V. S. Holmes @vsholmes - Tumblr Blog

V or V. S. | they/them | Author | Archaeologist | Disaster Queer

WELCOME !

I go by "V" here in the author-verse. I'm an international bestselling author and focus on dark, speculative fiction, from fast-paced hard sci-fi to slow-burn gothic fantasy and everything in between. I'm a trans guy living in New England.

You can find all of my original work under the writing tag.

Want sneak peeks and get your hands on ARCs? Join the The Speculative.

My current focus is querying THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN, a blend of folkloric fantasy and gothic romance featuring an unreliable, acerbic trans masc narrator, ritualistic sex, and a grumpy x sunshine duo in a world inspired by my own Frisian heritage, the otherness of being queer, and our deep connection with the land that makes us and breaks us.

When addict and failed-necromancer Ivigh is given an offer he can’t refuse, he must help find Eir Lahren—the necromancer who unleashed the magical storm ravaging the world and gave Ivigh the gaping, bloodless hole in his chest.

STARS EDGE: NEL BENTLY BOOKS

My completed snarky science fiction series!

Foul-mouthed Dr. Nel Bently discovers her pristine archaeological site is the center of an intergalactic feud. Tossed into a world of high tech and higher stakes, she only has her trowel, her attitude, and her badass--and alien--girlfriend, Lin.

The first book, Travelers, is included in the Peregrine Moon Lander mission as part of the Writers on the Moon Time Capsule!

"The fun fourth space opera in Holmes’s Stars Edge series (after Strangers) takes rough-edged heroine Nel Bently back to Earth in search of the source of a deadly audio signal….Though the action is a bit slow to start, once it revs up it’s delightful. Holmes blends archaeology and science fiction into a unique romp that’s sure to be a hit…"

- Publishers Weekly

BLOOD OF TITANS

My first series was the slow-burn epic fantasy following two generations caught in the crossfire of a war between the gods and their creators.

When Alea's home is destroyed by a mad king's genocide, she is forced to choose between mortals who play at gods and gods who pray for mortality.

Smoke and Rain, the award-winning first book in their fantasy quartet, became an international bestseller in 2018 and won New Apple Literary's Excellence in Independant Publishing Award in 2015.

"The atmosphere surrounding this epic tale is intoxicatingly real...Holmes weaves a tapestry of the forthcoming events with the skill of a thaumaturge." - The San Francisco Review of Books

SOLFORGE FUSION

I recently joined the Stone Blade Entertainment team to develop lore, world-building, and original characters for SolForge Fusion, launched October of 2022!

Aside from enjoying the awesome cards and beautiful art of the game as a player, I'm developing lore, flavor-text, original characters, as well as some more secrets yet to be shared!

You can find all my deck scenes and more under the SolForge Fusion tag!

Until next time, take good care!

#introduction #V. S. Holmes #vs holmes #fantasy #scifi

maglor-still-lives

I can’t decide what’s better: elves being a tricked-out version of humans, or the races having similar appearances but completely different physiologies.

maglor-still-lives

An elf goes to a human hospital and the doctors are like holy fuck. You broke our blood typing machine.

maglor-still-lives

“Sir, the results are in, and technically you are a fungus.”

i-suggest-becoming-a-guy

“She was a woman who pretended to be a man to escape oppression.” and it’s someone who lived his life as a man and even his grave has his chosen name on it and bro even said “don’t you dare look at my body post mortem” but of course. Put him in your “women in history” books. Fucking hell.

audible-smiles

My memory of The Birdcage (1996) is always that it's more dated and more difficult to watch than it actually is. You hear "drag-themed comedy from the 90s based on a musical from the 80s based on a play from the 70s" and you brace yourself just a little, right? But the film has a strong gay perspective, so the fruity fag jokes mostly come off as warmly affectionate. There is a surprising amount of poignancy in Robin Williams' portrayal of Armand, grudgingly agreeing to his beloved son's request that he go back into the closet for an evening ("do me a favor and don't talk to me for a while"). The drag club's staff attempting to redecorate the apartment with stuff straight people might like (a taxidermy moose head, an enormous crucifix, and Playboy magazine) is extremely funny. Albert's histrionics are a point of tension because he does often come off as a stereotypically pathetic/comic figure, but towards the end of the movie he makes it very clear that he's aware of how people see him, and asserts that trying to copy a stoic masculinity he doesn't possess for the sake of social approval would be more pathetic. In the 1983 musical adaptation, they give "Albert" (Albin) the only good song in the whole show, "I Am What I Am", which Gloria Gaynor covered to the delight of gays everywhere. Apparently Nathan Lane wasn't (publicly) out yet in 1996, which is amazing because it means that at one point in this movie you're watching a gay man playing a straight man playing a gay man playing a straight man, in a movie about how it's important to be yourself, an absurdity that does seem to encapsulate the state of gay America in the 90s.

stephtuckerwriting

Reading the Last Unicorn for the first time and the minute my boi Schmendrick was mentioned I internally lost my shit.

Look at him! 😭 hes just such a little guy. 😭🦄❤️

vsholmes

I distinctly remember that my one and only imaginary friend as a kid (surprising that I had only the one, as I grew up alone in the woods with less than zero friends) was Schmendrick. My aunt taped a bootleg version on a VHS, which she did a lot in the late 80s/early 90s and sent it to me for my like fifth birthday I think and watching it completely changed the ecosystem of my imagination. There's a single diary entry from later on when said imaginary friend "got sick and died" and that was the end of that phase, but the chokehold this film had on me?

#the last unicorn #schmendrick the magician #fantasy #fantasy author #sff

infectiouspiss

2026

FUCK HARD

FUCK FAST

FUCK BADLY

NEVER USE GENERATIVE AI

CREATE JOY

MUSIC ALWAYS

PSPSPSPS AT KITTIES ON THE STREET

YUMMY SOUP

go see the doctor about that thing

BE TRANSGENDER

KISS YOUR FRIENDS

EAT CHEESE

NEVER KILL YOURSELF

THRIVE

rslashrats

i don’t think any sort of official documentation should include gender markers

ratwednesday

and in the distance, I saw / proud, solemn/fern-wild

a painting sponsored by my patrons

gean-grey-blog

One time I was leaving a friend's place and an older lady with basically no English came up to me and communicated that she was very cold and needed a ride. She pointed to tell me where to go.

I got there and her daughter or granddaughter came out and was like omg her phone died we were worried

And then the older lady said something and the younger lady translated.

"She knew she could trust you because you have pink hair"

I thought it was funny at the time. But when I think back on it I think she was basically saying "you had a visible sign of not vibing with the system I was afraid of"

Be weird. Be colorful. Help random people.

dailyclassicart

Anton Mauve - "Winter Landscape at Sunset" (c.1887)

enchantedbook

'The Enchanted Forest ' illustrated by Maud & Miska Petersham, 1920.

dappermouth

Hello! I’ve made a new set of hi-res phone wallpapers from some of my latest illustrations — free for your personal use as always 🖤

arbredelanuit

EN/FR -🌕 Guardian of the Blue Night 🌕 acrylic paint on plywood 26 x 22.5 cm, glossy varnish finish, fastening system on the back. Available on my shop arbredelanuit.fr . 🌕 Gardien de la Nuit Bleue 🌕 peinture acrylique sur bois contreplaqué 26 x 22.5 cm, finition vernis brillant, système d'attache au dos.Disponible sur ma boutique arbredelanuit.fr .