I have held back no water in its season

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2475137.html

Setting: A large city in the northeastern United States, modern day
Searched: "scurvy," "scurvy symptoms," "scurvy treatment," "scurvy effects," and so forth.  Multiple articles on Wikipedia and a few online medical encyclopedias.

A young man in his late teens becomes so involved in a project that he neglects his diet over an extended period of time, and contracts scurvy.  His symptoms eventually become bad enough that he goes to a doctor, receives a diagnosis, and recovers by resuming consumption of Vitamin C.  My questions:
1. How long from the initial presentation of symptoms will they become severe enough to convince a person who makes a habit of neglecting his health that he needs to see a doctor?
2. Will symptoms completely vanish after he begins taking Vitamin C, or will there be some lingering effects?

Edit: I know that even fast food has enough Vitamin C to prevent scurvy.  I am still researching exactly what he will be eating (my top candidate at the moment is Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts, which I have confirmed have no Vitamin C), but I will make sure that it is something that would actually lead to scurvy.  He essentially locks himself into his room with a stockpile of insert-non-perishable-food-substance-here for weeks at a time.

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2474762.html

I have a character in a modern setting who is trained as a nurse, but has been hired to fill the medical-officer's position on a small special-ops team. It would be helpful to know what, specifically, would be different in her training and medical knowledge-base vis-a-vis what one would expect of someone who had trained to qualify as a doctor.

She is by and large not actually working with living patients in this position (it's a Torchwood fic, the medical officer's main duty is dissecting dead aliens so it's not like they're gonna sue if she's learning on the job), but there will be moments when she's also called on to serve as a field medic, and I'm not quite sure where her "right, off to hospital with you" breakpoint is going to be in relation to the injuries/conditions her predecessor was capable of treating on-site. She does have the advantage that said predecessor hasn't, um, actually left, as such, and would be available to advise and talk her through procedures she may not have the exact skills for, if they're close enough to the range of what she may be trained for/capable of -- setting bones? Minor sutures? What does she know, and what does she know that she doesn't know and needs to outsource? It's the gap between the two specializations that I see as a potential source of plot-points, and I'm not quite sure how to even begin Googling that...

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2474679.html

What would cause pain/discomfort in a kidney, that wouldn't show up on a kidney function blood test?

I need it to be something that wouldn't be discovered right away. So far, I'm thinking of a benign tumor. Would a benign tumor impact the results of a kidney function blood test?

Search terms: kidney disease, kidney ailments, kidney function blood test, kidney ailment not showing up on blood test, kidney damage, hidden kidney damage, underlying kidney damage, underlying kidney disease, benign tumor in kidney, benign tumor kidney test results, blood test results benign tumor, kidney blood test results benign tumor.

While searching with these terms gave me lots of information, I could not figure out the answer to my obscure question.

OH MY GOD, I HAVE FOUND THE BEST PICTURE EVAH!

It's going to be made into my next icon, TRUFAX!



Sorry if I potentially offended anyone with it, but I think it's adorable and I'm all for the over 'hit over the head with the moe=hammer Hitler'. I in no way support what Hitler did, but I would not be Nia without all of the random hitler jokes that I toss at everyone. (Which is probably why I enjoyed "The Producers" so much)

~ Music video for Vienna Teng's "Gravity."
~ Music video for Dave Matthews' "Gravedigger." (WARNING: Video may be triggery.)
~ Music video for Lamb's "Gorecki."
~ The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (?)
~ Moulin Rouge! (forevermore, possibly)
~ Anyband again (add soccerball soldiers and chair-dancing soldier to character list)
~ Ten Inch Hero (love, seriously)
~ Bride of the Water God (I thought someone else might cover it this year, but nope)
~ CSJH forever
~ I should perhaps add Chae Yeon to Asian solo artists, if she's not in there already. I'm sure BoA is, but I'll double-check.
~ If we can do music videos, does that mean I could nominate "Purple Line," in which DBSK are incubi high class rentboys in a futuristic world? Ooh! Bae Seul Gi's "Tomboy!"

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2474176.html

Vintage camera enthusiasts, help me out! My character is an American documentary photographer in 1949. He specializes in location work, nearly always outdoors and often in rough conditions. He's taking a solo trip to Mexico (probably by bus and train rather than by car, though that could change) to scout and shoot various subjects. I'm trying to determine what sorts of cameras/film/lenses he might haul along and what other supplies and tools he might need to do his work.

He goes for action shots and often does photo essays on occupations like mining, logging and deep-sea fishing, or sports like boxing and big game hunting. Occasionally he would want to take some architectural and scenic views for which he could haul along a tripod if necessary. I haven't quite determined whether this trip is on a specific assignment for a magazine or photo agency, as I'm still getting a sense of how a professional photographer of this general description would have done business in this time period. He is single and has no fixed abode, so he could well be just indulging his wanderlust in going to Mexico to shoot whether or not he had an actual assignment.

He needs to shoot in both color and B&W. By googling around, I’m gathering that he’s going to need to go for medium format (probably 120?) rather than 35mm, since he’s selling his photos for print. Is a classic press-photographer Speed Graphic with a roll film back a good choice as his main camera? What lenses might he find most useful? Some other model of camera to suggest?

He’s also liable to do some candid ‘street scene’ type shooting where he wants to be less conspicuous, so a twin-lens reflex where you shoot from waist level seems useful to sub in for the big Speed Graphic. Possible makes and models for a pro who isn't rolling in cash?

Mexico City in 1949 seems to have been well stocked with camera suppliers and film processors, so he can probably buy everything he needs along those lines. It looks like Kodachrome is the color film standard, but what's going to sound middle of the road yet professional-level for B&W? I'm thinking he'll be able to do at least some of his own B&W processing in hotel rooms to save some cash, but he'll have to rely on labs for printing and for his color processing.

My photographer is a big, physically fit man who can carry a fair amount of weight, but he doesn’t want everything plus the kitchen sink just in case -- he’s a practical guy and was a soldier, so he’ll leave behind anything he doesn’t truly need. He intends to stay at least a couple of months and possibly longer, basing himself in Mexico City and making side trips out to more remote areas by bus or train. Basically, I’m thinking both versatile and stripped down to the essentials. At this stage of his career, this photographer considers himself a craftsman rather than an artist; he learned his trade working for newspapers before the war and in the US Army Signal Corps in Europe.

Research already done: A lot of varied reading on Mexico. I learned photography on a 1950s-vintage camera and did a little darkroom work while I was learning, so I have a general idea of what’s required for developing and printing B&W 35mm film and dealing with non-electronic SLRs. I don’t know very much about the operation of medium format or twin-lens cameras, though I’ve been googling to find out more and am feeling a little flummoxed by all the technical detail on sites meant for vintage camera enthusiasts. I’ve read some articles on several comparable photographers of the time like W. Eugene Smith and Walker Evans, but those are mostly about their artistic qualities and don't mention much about their equipment and methods. (Ansel Adams and his giant view camera are not very comparable, just for instance.) Can anyone recommend good photographer's biographies or autobiographies along the right lines?

Please mention anything definite that you may know about this era of photography or any directions that I could pursue to help make this fellow's equipment bag and way of working sound authentic.

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2473745.html

Are there Aboriginal American myths or legends about Changelings, human children who are stolen and replaced with non-human children? Preferably, originating from groups that lived in the Midwest of the USA.

I've searched on google, but searching for "changeling" brings up a lot of stuff about "changeling: the dreaming," which is not helpful, and asked a research librarian I know.

Stories about children being flat out stolen, or stolen and eaten, are interesting but I specifically want to know if there's stories about children being REPLACED.

Thanks in advance.

Hi. I am new to Insane Journal, the Bloggish Layout, working with CSS code and I have a free account. On my journal I am using a code found here  http://asylums.insanejournal.com/freelayouts/2957.html#cutid1 (the hyberlink button isn't working for some reason for me). I can't seem to find the part of the code that changes the colors in the side bar nor can I figure out how to add links. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2473324.html

Time: Present
Place: Chicago, if that makes a difference
Terms searched: District Attorney ranks, District Attorney promotion, District Attorney's office positions.

So... I know that the chief District Attorney is an elected official, but the people under him/her? I know they have ranks/titles/names, and that you've got to be promoted up until the ADA (if I remember correctly). My character is a....higher-than-average lawyer in the DA's office, and he's up for a promotion--not quite to ADA--but I don't know what to CALL the promotion's title.

So my question is this: What are the levels/titles in the District Attorney's office BELOW DA and ADA?

thanks in advance!!

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2473120.html

I have a fantasy culture that practices heavy tattooing, amongst other body modifications, notably scarification and earlobe stretching/ear gauging/whatever. It's a rite of passage for children to get very intricate henna-like tattoos on their hands, arms and feet when they reach a certain age. These ones are usually the only ones they get nowadays, but in the past the tattoos would cover the legs, entire arms, shoulders, neck and parts of the face (forehead--in place of eyebrows which are burned off--nose, chin, lips on women). I would like to say that the country's technology is somewhere around 16th or 17th century, but it really has no real-world equivalent. A little over a thousand years ago these people fled to the island and brought a whole bunch of medical knowledge and a healing ability to the feuding tribes there. Long story short, they were assimilated, the island was united under one warlord, and it closed its borders forever. Present day, it has a relatively small population with a life expectancy in the cities that rivals modern Japan's, or maybe even surpasses it. However, most other technological areas are very deficient in comparison to real-world standards because of their no-trading policy (the exception being weapons).

The tattoo idea came from the Ainu culture, so I figured even though the designs were fundamentally different, these people would use a tattoo knife similar to the makiri to keep the connection. But the more research I did, the less it seemed to make sense. The Ainu had thick bold tattoos, while mine are similar to mehndi--could a tattoo knife be so precise? What would be a better option? I've also thought about using tebori instead (I know the Ainu are not related to the Japanese! It's just that apparently the technique is just as good or possibly better than the needle machines most people use today) but I couldn't actually find out how old tebori really is, or what traditional needles were made out of. Just a lot of stuff about yakuza tattoos and how the Japanese used to use tattoos to brand criminals. I don't need that.

Also, because the designs are so intricate and the people who get them are so young, I'm guessing that they're going to stretch and lose their shape. How often would these need to be redone? I had it set up so that they would get their initial hand/foot tattoos at eight years old, and every three years until they were twenty the tattoos would be traced over again and more would be added on. (The face tattoos would come with marriage.) Is that plausible? Is it too often/not often enough? What herbs/medications/whatever out there could be used to preserve them? (Google will turn up bio oil and whatnot for this, which I can't use because it's a modern product :/)

Apologies for the long post.

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2472765.html

I'm writing a story which involves characters exploring a newly discovered ancient city that's been empty for roughly a thousand years, and I have some questions about the state it would be in. The city is set up with military and religious buildings forming a big, rectangular wall made of stone. In the center of that was a big field, which was filled with wooden homes.

My question is basically this: How much stuff would be left after a thousand years, and how much would fall apart and decompose? I'm assuming wood would rot after that much time; would there be anything left at all? What about cloths, like cotton or animal skins? The city is located in a rain forest, if the climate makes any difference. If anyone has any tips on anything that might be found in an ancient city that people might not think of, I'd really appreciate that, too.

I've been Googling and Wikipedia-ing Mayan and Aztec ruins all night, because my city is very loosely based on them, and I've read articles about them on a variety of websites. I've basically been searching for archaeologists' reports, photos of the ruins, and so on, but I'm not really sure what sort of search terms I'd have to use to find the answers I want.

ETA: I just had a thought. The people who lived in this city are supposed to have been wiped out as a result of a war (and probably other contributing factors, but I want that to be the most blatant). If an invading army were to have burned down the wooden buildings in the center, would there be any way to tell after so much time? As for bodies left to the elements, would there be any skeletons left, or would those have decomposed as well?

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2472584.html

Ok, so actually I simplified it a little, but the principle should be the same.
Main character, woman, in her late 20s (I don't know if it's relevant), very thin with tiny wrists. She has a bracelet on the left wrist, something like that : 



So, of course, she can't take it off, it was not meant to be. I don't want her to chew off her hand or to cut it off, but she can break a few fingers if it's necessary. How could she take off the bracelet with minimum damage to her hand ?
I tried searching "take off handcuffs without a key" and found some videos and explanations (all involving taking a sharp object to act as a key, so it doesn't work in my case). My question is, do you think by breaking her thumb, or dislocating it, she could take it off ? (and no, she can't cut off her thumb...) She has small hands, small wrists, and the bracelet could almost be taken off normaly, but it gets stuck just below the thumb.
I know it's a very odd question ^^
Thanks for all suggestions !

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2472303.html

Googled: 'healing time after beating/strapping', 'skin abrasions, healing time', 'lashing, aftercare'

I've also scoured the archives of the community, and while I found several helpful posts on the kinds of injuries I'm writing about, including one asking almost the exact same question, none of the answers gave a comprehensive time frame.

My MC (17 and small for his age) runs away from home following a severe beating by his father. He was beaten with a leather belt (including the buckle side), mostly on his back, so he's got scratches/track marks, raised welts and bruising. His wounds have been dressed by his mother before he leaves, and he is invited to squat with a friend who helps him with aftercare, changing the dressing, etc.

How long will he be laid up for? Will he be lying in bed for a few days, or be able to move around very soon? I'm assuming the pain will improve enough for him to be up and about before the cosmetic damage (fading bruises and scabs) does?

Thanks so much!

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2472004.html

My character speaks Brazilian Portuguese, modern setting. I found out that there's a Creole-Portuguese equivalent, but I can't find just a Portuguese equivalent of the rhyme. I've Googled "portuguese eeny-meeny-miny-mo," "portuguese equivalent eeny-meeny-miny-mo," "brazilian eeny-meeny-miny-mo," and "brazilian equivalent eeny-meeny-miny-mo" and haven't come up with anything.

Any help? Thank you in advance!

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2471922.html

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2471669.html

So I'm writing a couple of stories featuring military characters, and I have some questions. Y'all have been incredibly helpful in the past, so I thought I'd impose on you once again.

Army questions

1) What is the general form of address for senior Army NCOs (Master Sergeant, Sergeant Major)? Full title, Sergeant or heck, just Sarge? Not in fully formal situations but in general conversation where people don't know each other well enough to use first names.

2) I know that Army NCOs are authorized to carry swords, but can they form an arch at a military wedding? The groom (well, one of them- this is set post-DADT) is a veteran officer, but it's important to him that his team be the one to do the arch. The other groom's an active-duty NCO, if that makes a difference.

ETA to clarify: The officer in question resigned his commission and is currently a civilian, so there are no fraternisation issues at play here. 

My USMC questions deal with Marine aviators in general and the Huey SuperCobra in particular. 

1) At flight school, do cadets on the rotary-wing/helicopter track train to be both pilots and gunners or do they have to choose one path? If it's the former, would someone be able to spend some time as a gunner and then switch over to being a pilot?

2) My apologies if this is a dumb question, but are the controls for any of the Cobra's weapons systems with the pilot, or are they all with the gunner?

I've tried Googling, but that gets me either conficting information or none at all. :(

Thanks in advance!

cross-posted to military_beta

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2471240.html

Where: Britain, specifically London
When: 1949

Several questions:

1 - I have a character who's lost a family member in a railway crash. How would that character be notified? Would it be a telegram? Would someone be sent to the character's residence?
Googled variants of: railway accidents uk 1949 notifying family (plus, played around with the date.) I've found various ways a train could crash, but nothing seems to be popping up for how the victim's family would be reached.

2 - Related to number one. For identifying the victim, would the character need to go somewhere specific? I know that not all bodies would be recognizable, but would the character be asked to look at any unidentified victims to confirm/deny if it was the character's family member?

3 - And lastly, what kind of entertainment would young people in their 20s be out doing in London?
Googled: I tried various ways of London entertaiment 1940 1950, but I keep running across retro bands/programs. I'm looking for more an idea of what types of parties they'd consider cool, and, if any, era-specific terms they'd use for them.

Any help or search term suggestions would be great.

http://community.livejournal.com/little_details/2470920.html

Would anyone happen to know where to find theoretical history art? I have fourth century Greece and Macedonia in mind for settings, so I'd like to look at recreations/conceptualizations. Temples, statues, streets, roads, markets, rural locations - anything!

I've tried browsing Google, but I haven't come up with an adequate term for what I'm looking for, and so the best I've found is the University of Virginia's recreation of Rome and a few conceptual paintings of the Seven Wonders.

Also appreciated would be any current portraits of Alexander the Great (artwork done in the last century and preferably not based on Colin Farrell).

Thank you all in advance!

ETA: Sorry, everyone! I forgot to clarify something. It's fourth century BC, not AD! I forgot that such things are, ahem, somewhat relevant in antiquity.

Does anyone know where I'm going to be on March 5th, 2010?

Watching Alice in Wonderland in the theaters, that's where I'm going to be, goddamnit.

I'm going to sign up for Yuletide. After turning the whole thing over and over, I realized that I'd not quite forgive myself for not signing up. I know, after all, that I enjoy the challenge even when it's hard. I don't know that I'll get sick again. I don't know that Scott and/or Cordelia will. I don't know that anything at all will go wrong. I'm not managing the proper level of glee right now, but I think I will once I'm committed.

I've severely limited the fandoms I'll be offering. I think this is the first year I'll be offering fewer than fifty, and I'm offering a lot fewer than that-- seventeen. I wanted to limit it to things that I'll be pleased to match on. Most are things I even have vague story rumblings for. The exceptions are things I think will be straightforward (famous last words?). I think I'm going to start rereading some books in the next few days. They're all things that my stress levels should find easing.

I'm going to sign up tomorrow morning. I'll have three clear hours for it then, and with luck, it won't be a high demand time for the Yuletide servers. If the process seems to take too long, I might put it off until Monday morning, but I'd rather get it done and have time to think about any changes that I might need to make, just in case there are any.

For this afternoon, I'm going to work on my dear-Yuletide-writer letter and on figuring out the combinations of characters I'll offer in the fandoms where I'm not offering 'any.' I think there's only one where I'm offering fewer than any and more than four, so it should be doable to get the combinations, at least mostly.

I'm also reconsidering my requests. I mean, I settled on four of the fandoms that I nominated. I'm just dithering a bit. Two of them are long and more than usually obscure-- Romance of Red Dust and Patriotic Knights. The other two are things I've been asking for every year since I started doing Yuletide-- Planet Ladder and Ayatsuri Sakon. I have glee at the thought of a story in any of the four fandoms, but I find myself wondering if I shouldn't list at least one fandom that's widely known (for Yuletide) or short and easy to come by (like a movie). If my request goes to the pinch hitter list, I might be hard to match, especially later in the process.