#rose serpent bindery

[roseserpentpress]

Comments and fic links below! (PS: click to see not crap quality photos/videos)

First finished ficbind for 2024, and first that I actually tried my hand at gold leafing (compared to previous use of gold inking). The gilding uses a hand-painted on glue and then the gold sheet overload and rubbed off; since the glue is put down not flat it adds a bit of texture to it, much like embroidery which I found cool. The design was based off a old cover design which I altered slightly to fit for the title of the book; been wanting to use one of the designs for a very long time now so rather chuffed to use one this time round, and (generally) well please with the typesetting. I actually painted the cover all in one long day with one piece running in the background during the holidays, lol. Two photos below are WIP photos and one including one of my su-purr-visors on my very cluttered desk. He's since passed due to being hit by a car, so the photos of him supervising me for this fanbind is something special to me.

The book itself contains mainly the Trigun vashwood fic Trillium and Ivy and upon remembering that there's a few other shorter stories involved, it became an impromptu anthology of the series. So overall it contains:

Trillium and Ivy (E, 80k)

Nick Wolfwood is the new director of Conrad-Chapel Funeral Home in May City, located across the street from Saverem Greenhouse & Landscaping. Over time, the owner, Vash, gets to know Nick and introduces him to the rest of the neighborhood, including local busybodies and married feminist bookshop owners Meryl and Milly. Vash and Nick are inexorably drawn to each other until they have to start admitting their feelings.

But Vash's brother, co-owner of the garden center, hasn't left his past as far behind as the twins had hoped when they started their lives over in May.

Raise a Glass to the Turnings of the Season (G, 7k)

A collection of small ficlets set in the universe of Trillium and Ivy, a modern AU in which Wolfwood runs a funeral home across the street from Vash and Knives' garden center.

Regarding the subjects of hospital visits, body image issues, adoption, laundry, and more.

I've seen all the demons that you've got (T, 8k)

The Hollywood-glam-slash-mad-scientist meet cute is going perfectly well, thank you. Except for all the anxiety, loneliness, insomnia, nightmares, body dysmorphia, identity struggles, poor communication, stalkers, arson, kidnapping, drugs, and concussions.

Other than those things... Knives might actually be onto a good thing in his life for once.

[A brief look into Knives' experience during Trillium and Ivy, a modern AU in which Wolfwood runs a funeral home across the street from Vash and Knives' garden center.]

[roseserpentpress]

Long time no post, but here's a post of a fanfic originally finished near new years... technically earlier, and then didn't like something and changed it which took. About a month and a half to get around too... and then promptly continued to dilly-dally in taking photos and posting it (I've also got another book I've bound that I finished in the early summer that I, uh... Still have procrastinated in posting. I do intend to do a yearly recap as well for my bindery fingers crossed as soon as I get the other one posted).

I personally fell in love with this Ginroki x Hijikata fic as I adored the writing style of the author since it is so incredibly beautifully and poetically written. I actually had a conversation with the author about the bookbind, which is why it was higher on the priority list (and since it was easily themed and shorter) but since I had first contacted them the fic had been instead switched to anonymous. As a result, I had to change some typesetting to represent the change, but nevertheless, thank you to the author for letting the fic stay up and a gentle reminder that choosing to orphan, rather than delete fics you don't want associated with you anymore is always an option!

Link as always below the read more :)

Lilac (17k, E)

Gintoki remains quiet, but there’s that twitch to his mouth that Toshirou recognizes as amusement. “It’s true what they call you, then.” He says, “A messenger of the devil.”

“No one has ever called me anything like that.”

“A demon.” Gintoki digresses.

“Yeah, that— I’ve been called.”

[roseserpentpress]

In lieu of the second jjk season coming out, I thought it would be a good idea to finally get around to posting the photos of the satosugu fic by the lovely @valleykey, that I bound and finished like... Two months ago... Don't look at me. Also don't talk to me about how wanted to bind the fic like a year ago. Considering what's coming this season I find it appropriate to post since this is very much in that vein, so it's somewhat amusing to me that me sitting on my ass has resulted in this good timing.

Since the fic revolves around Geto Suguru I thought it would be fun to lean into some of his motifs, which ended up being the unifying theme for the book, with dragons and orbs. The end papers I originally wasn't going to use since I didn't have enough paper that was upright of that print, but they fit so well to Suguru as a character that I really wanted to use them. And then since I realized that the fic is about two seperate timelines and versions of the characters meeting, having the endpapers face different ways actually fit thematically, so I went ahead with them that way.

This fic is honestly incredibly well written with such brilliant and well thought out characterization (honestly, this Suguru is canon to me), I cannot recommend it enough. I could go on gushing about this fic forever, but I'll spare everyone. The link as per usual, is below:

Carry Me Home (T, 58k)

The boy shifts on his feet. “The year is two thousand and eighteen? Common Era?”

Slowly, smile still plastic on his face, Suguru faces Satoru. This fucking dumbass. “Satoru,” he says, dangerous edge to his voice, “what did you do?”

Satoru makes some bastardization of a sound, half between a laugh and a cough. “...Whoops?”

“I,” Suguru grits, pinching two fingers together, “am this close to mass murder.” He’s joking. Probably.

///OR: Shortly before Getō would have massacred a village, he and Gojō are thrust eleven years forward into a would-have-been future that Getō is conspicuously absent from.

[roseserpentpress]

Newest fanbind! This time white pony, a Trigun vashwood vampire western au fic by @phaltu. Was absolutely thrilled to be able to chat with them while assembling and putting together the design for the fic. I drew the spooked carousel horse myself for the title page, and ended up using it for a few other designs as well. A fun little design tidbit is that the paragraph separators are stylized 'vampire bites'; and to signify the end of the fic I did a vampire bite with a drop of blood coming from it, to match the stylized one on the carousel horse.

