#google is our best friend

[sinfulsachi]

Hiiii. How about some thigh fucking? It's knows that Shinichi loves Ran's legs, so it has got to happen. He can't stop staring and Ran shouldn't really feel this hot and bothered about the way he looks at her but she does. The make-out sessions are no longer enough now, they need more, so they go for it.

The timestamp of this ask is April 10, 2021 I am laughing as I type this. Please anon appreciate me, I tried after 3.5 years HAHAHA Couldn't get this request out of my head from the moment it entered my inbox three (3) years ago lmao. I labeled this post as mature, for obvious reasons :)

 絶対領域 || Absolute Territory (ShinRan)

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Kudou Shinichi has a tendency of blaming the universe for things beyond his control.

It only happens rarely, for Kudou Shinichi doesn’t bow down to fate, fate bows down to Kudou Shinichi. He’ll carve a solution against all odds. How many times has he cheated death?

But at this very moment, he is resigned to the thought that the universe is to blame for everything that led to here.

He blames the universe for having been born Japanese, lived in the same neighborhood, entered the same kindergarten as this girl turned girlfriend a good twelve years later.

He blames the universe for the abnormal surge of cases in Tokyo that consequently robs the girlfriend’s father’s time in the apartment, leaving him and her alone ‘til sunset.

Blames the universe for spring, because flowy skirts.

Blames the universe for summer for limiting her wardrobe choice to nothing but shorts, shorts, and short shorts.

Blames the universe for autumn, because thigh-high stockings.

Blames the universe or whoever created it for creating teenage hormones so rebellious, so perilously out of his control especially when he gets so much a peek of her skin. Just skin, the fuck. How else if more than that.

All these and more run in his mind while the girlfriend nestles between his legs doing homework under the kotatsu.

Naturally, he blames the universe for this moment.

Winter is a bitch, sweaters and heater aren’t enough. Mouri Ran suggests huddling. Now he levels with her nape, long hair conveniently let on one side. She scribbles notes with no care in the world while he inwardly chants a prayer. This is it. This is his demise.

He blames the universe for the aching hard-on in his pants.

But he is Kudou Shinichi, and while he’ll flip the universe off, he'll make absolutely sure to do something about the situation he’s presented. Else, he dies.

There are many ways to deal with this without hurting anybody’s feelings. He can excuse himself and let the rage subside in the toilet. He can request they sit side by side instead. He can offer to get them a takeout snack from Poirot. Literally those ways.

But not pull her closer by the waist.

He really isn’t helping himself. It’s dumb, but at the same time it seems it’s all he can manage to do. He clears his throat, a harmless statement whispered in her ear, “Ran, can we please, uh. Take a break.”

Amidst the impatient rush of blood southwards, he maintains a safe distance, not too close she could hear the erratic beating in his chest, and not too far that when her head swivels sideways their noses brush. Distance still matters to him, lest this - whatever he's doing - startles her.

“Hm? But we just took one fifteen minutes ago.”

Ran catches Shinichi’s eyes drift to the direction of the bed and back. She can't read if that gesture intentionally hints on something, or just a slip of his guilty thoughts. His eyes are so near she catches the details of his blues, blended with a certain kind of struggle.

Her body becomes aware of a bulge against her lower back. Ran's pulse kicks up a step.

“Let’s keep warm over there, please,” Shinichi requests, a hint of mild desperation in his tone.

When it takes her a while to reply, he notices his mistake. So much for devising ways to deal with hormones without offending anyone's feelings. With his last sane braincell, he wills himself to scoot further back, "No worries if you don't wanna! Though I k-kinda need to lie down a bit, Ran, haha, so—"

The disentanglement is halted when she holds his arms firm around her waist. Ran refuses to budge under the kotatsu. Instead, she clings onto the cuffs of his sleeve, startling him.

"Shinichi, um. But we're already quite comfortable here, don't you think?"

Like hell it is. Shinichi needs to break away. He can already sense himself growing by the second, exponentially so with the way she tilts her chin to face him fully, something he hasn’t seen before dancing in her eyes. Half mast, dilated, cozy and— and almost bedroomy.

What! Is she doing!

