#Sandman U

[midnight-downpour]

Toys, and the path for autonomy

[chubsonthemoon]

It is done! This is The Death of Translation, originally written in English by @landwriter, translated into Mandarin by @thirrith. Binding is dos-à-dos, with English version on one side and Mandarin on the other. Bookcloth was handwoven by me, on my rigid heddle loom :3

More under the cut!

Typeset: Fanbinders are Liars

Full stop, this typeset would not have been possible without Eth and all their patience, enthusiasm, and willingness to do even more translating! I reached out to them *checks watch* nearly a year ago in July 2023 (lololol), asking if I could use their translation of TDOT in a surprise bind I wanted to send along with Gloam's author copy of Flower King. They were kind enough to say yes, and even kinder to answer my questions when I reached out six months later in January, when I was finally able to start work on the typeset.

We talked about the many delicious things that are bound to come up when discussing translating not just from English to Mandarin, but also from digital space to meatspace. Some topics I had anticipated, like font questions, translating the colophon, etc. But even with the topics I thought I'd prepared for, there were still things that came up that both surprised and delighted: for example, while AO3's website allows for italics in Mandarin--

--my publishing program doesn't (or at least, it doesn't without needing to manually tilt every character by about 10 degrees). So as a workaround, Eth suggested changing these cases of italics to the font 华文楷体:

Through no one's fault but my own, this ended up being only slightly less work than manually tilting every instance of italics--I wanted to be sure that I got all of them, so I ended up doing a lot of double-checking manually anyway, instead of relying solely on the Search function. There was a lot of cross-referencing with the Word document that Eth was kind enough to provide, as well as squinting and general swearing. I also did the same for the uses of Latin script, manually styling each instance as Garamond to keep it consistent with the English edition:

The only other time I've had to do font surgery this intensive is probably for my typeset for Tell Me About the Big Bang, which I had to port over from a PDF. Folks, hell on earth. Do not recommend XD I remember squinting at my monitor as I had to visually confirm every instance of italics, thinking I will never do this again. Welp, four years later, here were are: fanbinders are liars, LMAO. At the very least, using Eth's Word document at least allowed me to search by styles, so it was a little easier on my eyes. 🙏

Is there a script that I might've been able to use if I was more code-savvy? Probably. But I figured going at it sledgehammer style would be the least hair-pulling way to get the job done, weirdly enough. Still, despite my best efforts, there are a few instances of PMingLiU to Garamond and PMingLiU to 华文楷体 that I know I missed, and I know I missed them because I caught them after I'd printed/cut/folded/sewn/glued (cue more swearing), so Gloam and Eth, my apologies >.< please consider them artifacts of a uniquely handmade object ajslkdjfs

In addition to the fonts, there were also some other fun things Eth and I discussed, like how to translate the notes I usually provide on the colophons! In addition to information on fonts, I also usually include some variation of:

This private, limited edition published by chubsthehamster (Moonham Press, imprint of Renegade Publishing) in 2024. This is chubsthehamster's personal copy. Out of three existing copies, this is the first.

The thing that came up with this, which still tickles my brain to this day, was how Eth chose how to translate "Moonham Press, imprint of Renegade Publishing." To get a better sense of what word to use for "imprint," they asked what the relationship was between Moonham Press and Renegade Publishing, which got me thinking about the relationship between my lil imprint and the wonderful @renegadeguild:

What's all very funny about all of this is that we are now, in fact, going by the name "Renegade Bookbinding Guild," per our most recently updated Code of Conduct. While this renders the wording I asked for out of date (and thus, the wording that made it into the book out of date :'D), I think it's also a testament to how cool the work @renegadeguild is doing--like any artform, fanbinding is alive, with its own evolving language, communities, and ideas about the craft. And I love it, I love it so much. (Was this also a plug for our new-ish website? Perhaps).

There's more I could say here, but this post is already going to be long enough, so I'll move on for now! If you get anything from this section, it's that @thirrith is amazing and very patient and kind, and I'm so grateful that we got to talk shop together. Thank you so much for all your invaluable help with this, Eth! I hope the typeset, though undoubtedly flawed, does your hard work justice!

