#spellbreaker

That’s right, y’all. I learned the art of bookbinding. This is the dark path fic writing can lead you down. I wanted a copy of my 220K-word monstrosity on my shelf, but paying to have it bound is illegal. (Damn you, intellectual property law!) When I learned I’d have to make it myself, I was like, are you fucking kidding me? No way. That is insane. Then 24 hours later I was like, okay, I guess I’m learning bookbinding? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Then I started to enjoy it! Rejecting a life of crime gave me a new hobby. And it does look nice sitting on the shelf next to the Scholomance series that inspired it.

It really is gorgeous to me, mostly because I created the whole thing from concept to hardcase. I wrote the story, created the typeset, designed the cover, and bound it—all by myself! I feel a bit like Gwen Higgins creating that healing patch for El: tilling the soil, planting the linen seeds, spinning it into thread, and then weaving it into a patch. (Okay, I didn’t make the paper or the ink or the heat transfer vinyl, but we have to set boundaries somewhere.)

It was rather exhausting though. I feel like I’ve completed a never-ending quest full of side missions that each required a different set of skills and required me to obtain a wide variety of obscure supplies. I also spent a bunch of money that I don’t really have, which makes this the most expensive book I’ve ever owned BY FAR, which is ridiculous because all the flaws in its construction undoubtedly decrease its value. It cost so much that I feel obligated to bind a whole bunch of more books to bring down the average cost per project. That, or I’ll have to eat all the supplies instead of buying groceries next month.

I plan on writing a series of posts about how I made this thing, including all my trips to the hardware store, the fraudster on Amazon who sent me weird paper, and my newfound love for craft knives and bone folders. When I do, I’ll post the links down below.

In the meantime, if anyone has an urge to bind a copy of my fic themselves, here are links to zip files of the signatures and the cover images: Spellbreaker signatures | Spellbreaker cover images

Oh, and here’s a link to the fic on AO3. Spellbreaker: A Scholomance Sequel by Erosia Rhodes. Enjoy!

Incinerator done! ❤️‍🔥

Brigade Christmas - Zeliel

Zeliel Runesworn was born into a family of commoners, primarily blacksmiths who created arms for the Thalassian military. His early days were spent observing or training at the forge, but one fateful morning the captain of one of the Silvermoon spellbreaker units, picking up a shipment of weaponry, sensed a rare potential in Zeliel. And so Zeliel was nearly immediately apprenticed. Even with a strict training regimen, it took years for Runesworn to be officially welcomed into the spellbreaker order. That day was a proud one indeed for Zeliel and his family, to whom Zeliel brought some of the greatest honors. But from then on, his life was never the same as he was drawn into wars and conflicts, both away from and on the soil of his beloved Quel'thalas.

Now an old soldier, Zeliel has since joined up with the Brigade to offer his skills as a spellbreaker instructor, and to be closer to his adopted son, Deuce. Brash, strict, and resistant to change at this point in his lifetime, the whole ordeal has been interesting, to say the least. Still, there are moments when he is reminded of his youthful days, when he first graduated from his training. And he can't help but smile...secretly. When no one is looking.