#vess yaps

[frothingatthemaw]

oc-ifying vessel thus far:

vessel being able to shapeshift into a cat…

his natural skin color being black but when he gets hot or someone he’s fond of touches him, his “human skin” peaks through. this also means that when anything hot touches him, it turns white too. like when he showers or washes his hands or spills something on his skin (idea taken from this)

his skin gets glittery at nighttime sometimes. also a tad bioluminescent. i don’t really have a reason behind this but think of like when werewolves turn into wolves on full moons. it’s a similar concept to that i suppose?

doesn’t really like having a “smell” so if he smells like clean laundry, he’s happy. but ideally he would love to be able to smell like rain or the ocean

despite not liking sweet things, he has to take his coffee sweet. he can’t stand straight black coffee or it only with a bit of sugar. has to have caramel syrup or something else to sweeten it up. loves to put oat milk in it as well (i’m projecting <3)

loooooves mint tea

exaggerated sound of his heartbeat, gets even louder while purring. don’t ask for an explanation because i don’t know!!

bed is his safe space so he really prioritizes keeping it as comfy and cozy and warm as possible. has many pillows and soft blankets and even secretly a couple plushies. he’s just a little guy! :3 also is picky about the texture of his sheets so that matters a lot (projecting part 2)

moves a lot in his sleep when he’s alone, but tends to be evidently more calm while sleeping with someone else (the pillows mentioned before are an effort made to try to simulate another something there but this fails miserably, he still sleeps like this because he’s gotten used to it and knows he’d have to completely readjust otherwise. and yes, the plushies were also a made effort for this problem, or so he claims)

he has stretch marks <3 they are located on his lower back, few on his stomach, and some ones on his hips as well. boy grew a bit too fast for his body’s liking but that’s okay

[wooly-nooly]

My poor family keeps getting mad cuz i loose track of the conversation cuz im too busy thinking about sleep token feeding us so good. So so good.

[elliebell77]

It’s your turn to talk about your OCs!!! (Only if you want to of course)

hii im sorry i took so long to answer lol (turns out infodumping takes up a lot of effort)

I have like several ocs (mostly in utmv) but they arent really connected or part of one particular story like yours are. they just kind of exist in their own AUs. I should make them interact at some point tho i think that'd be fun!!

I could infodump abt them all but i think this post would actually be like several pages long so ill just give a synopsis on the 'favorite children' so to speak. four of which i very conveniently drew (mostly because of this ask) like yesterday so ill just use those images lol

Hopeless Error is my most recent character and honestly isnt very fleshed out (none of them are....) but basically it's: "What if Error/Geno never escaped the antivoid?". I made sure not to include any blue into his design because i think error sews his clothes from the strings and Hopeless doesn't have the strings so.. basically he's stuck with his original clothing + whatever he finds dumped in the antivoid.

Hopeless hasn't lost his memories from being Geno, though his memory is kinda bad from being so glitchy but also just from being in the antivoid for so long. He kind of gets certain events jumbled and mixed up, and chunks are either straight up gone or are false memories. Like error (and also geno before he escaped the loading screen) Hopeless is very bitter and cynical. I don't know if he's actually ANGRY like error but he's certainly unhappy and very apathetic with his circumstances.

In this AU Ink exists, but he's kind of just wandering around purposeless. If there's nobody destroying the AUs, there's no point in protecting them, either. because of this the multiverse is in a very stagnant state where new things aren't really being made, but the old things aren't being destroyed, either. it's just kind of... sad.

Recov is a much happier oc!! even though he looks grumpy 99% of the time lmao. Basically Recov is short for recovery au nightmare, who is, as you can probably infer, an au where nightmare gets reverted to his original form. I guess it's more of a "reverted au" since a lot of his problems go unsolved, but you get the point.

Recov agreed to be reverted to his original form, and had a truce with the Stars, but the actual conflict between them isn't really solved yet. just... band aided. Though, dream thinks it's all better because in his mind the issue was surface level and now that nightmare's appearance has been changed dream can finally have his brother back.

I'm honestly not sure what I want to do w/ this au. Obviously, both dream and nightmare have a redemption arc and slowly reconcile and heal the broken trust. but what of after? I was thinking that they become guardians of a new tree planted by dream, which is why Recov is dressed so formally in the image, but the whole point of the au is accepting that things change and that things CANT go back to the way they were before. planting a new tree and going back to square one kind of defeats that entire purpose.

So, for now, recovery au kinda just sits in my mental closet gathering dust lmao.

Lucid is short for Lucid Dream from Dreamswap77 (because there are several other dreamswap aus so i wanted to make mine distinct) if u cant tell I really love making dreamtale aus. though if u think recovery au is neglected wait till u see this one lmao

Lucid is not very fleshed out at all tbh lmao. Basically, the idea of dreamswap77 is that the actual dreamtale plot remains the same, but the character roles have been swapped. So, in this dream is the villain and brutal king of emotions, while nightmare is the poor hero who was tricked into eating the apple and got turned to stone for 800 years and has to gather a small faction (the bad sanses equivalent) to take down the king.

again Lucid and his backstory isnt really fleshed out at all but the reason he has one glowing eye is because he's like. all knowing (hence the name Lucid; being aware of the dream and controlling it) and has reign over both positive and negative emotions. I haven't decided what his powers are specifically but i think he uses them to deliver a specific, highly subjective and very brutal brand of "justice" to anyone who doesn't perfectly fit in that neat little box he considers to be morally good.

