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So, I’m soft NaNoWriMo’ing this month. I mean, the org might be garbage, but the concept of National Novel Writing Month is still a good one. One that doesn’t need the control of a website that doesn’t do anything but act as a record of word counts. Like, all modern writing programs have that functionality built-in. I don’t need to bow down to A.I./LLMs for that.

Once upon a time, the org would give out good prizes for the winners, but that was a long time ago. I mean, they went from giving free software to giving discounts for software to just giving ad coupons for software as well as licking the butt of LLMs. (Seriously, I hate that they call LLMs "A.I." because they’re the farthest thing from it. And, you know, ignorant people actually believe that LLMs are anything more than regurgitation programs. Ones that occasionally just make shit up whenever they want, and thus should NEVER be used for real world issues that have real world consequences. (Like, there’s police departments using LLMs for transcribing witness statements, and they’re finding out that the programs make up a bunch of details instead of straight transcribing, and then when they’re done they ERASE THE ORIGINAL AUDIO RECORDINGS. And like, it’s terrible, but a bunch of innocent people are going to be suing cities and towns all over the country for their false incarcerations. And like, Man Eating Michael the Human Cannibal is going to be let out of prison and it’s going to be a REALLY BIG DEAL when he goes on to kill another 75 people before he’s finally caught again.) The technology is NOT READY to be used the way people are trying to force it to be used. And it’s also an environmental DISASTER that doesn’t need to be happening but techbros gotta grift otherwise they have to get real jobs and they’re never going to do that. Because they’re assholes.)

Anyways, I’m doing NaNoWriMo on my lonely lonesome. The title of my project is "Soul Unbound By Body" and it will start posting on my Patreon on November 14th. Hopefully it doesn’t suck.

~Harper Kingsley

https://paypal.me/harperkingsley.

https://patreon.com/harperkingsley.

https://ko-fi.com/harperwck.
https://amazon.com/shop/harperkingsley0.
https://www.harperkingsley.net/blog.
https://kimichee.com.

https://www.youtube.com/c/HarperKingsley.

https://harperkingsley.bsky.social.
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/HarperKingsley.

Am I once again talking about duvet life? Yes, I am. Because duvets are fucking awesome.

With the right insert, a duvet is comfortable, fluffy, and warm as heck. Though a white cover, when living with a messy cat, can get a bit dingy faster than I like, so it’s better to have multiple duvet covers to switch between.

I chose a queen size insert and I’m pleased with the choice. Because it is 90-inches x 90-inches, it is a perfect square, which means not having to worry about which is the top or the side or anything like that. You just stuff the insert into the cover and you’re good to go.

I am a bit upset that I made the same mistake I did the first time, and ordered a second duvet cover THAT ONLY HAS 4 TIES. I really wanted a cover with 8 ties, because that seems so much easier to stuff with the insert. But whatever.

Me and my cat are enjoying duvet life. I was a bit upset, but she was happy, when she discovered that with a little nudging she could crawl under the cover and hide in the bed. It’s not too heavy or stifling for her, but it’s nice and cozy.

I have become a duvet convert. Though I have to wait until winter to really decide whether it’s gonna be duvet alone or duvet plus a cuddly blanket underneath.

EXCERPT–

The days were getting colder, with frost covering the ground in the mornings. The interminable nights were requiring more fire wood to keep from shivering in her bed.

She’d entered this body with no resources and no idea how she was going to survive. A peasant in a society she didn’t understand with rules she hadn’t been able to figure out because she didn’t understand the language.

She’d barely managed to run away from the clay and straw house she’d woken up in and the man that may or may not have been her body’s husband. She didn’t take the time to find out, terrified of his angry expression and rough hands. There was no way she was waiting around to find out if this was a world that saw women as property and didn’t believe in spousal rape.

She’d run as far and fast as she could, pushing her body to the limit and beyond. For days afterward, it had been pure force of will that kept her moving and alive. Her SoulFire had maintained the body until she was able to settle down in an abandoned hut she’d found in the woods. And then she’d been able to hunt for meat as she’d made the hut as livable as possible.

It had taken her weeks to find plants her body was able to eat. Nothing here was familiar to what she’d known before. Even the animals were different. The "rabbits" that had become one of her main food sources had shorter fur, longer ears, and only two eyes. But they provided the nutrients necessary for her body’s survival.

And while she wasn’t exactly thriving in this unfamiliar world, she was surviving to make her each day a bit better than the ones before.

She’d found a kind of water bird that she was able to grow and farm along with the rabbits she’d begun breeding in the rough cages she’d made from sticks and vines. It had taken her months, but she’d collected enough fur and feathers to put to use.

The rough duvet she was making wasn’t like anything she was used to as she didn’t have access to actual fabric, but it would hopefully be enough to keep her alive during the winter months. An insert made of bird skins stuffed with feathers and a cover of rabbit leather and fur.

It was ugly and she’d sewn it together with rabbit sinew she’d pounded with rocks and twisted into cordage. The needles were sharpened rabbit bone she used to punch holes she could thread the cords through. It was a messy process made more difficult by the delicateness of her body’s skin. Her fingertips would redden and split and she would have to use her SoulFire to heal the ulcerated flesh as the body was too weak to fix itself.