Shinichi's hands slide down her hips involuntarily. They stay in the kotatsu, plane of her back resting against his pecs through the hoodie. Everything is dangerously still. He gives her hips a light squeeze, she doesn't protest. He inches close, she presses near. "The hell, Ran..." He skims the line of her shoulder with his lips.

What! Is he doing!

He's acting on pure impulse now, the set of sane braincells in his head overpowered by the braincells of another one. A total defeat. God he's such a man.

And it maddens him so because not one bit does Ran seem to mind, whispering a light ‘should be fine here, right?’ when they're eye to eye. Shinichi nods in complete obedience. He swallows his nerves away, then closes the distance between their lips in one swift motion.

Inside his brain, the little Shinichi with pitchforks rejoices.

Perhaps the liplock is too earnest that a few minutes in, Ran finds her hips moving on its own, attention brought once more to the press of that bulge against her back. They part only for Ran to surge in again, denying them a moment to breathe.

Her hand creeps up behind, feeling the stiffness. She squeezes lightly. Shinichi groans in her mouth. No words are said, yet they seem to understand exactly what the other wants to do. She tugs on the garter of his joggers. His hands travel down her skirt, up her thigh. Shinichi loses his mind.

I'm going to hell, he thinks, as he finds his fingers trailing to the most heated part of her body. This isn't the first time. That's why he desires to get away at the earliest opportunity the moment he feels about to succumb to the universe's temptations, certain the day will end with his fingers buried in her, and she gasping in his arms. Exactly right now. Him stroking her above cotton, before slipping past it and slowly sliding in.

It frustrates him to feel this good hearing her moan his name, and it's only ever third base.

Only ever third base.

Shinichi blames the universe that he isn't yet married to Mouri Ran. Dear god, how the universe knows he's dying to fu—

He freezes at the cold touch of her hand slinking inside his boxers. Something inside him stirred. This is a first time. His fingers pause, his breath gets heavy. Ran breaks the kiss to look him in the eye, panting as she pulls his garments further down, "let's do it?"

Fuck.

Surprisingly, it's Shinichi who comes to senses first. "Do what exactly?", genuine inquiry seemingly asked in jest following a heated french in response to her straightforward request. Though clearly aware of what she’s insinuating, he needs to be absolutely certain of what stage they are about to do. Instead of giving verbal confirmation however, Ran doesn't stop stroking him, and Shinichi feels himself about to short circuit, making it worse when she adjusts the way she's seated to give her hand - and his fingers - more working space.

They are about to do it under the kotatsu.

Shinichi should be thanking the heavens right now, yet a part of him screams to save the end for a later time when they're older, readier. The sane side of him awakens, like a dying star in its last bursts of energy before imploding in on itself, just enough seconds to remind himself that he intends to take this step by step. There must be a way they can do it without doing it.

Hoisting Ran by the waist, Shinichi deposits her body slightly below his torso and leans back a bit. "Maybe we can..." The slight shift in position allows Ran to perch snug above him, legs between his outstretched ones. "Like this."

Ran appears reluctant to let go of her grasp, but in the new adjustment, she feels him against the underside of her thighs, rock hard. It only occurs to her what she just requested, and she flushes, suddenly hyperaware of the wild drumbeat inside her chest, the zero personal space. Her skin sensitive to the squeeze of his hand on her hip underneath her hoodie. His twitch beneath when his other hand finds purchase on the area between her skirt and overknee socks and begs her to 'open up a bit' and he groans her name, "Ran."

Dazed, Ran creates an opening. Shinichi slides himself in. Ran tightens the grip of her thighs. Shinichi moves.

It's like all the air is robbed out of his lungs.

How does he describe this sensation? He feels like a present, she the wrapper. "Been wondering 'bout this for a long time," is what he doesn't say aloud, as he looks over at the way her knees linked close, her upper thighs clamp. There is something sacred in the place where he enters her, an absolute territory he's actually been waiting to explore beyond sight. He's only ever stared in loaded silence, when she walks ahead, or climbs the stairs, or gets a book atop the shelf on tiptoes and skirt hiking up. Thoughts spurring in his subconscious going, what does it feel like to be trapped in there.

Unbeknownst to Shinichi, it's the singular best place to ever be. An absolutely fucking addicting territory to be in.

