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YOU ARE THE REASON
art blog(derogatory)
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Love Begins
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@weareallfallengods
Adobe is going to spy on your projects. This is insane.
For general graphics: use GIMP For vector graphics: use Inkscape For drawing and illustration: use Krita For print and web publishing and design: use Penpot For PDF authoring: use LibreOffice For PDF reading and form filling: use Okular
All are free, open source and cross-platform. None use AI.
This is potentially life saving information everyone should know.
No you guys this post helped me find my cat. He was missing for almost a month and I’ve had him for over 12 years. After seeing this I put his favorite blanket he always slept on outside hoping he would smell mine or his scent and he was back the next fucking day asleep on it.
When my cat got out, we called and called for him, and then, later that night, I remembered similar advice to this, and so put his little scratching pad, which he adores, on the front porch. Not even half an hour later, I heard a thump, opened the door, and there was his big butt, meowing at me.
Important and vital
I don’t care that I reblogged this today I’m reblogging it again
This is an exception to not being related to writing.
I hope this helps somebody
Whenever someone in one of my buy swap sell groups reports a missing cat, I remember this post and pass the advice on. So far, ALL of the missing cats have come home.
[ID: A digital informational poster. Text: “HOW TO FIND A LOST DOG. On day 12 of searching for my dog in a heavily wooded area, distraught and hopeless, I ran into a couple of hunters. They said they lost the occasional dog on a hunt but always got them back. What they told me has helped many dogs and families be reunited. The dog owner(s) should take an article of clothing that has been worn at least all day, the longer the better, so the lost dog can pick up the scent. Bring the article of clothing to the location where the dog was last seen and leave it there. Also, if the dog has a crate and familiar toy, you can bring those too (unless location undesirable for crate). You might also want to leave a note requesting item(s) not to be moved. Leave a bowl of water there too, as the dog probably hasn’t had access to any. Do not bring food as this could attract other animal that the dog might avoid. Come back the next day, or check intermittently if possible. Hopefully the dog will be waiting there. I was skeptical and doubted my dog would be able to detect an article of clothing if he didn’t hear me calling his name as loud as possible all day for 12 days. But I returned the next day and sure enough found him sitting there! I hope this helps someone out there who’s missing a best friend. Good luck :)” End ID]
Definitely incorporating this somewhere in my book
some random dividers i’ve made recently:
please like and credit if you use, reblogs are appreciated! thank you! 💕
I'm a suckered for nicely themed dividers! (And chapter icons)
traits turned sour
honest - insensitive
persuasive - manipulative
caring - overprotective
confidence - arrogance
fearless - cocky
loyalty - an excuse
devotion - obsession
agreeable - lazy
perfectionism - insatisfaction
reserved - aloof
cautious - skeptical
self loved - selfish
available - distractible
emotional - dramatic
humble - attention-seeking
diligent - imposing
dutiful - submissive
assertive - bossy
strategic - calculated
truthful - cruel
This is a useful, simple guide to creating dynamic, "real" characters, because nobody is ever just one aspect of their personality.
Characters who collapse beside a wounded character, cradling them to their chest, holding tight
Characters who just freaking lose it when someone is found captured, dead, dying, or gone, and the black rage that comes over them when they find out who’s responsible
A character gently pushing or nudging another character behind them for protection
Characters who threaten in a whisper (PLEASE)
A character going deathly still when they ask, “Who hurt you?” or “Who did this?”
A character angling themselves in front of another character when things get tense or uncomfortable, stepping between them and harms way
Characters who shelter another character with their body, pressing them down, asking if they’re okay while they’re the one bleeding, taking shots
Characters who catch the arm or waist of another character who starts to stumble, unwilling to let go (maybe urging them to rest, sleep, lean on them, or lay down)
Characters who knock someone out of the way just before a fatal blow hits (maybe taking the blow or dying instead)
A character who keeps an eye on another character’s whereabouts when entering dangerous territory, purposely staying near them “just in case”
Characters who notice another character’s absence and are knocked sideways by a stab of fear, panic, suspicion, or foreboding, and the worried/uneasy facial expressions they’re unable or unwilling to hide (bonus if they go after them and find them hurt/unconscious/drugged/ill/running away/bewitched).
