diff --git a/src/computersandblues/lodestone/app.cljs b/src/computersandblues/lodestone/app.cljs
index 945705c..15ba487 100644
--- a/src/computersandblues/lodestone/app.cljs
+++ b/src/computersandblues/lodestone/app.cljs
@@ -156,10 +156,8 @@
 (declare refresh-displayed-posts!)
 
 (defn- fetch-application-settings []
-  (-> (db/open-cursor! ::db/application db/all)
-      (db/transduce-cursor (comp (take 1)
-                                 (map #(js->clj % :keywordize-keys true)))
-                           (fn [_ x] x))))
+  (->> (db/open-cursor! ::db/application db/all)
+       (db/first-result (map #(js->clj % :keywordize-keys true)))))
 
 (defn setup-application!
   "Handles Mastodon application setup on the client side"
@@ -377,8 +375,8 @@
         refresh-id (js/Date.now)]
     (swap! state update-in [:section/posts :loading] conj refresh-id)
     (. (promise-all [(db/count! ::db/posts)
-                     (-> (db/open-cursor! ::db/posts ::db/post-created-at db/all "prev")
-                         (db/transduce-cursor xform))])
+                     (->> (db/open-cursor! ::db/posts ::db/post-created-at db/all "prev")
+                          (db/transduce-cursor xform))])
        (then (fn [[total displayed-posts]]
                (swap! state update :section/posts #(-> (assoc % :total total)
                                                        (assoc :displayed-posts displayed-posts)
@@ -407,12 +405,10 @@
     (paginate-posts! (merge defaults opts))))
 
 (defn- internal-post-id [max-or-min]
-  (-> (db/open-cursor! ::db/posts ::db/post-created-at db/all (if (= max-or-min :min)
-                                                                "next"
-                                                                "prev"))
-      (db/transduce-cursor (comp (keep (j/get :internal_id))
-                                 (take 1))
-                           (fn [_ x] x))))
+  (->> (db/open-cursor! ::db/posts ::db/post-created-at db/all (if (= max-or-min :min)
+                                                                 "next"
+                                                                 "prev"))
+       (db/first-result (keep (j/get :internal_id)))))
 
 (defn fetch-more-posts! [e]
   (.preventDefault e)
diff --git a/src/computersandblues/lodestone/database.cljs b/src/computersandblues/lodestone/database.cljs
index 0ec3905..119bc6a 100644
--- a/src/computersandblues/lodestone/database.cljs
+++ b/src/computersandblues/lodestone/database.cljs
@@ -103,13 +103,13 @@
   Takes a transducer `xform`, a reducing function `rf` and an initial `init`.
   If no `init` is given, it will default to `(rf)`. If no `rf` is given, the
   resulting value will be a persistent vector containing the result of all steps."
-  ([cursor-req xform]
+  ([xform cursor-req]
    ; optimization: work with a transient vector before returning the final result
-   (-> (transduce-cursor cursor-req xform conj! (transient []))
+   (-> (transduce-cursor xform conj! (transient []) cursor-req)
        (.then persistent!)))
-  ([cursor-req xform rf]
-   (transduce-cursor cursor-req xform rf (rf)))
-  ([cursor-req xform rf init]
+  ([xform rf cursor-req]
+   (transduce-cursor xform rf (rf) cursor-req))
+  ([xform rf init cursor-req]
    (let [result (volatile! init)
          xform (xform rf)]
      (js/Promise.
@@ -121,14 +121,15 @@
                                ; to avoid unnecessary conversion costs.
                                (let [step (xform @result (.-value cursor))]
                                  (if (reduced? step)
-                                   (do
-                                     (vreset! result @step)
-                                     (resolve @result))
+                                   (resolve @step)
                                    (do
                                      (vreset! result step)
                                      (.continue cursor))))
                                (resolve @result)))))))))
 
+(defn first-result [xform cursor-req]
+  (transduce-cursor (comp xform (take 1)) (fn [_ x] x) cursor-req))
+
 (def all (js/IDBKeyRange.lowerBound ""))
 
 (comment