheels (one for each story), randomly matching them up and telling you how I think it would go if they spent time together. That could be fun and would be easier to conceive.

[sienafocuses]

*passes through inbox with a wave of pom-poms* How is your work coming?

Thanks for the pompom cheering! I just completed another round successfully! We're getting close to the end of this project, and then there will only be one left, besides the homework marking, which is a lighter job this semester.

[sienafocuses]

New half hour.

[sienafocuses]

A Challenge Approaches!! ⚠️⚠️

Rise from your seat at the food court. Walk up and down the mall until you have spotted the following four things, or until eight minutes have passed, whichever comes first.

Someone holding a drink

A chair that has not been pushed in

A mannequin wearing something pink or red

A sign containing the letter S

Sit back down and sketch the drink, chair, garment, or sign which satisfied the challenge. Proceed on your way, valiant one!

This is delightful! Mini-scavenger hunt! I may have to skip the sketching, as today's work is purely digital and I don't have drawing materials with me, But I will still go on the scavenger hunt! :-)

[sienafocuses]

Starting another (hopefully) undistracted half hour. If you send me a little message or whatever, I get to look at if I make it through. If not, I have to wait till I've done an undistracted stretch. So far I have been successful.

[sienafocuses]

Right. I'm at the mall because I need internet for my work, and something happened that makes the library inconvenient. I'm sitting in the foodcourt with tea, and going to work on school stuff. Putting on the timer for half an hour's work. If I make it through without distraction... uh, I'm strapped for ideas this morning, so let's use the element of surprise as a motivating factor. If I make it through, I can look at anything that is sent to me during that half hour, and respond to it. Encouraging words, music, doodles, a post you like, scrap of writing, a question, chivalric insults, smiley face emojis - I have no idea what might possibly come, and just that unknown factor will motivate me, like the wife of Bluebeard. And if nothing comes because no one happens to be around, I have asks I can answer.

Right! Here we go!

[sienafocuses]

Starting another half hour now. :-)

[sienafocuses]

Right. I'm at the mall because I need internet for my work, and something happened that makes the library inconvenient. I'm sitting in the foodcourt with tea, and going to work on school stuff. Putting on the timer for half an hour's work. If I make it through without distraction... uh, I'm strapped for ideas this morning, so let's use the element of surprise as a motivating factor. If I make it through, I can look at anything that is sent to me during that half hour, and respond to it. Encouraging words, music, doodles, a post you like, scrap of writing, a question, chivalric insults, smiley face emojis - I have no idea what might possibly come, and just that unknown factor will motivate me, like the wife of Bluebeard. And if nothing comes because no one happens to be around, I have asks I can answer.

Right! Here we go!

[sienafocuses]

Deadline night. Frozen. Unmotivated.

I can do it, I hope, but yikes. Such a mountain to do. I’m scared of being up late (or not sleeping at all, followed by Monday. Again.)

[sienafocuses]

Shakespeare characters won the poll, but I had trouble accessing my old production photos for reference, so I went with five outfits for a Brilliant Hour character instead. Here are some messy Noemie clothes.

This is something like the festival clothes Noemie wears for juggling and tumbling when she first arrives in Morceaux.

On the left is a theatrical costume she wears during a show in the Circle of Fetes. On the right is a standard issue staff outfit she wears when she needs to go into the Upper Palace in a non-performance context. She’s wearing an pass around her neck for identifiable purposes.

Another theatrical costume.

This last one I admit I was more focused on playing with pose than costume, but here she is when she was younger, when her dad was teaching her to tumble.

[sienafocuses]

Going to do a 5x5. Five of my five min sketches in a row. I want a theme, and I’ll take it from there.

Which one?

Cast of Dracula character designs

Illustrations of specific moments from the Raffles stories

Five outfits for a Brilliant Hour character

Characters from Shakespeare plays I have directed, wearing their costumes

Voting ended onDec 18, 2025