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[mythrilthread]

My first concertina! A series of 14 feminist poems by @agest about the way women become myths (where an asexual girl is a unicorn in the same way the moon is a silver mirror, where being a people pleaser is not unlike being a demon and howling at the moon is quite popular with those who have it really rough when menstruating).

This was the last book of my Binderary, sent to the author with lots of love.

[mythrilthread]

My magnum opus, the jewel of my Binderary round-up, the result of four months of hard work (that is to say, a lot of force applied over distance), the project affectionately known as The Motherfuckers (because it was rather unclear if I was going to finish these books or if they were going to be the end of me).

Force over Distance by cleanwhiteroom. It is currently also on AO3.

I was first introduced to this incredible story by a dear friend, who first sold me on actually watching SGU, and then said that they remember this fic since like 2011, which is always a promising sign. I went digging and found out I was in luck - the story was being rewritten and reuploaded on the author's blog. The next two weeks are described by the same friend as "one of the scariest moments in our cohabitation" as I'd spent literally every waking moment injecting the story directly into my eyeballs, and let me tell you, I'd not been doing a lot of sleeping at that time.

Then I gathered up my courage and reached out to CWR re: my burning desire to bind this story. And the rest, well. Let's dig into it, shall we?

This was my first time typesetting 540k words. Considering I tend to prefer larger font sizes for increased legibility, it was immediately obvious that this was going to be a multivolume project. I settled on three, as it's the relationship between three individuals that forms the core of the story.

I also knew I wanted to keep the typeset in black and white, but play around with light and dark a lot. So I did. One of the first design idea I actually had was the way I wanted to handle projected speech. Mental link between Young, Rush and Destiny is THE most vital part of the story, and I wanted to make it immediatly obvious. I also wanted to be able to take one glance at the page and tell how much of the action is actually just two guys staring each other down :) Hence the blackout effect of thoughts being represented as light over darkness.

I also wanted to preserve as much of my reading experience as possible. So I saved all the chapter quotes/summaries in the TOC, and hid the chapter content warnings in the frame of the gate that marks the beginning of each chapter. For most of the chapter the warnings stay the same, so after a while you stop really noticing them, but then you open a new chapter and see that the familiar shape of the words has changed, and get this UH-OH feeling. Which, I think is very much how it works in my design, because when the warnings change there's usually another line of text added.

For flashbacks and dream sequences I switched from italics to a lighter shade of gray. I woudn't say it's more legible per say, but it's in keeping with the overall light/dark theme.

There are instances of people using handwritten notes in the story. I collected more than a dozen of assorted handwriting fonts, with each character having their own "handwriting". So when, for example, someone begins writing in someone else's hand, you immediately know it.

The most insane, labor-intensive part of the typeset, however, was the way I decided to handle the Ancient translations. CWR's gone through the trouble of setting up hover-to-discover for it, which gives you a very different reading experience than, say, having the translations in the endnotes. So, naturally, I said to myself that I want to replicate that, and footnotes just won't do the trick. So. Every instance of Ancient in the text has an underlay of light gray Ancient script. And an OVERLAY of paper vellum with the translation printed in blue. Now, not to toot my own horn too much, but if looks SICK AS FUCK. You also MAYBE SHOULD NOT LIVE LIKE THIS. For the two copies of this work I had to cut up 10 sheets of vellum into strips, and then spent from 20 minutes to an hour per volume tipping the strips in their proper places. I then had to wear kinetic tape on both my hands to help with the joint pain. (It was worth it.)

Now for the title spread. It is also paper vellum that you see as soon as you turn the first page (the half-title), and see it covering the title of the book and author's name. And then you turn it. And the shields sing the matter wave of Destiny through the black. And yeah, I think that's very, very clever of me, actually.

Then, of course, were the endpapers. All 12 of them are unique abstract paintings done on black cardstock by hand with brush pens and correction tape, I scanned a sample of each set for posterity. All of them are my interpretations of characters' midscapes. For volume 1 I went with the fire wind of Rush's thoughts. Volume 2 was for Young, and I went for the reverse blackout poetry effect (because for all the mental talking they do, the unprojected thoughts are opaque to their counterparts) and all the loops, hairpins and blocks he does. Volume 3 is for the combination - Rush's fire wind, changing its color to match the circuitry pattern of Destiny's AI.

The rest, in comparison, is easy. All volumes are stitched with 3 strands of embroidery floss, a combination of black, blue and silvery-gray. The French double-core endbands are sewn in the same color scheme (though with a different shade of blue and gray switched for white for added contrast). The edges are painted and splattered to look like space.

The covers feature my (signature at this point, I guess) half-cloth river pattern, with the base being dark blue linen and the printed parts being Spitzer telescope images of the W51 star forge, Jack-O'-Lantern Nebula and the Eagle Nebula (courtesy of NASA), waxed by hand for added sheen. The spines are foiled in silver with a foil quill.

Each set is 5 pound of solid hand-crafted book, with one set being my personal copy, and the other sent as a gift to the author.

