arielle 🦇
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ariellemdevito.bsky.social
arielle 🦇
@ariellemdevito.bsky.social
170 followers 210 following 100 posts
writer, seamstress, freelance editor, theatre worker. philadelphia.

aspiring to become a mouse with a tiny helmet and sword 🐁 🗡️
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ariellemdevito.bsky.social
the beast does not want me to finish this chapter
Photo of a fluffy caramel-coloured cat standing on a secretary desk, blocking the view of a writing tablet. Also on the desk are a journal, a pair of wire-framed glasses, a teapot, and a cup of tea. Photo of the same cat lying beside a small pillow on a wooden desk chair. Because of how fluffy she is, she takes up all of the space on the chair.
November 21, 2025 at 1:40 AM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
well, i've rather fallen off of my plans!tech week turned out to be tech-two-weeks, and i had to drive across several states for a family emergency, so writing has taken a backseat.

i'm not tracking weeks, but i have gotten back to writing in the last few days, finishing chapter 24 and starting 25!
Photo of a tablet at a café table, with a glass of hot chocolate to one side and a notebook with cursive handwriting to the other. Photo of a cat on an armchair. The cat is curled up, sleepy and extremely fluffy, with a caramel and brown coat and black on the bottoms of her feet. Next to the chair is a brown accordion case, and some pieces of art are visible on the walls, including a print of many leafless trees. Photo of a tablet on a reddish wood desk, with an empty blue ceramic mug to one side and a notebook to the other. In the desk shelves a laptop is visible, as are a roll of pencils and another notebook.
October 23, 2025 at 4:33 PM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
why is she doing this
October 16, 2025 at 4:28 PM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
blep
Photo of a cat sitting in a chair at a dining table. The cat is grey, extremely fluffy, and is sticking out her little pink tongue sort of sideways. The same cat viewed from above, with big green eyes looking up and her tongue still out.
October 16, 2025 at 5:20 AM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
week 7, day 1 (yesterday):

was visiting in-laws for the holiday, but got some work done at lovely little bookstore. not progress on chapters, but some necessary restructuring inspired by my writing group's critique of the last 10 chapters on sunday (a reminder that i need & love my writing group)
Photo of a notebook propped up against a car passenger seat dashboard. The car is driving down a tree-lined highway, and the notebook has a handwritten chapter outline in cursive.
September 3, 2025 at 1:22 AM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
week 5, day 5:

the weather is so beautiful i had to spend the morning writing in the park, and got maybe a quarter of the way through chapter 21!
Photo of an outdoor table and chair overed in graffiti with leaf-shaped backpack on the chair and a tablet on the table, all in dappled light. In the background, a sunny park with grass and trees.
August 22, 2025 at 3:46 PM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
week 5, day 4:

a milestone today!

i hit the halfway point (at least plot wise—the second "half" may actually be a bit longer). after almost a year stuck at 20k words, i'm very relieved that things are moving forward now.

on to chapter 21 tomorrow, on the other side of the fulcrum...
Screenshot of a word document with the following text: When Harald is dead, Pedr digs beneath the snow to find the layer of wet leaves slick on the ground. He takes everything that will not rot quickly—Harald’s bronze medallion, his leather shoes, his knife—and uses the knife to dig a hole deep enough to bury them. Then he covers the body in leaves and snow, piling them on the legs and trunk but, when he reaches the face, placing each leaf carefully and smoothing it over the cold skin. He does not bother to close the eyes, which sag half-lidded, only covered by leaves as they creep from one side of the face to the other. Then Pedr packs on snow, and then more leaves and sticks. A makeshift cairn that will become a part of the ground as the body does. Pedr does not think of the carrion-eaters, the scavenging birds which will thrust their claws through to the flesh and destroy this resting-place. He does not know about the tiniest scavengers, the bugs and bacteria, which will eat their way into the corpse and grow and multiply. He thinks in clean absolutes: this unsaved soul will find no redemption after death. This body of dust returns to dust, and so there shall be an end.
August 21, 2025 at 3:01 PM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
very confusing when i am outside and she is stuck inside behind the window screen. if she can see, smell, and hear me, why no touch?
Photo of a fluffy cat behind a window screen, with her ears flattened back and her green eyes very wide.
August 20, 2025 at 4:01 PM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
week 5, day 2: sandwich & writing during my lunch break.

goal is to finish chapters 20 (still ominous) and 21 this week.
Photo of a table with a tablet, a notebook, and a tray with an empty food basket on it and a few sandwich crumbs.
August 19, 2025 at 5:08 PM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
week 4, day 7 (aka yesterday):

was less successful at prioritizing writing this week, so i didn't manage to finish ch 20—but i did get started on it, at my favourite train station café
August 18, 2025 at 7:43 PM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
bonus: spent some time writing about the woods, actually IN the woods
Photo of a hand holding a notebook full of cursive handwriting up in a forest, with a background of trees and sky.
August 12, 2025 at 5:48 PM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
week 4, day 2:

i outlined the dreaded chapter 20 (shudders), though there are still some gaps i need to think about. pepper was extremely cute and distracting the entire time.
A fluffy long-haired cat curled up on a leaf-shaped cat bed on the floor. Her eyes are half-closed like she's about to fall asleep. The same cat, looking up at the camera with an alert expression. She's so fluffy that she looks like a circle of fur with a small face in the middle and paws sticking out.
August 12, 2025 at 1:37 PM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
week 4, day 1:

did not manage to finish ch19 on my camping trip, but i think i can likely finish it this morning and move on to ch 19 later in the week. & at least it's cooled down enough to be writing on the porch!
Photo of a table outdoors on a porch on a city street. In the background you can see trees and tomato plants climbing the porch railing, and on the table is a tablet with typed text, a floral teacup on a matching saucer, a green teapot, and a jar of brown sugar.
August 11, 2025 at 4:02 PM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
week 3, day 1:

i only got around to outlining ch18 last week, so today i wrote a good chunk of the first scene (this chapter only has 2).