The vessel/Vess is very obviously the favorite child because i draw it a LOT and have infodumped about it like several times now. This is kinda the only character not from a specific au, kind of just an outcode. Or better yet error sans with a chara skin

the story of the vessel is basically that Gaster and Chara made an alliance and ended up taking joint control over the discarded vessel from deltarune. The vessel technically, secretly, is also its own person, though it never really gets a voice of its own until later.

the vessel's main goal is to gather up all the little gaster fragments through the multiverse. Though, with a long winded explanation I cant be bothered to type out, taking a gaster fragment from an AU leads to it being completely destroyed, which is why i said it's error with a chara skin. I think the vessel and error have a little rivalry going on, and sometimes (mostly when Gaster is fronting; he's a LOT more cooperative than chara) it teams up with Error against common enemies like Ink. Though, I think if Error ever found out the vessel's true goals he wouldn't be so willing to team up with it.

wow ok that was way longer than i thought itd be

[bubbles-for-all-of-us]

Offerings

a/n I would say don’t ask cause my brain works on its own accord. Thanks to @twilighttowayvision for listening to me yap and making me write this. 🤍✨🫧🤝🏻🙂‍↕️

summary: this is loosely based on worship. Our oc is a back vocalist for ST and her and the boys aren’t afraid to get handsy on stage. The problem however is that she catches an eye of another band. So when Noah from bad omen wants her to be the guest act in one of his shows emotions run high. Jealousy bubbles. Pretty white jaws get bloody.

warning: sexual tension, sexual behavior implications, brat goodness.

Sleep token boys x reader

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The pre-show prep had been slow today. Mostly because you had enough time to get most of the stuff up and running in the couple of days that you’ve spent here. Meaning that there had been no running around, no packed sound checking, and no feeling of needing to be at four places at one time. So you had made yourself comfortable on one of the backstage sofas. Scrolling through different group chats you had going on with the whole sleep token crew. 

That’s when you came across the endless links Espera had sent you. “Tell me that you’ve seen this,"  the message read, followed by heaps of emoji that made no sense. You frowned slightly, clicking on the first link. And it’s not what you expected. A moment of confusion turned into shock before a grin spread onto your face. You quickly sat up, pressing on another link. A video after video played on and on until you were biting your lip.

“What are you smiling at?”, the sound of a iii’s voice nearly made you drop your phone.“Nothing,"  you answered a tad bit too enthusiastically, instantly making your bandmate narrow his eyes at you. “Yeah, right. You look like a Christmas tree,"  iv he huffed, pulling a towel from over his head as he dried his curls. You could lie. You couldn’t if you were being realistic. Their bullshit radar was too good for that. A half-truth might do the trick. Might… “Girls sent over this video,"  you shrugged, glancing back at your phone and trying really hard not to let your cheeks flame. 

“Oh, no… another thirst trap of us,"  ii grinned as he too stepped into the room, reaching for the beverage fridge. “You don’t need to drool over us via screen, baby girl," iii he cackled, wiggling his eyebrows. Striking one pose after another. He flexed his muscles as if he was indeed attending a competition of sorts. You couldn’t help but cackle at him.

“Got the real deal in blood and flesh right in front of you, darling," iv plopped down on the sofa, next to you, leaning in suggestively. You pushed back at his chest. “Not self-obsessed one bit," he simply shrugged, that shit-eating grin shining bright. “Give me that."  You didn’t even notice ii coming to your other side before your phone was in his hands, fingers flying over the numbers on your lock screen. “Hey, no."  You moved to stand up, but iv wrapped his arms around your middle, bringing you back down. This time onto his lap. Arms snacking over your middle. “You all suck,"  you growled, knowing full well that they were going to be met with.

“Yeah, if I could, I would steal the Siren," the voice on the screen filled the room and you don’t have to know it all to notice the way the three of them instantly looked at one another. Piecing together everything that had been happening. “Have you seen her? Her vocals would fit into most of our songs."  A light groan left IV's lips as Noah’s voice continued to bleed into the background. iii’s arms were crossed over his chest. There was no gleam of amusement in his eyes. It’s ii who seemed delighted with this. But not in a you-go-girl kind of way. Oh no, he knew what shitstorm this was going to cause. And to help with your matters, Vessel and Esperas casually stroll backstage as well. 

“We’re working on getting her on our side; I’d die a happy man if she brought her worshiping to our stage."  That was enough to make Vess halt. “What the fuck was that?”, he huffed, walking towards ii, glancing at the phone in his hands. “Bullshit, that’s what that was," iii said, shaking his head, leaning back against the wall in frustration. "Oh, come on,"  the girls laughed in unison, “a boy has a crush." Your eyes grew big as you shook your head with a hiss, “Girls.”

