J. D. Blood
@jdblood.bsky.social
Author. Student. Slightly immortal. Former #vss365 host and occasional participant.
Website: https://compendiumofabsurdities.wordpress.com/
Website: https://compendiumofabsurdities.wordpress.com/
Pinned
J. D. Blood
@jdblood.bsky.social
· Feb 22
As I migrate my online presence from Twitter to here, I will be gradually reposting the little stories (mainly #vss365) that I wrote on there. Not sure how active I will be with new stories, but it's nice that much of the same community seems to be here.
Reposted by J. D. Blood
And ALSO featuring:
A lovely magical realism short story by @mrlwwrites.bsky.social
Queer flash fiction by @leoastrum.bsky.social
Optimistic sci-fi by @element115.bsky.social
Reprint cozy fantasy by @rajivmote.bsky.social
A novelette about longing, wonder and nature by @clhellisen.bsky.social
A lovely magical realism short story by @mrlwwrites.bsky.social
Queer flash fiction by @leoastrum.bsky.social
Optimistic sci-fi by @element115.bsky.social
Reprint cozy fantasy by @rajivmote.bsky.social
A novelette about longing, wonder and nature by @clhellisen.bsky.social
June 5, 2025 at 10:37 PM
And ALSO featuring:
A lovely magical realism short story by @mrlwwrites.bsky.social
Queer flash fiction by @leoastrum.bsky.social
Optimistic sci-fi by @element115.bsky.social
Reprint cozy fantasy by @rajivmote.bsky.social
A novelette about longing, wonder and nature by @clhellisen.bsky.social
A lovely magical realism short story by @mrlwwrites.bsky.social
Queer flash fiction by @leoastrum.bsky.social
Optimistic sci-fi by @element115.bsky.social
Reprint cozy fantasy by @rajivmote.bsky.social
A novelette about longing, wonder and nature by @clhellisen.bsky.social
Reposted by J. D. Blood
Also featuring:
Poetry by @brokenswanquill.bsky.social and @deborahldavitt.com
Flamboyant assassin shenanigans by @lrb.bsky.social
Reprint flash fiction by @jennarainhm.bsky.social
An amazing reprint long poem by @jdblood.bsky.social
A little dreamy sapphic story by @authorsaraheahart.bsky.social
Poetry by @brokenswanquill.bsky.social and @deborahldavitt.com
Flamboyant assassin shenanigans by @lrb.bsky.social
Reprint flash fiction by @jennarainhm.bsky.social
An amazing reprint long poem by @jdblood.bsky.social
A little dreamy sapphic story by @authorsaraheahart.bsky.social
June 5, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Also featuring:
Poetry by @brokenswanquill.bsky.social and @deborahldavitt.com
Flamboyant assassin shenanigans by @lrb.bsky.social
Reprint flash fiction by @jennarainhm.bsky.social
An amazing reprint long poem by @jdblood.bsky.social
A little dreamy sapphic story by @authorsaraheahart.bsky.social
Poetry by @brokenswanquill.bsky.social and @deborahldavitt.com
Flamboyant assassin shenanigans by @lrb.bsky.social
Reprint flash fiction by @jennarainhm.bsky.social
An amazing reprint long poem by @jdblood.bsky.social
A little dreamy sapphic story by @authorsaraheahart.bsky.social
Reposted by J. D. Blood
The Pink Hydra #4 is live!!!
As always a blend of tones, styles and lengths to suit, but I particularly want to recommend starting with "Edelyn's End," an #ownvoices heroic fantasy novelette by 24-year-old trans British writer Beth Cleaton. 🏳️⚧️
thepinkhydra.com/issues/0201202506
As always a blend of tones, styles and lengths to suit, but I particularly want to recommend starting with "Edelyn's End," an #ownvoices heroic fantasy novelette by 24-year-old trans British writer Beth Cleaton. 🏳️⚧️
thepinkhydra.com/issues/0201202506
June 5, 2025 at 10:31 PM
The Pink Hydra #4 is live!!!
As always a blend of tones, styles and lengths to suit, but I particularly want to recommend starting with "Edelyn's End," an #ownvoices heroic fantasy novelette by 24-year-old trans British writer Beth Cleaton. 🏳️⚧️
thepinkhydra.com/issues/0201202506
As always a blend of tones, styles and lengths to suit, but I particularly want to recommend starting with "Edelyn's End," an #ownvoices heroic fantasy novelette by 24-year-old trans British writer Beth Cleaton. 🏳️⚧️
thepinkhydra.com/issues/0201202506
I have a vendetta against vendettas.
It's a hard fight to win. I send them bullets, they send me their existence. No matter how hard I try to get a "gotcha", a victory in this war, they just keep BEING THERE.