Binding: Or, SO Much Math. Like, So Much, Guys. (It was worth it, though!)

Whoo, boy! So math was never my strong suit in school, but when I set out to do this bind last year, that wasn't an issue. At first. The dos-à-dos binding, if anything, just requires a little bit of finagling on the usual case-bound format--a bit more math if you want to do an all-cloth cover, like I planned on doing, but nothing I couldn't work out with some trial and error. (My prototype below!)

Then came February, when I took a weaving class with my friend, and then everything kinda exploded.

My original idea was to use some green Duo bookcloth I had on hand (this color, actually)--for those of you not initiated into the Duo cult, Duo is a Rayon bookcloth with a very devoted fan following in Renegade. It's very pretty; the Rayon weave is one color, and the paper backing is usually complementary color, so it has this cool two-toned effect. Duo is in high demand in Renegade circles because sadly, the company that manufactures it went out of business last year. (Although I've heard rumors recently that there's another company making something similar, but the cloth has a really high purchase requirement and is, like, for businesses only I think).

Anyway, I also wanted to have a gold line around the whole book as a kind of bellyband/obi to further connect the two versions of the story (another reason why I chose the dos-à-dos format to begin with heh), as you can see from my scribbled notes here--

But alas! I knew going in that adhering things to Duo is often Problematic, thanks to one very painful experience trying to get some iron-on foil on another bind (the textured surface of Duo just makes it kinda hard to stick or paint stuff on it). So if I wanted a clean, continuous line, the remaining options were to either paint it on a strip of paper that I'd somehow...adhere to the cloth? Or maybe cut different slices of bookcloth and glue them on. I wasn't satisfied with either of those options, though.

Then--the weaving class. I made a scarf, and I love it and I loved making it. But the whole time, I'll not lie, my thoughts were elsewhere.

In short, my decision to weave my own bookcloth kinda came from a few different factors:

The desire to attempt to recreate Duo, that elusive beauty, the one that got away, etc. (I have several yards in my stash, but still). Others have also attempted to recreate it, and I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring.

My current spiral into the deep hole that is fiber arts (it started with crochet, then knitting, then sewing, then weaving, then spinning, and now I'm eyeing quilting! Please help me).

The gold line. It kept bugging me. And when I found weaving, I just thought there was something very neat about the process of actually making the cloth for a dos-à-dos binding from scratch, and especially for this binding. I wanted to bind a story about translation (or rather, the death of it, and yet still the necessity of it--how we must try to communicate, despite of, or perhaps precisely because of, everything that gets lost in the spaces between people, and the tragedy of that loss, and the beauty of what makes it through, and the love always present in the effort regardless), and also, the translation of that story. Weaving is a very meditative process, and with every pass of the shuttle, back and forth, building slowly but surely the fabric that would hold the story that Gloam had written and that Eth had translated, I thought a lot about translation, and the gaps between people, and how we choose our words not just when translating, but when we speak at all. From a design perspective, I used the same colors I would've used had I chosen the Duo bookcloth--green and gold--so the design wasn't too altered in terms of color scheme. But I think the choice to weave the bookcloth--the thing that bound it all together--made the project take on a completely new meaning for me, both in process and in scope, one that hadn't been there when I started. I saw the warp, perhaps, as the original story, laying the groundwork for the weft, the translation; or maybe it was the other way around, with the translation providing the scaffolding for its own, new meaning, choices that Eth had to make with this word or phrase or another building something new, something translated, and the original a live, moving thing that wove over and under each word turned phrase turned story; or maybe it was both. Maybe it didn't matter which was which, in the end. And as I wove, the thing that connected them, that gold line that had started all of this, slowly formed.