Ran squirms in place, unable to stray her eyes away from the rise and fall happening beneath her skirt. She needs to confirm that this strange hot activity with Shinichi is real. With shaky hands she lifts the hem of her skirt up and sees him. Wet on the tip. Protruding then disappearing. Rhythm synchronizing with the labored breath by her nape.

Overwhelmed by the budding heat in that area they create friction, she begins rolling her hips, matching his timing.

They are doing it under the kotatsu.

It drives Shinichi crazier when Ran requests to rise up to a kneeling position, her palms flat on the tabletop. They stay connected below, allowing him a more comfortable grip, a more open view of him thrusting between her thighs. Ran tips her head back and breathes the cutest moan when he picks up the pace. If he closes his eyes, he may actually believe they're doing it from behind, the sensation perhaps nearly tantamount to fucking her. And he might really seriously get to fuck her. Except that what they're doing now is already so damn hot neither wants to stop.

"Ah. You're—" something wet oozes slowly over him as he continues sliding in and out her thighs. Understanding what it is and what it means for his girlfriend is about enough to give him a heart attack. His hands enclose hers atop the kotatsu, sheathing and unsheathing faster, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead as he croaks out, "fucking warm, Ran".

He hasn't hung out in her room intending to do anything of this sort with Ran. It's just suddenly happened. And now he's afraid that once he finishes, he'll end up wanting more. The heat in him builds up, ever concentrated at the nerve ends of his shaft, desperately looking for where he can possibly do the unloading in the most respectful way. On the table. The fabric of her skirt. Her socks. Her thighs. He grits his teeth and inwardly curses.

Whatever the case is, he'll make a mess of her.

He blames the universe for how badly that turns him on.

Closing in, he warns Ran by the ear. "S'll be a lot," he says, and Ran, tongue-tied and keening, nods frantically. In a split second, Shinichi makes a decision - spilling over the table will ruin Ran's notes. So the final blow he does, painting the back of Ran's thighs, dribbling down the seam of her socks as he spurts out more, and more, and more, then sliding back again between her thighs, calming himself down with one hand on her hip and the other squeezing her breasts beneath the hoodie.

For Shinichi, everything burns.

"Can I..." Ran speaks first, over quiet gasps of air, "Can I um, remove my socks, I'm..."

"Shit," Shinichi rasps, unable to even out his breathing. "Hold on." Still in a bit of a haze, he slowly releases his grip on Ran's breast, sliding down to join his other hand on her hips. Even in his high, he tries his best to hold her ever so gently. He tries his best, despite the wave of shame that has begun to wash over him.

"Sorry, I couldn't—"

Before Shinichi can finish, Ran turns her head to look at him, and Shinichi knows. The lines of sweat, the slow ragged breaths, the gentle stoke of fire in her eyes, all tell him that for Ran, everything burns, too.

They fall silent for a brief second, holding each other's gaze. Until Ran giggles first. 

It surprises him so because she’s giggling. She rolls the socks down one leg and Shinichi assists her in the other, thinking, if only he foresaw the positive feedback he'd get from this, he would’ve done this ages earlier.

“I think,” she begins, after she lets him clean her up with the dry portion of her discarded socks, the pair obviously going straight to the laundry. “That’s such a perverted thing to do.”

“Hey. Tha – !” Shinichi gives his retort a second thought, unable to control the red of his cheeks as he tucks himself inside his joggers. At least he accepts there is no use denying a fact.

“Don’t blame me,” he mutters, abashed, turning her around so she can see him pout. Maybe Shinichi will have to clean himself up too, later, alone, in the shower.

However, he notices that the fire in her eyes hasn’t disappeared.

“Whose fault is it then? Mine?” Ran asks, coy.

Fuck, not again.

Shinichi is supposedly mature enough to own up to his weakness, but until the end, even as he lays sprawled on the bedroom floor drowning in her kisses twice the intensity, even as he finds his hands roaming her backside to flip her so he comes on top, even as he lets her pull him free of his pants the second time that afternoon, the answer that leaves his smirking lips is, ‘definitely the universe’s.’

[scarletlizzard]

@wandasverison and I on the case!! Watch out, y'all.

