Copper, 20 years old, it/its (NO they/them, ever). side blog for Sleep Token art and ramblings and such. largely disengaged from the real-life band now, just doing my own shit.
layout matching w/ @fivewholeminutes <3
if you want to support me, consider donating or purchasing from the store (got some fanmade goodies there too): https://ko-fi.com/copper_sands
DNI:
shitty people (racists, queerphobes, zionists, ableists, etc.). you are not welcome here.
unmasking the band members in general, OR talking about past projects if not tagged/warned properly
if you romanticize/glorify incest, zoophilia, sexual depictions of children, etc. (fictional or not, either way it's block on sight)
if you use, support, or in any way condone any form of generative AI (images, music, text, anything at all)
DO NOT REPOST MY ART. if you wanna use it for non-commercial means, ask for permission & if allowed, credit me when used. if you wanna use it for commercial means, at least talk to me first.
my native language isn't english. sometimes i make mistakes! shit happens.
i do not romantically ship the band members themselves or their stage personas and i find it uncomfortable in general (for myself). i DO still depict affection and even flirting between them on occasion, but in my specific case it's strictly platonic, and while i can't control how others perceive it, i would appreciate not seeing any romantic insinuations under my art.
adding onto the previous point, whenever i talk about the vessels in terms of lore & adjacent, i am talking about them as my own characters. always. this blog is not for speculating on their private lives, and if you do so, you will be blocked. also please stop.
i will only discuss any of the sexual connotations in the lyrics with the weight and importance they deserve. while i understand other folks finding their music "sexy", that makes me, personally, uncomfortable; however, i will not disregard the sexual aspect of it either way.
i would appreciate people not leaving NSFW comments on my art, especially the more emotionally heavy stuff, thank you very much! if you really Have to say something, please do it in a separate post or just in a place where i'm unlikely to see it.
even if i might tag my writing as "theories", they aren't necessarily intended as such. if anything, i'm telling a story of my own based on the lyrics. however, if someone else gleans something else from my art, please feel free to talk about it! i love people's takes! yippee yay!
adding onto the previous point (x2), a lot of the time i interpret the lyrics in tandem with my personal life experiences. it will absolutely get a little too real here. if the subject matter is too heavy, it will be tagged with #[subject] and #[subject] tw.
let me know if you want/need me to tag anything specific! either in an ask or in my DMs. don't hesitate to reach out about that :]
in addition to everything, i will be (VERY RARELY) posting about my Sleep Token D&D AU, which is as simple as it sounds and also not at all. it's also very removed from my "main canon" or most of the band IRL, so it's really just me (& @mapleborealis !) fucking around. also, unlike the "main canon", they are a polycule and all kiss with tongue /hj
blog tags:
organization:
#bygone art - my own art
#bygone talks - my ramblings & the more disconnected bits of writing/theorizing
#bygone writes - the more coherent writing/theorizing
#bygone lore - everything related to my version of the lore of Sleep Token, be it art, writing, or anything else
#bygone silly - my memes
#bygone shows - any post of mine related to a personal Sleep Token ritual experience (pics, rambling, etc)
#bygone footage - images/videos/etc of the band, mine or not (credited as much as possible)
#bygone beloved - posts i particularly like and want to archive, mine or otherwise
#bygone off topic - things vaguely related to sleep token or not related at all
#others' [___] - a post of any variety listed above, just made by someone else
d&d au:
#sleep token dnd and #dnd au - general au tags
#dnd au vessel/ii/iii/iv/etc. - character-specific d&d au posts
little clarifying moments:
#espera - tag for the live background vocalists and wonderful women whom i cherish and love (MIGHT be their maskless posts on rare occasions)
#sleep token him - separate tag for whatever Vessel and Sleep were pre-Sundowning. you can learn more on that in my posts about it.
#sparrowverse (thank you @fivewholeminutes for the name) - everything related to the lore of a timeline alternate to my main lore in which each vessel of Sleep has to kill the one before them to assume their place, as outlined in my fanfic "kill the sparrow". there isn't much to it right now but there might be more trust
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
oh hey thing got posted because i decided not to sit on it until i die
Michael and Sviataslaŭ have been friends for a good 8 years, ever since 1st year of university. Michael — now Vessel — and Sviataslaŭ have been living together for 5-something months, Slava being unable to say no when asked for help. Michael — no, Vessel, — no, Him has been missing for 11 hours. Sviataslaŭ, soon to be II, is waiting for Him to return.