As always there's a few nitpicks I have with the book's construction, including the covers ending up a bit warped and the end bands being a bit shabby, but this is the first time a book is so thin, so it's expected to have a few things not go my way.

Below the read more is the fic summary and link, and a video of me handling the book.

white pony (M, 10k)

Nicholas Wolfwood is a man of infallible faith, according to his own words.

He is a man of the cloth, a man of virtue, a man whose darkened gaze and roguish looks have entrapped a congregation sizable for a backwater town just south of New Miami, a beacon of light in the one place on Gunsmoke where the sun never rises. The glitz and the neon of the city refuse to spill over to the place Wolfwood calls home, which works all the well, because it seems to need no help in attracting other strange things into town.

[roseserpentpress]

Another Bonhoeffer book, for my father for father days, which I finished were last summer but neglected to post until now, whoops. The typesetting was based off the version found in the Internet Archives, and the cover design based off of one of the early editions, except I made the green a lot darker and the lettering gold so in all... Not that similar to that edition ahaha. This shade of green seems to dislike being photographed, but I've done my best to represent it. It's certainly been interesting to use cloth instead of paper, which I'm more used to using, and in the process of typesetting I learned how to use drop caps which I am now very keen on, as well as page footnotes. The end papers are also a homage to the other Bonhoeffer book I've bound for my father, which has the same end papers.

[roseserpentpress]

A fic that's been on my to-finish list for a while... And then I did finish about a month ago, but then was travelling so had no time to post. This was my first attempt to use fabric for part of the covers, and honestly I liked it except for having to painstakingly hand paint the tiny letters on in acrylic, and realizing that I wanted a title card in the same colour which wouldn't work very well with fabric... So I ended up using those paint cards you can take from hardware stores, which I don't recommend using haha, the surface is very plastic-y and pens don't dry on it properly... But the colour matches, so hey. The fabric also IMMEDIATELY picked up my cats hair as well... But I like the look and feel of it, what can I say.

I personally really like the section breaks being running wolves (if one zooms in on the last photo you can see em) and that I matched the chapter designs to the titles! Also looking at it after I was like, fuck I forgot the chapter title page numbers, but oh well.

Wolf and I (46k, E)

Hannibal (TV), Hannibal Lector/Will Graham

Will wonders what constitutes good prey, and answers his own question—a high risk, a good chase, a hard kill. Tangentially he asks, “What’s the longest something’s survived you?”

Hannibal says, “Never through the night.”

Or, Will encounters a creepy stray and discovers the truth about Hannibal

[roseserpentpress]

Something I finished about a month ago but kept forgetting to post. A notebook with oil-tanned fish leather spine (specifically, from a male kelp greenling caught during last summer). It's technically a gift for my mother for Christmas, but then it ended up being, well, incredibly late and I had by then bought her another gift, so instead it's going to be a mother's day present... Which is still so far away.

The fish skin was definitely interesting to use and I had to play around with glues to see which would work the best for adhering the skin to the boards- in the end I used a wood glue for it. I also had chosen to use a very thin board for the cover, which had its own trials and tribulations, but in the end I'm quite pleased with it. I certainly hope to be incorporating more fish leather into more projects as I've got more fish leather and it is very cool and enjoyable to see them become part of a practical everyday object.

[roseserpentpress]

Rose Serpent Press: behind the name and design

I've been meaning to talk about the name of my bindery and the design I've chosen for it, but hadn't gotten around to it until today... I had originally meant to talk about it during binderary when it would be thematically appropriate and then proceeded to not do that... Anyhow, here's it now.

Rose- both to call to mind the colour and the flower.

The flower obviously represent the romance genre, which most fanfiction tends to revolve around. In fact the design of a rose has been used as an emblem by some publishing companies to specifically denote on the spine that it's a romance novel, which I partly got the idea from. The flower in the centre of the design is actually a wild rose which, of course, has its own significance with this being a non-professional bindery which is part of Renegade bindery, binding unconventional works. Also, wild roses like these grow in the area that I'm from, so it's also a nod to the geographical location I bind from.

The second part of rose which implies the colour pink, is to actually note the content as queer. Pink has been correlated with queerness since Nazi's forced those who they deemed gay to wear a pink triangle, and the colour and signia has since then been reclaimed by community. In this way I wanted to recognize that the work I'm binding is queer, especially emphasizing the history of oppression and censorship that comes with it, as well as present day issues of oppression and censorship around queer media. This is especially so as part of the books that were sought out and burned in Nazi Germany where queer books, and so I find this allusion quite apt. Part of the reason I bind fics, other than the enjoyment of the process, is recognizing both the incredibleness and the fragility of what we have on ao3; we have a huge sea of queer (erotic and platonic!) work and expression at our fingertips, like never before, but it's also not necessarily permanent, as the recent attack on ao3 reminds us. So to be able to bind these stories made with so much love, and to be able to preserve it, while also giving more love back to these communities with my own creations is a way to fight back against queer censorship and erasement (if I may be so bold and sappy...)

Serpent- yeah actually that's it for poetic stuff. This is more that I love snakes and been obsessed with oroborous' since I watched the Secret of Kells as a kid, and my previous stamp for the first few books included an oroborous on it. However, if you wanted to be poetic, it can be the recognition of the infinite queer persistence; we will and have always been here, even when oppressed. That and rose serpent could be flowery language for... Well I'm sure you can guess hehehe. Thematically appropriate for gay erotica ;D

For the design I heavily based it off of a design from a Latin and french emblem book called Imagination poetique and seeing the elements of the design and recognizing what could be implied, I immediately wanted to use it for my binderary design. I then tweaked the design until I liked it; I can't find the photo of all the original drawings I did playing with the design... I'll find it and add it later. I did the carving of the stone seals myself.