(We have no clue)

(Our 1 shared brain cell is useless)

[golddustdyke]

until i was 11 i didn't really care or know about anything on the internet except google images. like my biggest hobby was typing 'puppy' into the google image search bar and just scrolling through the pics of puppies. i did this with kittens also. i also did this with aragorn from lotr. i could scroll on google images forever. sometimes i'd find websites through google images, usually lotr fanclubs where people made graphics of pippin and merry being in love. unfortunately this all changed when i became best friends with a new kid in 6th grade. she showed me youtube. then i found myspace. then facebook. then tumblr. then twitter. fanfiction.net. I became the reason tumblr and f.net was banned in my school. youtube was the gateway drug, tho. wish i could still be searching 'puppies' and 'kittens' on google images . i grew up too fast </3

[asfdhgsdkjhgb]

had quite the night drive earlier this evening.

[dogwithpants]

I bring a sorta loosey goosey vibe to the trip that’s not happening for another six fuckin months that the My two friends im going on the trip with who are obsessed with overplanning every detail down to the minute don’t really appreciate

[mcnuggyy]

listening to the live version of enemigo again and going insane ough <33333

[appleciders]

first time in my life i’ve really had a reason to try to learn french (sorry) and wow. yeah no you guys were right this speaking bit is tricky

[jtbb]

google am i on the aro spectrum or am i just a teenager

[madamtrashbat]

Person who was raised to be self-sufficient and treated like a capable human being who has learned to do things on their own and can look things up if they're unsure or don't know how to do something and therefore does not fear a problem because they've spent most of their adult life single not relying on anyone except for guidance, and has a tenacity to get things done without any issues or help because they know they have the capability of doing things

Versus

Person who was infantilized all their life to the point that they had to not tell anyone they were moving out because their parents would have convinced them they were too stupid to do anything, and has internalized that lesson so severely that any and all opposition to a smooth plan or being confronted with an unknown is met immediately with panic, confusion, and paralysis, with no thoughts on how to overcome an issue or look up how to fix something and instead of forming a plan, just shuts down

FIGHT

[idontliketomatoesleavemealone]

On one hand yeah I see how sometimes the male words for things fit better in song lyrics/names of female characters, but on the other hand it‘s so much funnier to pretend like they‘re just genderqueer icons

[roadimusprime]

we said goodnight and then I never saw you again

[kittyloops]

is there a reason that the only reason i'm looking forward to this hangout is for it to not exist anymore

[lifehacksthatwork]

Just a bunch of Useful websites - Updated for 2023

Removed/checked all links to make sure everything is working (03/03/23). Hope they help!

Sejda - Free online PDF editor.

Supercook - Have ingredients but no idea what to make? Put them in here and it'll give you recipe ideas.

Still Tasty - Trying the above but unsure about whether that sauce in the fridge is still edible? Check here first.

Archive.ph - Paywall bypass. Like 12ft below but appears to work far better and across more sites in my testing. I'd recommend trying this one first as I had more success with it.

12ft – Hate paywalls? Try this site out.

Where Is This - Want to know where a picture was taken, this site can help.

TOS/DR - Terms of service, didn't read. Gives you a summary of terms of service plus gives each site a privacy rating.

OneLook - Reverse dictionary for when you know the description of the word but can't for the life of you remember the actual word.

My Abandonware - Brilliant site for free, legal games. Has games from 1978 up to present day across pc and console. You'll be surprised by some of the games on there, some absolute gems.

Project Gutenberg – Always ends up on these type of lists and for very good reason. All works that are copyright free in one place.

Ninite – New PC? Install all of your programs in one go with no bloat or unnecessary crap.

PatchMyPC - Alternative to ninite with over 300 app options to keep upto date. Free for home users.

Unchecky – Tired of software trying to install additional unwanted programs? This will stop it completely by unchecking the necessary boxes when you install.

Sci-Hub – Research papers galore! Check here before shelling out money. And if it’s not here, try the next link in our list.

LibGen – Lots of free PDFs relate primarily to the sciences.

Zotero – A free and easy to use program to collect, organize, cite and share research.

Car Complaints – Buying a used car? Check out what other owners of the same model have to say about it first.

CamelCamelCamel – Check the historical prices of items on Amazon and set alerts for when prices drop.

Have I Been Pawned – Still the king when it comes to checking if your online accounts have been released in a data breach. Also able to sign up for email alerts if you’ve ever a victim of a breach.

I Have No TV - A collection of documentaries for you to while away the time. Completely free.

