Weird stuff you've researched?

[RetroFan]

Bronies - i.e. adult male fans of 'My Little Pony' - for a story in which an older woman suspects her husband is having an affair, only he is a secret brony and going to libraries and the like to watch My Little Pony on the public internet terminals without his wife finding out about it.

 

[ElectricBlue]

And how long can wool last submerged before degrading. Six months, longer if it's oiled, however if it's in salt water oiling won't let it last that much longer because salt acts like a weak detergent.

The reason the Irish and Scottish sea-faring fishing communities have such a rich tradition of patterned knitted jumpers (the Aran jumper, for example), is that families each had their own pattern. When drowned fishermen were found on the shore, the land-folk knew who they were.

 

[NuclearFairy]

The reason the Irish and Scottish sea-faring fishing communities have such a rich tradition of patterned knitted jumpers (the Aran jumper, for example), is that families each had their own pattern. When drowned fishermen were found on the shore, the land-folk knew who they were.

That's a really neat bit of knowledge.

 

[AchtungNight]

Bronies - i.e. adult male fans of 'My Little Pony' - for a story in which an older woman suspects her husband is having an affair, only he is a secret brony and going to libraries and the like to watch My Little Pony on the public internet terminals without his wife finding out about it.

This is nothing to be ashamed about- it’s a great show.

Pinkie Pie fanboy here.

 

[Areala-chan]

Arson investigation practices and trans-tibial amputations are probably the two weirdest things I've researched for stories I've written, though only one of those has made it into a completed story so far.

 

[ElectricBlue]

That's a really neat bit of knowledge.

I found it out when my mum knitted both me and my dad Aran jumpers, during a holiday in Scotland. We each had different patterns, which I'm guessing she found in a shop. We weren't local to the area, but it was part of the folklore.

Mum was a keen knitter. Every year us kids got a new jumper for Christmas, which meant we'd not wear it until the Oz winter, five months later. How she did it, I don't know, but they always fitted us perfectly, even as fast growing teenagers.

My university era jumper was a big fluffy white one, which two girls stole from me in college to wear as a dress. There was some rivalry there which I missed at the time, but became an element in this story:

Seventy Thirty - College Days

They were both slim slender girls, and both looked gorgeous in it. I had to buy another jumper from Vinnies.

 

[redgarters]

I don't know about weird, but I just fell deep into the salary and shift structure of NYPD officers and the conditions for getting your kid back if you've been in prison in NY.
Other rabbit holes are fx
- walking distances and live music venues in Chattanooga, TN
- fashion industry jargon and exactly how large the Tate Modern turbine hall is
- exact minutes of sunshine in a given set of days/months in arctic Norway.
- watercolour brands
- The correct terms for land use in North Dakota farming (thanks @DawnDuckie !)
- NY womens shelters
- Waffle House hashbrowns variants (scattered, smothered, covered...)
- And of course everything about Le Dome bar in the Hotel Dieu de Lyon. Having been there was not enough, although that did inspire the story.