ghostoffuturespast

[ghostoffuturespast]

Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans) at Tipton Prairie, Greene County, Iowa.

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T̷̡̛͇̺̤̯͈̱̭̉͑͒̌̓͐̕h̸̳͎̫̫͍̥͎̊̀̀͝i̸̡̭̲̼̖͕͝s̸̪̜̦͖̾̿̉̏̓̌̾͠ ̷̟́̽̽̈́͛w̴͍̹͔̗͈͉͕͂̽͐̄͂͜i̶̛̭̩̻̥̹̙͈͒̊͛̈́̈ǧ̶͕͇͔̏̈ ̷̡͚̱͙͙̮̳͐̒́͑͛̅͛ͅh̶͙̪̫͂̌a̷̼͇̟̤̪͂̎̾̃̓̈̀̏ŝ̴͔̠̰̀͊̋͂̚̕ ̵̢̤̱̝͇̓̈̾̚͝ͅa̷̧̯̖̝͓̱̻̐̑͐̓͠ņ̸̛̞͇̼̼̤̈́͗̓̆̍̇ ̶̡͉̺̜͂e̸̖̹͈̗͎̞̲̋͆̈̏͛̈͛v̷̧̲̻͉͛̉͜͠i̶͖͙̘̗̹͝ľ̷̦̣̺̩̲̉ ̷̛̠̗̙̔͌̂̈̀̌ä̴̯͎̹͎̣̲̰́̈́́͠ǘ̷̢̢̞͚̮̼̙͌̋r̶͚̰͕̘̜̥̎́́̍̓̑̃͠a̶̘̝̱͉͝.̴͚͈̭̂̈̎.̶̡̨͔̪̥̙͗͊.̷̝̮̠͈̪̟̾̒̈̒͘͝

templates here!

[ghostoffuturespast]

Quadra Type-66 Avenger

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Villiam, year 2095.

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Experience: Learning the right way to connect the dots.

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uwahh…!!! *magical girl transformation but instead i turn into a dead body*

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♡

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Cheers to the 2.3 update

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[texts back three years later] haha not much what about you

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basking in your icon change while it lasts

i'm normal, if not completely hypnotized

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rules: you just got a kind of shitty old car and it doesn't have bluetooth. You can only buy 7 CDs and you can't repeat an artist. What are you getting?

Let's see if I can remember the seven cds I actually had in my actual first car....

1: Meteora, Linkin Park

2: burned cd of skrillex youtube rips

3: James Blake's self-titled ep

4: Xxyyxx's self-titled ep

5: Blue Album, Weezer

6: burned cd of various lil wayne tracks

7: burned cd containing only Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up

Hm. I was a weird kid.

(Tagged by @ghostoffuturespast and @realityisforpplwhocantdream thank you!!)

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WIP Well It WAS Wednesday When I Started This Post

Tagged by @slayerdurge @nananarc @streetkid-named-desire for WIP Whenever!

In turn I tag back everyone above plus @olath124 @merge-conflict @ialpiriel @sweetmage @theviridianbunny @ghostoffuturespast @mirandaputsherbestbuttforward @gloryride @writing-for-soup @fiannans @solarwen @luvwich @lemonlilactea and YOU! You think I'm kidding when I say you? If you've been waiting to be tagged, do it! Share something you're working on and tag me! I love to know what my mutuals are cooking!

On to my own WIP post... gonna skip modding this time and focus only on my one true love, writing about Them. I haven't shared much out loud about the sequel to my longfic No One's Gonna Love You, just the vibe tag. Maybe it's my own superstition about discussing such a large piece that I might never get around to writing, maybe it's not wanting to "spoil the plot", but who cares, right? I mean, the people who want to read the fic are gonna read it, regardless of what spoilers I post to a point, probably, and if I don't ever finish it, what's lost?

I took some pics for Olath recently, and a couple of the poses just felt like they belonged to the sequel. That got me gnawing on it again, at least in my heart. Here's one of the pics, and what I've got started for the prologue.

Things have been going so well that the first major malfunction takes her by surprise. It’s a cool evening. The weather hasn’t turned enough that V has started wearing a jacket but enough that she appreciates the chill against her skin after a day in the sun. Two longnecks clink together as she walks, sweating between her knuckles and growing more slippery with each bead of perspiration that slides down the glass. 

Mitch looks up from his conversation with Hilary and the corner of his mouth slides up just as she stumbles, her right foot moving slower than it should but before she can compensate, pain sears through the left side of her head, her eyes flutter shut, and everything goes dark.

When V wakes there’s light peeking through the edges of the tent, and it pierces her retinas and makes her eyes water. Her head throbs when she tries to lift it, so she lays still on the bed and takes measured breaths through her nose. Murmured voices filter through the canvas, and she recognizes Mitch’s first.

“Think she’ll agree to that?” His tone suggests that he clearly does not.

“She won’t have a choice.” Panam, of course. “That comes with belonging to a family.”

Mitch snorts. “Do as I say, huh, Pan?”