Characters overcome with fear, dismay, and affection when they see another character asleep beside them— shockingly vulnerable and oh so completely defenseless— and how because of that, they become all the more protective, determined to keep them safe (as if moved emotionally by the other character’s trust in them)
When a character wakes and feels their teammate pressed against them- that sudden urge to nestle deeper into the safety and shelter of their hold, to erase the gap between them, to soak in their warmth- and the subtle shift in feelings from friendly affection to something far more passionate.
When a character checks in on another character sleeping to make sure they’re okay, struck dumb by how innocent they look (bonus if they reach out to brush the hairs on their head out of the way, or stay up watching over them, or decide to lay down beside them, resisting the urge to touch or pull them close)
Characters who try to act normal, fighting to hide the agony of their injuries or the lightheadedness resulting from blood loss or a fever, only being found out when their lips let loose a low moan or cry (maybe a facial grimace or groan)— the urgency, rage, and fear that overcomes the character who hears (maybe forcing them to lay down while gently trying to examine them/ pressing down here and there/ going back and forth between cursing at them and trying to shush them)
A character who stops at nothing to rescue another, even if it means teaming up with the enemy, or even becoming one
Sick and feverish characters feeling a touch on their brow, seeing another character’s deepened frown, the crease of worry between their eyebrows (how they gently urge them to sleep and rest— telling them not to worry because they were here)
Caregivers becoming attentive to every drop and swallow the sick character takes, encouraging them gently, never letting on how worried they are
Sick characters who stir when they feel a small pressure against their wrist, then a voice saying, “Shhh, go back to sleep,” while laying a cool hand on their brow. They lean into the touch. They might have heard a laugh. A sigh- a breath.
Characters who clutch at their stomach, overcome with nausea- heaving- then vomiting- feeling careful hands hold back their hair, rub slow, soothing motions down their back, making small hushing sounds (bonus if the sick character collapses against the other one suddenly, feeling arms wrap around them, then the brush of fingers against the forehead, feeling)
Half conscious characters dimly aware of someone calling their name. The sensation of rising and then the tug of someone guiding limp arms around that someone’s neck
Just, being carried, being held (legs give out, weak, illness, injury, fatigue, fear), or being able to carry someone, to hold someone safe in your arms, to cradle them close
Characters forced to hold down another character during a painful medical or first aid treatment while enduring the screams and cries of their teammate, knowing that if they don’t force them through it, they’ll die— knowing they’ll be hated
Likewise, characters required to be held down while desperately trying to get away, thrashing, hating the other character, not understanding, heart begging them to stop, “Please, no more, no more!” And the other character is just like, “Soon, I promise; It’ll be over soon,” or “Shhh, hold on; we’re almost done,” or “Take my hand- look at me. I’ve got you.”
A character insisting they stay near another character when they bathe, fearing that they’ll fall unconscious/asleep and drown (bonus if they actually do fall unconscious, and the other character — too upset to blush— rushes in (maybe to scoop them out, wrap a towel around them, carry them to bed, or to shake them awake, holding their face)
When a character sees cuts and bruises on another character (possible abuse or self harm) and go still, maybe asking, “How long?” “How can I help?” or saying, “Please, no more,” or “Talk to me,” or even, “I’m not leaving you until I know you’re safe” or “Whatever you’re hiding, please tell me.” For abuse: “Who did this to you?” “How did I not know?” “This ends now,” “You’re staying with me,” “I’m not leaving your side,” “Please, don’t face them alone” “Its not safe-”
Characters who silence another character’s screams, cries, or moans of pain with a kiss (maybe unexpected, or because that other character couldn’t stand to listen anymore, or because they want to distract them from the pain by giving them pleasure).