All that to say: Good God, was there a lot of math. So much math. That prototype pictured above was actually made specifically so I could calculate exactly how much I needed to weave, lol, because while I certainly had enough thread, I didn't want to have to warp more than once. I'd learned the basics in my class, but the training wheels came off here. I wanted to make my own custom fabric, which meant calculating things like ends per inch, picks per inch, loom waste, shrinkage after washing, the width of that damn gold line, how much I'd need for the hinge, the turn-ins, the boards--the whole nine yards (I didn't actually weave nine yards tho heh). It was all absolutely worth it in the end--so challenging and so, so rewarding!

(And my final reason for weaving the bookcloth? Not gonna lie, It was because I just wanted to see if I could do it LOL. I love trying at least one new thing with each of my binds, and this was it for this project. While I've been bookbinding for a few years now, I'm still very much a beginner weaver, and I'm so excited to continue to learn and experiment! Also, here's a video of me unwinding the cloth from the loom, heh. I used 10/2 Perle cotton in gold and green colors :3)

Also, turns out, you can back handmade cloth the same way you can any other cloth! I backed it using my usual heat-n-bond method, and with some Unryu Tissue in the color Forest. Since the cloth itself is a bit transparent, there are a bunch of really fun fibers you can see when it's held up to the light, but which aren't visible when the cloth is glued down to the boards. Still, knowing they're there still makes me happy :D

Finally, capping all this off, is one final, small detail I really liked: ginkgo leaf endpapers :3 this one's for me and Eth and Gloam specifically <3

Aaaand that's all from me for today, folks! Thus ends (several months late XD) my last Binderary project for the year. This was probably my most ambitious bind to date, and gosh it was so, so much fun.

And, of course, thank you so much to Gloam for sharing your story, and Eth for translating it. I can't wait for y'all to receive your copies soon!

All my love! <3

[eyenaku]

ouaghhh been playing 2 much pressure oughhahhhh gitm on my mind 24/7

sandman n misuta are from ghost in the machine by @venomous-qwille 🔥

[fishfingersandscarves]

cries for 5 billion years about hounds by @xx-vergil-xx

[groovy-rat-man]

Omg theyre hideous <3

If i had money I'd buy them all and make them kiss and play dolls with them<33

[appleleef]

this is what happened right

[sevrinve]

trapped

[wizardofgoodfortune]

and it rings in the day and it rings in the evening oh, i could pray, but it won't stop you leaving —phildel, “funeral bell”

[justaghouletteintheclergy]

𝑊𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑈𝑝 𝑇𝑜 𝑌𝑜𝑢

𝑃𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔: 𝐷𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑛𝑑𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑥 𝐹!𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟

𝐹𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑚: 𝑆𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑚𝑎𝑛

𝑊𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠: 𝑁𝑜𝑛𝑒

𝑆𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑦: 𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐵𝑒𝑑𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝐸𝑚𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒

𝐺𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑦 @///𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑑𝑦𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑠. 𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑦 𝑚𝑒

Darkness shifted to light, birds were chirping from their trees and the sun begining to shine down upon the streets of London. Spreading it's warmth down on early morning risers. A new day had begun.

Y/N began to stir, the morning light peaking out through her curtains and hitting her directly in the eye. She frowned and held a hand up to block the light. Her eyes blinking open, adjusting to being rudely awaken so suddenly.

The woman, being now awake, was aware of the weight pressed down on her. She looked down and suddenly the memory of last nights events came rushing back. Y/N had invited the Dream Lord to sleep with her, to cuddle her, to not be lonely anymore, even if for just a night.

She smiled at the sight of his sleeping form. Gently, she raised her hand and ran her fingers through the dark strands of his hair. The action caused the Endless to tighten his hold on her, pressing his face deeper onto her chest. The mortal couldn't help but let out a breathy laugh. Who knew the King of Dreams liked cuddles so much.

She laid there comfortably, relaxing all the while she continued to pet the man's wild hair. It was nice. Until she needed to go to bathroom.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Ever so gently, she slipped herself out of Dream's arms, careful not to disturb the sleeping Endless. Once she was out of bed, she replaced herself with a pillow, she watched him for a moment, searching for any signs of him waking up.

He didn't. He simply clutched at the pillow, like a cat clutching at their bed. He buried his face into the pillow and breathe out a small sigh. He was content once again.

