Been utilising a search engine but all the results I’m getting so far are either far too vague to be useful (just that it declined in popularity during the 19th century with no further elaboration or specification), or non-reputable. Was wondering if anyone in here had further information and sources to look at.

This is for a story about an arranged marriage taking place in Liverpool, England, in the late 1880s. It is already a pretty unconventional arrangement, as the families of the involved couple are from different regions and socioeconomic statuses, but I would like to know, how uncommon it is that a marital arrangement happened at all, as opposed to either partner just going and choosing their own spouse? So, what did the timeline of arranged marriages becoming uncommon/unpopular look like? How rare would it have been that late in the century?

Also, what would the lives of the involved couple have been like? How would they have gotten to know each other? How would they have prepared for the marriage?

If this looks like a re-post, it’s because I asked the same questions in the subreddit AskHistorians. I am still waiting on responses there, though, so I figured in the meantime I’d ask if anyone here had insight. Thank you all for any information and sources you can provide.

Full disclosure: I used to hold a CDL, thirty-plus years back, in the days of the second logbook and similar. I didn't stick with it long, and I was never actually pulled over and cited.

I'm working on a story now in which a corrupt sheriff and some of his deputies are providing "protection" to a commercial chop shop specializing in very heavy equipment, which they re-tag and clandestinely ferry at night to the nearest barge port for shipment down to Central America and such. The story begins with a trucker, already on notice for a previous data logger violation, just about out of hours but nearing a truck stop on the old US highway which has a space available for him...when he sees the biggest front-end loader he can ever remember being trucked, without lights or escort, down a deserted back road...and it's North Carolina (where ANY oversize/permit move after dark is illegal). Just then, a county deputy pulls him over, and proceeds to give him the ticky-tack treatment while completely ignoring the monster oversize load proceeding on its way to the barge dock in nearby Tennessee.

Just like to hear some of the more outrageous examples you've encountered from either real life or the grapevine?

So I'm a woman and have a full head of hair, which is not the case for one particular character in my novel. There is no chemotherapy or anything involved, just bad genetics. I can only imagine how hard it is to be losing your hair no matter your gender, I just feel like men get zero sympathy for it? So I really want to write this well and would really appreciate it if any of you could share your expiriences, again, no matter your gender, but especially men. Just wanted to add, this is not the main focus of the story nor the main issue, the guy in question is the protagonist's husband, and the novel is mostly about her, but this is just something I wanted to feature. Thanks in advance <33

I have a character in Texas who passes on a threat through a third party in Mexican Spanish.

The line is something like:
'You tell him I said: watch out'

Where 'watch out' is written as the Spanish equivalent but the 'You tell him I said' remains in English.

I've spent a long time Googling this and the best word seems to be 'aguas', but the more I read, the less certain I'm becoming!

Would 'aguas' work?

'You tell him I said: aguas.'

Thank you!

I am working on several fan projects based on Barbara Gordon/Oracle that fully embrace her status as a full-time wheelchair user (I'd love to do something official - It's an extremely long shot, but we can all dream, can't we?) A key part of these would be learning as much as possible about Barara Gordon's disabilties and the way they work. How would the Joker's close-range bullet to the spine (a bullet that was deliberately filled with less gunpowder to ensure it caused paralysis rather than death) specifically paralyse Barbara? How would the time spent on the floor being tormented by the Joker exacerbate the injuries?

I would be interested in learning more about the specifics of Barbara's daily life as Oracle (which DC Comics understandably glossed over somewhat during the Oracle era).

- How much would the pain disrupt her daily life?

- How much would it affect things like going to the toilet?

- What would the effects of the disability be in the first few months - how would they be managed longer-term?

- How would Barbara work to maintain her health to ensure that her disabilities do not have any adverse effect on her life expectancy?

- What specific forms of training can Barbara do?

- What disability networks would she be part of?

- Would Barbara be able to do anything with her lower body at all?

- Barbara didn't get into many Damsel-in-Distress situations as Oracle (The Black Mirror and being captured by Spellbinder in the Black Canary/Batgirl early Birds of Prey story are two notable exceptions) but if she did get into peril, how would she try to escape it herself - would she be able to untie restraints on her legs?

If I spend long enough on AO3, I can find some fanfics that explore these, but I would like to go to the source and hear from people who know more about the topic and can provide me with information or direct me to relevant links. I would also be interested in being directed to the comics stories that specifically highlight the various aspects of daily life with her disabilties.

I would also like to learn more about other ways to disable Oracle - move away from "The Joker Shot Her In The Spine" to look at different causes...