Radio Garden – Think Google Earth but wherever you zoom, you get the radio station of that place.

Just The Recipe – Paste in the url and get just the recipe as a result. No life story or adverts.

Tineye – An Amazing reverse image search tool.

My 90s TV – Simulates 90’s TV using YouTube videos. Also has My80sTV, My70sTV, My60sTV and for the younger ones out there, My00sTV. Lose yourself in nostalgia.

Foto Forensics – Free image analysis tools.

Old Games Download – A repository of games from the 90’s and early 2000’s. Get your fix of nostalgia here.

Online OCR – Convert pictures of text into actual text and output it in the format you need.

Remove Background – An amazingly quick and accurate way to remove backgrounds from your pictures.

Twoseven – Allows you to sync videos from providers such as Netflix, Youtube, Disney+ etc and watch them with your friends. Ad free and also has the ability to do real time video and text chat.

Terms of Service, Didn’t Read – Get a quick summary of Terms of service plus a privacy rating.

Coolors – Struggling to get a good combination of colors? This site will generate color palettes for you.

This To That – Need to glue two things together? This’ll help.

Photopea – A free online alternative to Adobe Photoshop. Does everything in your browser.

BitWarden – Free open source password manager.

Just Beam It - Peer to peer file transfer. Drop the file in on one end, click create link and send to whoever. Leave your pc on that page while they download. Because of how it works there are no file limits. It's genuinely amazing. Best file transfer system I have ever used.

Atlas Obscura – Travelling to a new place? Find out the hidden treasures you should go to with Atlas Obscura.

ID Ransomware – Ever get ransomware on your computer? Use this to see if the virus infecting your pc has been cracked yet or not. Potentially saving you money. You can also sign up for email notifications if your particular problem hasn’t been cracked yet.

Way Back Machine – The Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites and loads more.

Rome2Rio – Directions from anywhere to anywhere by bus, train, plane, car and ferry.

Splitter – Seperate different audio tracks audio. Allowing you to split out music from the words for example.

myNoise – Gives you beautiful noises to match your mood. Increase your productivity, calm down and need help sleeping? All here for you.

DeepL – Best language translation tool on the web.

Forvo – Alternatively, if you need to hear a local speaking a word, this is the site for you.

For even more useful sites, there is an expanded list that can be found here.

[jadevine]

Preindustrial travel, and long explanations on why different distances are like that

Update March 1, 2024: Hey there folks, here's yet another update! I reposted Part 2a (the "medieval warhorses" tangent) to my writing blog, and I went down MORE of the horse-knowledge rabbit hole! https://www.tumblr.com/jadevine/741423906984951808/my-post-got-cut-off-so-i-added-the-rest-of-it Update Jan 30, 2024: Hey folks, I've posted the updated version of this post on my blog, so I don't have to keep frantically telling everyone "hey, that's the old version of this post!" https://thebalangay.wordpress.com/2024/01/29/preindustrial-travel-times-part-1/

I should get the posts about army travel times and camp followers reformatted and posted to my blog around the end of the week, so I'll filter through my extremely tangled thread for them.

Part 2 - Preindustrial ARMY travel times: https://www.tumblr.com/jadevine/739342239113871360/now-for-a-key-aspect-that-many-people-often-ask

Part 2a - How realistic warhorses look and act, because the myth of "all knights were mounted on huge clunky draft horses" just refuses to die: https://www.tumblr.com/jadevine/732043691180605440/helpful-things-for-action-writers-to-remember

Part 3 - Additional note about camp followers being regular workers AND sex-workers: https://www.tumblr.com/jadevine/740604203134828544/reblogging-the-time-looped-version-of-my

--

I saw a post on my main blog about how hiking groups need to keep pace with their slowest member, but many hikers mistakenly think that the point of hiking is "get from Point A to Point B as fast as possible" instead of "spending time outdoors in nature with friends," and then they complain that a new/less-experienced/sick/disabled hiker is spoiling their time-frame by constantly needing breaks, or huffing and puffing to catch up.

I run into a related question of "how long does it take to travel from Point A to Point B on horseback?" a lot, as a fantasy writer who wants to be SEMI-realistic; in the Western world at least, our post-industrial minds have largely forgotten what it's like to travel, both on our own feet and in groups.