Characters waking up in someone else’s bed, either dressed in someone elses’s clothes or completely without them, bandaged and sore
A character who can’t stop blushing after walking in on someone changing or bathing
Characters who bite their lips and blush when they catch another character glancing at their lips (and the ache of want that throbs in that other character on seeing them blush)
Characters wrists held above the head while someone straddles them, fingers roaming, eyes waiting, lips devouring— savoring their moans, watching their gasps
Characters pushed up against the wall with a knee between their legs
The first brush of lips, either tender, teasing, gentle, or painful, passionate, and full of uncontrolled desire
Tongues that brush another’s lips, either requesting entry or demanding it
The gentle nip of teeth on a character’s skin and the resulting shiver of bumps along a character’s exposed flesh, the rush of white hot bliss tingling up and down their whole being, fingers digging into flesh
The first touch- the gasp that escapes, the unintelligible sounds, the hiss of delight, the plea for more, the sharp inhale (sometimes the vain struggle to hide while the other character, delighted, takes control)
That moment when a character, in ecstasy, moans or screams, and the other character places their mouth over theirs to quiet them, devouring every vibration of noise as if it were the most delectable fruit on earth; as if it were the first drops of rain in a century of drought
Characters who stay up all night after a heated argument with another character, only to grab and catch them before they stumble over and hit the ground in the morning
Characters who forgo sleep due to worry and fear for another’s safety, taking a break only when absolutely necessary
A character’s screams being hushed or soothed away by a heartless, cruel character (maybe because they have a soft spot for that one character or feel guilty for causing their screams in the first place)
When a character subconsciously pulls themself closer to another character seen shivering or shuddering, taking off their own jacket and putting it on the character despite their protest, grabs a blanket for them without being asked, pays closer attention
Characters just being noticed by another character— the subtle changes, like: when their voice sounds tight trying to conceal pain, or how their hand suddenly shakes, or how little they’ve eaten/rested, or how angry they suddenly get/how argumentative they’ve become
Characters who toss and turn in sleep, unable to wake up until another character grabs them, calling their name, pulling them close, rubbing their back, their arms, their hair- reassuring them over and over that they’re safe/home/free
Wrist grabs. PERIOD. Maybe to stop a character from walking away, to yank them out of harms way, to pull them behind them, or to convey the type emotions only touch can translate, or even as a warning to stay close
Enemies who rescue each other all the time, saying how annoying they are when really they’re just annoyed with themselves for how fearful/emotional they became (or how that other character makes them)
Characters who couldn’t care less until someone important to them is threatened- then all bets are off, hell is breaking lose, forgiveness will have no say, and may god have mercy on that poor character’s soul
When a female character starts their period and are crippled with the pain of a tearing/ripping uterus (because honestly, some have it worse than others) and another character tries to make the pain lessen by rubbing their back, lulling them to sleep, using powers to take pain away
Characters rolling sleeves up to their forearms (maybe when things get serious/sticky/desperate). Also characters with long hair who only tie it back when things get rough, tricky, or bleak. I can see a character’s mouth drop open when they catch sight of another character- maybe the most unexpected one- pull back their hair before taking a stance to fight or defend (bonus if that character before was considered nonessential)
Funny characters who become dead serious when necessary (like when someone threatens them or someone they care for)- and oh, if they aren’t the most badass character after all, like holy crap
Characters who feel like a nobody finding out they’re a somebody
The most insignificant character turning out to be the most significant
The weakest character turning out to be the strongest
The evilest character turning out to be the most heroic
Villainous characters coming to the hero’s defense (and vice versa)
I especially love it when the enemy is the one who heals a hurt character, maybe performing an emergency procedure like inflating a collapsed lung, holding pressure on a bleeding wound, cutting open someone for an emergent operation, bracing another character’s neck, injecting someone with a drug to knock them out or ease their pain (maybe even saying something like, “Tell anyone about this, and I’ll undo all the work I’ve done.”
