can't believe it took me eight months of bookbinding before finishing a single bellarke fanbind, but delighted to start out with this anthology of fics by @bettsfic (talking with you in the dark, the art of scraping through, and moderation). half letter, 72k, 272 pages. bookcloth is cotton canvas with medium/paste mix, title painted with textile acrylics.
so i meant to make two copies, but the guillotine ate one and i was just not in the mood to reprint seventy pages. it took a few months to get around to redoing mine, and in that time i fell in love with octavo (2.75"x4.25") books, so i re-imposed it and made a miniature version! it basically turned into 4 pt text, which is perfectly legible if you're already used to having headaches when you read and you're pretty nearsighted anyway. everything else is the same, except for dark blue endpapers and metallic thread on the endbands. someday i hope to reunite my copy with @bettsfic's and get a picture of both books together.
Finally finished SOTR and oh my god you were SO right about Maysilee and Wyatt!!!! They were amazing and I'm totally shipping them, I'm so weak for "mean girl x boy with a heart of gold" ships 😭😭😭 If you ever write something for them I'd be super happy, your Maysilee would be great (also I agree with you on SOTR feeling kind of first draft-y??? like, I did like it, I loved the last hundred pages but. Boy. Did I really read most of it with a completely blank face and barely feeling anything)
apparently the film is coming out in november? that seems so soon to me but then again the script and book were probably being written at the same time. anyway i hope to god the movie is better than the book and i'll get back to my wysilee "red string of fate" games idea
Daeron the Drunken Dreamer [Original Art]
"Not that I ever asked to have my honor redeemed. Whoever has it can keep it, so far as I'm concerned. Still, here we are. For what it's worth, Ser Duncan, you have little to fear from me."
a lot of men that people online are obsessed with calling daddy are one 'good boy' away from shattering their knees on the ground forgetting their names and panting like dogs. it has to be said.
This was my first time participating in the yearly Renegade Bookbinding Exchange! I bound rest in grace for the lovely @stuffgoeswrong. Violet Evergarden has been a huge favorite of mine for many years, and I had so much fun with this bind. Other firsts for this bind include hand sewn endbands and a true three piece Bradel. Another Renegader also made me my very own finishing press(top right), and I'm in love.
A huge thank you to @bettsfic for writing it and allowing me to send her an author copy. You can read rest in grace on AO3 here!
I hope this is okay to recommend to you, but there are some reallyyy great canvas verso/maelle fics on ao3 that I think you'd enjoy. Just scrolling through the tag will get you so many gems but my favorites are anything by ao3 user kantan (especially this one: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66710038/chapters/172117264) and beatwice (https://archiveofourown.org/works/79021421). Toxic and obsessive! Layers of siblingism! Devastation! The bond between a deeply traumatized lonely grieving girl and a suicidal man who looks and talks like the brother that died to save her who she feels she can't live without and who she is desperate to trap to play house with him forever... very fun!
i read "Not Make-Believe" last night and it was WONDERFUL. i'll read your other rec as well. this pairing is definitely going to be a Forever Ship for me. who knows whether i'll write anything for it but i do have a few half-formed fic ideas simmering in the back of my mind.
betts!!! question time: project hail mary is on cinemas right now. do you recommend reading the book before watching the movie? i don't know if i should watch it now on the cinema and read the book later or read the book now and watch it later at home (i really don't have the time to read it AND then go yo the cinema, it won't be there that long)
this is a great question, and one i have been thinking about a lot.
so, in my opinion, PHM is extremely unique in that the film is less an adaptation of the novel and more a supplement to it. i say this because the novel is mostly Grace explaining stuff to us with his very voicey narration that does not have a whole lot of imagery. in fact i listened to an interview with Andy Weir a couple days ago where he says he doesn't have a visual imagination at all, so seeing his work adapted to the screen is like seeing it for the first time without any real preconception of what things look like.