And that's it, folks! This has been an incredible project to work on, and I'm very proud of what I achieved with it.

[mythrilthread]

Work of All Saints by @kaikamahine

What is fanbinding if not an elaborate system of fic recs? A while back my esteemed colleague @pleasantboatpress recommended this story, and I really wanted to try my hand at binding it.

🏵️ I knew I wanted to give the typeset an old-fashioned vibe with some fun twists, referencing both el Día de los Muertos and Mexican culture in general; hence marigolds used for endpapers, frontispiece portrait frame, and scene dividers.

🏵️ Choice of drop caps was inspired by papel picado, and then I decided to just go apeshit on it, and cut out actual an papel picado banner for the cover. So I did! By hand! With a modeling knife! And backed it with black paper for added contrast.

🏵️ I need to maybe back off of foiling for a bit, because the tip of my index finger is loosing sensitivity, but! Still used it to title the spine (note two more marigolds).

🏵️ I actually decided to try a new method of edge decoration on a whim, and I couldn't be happier with the result. Transferring digital prints on the book edges has its limitations, but it's also quick, easy, and relatively mess-free and painless when compared with my usual adventures with acrylic paint.

[mythrilthread]

Took a stab at binding Asynchronous Circuit by @jessepinwheel (as typeset by Hoshruba (Tilism Bindery) for 2022 Renegade Exchange)

Learned a lot while doing this!

🌃 The cover features a marbled paper section with a vellum overlay;

🌃 The endges are painted with black ink;

🌃 The circuitry on the spine and on the head and tail of the book edges is done with brush pens.

[mythrilthread]

As promised! I wrote about the illegal fanbinding that's led to writers deleting their works recently, how that connects to the current pull-to-publish wave, and what happens when the rapidly expanding sphere of fic readers starts to get disconnected from *fandom*:

The ever-increasing reach of fanfiction has inched the practice away from text-written-in-community to a more traditional author-reader relationship—and the context collapse that’s come with viral works being treated like any other romance novel has spurred clashes between different types of readers with different sets of expectations. In the past few years, fic authors across all corners of fandom have increasingly complained about shifting attitudes from readers who treat them like any other content creator, demanding the next chapter as you might demand your favorite influencer’s next video. But unlike on creative platforms like TikTok and YouTube, the fic writer doesn’t get revenue from their new installment.

We'll also talk about this in some capacity on the next episode of @fansplaining! (In contrast with today's episode, on the non-monetized, gift-economy practices of many fanbinders, whose hobby is also imperiled by the people selling and buying fic.)

[mythrilthread]

Acclimating by @justira

Bound this for my resident Luffy/Law appreciator.

🫀 Painted Law’s tattoos on the linen cover;

🫀 Chose the Secret Belgian binding to echo the sutures motif I chose for the scene breaks;

🫀 Hearts for title page and chapter headers, because of course!

🫀 BlackFlag as a title font again, because I firmly plan to include it in all of my One Piece binds.

[mythrilthread]

I love these itsy-bitsy books so much! The are officially the tiniest on my shelf yet, and they are unbelievably cute 🥹

Two Katherine Addison short stories, bound as minis for @mythrilthread as part of a personal little trade. I received the copy of Tumblr stories in addition to a glow-in-the dark mini so I clearly made out like a bandit on this swap. Not to mention, @mythrilthread also bound my typeset for the @renegadepublishing Tiny Book Bang this summer 💅 I think you could officially call me a collector at this point....

And yes, I do believe those papers are from the @aetherseer gift pack. And that's a scrap of some Duo I nabbed during @renegadepublishing meetup.

[mythrilthread]

Made a family photo album for my darling spouse and I.

💙 The cover has a hidden layer of felt for extra softness;

🐝 the title card features: a line from our wedding vows, some watercolor, and my continued adventures in foiling;

🍄 the color scheme was chosen after a lovely blue vest my spouse wore for the wedding, in fact, the endpapers are printed photos of the fabric that was used for the lining (yes, it has a mushroom pattern), and I used an offcut of it to make tapes that the album is sewn on.

[mythrilthread]

I loved the way @nevermordor writes Luffy's asexuality, so I collected some of their Zoro/Luffy fics into this little A6.

🖤 The cover features this Asexual Pride Sky print by kingpains,

🤍 I've wanted to do pride flag endbands, and here they are!

💜 I really really love using BlackFlag font for One Piece fics, so this is not the last one it's feaured in one of my typesets!

[mythrilthread]

Frigid by Guede

This story has a delicious dark fairy tale vibe. It's something I'll very much enjoy rereading on a cold winter evening.

❄️ Lovingly waxed the hell out of the covers, so they have a nice subtle sheen;

❄️ Really happy with this title page, I cleaned up an illustration from The Pacific tourist (1876) for it;

❄️ I knew from the start I wanted some fancy drop caps, and imagine my delight when I found that the author uses a letter form Goudy Initialen font as a userpic! Of course I went with it as a little easter egg!