[roseserpentpress]

Hey 😊 I'm very interested in getting into fan binding, and I love your work! I wonder, how much does it normally cost you to bind a book? I see you made quite a few in 2022 and I would love to hear about the average amount you normally spend :) best of luck on your future projects!

Aww thank you for the compliment! ❤️ I'm also really terribly sorry for how long it took for me to write out this response--I've been really busy lately, and properly calculating what actually goes into my books is something I haven't really done previously, as I typically engage in fanbinding as a hobby, and I don't usually keep track of how much is going into my books. It's also a bit difficult to exactly calculate materials wise as often things I buy end up going a long way... so breaking down the prices can be difficult as you'll see below.

Anyhow! Fanbinding is a really lovely hobby, and highly encourage you to get into it when you have the time and energy! If you are interested and haven't yet joined the Renegade bindery discord (18+ however!) with all the lovely fanbinding/bookbinding enthusiasts, I'd highly recommend you do as they have a bunch of resources for beginners and are an absolutely lovely community.

To properly answer your question, what one spends on making books can really depend on the materials you use. Hell, there was a document from Renegade on how to make really low cost book out of materials you just have lying around at home, which I unfortunately can't find right now. Personally the cost has also varied depending on where I'm getting my resources, and as you become familiar with whats in you area, you can also minimize cost for certain resources. Below the read more I'll actually give a break down of what generally goes into a 100 page (about 100k) A6 book. Everything will be given in CAD as I live in Canada.

Basic A6 100 pg Book:

Paper: 1.7$ as 100 pages would be 50 sheets of paper. It's 17$ for a ream (500 pages) of cream paper. I'm not sure the exact price for the printer, as that I own my own printer. I know that for just plain bright white and black and white text you are charged .20 per page at Staples, which for a 100 page book would be 20$.

Bookboard: .80-3$ I've had quite a variety of bookboard I've bought; currently am getting 9$ for a pack of 6 chipboard which makes about 12 a6 books; so about .79$, but I've previously bought chip board that is much more expensive (15$ a pack for about 4 books, which would be 3.75$ per book). I've also used the back of old sketch books, stiff and flat shipping envelopes for prints,and I've recently seen that someone recycles old books from library sales where the books are just going to go to the landfill.

Endpaper: I like coloured end and cover papers; per one sheet, it is usually about $5-10. Depending on my use of the paper, usually I can get about two A6 book worths out of the paper, which means about per 1 a6 its 2.5-5$ for the end paper.

Cover paper: For cover paper I often use a mix of paper. I also usually use the same type of fancy papers as the end papers, so thats an extra 5-10$, which can be halved. However, I often mix this with simple single coloured cardstock paper for scrapbooks. Normally, since I'm cheap, I buy the dollar store paper which is about .75$ per sheet. So about cover paper goes from 3.5-6$.

Ribbon: I like to make my books with ribbons so they are not just supported by sewing. Again, I'm not fancy so I use micheals/dollarstore polyester ribbons; a roll costs about 1.5-3$. For spine ribbons, getting a white or neutral colour is best as that in-between the signatures the colour isn't obvious. However, for adding ribbon bookmarks, it's nice to have a colour that matches the colour scheme of the book. The rolls obviously end up being used for more than one book project, so it's somewhere in the cents for the ribbons per book. I like silky polyester for ribbons as for those used as a bookmark, you can easily ensure the end doesn't fray by using a lighter to melt the very edge.

Thread: I just use sewing thread that I double when sewing the signatures together. It's about 3$ for a roll of white, and will last a very long time. I do like to add beeswax to the thread, which is somewhat optional. You could probably also use other soft waxes such as those used in candles if you don't specifically have beeswax. That cost will be under beeswax though.

Backing cloth - I purchase micheals squares of linen fabric, which you can buy for $2-3 for the cloth backing of the spine. Again, you can get quite a few cloth backing out of one square of fabric. You can also choose to use cloth instead of paper for a book cover, which then you would swap the coverpaper to the price of the cloth. Again, purchasing a neutral cream-white for the cloth is the best for the backing for the cracks between the signatures. I also know people will use misprint paper for backing, which would be even cheaper.

Paste: Personally as I'm cheap, so I like to make bookbinders paste at home; this is made by boiling a flour-water mixture. However, bookbinders paste takes long to dry, and for the first time or two might be more damp then you want and can leave your pages a bit wrinkly; as well, I'm not sure how acid free it would be considered in the long run, and its not a strong bond if it's not a large surface area that's paper-paper. Lots of people like to use ph-neutral PVC glue instead, which an art store near me sells around 10$ for 8oz, which is definitely pricier in comparison, but you'll end up using it for many books, so it can pay off. I've also however used simple Elmer's glue a couple of years ago in my first bookbinding forays, which is also cheap.

Head bands

Twine: lots of people use different types of cores for their headbands, but something that can remain an even width is good. I use this type of twine, which costs about 12$ per roll. The one I use is one I already had at home. Obviously you can get a quite a few headbands out of a ball of twine.

Embroidery floss: about 1.5$ for two different colours. Again, you'll only be using part of the whole embroidery floss for the endbands.

Beeswax proofing

Beeswax: 7 oz for 7$. Again, a fraction of one of these bars is used per book.

