#One Esk

[laatmaar]

"'Five years ago it was noncitizen. In the future, who knows? Perhaps not-citizen-enough?' She waved a hand, a gesture of surrender. 'It won't matter. Such boundaries are too easy to create.'"

A very loose rendition of lieutenant Awn's conversation with the head priest in Ors.

[unbizzarre]

Good Morning, One-Esk

Fanart of the moment Justice of Toren One Esk was woken up from cold storage.

REFERENCE IMAGES:

1) I came across this pose on Pinterest and screenshotted it right away, cuz like it’s such a kickass expressive I had to try drawing it. Sadly I know next to nothing about the original artist. Maybe a person named Kiera Paulsen? Idk I can’t find the original post and only have screenshot rn 😭.

—- edit: a kind soul in the comments found the artist!! Thank you! Artist is @saltweave on twitter https://twitter.com/saltweave/status/135964282496724976

2) a quick doodle I did years ago of a random weird photo I found that had a satisfying half-told-story feeling to it. No idea title of the photo I referenced for the doodle tho.

Even though I imagine the ancillary hookup process would be a lot more organized/less tangled wire-y than what I drew, the chaotic bony mass of wires and hookups is just such a fun look to draw, and I really wanted to put it on the frightened pose so… voila fan-art with artistic liberties taken.

[forsooth-verily]

Oh TREE

where's my ASSSSS

[eyebrows-are-better-than-people]

Foster kitty has a name!

Give it up for Fleet Captain Breq Mianaai (Breq for short)

[three-fold-symmetry]

Day 4 of @codywanweek with the prompt 'Light and Dark'.

This is the last thing I've prepared for this week, so I'd like to thank @codywanweek here for organising this amazing event! There's so much amazing art and fic to enjoy right now, it's so much fun.

[queereads-bracket]

SEMIFINALS: Queer Adult SFF Books Bracket

Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

A groundbreaking work of science fiction, The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human emissary to Winter, an alien world whose inhabitants spend most of their time without a gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely dissimilar culture that he encounters.

Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.

Science fiction, classics, speculative fiction, anthropological science fiction, distant future, adult

Imperial Radch series (Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, Ancillary Mercy, Provenance, Translation State, and other stories) by Ann Leckie

Endorsement from submitter: "Breq/Justice of Toren is a ship AI and doesn't have a gender. The Radchaai language only has one pronoun for people, so (almost) everyone in the empire is she/her, to the point that they're infamous for failing to correctly guess which pronoun to use with outsiders."

On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.

Once, she was the Justice of Toren - a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.

Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.

Science fiction, space opera, far future, series, adult

[pallasparthenos]

The instant my hands touched her shoulders, the red glass shattered, sharp-edged fragments flying out and away, glittering briefly. Seivarden closed her eyes, ducked her head, face into my neck, held me tight enough that if I hadn't been armored my breathing would have been impeded.

[screamsofanoutlawbrain]

Neo Metal Sonic is cool because they become a dragon and have hella cool style but also sad because it's the closest thing we've seen to Metal Sonic showing their own individuality, separation from just being a metal(adjective) sonic(noun) instead being Neo(adjective) Metal-Sonic(noun), and that they lose their freedom of choice once eggman comes back and don't even have the voice to complain about it.

Neo Metal Sonic is self-destructive in their individuality, but when they were standing atop the world, do you think they could see the stars through the storm?

[andreai04]

Granny, meanwhile, was two streets away. She was also, by the standards of other people, lost. She would not see it like that. She knew where she was, it was just everywhere else didn’t.

[cezura]

for your consideration, justice of toren one esk:

the devotion..................... the love and loyalty and adoration.................

the tragedy!!! oof ouch hurts my little heart

the grief... the guilt... the rage... forever seeking atonement for a thing that can never be atoned for... chefs kiss

robot is 'weirdly' attached to specific aspects of humanity and/or specific human(s) :)

sings her little songs

learns her little languages

sweet to children

defender of people who aren't even considered people by society

passive aggressive asf

kinda weird and unsettling to people

acts like she doesn't give a fuck but then oh goddammit there she goes giving a fuck again i guess

does stupid things bc they are Right and Just

has like zero sense of self preservation

robot has to deal with having a shitty human body full time

was a really cool spaceship

has like really cool fighting skills

she's not a girl but also everyone and their mother who has a big ol lesbian crush on her is 100% correct. yes sir i too would follow you to the farthest reaches of the universe just to be your side. constantly thinking abt you when i know you can peek into my little brain and see me thinking abt you <3

anyway sorry to be a one esk apologist but in my defense your honor i am right

[laatmaar]

Another imperial radch piece! Can’t seem to get this scene out of my head

[unbizzarre]

One-Esk, Murderbot, and A.R.T. watch "2001 a Space Odyssey - The Musical"

Meanwhile...

Creator’s Note: I made some more incredibly niche crossover content! Three of my favorite fictional robots/AI hanging out. This scene popped into my head when I was rereading the scene in artificial condition where ART was afraid to watch certain shows with secunit because it would get too upset if the ship cremembers in the show were endangered. (Probably the cutest moment in the whole series TBH, and definitely the moment I became 1000% on board with ART as a character.) I had a lot of fun imagining the characters reactions and trying to pick out what they should watch for their pajama movie night (obviously it had to be a musical for breq, and include space ships for ART). Hope you enjoy!

Also, here's a text-free version of my drawing, which you are welcome to use/edit/draw-over however you'd like:

Post script: if you like Martha Wells Murderbot Diaries, you should definitely check out Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice trilogy, or vice versa. More angry traumatized non-binary human-ai constructs for all! Mega-latestage-capitolist dystopia, or xenophobic -imperialist-socialist empire? Sentient space ships? C’mon. Just read both series u know you’ll love it.

[black-water-simping-ships]

"tisarwat, baby lieutenant": a cousin of mine saw anaander mianaai shirtless during a temple ceremony and she said she has an 8-pack. every last instance of anaander mianaai is shredded.

breq, powering up the brain surgery machine: anaander mianaai is a punk bitch.

[keeskiwi]

Some more esk watercolors :)

[three-fold-symmetry]

Day 1 of @codywanweek with the prompt 'Sleeping'! 🧡💙

And there was only one emergency seat on the LAAT.

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Adult SFF Books Bracket: Round 2

Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (Wayward Children series)

Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children No Solicitations No Visitors No Guests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.

No matter the cost.

Fantasy, portal fantasy, mystery, magical realism, boarding school, novella, series, adult

Imperial Radch series (Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, Ancillary Mercy, Provenance, Translation State, and other stories) by Ann Leckie

Endorsement from submitter: "Breq/Justice of Toren is a ship AI and doesn't have a gender. The Radchaai language only has one pronoun for people, so (almost) everyone in the empire is she/her, to the point that they're infamous for failing to correctly guess which pronoun to use with outsiders."

On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.

Once, she was the Justice of Toren - a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.

Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.

Science fiction, space opera, far future, series, adult