People ask the new writer, "well, who in your cast is traveling? Is getting to Point B an emergency or not? What time of year is it?", and the newbies often get confused as to why they need so much information for "travel times." Maybe new writers see lists of "preindustrial travel times" like a primitive version of Google Maps, where all you need to do is plug in Point A and Point B.

But see, Google Maps DOES account for traveling delays, like different routes, constructions, accidents, and weather; you as the person will also need to figure in whether you're driving a car versus taking a bus/train, and so you'll need to figure out parking time or waiting time for the bus/train to actually GET THERE.

The difference between us and preindustrial travelers is that 1) we can outsource the calculations now, 2) we often travel for FUN instead of necessity.

The general rule of thumb for preindustrial times is that a healthy and prime-aged adult on foot, or a rider/horse pair of fit and prime-aged adults, can usually make 20-30 miles per day, in fair weather and on good terrain.

Why is this so specific? Because not everyone in preindustrial times was fit, not everyone was healthy, not everyone was between the ages of 20-35ish, and not everyone had nice clear skies and good terrain to travel on.

If you are too far below 18 years old or too far past 40, at best you will need either a slower pace or more frequent breaks to cover the same distance, and at worst you'll cut the travel distance in half to 10 or so miles. Too much walking is VERY BAD on too-young/old knees, and teenagers or very short adults may just have short legs even if they're fine with 8-10 hours of actual walking. Young children may get sick of walking and pitch a fit because THEY'RE TIREDDDDDDDDDD, and then you might need to stay put while they cry it out, or an adult may sigh and haul them over their shoulder (and therefore be weighed down by about 50lbs of Angry Child).

Heavy forests, wetlands and rocky hills/mountains are also going to be a much shorter "distance" per day. For forests or wetlands, you have to account for a lot of villagers going "who's gonna cut down acres of trees for one road? NOT ME," or "who's gonna drain acres of swamp for one road? NOT ME." Mountainous regions have their traveling time eaten by going UP, or finding a safer path that goes AROUND, so by the time you're done slogging through drier patches of wetlands or squeezing through trees, a deceptively short 10-15 miles in rough terrain might take you a whole day to walk instead of the usual half-day.

If you are traveling in freezing winters or during a rainstorm (and this inherently means you HAVE NO CHOICE, because nobody in preindustrial times would travel in bad weather if they could help it), you run the high risk of losing your way and then dying of exposure or slipping and breaking your neck, just a few miles out of the town/village.

Traveling in TOO-HOT weather is just as bad, because pushing yourself too hard and getting dehydrated at noon in the tropics will literally kill you. It's called heat-STROKE, not "heat-PARTY."

And now for the upper range of "traveling on horseback!"

Fully mounted groups can usually make 30-40 miles per day between Point A and Point B, but I find there are two unspoken requirements: "Point B must have enough food for all those people and horses," and "the mounted party DOESN'T need to keep pace with foot soldiers, camp followers, or supply wagons."

This means your mounted party would be traveling to 1) a rendezvous point like an ally's camp or a noble's castle, or 2) a town/city with plenty of inns. Maybe they're not literally going 30-40 miles in one trip, but they're scouting the area for 15-20 miles and then returning to their main group. Perhaps they'd be going to an allied village, but even a relatively small group of 10-20 warhorses will need 10-20 pounds of grain EACH and 20-30 pounds of hay EACH. 100-400 pounds of grain and 200-600 pounds of hay for the horses alone means that you need to stash supplies at the village beforehand, or the village needs to be a very large/prosperous one to have a guaranteed large surplus of food.

A dead sprint of 50-60 miles per day is possible for a preindustrial mounted pair, IF YOU REALLY, REALLY HAVE TO. Moreover, that is for ONE day. Many articles agree that 40 miles per day is already a hard ride, so 50-60 miles is REALLY pushing the envelope on horse and rider limits.

NOTE: While modern-day endurance rides routinely go for 50-100 miles in one day, remember that a preindustrial rider will not have the medical/logistical support that a modern endurance rider and their horse does.

If you say "they went fifty miles in a day" in most preindustrial times, the horse and rider's bodies will get wrecked. Either the person, their horse, or both, risk dying of exhaustion or getting disabled from the strain.