the approach of the filmmakers seems to have been "well the book does a lot of stuff really well. let's just focus on what it doesn't do well" which is to provide visuals and the emotional impact of Ryan Gosling Having Feelings.
i think the Full PHM Experience involves seeing the movie *and* reading the book in whatever order works for you. so i would say it's worth it to see the film theaters because of how beautifully done it is, then take your time enjoying the book.
i love genshin. i actively discourage my friends from getting into it. the world is beautiful and expansive and extremely fun to explore. seeing the whole map is overwhelming. the story is engaging and the lore is rich and deep and scattered throughout the world and built up through quests. the lore is also incomprehensible to the casual audience. some of my favorite characters and the most compelling backstories ive seen exist in this game. theyre locked behind thousands of lines of text or limited events or, most egregiously, pages of notes hidden around a region with no in-game guide to finding them all. the combat system is fun to learn and work with and around and you can build so many creative teams and play whoever you want. the meta has nosedived into gimmicky mechanics and outright shills for new characters. new characters are fun and exciting and learning their kits and building them is an enjoyable part of the game. the gacha mechanic is predatory and aspects of it are unforgiving-- god forbid you ever pull for a four star. there's a built in card game and home design simulator and rhythm game and ucg. these things cannot be removed if you have no interest in them. the writing covers themes of war and guilt and power struggles and justice and fate and family and passing the torch to the next generation; who deserves the right to knowledge; what does it mean to be a human or a god. the plot is unfocused and bloated with filler and so far removed from the original objective of finding your family after losing them. this game has something good for everyone. this game will drive everyone crazy in its own way. the game is free to play. the mental barrier to entry is so high. i love playing but i hate feeling like i'm being held hostage. it's so good and bad. i play it every day and i think no one should get into it.
What video game can you not complete without cheat codes?
Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.
alas, i can't get perfection in Stardew Valley without mods. i just hate how clunky the combat is and i hate having to do combat and mining at the same time, so i always use the MURDERDRONE mod which just one-shots all enemies. i also inevitably install the skull cavern elevator because i hate everything about skull caverns. this is all for the best though because it keeps me from playing SDV every minute of every day forever and ever. i end up doing one perfection run every 2 years
Which video game character do you most identify with (and why, if you like)?
Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.
probs Maelle from Expedition 33 😭 babygirl..........nightmares.....not knowing what's real.............making Bad Choices because she loves Verso too much to let him go
Applications for the Spring 2026 Fanauthor Workshop are open!
The Spring 2026 Fanauthor Workshop is a 7-week writing course led by Betts (@bettsfic). The workshop offers fanwriters a supportive space to receive constructive feedback on fanfiction, original fiction, or creative nonfiction.
Where & When
We meet weekly over Zoom. You can apply for one of two sessions:
Group A: Fridays from Apr 10 - May 22, 12-2pm ET [See what time that is in your time zone]
Group B: Tuesdays from Apr 14 - May 26, 6-8pm ET [See what time that is in your time zone]
What
FAW is a feedback-oriented workshop. This means that each week we read 2 pieces submitted by participants, offer written feedback, and discuss them over Zoom. You'll be able to sign up for the week you would like to workshop your own piece, which can be anything under 6k words.
There may be weeks where, in lieu of workshopping, I present external readings to discuss and writing exercises.
I developed a workshop model that focuses mostly on affirmations and positivity, as well as descriptive (rather than prescriptive) feedback, which is to say, describing one's experience of reading rather than prescribing solutions to perceived problems. We also present improvement-oriented feedback, though we avoid negativity, judgment, and pedantry. Week 1 is spent going over the workshop model and how to give feedback.
About
The first FAW was held in 2017 as an independent study in my MFA. I restarted it in 2022 and since then have led 15 sessions with ~75 participants, over half of whom have participated in the workshop more than once.
