its-not-a-pen

[its-not-a-pen]

im super syked to be working with you again derin!

here's a sneakpeek behind the scenes: doodles from the sketchbook while i was reading COAWS and trying to figure out what tyk and the gang looked like (non canon designs)

I somehow got the impression that they were a kind of horned, tunnelling alien spider XD. I guess it was from the fight scene at the beginning, and the mentions of silk.

Cover art for Child of a Wandering Star has been commissioned and I already know it's gonna look so fucking good you guys. It's the TTOU artist ( @its-not-a-pen ) and I am so fucking jazzed to to see what they do.

[its-not-a-pen]

Hey, I saw from @derinthescarletpescatarian that you do cover art commissions - do you have a price sheet anywhere I could look at please?

I just finished publishing a piece and it'd be nice to have a cover artist in mind for the next one!

congrats on publishing your book! my prices range between $200-$500 usd per cover, depending on complexity. This includes a design for the title, spine and back cover. My average turnaround is 1.5 months. Examples of my work:

*the hobbit cover illustration is an unofficial fanwork

[its-not-a-pen]

Hi! Love the art, esp the three kingdoms drawings! Any chance youve got/will sell a print of rhe coquettish nude Cao Cao for a thirsty fan (me)?

Excellent suggestion! I'll put something up on redbubble when I have time, but im also fine if u want to just print it out urself and hang it on your wall. all my art is free for personal use.

[its-not-a-pen]

Ming Dynasty Javert for Asian Les Mis week!

in the books, Javert is a man who is permantly on the margins of society, despite playing a crutial part in maintining it's rule of law.

In my mind, it makes the most sense to make him a Sorgdian soldier serving at the frontier. The Chinese military had a long history of recruiting the people living at its border to defend its frontier-- often from the same ethnic groups they were defending against. The frontier was the most dangerous place in the empire, and the soldiers there were considered the most elite and battle-hardened. Non-Han Chinese people who distinguished themselves in battle could potentially rise to very prominent government positions. One such man, Zheng He (of muslim descent), became the admiral of the treasure fleet which sailed to Africa. "Shawei" is a standard phonetic translation of Javert. (lit) sand, might. "Hu" originally means barbarian, and was adopted as the surname of many Sorgdian people. I like to think of him as an Lawful Good An Lushan. The backstory is that Shawei distinguishes himself in battle (pretty much the only path to promotion for a Hu frontiersman) and is reassigned to the capital, where he becomes a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the infamous Ming Dynasty secret police.

Interestingly, his characterisation of being fanatically devoted to Authority (the law simply being an extension of authority) would be more typical for this time period than the comparatively more egalitarian 19th century. Things that Hugo preaches in the book, like love, mercy, and equality, would be considered dangerous "personal sentiments," under a Ming-era Confucian framework. (Equality for all would be particularly outrageous and seditious; everyone must Know Their Place!) Blind devotion to your superior above all else (the Emperor in this case) would definitely take Shawei really far in life!

reference pics:

[its-not-a-pen]

👍 be gay, do crime, rule china

first day as a small-town sherif and you discover that some of the convicts you're transporting managed to escape in the night and since the penalty for letting prisoners escape is death, and the penalty for being late because you were looking for escaped prisoners is also death, you decide to free ALL of them and go hide out in the wilderness for a bit, except the convicts are super grateful so they make you their leader and it turns out they're decent guys who were exploited by a tyrannical government, so long story short you're crowd-sourcing for a peasant uprising and would anyone like to chip in?

3650th day and due to a series of unforeseen events you are now the emperor and founder of the han dynasty.

[its-not-a-pen]

@justaderivative ive unkarked it!

Computer update: left it overnight only to discover it had failed to reboot and i need to start the whole 50 minute process again. Did that over breakfast. It shut down at least 4 times while it was rebooting, triggering the process to restart each time. Once i had finally cracked it a) my time machine was gone (expected) but for some GOD DAMN REASON it could not b) restore my old system or c) download a new OS remotely. Its now 2pm. i decide to head into uni and beg my lab partner for their 32 gig usb thinking i could maybe install an OS manually. I work on the library computer. I hit the gym (because why waste a trip?) I bus home. and what do i see when i hit the power button???? the rose-coloured glow of my old screensaver greets me. apparently in the six hours i was away this computer managed to resurrect itself. I feel like a roman soldier on the third day of the crucifixion staring at an empty cave. my computer is against all odds and possibly in violation of the laws of thermodynamics: alive.

Bad news. Its so slow that its triggering my Angry Chimp impulses. im six minutes away from just smashing the glowy box with a rock.

[its-not-a-pen]

also this is a good opportunity to remind all the children to make sure you STORE ALL IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS ON THE CLOUD and back up everything. the saving grace to all this is my lit review, data, cat pictures ect ect, are all 100% saved online, so this is more like a very inconvenient non-consential holiday than an Actual Fucking Nightmare. also use zotero to cite. my best friend zotero. zotero lets you save and sync all notes and pdfs.