Whether you and your horse are fit enough to handle it and "only" have several days of defenselessness from severe pain/fatigue (and thus rely on family/friends to help you out), or you die as a heroic sacrifice, or you aren't QUITE fit enough and become disabled, or you get flat-out saved by magic or another rider who volunteers to go the other half, going past 40 miles in a day is a "Gondor Calls For Aid" level of emergency.

As a writer, I feel this kind of feat should be placed VERY carefully in a story: Either at the beginning to kick the plot off, at the climax to turn the tide, or at the end.

Preindustrial people were people--some treated their horses as tools/vehicles, and didn't care if they were killed or disabled by pushing them to their limits, but others very much cared for their horses. They needed to keep them in working condition for about 15-20 years, and they would not dream of doing this without a VERY good reason.

—

UPDATE January 13: Several people have gotten curious and looked at maps, to find out how a lot of cities are indeed spread out at a nice distance of 20-30 miles apart! I love getting people interested in my hyperfixations, lol.

But remember that this is the space between CITIES AND TOWNS. There should never be a 20-mile stretch of empty wilderness between City A and Town B, unless your world explains why folks are able to build a city in the middle of nowhere, or if something has specifically gone wrong to wipe out its supporting villages!

Period pieces often portray a shining city rising from a sea of picturesque empty land, without a single grain field or cow pasture in sight, but that city would starve to death very quickly in preindustrial times.

Why? Because as Bret Devereaux mentions in his “Lonely Cities” article (https://acoup.blog/2019/07/12/collections-the-lonely-city-part-i-the-ideal-city/), preindustrial cities and towns must have nearby villages (and even smaller towns, if large and prosperous enough!) to grow their food for them.

The settlements around a city will usually be scattered a few miles apart from each other, usually clustered along the roads to the city gates. Those villages and towns at the halfway point between cities (say 10-15 miles) are going to be essential stops for older/sick folks, merchants with cargo, and large groups like noble’s retinues and army forces.

Preindustrial armies and large noble retinues usually can’t make it far past 10-12 miles per day, as denoted in my addition to this post. (https://www.tumblr.com/jadevine/739342239113871360/now-for-a-key-aspect-that-many-people-often-ask )

[thistlecrimes]

Things I've learned from getting covid for the first time in 2023

I wear an N95 in public spaces and I've managed to dodge it for a long time, but I finally got covid for the first time (to my knowledge) in mid-late November 2023. It was a weird experience especially because I feel like it used to be something everyone was talking about and sharing info on, so getting it for the first time now (when people generally seem averse to talking about covid) I found I needed to seek out a lot of info because I wasn't sure what to do. I put so much effort into prevention, I knew less about what to do when you have it. I'm experiencing a rebound right now so I'm currently isolating. So, I'm making a post in the hopes that if you get covid (it's pretty goddamn hard to avoid right now) this info will be helpful for you. It's a couple things I already knew and several things I learned. One part of it is based on my experience in Minnesota but some other states may have similar programs.

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The World Health Organization states you should isolate for 10 days from first having symptoms plus 3 days after the end of symptoms.

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At the time of my writing this post, in Minnesota, we have a test to treat program where you can call, report the result of your rapid test (no photo necessary) and be prescribed paxlovid over the phone to pick up from your pharmacy or have delivered to you. It is free and you do not need to have insurance. I found it by googling "Minnesota Test to Treat Covid"

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Paxlovid decreases the risk of hospitalization and death, but it's also been shown to decrease the risk of Long Covid. Long Covid can occur even from mild or asymptomatic infections.

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Covid rebound commonly occurs 2-8 days after apparent recovery. While many people associate Paxlovid with covid rebound, researchers say there is no strong evidence that Paxlovid causes covid rebound, and rebounds occur in infections that were not treated with Paxlovid as well. I knew rebounds could happen but did not know it could take 8 days. I had mine on day 7 and was completely surprised by it.

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If you start experiencing new symptoms or test positive again, the CDC states that you should start your isolation period again at day zero. Covid rebound is still contagious. Personally I'd suggest wearing a high quality respirator around folks for an additional 8-9 days after you start to test negative in case of a rebound.

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Positive results on a rapid test can be very faint, but even a very faint line is positive result. Make sure to look at your rapid test result under strong lighting. Also, false negatives are not uncommon. If you have symptoms but test negative taking multiple tests and trying different brands if you have them are not bad ideas. My ihealth tests picked up my covid, my binax now tests did not.