Cowards becoming brave
Brave characters acknowledging their fears
Hard characters becoming soft
Soft characters becoming hard, especially to fight and defend, rising to the occasion
Side characters who turn out to be main characters
Nonessential characters turning out to be the most essential
Pompous, prideful characters humbled by circumstance, forced to acknowledge their limitations
Worthless characters discovering their worth
Also, words like “Trust me,” “Stay close,” “Dont go far,” “Squeeze/Take/Hold my hand,” “Stay behind me,” “Get down!” “Sleep now,” “Just rest,” “Stop fighting me,” “It’s for your own good,” “Dont make me do this,” “Try. See what happens,” “Are you alright?” “Shh, I’m here,” “Close your eyes,” “you’re going to be okay,” “I’m here,” “I won’t let go,” “Look at me,” “Back off,” “take one more step-” “You wouldn’t dare,” “I’ll never forgive you,” “please, don’t look,” “Let me take a look,” “Deep breath- good,” “Hold still,” “Don’t move,” “I’ve got you,” “You’re safe,” “Lean on me,” “Rest on my shoulder,” “Lay down,”
Characters who have been training for a long time, and one has to quickly change formation at the last minute to avoid hurting the other character
Characters who hate each other while deep down caring about the other’s wellbeing
Characters who notice another character’s injuries, asking or demanding to know how they got it (maybe trying to disguise their own concern or rage)
Characters who are traveling on foot when suddenly one sleep deprived character swoons and the other character rushes to catch them
A character who forces another character to drink something mixed with a sedative to help them sleep (maybe the other character didn’t know about that)
A character about to make the killing blow when someone on their team cries out, and theyre forced to choose between killing their enemy or saving their friend (maybe it’s a lover who gets hurt, or animal companion)(also, maybe this is when the villain gets the upper hand on the hero)
A character who thinks they’re “giftless” having the greatest gift of all
A character finding another character unconscious in the middle of no where who is stabbed, or bleeding, or beat up. Maybe someone raped them, or took from them a family member or friend, or held them at gunpoint
That moment when a character is eating and they notice another character just staring at them, and they’re like, “What? Something wrong?” (Maybe the character noticed a bruise on their wrist, or maybe they just love watching the funny way the character eats, or perhaps they notice how they’re not really eating the food, but just playing with it)
A character who can’t stop coughing, who goes still when they feel the hand of another character touching their brow along with that worried look character’s get when they think something’s wrong
A character running away from a heated argument only to run straight into the arms of their enemy (maybe waiting hidden nearby, or who has been following them, or has tracked them down somehow)
A character chained by their enemy, forced to listen as the enemy makes plans about what they want to do them, knowing there’s no escape (hoping for the other character’s sake that they won’t be rescued) (maybe they are only being used as bait to lure another character)
A villainous character realizing they want to be the hero
The hero finding out they’ve become the villain (or have always been the villain)
A character who can’t swim falling into water (or pushed), and another character diving in to save them (maybe having to perform CPR if they’re not breathing)
A character who wakes up rescued only to realize someone important to them has been taken instead
Please feel free to add on! What parts of a book/movie/anime/comic/play make you swoon or drool or smile uncontrollably? (And sorry that these are not in any particular order!)
YES. ALL OF THESE!
The "came back wrong" -trope, but there's nothing wrong with them. It's still just the exact same person, save for one major detail: They can no longer lie. The dead don't lie, there's no reason to say anything that is not truth in the lands of the dead. They don't remember anything about being dead, and they can still remember and recognise that the living do lie and say things that are not true. And they just cannot do that anymore. They can omit things, but not fabricate flat-out lies.
