hammock hegemony

I hope you've read this magnificent AU by magneticwave, but just in case you haven't -- this is a delightful what-if fic that explores a world where Shane was born three years earlier and Ilya, three years later. The result is a (slight) age difference fic that gives us an older, more world-weary Shane falling for a younger, more vulnerable Ilya. It's a pure delight, and the moment I finished reading it, I knew I wanted to bind it.

As you can see, I went pretty simple on this one! I had the vision of something graphical and clean and slightly evocative of an informational pamphlet from the 1960s. I picked up the cloth (Iris) just last week in Amsterdam, but I had to get a new 12 x 24 mat for my Cricut, hilariously, just to properly cut these two simple lines long enough to wrap around the cover. I hadn't tried this technique before but it went fairly smoothly.

Featuring my first double-core endbands (please don't zoom in), a rounded and backed little text block, and chiyogami endpapers.

The typeset is simple and clean, letting the story be the most important thing.

Rozanov’s big hand takes up a lot of the view, index finger wagging as he audibly counts off every single bird in the park. “Fifty-one!” The speaker crackles with an ecstatic, huge whoop and the birds panic, shooting off in all directions. Rozanov sounds more pleased than he had the whole time Shane had been on the call with him. “Ha! I win. There is always more than looks like on outside.” The video starts itself over. So Shane doesn’t have to. He sits cross-legged on the floor and stays inside of it a while.

zurich

12:01 January 1st, 2016

Knowing I’m half of you

(ID:

image 1: Ilya and Shane holding hands and walking in the forest by the cottage

image 2: Ilya and Shane in the water

image 3: Ilya and Shane sun bathing

Bound: Slap Shots: A Hollanov Anthology

This is a collection of one-shots featuring works by @smugrobotics, @hoko-onchi-writes, @arminaa8, @jtimu, @orolin-writes, Lately, @ghaniblue, @toomuchplor, @lemonlimelea, @citrusses, @its-the-allure, @greattemptation (plus one by me).

I wanted to host a chill binding event that was deadline-flexible and low-barrier for new binders. This meant no exchange and no typesetting.

Enter: The Bind-This-In-Your-Style Shinny!

The idea was simple:

Authors opted in to be part of the anthology.

Once all works were collected @citrusses and I created two versions of the same typeset: one letter and one A4.

Binders had four weeks to take that typeset and bind it in their style.

I already had art in mind that I wanted to use, but I wasn't sure the artist would let me. I shot my shot anyway, and he said yes! The piece—"Curious" by Brad Welch—is a graphite on bristol rendering of the seared-in-my-memory shower scene.

In exchange for letting me use his art, I made a copy of the bind for his own collection.

The endbands are made with with Trebizond silk thread using DAS's two-colour front bead method. I also hand-marbled the end papers.

It was my first time attempting a clear dust jacket, and I'm really happy with how they turned out. The transparent material is inkjet-compatible projector film, which a friend of mine recommended. The graphics were designed in Affinity Designer and applied with heat transfer vinyl.

As for the typeset, @citrusses and I met over video chat to set up the bones of it. We created a doc that detailed fonts and other design decisions made. Then we volleyed it back and forth until the thing was complete.

After having @dogearedbindery review the Letter typeset, we made an A4 version, which @mojowitchcraft looked over (thanks, pals!).

This was a super fun event, and I've loved seeing everyone's take on the bind!

Sometimes I wish the sea would take all my problems away —

and maybe take me with them.💙🌊

Just for a moment of silence.

[ one boy doing grief— for the things had (& almost-had). ⁀➴ ♡ | for the @drarrymicrofic july prompt: brief | title from “loml” by taylor swift ]

drarry | word count: ~860 | rating: m | warnings: mcd!

_ _ _

Harry Potter’s parents died in a Muggle automobile accident.

At least, that’s what the Dursleys had said.

Potter had told Draco as much on Halloween, 2001, lying in his twin bed, fucked-out, cotton-curled, and comfortingly empty.

He’d sunken into Draco’s singular spare pillow, whispering every scrap he held of two people he had never met, would never meet.

It was one of the few times he stayed.

. . .

It was always going to be brief— Draco suffered no illusions. Potter was no literal deity, but still: Savior.

& Gods may bed mortals, but they did not wed them, nor woo them, not unless they intended to fall, to descend.

Potter never offered. Draco never asked.

Still, it was light, in the fleeting way of dusk, of autumn, of the warmth of sheets pulled fresh from the dryer in his Muggle flat. He did not get to have him, but he did get to hold.

For a while.

“This ‘thing’ is nothing.”

Even with his back turned, Harry can tell Ron’s rolling his eyes.

“Alright, so, this ‘nothing’ with Malfoy—”

“Look,” Harry hisses in a panic, as the man himself stalks into their office. “Can we talk about this later?”

@drarrymicrofic

word count: 181

decided to try something different this week and write in a more poetic style from Draco’s pov

It is brief

Every single time

Bodies colliding

Limbs tangling together as midnight comes and goes

He kisses you, says “this is the last time”

But it’s a lie and it’s left with your clothes at the bottom of the stairs

Dark hair on the pillow

You run your hand through it

A gift, maybe

A curse, most likely

To want something so fiercely and know you can only have it in secret

When no one is around to see how he comes apart under your fingertips

Your name falls off his tongue in a satisfied sigh

Longing platitudes and promises are whispered

With no hope of ever seeing daylight

He will be long gone before then

But he’ll come back for more

It will be brief

And you will accept it each and every time

Cause no one else tastes like lightning

Or smells like summer rain

And no one else understands you the way he does

The way he maybe, always has

The porch light stays on

He knocks on the door

Bound: Soup-pocalypse and The Great Curry Cataclysm by SquadOfCats

Typeset, bind, and illustrations by: me, @phoenixortheflame.

Eleven years after the war, Draco Malfoy leads a quiet, boring, and perfectly respectable life, thanks very much. Or, at least he does, until a sudden and very unexpected veela awakening causes him to throw soup all over Harry Potter in the middle of the Ministry cafeteria.

Every once in a blue moon I pull together a bind in four days, and other times I agonize over it for months. This was one of those rare occasions where inspiration hit — and then simply did not quit.

The cover of the bind was inspired by the novel Icarus by K. Ancrum. And I drew veela Draco based on a tattoo of a falling Icarus, which is an adaptation of the Phaeton from "The Four Disgracers" (ty @haxkattpress for the art lesson!)

For programs I used Procreate for the illustrations (veela Draco, bowl, waffle), Affinity Publisher for the typeset, Designer for the full-title page typography treatment, and Canva for the book cover.

There are a lot of letters sent between Draco and Harry in this fic, so I chose handwriting for each of them.

Finally, I did a sneaky little inside cover design featuring waffles. Regular or fish — you decide!

I did not make a copy for the author, as they've left the fandom; however, I made sure to check that they have blanket permission for binds. (That said, Squad, if you see this and you want a copy, send me a DM!)

As always, the extra copies are gifts. No money was exchanged.