E. Hyde
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ehyde.bsky.social
E. Hyde
@ehyde.bsky.social
220 followers 180 following 390 posts
Fannish bookbinder and sometime writer. Here for cnovels and sff fandom, probably.
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ehyde.bsky.social
This right here is a man who *knows* that stories work out differently when they're romances. He's written so many love songs! He recognizes all the plot devices!

... anyway, aromantic Xi Ping means so much to me
Xi Ping plucked a qin string with a twang. “For example, say you wanted to kill High Elder Xuanwu. At most, others would say that an unfilial disciple had gone berserk and killed his own teacher. Is there anything interesting about that story? It’d put me to sleep, anyway. But if you call yourself Lovesickness, when people tell the story, it’ll turn into ‘Elder Xuanwu died through the machinations of lovesickness,’ and I guarantee that your name and his will live on in the annals of history for ten thousand years. Even when the spiritual mountains are gone, the two of you won’t be forgotten.”
December 2, 2025 at 5:36 PM
ehyde.bsky.social
I made a simple bookbinding press with a hand screw clamp kit! It's not fancy but it was cheap!
Two pieces of wood about the size of 2x4s but with squarer edges, with two threaded metal rods connecting and handles to turn to tighten/loosen them.
November 21, 2025 at 9:19 PM
ehyde.bsky.social
Typesetting things I enjoy: shaping text around drop caps
The opening text of MDZS, beginning with "Wei Wuxian is dead. Rejoice!" The initial W is in a large calligraphic font and the first two paragraphs are spaced to line up with the slanted edge of the W.
November 3, 2025 at 5:19 PM
ehyde.bsky.social
Our very KPDH halloween
Three kids dressed as Mira (sans wig), one of the Saja Boys in demon form, and Derpy Tiger, posing on a porch with two pumpkins carved with the Huntr/x and Saja Boys symbols, u der a hanging clotand lights made to look like Gwi-ma.
November 1, 2025 at 1:37 AM
ehyde.bsky.social
Wow, this is making a huge difference!
The jacket for a Derpy Tiger costume, mafe of blue fake fur with lighter fake fur stripes. Im in the process of outlining the stripes with black paint.
October 30, 2025 at 3:31 PM
ehyde.bsky.social
WIP. 7yo definitely picked the one with the coolest weapon.
Progress pic of Mira's glowing fuandso from KPDH. It's made of pvc pipe and pieces of acrylic.
October 23, 2025 at 4:22 PM
ehyde.bsky.social
KPDH costumes continue. 7yo picked the most complicated of all of Mira's outfits; we are simplifying it (wear this skirt and spike bracelets over plain black clothes).
An asymmetrical black pleather wrap skirt with three zippers as decoration, a shiny purple belt, and a hanging tassel mase of purple glitter flowers
October 22, 2025 at 1:26 AM
ehyde.bsky.social
Done with the sewing on this one (I'll be adding some black texturing with paint later). I will not miss the shedding.
A blue furry shirt (hooded) and pants for a Derpy Tiger costume from KPDH
October 16, 2025 at 3:30 PM
ehyde.bsky.social
5yo has drawn his first fan art 😁 (Jinu Kpop Demon Hunters)
A pencil drawing of Jinu by a five year old (a stick figure level drawing with a big hat amd claws made of triangles)
September 28, 2025 at 12:06 AM
ehyde.bsky.social
I have access to an 8-harness loom this week and I am GOING to take advantage of it
A table loom with a few inches of seafoam green and white patterned weaving in progress
August 26, 2025 at 4:13 AM
ehyde.bsky.social
This is so funny to me (positive). There are (presumably; idk what the maybe-cyberpunk vikings or holy roman empire or whatever is up to) none of the same cultural forces that led to the adoption of western suits in actual history. It's just another Cool Thing From The Future, I guess
Screen cap reading "Everyone else in the room was dressed in wide-sleeved, TangPro-style robes, but the Military Commissioner was clad in a smart Western-style suit. Her long, smooth black hair hung loose over her shoulders, and a custom-made visor hid her eyes completely."
August 21, 2025 at 7:52 PM
ehyde.bsky.social
This is what I decided to typeset over my vacation ... one of MDZS's most notorious fanfics, in tiny book form.

