vidukon_cardiff | Member Posts

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Blood Vow (The Three Lands). He has taken a blood vow to the Jackal God to bring freedom to his land by killing Koretia's greatest enemy. But what will he do when the enemy becomes his friend?

New installment:

Side story | Heir. Secrets can destroy. Secrets can also heal.

New omnibus:

Blood Vow: Novel and Side Stories.

BLOG FICTION

Tempestuous Tours (Crossing Worlds: A Visitor's Guide to the Three Lands #2). A whirlwind tour of the sites in the Three Lands that are most steeped in history, culture, and the occasional pickpocket.

New installments:

Stadium.

Entrance to the Emorian palace.

Behavior in the palace.

Entrance protocol.

( News & upcoming fiction )

My fiction announcements are also available by e-mail and feeds.

serrico

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Current Mood: tired

ride_4ever

Watch on YouTube

Current Mood: circadian rhythm disrupted
Current Location: near the lake they call Michigan

smilebackwards

Solaris by Stanislaw Lem. Space explorers are tortured with hallucinations by a semi-sentient alien ocean. This was pretty fucked up and I enjoyed it. Watched the George Clooney film after reading the book and I think the film tried to match the vibe but somehow it was too idk sleek(?) to be appropriately unsettling to me.

[DNF] Dubliners by James Joyce. Series of kind of vaguely dark, disconcerting slice of life short stories set in Dublin. Not enjoying it so I'm DNFing it halfway through.

[DNF] House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. I'm letting myself DNF this one too unfortunately. This is my second read attempt and I got farther this time but despite magical realism being interesting to me, I just don't care for it. It reminds me of One Hundred Years of Solitude which I was forcing myself through a bit toward the end.

-

In TV, I finished Bridgerton (season 4). The first half felt kind of wooden to me but I liked the second half a lot better. Except that they hid a scene at the end of the credits which is annoying to me! (I was trying to remember which other shows I've watched did this and one of them was X-Men '97.) Why do this? Anyway, Francesca has become one of my favorites and I'm excited for the expected continuation of her storyline.

ride_4ever

I just learned that

spikedluv's mother died three weeks after

spikedluv died. Gawd, this fucking era.

Current Mood: overwhelmed
Current Location: near the lake they call Michigan

ride_4ever

Most of you -- or perhaps all of you -- will understand why I am currently fixated on the last three lines of the Sonya Taaffe poem "The House Snakes: For Nyani Martin":

...our earth will always shake,

our restless scales unfurling to enfold

your arms of wine-dark honey as you come home.

The full poem appears in issue 44 of "Uncanny: A Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy".

Current Mood: I Can't Even
Current Location: near the lake they call Michigan

duskpeterson

The protocol for entering the palace changes from time to time, so I can only offer a general outline. If your business is with the court or council, you should present yourself and your credentials to the guards at the southern gate of the outer wall of the palace. It is best to arrange beforehand for your visit. If this not possible, or if you cannot provide an exact time for your arrival, expect to wait as your credentials are sent into the palace to be checked.

Normally, you will be provided with an escort into the palace. If you arrive at a time before the palace begins its day, you will be expected to make your own way to the eastern gate of the inner wall. There your credentials will be inspected again, along with any document that the palace has sent out, permitting your entrance. You will then be allowed to enter the inner wall and make your approach to the palace itself.

The palace being located atop a high hill, you will find yourself faced with the steepest and longest set of stairs in the world. Pace yourself. You may wish to bring refreshments to partake of at the halfway mark.

At the top of the stairs, once you have recovered your breath, you should show your credentials and palace document to the guards at the gate, holding them up for inspection. The guards may not appear to look at you or even notice you. Do not be deceived. Those are real spears they are holding across the doorway.

If the guards grant you entrance, they will lift the spears. If they do not, you must retreat to the palace's inner wall and determine there what the problem is.

Assuming you manage to pass all these barriers, you will find yourself in the entryway to the palace. You will be guided at this point through the remaining stages of reception, which vary according to your rank and status. At some point, however, you will be let loose from Emor's protocol and permitted to take your own path. Let us start with a general introduction to the Chara's palace.

[Translator's note: This breathtakingly long procedure can be cut short if you possess the right credentials, as can be seen in Breached Boundaries.]

ride_4ever

Via a post from

goss: tragic, shocking news about

minoanmiss AKA Rubynye on AO3.

My icon says "sad" but this is way beyond that. I am utterly shocked and crushed.

minoanmiss and I met once at a con and I hoped to meet up again...and now never will. We communicated regularly on DW and often sent each other postal mail...and now never will again.

May her memory be a blessing...and an inspiration.

