Procrastination Station

[chlodobird-creations]

no idea if this account is still active or not but just wanted to say that I just read your mythic quest brad!necromancer and brad!selkie fics and I absolutely LOVED them. Truly so so obsessed with them, no one is doing it like you, your swag is unmatched, etc. Will be reading more of your fics throughout the day today. Sending love! 💙

Aw, thank you so much!!! How kind of you 💙💙💙

[chlodobird-creations]

[Image ID: Two photographs of a small book lying on a tan woven background. The spine is red paper that wraps around onto the front of the book, and the front cover is black crushed velvet. The first image is a top-down view, and the second photo shows the width of the 3/16" spine. End ID.]

Behold! "The Boneturner's Tale", from The Magnus Archives! I had a blast making this little guy :) It's a sewn board binding, and I modeled the inside on the Kelmscott Chaucer - for example, I used digitized versions of the original borders.

[Image ID: A photograph of the book open. Inside, it is black-and-white. The paper is off-white. There is an intricate border of vines, leaves, and flowers surrounding the text on each side. On the left page, the Middle English reads "His wyf was wrothe, thanne to hewen, and he was wilde,/Lyk Saturne, with blody hand, freten his yonge childe,/And al the remenaunt of hir children, al by rewe,". On the opposite page, the Modern English translates these three lines as "His wife was angry, then cut to pieces, and he was wilde,/Like Saturn, with bloody hands, eating his youngest child,/And all the rest of his children, one after another,". The font is a modern recreation of the font used in the Kelmscott Chaucer. End ID.]

More details under the cut:

It's 2.65 x 3.7 inches (if only William Morris made his 1800s woodcuts scale to modern paper sizes 😔) and 3/16ths of an inch thick. The cover is a crushed velvet cardstock (thank you, scrapbook paper!) that looks lovely now (and we don't need to think about its inevitable succumb to the Cat Hair Reckoning - I already had to pick a few hairs off for the photos). Overall, while I prefer the interior, I'm pretty happy with how the exterior looks! I'm also relieved that I succeeded in making sure it could lie flat, since the gutter is teenintsy. It's the smallest book I've made so far, and although I don't think I've been bitten by the small book bug, I do quite like it.

[Image ID: The front cover is visible, but this time there is a black pilot G2 pen lying diagonally over it for a size comparison. The pen extends past the cover on both sides, indicating that this book is fairly small. End ID.]

This project actually started with wanting to do something with the Kelmscott Chaucer, since it's gorgeous, but then I decided that I wanted the text to match the visual elements instead of putting an unrelated fic in these beautiful borders. Thankfully, TMA has the Boneturner's Tale, a companion to the Canterbury Tales! Technically I could have bound the statement transcript, but this project was mostly a way to let off some creative steam after the semester ended, so I decided to write it as if this little book was the Leitner itself. Except . . . well, scope creep really got to me, so instead of writing a Flesh-y story in Modern English prose (which is how the Leitner is actually described in the statement), I ended up writing Middle English verse. Whoops! I consider this a precursor of sorts to the Tale that Adekoya ran into, perhaps an earlier edition. Maybe the one in Adekoya's library was just a translation! Anyway, the goal was to have fun with a Kelmscott-themed project, not perfectly copy the vague descriptions of a modern paperback (although I kept the black cover and general plot from canon), so this was a success - I thoroughly enjoyed this project and love the final result!!

If you want to read my version of the Boneturner's Tale, it's on ao3 as "The Boneturner's Tale" by chlodobird. You can read the Middle English, the Modern English translation, or both at the same time: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61599304

[Image ID: Two photos of the black-and-white inside of the book. The first two page spread is a blank page opposed by the title page, reading "The Boneturner's Tale. Written and Typeset by Chlodobird. Based on the Kelmscott Chaucer." There is an intricate border around the title page with leaves and grapes on a swirling vine, and the title is in white text on a black background.

