This might be my favorite bind so far! Definitely my most ambitious. It's for the buddie fic "What's love got to do with it?" By ColorMeParanoid on AO3.
@color-me-paranoid If you see this I love this work so much. I stumbled upon it while doom-scrolling the buddie tag, binged it in like two days and was like whelp guess I've found my next big bind. I also included the other work in the series as an epilogue!
I'm so happy with the cover design. The lovely line art was made by @missmists. It looks so great and matches the inspo pics so much better than my original design. The cover is supposed to be reminiscent of the Tina Turner movie posters for "What's Love Got to Do With It?" I love that the hearts are the same shape as the lips in the original poster! That was such a cool idea!
I think the application of the vinyl gave me brain damage, I can not say this with enough vitriol, fuck Cricut brand vinyl, specifically the foil iron-on. If the heat is where the instructions say it should be it NEVER transfers, and if it's too high, the plastic leaves residue all over it and looks terrible (especially on white leather) I Had to entirely scrap the first try, wasting materials makes me want to die.
This is the first full-size bind I've done with faux leather, It was a learning process to get the heat press to not leave marks. But by the second try, I think I had it down.
This is the longest fic I've bound in a single volume, and I've been trying new techniques, and it resulted in the cleanest text block I've done so far. No swell at all! Look at her, ain't she pretty!
The next step is to go even bigger!
Every time you talk about giving yourself writing challenges, I think about how it would be fun to have a 'handicap bingo'- where you get a random writing 'handicap' like not being able to say any character's name, and have to write a full story with it. Idk. I think it would be fun
Min's Writing Challenge
Rules: Roll a d20, accept your fate, write a fic of your choosing and follow your fate to the letter. (Creative workarounds encouraged.)
Roll twice; you have to use both. If you roll another 1, the extra challenges compound accordingly.
Pick a single letter, A-Z. You're not allowed to use it for the entire fic. (Bonus challenge: E.)
Every sentence must be under ten words long. (Bonus challenge: five words.)
Pick a poetry/lyric style (sonnet, terza rima, ballad, etc). The whole fic must be written in that form. (Bonus challenge: keep it still obviously a normal fic, with appropriate tropes and narrative conventions.)
You must write in future tense.
You must write in first-person POV.
You must write in second-person POV.
Take your least favorite fanon concept/trope, and make it into something you want to write. (Bonus challenge: play the trope entirely straight - no subversions! - and make it enjoyable anyway.)
No character names allowed. (Bonus challenge: no dialogue tags either; you can't use descriptive phrases like 'the man in the prince costume' to work around it.)
No dialogue allowed. (Bonus challenge: no internal monologues allowed, either.)
Dialogue only - playscripts encouraged.
Epistolary fic - only letters, emails, notes, etc.
Write an AU, but the alternative universe is a profession!AU that you know nothing about. (Bonus challenge: no research allowed.)
Unreliable narrator. (Bonus challenge: the narrator is good at being unreliable, to the point that they might legitimately fool a reader.)
Whatever fic concept you have, you can only write the very ending of it. (Bonus challenge: you aren't allowed to use any exposition to explain how you got to that point.)
Write any AU of your choosing, but you must choose at least one major canonverse event/plot point and adapt it accordingly to your setting of choice. (Bonus challenge: Make the canonverse event and AU of choice absurdly incompatible.)
Must start in medias res, with a 'yep, that's me. Bet you're wondering how I got into this situation!' moment. (Bonus challenge: Don't plan what the in medias res situation is before you write it. Force yourself to resolve whatever bullshit you come up with on the spot. I've definitely never done this in my life, ever.)
You must write in outsider OC POV - no canon characters allowed. (Bonus challenge: No Sanders Shorts/related characters allowed.)
Pick a fairy tale, fable, or myth. The fic must be a retelling or reinterpretation of it. (Bonus challenge: you aren't allowed to reread or reference any version of it while you're writing - from memory only!)
Dealer's choice - pick from any of the above.
Good luck.