“Has a crush, my ass!", iv practically growled, hands tightening on your thighs, but you were quick to peel his hands off you. “Now who’s being hypocritical?" You stood up, narrowing your eyes at him. He was annoying when he wanted to be. You knew that first hand “What is that supposed to mean?” Iv is quick to jump up too. You knew he was harmless, but his quick movement still made you step back slightly. “You go off to play with Oli, and no one says a peep about it,"  you wheezed through gritted teeth. “That is different," ii cut in, and you couldn’t help but gape at him. Of course, his shit-stirring ass would side with them. “Last time I checked, he can also grab iv dick, no NDA about that?"  you said, crossing your arms over your chest. Just made the mistake of glancing at iv, who was practically red with anger now, “You fucking...", but he didn’t get to finish the sentence before iii draped an arm around his shoulder, turning him around. “Cool off,"  he muttered, tapping a hand on iv’s chest. 

“Breather. Outside. Now”, Vessel pointed towards the door. And as much as you hated the pre-concert arguments, you didn’t want to drop this now. “Bark while you’re at it,"  you raised both middle fingers at iv, but the sight was short-lived as Vess stepped in front of you, gripping your jaw and pulling your face to meet his. "Y/n,"  it was barely a whisper, but the tone shift said it all. “We’ll talk about this after."  You want to fight back, but instead, you just nodded. Pushing past him to go get ready. Simply out of spite moving to quickly typed out a message to Bad Omen’s Instagram account. The likelihood of them seeing it, however, was low. Right…?

The concert ended up being only mid. The tension that usually had everyone grinding against one another. Pushing the possible limits had turned into a cold war. In moments like this, iv pride was bigger than him. You knew he wouldn’t blow off before the show started, so it wasn’t that much of a surprise that he pretty much avoided you like the plague. Leaving you at the mercy of iii and Vessel for the most part. So it was Vess who had you press against his chest until the black paint was smudging all over your back. Hand on your throat as he sang the lyrics of the songs straight into your bloodstream. Even the kiss that iii leaned in for felt off, so you didn’t push him. Didn’t push any of them. Not when your attempts of luring them out of their pissy mood was cut with a cold shoulder. But that didn’t mean that you weren’t frustrated about it. 

"Here," warmth spreads through your body as a familiar scent filled your senses. You welcomed it on most days, but today it only made your frown deepen. So with a shrug of the hand, you pushed the leather jacket off. “Don’t be a brat; you’ll catch a cold," iii grunted, forcefully wrapping you up in iv’s jacket. 

“Who knew you would be the one mending the bridges", you hissed out, taking another drag from your cigarette. iii tapped at his lips, and you quickly held the same cigarette out for him, letting him take a couple of drags in. “He’s pissed because he cares," iii said after blowing out the smoke. “We both know that he’s fiercely protective over people he lets in close." And you knew that. Knew that from all the tines his steal mask would slip. And you would be left with nothing but a needy man. One that’s constantly leaning into you or falling asleep on your shoulder. “You remember him after people started talking shit about Vess dancing”, iii pointed out, “He yapped about it for the rest of the night. I throw punches, iv talks, that’s his weapon”.

“You are all acting as if I’m about to sell my body on the highway," you huffed, shaking your head in frustration. “We found you first," iii nearly sang, snatching the cigarette from between your fingers. “Oh Jesus, it’s that fucking male ego,"  you growled, wrapping the iv’s jacket tighter around your body. iii extended one of his arms out. You didn’t need to be told twice, as you buried your face in his chest. “You are a whole package,"  he muttered under his breath, pressing his lips to the top of his head. “We don’t want you jumping ships." You pulled back slightly. “I’m not leaving you; it’s one concert from what I understood,"  you whispered, knowing full well that if they said no, you wouldn’t go. After all, they were your people. And the last thing you wanted was for them to feel as if you were replacing them in some way. “One too many, baby,"  he let out a sigh, “One too fucking many”, killing the cigarette with his foot before pulling you back into the warmth of the back room. 

The topic of those videos was dropped without bringing it up ever again. They don’t bring it up, so you did just the same. Until one night, your phone pings, and you couldn’t help the grin that spreads over your face. “Tell me that I can see your cute face tonight”, it read. Making you fall back onto your bed, as you silently screamed into your screen. You keep it to yourself this time. The least ears heard about the less hearts would break, but even as you were getting ready to leave, you knew that there was no way you could leave the apartment you all rented out without the boys noticing you walking down the stairs, and from the sound coming from lower floor, they were in the living room. In conclusion right by the staircase. But what was bitting another bullet after all?

"Okay, style icon," iii whistled as the sound of your heels made them all turn your way. You shot him a smile, “You like?" Twistling,  you gave them all a look at your head-to-toe black outfit, only a baby pink mini dress bringing contrast to the whole outfit. “Are you sure you girls don’t want us tagging along?”, Vessel asked, tilting his beer bottle your way. And here you were. Screwed all over. You had forgotten about girls going out tonight. Well, you were going out with them until you got that message, and then your brain blanked. “She’s not going with the girls," iv muttered, his jaw clenched as his eyes looked you up and down. Not the gentle kind of look. Oh, no. He was eating you with his gaze. Burning through your skin. Seeing into part of you, you didn’t want him to. Sending a shiver down your spine. “IV is right, I’m not."  You held your head up; you owned them nothing. Well, not fully true, but still. You were your own person. “Tell me that it’s not what I think it is," ii chuckled, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “Wipe that grin off your face," you grunted.

