David Ratledge
banner
davidratledge.bsky.social
David Ratledge
@davidratledge.bsky.social
Digital Preservation Archivist. Photography enthusiast. Learning to write science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
Its offspring were #malformed. It was a genetic mistake, but in 300,000 years their offspring ruled the planet. In 225,000 more, they ruled the galaxy.

#vss365
August 23, 2025 at 3:10 PM
You #reek of sweat and fear, but it can't be helped. For days you have run and fought, barely avoiding their deadly, snapping jaws. Thankfully, they don't hunt by scent. But what does it matter when they can sense the radiant life burning inside you?

#vss365
August 23, 2025 at 1:53 AM
It was just another day filled with gray skies, boring errands, and other #mundane things. An impossibly loud roar split the sky. The ground shook and windows shattered.

Across the flat fields at the edge of town, a lidless eye rose above the horizon.

#vss365
August 21, 2025 at 1:48 PM
The strange metal from the recovered ship began to #seethe as the intensity of UV light was increased. They were creatures of darkness whose mistake was coming too close to our star. And their desperation was obvious, knowing how risky a landing would be.

We can use that to our advantage.

#vss365
August 20, 2025 at 11:09 AM
His relationship was failing. He thought something #bionic might fix all his problems, so he bought the best his life's savings could buy. Friday night he surprised her with it. She left him the next morning, lamenting there was too much of it and not enough of him.

#vss365
August 19, 2025 at 1:49 AM
The rhythmic sound of boots in the streets. The faint smell of distant smoke. Living in #abject terror of what would come next became the norm. There was no rescue coming, and no escape.

The only choice left was to fight.

#vss365
August 17, 2025 at 1:50 PM
My favorite photography app is publicly available for IOS and Android devices. Download now and share your work!

#photography #photo
fotoapp.co Foto @fotoapp.co · Feb 21
Foto is now available on Google and Apple App Stores!

Direct links are on our website at fotoapp.co
February 21, 2025 at 12:31 PM
From the essay “Digital Library of Amateur Radio and Communications,” by Kay Savetz (@savetz.bsky.social), part of the Vanishing Culture report.

🔗 Read the full report: https://archive.org/details/vanishing-culture-report
January 15, 2025 at 10:26 AM
The ship is called Dawn’s #Delight, and it travels in an endless loop along the equator at 1,000 mph, following the noonday sun. It is a prison ship with a single passenger, his coffin suspended in holy water, his name etched in silver across the ironwood lid. DRACUL.

#vss365 #vssdaily
January 4, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Long read about #DigiPres Digital Preservation from the Harvard Law Library Innovation Lab. Nothing incredibly new (we knew much of this over a decade ago), but it's a nice summary of all of the challenges to doing digital preservation at ALL, never mind AT SCALE. lil.law.harvard.edu/century-scal...
Century-Scale Storage
If you had to store something for 100 years, how would you do it?
lil.law.harvard.edu
December 17, 2024 at 1:58 PM
December 10, 2024 at 10:35 AM
Our doom arrived not in starships propelled by vast alien intellects, but in clouds of spores driven by the vagaries of solar wind. Those of us that remain wander a rotting wasteland strung with spidery #mycelia, our bodies slowly fruiting to feed our mindless conquerors.

#vss365 #vssdaily
December 4, 2024 at 8:48 PM
It began as a cough which grew more persistent by the hour.

The #mycelium quickly spread through the lungs and beyond until reaching the spine. There, it connected to the central nervous system.

After a brief seizure it opened its new eyes to see a world ripe for conquest.

#vss365
December 4, 2024 at 6:00 PM
New #horror story based on a #vss365 post I made a while back! Enjoy! It's short but longer than the original. Planning to do more of these. #WhatToRead #Fiction
A campfire horror
Based on the original VSS story from BlueSky
open.substack.com
December 4, 2024 at 5:52 PM
The #train of asteroids slipped silently through the black at regular intervals. The Confederation of Worlds rarely took such a step, but humanity was too dangerous. The threat they posed was too great.

The first asteroid entered the atmosphere over Europe.

#vss365
November 28, 2024 at 11:49 PM
To my human, 21st century eyes, the Fro Onta Transport looks like a futuristic #train station. It's much more than that.

Doors open. I step in and feel a slight disorientation as I walk through a short corridor that takes me in seconds to the other side of the planet.

#vss365.
November 28, 2024 at 9:54 PM
The last #train was decades ago but the lines remain, connecting what once were cities, the people places, and still the lines connect us, show us the way in the amber afternoons, hot under hazmats on handcarts, pushing more weapons Westward, to the sea, to the fight for what water remains.

#vss365
November 28, 2024 at 9:52 PM
They were approaching the event #horizon. They wanted to get close enough that a day onboard meant a hundred years had passed on Earth. If they can pull away, they will have traveled to the future.

Star positions indicated that almost ten thousand years had passed. They sat in silence.

#vss365
November 24, 2024 at 10:40 PM
"Come on, #hop in," the driver of the semi said.

"I'll wait for the next one."

The driver unnerved the hitchhiker

"You'll be waiting a long time," the driver replied, "Nobody else can take you where you're going."

That's when the hitchhiker noticed the scythe tattoo on the driver's arm. #vss365
November 23, 2024 at 1:18 PM