The second has the copyright page on the left, reading "Originally posted on Archive of Our Own on Dec 30, 2024, by chlodobird. archiveofourwon.org/works/61599304. The following text is a work of fanfiction based on 'The Magnus Archives'. This book is a labour of love for the bookbinder's personal enjoyment. No money has been made from this project, and any attempt to do so will incur the consequences of creating a Leitner with ill intent." In smaller text underneath, it reads "*This book is NOT cursed by the Entities!". At the bottom are two logos: "Red-Tailed Bindery" over a grey hawk silhouette, which is the binder's press name, and "Renegade Bindery" under a grey silhouette of a bookpress, which is the name of the fanbinding group that the binder has been learning from. Opposite this page, on the right, there is an old-fashioned illustration of a ribcage. Above it, there is the Magnus Archives quote "Some hungers are too strong to be denied." The right page has the same fancy border as the title page, and the left page border is a slight variation on it. The text is black on a white background. End ID.]

"Books are amazing, aren't they?" -Sebastian Adekoya, MAG 017

[chlodobird-creations]

[Image ID: A photo of a brown hardcover book with a faux-leather cover, sitting on a white background. The light illuminates the textured lines running down and across the cover. On the left side, where the book was sewn onto cords, the raised cords are visible under the faux leather. The raised lines caused by this extend about an inch into the cover and wrap around the spine. End ID.]

This is an anthology of some of my favorite fics I've written for TMA, mostly about Gerry Keay or Jon/Gerry (which can be found on ao3 under the username chlodobird). For this project, I researched medieval bookbinding methods; specifically, I looked at surviving girdle books (the final version of this had a secondary cover that could be attached to a belt, but the velvet didn't cooperate, so I removed it) and the gothic style discussed in Szirmai's book The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding. More images and details under the cut!

This book is 8.8 x 5.75 x 1.25 inches. I sewed this book on double cords and laced it into wood boards, but unlike the majority of gothic bindings described by Szirmai, I did not round or back this book. This is because surviving girdle books were flat-backed (as listed in Margit Smith's The Medieval Girdle Book), and for 99% of this process I thought I was making a girdle book. Luckily, I didn't have much swell to worry about.

[Image ID: A photo of the text block sewn on double cords, with a kettle stitch at the head and tail. The paper is off-white, the thread is a lovely forest green, and the cords are grey and frizzy. The book has not been glued or assembled, and is sitting on a tan desk. End ID.]

[Image ID: A photo of the book after several more steps. The book has been almost entirely assembled; the spine has been lined with fabric in between the cords, the endbands have been glued in, and the cords have been laced through the boards and glued in place. The boards are sanded plywood. The only steps left are to cover the boards and paste down the endpapers. End ID.]

Another alteration I made for the sake of a faithful girdle book was with the headbands; the girdle books Smith describes had a variety of endbands, but the ones from the period and location I was looking at (1500-1550 Germany) did not have traditional tie-downs. Instead, they were stuck-on headbands (which Szirmai refers to as 'short-cut' headbands; I used Fig. 9.31 as a visual reference). To do this, I wrapped fabric around a cord core, then sewed a modified version of DAS Bookbinding's two color front bead headband tutorial.

[Image ID: Two photographs of the green-and-white striped headband. The green thread is the same forest green that was used to sew the signatures into place. The first photo shows the side that faces the fore-edge, and there is a fairly neat bead of thread at the base of the headband, between the wrapped core and the pages.

The second photo shows the spine, where the headband is glued on. The first and last stitches sew lower than the rest, which pierce around the wrapped core. From this angle, the fabric wrapped around the core is visible. It is a green floral pattern on a cream background, which blends in well with the green and white thread. In the background, there is an out-of-focus charging cable. End ID.]

Interior Details that I'm happy with:

The endpapers!

[Image ID: Two photographs of the endpapers. The first photo shows most of the pastedown. The decorative paper has an elegant gold background on a dark green background. It looks somewhat like a fancy wallpaper that might be found in the Magnus Institute.

The second photo is a close-up of the paper, which reveals that the gold pattern is layered over a blue-green pattern in the same shape, but offset to create a sense of depth. It is slightly darker than the blue-green background and fades into the background from far away, but it adds some lovely visual complexity. End ID.]

