is this really happening?

HAPPY 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY, SK8 THE INFINITY!

im so happy!!! 5 years already, wow... this series is absolutely AMAZING <3.

i decided to celebrate it with my friends, it was awesome!!! we didn't have a "5" candle, so we used a "1"!!

Shadow’s not happy 😈

"In justice. In courage. In defence of the weak. In the face of the mighty. Through magic and wisdom and good." (to summon the Sword of Mages)

&

"I'm working on a Kishi Bashi song that my stepmother, Daphne, calls 'needlessly morose.'" (Baz's music has a vibe)

-- from "Carry On" by @rainbowrowell

Happy 10-Year Anniversary to my favorite book, and the start of my favorite trilogy!

This is unlike any other illustration project I've tackled, before. I wanted to illustrate them because... well, Simon's sword and Baz's violin are both iconic props in the story, and are wrapped up so thoroughly in each character's identity. I do love them so.

Close-ups:

I've been real emotional thinking about this anniversary. Sometimes you can't appreciate the SCOPE of something until you're through it.

The Simon Snow Trilogy followed my two most popular books (from a sales perspective). But THESE three books, and THESE readers, and THIS experience ... It was all completely different.

I'm going to try to share some memories and artifacts all week. But one thing that I've been thinking a lot about is -- Simon Snow readers are special because they have a great sense of humor.

Like, the whole experience of these books for me was really FUN. Even during some truly UN-fun years. Sure, some people were jerks. And some people didn't get it. But, by and large, Simon Snow readers tell the best jokes and laugh at the best jokes. As I was assembling memories for this video, the memes were as important as the art.

Sometimes I'll cross paths with another book fandom, and I'll be struck by how serious and literal and ... weird ... everyone is being.

Thank you for mostly not being weird! Thank you for being funny!

I think funny people are smart people. People who can see absurdity and nuance. Whose brains are nimble enough to really rotate and shake an idea.

You guys were so smart and funny, it allowed me to make the books smarter and funnier and weirder (in a good way!).

The setting that prevents your work being used to train AI models is turned off by default! I had no idea about this until now! Artists, go to your settings, click “visibility”, and turn on this setting! Protect your work!

Go to your blog (you have to do this for each individual blog) and the visibility tab

It's this last option here