Mineral Spirits: also a fraction required for the a single book. A bottle however is about 11$ for 4.2 oz.

So if you are going by the bulk items, without anything at home including everything and going middle of the road for prices, that would be about $84... however, most of these costs are negligible in the long run per an individual book, plus often you may have some of these lying around already, which can significantly cut into these costs. As a result a more accurate cost of materials per a single individual book would be about maybe $30.50 on average, and going by middle of the road for some prices, and utilizing the 20$ for the text block via staples. The heaviest cost will always be printing out your textblock, which can be minimized if you have your own printer at home (but then you need to invest in one...).

However, cost again can really quite vary, depending on what materials you are using! Starting off with things you already have at home significantly cuts into material costs, and starting on smaller projects will make the material cost cheaper. Plus, some fancy paper can be bought in packs for cheaper then they type of paper I tend to purchase. I hope this was at least somewhat informative, even if it took forever for me to write this up for you, apologies again about that!

[roseserpentpress]

Zosan cat fic anthology (plus the tiger Zoro figure I had just finished making a little while ago!)

Fic links, comments and a photo of my cat below:

Having read a few zosan cat-related fics, I thought it would be really fun to make a small, cat themed zosan anthology, and here it is! To my delight, I found a paw print font (pawprints on defont) but to my annoyance it had no option to have no pawprints on the letters which made it look too busy, nor was there already a version of the font without pawprints, so for the first time I broke out fontforge to make my own version of the font in which I dropped the pawprints. I also drew little cat Zoros and Sanji's for each of the main stories title pages; bookbinding really is a good mash of different hobbies and skills I swear. Also on the mention of other hobbies, I was well pleased that I finished the book and my tiger Zoro figure relatively closely so I could take a photo of them together; here's the post for more photos of the figure and the post for the progress pics!

Also amusingly, when I originally was putting together the anthology, I had not added the second part of stay, and had assumed it would be a somewhat thinner small volume then it is... Which is rather incorrect. I do have to say it's a truly delightful proportion, being this thick and small! I'm also quite pleased at how the cover turned out, with the little gold pawprints. Originally for the title I was going to find a different name and then just went for the one I had originally named the file after, since it's well themed. Wait actually I think I was going to use ships cat and just now realized that... Ooops. Oh well. Also, as a bonus: here's my old cat hanging out on my lap while I was working on the gold foiling!

Fics include:

Stay by @itsmylifekay (NW, 21.5 k)

Sanji doesn't know what he's done in a past life to deserve this, but somehow when Zoro gets turned into a cat he's the one stuck on babysitting duty. How someone that small can cause so much trouble, he'll never understand.

But even after all the hell he's put through, he still manages to fall in love.

Without Words (NW, 3.8 k)

(stay part ii)

Sanji likes to dote on the people he cares about, likes to express himself fully and without reservation. But sometimes that’s hard to do living on a pirate ship, especially when the person he wants to be affectionate with is a prickly, stubborn asshole of a man.

Or, Zoro gets a bath.

Cat's Cradle by Hazel_Athena (T, 21.5k)

In which a run in with a new Devil Fruit user leaves Sanji with an unexpectedly furry problem.

Ship's Cat by @helloharubo (T, 3k)

The Going Merry has a mouse infestation. Despite Usopp's attempts, Sanji has yet to find a solution to the problem. Enter Zoro, the world's deadliest mouser.

or

Zoro is the ship's cat and expects rewards.

[roseserpentpress]

🌹Rose Serpent Press Yearly Overview 2023 🌹

Better late then never am I right? Stats below the read more!

🐍Total:

6 books bound, all unique, and single fic books rather then duplicates or anthologies. Of these, 4 were fanfiction.

Of these, 4 were A6 and 2 were A5.

A total of 213599 words uniquely typeset.

The word count this year was a little less then the year before, and about half of the number of books bounds then last year. This result is likely as this year many of my typesets focused on single-fic books rather than anthologies, series of anthologies, ot duplicates which composed of a good number of the ones I had bound last year. I had also been quite busy this year unfortunately, and didn't have as much time as I wanted to put work into bookbinding. I had also gotten a lot more pickier for how I like to do my typesetting, and as a result it took me much longer to do a typeset then previously. Which reminds me I have some nearly finished typesets I just need to touch one or two things up on... ooops. This also seems to be a A6 enthusiast year as I seem to have focused mainly on those, rather then the previous A5 books.

Total of books bound over the two years now: 19 books, 2 published literature, 1 journal, and 16 fanfiction. For fanfiction, 50 unique fics have been printed, spanning across 6 fandoms. Four new fanfics were added this year to the list, and three new fandoms; Hannibal, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Trigun.

🐍Fandoms and Ships:

Trigun: Vash the Stampede x Nicholas - 1 book, 1 fic

Jujutsu Kaiden: Gojo Satoru x Getou Suguru - 1 book, 1 fic

Gintama: Sakata Ginroki x Toushirou Hijikata - 1 book, 1 fic

Hannibal: Hannibal Lecter x Will Graham - 1 book, 1 fic

Published literature/other: 1 book, and 1 journal

🐍Breakdown by title:

Nachfolge (A5) - 82150 words

Lilac (A6) - 16820 words

Journal (A5) - no words, 60 sheets

Wolf and I (A6) - 46115 words

White pony (A6) - 10049 words

Carry Me Home (A5) - 58465 words

[roseserpentpress]

Fourth and last (maybe... Side-eyeing u Icha Icha Strap from one of the Naruto games) installment of the Icha Icha Kakashi x Iruka series I've been doing: Icha Icha Tactics. The loose theme this time is paperwork and transformations. Because tactics involves both of those, sure. I spent a good while with this one figuring out which fics I wanted to put into it and of course once printing it out I immediately wanted to rearrange and insert different fics again... there are simply too many well written and satisfying shorter kakairu fics out there, I have to say, that they all cannot fit within four reasonably sized books, what an absolutely horrifying prospect to have.