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EDIT: I'd highly suggest spending time with friends online if you can, I previously had a link to the NAMI warmline directory in this post but I've since been informed that NAMI is very much funded by pharmaceutical companies and lobbies for policies that take autonomy away from disabled folks, so I've taken that off of here! Sorry, I had no idea, the People's CDC listed them as a resource so I just assumed they were legit! Feel free to reply/reblog this with other warmlines/support resources if you know of them! And please reblog this version!

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I know that there is so much we can't control as individuals right now, and that's frightening. All we can do is try our best to reduce harm and to care for each other. I hope this info will be able to help folks.

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

We had one of Steff's comedian friends staying with us on the weekend, lovely lad called Sam from Singapore. He had never been to Wales before, and he requested that we take him to a Welsh restaurant so he could try Welsh food

That's surprisingly difficult, actually. Like a lot of Welsh culture, our culinary traditions have not exactly been applauded over the years, so you don't really see them. But a lucky Google search revealed a brand new one has just opened in SA1 called the Welsh House, so great! Away we went.

Fuck me, they went all in.

It wasn't just the menu (though fuck me, what a menu - one of their 'for the table to share' options was little mini leek and cheddar Welsh cakes with salted butter and they were paralysingly good). It wasn't just that every alcohol was Welsh, even including the wine (surprisingly good btw, called 'Naturiol'.)

The table centerpieces were daffodils. All signs for the toilets were Welsh only. The walls had photos of Wales, modern and historical; the windows had the fleur de lis; the specials board (pork belly in Welsh cider and damson sauce with honey and wild garlic glazed carrots) had dragons on. I realise this is probably normal for country-themed restaurants, but I've never been to one for Wales before.

But the best bit, see, was the music

I clocked, when we walked in, that they were playing If You Tolerate This Then Your Children Will Be Next by the Manic Street Preachers (you always clock the Manics). Ah, I thought. A Welsh song! In a Welsh restaurant! Ho ho ho.

As they seated us, it became What's New Pussycat. Ah! I thought. Another Welsh song! Fu fu fu.

Then they played Monster by the Automatic and I was like my god are they only playing Welsh music?? That's so cool! What an eclectic mix that's going to be. We should suggest to them they should look into Welsh language music too, really mix it up.

And then they played Anrheoli by Yws Gwynedd and lads, Steff and I lost our shit. We lost our fucking shit. Sam's sitting there, utterly bewildered. The staff are nervously edging away from us. We don't care. It's the first time I have ever heard a Welsh language song played outside of a Welsh language setting. We're so excited.

"They're playing Welsh music!!!" says Steff. "Holy shit!!!"

"Imagine if they played Sebona Fi!" I say, humorously.

"Nah," says Steff. "You can't in a restaurant. There'd be a riot, it's faerie music."

"...what?" says Sam

We explain the cultural phenomenon that is Sebona Fi. The song changes: Primadonna Girl, by Marina and the Diamonds.

"She's Welsh??" says Sam.

"She's from Abergavenny!" we beam.

"I don't know what that means," nods Sam, who is from Singapore.

Next: The Bartender and the Thief, by the Stereophonics. We're in high spirits. The extraordinarily Welsh wine arrives, as does the rarebit on sourdough starter. Sam, a gay man, delightedly orders the faggots and peas.

They play Ben Rhys by Gwilym Bowen Rhys, and we lose our shit again. Sam is now used to this, because comedians are adaptable. "They even have daffodils!" I say, misty eyed. "Is that relevant?" Sam asks, fascinated.

They play Hiraeth, by PLU. Hard to explain that one. Very hard to explain the effect it has when it's played in a restaurant, but Sam looks around the suddenly muted room and whispers "Are we in church?"

"It's about Hiraeth," whispers Steff. "So kind of."

Next: the Masses Against the Classes, by the Manics. Utter tonal whiplash. This playlist is not remotely restaurant appropriate. It's perfect.

"You'd think they'd pick like... a genre," Sam says dreamily. "We just went from church to the barricades."

The faggots arrive. "I forgot it would be a western sized portion," Sam says morosely, of what to me is a normal sized plate of food. He tries one, and brightens.

They play Sebona Fi.

The place erupts.