OR: II's POV during & after the events of Nazareth. an interlude published on its own.
I keep seeing people selling 3d prints of Sleep Token stuff.
As a person who fandoms for myself and fellow fans, and resents hustle-culture, I've decided to finally share my 3d files publicly. Originally, I withheld them because I didn't want to risk someone being nasty with them but at this point I think there's enough out there if someone wanted to be foul, I'm certainly not stopping them.
So....
Follow link in linktree to get the Sleep Token Chess Set 3d Printable files for free.
Fuck AI. Fuck hustle culture. Don't be gross.
Poseables with joints/skinning that would work with an Unreal Mannequin rig coming soon. Bisous bisous.
Vessels https://skfb.ly/pLIpB
ii https://skfb.ly/pLIpF
iii https://skfb.ly/pLIpP
iv https://skfb.ly/pLIpS
Printing at large scale may require model edits to accommodate minor gaps between meshes. User discretion. I made these with the specific goal of resin printing at a small scale. There are many oversimplification and visual shorthands taken. You are welcome to alter to your needs so long as you remain within the requested limits. I didn't future-proof them because they were meant just for myself, but hopefully it can give a good jumping off start to those true and pure of heart, or whatever. (Also, if I work with you, HEY. NO NO. NO NO DONT LOOK AT MY TOPO OR UVS. NO. NO.)
alright, here's my sleep token sona/self-insert fellow Cu, the intern outfit designer/concept artist for the white-red masks era.
its thing is that it started out as a. graphic design student by day, gas station cashier by night, and has noticed ii's recurring appearances & chatted with him about his whole deal, and then decided to join both for design practice and in hopes of receiving some sort of metamorphosis from Sleep (both for transgender reasons and to become bug). it didn't contribute much materially (only ideas, really) and left eventually because it realized that the band can't really execute most of its vision anyway, but it had a fun time sticking around regardless. still talk to Vess and ii afterwards, but rarely.
its name is Cu because 1) self insert 2) i don't think backstage members would necessarily need numerals and 3) Vessel "chemistry nerd" Sleeptoken would allow that i think. the moth is a personal addition to the mask; it's like a felt and wire contraption that's been partially sewn, partially glued on. Cu is really just me but cooler and on T and a graphic design student in the UK
Sundowning-era mimics of the vessels. iii and iv aren't in the picture enough for Sleep to capture their essence properly. the "Vessel" isn't exactly an intentional mimic either, but more on that later.
design breakdowns under the cut:
[obligatory “when talking about the vessels, i’m talking about characters” disclaimer]
if you're unfamiliar with the main idea, please check out the TMBTE post.
Sleep/"Vessel"/Vessel mimic (sort of?)
the thing with this design is that, as previously mentioned, this isn't exactly an intentional mimic of Vessel. rather than that, it's almost Sleep's "default" state during Sundowning, stemming from him and Vessel having their identities heavily blurred prior. in this form, Sleep tends to mirror Vessel's movements almost perfectly or have them complete a certain pattern (see: Decimation and Higher artworks). most of the silhouette is very blurred; the parts that usually appear the clearest are the ones closest to Vessel himself, but the feet tend to always be blurred and give the appearance of floating. the face is nonexistent under the hood, replaced by protruding beams (?) that are supposed to resemble the Sundowning logo. generally, they face wherever Sleep does without following any three-dimensional rules, but for front views like this they just face up. its design is way better understood if you look at those to artworks, again.
“ii”/ii mimic
this "ii" design mostly follows the same ideas as the TMBTE "ii" - hiding his face behind a hood & veil and standing timidly by with his hands folded. ii is the one person Sleep has had the opportunity to observe while intertwined with Vessel, but that's the only thing he got to do - observe and nothing more. to Sleep, ii doesn't have much meaning, but he recognizes that ii means a lot to Vessel, so he plays on that as much as he can. the hood of "ii's" cloak has a Mannaz rune on it turned upside down. the rune is part of the Sleep Token logo both old and new, and here with its meaning of mankind and community it's supposed to represent ii being connected to Vessel's mortal/human life while Sleep is his divine. the inversion of it is really just due to "ii" being Sleep's twisted image of ii. not much more to it.