All in all, it's very pleasing to have the entire collection all together, which I originally started this spring, and I have learned a lot in the time that has passed since Icha Icha Paradise, which is the second(ish) book that I have bound. To my mild horror, the collection has also become a comfort object for it's stories (ah, escapism my old friend) and somewhat prized possessions of mine, which although it is pleasing to know I am enjoying the fruit of my labour, it is most definitely not the degree of emotional connection to these particular books, out of all the books I've bound, that I had expected when I originally started binding this series. I have, as a result, re-read through the books multiple times now since I have bound each of them. Ah well, I digress.

A master post of the Icha Icha series can be found here.

And here are the fics within Icha Icha Tactics:

Dog Days (4k, T)

Written for Kakairufest 2017 Summer Round, Classics Prompt 11: A character undergoes a troubling physical transformation.

Stranger than fiction (5k, T)

Summary: Prompt: Classics 13 - Don Quijote

"You think people are not going to notice Kakashi ignoring his duties and hitting on anything with a pulse that stands still long enough?"

Secretary (10k, T)

In the aftermath of a war, Kakashi falls in love over politics and paperwork.

It shouldn't be this romantic.

How to file form 39-B (10.5k, E)

The first time Iruka met Hatake Kakashi, he was still on some pretty good painkillers.

A General State of Affairs (10.5k, E)

Determined not to fail his latest mission, Iruka sets out to deliver a vital scroll to General Hatake Kakashi of the Third Division.

Finding Halves (18k, T)

Hatake Kakashi’s entire life was the furthest thing away from normality, he should have expected the same with his soulmark. It appeared during the third year of his tenure when he was thirty-six, a good twenty years later than the population’s average, the mark inconspicuous at the inside of his upper left arm. Kakashi paused mid-shave, fingers still zapping with electricity, he stared at his own reflection in the mirror for a long, long time.

Worst Day Ever (22k, M)

Iruka just wants to be left alone at the hot springs to deal with Valentine's Day - the worst day of the year for him. Why can't Kakashi leave him alone? Must he bait Iruka--today, of all days? And... why is he trying so hard to get Iruka into the private spring with him...?

Strays (32k, M)

Iruka finds an injured dog.

[roseserpentpress]

Another kakairu fic bind... Originally was gonna be part of Icha Icha Tactics, but then it was so well laid out and themed, I really couldn't help myself and made it into its own smaller book! It's the first (ish- four years ago doesn't count) mini book I've bound, and I really enjoyed making it. There really is something so charming about small things- I have a sneaking suspicion there is going to be more on the way.

Fic is Mizumono by mythoughtbubbles; it is a merman fic (where Kakashi is a scientist working for a shady company) and so the Japanese style water theme was very fun to play with! I also thought it would be fun to switch up how I did the cover (one whole paper) and to add a description on the back. The ink I used is Winsor and Newton gold ink, which I didn't particularly enjoy using- I found the gold flakes in the ink were too big and reflected all in different directions, making it difficult to read the text. Oh well, it has its own charm I suppose. If I buy more metallic inks I'll see if I can find a different company for ease of reading.

More details on the fic beneath the cut.

Mizumono (E, 28k)

It was strikingly beautiful, made of shimmering blue-green scales and fins and tan skin in perpetual motion. Narrowed, serpentine eyes stared straight back through a curtain of swaying brown hair, highlighted by a thin scar bisecting the bridge of its nose. Lips were pulled back in a vicious snarl, exposing needle-sharp teeth and pale gums as clawed finger tips etched grooves in the glass, the skin between the digits webbed. A thick, hefty tail twisted beneath it in an agitated spiral, fins trailing through the water like kaleidoscopic ribbons, unable to stretch out fully.

Kakashi blinked. “Oh shit."

Or, alternatively, the one where Kakashi works for a shady-as-fuck company that captures a merman and romance happens

Also if you're interested in more of my fanbinding, please check out my account and the tag rose serpent press!

[roseserpentpress]

Third of the four mock Icha Icha novels that are Kakashi x Iruka fanfiction anthologies. As there is no design for this cover, I was allowed to go buck wild for the colour scheme, and well... Immediately, I decided to go for something obnoxious.

The theme for this volume was, as that the title was termed Icha Icha Innocence, relating to domesticity/family. Part of me thought it would be funny for it to be more explicit, in irony, but in the end I hadn't done a found family collection, and as that is a large trope within kakairu, I figured that would work better.

Link to the Icha Icha series master post.

List and links to fanfiction included below:

Starts with a Bang (4k, T)

The quickest way to a ninja's heart is with a good explosive tag.

Sneak Peek (4.5k, G)

A very young Kakashi gets a hold of a scroll that allows him a sneak peek in to his distant future. It's not what he expected to see.

A Shortcut to Marriage (7k, G)

“It was a quiet ceremony.” Iruka tells the man with the air of someone who says such things all the time. “There was a war on; it didn’t seem appropriate to celebrate. And the Rokudaime is a private person. It isn’t unreasonable for him to keep his personal life quiet for his partner’s safety. Especially considering Konoha’s…. checkered history with the lifespan of Kage spouses.”

“And how do you know about this arrangement if it is such a national secret?”