Participation in the workshop includes entrance into the FAW community, an active Discord server. We have many social events, writing groups, and other workshops, including:
Eligibility to attend WTFS (Write the F*cking Story), a 7-week generative workshop where everyone, you know, writes a f*cking story
Eligibility to attend WIP Cleanout, another 7-week generative workshop aimed to help work through each writer's WIP list
Ongoing accountability meetings during which we chat over Zoom about our projects and set goals for ourselves every other week
A monthly longform writing workshop, where writers can workshop any story between 6k and 100k words
Weekly movie nights
Scheduled write-ins and impromptu writing sprints
A group quarterly progress tracking sheet that accidentally turned into a micro social media platform
And there are always other things going on, like international snack exchanges, craft exchanges, support during the looming deadlines of fic exchanges, and so on
We also chat about writing and craft, offer resources, and share many, many pet photos.
In addition, participants of the workshop receive:
A one-hour consultation with me to go over your workshop feedback, come up with a plan for revision and/or publication, or anything else you’d like to discuss regarding your writing
Open enrollment in future workshops
Eligibility
Anyone over the age of 18 who considers themselves a participant of fandom and who is familiar with fanfiction may apply. A stable internet connection is also required.
Cost
The cost of the workshop is "pay what you can" with the recommended amount of $300. To be as inclusive as possible, I don't want money to be a deterrent for anyone interested in participating.
At least partial payment (or notification of nonpayment) will be requested prior to the start of workshop via PayPal, Venmo, or Wise. Installment payments are fine.
Fill out this form to apply. Applications close March 20.
If you have any questions at all, or are on the fence about it for whatever reason, please feel free to DM me. You can even just say "I'm on the fence about applying to FAW" and we'll chat about it.
Art by @emimayooo!
FAQ under the cut
FAQ
Are there any content restrictions to what I can workshop?
The only restriction is word count (max 6k), with the following caveats:
If you workshop a piece in a form other than prose (for example, a script), your peers may not be able to offer constructive feedback on that aspect of the work. Participants are asked only to have a familiarity with prose.
Content warnings are required for each piece (if applicable), and participants who are uncomfortable reading certain subject matter may abstain from your workshop.
What is the time commitment of the workshop?
As a participant of the workshop, you'll be asked to:
Workshop any piece of your own prose up to 6k words, which will need to be uploaded to the group folder one week before your workshop.
Read 2 pieces per week, write out your individual crit, and attend the workshop itself.
What is the timeline of the workshop?
In week 1, we go over the syllabus and do a writing exercise. Weeks 2 through 7 will be a workshop, a discussion of an external reading, or a writing activity. Prior to the start of workshop, you'll be able to sign up for the week you would like to workshop your piece.
Structure of the sessions:
Question of the day
First workshop
Short break
Second workshop
We'll go over my workshop model and the syllabus in week 1.
Do I have to participate in the Zoom meetings (camera and mic on)?
Attending the workshop itself is required, and everyone is asked to offer at least one note of positive feedback on each piece, so mics are necessary. Cameras are preferred but not required.
You can't asynchronously participate, i.e. read the pieces and offer written feedback without attending the sessions.
Can workshop participants submit to OFIC Magazine?
Yes! Part of the reason I run the workshop is to inspire and promote the original work of fanwriters. You can follow us on tumblr @oficmag.
Who is running the workshop?
@bettsfic! In short, I lived a dreary cubicle life as a banker until I found fanfiction at 24. I loved it so much that I quit my job to get an MFA in creative writing. I loved the MFA so much that I became a writing teacher. I have some publications, awards, an agent, and 2 million words of fic on ao3. I don't have a book out yet but I'm getting there.
Currently I'm a writing coach and freelance editor. I also have a lowkey writing-related newsletter. And I've been answering writing advice asks on my blog for 10 years.
If you want an idea of the kind of writing activities I create, last summer I worked with @books on a workshop series which includes craft essays and some fun prompts.
If you're interested in my original work, my short story "Not If, When" is a good representation of my writing. For something darker, check out "Shut Up and Kill Me."
What is the workshop like?
Check out G's experience of attending the workshop. And here's some feedback from previous participants.