Silence fell over the room. ii kept his eyes on you challenging you to break first. But when you didn’t back away he leaned forward. Both inked palms firmly placed on the table. “Careful, or you’ll be whipping something else off your face and legs,"  he said, leaning forward. His blunt answer and forwardness took you off-hand because to get through the impenetrable wall of calmness that ii had built was impossible. It had been impossible. “Not yours to paint tonight,"  you shot them a smile, reaching for the bottle iii was holding before downing the last remaining liquid. “But I’ll send Noah your hellos,"  you smiled at them right as the sound of a car signaling outside of the window echoed, “Don’t wait up, boys." You waved them off over your shoulder. Feeling your heart hammer against your ribcage. The dizziness clouding your eyes. But you couldn’t turn back now. You couldn’t go there now when you knew they were boiling. This was good. This would give them time. Right…?

[elkkiel]

forgot about this lol

anyways headcanons below:

Vessel

I can understand why people think Vess is an alpha, but unfortunately you are incorrect (this is my poll breakdown I get to write the headcanon). He is an omega who happens to have a more alpha-typical body type, so he often gets mistaken for an alpha!

I think he postures like an alpha sometimes because it makes him feel more confident (omegaphobic biases unfortunately do still exist, even in more progressive metal communities) but the sheer yearning that man is capable of... like hello??? the offering??? the poor guy is practically baring his neck whenever he whines out "take a bite"

Shy about showing omega tendencies around the others eeps, but they're nothing but quietly supportive whenever Vess makes a tiny nest in the bus lounge or curls up with a plushie with his packmates' scents on it. (he's especially self conscious about the purring, but the others adore it)

Very proud of the others and will show them off as much as he can (he's got a pack straight out of any omega's dreams, of course he's gonna show off!!). He loves flaunting his little alpha around, especially if he gets the sense that they may have gotten their dynamics mixed up. Totally let's II get all Alpha™ with him just to throw people off and brag a little

He smells like cool, salty ocean rain and roses, with just a touch of dark chocolate and caramel

II

Congrats on getting this one right! He is the most alpha to have ever alpha'd and you cannot tell me otherwise.

Kinda in the same but reversed situation as Vess, he gets mistaken for an omega a lot because of his stature and pretty boba blue eyes (🥰). But rest assured, nobody has any doubts as to his dynamic and role in their little pack beyond a first glance. Vess may be the face of the band, but II's the leader behind the scenes

The others love their tiny alpha and how much fierce protective energy he houses in that little body. III likes to push his buttons and call him an ankle biter whenever II's a little fired up. Heaven forbid III takes it a little further and tries to pick him up like a grumpy cat again

He smells like ozone, amber, and ground espresso. Paired with Vess's scent, they love the way they smell like the feeling of a cozy, romantic thunderstorm at sea together (it was one of the things that initially drew them to each other, and to this day the two scent almost daily out of both habit and comfort in being chemically entwined with one another)

III

Our sweet lil bassy boy! He's def a beta, but more in the sense that he fits multiple alpha/omega characteristics rather than being a neutral presentation

Very confident in himself and his presentation. He's the one that the others lean on when they might be feeling insecure or frustrated in themselves, since for him, their "second gender behaviours" are just normal things that make him so fun and lovable

He's always down to nest whenever, wherever. Doesn't matter if it's a hotel in the middle of nowhere or the corner of a tiny green room. He will gather every available scrap of fabric and soft thing to get cozy (just bear in mind, he's not the calmest nesting partner so be prepared for wiggles)

His chaotic energy gets channelled into bugging the others in ultra specific and effective ways. Getting up behind Vess and grabbing his waist during Aqua Regia? Never fails to make him smell flustered for the rest of the song. IV is down with his shenanigans, so he's not so much flustered as he is just having fun being little shit with III to tease everyone else. And he knows the wrath of II after he bugs him behind the kit, but that's a problem for after the show ;P

The designated heat/rut caretaker of the group since he doesn't get either himself. He loves having a bedbound, captive audience to yap at and fuss over. II tends to be fairly self-sufficient so III just makes sure he eats and drinks, but he LOVES getting to fawn over his omegas! Helping to build nests and feeding them while they're too crampy to do it themselves makes him very happy

Being a beta, he doesn't have super specific scent notes. But he generally smells bright and happy, like hand squeezed lemonade in the summer sort of vibes

IV:

I'm personally undecided between beta and omega for him, but I suppose my argument for Vess can very easily apply to him as well. So we will go with that!

IV has mega clingy cat energy. It's very rare to see him not touching one of the others in some capacity, whether it's his head on III's shoulder or his arms looped around II's waist.

He loves light scenting at every opportunity and will even do it on stage to rile up the other boys a bit. Sometimes he takes it a little too far, but as with III, that's a problem for after the show

The others swear that he's constantly in heat with the way he clings and vies for attention. That is the only reason, of course. Nothing else

He smells like lilac, fresh soil, and honey. Very fresh and springy — he has to physically remove the others from his neck during the winter since his scent is so warm and comforting in the colder months (though not often, he rarely complains about any of them being so close unless it's genuinely inconvenient)

anyways feel free to add your own. reply, send me asks, yell at me in dms, idc. I love omegaverse and I am always down to discuss.

thank u for participating in my study. woohoo science!

for scientific purposes:

reblog for sample size, don't be a coward !