Iruka takes a deep breath, preparing to make his boldest claim yet. His mouth opens, ready to say that he and Kakashi are close, personal friends when…

“You can hardly marry a man without telling him about it.”

All of the air leaves Iruka’s lungs in a rush as Kakashi uses his big, dumb, mouth to ruin everything.

Mail Order What? (8.6k, T)

When Kakashi agreed to be on Minato and Kushina’s wills and care for Naruto if anything should happen to them he didn’t believe it would ever happen. At the advice of friends he decides hiring an au pair is his only option. Iruka might be his only hope, but the cute teacher comes with his own problems. Can the three of them really make it work?

He Needs You (10k, E)

Hatake Kakashi, Konoha's retired Hokage, finds his former assistant, Umino Iruka, wounded and in need of comfort.

Or does Kakashi need something from Iruka?

A road leading home to you (13k, T)

There are benches near the gates of Konoha where people wait for their loved ones to return from missions. Kakashi is used to ignoring them; it’s been a long time since someone has taken anything more than a professional interest in his comings and goings.

Let Me Take This Coat and This Weight Off of Your Shoulders (16k, T)

Iruka invites Kakashi over for dinner. This has some unexpected consequences.

Kitsune no Iruka (18.5k, T)

Naruto is not the only jinchuuriki in the village. Kakashi/Iruka.

Family Recipe (22k, T)

“Naruto is a person with a name,” Iruka snapped, already way past the limit of his patience for the day. Funny, how he could spend all day with small children, but a single council meeting wore him down to the bone. “Use it.”

“Hmm.”

For a long second, Iruka thought that he was about to die. And then Hatake’s eye curled in a friendly crinkle, an approximation of a smile.

“You’ll do,” Hatake said.

*** 5 times Kakashi & Iruka tried to be a normal family for Naruto + 1 time they were a full on ninja family ***

[roseserpentpress]

A tongue-in-cheek Kakashi x Iruka anthology modelled after icha icha paradise. I kept reading about Kakashi's love of erotica (and icha icha), while reading, well, erotic kakairu fanfiction. As a result I kept going 'same hat' (although I'm probably not going to be in public reading it. It's not subtle, although it'd be fun to see who would recognize it?) and then had this idea as a result. I've always loved subtle breaks in the third wall and self-containing/perpetuating systems, so this really tickled me. I may or may not be planning to do the entire icha icha series as kakairu anthologies and most definitely have not started on icha icha violence, idk what ur talking about.

Edit: click to see the Icha Icha series master post.

Icha Icha Paradise Anthology Fanfiction list:

A Heat-seeking Cuddle Octopus (4k, G)

It wasn't that Iruka wasn't willing to share a tent with his squad leader. It's just that he wished that Kakashi wasn't such a cuddle-octopus in his sleep.

Responsible, forever, for what you have tamed (4k, M)

Kakashi gets hit with a Jutsu and becomes feral.

Always Only One Night (6k, M)

Iruka has a one-night stand with a man whose face he has never seen before. Only it's not just one night, and there is something about the man that seems familiar, if he could just figure out what.

The Heart that Hungers (7k, T)

With Naruto away training life for Umino Iruka had gotten quiet, but that quiet had been broken up periodically by the kindness of Hatake Kakashi, who discreetly delivered him letters from their mutual student whenever he got the chance. Which was great, amazingly thoughtful even, but the problem lay within the fact that it made Iruka's heart starved for more. For Kakashi. And so he kept a polite distance, didn't let on to feelings he had no right to have for someone as incredible as Hatake Kakashi. But the universe had a way of setting things right, of pushing people like Iruka, who deserved more than they gave themselves credit for.

Enter Senju Tsunade, Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure, and resident overly-stressed medical professional who could not take another second of Kakashi being a reckless idiot. She assigns the most caring man she knows to care for the most infuriating man, official mission scroll and everything, and calls it a day. And while Iruka takes the assignment (though whether it was willingly is up for debate) he can't help but wonder if he can survive a week in the company of the man his heart hungers for.

Fine Point of a Blade (9k, E)

Iruka’s body froze as terror gripped his heart. With claws. He watched a gloved hand deftly pluck the blade out of the air, bringing it up to a porcelain mask painted with red, waved lines. ANBU.

A strange meeting with an ANBU in his childhood leads Iruka down a life-changing path.

Willful Concealment (13k, E)

“Are you planning to keep my hair tie?” Iruka asked suddenly, a hint of amusement in his voice.

“I’m holding it prisoner for crimes against the citizens of Konoha.”

“What are the charges?”

Kakashi smiled, twirling the band around his forefinger like a kunai. “Perjury and willful concealment.”

Iruka huffed and shook his head, lips thinning in a way that made Kakashi think he was holding back a grin. “You know, if I’d realized you had such a thing for long hair, I would have started wearing mine down years ago.”

Kakashi’s thumb caught the hair band, halting its revolution.

“Years?”

(Or, in which Iruka asks for a single night, and gets a whole lot more.)

Worst Mission Ever (21k, T)

“Iruka, how would you feel about taking on a solo mission for me?” Sandaime asked.

Thrown by the change of topic, Iruka blinked at him.

“What do you want me to do?” he asked.

“Befriend Hound.”

A Stupid Favour (33k, Not rated- I'd say M or E tho)

"Iruka-sensei! Do you have a moment?"

"Yes? Tsunade-sama?" Iruka's voice came, drawing closer with every syllable.

"Someone has a stupid favor to ask you."

Shifting cloth and more clicking of shoes said Tsunade had come back into the room, followed by another person, whom Kakashi assumed was Iruka.

"The brat either needs to stay in the hospital or to have a babysitter for two days," Tsunade said bluntly.