—she is weak when she sleeps, and then susceptible to the cold. If she does not keep her body warm when she sleeps, there’s a chance she won’t wake up.

~Harper Kingsley

https://paypal.me/harperkingsley.

https://patreon.com/harperkingsley.

https://ko-fi.com/harperwck.
https://amazon.com/shop/harperkingsley0.
https://www.harperkingsley.net/blog.
https://kimichee.com.

https://www.youtube.com/c/HarperKingsley.

https://harperkingsley.bsky.social.
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/HarperKingsley.

So, I got my very first duvet and I’m pretty pleased. It’s fluffy and soft and seems really nice.

Though, while it is machine washable, the instructions say it should be washed in a commercial sized machine. The kind that opens in the front and doesn’t have a mid-section agitator. Which means I didn’t wash it the way I wanted to, and that leaves me a little 😬 But I did throw it in the dryer on high for 20 minutes, which should have killed anything that might possibly be killable.

I did wash the duvet cover, which was a matching white color and feels kind of like fresh sheets after being washed. My only disappointment is that in my naivety I didn’t know I should be looking for covers that come with 8 ties, rather than the 4 corner ties I ended up with. So I had to kind of move everything around inside the cover to spread the duvet out, when if the cover had had 8 ties I could have just tied the duvet in, zipped it up, then shaken it out and it would have spread itself out with no risk of shifting inside the cover.

Lesson learned.

All my future duvet covers will have 8 ties rather than 4.

Still. I like that it looks like a big puffy white cloud. I’ll probably get different colored covers in the future, but it’s nice to have one simple, pretty white one. It’ll likely be covered by black and brown cat hairs in the not-too-distant future but oh well. That’s life with cats.

~Harper Kingsley

https://paypal.me/harperkingsley.

https://patreon.com/harperkingsley.

https://ko-fi.com/harperwck.
https://amazon.com/shop/harperkingsley0.
https://www.harperkingsley.net/blog.
https://kimichee.com.

https://www.youtube.com/c/HarperKingsley.

https://harperkingsley.bsky.social.
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/HarperKingsley.

I’ve got a duvet coming (and a separate duvet cover I’m getting for free) and I’m kind of excited. It’s supposed to be “warm in winter, cool in summer.” It’s an all-weather duvet!

I kind of ranted about the “horror” movie “Snow Falls.” It’s about 5 college kids going to one of their parents’ luxury cabins for New Years. Like, that place is nicer than a lot of our homes. Those are not poor kids.

They’re just really fucking dumb.

• They only brought enough food for the night and morning they were planning on staying. (Their other friend didn’t come on the trip because he’d heard there was going to be a snowstorm and he didn’t want to miss work if they stayed an extra day.)
• They didn’t bring extra gasoline. They just assumed that the cabin was fully stocked. So when the power goes out, they don’t have gas for the generator. (And don’t ask about the car gas, because jfc. Those kids.)
• They didn’t bring any firewood with them, and the cabin was only stocked with few armfuls that they quickly burned through.
• They take the one kid’s Adderall to keep awake because “If we go to sleep in this cold… we might not wake up.”
• They burn every candle in the place during the first real night. They could have made rocket stoves!
• Multiple times they dig through closets full of coats that look thick.

For reals: They should have been gathering sticks during the day. They could have used the axe to cut some bigger pieces that they could dry IN THE GAS OVEN! Seriously: The kitchen appliances run on natural gas. They were able to light the stovetop burners with a match BECAUSE THEY HAD ACCESS TO NATURAL GAS.

Like, they started freezing to death, and I was screaming at the TV like they were real people: “Take the mattresses off the beds and use blankets and sheets to make a blanket fort. That wide open living room plan is KILLING YOU.”

“For the love of god: The closet is FULL of coats and winter gear. Why aren’t you layering up more than that?!?”

“Siphon the gas from the car! I don’t know how long it will run the generator but YOU’RE DYING!”

“Huddle together to keep warm. Why are you all spread across the living room like that? Share body heat! Check if the cabin has camping tents and sleeping bags. There’s a whole shed out there. Why are you using those tiny throw blankets?!?” Seriously: There are blankets on the beds. Why aren’t they using ALL OF THE BLANKETS rather than just whatever those were?

“Once the fire went out, why are you staying in that GIANT living room? Why wouldn’t you go into a smaller room you can close off?”

That movie has found a place in my head. Not because of the horror, which I assume comes from the kid being so cowed by the parents that they aren’t allowed to burn up the antique wood trunk.

Like, the argument against burning ALL the furniture is that they’ve been polished, and the chemicals release toxic fumes when the wood is burnt. It’s the same reason why they might hesitate chopping down the wood railings with their four feet tall 8-inch diameter solid wood decorative posts.

But like, you’re going to freeze to death. Why are you just sitting there waiting for it to happen?!?

Gather dead sticks. Dry wood in the oven. Maybe you can cut the top layer off the furniture and wood posts so that you have clean wood to burn.

Why are you freezing to death?!?

I’m sorry, but if it were me, rescue workers would show up and that cabin would be wrecked. But I’d be alive.

Anyways, I ordered a duvet.