She leaned against the wall as she watched him sleep, a soft smile gracing her lips, a heartfelt look settled in her eyes. Dream looked so peaceful like this. As if all the burdens he was forced to carry washed away, he was beauitful like this, her heart ached at the sight. She could feel herself falling even more in love with the cosmic being. Shaking her head, she turned and exited the room.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Once finished with the bedroom, her stomach began to growl. "I'll have a quick breakfast before joining him again." She thought to herself, making her way to the kitchen.

Y/N got started on breakfast, nothing too difficult, just a simple omlet. Hoping to hurry so she could spend more time with Dream. She simply didn't want to deal with the Waking World just yet, just wanting to exist only in his arms for a few moments longer.

Finishing up breakfast, she took her plate and sat at the table to eat.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Once done, she got up and started on washing the dishes. Y/N hummed a tune while scrubbing at the pan, all was calm, peaceful, and not to mention, beautiful too. It simply was a gorgeous London summer morning. London is always so cloudy, hence why Y/N cherished mornings like this.

As she placed the dishes on the dishrack, she heard a tap. She looked around the kitchen, wondering if she really heard a noise or was it her mind playing tricks. Just as she was about to leave the kitchen, she heard it again, three little taps at the window above her sink. She pushed aside the curtains, and there Matthew sat perched on the windowsill. She smiled at the Raven before opening up the small window for him. "Hello Matthew, what you doing here?"

The Raven flew inside, landing on the countertop next to her. "Hey Y/N, i was wondering if the boss was here. We kinda need him back in the Dreaming. Caw." Matthew replied.

It looks like her plans to spend the rest of the morning with Dream were ruined. She wasn't too upset however, she knew how important it was to take care of the Dreaming. "I should've known. Come on then." The woman patted her shoulder, gesturing to him to hop on in order to take him to his King.

Matthew took his place on her shoulder and the two of them making their way to the bedroom.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

As they both made their way to the bedroom, she warned the Raven to keep quiet, for the Dream King was asleep.

Matthew gave the woman a quizzical look. "He sleeps? I didn't think he had too."

She chuckled. "I thought so too."

Carefully, she opened the bedroom door and tip toed inside. There Dream laid, still fast asleep, still clutching onto the pillow she gave him.

"Never thought i'd see the boss look so.... Peaceful." The bird whispered. She only hummed in acknowledgement.

Sitting near the dark haired man, she placed her hand on his arm. Even under the covers, the Endless kept cold.

"Morpheus." She spoke, attempting to wake him.

Nothing.

"Morpheus, you have to wake up now." This time lightly shaking his arm

Dream began to stir, turning so he now laid flat on his back. His eyes slowly opened, and once half lidded eyes spotted the woman, he gave a sleepy smile.

She returned his smile. "Good morning my King." Y/N said softly, thumb rubbing the skin of his arm.

He hummed at the action. "Good morning. How did you sleep?"

"Wonderfully." She replied.

Dream smiled, placing a hand over hers, thumb rubbing over her knuckles. "I am happy to hear."

"Caw! Umm, i hate to interrupt but we need you back in the Dreaming" Matthew chirped in.

Dream paused, how did he fail to notice his Raven perched on Y/N's shoulder? He cleared his throat, almost embarrassed at being caught in such a state. "Of course. Come Matthew." Dream pushed off the covers, getting out of the warm bed. Matthew immediately flew over to the King's shoulder.

Dream looked at the mortal before him, a clear loving gaze in his eye, eyes shining with unhidden adoration. "I wish to thank you for your... Hospitality."

Y/N blushed, pink colored her cheeks. Grinning she said. "Anytime. You know you're always welcome here Morpheus."

He gave one last smile towards her and nod of his head before sand swirled around the two, taking them back to his realm, leaving the young woman now alone in her bedroom.

Laying back on her bed, she let out a sigh. Next time... She's skipping breakfast.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Bonus!

"So.... Why were you sleeping at Y/N's place?" Matthew questioned.

Dream gave a pointed glance towards his Raven, the look in his dark eyes was more than enough to silence the bird from asking any questions.