(polls for other members in reblogs)

[gayrhya]

if i had a nickle for for every time i was into an evil wizard lady who used to hold the position archmage of antiquity in the cerberus assembly, i would have two nickles. which isn't a lot but its weird that it's happened twice now.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The 2019 Locus Award nominees: your guide to the best sf/f of 2018

Locus Magazine has published its annual Locus Award finalists, a shortlist of the best science fiction and fantasy of the past calendar year. I rely on this list to find the books I've overlooked (so. many. books.). This year's looks like a bumper crop.

Now that the finalists have been announced, Locus subscribers and others can cast their votes; the awards will be presented in Seattle during a weekend-long event that runs June 28-30, MC'ed by Connie Willis.

SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

Record of a Spaceborn Few, Becky Chambers (Harper Voyager US; Hodder & Stoughton)

The Calculating Stars, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)

If Tomorrow Comes, Nancy Kress (Tor)

Revenant Gun, Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris US; Solaris UK)

Blackfish City, Sam J. Miller (Ecco; Orbit UK)

Embers of War, Gareth L. Powell (Titan US; Titan UK)

Elysium Fire, Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz; Orbit US)

Red Moon, Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

Unholy Land, Lavie Tidhar (Tachyon)

Space Opera, Catherynne M. Valente (Saga)

FANTASY NOVEL

Lies Sleeping, Ben Aaronovitch (DAW; Gollancz)

Foundryside, Robert Jackson Bennett (Crown; Jo Fletcher)

The Monster Baru Cormorant, Seth Dickinson (Tor)

Deep Roots, Ruthanna Emrys (Tor.com Publishing)

Ahab’s Return, Jeffrey Ford (Morrow)

European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman, Theodora Goss (Saga)

The Mere Wife, Maria Dahvana Headley (MCD)

The Wonder Engine, T. Kingfisher (Argyll Productions)

Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik (Del Rey; Macmillan)

Creatures of Want and Ruin, Molly Tanzer (John Joseph Adams)

HORROR NOVEL

In the Night Wood, Dale Bailey (John Joseph Adams)

Unlanguage, Michael Cisco (Eraserhead)

We Sold Our Souls, Grady Hendrix (Quirk)

Coyote Songs, Gabino Iglesias (Broken River)

The Hunger, Alma Katsu (Putnam; Bantam Press UK)

The Outsider, Stephen King (Scribner; Hodder & Stoughton)

The Listener, Robert McCammon (Cemetery Dance)

Cross Her Heart, Sarah Pinborough (HarperCollins UK/Morrow)

The Cabin at the End of the World, Paul Tremblay (Morrow; Titan UK)

Tide of Stone, Kaaron Warren (Omnium Gatherum)

YOUNG ADULT BOOK

The Gone Away Place, Christopher Barzak (Knopf)

The Cruel Prince, Holly Black (Little, Brown; Hot Key)

The Belles, Dhonielle Clayton (Freeform; Gollancz)

Tess of the Road, Rachel Hartman (Random House)

Dread Nation, Justina Ireland (Balzer + Bray)

Cross Fire, Fonda Lee (Scholastic)

The Agony House, Cherie Priest & Tara O’Connor (Levine)

Half-Witch, John Schoffstall (Big Mouth House)

Impostors, Scott Westerfeld (Scholastic US; Scholastic UK)

Mapping the Bones, Jane Yolen (Philomel)

FIRST NOVEL

Children of Blood and Bone, Tomi Adeyemi (Henry Holt; Macmillan)

Semiosis, Sue Burke (Tor)

Armed in Her Fashion, Kate Heartfield (ChiZine)

The Poppy War, R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)

The Quantum Magician, Derek Künsken (Solaris US; Solaris UK)

Annex, Rich Larson (Orbit US)

Severance, Ling Ma (Farrar, Straus, Giroux)

Witchmark, C.L. Polk (Tor.com Publishing)

Trail of Lightning, Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga)

Empire of Sand, Tasha Suri (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

NOVELLA

The Black God’s Drums, P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com Publishing)

The Tea Master and the Detective, Aliette de Bodard (Subterranean)

“Umbernight“, Carolyn Ives Gilman (Clarkesworld 2/18)

Black Helicopters, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Tor.com Publishing)

Time Was, Ian McDonald (Tor.com Publishing)

Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach, Kelly Robson (Tor.com Publishing)

The Freeze-Frame Revolution, Peter Watts (Tachyon)

Artificial Condition, Martha Wells (Tor.com Publishing)

Rogue Protocol, Martha Wells (Tor.com Publishing)

The Descent of Monsters, JY Yang (Tor.com Publishing)

NOVELETTE

“The Donner Party”, Dale Bailey (F&SF 1–2/18)

“Okay, Glory”, Elizabeth Bear (Twelve Tomorrows)

“No Flight Without the Shatter“, Brooke Bolander (Tor.com 8/15/18)

