Remiges

SO. let's start with the art. magnolias are a really memorable motif in the fic, so i went looking for Chinese art of magnolias and found some really cool options! and then... I went back and looked at when remi and i had chatted about her wanting to bind this a long time ago and realized she'd said she wouldn't want to use magnolias because then it would feel like it defines LQR's arc. so... i went a different direction lol. the art at the start of each fic is a painted silk fan with plants and birds that is supposed to correspond loosely with something seasonal about each individual fic (section opener art). and the birds are ALSO a motif! and the title page art is also Chinese art of a tree that is absolutely not a magnolia lmao.

generally for the binding, i wanted pale, cool blues and whites and grays—Lan colors but muted. i feel like that's always a good match for LQR anyway and especially in this fic, it felt right. i thought about trying to get the cassia tree from the title page on the cover, but I couldn't figure out a good way that i liked, and i wanted a cutout of some sort, so i ended up figuring i could mimic the art of the section openers with a circle cutout on the front! didn't really think about how that meant i would need to CUT OUT A CIRCLE, famously A VERY HARD THING TO DO but whatever i managed lol. i also have some very cool translucent leaf pattern paper that i thought would look neat over a pale blue. and it does! it also wrinkled a bunch when i glued it together, so there's an unexpected watery texture that i think actually is very cool. fun surprise!