Sleep's mimics of the vessels (sans iv) from the TPWBYT time period. we finally got there. because of the guitarist change, the iv that stayed hasn't been there long enough for Sleep to figure him out. iii, however, finally grew on Him by then.
design breakdown under the cut:
[obligatory “when talking about the vessels, i’m talking about characters” disclaimer]
if you’re unfamiliar with the main idea, please check out the TMBTE post & the Sleep lore post.
TPWBYT, to me, is a period of uncertainty. a fresh suicide attempt, surgery, Sleep trying to break Vessel and then mold him in His image. confusing. dissociating. there's a reason why no form Sleep takes has a solid body (except for "ii") - everything is hazy, everything floats and dissipates and comes back wrong, unfamiliar. Sleep, during that time, is mostly an ocean, either spread out thin to appear terrifying or, later on, a deep dark menace.
"Vessel"/Vessel mimic
a watery death. while the Sundowning version of Sleep turns upwards towards Heaven, TPWBYT's "Vessel" drips down heavy, trying to drag Vessel deeper and deeper. it moves by floating, flowing from one space to another, but there's a visible heaviness to it still. everything bleeds into each other, everything is indistinguishable in origin; the only parts that have some semblance of definition are the hood and the hands. it's a constant reminder to Vessel: how much of his own blood he has spilled, how many regrets he drags alongside himself.
"ii"/ii mimic
trapped in a bubble, wrapped up in himself. "ii", while the only one possessing a relatively solid body (that of a spotted moray), still floats in the same realm of haziness as the rest. as the real ii is pulled deeper and deeper into trusting Sleep with whatever he's doing with Vessel, fearing potential consequences, "ii" morphs into a timid creature. his head is a bubble, although opaque and impenetrable, and his arms, while elongated and noodly, are wrapped entirely around his body. this, too, is a mockery.
"iii"/iii mimic
Sleep finally knows what iii is like, what Vessel, using his newfound power, arguably morphed him into. "iii" is largely based on the purple-striped jelly, but that inspiration is mostly visual - the frills, the flashiness, the colors (even though they don't actually come through, it's about the mental association). iii came because he saw something in Vessel, something that lured him in so easily, and now Vessel is an idol for iii to obsess over and pursue through worshiping him, mostly, rather than Sleep. the humanoid arms of "iii" are a decoy - as soon as Vessel gets too close, it will attempt to wrap around him with its numerous tendrils. it moves by floating, too, and does so more way more gracefully than the other mimics, oftentimes twirling and imitating ballroom dance moves.
Sleep's mimic forms of the vessels during the time period of TMBTE, because i can't be normal and start a series from the beginning and not the end.
more info + design breakdowns under the cut:
[obligatory "when talking about the vessels, i'm talking about characters" disclaimer]
background info on the whole idea:
Sleep as a being is shapeless in my mind; more of a concept than a creature. it can manifest as sort of an absence of light in any shape to others, usually to appeal to feeling/emotion. the only "rule" for that is that whatever Sleep tries to appear as cannot look more or less innocent/powerful than Sleep actually is, which usually manifests in two things: the size being different from the thing/person it's imitating, scaled according to power, and/or added features, usually in some way threatening or regal.
one of Sleep's more consistent forms it takes throughout interacting with Vessel is mimicking him, partially to create an illusion of the two being more similar than they actually are and partially because Sleep used to exist as Vessel's shadow when they'd just met. the visual itself has changed through time (you can see what it was like during Sundowning in my Higher artwork), and during TMBTE that visual is pretty much the titular song's character with the most minor tweaks (which is why i didn't draw it separately).
all that made me think about the idea of Sleep mimicking the other vessels just to fuck with Vessel further (to be clear, i am a strong believer that Sleep only interacts with Vessel in any way). so now here are the designs of those mimics during the events of TMBTE, utilizing the album's song characters much like the Vessel mimic. because again, i have to start a series from the end, i guess.