The Only Harmless Great Thing, Brooke Bolander (Tor.com Publishing)

“The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections“, Tina Connolly (Tor.com 7/11/18)

“An Agent of Utopia”, Andy Duncan (An Agent of Utopia)

“Queen Lily“, Theodora Goss (Lightspeed 11/18)

“Nine Last Days on Planet Earth“, Daryl Gregory (Tor.com 9/19/18)

“Quality Time”, Ken Liu (Robots vs Fairies)

“How to Swallow the Moon“, Isabel Yap (Uncanny 11–12/18)

SHORT STORY

“The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington“, Phenderson Djèlí Clark (Fireside 2/18)

“The Bookcase Expedition”, Jeffrey Ford (Robots vs Fairies)

“STET“, Sarah Gailey (Fireside 10/18)

“A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies“, Alix E. Harrow (Apex 2/6/18)

“Cuisine des Mémoires”, N.K. Jemisin (How Long ’til Black Future Month?)

“The Storyteller’s Replacement”, N.K. Jemisin (How Long ’til Black Future Month?)

“Firelight“, Ursula K. Le Guin (Paris Review Summer ’18)

“The Starship and the Temple Cat“, Yoon Ha Lee (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 2/1/18)

“Mother of Invention“, Nnedi Okorafor (Future Tense)

“The Court Magician“, Sarah Pinsker (Lightspeed 1/18)

ANTHOLOGY

The Best Horror of the Year Volume Ten, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Night Shade)

The Book of Magic, Gardner Dozois, ed. (Bantam; Harper Voyager UK)

The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-fifth Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin’s Griffin)

Worlds Seen in Passing, Irene Gallo, ed. (Tor.com Publishing)

The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018, N.K. Jemisin & John Joseph Adams, eds. (Mariner)

Robots vs Fairies, Dominik Parisien & Navah Wolfe, eds. (Saga)

The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year, Volume Twelve, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Solaris US; Solaris UK)

Infinity’s End, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Solaris US; Solaris UK)

The Underwater Ballroom Society, Tiffany Trent & Stephanie Burgis, eds. (Five Fathoms)

The Future Is Female!, Lisa Yaszek, ed. (Library of America)

COLLECTION

The Tangled Lands, Paolo Bacigalupi & Tobias S. Buckell (Saga)

Brief Cases, Jim Butcher (Ace; Orbit UK)

An Agent of Utopia, Andy Duncan (Small Beer)

How Long ’til Black Future Month?, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

The Dinosaur Tourist, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Subterranean)

Fire & Blood, George R.R. Martin (Bantam; Harper Voyager UK)

All the Fabulous Beasts, Priya Sharma (Undertow)

The Future Is Blue, Catherynne M. Valente (Subterranean)

Starlings, Jo Walton (Tachyon)

How to Fracture a Fairy Tale, Jane Yolen (Tachyon)

MAGAZINE

Analog

Asimov’s

Beneath Ceaseless Skies

Clarkesworld

F&SF

Fireside

Lightspeed

Strange Horizons

Tor.com

Uncanny

PUBLISHER

Angry Robot

Baen

DAW

Gollancz

Orbit

Saga

Small Beer

Subterranean

Tachyon

Tor

EDITOR

John Joseph Adams

Neil Clarke

Ellen Datlow

Gardner Dozois

C.C. Finlay

Jonathan Strahan

Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas

Ann & Jeff VanderMeer

Sheila Williams

Navah Wolfe

ARTIST

Kinuko Y. Craft

Galen Dara

Julie Dillon

Leo & Diane Dillon

Bob Eggleton

Victo Ngai

John Picacio

Shaun Tan

Charles Vess

Michael Whelan

NON-FICTION

Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece, Michael Benson (Simon & Schuster)

Sense of Wonder: Short Fiction Reviews (2009-2017), Gardner Dozois (ReAnimus)

Strange Stars, Jason Heller (Melville House)

Dreams Must Explain Themselves: The Selected Non-Fiction of Ursula K. Le Guin, Ursula K. Le Guin (Gollancz)

Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing, Ursula K. Le Guin & David Naimon (Tin House)

Old Futures: Speculative Fiction and Queer Possibility, Alexis Lothian (NYU Press)

Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth, Catherine McIlwaine, ed. (Bodleian Library)

Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction, Alec Nevala-Lee (Dey Street)

None of This Is Normal: The Fiction of Jeff VanderMeer, Benjamin J. Robertson (University of Minnesota Press)

An Informal History of the Hugos: A Personal Look Back at the Hugo Awards, 1953-2000, Jo Walton (Tor)

ART BOOK

Yoshitaka Amano, Yoshitaka Amano: The Illustrated Biography – Beyond the Fantasy, Florent Gorges (Les Éditions Pix’n Love 2015; Dark Horse)

Spectrum 25: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, John Fleskes, ed. (Flesk)

John Howe, A Middle-earth Traveler: Sketches from Bag End to Mordor (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; HarperCollins UK)

Jeffrey Alan Love, The Thousand Demon Tree (Flesk)

Simon Stålenhag, The Electric State (Fria Ligan ’17; Skybound)

Shaun Tan, Cicada (Lothian; Levine ’19)