“This is different!”

“Gonna have to explain it to her yourself.”

“Explain what?” Her voice is weak but loud enough to get their attention through the canvas.

“Heh, now’s your chance,” Mitch says and the flap starts to open. 

She screws her eyes shut at the sunlight that spills into the tent, and it disappears as Panam lets the flap fall closed behind her. 

“Hey, V. Good to see you awake,” she says, voice tight.

Mitch drops to the edge of the bed, cups her cheek with his flesh hand. “Val.” The lines between his eyes are sharp as he studies her face. “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit. How long was I out?” He and Panam exchange glances, Panam’s brow furrowed and betraying the depth of her concern, then he turns back and grabs her closest hand. He doesn’t speak immediately and her chest tightens. “Mitch?”

“More’n two days. Took you to the doc’s for the first day, then he decided you were stable and he needed the space. Checked in on ya, though.”

Two days. What happens when there’s no psyche no Johnny to fill the empty space? Would she just be a husk?

“Whaddaya gotta explain, Pan?” At her question, Mitch looks over his shoulder and Panam shifts on her feet.

“I’m grounding you completely.”

V struggles to sit up, pushing off the bed with her forearms, ready to argue. Her eyes sting with tears and she can't hold them back. “Fuck, can't do this to me.”

“It's too dangerous to have you on the truck, V. You could fall and break your neck next time.”

The tears are hot as they flow down her cheeks, and Mitch clasps her hand tightly with both of his.

“Don't gotta worry about me,” she manages between sobs. “Just walk out into the desert and never see me again.”

“Val.“ His voice is sharp and brow pulled tight.

“Easier on everyone that way.”

“Easier on who?” he retorts, and she can hear the anger simmering below the surface.

“Don't need to watch me die in slow motion.”

“Goddammit, Val! I deserve to be there!”

Panam, surprised by the outburst, stands with her mouth open, and he says quietly, “Give us a minute.”

Panam nods at them both and leaves the tent wordlessly, and he stares at the tent flap well after it settles back into place. V doesn't speak, just lets the tears stream. She hasn't seen him angry but once or twice, and never directed at her.

Finally he turns back to her. His face has softened. “I love you, Val, but you don't get to decide what I need. I need to be with you at the end, to know how you died.”  He stops and lights a cigarette, watching the thin line of fire consuming the paper in between drags. “I didn't get that with Driss. He was already dead by the time I got there.“ He takes a drag then passes her the cigarette. ”Don't know how he died. Quick? Scared? Resigned? Dunno. Shoulda been there.“

Val hangs her head but holds tight to his hand and the cigarette and she stays present with him, despite the stabbing pain in her chest, despite the tears that well up again.

“You'll be gone, so fuck the rest of us, right?” V starts to say something but he doesn't let her. “I deserve to be there, Val. I need to know I did everything I could for you. I need to know—” His voice breaks and he looks at the ground. “I need to know that you weren't alone.”

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WIP WEDNESDAY TUESDAY

Tagged recently by @luvwich (thank you!!) & i think there may have been others recently but it got buried in my notes so sorry if i'm ignoring someone by accident lol

Been working on Secure Your Soul recently at the library and the coffee shop and having a lot of fun with it. The next few chapters are complicated so I'm still figuring out exactly what's going to happen, but here's a bit from the draft:

“Director Locke, we’re approaching Arasaka Tower.” The AI’s voice roused V from her brief respite, and she sat up immediately. She could see the image of the Tower reflected in the CrystalDome—sleek and tall, growing larger as they approached, its glowing emblem stark against its pure black exterior. It was a welcome sight on any night, but even more than usual tonight.  Her Excalibur hovered at the 33rd floor, just outside the hatch to counterintel’s private AV parking lot. A sensor on the outside of the hatch scanned her AV. Then it opened.  The Excalibur floated inside, landing gracefully in V’s designated parking spot. She hopped out at once and rushed to the doors, pausing to allow a second sensor to scan her face, then stepping into the main part of the floor. Inside the building, chaos reigned.  Every office, every meeting room, every last isolated red-tinged cubicle was abuzz with activity. So many sounds hit V’s ears at once that even her enhanced auditory suite struggled to make sense of them. Beneath the mundane buzzing of holocalls and coffee machines, several isolated fragments of conversation reached her awareness. Her audiosuite was programmed to prioritize mentions of her own name or job title.  “Director Locke’s just arrived—no, I don’t know where she’s been. Looks absolutely harried, though. Yes, I think she’s heading for her office.” “Don’t look now, but that’s the ACI Head. Shit time to have someone new in charge…”  “Was that V that just passed by? About damn time. Whole floor’s a complete fucking mess.” Her absence had clearly been noted. But that was to be expected, and not her current priority.

Now for my tags... @merge-conflict, @wanderingaldecaldo, and @ghostoffuturespast!

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25 July 2025 - Friday Field Notes

Life's been pretty hectic the past month, but, amongst it all, there have been moments of peace out on the prairie.

The native plant garden exploded this year.

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