hoping to get this one AND ch19 done by friday before i go camping! wish me luck...
Photo of a secretary desk open to show an open notebook with handwrititing, an open book with a circular diagram on the page, and a tablet with writing on it.
August 4, 2025 at 6:09 PM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
week two, day 3:

i outlined chapter 17 yesterday and wrote all of it today (yay!) at the green line café next to the park :) pictured here is my friend maddie, also working on her writing, and some delicious pastries.
A photo of a table at a café with an iced chai latte, a hibiscus iced tea, a cookie, and a chocolate croissant. Sitting across the table is a person (face not visible) typing on an iPad.
July 31, 2025 at 12:26 AM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
you folks might actually enjoy some slightly better pictures of the new writing-desk. yesterday i gave it a thorough cleaning, and when i find the time, i'll wax the wood and polish the metal to get it all shining. i've been looking for a new desk for ages so was thrilled to find this!
Photo of a wood secretary desk with four large drawers up against a wall. The desk has carved detailling and decorative metal drawer pulls. Sitting on top of it is a paper organizer, a large blue mug, and a small cauldron with pens and quills in it. Beside the desk is a standing lamp, and above it is a houseplant on a windowsill. The same desk, open, with a book and a notebook laying open on its surface. The notebook has an uncapped fountain pen resting on it, and on the shelves of the desk there is a tape dispenser, a jar of green salve, a laptop, a notebook, bottles of ink, and several wax seal stamps.
July 27, 2025 at 10:08 PM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
day 7 of week one: i finished chapter 16!!! tomorrow i'll start writing chapter 17, a tree-focused chapter, and planning chapter 18, in which things are getting in tense in the village.

also, first day using my new vintage secretary desk that i found at the thrift.
Photo of a desk with a large empty mug, an open tablet on a page full of text titled "Chapter 16: The Summer Stead," and an open notebook with handwriting. In the desk's shelves are more notebooks, a jar, bottles of ink, and a fabric roll of pens.
July 27, 2025 at 10:02 PM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
it's day 5 of week one and i have researched and outlined chapter 16, a village chapter, and written about half of it. i think it's realistic to get it finished this week, but not to squeeze half of chapter 16 in, so next week will have to be a 2-chapter week.

pepper providing moral support...
Photo of a long-haired caramel-and-grey coloured cat laying on a table next to a tablet with its keyboard open, a bottle of fountain pen ink, and a laptop. The cat has an alert, mischievous expression and a really fluffy neck.
July 25, 2025 at 10:17 PM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
she's being very helpful. with the writing. and not chewing on my notebook at ALL
Photo of a table that has a sleepy long-haired cat lounging on it, behind a tablet, a notebook with writing in it, and a bottle of fountain pen ink.
July 23, 2025 at 2:52 PM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
my last day in the office means it's also Guiom's last day. he's going to miss his best friends, Office Phone and Stapler.
a small knitted frog wearing overalls sitting cross-legged in front of a landline phone
May 14, 2025 at 9:25 PM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
issue 2 is coming together!
photo of a zine maquette titled STARTER HOME with rough sketches of what will appear on the pages photo of a messy table with pairs of small pages laid out on it, as well as a mug of tea, laptops, pad of drawing paper, and salt and pepper grinders.
February 25, 2025 at 1:26 PM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
in a sea of horrible news, one bright spot: you can now read my short story, "Prophecy is a Broken Line"—about authenticity, and connection; and the siren's appeal of ecofascism when confronting climate change — for FREE at @unlikely-stories.bsky.social: www.unlikelystories.org/content/prop...
Typed text that reads: I made a game of putting my feet as close together as I could, placing the heel of one sneaker almost on top of the toes of the other, watching the ground. My footsteps would make one perfect continuous line, which I pictured in clean white paint, across the sidewalk from then to now. I made people step out of my way instead of breaking the line. The city always made me feel like lines were important.
January 21, 2025 at 3:09 PM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
shelving her alphabetically
photo of a bookshelf, with a fluffy grey-brown kitten laying on a stack of books on one of the shelves
January 12, 2025 at 7:17 PM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
if The Snow Queen were written by Virginia Woolf... (and they were lesbians...) then you'd have my short piece "The Robber Girl's Story," out in @chicentreffsf.bsky.social's journal Gramarye, which you can preorder a hard copy of now:

store.chi.ac.uk/product-cata...
A painting (Roe Deer in Snow by Gustave Courbet) of a rocky autumn landscape covered in snow, with two roe deer emerging from the distance along a path.
December 20, 2024 at 4:49 PM
ariellemdevito.bsky.social
presiding over her yarn stash with dignity
A small, fluffy grey kitten sitting on a table behind piles of yarn skeins.
December 17, 2024 at 4:17 PM