Current Mood: heartbroken
Current Location: near the lake they call Michigan

goodbyebird

+ Very much had a plan to tidy my bedroom 100%, but then my dryer was like, "nah I'm not going to function" and I derailed completely. There's a couple more things I want to try to see if I can get it sorted, but if not I'll have to call for a repairperson ugh.

...so today I'm focused on cleaning the visible parts of my apartment instead lol.

+ Actually had lunch with a few of my friends today. It's been a while. Like, I didn't manage to meet a single one of them properly before Christmas even. How they all put up with a shut in like myself all these years, I just couldn't tell you. We tried a new noodle place, the food was excellent, I tried a marinated egg for the first time, and we were all laughing and enjoying ourselves.

One of my friends had helped clear out an apartment a couple of days ago, and when she saw the official and un-official guides for The X-Files in the donations box, she decided to grab them for me instead. Very sweet of her, and funny considering she did not know I'd just started watching s1 again.

+ Since AO3 seems to be fairly unstable atm I got some requests to do a new round of

ao3_isdown, so come on over.

+ I've been fiddling with the idea for

fannishtarot and running a Make Your Own Fandom Tarot event for a good long while now, gathering some quotes and such here and there. I think it would be such a rewarding way to deep dive into the tarot and also your own fandom(s) and fannish inclinations. Like, who or what would The Fool be to you in your chosen fandom? I think it'd be an excellent way to internalize a bunch of significators, etc. But I am not getting that started until I have a bunch more prep under my belt lol. I'd basically have to amass six months of posts beforehand, to make room for work schedules, travel, the occasional downtime/brain crash.

But it would be SO cool. I just hope some people will join in.

+ My Dune tarot will be arriving tomorrow, and I'd love to play with it a bunch. Let me know in the comments if you want me to do one of the book's spreads for you.

Current Music: The Echo Friendly - Same Mistakes

goodbyebird

+ I may be somewhat trying to cope with the Horrors by making a big purchase, but I done did it: I ordered those oracles and the workbook I was eying + a tarot deck that spoke to me very loudly and was limited in quantities. Hopefully it doesn't take too long before it arrives so I can dip in before it's back off to work. Tomorrow's big plan is tidying and washing my entire bedroom, laundring the curtains, and set up a nice altar space on the top of my dressing commode.

+ Finished Fallout s2 and I'm happy with how their storylines turned out.( spoilery comment ) There was a small cut scene at the end in case anybody missed that.

+ Steam NEXT Fest is happening, and as usual I've managed to try next to nothing. Two big recommends: Esoteric Ebb and All Will Rise. They're both text-heavy, your choices matter kind of games. I'm gonna try to get a game in of Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes, Wax Heads, Above The Snow, WOODROT, I'm Making A Monster, Dosa Divas, Bookbinding, Twilight Imperium, and the new Moomintroll entry before the time runs out (in that order). 100% I'm going to fail at that.

btw how I loathe having to keep my enthusiasm in check until I've had a scroll to look for AI usage.

+ Why all science fiction and fantasy writers are historians by Ada Palmer.

+ The SEA Is Whose?, Ethnic Entanglements in Southeast Asian SFF, an essay.

+ European bison arrive in the Iberian Highlands for the first time.

+ Botswana shows how smarter cattle herding can save lions, reopen ancient wildlife pathways.

+

youtuberecs is a fun community I just became aware of!

+ Soda Blonde released a new song/video, Suit & Tie, and I dig em both. Weird women in suits on the moors. Mud. Pretty horsie. What's not to like.

+ Forbrukerrådet is a Norwegian consumer council that's focused on making sure customers are treated fairly and not scammed, etc. Big big fan. And they've just released an ad on enshittifaction that is top notch.

Watch on YouTube

condnsdmlk

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serrico

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Current Mood: listless

duskpeterson

Before I lead you into the palace (figuratively speaking), I need to emphasize the importance of good behavior.

Bad behavior can get you killed anywhere in the Three Lands, but in the Chara's palace it is also likely to get you tortured for days. This is because the highest penalty for crimes committed in the Chara's palace is death by torture - the so-called "Slave's Death." Although the previous Chara ordered the release of the empire's slaves, bringing to an end the torture of every palace slave condemned to death, traitors are still liable to this penalty.

The definition of "traitor" can be quite broad in the Chara's palace. I recommend that you not test its boundaries.

Some specific advice:

Be on your best behavior. Dress well, and learn the rules of courtesy toward Emorian noblemen and palace officials. When in doubt, bow. Address everyone you meet, whatever his age, as "sir" or by his title. You need not address the Chara by his full title, which is quite long; just "Chara" will do.

