ghostofnoir

[ghostofnoir]

SURPRISE!

I recently had the absolute joy of participating in a small binder + artist collab exchange with the wildly talented @redtulipsbindery to create a custom bind of Rookie Moves (gifted to the phenomenal @citrusses! ❤️)

RTB handcrafted the stunning Auror robe-inspired cover (like…ya'll!!! LOOK at those details?!), and I had the chance to contribute the dust jacket design and interior artwork. HUGE shoutout to the amazing mods @maleekamolscreates and @phoenixortheflame for organizing this dreamy project and pairing me with such a brilliant binder!!!

This collab was also a huge step for me creatively, too. I’m still pretty new to drawing (especially THIS much!) and had never done dust jacket design work before, so this was a major first! I really wanted to capture the warmth, humor, and heart of Rookie Moves in the visuals, and working in tandem with the bind design pushed me to think in new ways about layout and storytelling through art. It was a big ol’ learning experience, but a ridiculously fun one, and the fact that I got to make fanart for a fic that owns my soul?? YESSSS. ALL THE FEELS. I WILL NEVER FORGET THIS EXPERIENCE.

Again, THANK YOU to the mods for hosting this exchange and to redtulipsbindery for their support, creative energy, and friendship!

[ghostofnoir]

the fact em forster lost his virginity at the age of 37 and then was too busy having gay sex to write…inspiring

[ghostofnoir]

[ghostofnoir]

do you have any drarry sports au recs? like where they play soccer or football or anything else (not quidditch, basically)? sorry if you have been asked this before!! thank you so much in advance love your reclists smmmm

Sorry I'm just getting around to this ask! And thank you very much. I've really enjoyed putting together reclists and sharing what I love with others. 💚 I apologize in advance for hijacking this ask.

The truth is: finding joy in the Harry Potter fandom has become extremely difficult for me.

JKR's been awful for ages. That's not new. But things have gotten exponentially worse for trans folks, especially since the outcome of the US election. Things have gotten exponentially worse for a LOT of folks. I've been unable to participate - certainly not by writing, but not even reading in the hp fandom anymore. The dehumanization and bigotry turns my stomach. Of much less importance but still a contributing factor to the lack of fun: dramione (my original HP fandom) has become commodified beyond belief. It feels unrecognizable.

There are so many incredible hp fanfic authors. I've truly enjoyed them and their work, especially those celebrating identities and topics jkr would hate. I've read life-changing stories. I had a cocoon of escapism through the excruciatingly slow, exceedingly polite, and extraordinarily stressful collapse of my marriage. My time in this fandom was very special to me. I met incredible people who are very special to me. I'm grateful to those who've read and enjoyed my work as well. There are a lot of justifications to continue to participate and subvert her works and ideology - I don't judge anyone who does (unless you agree with jkr - then gfy). I'm just not having fun in her sandbox. What else should fandom should be, if not fun?

I encourage you to use my older reclists, read other works by authors on them, read *their* bookmarks, and to filter my bookmarks for tags that might help you narrow down a search. I bookmark everything!

I would be remiss to not mention the fandom that I spend time in now - red, white & royal blue, or firstprince. Especially if you are a drarry fan, there are lots of parallels! It's so refreshing to read fanworks of a book/movie that was written by a non-binary author, had a queer director, trans cast member, etc - basically just a big celebration of queer joy. It's so nice to not *have* to justify my participation, to anyone else but especially to myself. Anyway, I've got lots of those recs too, in my pinned post.

Things change. Life moves forward. Be kind to yourself and others!

Happy reading,

💚💚 RHM

[ghostofnoir]

(Re)bound: Everybody Hates a Tourist by @wolfpants

I whipped up a lil paperback yesterday and today, because it’s always a good day to make myself more copies of Wolf’s lovely words.

If you haven't read this fic, you need to: Wolf has such a way of situating Harry and Draco in the real world, and especially in the queer community. This is a story of self-discovery, evident almost immediately for Harry’s side of things: stuck in a boring job at the Ministry, frozen in an increasingly distant relationship with Ginny, and unable to break away from all the expectations placed on him by the Wixen community. Harry sees Draco's self-assurance, his friends and his community, as an enticing beacon of a life he doesn't feel he can have for himself.

But Draco's parallel journey creeps up on you as the narrative unspools. In time, it becomes clear that Draco's not actually living a carefree and gay seaside life, and that running away from the Wixen world has exacted a price from him.

And, listen: this is wolfpants. So there's also sparkling dialogue, brilliant characterization, adorable sausage dogs, and amazing sex scenes.

The typeset I used here is one I made earlier in my fanbinding journey, with only a handful of tweaks to the layout because I was still learning and there were a couple goofs.