Also as a minor detail, they now see perfectly well in the dark and have that animal eye gleam. It's dark in the lands of the dead, that's just how people are there. It's not a huge change in who they are, as a person, but god if it isn't unsettling to walk into a completely dark room and before you turn on the light, you see this mf just sitting there, reading the newspaper like this:
Worldbuilding: A culture whose funeral practices involve ritualistically beating the shit out of the corpse while yelling at the deceased, scolding the dead for dying. "If only you had not [___], if only you would have [___], then you would still be with me, then I would not beat you now."
It's culturally understood that blaming the dead isn't blaming them, as much as the anguished structure of the poem is accusatory and clearly in rage. Even if the loved ones of the dead could not see it at the time - as grief wins over reason every time - it's understood that the more absurd the demands of what the dead should have done to avoid dying are, the more obviously it was nobody's fault. Such as accusing the elderly for failing to stop the passage of time, or an infant for not being strong enough to swallow.
"Fine, but I wll beat your corpse if you do", is a common go-to line of guilt-tripping mothers who do not want their children to do something that they've decided is dangerous. The mental image of one's own grieving mother beating the shit out of your corpse after you die of something stupid has a varying success rate in deterring teenagers from doing inadvisable things, but the most important thing is that it's not a threat, it's a promise.
Brilliant
Omfg if this isn't the truth.
Fractured Songs started as a D&D module based on a farcical Tumblr post, that evolved into a novel, where I ended up having to move the entirety of the initial setup to BOOK FREAKING TWO, and re-write the entire setup and first several chapters of the story, but it now actually flows better and feels more like the high-fantasy MC-forced-to-become-the-hero-by-dint-of-uncontrollable-circumstance adventure vibe I was going for.
Le sigh.
Only 700,000 words to go!
Preindustrial travel, and long explanations on why different distances are like that
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)
This is one of those things I was like "I know this, but haven't actually really thought about it as it relates to my world" and boy am I going to be adding some stuff to my maps!
Quick addition about the horses going 50 miles in a day. That's only possible for ONE day, then the horse will have to rest for several, preferably in a stable where it can be carefully rubbed down, groomed, and fed and watered a very specific amount to ensure it doesn't gulp everything down and get colic after that much work.
Even the famed Pony Express had several way-stations set every 10-15 miles between major cities where the kids - chosen for their light weight in order to get the most out of the horses - could grab something to eat and drink, then hop on a fresh horse to run the next 10-15 miles of the route.
The reason this sort of thing is important for writing any pre-tech-era setting, is that livingbin the times we do, we tend to forget about what a MAJOR bottleneck travel time and information delivery times were for most of human history.
Having something that slows aspects of the story down realistically, or creates a problem for either the pro/antagonists is a great way to introduce a conflict created simply by the realities of living in the world you've created.
A single day's delay in getting a message due to a change in weather along the courier route, bandits/enemy forces taking out a crucial waystation, thus interrupting the flow of supplies/armed forces/information, could very easily turn the tide of a war. One horse pushed to exhaustion without support structure at the end to help it recover could mean the difference between the hero arriving in time to save the day, and arriving in time to witness the aftermath of the carnage wrought by the enemy.
And what One Rule do we remember more than any other in telling stories?
CONFLICT DRIVES PLOT.
And the more conflicts you introduce, the higher the stakes for both sides, thus, the payoff at the end is bigger. Without conflict, you have an average Tuesday. So include all the inconveniences of Life Before the Internet and Instant Delivery, so your heroes (and villains) have more problems to overcome!
Preindustrial travel, and long explanations on why different distances are like that
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.
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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)
This is one of those things I was like "I know this, but haven't actually really thought about it as it relates to my world" and boy am I going to be adding some stuff to my maps!
tweet
Something like this would be so colossally helpful. I'm sick and tired of trying to research specific clothing from any given culture and being met with either racist stereotypical costumes worn by yt people or ai generated garbage nonsense, and trying to be hyper specific with searches yields fuck all. Like I generally just cannot trust the legitimacy of most search results at this point. It's extremely frustrating. If there are good resources for this then they're buried deep under all the other bullshit, and idk where to start looking.