When I saw this paper in Joann's, I immediately thought of TMA, but couldn't justify getting it for a project when I didn't have anything specific in mind (and I had plenty of paper at home). Flash forward to when I started this project, and I thought there was no way it was still there - but it was! This time I got extra, since it's pretty likely that I'll do at least one more TMA bind. Anyway, I used this paper for made endpapers (once again, following the DAS tutorial. DAS Bookbinding and Four Keys Book Arts were both really valuable resources throughout this process.)

I had room on the copyright page to put the words from Gerry's eye painting in MAG 004: Page Turner.

[Image ID: A photo of a decorative eye illustration. It is just the top half of an eye, and is set above the italicised words "Grant us the sight that we may not know. Grant us the scent that we may not catch. Grant us the sound that we may not call."]

I put a little easter egg on page 160!

[Image ID: The top of two book pages are visible; the second page is at an angle to reveal the one before it. Page 158 has the author's AO3 name, chlodobird, but page 160 has the text "Hello, Jon". Both headers are in all caps. End ID.]

Eyes :)

[Image ID: The line break is a trio of small, simple eye illustrations centered on the page, similar in design to how Gerry's tattoos are usually depicted and described. Snippets of the fic are visible; above the line break reads "desk closest the exit and starts reading." Below the line break reads "Mary Keay is dead. She died three months ago." End ID.]

What would I focus on improving in my next project? Not much! Two things stick out to me: 1) This particular book turned out fairly stiff. I suspect this is because of the pleather fabric I used to cover the boards; I'm hoping it will open more easily with time and use, but I'll also keep experimenting with binding methods and materials. 2) I'm not super thrilled about the combination of fonts I used. That said, I had a limited amount of time for this bind, so I knew going in that I would devote most of my time to the binding rather than the typesetting. Throwing myself wholeheartedly into typography can be the goal of a future project! For this one, I wanted to focus on Szirmai and girdle books, which I consider a success :)

[chlodobird-creations]

Jongerry phantom of the opera au what are your thoughts 🗣️‼️🗣️‼️🗣️🗣️‼️🗣️🗣️‼️🗣️🗣️🗣️‼️🗣️‼️‼️🗣️🗣️‼️‼️‼️‼️🗣️‼️🗣️🗣️🗣️‼️‼️🗣️‼️🗣️‼️🗣️🗣️‼️‼️🗣️‼️‼️

I've already written one!! So I suppose my thoughts are 'hell yes' and also 'what a wonderful opportunity for Angst™' 😂

(If you've already read it and were looking for more specific thoughts, I'm ALWAYS down to talk about aus! As a heads up, I check my inbox on ao3 way more often than here, so if you're looking for a more timely response you might have better luck over there)

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[chlodobird-creations]

It's been a good few years since I had Dean Winchester on the brain, but my younger sibling talked me into listening to Chappell Roan and the spn sleeper agent in me woke up the second I heard 'Die Young'.

[chlodobird-creations]

made this in honor of episode 8!! He gets to be Gerry and nothing could possibly go wrong

[chlodobird-creations]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Gerry has the perfect life. He's got his paintings, his gran, his home. He's happy. The stranger claiming to be his dad is irrelevant.

An episode 8 fic in which everything is Totally Fine, don't even worry about it!!! (Eric would beg to differ)

[chlodobird-creations]

I just finished making D&D spellbooks for myself and my DM! The cleric spell list is inside :) Both books are hand-bound.

(More photos and explanation below the cut)

The books turned out to be the perfect travel-size (4.5"x6"x1.5"). Pen for scale:

I designed the card layout myself, since I didn't love the ones I was seeing online. The pages are cardstock and I dyed them with coffee, baked them in the oven, and then individually ironed each page to have the right amount of waviness. This was the most painful and time-consuming part of the process lmao. Before ironing, the books were around 5 inches thick instead of 1.5", so it was definitely worth it!