The wearing of arms is permitted by law in the Chara's palace if it is your custom in your homeland. However, if you choose to wear arms, you will find that every guard in the palace will leap upon you the moment you take the wrong turn in your path. Your life will be easier if you set aside your weapons during your visit. You are in no danger of being attacked yourself; the Chara's palace is the most heavily guarded building in the world, and visitors are free recipients of that guarding.

Also, be aware that the wearing of hidden weapons in the palace is considered a crime of treachery. Even I don't try to do this, unless I have made prior arrangements with the Chara.

[Translator's note: The Slave's Death is a tender topic for the Ambassador. Just why is explained in Blood Vow.]

goodbyebird

+ Now there's daylight again and I've riffled through it plenty, here's my favorite cards from the Curious Travels Tarot.

You can't at all see the pearlescent shimmer the cardstock is infused with, but it is beautiful. Also this is a Claudia deck to me (I am not responsible for the connections my blender brain makes when I have a hyper fixation).

Spent last night going through my decks and if I see the opportunity to do so locally, there's a bunch of oracles and one tarot that just didn't work for me and I'd love to rehome. Very grumpy the one alternative shop that opened in town barely lasted a few months. Flip side my wish list has grown massive, and with some very much not mass market wants. Especially the Motherwitch Oracle, and both Wisdom of the Divine Feminine/Wisdom of the Shadow + workbook, and the Reclaim Oracle seems to align strongly with the kind of work I'd like to do.

For tarot decks there's less than a handful of strong wants, but it's not like my current decks can't cover that need. I'm really just being greedy there. (gotta keep reminding myself of that: girl your needs are MET). But also, so many fandom decks are happening. The Dune one already ambushed me.

Anyways, linkspam of Ew Gross/Boo Hiss? Yes?

+ AIs can’t stop recommending nuclear strikes in war game simulations. (this is paywalled)
Leading AIs from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google opted to use nuclear weapons in simulated war games in 95 per cent of cases.

+ AI data centre growth could put UK net zero targets under fresh pressure.
...how 140 data centres are currently seeking grid connections with a combined peak demand of 50GW. That figure is striking because it is higher than Britain’s recent peak electricity demand of 45GW.

I know there's a very big queue of centres wanting to get built here as well. As if electricity isn't extravagantly expensive as is.

+ Oh hey, a somewhat cheerful one! 'Breweries using AI could put artists out of work'.
Following conversations with the Free Trade Inn, in Ouseburn, the two venues came together to announce on social media they would no longer be accepting AI art, including on bottles and pump clips, in order to try to protect local artists from losing out on work.

I really do need 2026 to be the year the bubble goes POP.

goodbyebird

+ There's a fun YouTube telethon/donation drive beginning in 4 and a half hours I'm strongly considering staying up for.

Why watch the State of the Union, when you could watch your favorite unhinged Bluesky posters share their weird hobbies, niche obsessions, and scorching hot takes?
(streamed here and I'm assuming directly on yt but couldn't find the link)

It's at 2.30 for me, but my sleep schedule is kind of fucked atm anyways. If I watch this and then just get up early, there's a chance I can flip it.

+ Curious Travels Tarot arrived today, and I don't think I've ever handled a deck that felt this good. I'm astounded this is mass market, it's so buttery smooth but textured at the same time; a joy to hold. I just keep fondling the cards lol.

+ In other things that bring joy: I started watching Starfleet Academy and it is full of precious characters whose faces I'd like to smoosh and keep safe forever. A bit heavy on the For Teens stuff, and sadly one character has been heavily relegated to The Girl category which I am extremely bored by, but otherwise excellent faces and much invading of personal space yay.

+ Posted some icons, yes I did!

01-04 the x-files
05-12 starfleet academy
13-16 st voyager + discovery
17-20 sw prequel movies + mandalorian
21-26 fallout
27-31 comics
32-36 misc tv
37-40 movies (eileen, inside out, batman returns)

H E R E

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Page generated Mar. 9th, 2026 08:28 pm

Vidukon, 5 June to 7 June 2026, (Birmingham & Online)

Member Posts

UPDATE: Heir (The Three Lands) + Blood Vow omnibus

ONLINE E-BOOK (html, epub, mobi, pdf, and xhtml)

BLOG FICTION

Specialist Krebs isn't a very responsible pet owner.

oh noes...daylight saving time again

sooner or later somebody was bound to say it

fandom-adjacent death: this fucking era

that poem Sonya wrote about Ny in 2022

FIC: Entrance protocol (Tempestuous Tours)

In Memoriam: tragic, shocking news about minoanmiss

In my defense,

to me, we are all bonita.

Eurovision 2026: Request for vid recs & premieres

Stages

FIC: Behavior in the palace (Tempestuous Tours)

Let's shriek about AI for a moment.

We tried fun security, but nobody felt safe.

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