Unfortunately, the tags filled up all the pages and there was no room for the fic itself! What a shame.
A small book bound in red leather, with the title "Sexy Times with Wangxian" in (somewhat messy and a bit hard to read) gold foiled letters in the center The endpapers are marbled paper with a red and blue abstract swirl The title page says "Sexy Times" in a script font with flourishes, then "with" in a basic italic serif font, then "Wangxian" in Cinzel Decorative. The author is virtual1979 and at the bottom of the title page is says "Teleport Books, Boston / MMXXV" The list of the fic's tags continues onto the final page of the book, finishing up with "Blow Jobs, Big Fat Quiz of Everything, Gills, Gillplay, Locker Room, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Skater Victor Nikiforov, Skater Katsuki Yuuri" Below that, the text reads "… and it seems we’ve run out of pages for the rest of the fic. Tag limits exist for a reason, and this is it!" followed by a link to the fic's fanlore page: fanlore.org/wiki/Sexy_times_with_Wangxian
August 5, 2025 at 1:00 PM
ehyde.bsky.social
My cnovel bookbinding exchange partner received these today, so I can share them publicly now!

Item #2: How Dare You!? / This Is Ridiculous, which is a transmigration-into-a-transmigration-novel-novel, which inspired the cover design of three covers in one. #bookbinding
The front cover has three layers: the outermost cover is in blue linen-weave paper with a vertical paper label of the "original" novel's title in hanzi, in the upper right corner. The title is partially cut off by an angled rectangle cutout that shows the second cover underneath, a floral pattern with the title of the "transmigration novel" in bronze foil at the bottom. This is once again cut off by the next cutout, revealing the actual title of the book written in sharpie on lined notebook paper, in the center. The title page of the novel, with the title in english and chinese and a repeating floral pattern around the border of the page. The edge of the book showing a splatter-painted edge with brown and blue paint, and a solid blue headband. The book open flat showing both covers and the spine. The spine is brown leather with four raised bands and the title stenciled in blue in the center.
July 15, 2025 at 2:25 AM
ehyde.bsky.social
My cnovel bookbinding exchange partner received these today, so I can share them publicly now!

Item #1: The Imperial Uncle, in two small volumes, bound in brocade bookcloth with a flexible bamboo-strip spine and a matching slipcase. #bookbinding
The two volumes inside their case, which is made of patterned green/tan brocade fabric and secured in front with a button loop closure made of cream satin cord. The cord continues around the whole box with decorative pan chang knots on the sides. The two volumes of The Imperial Uncle stacked on top of each other. They have stitching along the left edge that mimics the look of a stab binding, and a paper label in the center with the title written vertically in hanzi. The title page, with the title and author in a plain serif font and a circular floral decoration underneath. The book open with the pages fanned out to show the flexibility of the bamboo strip spine.
July 15, 2025 at 2:19 AM
ehyde.bsky.social
Hottest thing that's happened in #ToEmbersWeReturn so far
Screenshot of a translated webnovel: Bian Jin decided to test out the strength of her arm next. That probably wouldn’t put as much stress on her spine, she thought. From around her waist, she unwrapped the whip she’d bought online, tossed a small stone into the air, then flicked the whip at it. She did not do so particularly forcefully, but an arc of bright white light seemed to trail after the whip as it swung through the air. The whip struck the stone, smashing it completely into powder; the resulting crack seemed to echo all the way to the mountains beyond Chang’an’s walls. The whip that had cost Bian Jin a full five hundred taels of silver disintegrated in a cloud of white smoke. Bian Jin looked down at it, nonplussed. Then, with a faraway rumble, one of the distant mountains collapsed partway. The sound echoed through the streets of Chang’an, drawing shouts of both alarm and speculation. The more panic-stricken lookers-on even wondered if some mutant beast or other had finally breached the capital’s walls. Even Bian Jin, who’d seen more than her share of bizarre sights, was taken aback by this turn of events.
June 7, 2025 at 10:36 PM
ehyde.bsky.social
Found in the wild: "The Pillars of the Earth" but whoever designed it hadn't heard that Ken Follett wasn't writing a thriller this time
Mass market paperback with a bright yellow cover, author's name big at the top, I don't recognize the title font but it's one you'd expect to see on one of his spy thrillers, single stylized image in the center and it's like the top of a carved column shaped like a shirtless guy (holding up the column).