OR, in which Kakashi is blind and sans chakra for two days but is desperate to find a way to leave the hospital until his sight and chakra can be restored.

[roseserpentpress]

How do you do your book binding? Would you be willing to show the process? I find book binding so fascinating and your finished products are so rad!

Oh sure! And thank you so much for the complement! There's lots of ways to bookbind, and there's lots of different material out there to teach you how to bookbind as well! I'm actually part of the renegade bindery discord sever which is a collection of fanfiction bookbinders who also share tips and trick and resources with each other (you can ask to join by searching up their tumblr @renegadepublishing and requesting access. It's a really lovely and supportive community).

Specifically I've learned from the book Hand Bookbinding: A Manual of Instruction, as well as the Google docs How To Make a Book by ArmouredSuperHeavy, (the person that founded renegade publishing) although I've used the latter mainly for how to typeset something before I print it out, even if it goes into detail on how to physically bookbind. There's also lots and lots and lots of YouTube tutorials (DAS Bookbinding is one favoured by the renegade publishing community) and written tutorials online (I wouldn't be surprised if there's a PDF copy of the book I learned from out there as well), but I haven't really learned from much of them, although they'll teach you the same things (or another slightly different but valid) way of doing bookbinding.

Below the cut I'll go over a breakdown of my general methods; I'm not going to go into details on how exactly to do it, just the materials and techniques I personally use as well as some tips I find handy that weren't in the materials- because otherwise we'll be here for a long time, and there's plenty of much more accurate instructions out there then me, since I'm still learning and playing around with things.

To be noted, I use some specific tools which don't nessecarily need to be used for bookbinding. It just makes it faster. Also, here's a bunch of great resources for bookbinding, including links to places that tell you how you can make these specific tools.

1. Printing out of materials (If you intend to print out a book, not just bind a blank book)

2. Folding of papers to create signatures. I just use my hands at first, and then I either use a triangle/protractor or a seal's rib I found on a beach to go over it again to entirely flatten it (normal people who aren't a cheapskate purchase a bone folder. But I've honestly found using a triangle works perfectly for this, so I haven't really been inclined to buy one). Normally after this I set it in a 'press'- either squished beneath books, or set inbetween books on a bookshelf that then is tightly wedged with other books, to fold them as flat as possible.

Please ignore how messy my desk is god the triangle is beside the papers in the middle to be folded into a signature.

My beautifully versatile 'press'- there's a half finished book in there, plus a bunch of signatures ready to be punched being pressed.

3. Punching sewing holes into the signatures. I've created a punching cradle for myself, and I use a template to first denote where the holes will be punched and then punch them through with an awl. Then the signatures go back into the 'press'

Difficult to see, but the long piece of paper in the middle has marks along specific lengths where I leave marks for where to punching holes through. I prefer an open ended cradle as that I can hold the papers down with my thumb, but most people prefer a close ended one as the papers in the signatures are exact (which... Yeah I can see why. I find that I get exact enough paper alignment however, but I guess I'm not the most picky perhaps in that manner).

4. Sewing the signatures together; here there's a lot of variability depending if you want to use ribbons, cord or just sew the signatures together. I use ribbons, since that's the way I learned in hand bookbinding, although that's a bit overkill for small novels. I've whipped up a shoddy but functional sewing frame, which makes this much easier to do. I cut three ribbons to align with the holes in one of the signatures which I'm laying flat on my frame; I tape them to the bottom of my frame and pin them to the frames bar so they align. Then I sew the signature together, passing over and around the ribbons so that the ribbons get clamped to the signatures. For thread, I use white Gutenberg thread (it's just what I have on hand) that's been passed over a chunk of beeswax to both make the threads stick to each other while sewing to minimizing knots, which also makes them a bit stronger and makes the thread last longer. I sew using the kettle stitch, so tying a knot at the end of each signature to keep the signatures tight to each other; I press down with my fingers of my other hand when I tie a knot, to make sure it is as close as possible. After that's done, I put it back into the press to flatten again.

A just about finished textblock in the frame.

5. I then cut some linen (I buy those cheap Micheals squares of linen) to paste onto the back of the book; I cut it so it just covers the ends of the sewing holes on the top/bottom, and with about 3 cm of linen off each side of the spine to be glued to the bookboard that will become the covers. I paste it onto the sewn signatures by clamping the signatures between two large books, and then rounding the spine of the signatures, so they can fit nicely within the spine cover once it's made. I do this by lightly hitting the signatures with the flat area of the handle of an Swiss Army knife (normal people use a mallet). I make my own book binders paste to paste the linen down (it's literally just boiled flour and water). You can use any glues as well, and most people prefer to use pH neutral PVA since there's issues with acidity in paper and longevity. I use bookbinders paste because it's (theoretically, in my brain) pH neutral, and I'm... A bit cheap. With bookbinders paste, if it's too wet then the papers in the signatures might get wavy though, so you want to make sure it's pretty thick and rather the texture of custard (just follow the recipe properly). I also suggest you try to get the backs of the signatures as close as possible to where you clamp it between the books, as this means that once you've clamped it as much as possible, the signatures will be glued into a closer position to each other, and will not gape between signatures (or at least, not as much) when you are flipping through the book later.

Were ignoring that in this photo I've already added endbands (again, you can move around some steps- I like to add endbands after the bookboard is added as the textblock rests on the bookboard instead of the textblock, which minimizes any bending of the textblock. It's a little annoying to push the needle through the linen on the back, but I don't particularly mind). I like to measure and add lines for where I should be attaching the linen so it's not wobbly.