JAKE GYLLENHAAL as detective Loki in PRISONERS (2013)
these prompts came together through community submissions and then a voting form where people voted for their favorites, here are the top 53 prompts
i want to try a slightly new format where there are still only 15 days for creation prompts but with additional community prompts/questions. those are entirely voluntary but are here to possibly inspire some community interaction and trying new things
i'm excited to see some awesome creations in january!
go here for info/rules/tagging go here for faqs
(note: number 31 is not a creation prompt and therefore not required to complete the challenge, it's just colored black so the colors add up)
text version of the prompts and rules is under the cut
(image description note: there are 31 numbered prompts, on each odd number the text color is black and on even numbers the text color is white)
Whumpuary 2025
a whump-themed multi media creation event for january
create for at least one prompt from each odd/black number to complete the challenge community prompts (even/white) numbers are voluntary
main prompts
1. sacrifice | headache | "this will hurt" 2. how did you find the whump community? 3. choice | storm | black eye 4. what are your favorite whump tropes? 5. "do you trust me" | manhandled | chills 6. share your favorite whump creations (others or yours!) 7. unfair fight | insomnia | "no one is coming" 8. what media genre do you like whump in? 9. trapped under rubble | gunpoint | out of time 10. write your own whump prompt 11. "i didn't ask for this" | blood | abandoned 12. create something in a new/less familiar medium 13. close call | sleep | choking 14. what's your favorite character dynamic? 15. handcuffed | dead | "please, stop" 16. leave a comment on a whump fic/art/creation 17. drugged | "i'm glad you're alive" | revenge 18. favorite whump medium? (movie, book, art, ...) 19. "let them go" | overworked | head injury 20. send a nice message to someone in the community 21. bruises | "who are you?" | immortality 22. take 10 minutes to work on a wip 23. backhand slap | alone | "i can't do this anymore" 24. what do you take inspiration in? 25. "i'm fine" | missing | drowsiness 26. draw/doodle something whumpy 27. stuck in a loop | twisting the knife | rescue 28. find a creator in the #whumpuary tag and send them an ask 29. kidnapped | "don't leave me" | devotion 30. make a whump meme 31. say something nice about your own work
alt prompts
hiding impaled "i'm fine" rain betrayal hair pulling darkness falling
rules & info
-any medium is allowed (art, writing, gifs, edits, ...) -prompts are open for interpretation (but the context does have to be whumpy) -create for at least one of three prompts on creation prompt days (black/odd numbers) to complete the challenge -if you're not aiming for completionist you can do however many prompts you want any way you want -community prompts (white/even numbers) are voluntary and don't count for completionist (but can be combined with creation prompts if applicable) -use alt prompts to replace main prompts you don't like some works posted on tumblr will be reblogged if tagged correctly -#whumpuary2025 -#whumpuaryno1 (number of the prompt(s)) -#sacrifice #head injury #"i'm fine" (the prompt(s) you're using) -any trigger/content warning tags -any additional tags (fandom, oc, other used tropes, ...)
A month after France and Frank Harkness, Slough House is floundering beneath the weight of grief none of them quite know how to deal with. Fortunately, Catherine has returned, and she’s determined to fix things — starting with River, who’s carrying a secret that’s affecting how he acts both with her and with Lamb — until she and River are kidnapped from Slough House by a group of former slow horses that have a very serious bone to pick with Jackson Lamb. It will be fine. Catherine knows that Lamb will come for River, and River knows that Lamb will come for Catherine, and until he does they simply have to keep the other alive long enough to be found. But what they’re not expecting is that these former slow horses don’t just want to hurt Lamb; they want to break River, and force Lamb to watch it happen. But the former slow horses have made a significant error of judgement. Because with every recording they send of River’s torture, the more determined Lamb becomes to rescue his boy, and when he finally does get River and Catherine back he is never going to let them go. It’ll be a long, difficult road to recovery, but they’ll walk it together, all three of them.
or: the camcorder kidnapping fic, at last
read it here on ao3!
Eddie Diaz in 9-1-1 | NO PLACE LIKE HOME (8.04)
current fan creation landscape is kinda like if you went to a party with a homemade cake and everyone takes a slice and silently thumbs up at you with no attempt to start a conversation except for occasionally some guy sits in the corner with a tape recorder critiquing the cake as though he was a restaurant critic and another guy is handing the cake to an uber driver like "yeah i need you to find a restaurant that makes cake like this so i can have more of it" and the only person that's talked to you in 30 minutes is a very sweet little guy who was like "hey i liked your cake" and then ran away apologizing for bothering you the moment you said thank you.
c'mon, friends. do you see it. do you see the vision
Ooh, that's so cool! I've been using a box cutter and then sanding, but I've noticed this can lead to an uneven edge. I love hearing about other people's processes, thank you for sharing!
anyway, your books are so pretty!! i'd love to know how you did the headbands in your bound fics? also, would love to know how you trimmed the pages so nicely and what materials you used for the covers! (no pressure of course!)
HI!
The headbands are pre-made ones, I bought variety packs of colors off Amazon. I actually don't trim my pages, I leave the sawtooth, and just try to fold as uniformly as I can. I'm working on a way to trim without having to buy a heavy duty guillotine. I'm thinking I'll try a hand planner (normally used for woodworking) and then sand it.