April 29, 2025 at 12:55 PM
ehyde.bsky.social
Secret project 1, printed and folded! This will be my longest single volume yet.
A stack of many sheets of paper folded in half (in preparation for bookbinding). About an inch and a half thick on the side with no fold, just over two inches thick on the side with the folded edges.
April 28, 2025 at 2:11 AM
ehyde.bsky.social
Finished my latest project, another hybrid book. This is "Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know" which was typeset by @spockandawe. The spines are made of bamboo strips laced together, but unlike my last bamboo bookbinding experiment, this has boards attached for the front and back cover.
A black paper-covered slipcase holding three books whose spines resemble bamboo scrolls Three books set out flat. The first has a burgundy cover, the second has an eggplant purple cover, the third has a sage green cover. All of them have stitching going through the cover boards and around the spine, in the same pattern as a stab bound book. They each have a paper label in the upper right corner, which says "Cyan Wings / Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know / Volume #" The red book is standing upright with the pages fanned open, showing the flexibility of the bamboo strip spine, which is curved inward. One of the books lying flat with its cover open, showing the decorative paper on the inside of the cover (natural lotka paper with a printed stylized wind and cloud pattern) and the title page, which says "Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know / 3"
February 22, 2025 at 8:19 PM
ehyde.bsky.social
An important part of the bookbinding process
Cat on a printer! She's perched above, peering over the edge and reaching a paw down to catch the paper as it comes out.
February 16, 2025 at 3:28 AM
ehyde.bsky.social
Bamboo slip scroll with pages inside. The contents are the "first day as a second century warlord" tumblr post. Mainly done as a bookbinding experiment.
A bamboo slip scroll about the size of a sheet if printer paper. There's a geometric border at the top and bottom, two rows of string binding the bamboo strips together, and a ink-wash mountain landscape in the middle, with the title "first day as a second century warlord" painted vertically on the right hand side. Flipped over, the scroll is like a book cover, with folded papers bound inside. The whole thing is still very flexible, shown here folded over looking like a rolled up scroll The front cover shown folded in half, so it is looks more like a book here.
February 7, 2025 at 5:00 PM
ehyde.bsky.social
Experimental bookbinding in which I made a "bamboo strip scroll" (made from rainbow popsicle sticks because that's what we had in the house) into a book cover. The pages are directly sewn to the scroll's binding threads.
Rainbow popsicle sticks sewn together in the style of a bamboo scroll Four sections of pages have been sewn to the center popsicle stick (technically, to the strings wrapped around the center popsicle stick) The scroll folded shut over the pages now acts as a book cover Top view of the notebook showing its flexibility
January 27, 2025 at 4:31 AM
ehyde.bsky.social
It's like this!
A pad of shaved wood "paper" with one sheet lifted up to show the thickness
December 25, 2024 at 9:36 PM
ehyde.bsky.social
(here is volume 1 -- note that this is not even the same eldritch cat as described in the novel. Vibes over accuracy!)
A paperback novel with the title "Evil As Humans" in red text. The cover illustration is a cat with three tails and several extra eyes, sitting behind a red rose on the ground. The book is open so you can see the spine and the back cover too.
December 9, 2024 at 4:32 AM
ehyde.bsky.social
Evil As Humans v5 cover art: tfw you find an ancient cave mural of... yourself?
A mixed media illustration of a figure in red robes, face veiled, with tentacles instead of/in addition to arms, painted on a brownish gray textured background with black swirls around them. In the foreground are silhouettes of two people gazing up at the figure, one of them is shining a flashlight at it.
December 9, 2024 at 4:06 AM
ehyde.bsky.social
One more photo to show off the endpapers, because the geometric/abstract cloud-ish pattern here informed a lot of the rest of the design! You can see a little bit of this paper on the front cover, and it lines the inside of the slipcase as well.
The book is open to display the endpages, which are a bright red paper with a small scale geometric pattern, on top of which there's a stylized and slightly abstract cloud pattern outlined in white-ish silver, as well as a gold "confetti" pattern.
December 5, 2024 at 3:30 AM