>:)c
May I present to you, nationalclothing.org?
It doesn't have everything, but it's still my first source when researching traditional clothing from other cultures.
There's also this resource on historical fashion: Claire’s Historical Fashion Reference & Resources
another addition as far as physical media goes there is the encyclopedia of national dress (that i still need to buy myself bc this kind of thing is super important to my sort of fantasy designing) but yes i do agree i wish there was EVEN MORE documentation on this
For when it's time to describe clothing
Strange roadside buildings where you shouldn’t ever go.
These are PERFECT tavern names
How to write a book
Writing a good story is like building a house from scratch
So structure is the core of the house, the way your story is organized, it’s rise and fall in plot beats and stuff. To build a sturdy house you need good bones, something strong to stick in the foundation (initial idea). It’s not enough to have a good idea, but you need to chart a way to implement it. Even if it’s just in your own head, you need to know the rough arc of your story (if you’re an architect writer that is, gardener writers work differently) to be able to lift the frame into something resembling a house that can stand on its own. Up next is insulation. That would be word usage, description, the fluffy stuff that you should never actually touch inside your wall that does not taste like cotton candy, don’t let it lie to you. This is where you go from the bare essentials, like bullet points, to slightly more descriptive scenes linking the scenario together. The story isn’t complete by any means, don’t let it fool you. Hell, the first draft isn’t even done, this is just the beginning.
The next thing to install is the drywall. That would be the filler scenes you hate writing that make the book more palatable. Without it, it’s just a few random scenes stapled together with nothing connecting them. Random time jumps? Where did that sword come from? Wait, I thought Eric was dating Audrey not Antony—stuff like that.
Next up is the fun stuff. Plumbing.
Now, plumbing isn’t as messy as it appears. This is where you go from your first draft that’s maybe a little too long to too short, and either adding or subtracting as much bullshit as possible. (Said lovingly, of course)
Plumbing you need to get your hands dirty, if only for a brief time, by killing your darlings. It’s not enough to simply erase, but to rewrite so that their corpse is invisible to the naked eye. That or you’re stuff as many darlings into the house as you can. They’re spilling out of the closets, the oven, the shoe rack. Send help—
After plumbing, your first draft is done and your house is complete. Sure, you don’t have electricity or a nice paint job or even a place to sleep, but you’re kept nice and dry when it rains.
Part two of building a house/story involves decorating! The fun shit!
And by that I mean editing.
(Brb while I scream into the void)
Part two coming up
GOD THE SHEER EUPHORIA THAT COMES WITH FINDING THE PERFECT SYNONYM
Truth
Going insane about kicked dog with rabies type characters
On a more serious note though perhaps I'm obsessed with this because I want more sympathy for characters who externalize their problems. Fuck being a perfect victim fuck being a decent one, something horrible was done to you and it was never recognized and you will never ever get back the person you were before, you had everything taken from you and now all you're left with is anger and sharp things and you know what. You should be able to bite people about it
New character aesthetic
What is it about laying on the floor when you're overwhelmed that makes everything feel so much better?
When God has ceased to answer your prayers, it feels good to distance yourself from Heaven.
This is one of the more profoundly true things I've ever read.
that some people respond to any well-foreshadowed reveal with “ugh that plot twist was so predictable” proves bad faith criticism has rotted their brains to the point they think it’s bad writing if they can correctly identify information the writers were intentionally giving them
like you do realise that the entire point of set up and pay off is that you’re supposed to pick up on the clues the writers give you right? you do understand that plot twists only work when they retroactively make sense bc there were hints building up to the reveal right??
There are only 2 appropriate reactions to well-written twists:
1. I fuckin' KNEW IT!
2. Holy shit that makes everything make more sense!