6. Cut the bookboard (there's a lot of things you can use as bookboard, and I've used varying things as well. I've used chipboard, backs of sketch books, and actual bookboard). I like to cut the bookboard so that there's a 4 mm overhang from the signatures inside, with a 7 mm space from the hinge for the bookboard.

I find using the heavy duty fixed x-acto blades is best for hand cutting bookboard, as they are the least liable to snap when putting pressure while cutting (I use scalpels for cutting the actual paper, not board, as a rounded edge cuts through cross-grain paper better as the cutting pressure is less horizontal and more downwards, and will not 'snag' the paper and give it little rips which can happen with the above). I find it best to not put a great amount of pressure to get it cut through in one cut, as you're more liable to slip your triangle/ruler- going over it a couple times with more moderate pressure tends to give me more accurate results. As well, using a ruler or triangle that has a flat surface that touches the paper surface will be more accurate as well- there's some rulers out there that hover over the paper since they have a cork bottom, and that means you're going to have more wobble in your cut as well, even when your ruler doesn't move at all.

7. Paste the bookboard to the signatures; I always make marks on everything where it should be aligning to, to keep everything as straightened out as possible. I put paste on the outside of the linen, with cardboard underneath so no paste gets on the signatures; I then press the cover on, and gently flip it to do the other side. I then place a heavy book on-top to ensure it dries correctly. After, I glue on the ribbons in much the same manner. After the ribbons are dried, I trim them along the linen, so it keeps them tidy.

Post ribbon trimming; unfortunately you can't see the outside lines on the linen I denoted for where the boards should be attached. Scalpel which I used to cut the ribbons and the paper is also within the photo (I bought mine off of Amazon for 20$ I think? I got one handle and a pack of 100 blades).

8. Create head/ends bands. I follow this tutorial for sewing headbands; there's lots of different ways to do it as well. For materials I use DMC embroidery thread (which is pretty thick... At some point I'll probably try actually thread, rather than embroidery floss as you can get more exact and even lines with thread) and cotton twine- I like this one as that I've found it keeps its circumference even, while other twine I had previously been using didn't always do that.

9. Attaching cover papers and spine. The way I've done them varies depending on my plans for the cover. I tend to paste down the paper of the covers first before the spine paper. For the spine, what I do is I first add the title, before attaching the spine paper (I do my titles by printing out the title to the size I want, rubbing graphite to the back of it and then tracing aggressively the title over the spine paper). I like to use Oxford hollows for my spine, and generally follow this guide (also done by one of the renegade bindery folks). I however like to paste in a thicker sheet of paper which over the area of the spine to add some heft to the spine and then curving it once it's dried, before glueing the spine paper onto the signatures. An important thing for when you're pasting paper/cloth to the covers, is that when it dries, if you haven't placed it under books/in a press it'll immediately start to curl the covers edges up. To minimize that, place it in a press immediately after you're done with pasting. Adding endpapers will remove/minimize the effect, although you can also get the covers to curl in the opposite direction then.

Cover paper added before spine. The type of embroidery thread I use for endbands is to the right.

Spine being worked on. For this one I cut out tabs for where the spine goes for an easier fold-over, but either way is fine I find.

10. Endpapers. Make a mark of where the text block ends on the covers; measure the amount of space between the edge of the cover to the mark, so you can make guiding marks for where you want the end papers to go. I cut the end papers and actually line them up before pasting- you want to make sure the paper will align to the textblock, so adjustments are often required to the marks you've made following the edges of the textblock. I apply paste to the bookboard, then align the paper to be just inside the marks, gently smoothing it with my hands (I find doing it with an implement can cause warping/tears in the paper. It's the same with any paper, although thicker paper definitely can take a lot more, and the stock coloured paper I use my triangle on for flattening, but only for edges). Once the end paper is gently pressed down against the cover, I press a triangle into where the spine would bend the endpapers to begin making a fold there; after going over it once or twice, I then begin to fold the book with the triangle still in, so that the crease remains, and after going over it another few times, I put a piece of cardboard and thin plastic (old overhead plastic papers, but others often used wax paper) and let dry overnight. If you don't add cardboard and plastic, the moisture will migrate into your textblock making it wobbly. Once it's dry (and not cold to the touch. Cold means it's not actually dry) I open it back up to add a small strip of paste on the first page of the text block near the hinge, so that it sticks to the end papers, and leave it again to dry over night with the same set up. And voila! You've got a finished book!

Tracing the edges of the textblock for endpapers

Using a triangle to guide the fold of the endpapers

11. Extras: you can also at this point make a extra cover, or add art to the covers on the book, like a nice title or something. You can also add a waterproofing step, which I've been meaning to get around too in my books. Some people have suggested spray acrylics, or simply clear acrylic medium as well, as it'd work (there's some resources out there about it). I personally apply a beeswax/mineral spirits mixture, which another binder in the Renegade discord has been recommending (it's a 50/50 ratio recipe. I just heated my beeswax slowly in the microwave at 1 min intervals, and then added and mixed in the mineral spirits). It very minimally at worst darkens the paper, and leaves a nice sheen along with making the cover water resistant. The book may be at first a bit tacky feeling, but as your hand oils get onto the cover it'll feel nice and smooth.

One note: For the icha icha books I swap around some of the stuff as that the paper I purchased isn't big enough to wrap around the whole book- so I actually attach the spine before the bookboards and wrap the bookboards with the cover paper before assembling all of it, to avoid having a line though the bookboard covers. I prefer the way I've outlined above over this method though as this method I personally find a bit more messy.

Aaaaaand that's pretty much my method! Hope this was helpful- if you have any specific questions feel free to ask 😊