Computer update: left it overnight only to discover it had failed to reboot and i need to start the whole 50 minute process again. Did that over breakfast. It shut down at least 4 times while it was rebooting, triggering the process to restart each time. Once i had finally cracked it a) my time machine was gone (expected) but for some GOD DAMN REASON it could not b) restore my old system or c) download a new OS remotely. Its now 2pm. i decide to head into uni and beg my lab partner for their 32 gig usb thinking i could maybe install an OS manually. I work on the library computer. I hit the gym (because why waste a trip?) I bus home. and what do i see when i hit the power button???? the rose-coloured glow of my old screensaver greets me. apparently in the six hours i was away this computer managed to resurrect itself. I feel like a roman soldier on the third day of the crucifixion staring at an empty cave. my computer is against all odds and possibly in violation of the laws of thermodynamics: alive.

Bad news. Its so slow that its triggering my Angry Chimp impulses. im six minutes away from just smashing the glowy box with a rock.

[its-not-a-pen]

Computer update: left it overnight only to discover it had failed to reboot and i need to start the whole 50 minute process again. Did that over breakfast. It shut down at least 4 times while it was rebooting, triggering the process to restart each time. Once i had finally cracked it a) my time machine was gone (expected) but for some GOD DAMN REASON it could not b) restore my old system or c) download a new OS remotely. Its now 2pm. i decide to head into uni and beg my lab partner for their 32 gig usb thinking i could maybe install an OS manually. I work on the library computer. I hit the gym (because why waste a trip?) I bus home. and what do i see when i hit the power button???? the rose-coloured glow of my old screensaver greets me. apparently in the six hours i was away this computer managed to resurrect itself. I feel like a roman soldier on the third day of the crucifixion staring at an empty cave. my computer is against all odds and possibly in violation of the laws of thermodynamics: alive.

Bad news. Its so slow that its triggering my Angry Chimp impulses. im six minutes away from just smashing the glowy box with a rock.

[its-not-a-pen]

After all that I feel like i need to end tonight on a high note. my apples are ready!

[its-not-a-pen]

WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?

Oh right i forgot i offloaded my old operating system. ok i can work with this.

50 minutes just to open this thing???? ok fine im going to go get some snacks.

it is time to go down into the pit again

yay! found the vinyl electrical tape! (this is the good stuff that doesn’t unstick and leave gunk everywhere)

my new compter’s karked it so now its time to dig out Ol’ Firehazard and do some battlefield triage

ive seen worse 👍

im pretty sure the mac can still turn on after sitting in my drawer for a year and a half but the wire has the structural integrity of a block of weetbix so im doing whatever it takes to make it last a few days before i get a replacement.

GIVE MY CREATION LIFE

[its-not-a-pen]

its just occurred to me. im gonna get so mad if after all this effort this thing stays dead.

it is time to go down into the pit again

yay! found the vinyl electrical tape! (this is the good stuff that doesn’t unstick and leave gunk everywhere)

my new compter’s karked it so now its time to dig out Ol’ Firehazard and do some battlefield triage

ive seen worse 👍

im pretty sure the mac can still turn on after sitting in my drawer for a year and a half but the wire has the structural integrity of a block of weetbix so im doing whatever it takes to make it last a few days before i get a replacement.

GIVE MY CREATION LIFE

[its-not-a-pen]

it is time to go down into the pit again

yay! found the vinyl electrical tape! (this is the good stuff that doesn’t unstick and leave gunk everywhere)

my new compter’s karked it so now its time to dig out Ol’ Firehazard and do some battlefield triage

ive seen worse 👍

im pretty sure the mac can still turn on after sitting in my drawer for a year and a half but the wire has the structural integrity of a block of weetbix so im doing whatever it takes to make it last a few days before i get a replacement.

GIVE MY CREATION LIFE

[its-not-a-pen]

the girl behind the curtain

Posting this pic of lü zhi separately. I think seeing it illustrated really drives home how her carriage is a symbol of privilege, but also a cage

[its-not-a-pen]

Every nice herbal smell but when i added the apple and orange zest, those flavours overpowers it

Got some orange leaves and rosemary. Going to see how this tastes with the apple tea

[its-not-a-pen]

Got some orange leaves and rosemary. Going to see how this tastes with the apple tea

[its-not-a-pen]

as the french like to say, bomb apple tea (im really lazy so i just prep 3-4 days worth of apples and orange zest so its easy to throw together)

Made myslef some apple tea yesterday and i enjoyed it so much im oven drying apples so i can have it ok demand at all times of the year

Also got some pumpkin slices and ginger

[its-not-a-pen]

Man i feel like i really shot myself in the foot with this description “Bold, languid, and just bordering on sly.“ <- yeah that sounds good and all but how tf am i supposed to draw it??? lmao sorry boss best i can do is “smug”