[densewentz]

more dreamling dad au bc thats just what i do now apparently i like lazy afternoon naps and so do our boys

[flamingoprincess25]

GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS

ITS FINISHED I FINALLY FINISHED IT ANAHAHANAHAHAHHA

Anyways I’m gonna go fly into a wall now. Enjoy :3

Bonus Alternates:

[violetlovesanime]

The moon's are bonding!!!

Have this meme in honor of the latest chapter despite it not correlating to the chapter at all<3

GITM belongs to @venomous-qwille~

[meloartist]

season 2 when

[neytui]

Him everybody

[dxliriumoftheendless]

this is so dreamling coded

[bazooka-overkill]

i cant stop drinking oil i just cant stop /ref

I CANT STOP DRAWING THESE.... GHRRRRR THESE GAY PEOPLE!!11!1!!!! explodes

erm sum headshots + explanations as to how they r during contender mode, TD, and when sandman wins his title back (2009 wii version btw......,,)

also again im still trying to figure out how 2 draw everyone so sandman might look odd lmao

the headshots themselves:

more info under cut cuz theres a lot of info

contender mode:

clementine 🍊

after working with sandman for over a decade, he's EXTREMELY confident that sandman will keep his title; he'll only lose it when he retires.

however, after seeing that star punch... he may have some doubts. but that's okay.

paperwork has been a steady stream and never ending, but that's the usual. sponsorships have been interested in little mac vs sandman, and clementine is happy to entertain the idea of more media attention.

he's excited to see his champ win another round. plus, he's got his two week vacation soon. woohoo!

sandman ⏳

he's been at the top for years. there's no one that can bring him down.

he's heard of the little guy— what was his name? little mac?— running through the circuits. he was at bald bull so far, and that fight was scheduled for next week.

sandman's not really worried. he has been training more often, just in case. clementine's been helping out a bit with that.

TD:

clementine 🍊

well, shit. there goes his vacation.

sponsorships are pulling in and out, the media somehow found out where he lives, and there's so much happening that clementine thinks he's going crazy.

clementine thought he had imagined sandman's haircut.

he hasn't slept in god knows how long; the paperwork wormed its way into when he's supposed to sleep.

and, shit, the time he ISN'T at work is spent falling back into old habits.

he's *trying* to get a meeting with sandman to discuss what the hell happened during that match, but he isn't answering any of his calls or texts.

no one has seen him, but clementine knows where he is: training.

he'll go down to where he thinks sandman is in a minute. just... he needs to lay down first.

sandman ⏳

livid doesn't cover half of how pissed he is.

he fucked up badly. lost the title he held for however long he had.

now look at him: a mess. a tired, bloody-knuckled mess.

he hasn't slept, hasn't eaten, hasn't been anywhere but his apartment and the gym.

he needs to train. even if his knuckles are bleeding, even if his body aches, even if his phone is blowing up with texts and calls and whatever else.

sandman wants his title back. that's *his* title.

fuck the sponsorships.

fuck the cameras.

fuck the money.

he's the world champ.

title won back:

clementine 🍊

he's seen a lot in his career, but a real life speedrun of a boxing career? never.

in just under a year, clementine watched someone absolutely pummel the competition, become the champion, and then retire.

while clementine was absolutely thrilled that sandman got his title back, he was worried. very worried.

knowing sandman's anger problems, especially seeing the building he broke, clementine recommended— forced— sandman into therapy. the last thing he wanted for him was his license being suspended due to anger issues in the ring.

clementine put himself back in therapy as well. surprisingly, the WVBA actually accepted both of them going into therapy. go figure.

paperwork has slowed down, but it's still there. the media is still harassing him, but that's normal.

all that matters is that sandman is fine.

and that his fuck ass haircut is gone.

sandman ⏳

the once familiar weight of the belt feels... odd.

his title is back in his hands before.

sure, his record was now 31-1, but maybe that's the reason why he feels weird.

yeah. that's why. no other reason.

no... other reason.

just focus on protecting his title from now on.

me working on this: