I have held back no water in its season

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2490125.html

I'm trying to find out where a prince would sit in a royal court.

Setting is undetermined - I'm trying to keep it a little ambiguous, so any information from any age would be great. Specifically, I'm creating a section of a graphic novel adaptation of Hamlet for my English final, and I'm blocking out I.2, but I'm obsessing over this one little detail...

I tried searching various combinations of royal court prince seats etc... failed pretty miserably. Google-fu left me some months ago. I'm also in a teensy bit of a hurry to get the information, so I was hoping that you guys would be more helpful in a much more timely fashion...

Thank you!

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2490019.html

Hi everyone,

I have several questions relating to popular musicians, and I’m hoping you all can fill in the gaps between the archives here and what I’ve managed to glean from blogs and YouTube videos. Three of my original characters are members of a boy band based in Romania in the present day/recent past. They’ve been together about three years, and have been on the road for the past two years to promote their first album. During the tour, the group’s popularity has taken off in Romania and they are known at the level of say, the Jonas Brothers, the Backstreet Boys or N’Sync.

Google searches… well, there’s a lot of questions here, and I haven’t been keeping close track. The key words from each question, definitely. I’ve found a lot of conflicting information on various blogs and such, and I’m not sure if this represents variation in the industry or sketchy sources. If anyone knows of good sources for this type of information, please toss it at me!

I’ll group my questions by theme, for ease of reading. Also, my terminology may not be perfect, and I would appreciate corrections. :)



Finance

If the band has signed to a label but hasn’t yet risen to prominence, what does the label pay for? I get the impression that boy bands are somewhat manufactured beasts, so would the label provide more support than your typical indie artist would get? After it becomes obvious that the band is going to be big, does the label pay expenses on the road? How about in the recording studio?



Management

I know that big acts are intensively managed, but I can’t get a handle on what that management team would look like, and what the individual job titles would be. Obviously the size would scale up or down depending on need, but how many people would likely be on a team that managed a national (not international yet, but the potential is there) act? I’m assuming that they have people to book venues, coordinate travel, design and produce merchandise, manage publicity… am I missing anything? How involved could the artists be in the decisions of management? If one of them is particularly interested in publicity, would he be able to work closely with the band’s publicist?



Performing

What might be in a dressing room of a popular concert venue? Chairs/couches? Equipment? Costumes and makeup? Could there be posters from groups that have come through on the walls? Once on stage, how far back could a performer pick out faces in the audience if the houselights were brought up or a spotlight swept over the crowd? If the group was staying in town, would they take their tour bus from the hotel to the venue, or a smaller vehicle? If a concert had to be called off due to illness, who would be involved in that decision? How many of these people, if any, would be backstage during a show?



Popularity/Being Recognized

With a group at this level of popularity, and given that their fan base is predominantly teenage girls, I’m assuming that they’re likely to be recognized in public and have photographers from various celebrity magazines following them around. Is that assumption off? Would the intrusions into their lives be a constant thing, or more hit or miss depending on who they run into when they go out? If they were to go out without a security escort on the night after their final concert of the tour and are seen by a fan who would spread the word, how long would it take for a crowd to gather?


Thanks much for any help you can offer me!

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I'm working on a contra-Twilight fic (contra in the sense that I'm not in favor of the series, but I've gotten past the "OMG BURN IT WITH FIRE!!111" phase of despising it), and considering the way vampirism works in the Meyer-verse (staking them apparently doesn't do much good), the thought crossed my mind that maybe a stake made from the wood of a magical tree might work. Maybe even something that can bring a Meyer-pire back to life before doing them in. But... I haven't been coming up with a whole lot of ideas: Wikipedia has a whole slew of fantastical, magical or mythological plants, but not a whole lot on magical trees, and Googling "magic trees" just comes up with ...those little green car air fresheners (though in another story, it might be funny to have someone nail a Meyer-pire with one of those :: Regards her green tea oddly, wondering who spiked it with something that's inducing giddiness, sniffs it suspiciously :: ).

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2489512.html

A friend of mine told me something that seems like it could make an awesome story. Apparently, in some primitive societies, you could choose whether you would be a man or woman once you came of age, and that's how everyone would treat you. He's a history major, so I know he's not completely making this up. But I'd like to fact check it and get the details, make sure he wasn't mistaken or misremembering.

The problem is, I have no idea where to begin Googling for information. I can find plenty on gender roles, mind you, just not this specifically. I don't know what century he's talking about or which societies. If there's anyone else out there who knows anything about this subject, could you help me out with some search terms? I am completely stumped.

Thanks in advance.

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2489112.html

Setting: London, 1787

Time period: *points*

My problems: OK, this is going to take a while. Basically, I have four characters who matter in these questions. Victoria, a brewer's daughter and heir to a frankly absurd amount of money, is married to John, a baronet with a very expensive lifestyle to keep up, a crumbling family manor to maintain, and wandering eyes (and hands, and...) Basically, he's not faithful to her at all and is very rarely home. (He's actually robbing coaches for fun and profit, but that's neither here nor there.) They've barely even consummated their marriage. One day, she hears of a very skilled artist (Tom) and hires him to paint her portrait. She likes this artist's looks so much that she takes him for her lover. There is also Elizabeth, who is in love with John. John and Elizabeth both being rather depraved (and John being eager to get rid of his wife), they decide to kill Victoria. It's Elizabeth who'll be doing the killing, though. And this brings me to my questions, in order of plot.

1. Due to plot-related reasons, Elizabeth & John need to have been separated from each other for roughly 6 years, and Lizzy's the one who needs to not be in Britain during this time. Her family owns sugar plantations somewhere in the Caribbean; would they have taken her there? Or is somewhere on the continent of Europe more plausible? (Can be anywhere; I don't care.)

2. Where, exactly, would a young man who was just barely hanging onto a peerage by the skin of his teeth spend his free time? I know that Victorian and Regency gentlemen went to their clubs, but were coffee houses still more popular in the late Georgian period? (Considering the character, he can also hang out in seedy pubs & brothels, so this isn't such a vital question.)

3. Social mobility: would it be possible for a lower-class young man to become an artist of some renown? Not famous, just recognizable enough so that when mentioned, people would nod their heads and go, "Oh, that guy." Would he need to be apprenticed to someone? What if he had a rich, married female patron? (Victoria has Tom for a lover for at least a few months and is essentially raving about his painting skills to all her friends.) If he was really good at his craft (and possibly had gifts of money from a rich lover), would he be able to move into a more “middle-class” lifestyle? If he remained poor, what could a young woman (his sister) do to help keep both their heads above water?

4. I know Victoria will obviously have to keep her relationship with Tom a secret. But what about John? How would his peers treat his rakish ways? Would he almost be expected to have women on the side, or would he try very hard to hide it? How would it look in respectable society if he were to offer a respectable unmarried woman of his acquaintance (Elizabeth) and her wealthy, dying father a place under his roof while their house is repaired? (Right now, I'm planning to have half their roof fall in when they're not home.)

6. And now the murder! Lizzy doesn't really know what she's doing, but she can get hold of nearly any poison she wants. It just needs to be soluble and reasonably undetectable in alcohol. It also needs to act very quickly and have symptoms that would immediately suggest to anyone who finds the body that it was not suicide. I'm thinking John goes to his club for the day, Liz kills Victoria, and Victoria is found by her servants, who send for...and here's where I get stuck. Who were the enforcers of law in 1787 England, specifically London? Was it the military? How were murders investigated? Would her servants be suspected of killing her if it was known she treated them horribly? (If I can pin it on a hapless maid, so much the better.) Could they test for poisons? Would her husband be questioned? Who, if anyone, would press charges? Who would carry out the investigations? If the husband was rich enough to get the cause of death declared a suicide, would anyone investigate? Would the death be publicized or sensationalized by the press, or could it be hushed up? How long would a rich widower be expected to mourn for his dead wife?

7. Tom believes John has killed Victoria, and challenges him to a duel--ostensibly for the honor of his sister, who John has been hitting on. (Fortunately for later plot developments, John wasn't really paying attention to her face.) Would it be even remotely plausible for him to do this? I can easily bump up his social status a bit if a poor city-dwelling guy wouldn't know how to use a weapon of some sort. If he acquired money, would he be expected to learn?

Search terms on Google, Wikipedia: social mobility in Georgian England, law enforcement in Georgian England, history of English law enforcement, gentlemen's clubs, coffee houses, alcohol-soluble poison

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2488848.html

So, I have a character I need to kill.

I want him to die not necessarily of an overdose, but from taking "bad" cocaine--it's important that the police are looking for the person who sold it to him.

Basically, what I want to happen is this:

Character A takes cocaine at a party. It's held in a basement, and enough crazy shit is going on that people just assume he's passed out and he gets forgotten downstairs. Everyone else goes upstairs and they forget about him; the next day Character B comes down to the basement and finds the body.

My questions are thus:

1) What would A's reaction to bad cocaine have been? What would that death have actually looked like?

2) What would the body look like the next day? Would there be vomit, feces, etc?

3) Is the only thing cocaine can be contaminated with levamisole? Would that have the same gory after-effects of an overdose/would it take effect that quickly? Or do I need to have him overdose?

4) What would the typical recreational drug user/addict's defense of cocaine be? At some point a group of A's friends are confronted with an outsider telling them that this happened because they are drug users, and that every time they take cocaine, they take their lives into their hands, etc. What rationalizations (because I'm sure they exist) can be made to isolate the death, so it remains acceptable for them to use cocaine?

Googled: effects of bad cocaine, effects of levamisole in cocaine, what is bad cocaine?

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2488823.html

i have read some of the posts regarding this subject, a lot of information did help me, but i need to know more, so pleasssssseee help me...

I am writing a novel and my character is going to get shot three times. She is in her early thirties (late twenties) athletic and healthy. She was first shot in her upper thigh, with a 9mm close range (5ft) no artery was raptured or bone, the bullet stabilized in the muscle, she was conscious and managed to run away.
1) Is it possible? close range and no further complications?

Then another two bullets where fired (40fts away) one hit her shoulder causing a broken clavicle bone, no artery though. the other one in the upper chest (3ichs away from the shoulder wound) broke a rib which ruptured the lung.
she fell on the ground, gasping for air, when her military parter arrives to scene, he managed to get an airway for the damaged lung (i don't know the name of the presedure where he makes a whole in the lung to refill it) i would assume she will be in shock, but will she be conscious?

She had the surgeries and no complications were found. she will be on the vent (correct?) the recovery timetable, i can use some help there.

According to what i know, she'll need to use a wheelchair for the leg, a string for the shoulder and chest, and time in hospital for a month maybe (please correct me) and another month for physical therapy?? i don't think its enough for FULL recovery but its enough for her to walk and go back to work? (please correct me) and the pain?
2)Will there be a chronic pain? for how long? what kind of painkillers she could be on?
3)Will she use a cane at first?

thank you very much i appreciate it.

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2488543.html

Just wanted to check a scenario, hoping someone can help me out.

time/place: New York City, 1993-2003

A cab driver goes to pick up a broken-down cab, and finds an abandoned newborn in the backseat. He takes her home with him, and his family looks after her for approx. 12 hours until social services (or is it Dept of Child Protection Services?) comes to take her (would they need to pass at least a cursory background check, for such a short time?). The child is placed in an orphanage, as a search for any parents, including a public appeal, is fruitless. The cab driver and his family keep in fairly frequent touch over the years ie birthday and christmas cards/presents, and she winds up good friends with the family's year-older son. However, they don't support her in any kind of financial or legal fashion.

When the girl is ten, various factors (irrelevant here) kick in, meaning she gets whisked off to boarding school, and signed into the custody of the Headmaster.

My major question is; the cab driver's family make several enquiries about adopting the girl over the first ten years, but are always advised that they would be turned down, so they never get to the formal adoption application. (though right before the girl is taken away to school, they put serious effort into it that they hadn't before) What kind of circumstances / reason would that require? They're a blue-collar Italian-american family, lower-income but not poverty-stricken in any way.

I did a search for NY adoption laws, and the website I found seems to think that the fact that there's no legal relinquishment signed by the birth parents won't be a problem, as long as they never make themselves known legally or to the girl. BUT would that be the case in the 1993-2003 time period?

EDIT: thank you so much for the help, everyone! I see I'm going to have to go alternate-universe with the orphanage idea (my character probably wouldn't get the kind of emotional detachment that's going to come into play later from foster care. As I understand it, foster families are usually meticulously screened, primarily so they won't damage the kids in this fashion.) My irrelevant-here-factors should take care of the rest.

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2488237.html

The setting: 2005/6ish

I have a character who is knocked out by the bad guy, using a rag soaked in ether. (Yes, I am aware that there are issues with doing this - unfortunately, as I'm writing fanfic, I'm somewhat stuck with this bit!) What I'm trying to get a handle on is just how long this would actually take.

-Everything I've found, so far, points to minutes rather than seconds - is that right?
-Presumably it would be faster the more the character inhales? So struggling would actually make matters worse, yes?
-How much would build and age affect this? (The guy is in his middle 30s and athletic)

Any help you can provide will be very gratefully received; thank you!

What I'm really enjoying about AO3 is that so far, the quality of work is great. I like clicking on a link and getting an awesome fic! THIS IS ENJOYABLE TO ME.

Also, hello, hello, I am your friendly Junjou Romantica and Hellboy (movie-verse) tag wrangler. UHM. I have no idea, okay, I blame renay okay. If you would like to know what fandoms need wranglers, see this list!. :3

This post originally made at Dreamwidth.

There've been a couple of parenting challenges recently. The first and more easily resolved was our discovery that one of the little boys at Cordelia's table in class had been saying unspecified mean things to her. That came out when I was asking her why she didn't eat her snacks any more. She told me that her tummy hurt too much at snack time.

When pressed, she didn't want to talk about the details. Scott and I both tried, but she still thinks that not talking about things makes them less real. The lack of information limited our options when we talked to her teachers. She's now sitting at another table as part of a larger reshuffle, but watching and trying to see what happens with the little boy is about all the teachers can do. They can't talk to him without more information from Cordelia or another witness.

The second challenge is longer term and thornier-- The school sent home a note asking parents to talk to their children about race and about not making unkind comments relating to race. Cordelia is aware of race in a very vague way but not as much as she could be. I haven't wanted to scare her, and I still have my own issues with early training that race was never to be spoken of.

I'm not entirely sure how to explain race in a way that's both accurate and makes sense to a six year old. I need to do it, though. She and one of her best buddies (the home schooled black boy who lives down the block) made plans for her to *buy* him. I was appalled and had to explain to her why I was appalled. Cordelia found the idea of slavery sufficiently terrible that she denied that it ever happened. She doesn't want reality to include misery or malice.

I think that the plan may have owed some confused connection to the fact that the little boy is adopted. Cordelia said he wanted not to have to listen to his parents. She also said she can't tell him that their 'plans have melted' even though they have. I think she's a bit worried that he'll bring it up again and expect her to do something I've told her is wrong.

At any rate, I want to do this right so as to help Cordelia be a good human being who treats other people well. I want to do it without unnecessary trauma to her (or to anyone else). I just have to guess what's necessary.

I have a rough draft of my Yuletide fic. It's crap and just barely long enough, but I know what to do for the first rewrite. After I do that, I'll be looking for beta readers. With luck, I'll have the dratted thing done quickly so that I don't fret about it. Of course, I finished the draft Tuesday and haven't done anything more since.

I'm marking time until next week. The PT says that the exercise I've been doing should start to help after two weeks, in other words, some time around Monday. I think things are a little better, but it's hard to tell. I might just be wishing for it.

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2488035.html

Hi All,
I've read a lot about this type of crutches online, but can't seem to find answers to some very basic but necessary questions.
The story takes place in the United States, present-day. I have a female, teenaged character (college sophomore) with cerebral palsy affecting her hands and legs. She's small and skinny for her age. Again, I've found some info on forearm crutches online, but the descriptions tend to differ, and I haven't been able to locate firsthand accounts that address any of my questions. If you guys can help with any, some or all of these questions, that would be awesome...I don't care if you respond in paragraph form or to each individually or whatever.

1. Describe the crutches themselves: what they look like, are made out of, how they fit, how they're stored and carried and maintained, etc.

2. How do you get in and out of the crutches?

3. What do you do with the crutches when sitting (on benches, in chairs, at table settings, etc.)?

4. If the character has a fairly extensive form of CP that affects both her legs and her hands, how necessary would it be to wear the crutches? Could she potentially walk without them for short distances with support or with leg braces?

5. How does getting in and out of bed work?

6. Could another person hold hands with someone while using the crutches? Is this helpful or more detrimental? Ditto the other person walking with their arm around the person's waist, shoulders, hand beneath the elbow for support, etc.?

7. Describe the posture that a person using forearm crutches typically manifests when walking. Do they stand straight or have to bend slightly at the waist to accommodate the crutches?

8. How fast can you move on the crutches? Is it easier to move slowly and steadily, or to go quickly and get momentum and rhythm going?

9. Is there anything painful about using the crutches, especially after years of doing so?

10. How typical is it to fall while using this type of crutches, and what does getting back up entail? Do you typically need physical assistance to regain your footing?

11. How easy is it to carry things while using the crutches? Do you feel that you have your hands free to do most anything?

12. What can family and friends do to assist you that is or is not helpful?

13. How would the CP in her hands affect her ability to use the crutches?

14. How tiring is it walking with the crutches? How far can you walk? How long can you walk without a break?

15. How are hills, steps, etc., difficult or easy? Do you opt for ramps generally, or are stairs doable? Escalators? High curbs?

16. What is difficult about the crutches? Are there any things you cannot do at all, or cannot do easily, that you wish you could?

17. Do you find that people tend to stare at you when you're out and about on the crutches? Do people offer to help you often? Since, in the US, forearm crutches are more indicative of a permanent disability, are you asked a lot of questions?

18. Is it easy or difficult to open doors while using the crutches? Is it more helpful to ask someone to do this for you?

19. How easy is it to stay with a group when walking? Do you find it easier to have someone in constant contact with you? Can you generally keep pace with people more "able-bodied" than you?

20. Can you hug another person while standing up with the crutches?

21. Did you ever attend a dance on crutches? How did that work?

22. When negotiasing treacherous terrain, such as slippery hills or hiking trails, what is the easiest approach to doing this safely and comfortably?

23. Other comments about using the crutches?

Googled:
"Forearm Crutches"
"Forearm Crutches" teens
"Forearm Crutches" facts
Etc. ETc. Also read lots of articles and merchandise information sheets.
Thanks for any help!
:) Caitlin

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2487681.html

Setting: Present day, somewhere in North America.

Searches tried: Googling cocaine detox, drug addiction and rehabilitation, looking through the archives here, etc etc.

I've read a bunch of articles and browsed some websites, but they mostly list the symptoms of drug addiction and then info on how to contact places that can help. What I'm looking for is what actually happens to a person in those first few hours/days of detox. Would a doctor need to supervise them, or just anyone who has some experience with this kind of thing? Would they be left alone at any point? Would they need to be restrained? How out-of-their-mind would they get? How long would it take? Would medications need to be administered? All of that kind of thing.

Also, my story is still in the planning stages right now, so I'm just trying to figure out if it can work the way I want it to - a runaway young woman is found and taken off the streets to a private rehab facility in the middle of nowhere (possibly on a ranch of some kind?), where she undergoes an intensive detox program and attempts to get healthy and back on track mentally and emotionally before being allowed to venture out into the world again. Do such places even exist? I mean, it's fiction, so it doesn't really matter if it's based on a real place or not, but I don't want to write it this way if it's completely implausible.

Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

This was the most popular choice in the poll, and funny enough, I haven't encountered yet a person who didn't like it, even when initially sceptical towards oatmeal or apples. (Well, unless they have allergies, of course.) I'm going to use °C and metric measurements for the recipe, but converters are easy to find online and also it's not one of those where you have to be super accurate, so that shouldn't be a problem.

What you need:

- oatmeal (I buy the 1 kg package which lasts for several meals)
- 2 to 3 apples
- sugar
- cinnamon
- a bar of butter (I use the 250 g bars -- you'll definitely need less than a pound)
- vanilla ice cream

and a greased baking pan, casserole dish, or similar (if it's fireproof and somewhat flat it'll work).

( Read more... )

Serve fresh out of the oven, in small bowls, with some ice cream on top. Makes for a nice hot-cold contrast. Oh, and you eat the cake with spoons.

Additional info:

- Makes you feel full extremely quickly. I've had huge people who are big eaters laugh in my face when I served them the "tiny" dish, only to see them declare defeat after their second bowl.
- The dough can be kept in the fridge to use it up later, and also works great as a muesli breakfast substitute.

You can't really mess up this one. Trust me.

Nobody's added Count Cain/Godchild/The Cain Saga to AO3, yet, so what name should I add it under? I know it's on the Yuletide master list as The Cain Saga, so that's probably the name I should use, but nobody in the fandom calls it that, and the story I need to upload is actually in the Godchild timeframe. Preferences?

Also, I try to remind myself that there is no reason to get as gleeful about submitting bug reports as about inputting a new fandom or pairing (Yami peeps, you get a lot more choices now), but that doesn't stop me from doing it. It's a bug and I found it! Whee!

This entry was originally posted at Dreamwidth. Please comment there using OpenID. messages in bottles recovered.

I got hired by Tim Horton's.

No, I did not move to Canada. Canada? Who's that?

But I did get hired. To the second place I applied to.

I start on Friday.

OMG OMG OMG.

Now, fast food is not my ideal employment situation. However, not being broke is my ideal situation!

BE EXCITED WITH ME, GUYS!

I HAVE GOOD NEWS!!!!



Also I kinda quit Nanowrimo. But that's not important! I have a job now.

This is about using the various labeling fields on AO3.

( Scroll on by if it's not a topic of interest )

This entry was originally posted at Dreamwidth. Please comment there using OpenID. messages in bottles recovered.

Just added all my CSJH stories thus far to AO3, and I am writing up a post about my personal tagging system in terms of relationships. I also just added my Highlander/The Good King stories to the archive. The Good King as in Wenceslas, as in the Family Channel Movie based on the Christmas Carol based on the life of a guy who would actually do better with one of those bloodtastic gruefests that are all the cinematic rage. Really, the scene where he's knifed down by his brother and his brother's friends as he heads to Mass in the snow (not a scene that happened in the Family Channel version, more's the pity) is the sort of thing to make shock-value directors giggle themselves to sleep with sheer macabre glee.

Be that as it may, the movie we actually have is considerably more schmaltzy than gory, so I fixed it with a nice dose of one of the Four Horsemen from Highlander. Also, this fandom is too obscure for Yuletide (by fandom, in this case, I mean has at least one story, and this one has two, and they are both mine). I'm weirdly proud of that.

This entry was originally posted at Dreamwidth. Please comment there using OpenID. messages in bottles recovered.

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2487366.html

I have a character who, through non-natural means, is experiencing hyperthermia, as his body temperature slowly but steadily rises. I feel like I've got a pretty decent handle on the basic initial symptoms, but he will be ill to within an inch of his life, and what I *can't* seem to find out is what happens once a person experiencing this loses consciousness. I understand that organ failure is an issue, but I'd like more details on this. I do have something in mind as regards permanent effects of the illness (and I don't mind wrangling the facts a little to get there), but at the moment I'm more concerned to know if after he drops into a coma his internal organs will soon be completely shot or not, as that would certainly put a crimp in the rest of the story. (If necessary I can adjust things a little, as his condition is unnatural to begin with.)

Have checked the community memories and tags, as well as researching 'fever' and 'hyperthermia' on Wikipedia, and googling 'extreme complications of hyperthermia' and 'hyperthermia'. Lots of basic info; not much about the more dire consequences, unless it was in medical jargon that flew completely over my head so that I missed it. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, thank you!