❄️ For the endpapers I went for a dramatic red acrylic splatter over very textured paper for that blood on snow feel, because I can't resist being a bit cheeky;

❄️ And to complete the overall winter theme I painted the edges a fun glittery silver.

[mythrilthread]

A second Binderary book completed!

This is a long stitch binding of @serpentsnestpress’s typeset of Alone This Yuletide by @emsiecat. I haven’t actually read the story yet, but, but it seemed 1) very cute, and 2) holiday themed, so I went slightly ham in that direction.

So the whole bind is an exercise in festive upcycling.

🎁 The cover is made from an actual gift bag (which contained a fuckton of embroidery floss I received from my Secret Santa) (+an offcut of the gold paper I used many months back for my binding of Adult Wolf) and is very pleasantly glossy.

🎁 My personal big brain moment - a title card that doubles as a bookmark. It’s backed with the same gold paper that is covering the spine.

🎁 Even the piece of red yarn is upcycled - it was used as a marker for guests on a New Years party in our local queer community space.

I’m looking forward to reading this story before the winter is over ✨

[mythrilthread]

Starting Binderary with my first commission!

This is a campaign-specific A4 notebook for the GM of our ttrpg group. We’re playing Monster of the Week, so the notebook is themed after the SCP Agency-type organization, B.R.I.G.H.T. (Bureau of Ratification of Idiosyncratic Genesis and Holistic Termination) that employs all the player characters.

The inside of the front cover has the Bureau’s covenants, and the inside of the back cover has an envelope attached (yellow envelopes are how the PCs in-game get their briefings and additional resources from the HQ). I printed out some handouts for the GM’s future players, and the smaller envelope contains some stickers with cryptids defeated by our group.

This was my first time using a foil quill, what fun!

[mythrilthread]

I built the whole typeset around the single concept of doing a story about a dyslexic character in a dyslexia-friendly font. I chose Sylexiad, and I think it looks great.

Many thanks go to @red-0ak-tree for the lovely story that stayed with me through the years, and to Six for the wonderful binding. It feels so good to hold, I literally couldn’t stop touching the cover <3

because he's a poet by red0aktree [link]

Bound for the @renegadepublishing Tiny Book Bang. Typeset by @mythrilthread. Bookcloth hand dyed by @epitomereally for her Everything is Relative to You project... and I think she gave me the end pages as well...? Edges are buff 'n rub wax.

[mythrilthread]

Binderary 2024: Week 1

In the Renegade Bindery Discord Server, we are once again running Binderary during the month of February. Attendance is free, and a link to the 18+ Discord Server can be found on our carrd.

Whether you’re new to the world of bookbinding or an aged veteran, join us for a month of binding fun! This event is all about community & learning, be it trying something new or refining existing skills.

All our workshops are run by members of our fanbinding community, and some of them are even on Tumblr!

Here's the list of who's running the week 1 workshops:

Renegade Wrap-up 2023!: @robins-egg-bindery, @fanboundbooks, @celestial-sphere-press Split Board Bindings!: @misanthropiczombie Decorative techniques: from paint pen to gold leaf.: @blackoakbindery Affinity publisher tutorial (Beginner Workshop): @kate2kat Typesetting & Book Design for Beginners: @bearclubbooks Typesetting Digital Formats: @sayornispress Typesetting in Word 365 for PC: @no-name-publishing

[mythrilthread]

Bound Lost in Translation and Подари мне звёздный свет by HaruIchigo as a gift for a dear friend.

💙 I got pretty much everything I know about Thrawn and Eli from these fics, but at least Thrawn’s color scheme was both obvious and evocative, so I went with it. Blue text marks flashbacks.

💙 I used cyanotypes for title pages, headers and scene breaks, with snowdrops to reference Csilla’s sudden spring for Lost in Translation, and, of course, stars for the second story (the title can be translated as Gift Me with Starlight). My favorite fact about this binding: the cyanotype with the stars was actually developed by starlight. How cool is that?

💙 I painted the edges in several layers, so they are a very fun blue black.

[mythrilthread]

🏳️‍🌈 A long stitch notebook for a Secret Santa gift exchange at our local queer community space. 🏳️‍🌈

72 blank pages, 7x14 cm.

[mythrilthread]

UPD: I have now read the fics, and they are heartbreaking, and hopeful, and wonderful. Very much worth your time.

A quick bind of Graduate Vulcan for Fun and Profit by @lazulisong, Linguistic Ambiguities in Vulcan Ethical Codes and Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations by @elumish as typeset by @celestial-sphere-press

This mini anthology was typeset to look like a thesis paper, so that’s where I went with cover design. Now, thesis works are typically bound very simply in our neck of the woods, usually with just the word “Thesis paper” on the cover, so I went with the deep red I once chose for my own graduation paper and a linostamped Starfleet Academy logo.

(Couldn’t help sprucing it up a bit with marbled endpapers in Starfleet primary colors)

Fun fact: I was wearing a Starfleet science officer pin for my thesis defence 🖖

(This is a rare case of me binding something I haven’t read even a little bit of, so I’m very much looking forward to cozying up with this one!)