My grudge keeps growing. Why can't I win?
#vss365
It's a hard fight to win. I send them bullets, they send me their existence. No matter how hard I try to get a "gotcha", a victory in this war, they just keep BEING THERE.
My grudge keeps growing. Why can't I win?
#vss365
May 9, 2025 at 9:48 PM
I have a vendetta against vendettas.
It's a hard fight to win. I send them bullets, they send me their existence. No matter how hard I try to get a "gotcha", a victory in this war, they just keep BEING THERE.
My grudge keeps growing. Why can't I win?
#vss365
It's a hard fight to win. I send them bullets, they send me their existence. No matter how hard I try to get a "gotcha", a victory in this war, they just keep BEING THERE.
My grudge keeps growing. Why can't I win?
#vss365
I can call the king by his first name, for I am above the king. I am the Author.
May 9, 2025 at 9:46 PM
I can call the king by his first name, for I am above the king. I am the Author.
I have a plague doctor to ward off disease. The blank eyes of his black mask tell me it's okay. His bones are silent windchimes hanging over my bed. The gravesite misses him, but I can't return him now, not with the virus about. I cough. He and I both must stay here.
#vss365
#vss365
May 9, 2025 at 9:40 PM
I have a plague doctor to ward off disease. The blank eyes of his black mask tell me it's okay. His bones are silent windchimes hanging over my bed. The gravesite misses him, but I can't return him now, not with the virus about. I cough. He and I both must stay here.
#vss365
#vss365
It was a casual conversation with my neighbor. But something was… off. It told me to run.
I backed away slowly. His eyes followed me. I turned and broke into a sprint. Never slowed down.
I still don't know what it was. But I didn't look back, and I'm still running.
#vss365
I backed away slowly. His eyes followed me. I turned and broke into a sprint. Never slowed down.
I still don't know what it was. But I didn't look back, and I'm still running.
#vss365
May 9, 2025 at 9:38 PM
It was a casual conversation with my neighbor. But something was… off. It told me to run.
I backed away slowly. His eyes followed me. I turned and broke into a sprint. Never slowed down.
I still don't know what it was. But I didn't look back, and I'm still running.
#vss365
I backed away slowly. His eyes followed me. I turned and broke into a sprint. Never slowed down.
I still don't know what it was. But I didn't look back, and I'm still running.
#vss365
That feeling when I saw him? Butterflies. Something crawling inside me, waiting to burst out and fly.
I was mistaken. They were maggots. When one surfaced from its burrow in my abdomen, he plucked it up and ate it, and he dug into my flesh to reach more of the feast.
#vss365
I was mistaken. They were maggots. When one surfaced from its burrow in my abdomen, he plucked it up and ate it, and he dug into my flesh to reach more of the feast.
#vss365
May 9, 2025 at 9:35 PM
That feeling when I saw him? Butterflies. Something crawling inside me, waiting to burst out and fly.
I was mistaken. They were maggots. When one surfaced from its burrow in my abdomen, he plucked it up and ate it, and he dug into my flesh to reach more of the feast.
#vss365
I was mistaken. They were maggots. When one surfaced from its burrow in my abdomen, he plucked it up and ate it, and he dug into my flesh to reach more of the feast.
#vss365
I’m stuck in this room. They won’t let me out. The door’s unlocked, but it won’t open. I stare at the doorknob, but it won’t turn. I sink deeper into the room. They won’t let me out.
#vss365
#vss365
May 9, 2025 at 9:31 PM
I’m stuck in this room. They won’t let me out. The door’s unlocked, but it won’t open. I stare at the doorknob, but it won’t turn. I sink deeper into the room. They won’t let me out.
#vss365
#vss365
I don't think she had a brain anymore, just a head filled with fluff. She lay in a bed stacked with pillows, buried in blankets, staring at the ceiling with hollow eyes. She was nothing more than a stuffed animal sinking into plush as soft as the breaths she breathed.
#vss365
#vss365
May 9, 2025 at 9:28 PM
I don't think she had a brain anymore, just a head filled with fluff. She lay in a bed stacked with pillows, buried in blankets, staring at the ceiling with hollow eyes. She was nothing more than a stuffed animal sinking into plush as soft as the breaths she breathed.
#vss365
#vss365
Sunshine came alive for me when you were in my arms. I had never enjoyed daylight before, but suddenly every moment was a beautiful dawn.
I wonder what to do now that it’s sunset. You’re falling into shadow, and I’m trying to see your face through the darkness.
#vss365
I wonder what to do now that it’s sunset. You’re falling into shadow, and I’m trying to see your face through the darkness.