The binding is hand-sewn and reinforced with fabric and glue (Elmer's glue is surprisingly durable AND acid free!!). For the covers, I used a red, textured scale fabric for a dragon leather look (thank god for Michaels coupons) and a hell of a lot of Gorilla fabric glue to adhere it to the chipboard, I also made sure that the darkest area lined up with the spine and faded out to a lighter red on the front and back.

My favorite detail is probably the black-and-gold ribbon with a leaf pattern, since it reminds me of medieval manuscripts and was a lucky find - I had exactly enough for the two books, not an inch extra. It's even got bits of red to match the cover!

[chlodobird-creations]

[ID: A watercolor painting of the interior of Pinhole Books. The window is yellow, and casts light on a section of the adjoining bookcase. The books in this area have light brown spines. The rest of the bookcase is in a purple-tinted shadow and the spines of the books are red. There are the silhouettes of a few books displayed in the window atop a cabinet. The whole image is outlined in messy pen. In the center of the window are the words “Pinhole Books”, but the letters are backwards since the words face outwards. End ID]

This is a painting I did for my fic, “jamais vu”! In which Mary gets taken my the Not-Them and Gerry has a fairly rough time :) There’s definitely things I’d do differently next time, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out! The fic is here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/48267607/chapters/121727539

[chlodobird-creations]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Gerry opens his eyes in Gertrude's office; to his surprise (and fury, and grief), not even his death can untangle him from her crusade. He aches, and he has no way to stop it.

In between her demands, he finds himself drawn towards a too-curious researcher.

----------------------

Jon is frowning at something on their computer screen—a map, maybe? Gerry can’t quite make it out—but it doesn’t matter much. What tugs at him is the wrinkle in their forehead, the thoughtful expression on their face. They look like whatever problem they’re considering is the only thing in the world, even in a room filled with desks and people and quiet office chatter. A smile slips onto his face without his permission.

He sticks his hands in his pockets, takes a deep breath, and saunters towards them.

----------------------

a pre-canon, post-ghostification jongerry fic! this was my entry for the TMA Big Bang, which was unfortunately cancelled. however, @purplecrayonismine and I ended up finishing our pieces anyway! head on over to her blog to check out her fantastic painting :D working together on this was a delight!

[chlodobird-creations]

Last line written meme

I was tagged by @mikecrewsteacup! The last line I wrote on my current WIP was: “Gerry looks at them, his expression a mixture of fierce determination and barely-masked terror, and turns away.”

[chlodobird-creations]

[ID: A pencil drawing of Gerard Keay from TMA from the shoulders up. He is an Asian man with long black hair, and there are eye tattoos on this neck and shoulders. He looks into the distance with a somber expression. His nose, lips, and eyebrow are pierced. Underneath the portrait, it is labeled "Gerry Delano". End ID]

Got bored and sketched a Gerry! He's just so easy to think about <3

[chlodobird-creations]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Jon's out on a walk when he stumbles across a scratched and dented lighter. When he takes it back to his flat, he's surprised to find that it's inhabited. This stranger is cursed, tied to the lighter and bound to obey. The main problem? He's not a cursebreaker anymore, and he can't help them. The second problem? He's not sure he should even try.

(Or: In a world with no Entities, where the only two forms of magic are casting and breaking curses, Jon and Gerry find in each other an enemy, a friend, and a partner, in roughly that order.)

[chlodobird-creations]

[ID: A blue-toned traditional painting of Gerry Keay from TMA. He is a thin, pale man with long, patchily dyed black hair. He looks to the side with a thoughtful expression. He has silver piercings, and the eye tattoo over his neck is also silver. End ID] thanks to @ princess-of-purple-prose for writing up an id!

gerry keay, goth queer icon, is excellent for acrylics! I spent several hours on this instead of studying for my midterm but totally worth it :) worth noting this is pre-2012 gerry, since I just picked my paints back up after a couple years’ break and that’s not the time to learn how to paint scars. fucking hell, I was going to give gerry some sick necklaces, too! next time lol

(and yes, the silver paint IS nice and shiny irl)