Charles Vess, The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition, Ursula K. Le Guin (Saga)

Michael Whelan, Beyond Science Fiction: The Alternative Realism of Michael Whelan (Baby Tattoo)

Dungeons & Dragons Art and Arcana: A Visual History, Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, & Sam Witwer (Ten Speed)

Lisbeth Zwerger, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, J.K. Rowling (Levine)

https://boingboing.net/2019/05/07/futures-of-the-past-year.html

[frothingatthemaw]

ermmm hi...stares at u

can u rec sleep token songs........ive been meaning to listen for forever bc i always hear about them but ive never gotten around to it lul

I AM SO SAD I WASNT ABLE TO ANSWER THIS INSTANTLY FUCK!!!!!!! but uhm..... oh god i am going to explode!!!!!

so the first song i ever heard was "take me back to eden" which i think sets you up for a nice taste of their overall sound? but i think "the summoning" does this more tastefully with how their songs have a tendency to do similar things as this one. so definitely listen to either of these first!

others i would recommend overall are: "ascensionism" (i think this could be my fav sleep token song?), "blood sport - from the room below," "sugar," "give," and "jaws." some of these are just ones i get stuck in my head and a couple are ones for diversity and mandatory listening.

let me know what you think <3 i am sooooo fucking deep in the hyperfixation on them. i could talk about them for fucking hours dude. if you wanna talk sleep token i am definitely your go-to guy

[frothingatthemaw]

What do you think the sound is going to be like on their next album? Or the story?

A QUESTION!!!!!! i have gotten so excited about this holy SHIT!!!!

honestly, i think it’s going to continue in a similar path of take me back to eden with sound. i think it’ll build upon that (and i hope we get a bit heavier as well? maybe?) and for story, i really hope it focuses on vessel healing. take me back to eden hints in that way, that he’s healing some. i hope we bring it home to know he’s happier now, that he’s doing better than he’s ever been. or maybe it’ll expand stuff on the graphic novel coming out here soon. i hope it’s vessel’s healing journey though but who knows!

[frothingatthemaw]

stevie u are very tempting me to listen to sleep token the aeshtehic fucks <- WHICH IS WHY I DIDNT ANESERUR COMMENT GTW SORRY DHDJD i have not listen to the band in my life I'm a fraud

LISTEN TO SLEEP TOKEN PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!! i am vibrating at the mention PLEASE!!!!! it would also be like a trade off of interests….. me gettin into emh bc of u and u gettin into sleep token bc of me…. yk ??

AND NOOO ITS OKIE ^_^ i was wonderin why but that makes 100% sense luls

YOU WANNA LISTEN TO SLEEP TOKEN SOOOOOO BAD

[frothingatthemaw]

Same anon again.

Following the same kind of idea, how do you think their look is going to change, or I guess continue to change since it’s already changing. With the change to vessels shoulder thingy, the switch from IVs jacket to the pinstripe suit. Do you think there’ll be more “surface” changes to their appearances? Something to push the story further?

I LOVE QUESTIONS SO MUCH MWA!! you are being so kind doing this 🖤

yes, of course! the main one is i think that inevitably vessel’s mask is going to change too. i’m unsure of what it could possibly change to, maybe the graphic novel can hint to some ideas. i saw a theory upon why more fur was added to vessel’s costume and i found that interesting. i would find the link and attach it somewhere here, but i have no idea how to find that.

sometime in the future, which again i think is inevitable, iii’s hair will change. that’s given though, he’s always going to change his hair. it would be super cool if he could somehow have golden hair, it would look very nice and fit the theme. but with his hair at the moment, a subtle change to have red at the tips would be… so beautiful, in my opinion.

as for iv or ii, i’m not so sure! i admit i’m not as insane about them, so you’d have to ask ii and iv fanatics their opinions on them. (i do miss iv’s jacket, i will say. it looked so fucking cool! and gender!!!)

touching upon masks again, when (if) vessel’s changes, i hope the rest of the members’ does as well, to show that they evolve together in some way. i love the idea of them all being connected to each other at the core, therefore being unable to control some physical appearance shifts.

thank you again for asking, i love to think about these things and form theories!

[frothingatthemaw]

haihaiii do you have any sleep token recs for lil ol me :3c

I FORGOT I HAD THIS ASK I AM SO SORRY </3

yes i do!!! i have to rec my favorite sleep token songs, ascensionism and shelter - from the room below. i’m not sure what you specifically like so i’ll give some variety! sugar is a less heavy one and it is sooo fucking good. vess loves this song and will get into a habit of screaming it lol. the summoning is one of their most popular i believe, so i guess it’s a must. i’ll also recommend jaws, blood sport (sad warning for this one, we often have to skip it), nazareth, and hypnosis.

thank you for asking me!!! i love recommending music and especially when it’s sleep token. it’s the best thing ever <33 they could never make me hate you sleep token. never!

[frothingatthemaw]

i rambled to her a bit about them and she said THEY SOUND COOL!!!!! you have no idea what this means to me

[frothingatthemaw]

whats urbfave sleep token song :O?