The cover is new, but picks up the texting theme from the hardcover version and lays it over a pebble beach that (I hope) evokes Brighton's seaside vibes.

I feel like I've cracked the code on soft touch lamination, or at least have improved a lot, but I'm still working on the paperback technique in general.

Following tips from the paperback genius @jmbinding, I use my thermal binder to bind the text block into a piece of plain/blank presentation paper (same stuff I print onto for the cover), trim that bound block, and then glue on the laminated cover over the thermal bound plain one. Finally, I trim the cover to fit the trimmed book -- which is the step I'm still not super great at! (Don't look too closely at the edges or you'll spy my mistakes.)

Mandatory flip-through video because the floppy give of a paperback is still incredibly pleasing for me.

[ghostofnoir]

To YOU it’s bad writing. To ME it’s a very nuanced piece of work that explores subtle intricacies without outright saying it. And also it’s bad writing

[ghostofnoir]

YOU!! YES, YOU!! GO WRITE THAT FANFIC YOU THINK NOBODY BUT YOU WILL READ!!

[ghostofnoir]

Bound: Rookie Moves by peu_a_peu

Here's my contribution to the Rookie Moves April Fool's Exchange. I collaborated on it with @amomorii who is an INCREDIBLE artist (and writer!) It was so much fun working with Sam.

The design on the dust jacket was based on this illustration that Sam found. ISN'T IT PERFECT?

Obviously I had to put my favorite line on the back. (Did I mention I got it tattooed? I did.)

I couldn't find the perfect scene break graphics, so I asked Sam to do them, and they are exactly what I wanted. Every chapter has a themed icon.

Did I buy a wide format printer and a roll of soft-touch laminate just so I could make this book exactly as I wanted? Maybe.

The inner book is very simple in design, but I love how it came out. The spine is…I don't even know what, but I put the title on it with the foil quill on my Silhouette. Came out gorgeously. And then the covers are covered in a suede-like paper (some variety of Skivertex). I love how it feels.

Fonts Body: Baskerville Chapters: Lemon/Milk Italic

Do I have enough copies of this fic/series? I don't think that's possible.

(Quick and shameless plug of the podfic I made of the whole series!)

[ghostofnoir]

You don’t like fat gjrls? That’s okay not everyone has good taste.

[ghostofnoir]

the worst is wanting to create and create and create but being trapped in a body that is so so so so tired

[ghostofnoir]

Just a reminder that it is not your vet’s job to report if your pet got into recreational drugs. We aren’t snitches, we have no obligation to report drug use. We do, however, want to save your pet so please be honest with us about what your pet got into. It could literally be life and death for them.

[ghostofnoir]

If you see someone with a really bad fandom take, I’m begging you to open your emails and write a strongly worded missive to your local government official about something bad happening in your community or country.

If you’re in Canada you could email a rep about concerns about Elon musk interfering in our next federal election.

If you’re in the US the list is endless.

If you’re in the UK you could email about trans health care.

If you’re in Australia, what about dental care in Medicare?

If you’re in Europe, look into some EU initiatives of particular concern. Perhaps something to do with nature and biodiversity? Idk

Just today I emailed my local mla about coal mining in the Rocky Mountains and tomorrow I’m going to pick something else and do it again

[ghostofnoir]

What really unsettles me about the Harry Potter universe isn’t Voldemort, it’s how normalized the injustices are

You’ve got entire groups like house-elves and goblins treated as lesser beings, werewolves banned from work and the whole blood status system baked into their laws and culture

And barely anyone questions it. Not even the "good guys". Hogwarts teaches you how to cast spells, but not how to think critically about power, history, or ethics. Even Dumbledore, who knew how broken the system was, mostly let it be

It’s not a world that became dangerous because of a villain. It was already dangerous because of how little anyone was willing to change it

🦭

[ghostofnoir]

first shot at drawing these losers!!

for more wips, sketches, & cool physical rewards (& to support our rescue) you can join our patreon here! :-)

[ghostofnoir]

So for years black girls have had to read fanfics where y/n was automatically described as being paled skinned with long flowing hair and blue eyes. We couldn’t relate to it exactly, it excluded us, it ignored us. But we read it cause it was all that was out there. Now when we start writing fanfics for other black girls to feel included and represented, now you all are saying that you ‘‘can’t relate to it” therefore don’t support black writers when we were supporting your work all those years even though you were acting like we don’t exist within these fandoms. 

[ghostofnoir]

Joanne wakes up every morning going 'what group of people can I spit on today'

[ghostofnoir]

men have one homoerotic rivalry and make it everyones problem for the rest of their life