"ii"/ii mimic (song character used: AYROK)
the main idea driving the design of "ii" is the real ii's goal to keep Vessel more or less safe by being by his side in worshipping Sleep, which is the reason he'd decided to become the second vessel in the first place. the choice of AYROK as the character to use in this design is obvious. one of the ideas that stem from that is ii's duty/desire to keep his face hidden for Vessel's sake; only his hands are visible & detailed because that's the only part of him Vessel remembers before either of them became vessels of Sleep and the only part ii has really shown after that. another is ii's timidity in telling Vessel to go against Sleep's will because he fears that no matter how bad it may be, it'll be much worse if Vessel doesn't follow it. that part comes through in the pose - shyly holding his hands together as if they're tied.
"iii"/iii mimic (song character used: Aqua Regia)
the song character inspo being Aqua Regia is mostly because of the calmer nature of the song and the dynamic duo it makes with Vore, less so the themes of the lyrics. also its visual design. iii mimic's design themes are iii's adoration/borderline obsession with Vessel (wearing Vessel's jewelry and having elements of his robe in his shirt + his own face/mask slowly melting off) and his enagement with worship as an act/aesthetic rather than something more serious (the overabundance of jewelry and accessories; the extra arms; the body language; the cuffs around his arms and legs being decorative and not actually restricting). also the rings on his fingers make a checkered pattern.
"iv"/iv mimic (song character used: Vore)
the use of Vore for "iv" is obvious too. song wouldn't be the same without his real life self. the design really just aims to combine iv with the Vore character, but there are two big things here. the simplest one is anger issues, which is why he's So Goddamn Spiky and why his jacket looks like scarred skin rather than painted & customized. the anger mostly shows up in the body language: most of the time "iv" just stares unblinkingly with pure palpable ire in the two glowing dots for eyes, and when he does move it's very stiff and snappy and barely controlled. the other thing is that, simply speaking, the real iv got into this whole mess without knowing the full extent of it and now he's in too deep and kinda losing himself. in the design it's expressed through the human features gradually turning into bug-like, such as the hoodie fading into a segmented millipede-like body and the fucked up mantis hands, and the gold of the original iv's mask melting over the face with the horns being part of it. the spikes protrude from him in a way that makes it difficult to distinguish between jacket decorations and actual parts of his body, but the spines are definitely from his body & allow me to live the dream of iv with a mohawk LMAO
anyway have fun with these go nuts i'll make similar sheets & posts for Sundowning and TPWBYT eventually
hey folks, i recently started new meds and they have made the cost of all of my monthly meds skyrocket to a near unmanageable number. that combined with having to feed myself and my cat and using public transport for studying and psychiatrist visits AND the recent addition of regular-ish blood tests is a huge hit to the wallet of my unemployed self, and employment isn't an option if i want to stay physically and mentally afloat. any help at all would be greatly appreciated. i still offer commissions (& physical items), though they might take a little while longer than the deadlines listed due to exams. just. please help out if you can?
The first 12 of the major arcana Sleep Token tarot deck.. I keep forgetting to post it, but here it is!! I did go a bit out of order with the last few since I didn’t have any ideas for a select few of the cards.
happy Valentine's day to all folks on the aromantic spectrum & my queerplatonic Sleep-worshiping meow meows <3 and if you're arospec and aren't about this stuff, i hope you enjoy the end of the work week & discounted chocolate in the near future!!
happy birthday, take me back to eden. this piece is a reimagining of this painting (linked again just in case) that i made for the band back when the album just released. the original painting is very special to me, so i saw it only fitting to redraw it now, one year later, reflecting both the band's changes and my own.
it has been a wild ride for me with this band, in this community. it forced me out of my shell, gave me a chance to go to a live show (festival, no less!) for the first time in years. the original painting was made for that show, and Adamross took it to the band after their set was over. me posting it on here later got me noticed by @fivewholeminutes. she then went on to become one of my closest ever friends. generally, it's just been fucking wild, and i appreciate all of you whom i have encountered so far, however small or one-sided the interaction may have been. i love you!