HAIIII!!!!! u like sleep token???

tbh i haven’t listened to All of them yet & i’m still in the getting to know phase ykwim? but ‘take me back to eden’ is a fav rn for sure… but that’s also the first song of theirs i heard! i think i’m too early to pick favs… i mean idk lyrics & i’ve not heard all songs yet & i can’t identify songs yet either! i think it’s gonna be a bit before i have favs…. i think this is day 3 of me knowing abt them !!

but i do have a playlist here that consists of all the songs i’ve heard and liked so far, slowly tryin get there!

what are ur favs…. do u have recs ??

[frothingatthemaw]

SORRY NOT SORRY? i also found some more comments under the video i got this idea from that sent me into shambles as well! i could additionally add those to this post if you were interested :)

DYWTYLM BEING FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF LOOKING AT YOURSELF IN THE MIRROR AND ACCEPTING SELF-LOVE??????

[bubbles-for-all-of-us]

Don’t need to tell me twice

a/n peeps wanted a possessive, protective IV, so here we are!!!😜

warning: slightly suggestive and also well a protective boy

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

IV always had a protective streak. It wasn’t overly possessive and he wasn’t one of the boyfriends that made their girls change because they didn’t approve of something. You were your person and he respected that fully. But that didn’t mean that he didn’t have a keen eye on everyone else. And in IV books almost every guy was out there to swoon you. And while you had thanked him for an extra ego boost he wasn’t so keen on entertaining your enthusiasm.

It’s the after-party of one of sleep token’s biggest gigs that gets IV rilled up beyond the line. Your connection to him was unknown to the audience. The closest people to the band and of course the boys were well aware. But since you hung around backstage a lot. And were featured in some of the prep pics, he didn’t want people putting two and two together.

The congratulatory fuck you two had in a cramped backstage bathroom took off the tole for the beginning of the night. IV was rather content in talking pics with some of the VIPs and the tour crew. But his chilled-out demeanor shifted quickly when he didn’t see you among the rest of the girls. Scanning the crowd he looked for a familiar figure before his eyes landed on the bar. And you. With the guys from the support act from either side of you.

“I see drool from over here”, III snorted, leaning back, lifting his mask only enough to take a swig of the beer in his hand. “Don’t rile him up or we won’t have a support act for the rest of the tour”, Vess clipped in. “I’m not worried”, IV cut in. And he wasn’t. He wasn’t scared of you cheating. Or your head turning. He was confident in what you two had. He knew where you both stood. “And that’s exactly why I will be taking your bottle, mate”, II clapped him on the shoulder, “We all remember the last guy who looked too long”.

IV rolled his eyes. It wasn’t that bad the idiot needed two stitches. And he was the one who raised his hand first. Did so in touching you. “Just go there and bring her over”, III huffed, “Even better, let me do it”. “Sit your ass down”, IV growled standing up, downing the rest of the beer before stepping back from the boys. “Keep your head in check”, were the last words he heard from Vess before he moved through the crowd.

Your bored eyes found him almost immediately. Nor did he miss the eye roll you made while the two yapped away on either side of you. “You should come to see us live”, one of them suggested. You gave him a pilot smile, “Doubt it will be possible, the contract keeps the inner circle on a tighter footing while the tour is in full swing”, you reminded them once more, swilling the drink that had long grown watery in your glass. “Then just come hang, our bus is…”, “Leaving tonight, I believe”, IV cut in and you didn’t need to see his face to know the frustration in his features.

“Ivy, the chick is fire, you keep them so rounded up”, you let yourself gag internally, before settling your glass back on the bar. Hand pressing against IV's chest as you shook your head slightly. “It was nice getting to know you guys but this is my cue to go back”, you motioned to the table your boys were sitting by. “Oh, don’t go yet”, one of them reached out to grab your arm but IV beat him to it. Stopping the hand mid air. “I would think twice”, IV grunted, stepping right in front of the guy.

“Right, we will be going”, you reached for IV’s hand, intertwining your fingers with his as you pulled him back. “IV, we are going”, you said once more, praying internally that he would step back. “Find peaceful sleep tonight, lads”, IV saluted, before draping an arm over your shoulder. “You are the reason for 80% of my headaches”, you rubbed at your temple, with a shake of a head. “Well, you are the reason one of my blood vessels will give out one of these days”, he grunted, “Yet here we are”.

You waved to the rest of the Sleep token boys before pulling IV away towards their changing rooms. “You, sir, need to calm down”, you pushed him into the room first before, closing the door behind you two. “Is this where I get my happy ending?”, he smirked, pulling his mask off, “It’s so fucking hot in there”, rubbing a hand over his face, he threw his head back. “Yeah, it shows. Your brain is overheating”, you chirped, coming to stand between his legs, “You didn’t need to make them shit their pants out there”.

IV snorted, “If that made them scared they aren’t old enough to be looking at pretty little things such as you”. His hand found a fist full of your hair as he brought you closer, “Especially not one that belongs to me”. You rolled your eyes at him, “Whatever will I do with you”, you sighed, dropping to your knees, brushing your hair to one side. “Is this your new way of making me quiet”, he muses, brushing his finger over your bottom lip. “The only one that seems to work”, you chuckle, reaching for his belt, “Mask on, big boy”, you muss, batting your lashes at him. “Don’t need to tell me twice, baby, don’t need to tell me twice”.