#vss365
May 9, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Sunshine came alive for me when you were in my arms. I had never enjoyed daylight before, but suddenly every moment was a beautiful dawn.
I wonder what to do now that it’s sunset. You’re falling into shadow, and I’m trying to see your face through the darkness.
#vss365
I wonder what to do now that it’s sunset. You’re falling into shadow, and I’m trying to see your face through the darkness.
#vss365
We're opening a resort on the Plutonian shore. Come surf on the hellfire waves!
We have:
A waterslide into Tartarus.
A selection of tormented spirits to drink.
A river of blood, for your swimming pleasure.
Just shave your hands into skeleton gloves and come on down!
#vss365
We have:
A waterslide into Tartarus.
A selection of tormented spirits to drink.
A river of blood, for your swimming pleasure.
Just shave your hands into skeleton gloves and come on down!
#vss365
May 9, 2025 at 9:24 PM
We're opening a resort on the Plutonian shore. Come surf on the hellfire waves!
We have:
A waterslide into Tartarus.
A selection of tormented spirits to drink.
A river of blood, for your swimming pleasure.
Just shave your hands into skeleton gloves and come on down!
#vss365
We have:
A waterslide into Tartarus.
A selection of tormented spirits to drink.
A river of blood, for your swimming pleasure.
Just shave your hands into skeleton gloves and come on down!
#vss365
People wore street clothes in the city, but it was all gowns and shining robes in the palace. The elegant towers stretched high over the buildings and watched everyone. It made one man stop and wonder how many steps he would have to climb to get all the way up there.
#vss365
#vss365
May 9, 2025 at 9:18 PM
People wore street clothes in the city, but it was all gowns and shining robes in the palace. The elegant towers stretched high over the buildings and watched everyone. It made one man stop and wonder how many steps he would have to climb to get all the way up there.
#vss365
#vss365
One man was never seen in the rest of the hall. The number 49 glittered gold when you stared at his door—just what was he doing in there?
He’s not magical, right? But it almost sounded like incantations were murmured within.
Strange things happened near room 49.
He’s not magical, right? But it almost sounded like incantations were murmured within.
Strange things happened near room 49.
April 30, 2025 at 7:38 PM
One man was never seen in the rest of the hall. The number 49 glittered gold when you stared at his door—just what was he doing in there?
He’s not magical, right? But it almost sounded like incantations were murmured within.
Strange things happened near room 49.
He’s not magical, right? But it almost sounded like incantations were murmured within.
Strange things happened near room 49.
“Infinity infinity infinity…”
Pressing his ear against the door, he heard the chanting inside. It was that old wizard again, the one nobody saw. Not to be trusted.
This raised some concern, of course, over just what the wizard was sending to infinity.
#vss365
Pressing his ear against the door, he heard the chanting inside. It was that old wizard again, the one nobody saw. Not to be trusted.
This raised some concern, of course, over just what the wizard was sending to infinity.
#vss365
April 30, 2025 at 7:37 PM
“Infinity infinity infinity…”
Pressing his ear against the door, he heard the chanting inside. It was that old wizard again, the one nobody saw. Not to be trusted.
This raised some concern, of course, over just what the wizard was sending to infinity.
#vss365
Pressing his ear against the door, he heard the chanting inside. It was that old wizard again, the one nobody saw. Not to be trusted.
This raised some concern, of course, over just what the wizard was sending to infinity.
#vss365
I opened the cage. The little wren flew out. I never saw it again.
It was quiet in the living room with that empty cage.
"You wouldn't believe it," my daughter later wrote to me from afar. "I heard the most beautiful song today. Like the one from our living room."
#vss365
It was quiet in the living room with that empty cage.
"You wouldn't believe it," my daughter later wrote to me from afar. "I heard the most beautiful song today. Like the one from our living room."
#vss365
April 30, 2025 at 7:34 PM
I opened the cage. The little wren flew out. I never saw it again.
It was quiet in the living room with that empty cage.
"You wouldn't believe it," my daughter later wrote to me from afar. "I heard the most beautiful song today. Like the one from our living room."
#vss365
It was quiet in the living room with that empty cage.
"You wouldn't believe it," my daughter later wrote to me from afar. "I heard the most beautiful song today. Like the one from our living room."
#vss365
He said the elven harp was too beautiful for humans to have created. With long fingers, he showed the little girl how to play. He said she was good, for a human, but she didn’t have the magic of the elves. She promised to find her own magic someday.
#vss365
#vss365
April 30, 2025 at 7:33 PM
He said the elven harp was too beautiful for humans to have created. With long fingers, he showed the little girl how to play. He said she was good, for a human, but she didn’t have the magic of the elves. She promised to find her own magic someday.
