What is the Strangest Thing You've Researched for a Writing Project?

[Dragonlady]

C14th , so late mediaeval/early renaissance, mountainous region ( a village for this particular story), post feudal due to circumstances so have been looking at italy for some of my research but it's a fantasy world. I've been assuming a community of yeomen and tennant farmers which suits the plot quite well but would appreciate any potentially relevant reading/watching recommendations. They have a pantheon, hence researching ancient classical religion to try to work out how their village priests (2 different deities/cults) would be funded. The whole community isn't all poor, but i haven't managed to find anything specific about rural communities other than a typical feudal mediaeval village, and researching the history of the alps just gets me the big stuff about nobles and wars and stuff rather than what life was like in a typical village.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

I found the research on Chinese politics pretty gruelling for my (as yet unpublished) novel Cybergone. I knew it was a strange, grim country, but... well, I had my eyes opened. :/

 

[Paul Meccano]

I couldn't find a post that covered this topic, but I've always liked this one. I think it is neat and entertaining to see what other writers research for their projects.

Two of my strangest searches (which may or may not have put me on an FBI watchlist) were:

"The most horrific forms of torture throughout history"

and

"Can a human survive being skinned alive"

What kinds of weird, creepy, or unusual topics do you guys find yourself researching for writing projects?

Seems like we're on the same tip My favorite was, how long does it take for a body to first bloat and then decompose underwater.
The answer was a little overblow and somewhat drawn-out; I picked through the pieces.
And yes, my wife has been seen lately.

 

[Paul Meccano]

Gnome porn... there's a scene on a beach in Norway... it involved hats and not much else.

there's Gnome way I'd get involved without shorts.

 

[Fogged_Creation]

I looked up one time "How to hide the smell of a human corpse"
My favourite that I remember though is when I looked up "Can you make bombs using bananas"

I had a feeling that the FBI was eyeing me through the window for months in response to my grim curiosities of detailed storytelling xD

 

[Toby Frost]

In the forward to one of his books, Stephen King tells a story about asking his doctor: "Could a man swallow an entire cat?" IIRC, the answer was "No".

 

[AnyaKimlin]

there's Gnome way I'd get involved without shorts.

Definitely no shorts in the pictures.

 

[Paul Meccano]

Definitely no shorts in the pictures.

there are actual pictures!!! whom whould have Gnowme

 

[Stígandr]

Hi, I'm new. Hopefully I'm doing this right c:

I've looked up the most horrific torture methods too, haha. As well as extensively researching the effects of starvation on a human body. I've also read about a lot of weirdly specific medical things, but all based in Victorian-medieval times.

 

[Thiswriterinme]

I have a few more to add to my list since I started it.

In the past week, I've looked up how to brainwash someone, specifically what kinds of organic compounds and drugs can be used to enforce compliance and complimenting drugs that will help with brainwashing.

I've also looked up how to self-cauterize a wound and what kinds of "on-hand" items can be used/which will be successful, i.e. gunpowder, fire, curling iron, etc.

On a less violent note, I've also been researching different werewolf and vampire legends and origins from around the world. A lot of the regional stories are very interesting.

 

[Dragonlady]

land tenure in switzerland today...

 

[JS Wiig]

Not terribly strange, but visually fascinating:

I watched a bunch of videos of octopi changing color and texture to camouflage themselves, as I have a fantasy creature that exhibits similar behavior.

Pretty inane, I know, but still early in the career.

"gnome porn" - Yeah, don't google that one. Oops.

 

[SonicSouls]

I would have to say that it was venetian masquerade costumes. There are several different types and some of them look unsettling. I'm mainly thinking of the bauta costume. It's an androgynous attire that hides every part of you. The mask is designed to hide your face, but also to allow you to eat and drink. The history is interesting as it was used for people of different classes to intermingle without worry. For example, a noble could engage in scandalous affairs disguised in this costume. Or so that was how it was supposed to work anyway.

 

[Steve Harrison]

Turkish brothels in the 1790s.