#vss365
#vss365
Sit down by the fire, children,
where the tales are told.
Half my mind says tell them to you
'fore my mind's too old.
Once there were more stories, but I
lost them long ago;
Hear the rest before they're black and
flying with the crow.
#vss365
where the tales are told.
Half my mind says tell them to you
'fore my mind's too old.
Once there were more stories, but I
lost them long ago;
Hear the rest before they're black and
flying with the crow.
#vss365
April 30, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Sit down by the fire, children,
where the tales are told.
Half my mind says tell them to you
'fore my mind's too old.
Once there were more stories, but I
lost them long ago;
Hear the rest before they're black and
flying with the crow.
#vss365
where the tales are told.
Half my mind says tell them to you
'fore my mind's too old.
Once there were more stories, but I
lost them long ago;
Hear the rest before they're black and
flying with the crow.
#vss365
Before me was a girl in a bonny dress that swirled in a satin gyre as she turned to me. I thought her a goddess, but she was merely a daughter of a king.
“Would you like me to play?” she said, silver flute glinting.
Nothing would be more lovely in the world.
#vss365
“Would you like me to play?” she said, silver flute glinting.
Nothing would be more lovely in the world.
#vss365
April 30, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Before me was a girl in a bonny dress that swirled in a satin gyre as she turned to me. I thought her a goddess, but she was merely a daughter of a king.
“Would you like me to play?” she said, silver flute glinting.
Nothing would be more lovely in the world.
#vss365
“Would you like me to play?” she said, silver flute glinting.
Nothing would be more lovely in the world.
#vss365
I swore to kill whoever killed my mother. Tracked him down. “Stop!” someone called as I raised my gun. “That’s my brother. You kill him, I kill you.”
“Ha! My sister is behind you. You kill me, she kills you.”
“Ha-HA! My nephew…”
Vengeance is an exhausting circle.
#vss365
“Ha! My sister is behind you. You kill me, she kills you.”
“Ha-HA! My nephew…”
Vengeance is an exhausting circle.
#vss365
April 30, 2025 at 7:26 PM
I swore to kill whoever killed my mother. Tracked him down. “Stop!” someone called as I raised my gun. “That’s my brother. You kill him, I kill you.”
“Ha! My sister is behind you. You kill me, she kills you.”
“Ha-HA! My nephew…”
Vengeance is an exhausting circle.
#vss365
“Ha! My sister is behind you. You kill me, she kills you.”
“Ha-HA! My nephew…”
Vengeance is an exhausting circle.
#vss365
Warning signs plastered the entrance, indicating little hope. I waded alligator-laden waters and brushed toxic plants. Hopped barbed wire and skirted electric fences.
Well, I got the treasure, but no way am I going back through all that. I’ll just stay here with my gold.
#vss365
Well, I got the treasure, but no way am I going back through all that. I’ll just stay here with my gold.
#vss365
April 30, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Warning signs plastered the entrance, indicating little hope. I waded alligator-laden waters and brushed toxic plants. Hopped barbed wire and skirted electric fences.
Well, I got the treasure, but no way am I going back through all that. I’ll just stay here with my gold.
#vss365
Well, I got the treasure, but no way am I going back through all that. I’ll just stay here with my gold.
#vss365
The demon walks the earth. People know him for one thing or other, mostly normal things. They put his demonhood aside.
The demon frowns. His true nature is not yet manifest. He dreads the day the facade cracks, the day his friends tremble in fear.
The demon frowns. His true nature is not yet manifest. He dreads the day the facade cracks, the day his friends tremble in fear.
April 30, 2025 at 7:23 PM
The demon walks the earth. People know him for one thing or other, mostly normal things. They put his demonhood aside.
The demon frowns. His true nature is not yet manifest. He dreads the day the facade cracks, the day his friends tremble in fear.
The demon frowns. His true nature is not yet manifest. He dreads the day the facade cracks, the day his friends tremble in fear.
The sun rose to a new sort of daybreak, a new crack of dawn: a literal breaking of the Earth into two pieces. The ground rumbled and shattered.
But something kept the two halves from drifting apart. Many bridges span the rift. The ground has stopped shaking.
#vss365
But something kept the two halves from drifting apart. Many bridges span the rift. The ground has stopped shaking.
#vss365
April 30, 2025 at 7:20 PM
The sun rose to a new sort of daybreak, a new crack of dawn: a literal breaking of the Earth into two pieces. The ground rumbled and shattered.
But something kept the two halves from drifting apart. Many bridges span the rift. The ground has stopped shaking.
#vss365
But something kept the two halves from drifting apart. Many bridges span the rift. The ground has stopped shaking.
#vss365