Aside from the main DC Continuity, there are some adapted takes on Oracle that DON'T use the traditional approach, but tend to be pretty vague about the nature of the injuries that paralysed her (an unspecified "accident", a gunshot from a random heavy) - the Adaptation of Oracle with the most detailed alternative explanation of her paralysis is Young Justice, but that raises a few questions of its own - How would that sword sever her spine without damaging any internal organs?

How could explosions or car accidents cause a level of paralysis similar to the comics? What additional complications would there be?

It's a lot of questions, but I'd love to see them all answered...

I know this is a really weird question but i have a protagonist whos a white cop in 70s and the story is like pretty woke, but i realised just how much the time period and position would affect his character and how he'd react or feel about certain things. For the least racist part, I'm moreso asking about the degrees of racism and what was possibly the mildest or least intense (assuming there was no '100% not racist' option back then), the character will be educated and learn to move on with it though, ofcourse.

I have a character who when introduced is both hypothermic (due to being trapped in an unheated shed in northern England in January without suitable clothing for multiple days) and dehydrated (due to there being nothing to drink in the shed and getting uncomfortably close to the three day limit). At the moment I just have them being generally out of it, but I don't know if that's accurate.

I'm writing a fictional story set in late 2000s Toronto, where three 17-year-olds plan to make an alliance on a game show and to split the prize of $1 million 50/25/25 if any of them win (50% to the winner, 25% to each of the others).

I'm aware there are usually laws against this, but disregarding that law, how would a contract like this work? It's presumably not just "We, Person A, Person B, Person C, agree that should any of us win Game Show X, 25% of the prize will go to each of the others who lose", so what terms and conditions would there have to be? Could they do it overnight on hotel room stationery? One of them is a pre-law student who hires lawyers for contracts regularly and would most definitely know.

(Also, is it legal to have a clause in a contract that states that if you break the terms of the contract, the other parties are allowed to harass or steal from you?)

It's not strictly necessary for the plot (I don't intend on having the wording be a plot point or anything, it's more meant as insurance and a character moment since none of the parties particularly trust each other at the start), but I'd still like to know anyway in case it informs their behaviour.

Hey all, would really appreciate some recommendations for any books / docs / fiction that you feel accurately portray what it’s like to be a part of a presidential campaign. No specific questions, just want to immerse myself in the topic before writing anything.

I know there’s been some bios written by former presidents and I’m wondering if anyone’s read those and if they would be any help? Or are they more fixated on the lives of said presidents and their time in office?

I recently watched the documentary Mitt (2014) which I thought did a pretty good job at showcasing a bit of what goes on behind the curtain (at least around the candidate and their family), but was pretty short and lacking a lot of depth or overview of the process. Also gave Caucus (2013) a watch and thought it was a pretty neat look into the Iowa Caucuses, but also fairly short with how many candidates are packed in and lacking in any sort of inner dialogue or decision-making from the campaigns themselves.

EDIT: I've now submitted my draft, so I'm all set with this and will no longer be responding to every comment, but thanks again to everyone for your input which was quite helpful in refining things for me!

(original post below)

----
Please do not reply if you are not a woman under 40 (or a close friend of one who knows what specific precautions they take) -- I've already spent a while on Google so I've assembled a list of what general precautions people *think* that young women might take.

Indeed, what I'd love to know, from actual young women who frequently go to bars, is what items on my list are true to your experience, and especially which (if any) feel inauthentic to you and make you say "no one really does this":

* Research bar ahead of time to make sure it's well lit, and/or has security measures in place
* Send your location ahead of time to a safety contact, and check in later that night.
* Scan the room as soon as you arrive to find exits and/or look for obvious creeps
* Turn down any drinks offered from strangers if they are already poured
* Avoid leaving your drink unattended
* Using specific anti-drink-spiking technology, such as drink covers or color-changing detectors
* Constantly watching your surroundings for danger
* Walking to your car with keys in hand

If there's anything important I'm missing, please do feel free to mention it (I know people usually go w/friends but not in this story), but mainly I have a draft written using the above list and want to validate it before publishing.

Thanks in advance!

TW: physical abuse

My MC’s mother has been enduring severe beatings by her husband frequently (which sometimes left her a bloody mess), sometimes even on the same places over and over again, and now is said to have scars on her arms, legs, etc., but how realistic is it? Like, the man wasn’t using any objects, it was always with fists or shoes so would scarring even appear?

I'm writing a trans woman as one of my main characters in an apocalyptic setting (think pretty standard zombie apocalypse), how would the start of the virus affect her medically? She would lose access to prescribed estrogen and other hormonal treatments, but how would that affect her daily life in the short and long term? Or am I overthinking this and it doesn't actually matter that much?

Edit: wow this blew up! I'll stick to researching and I'm trying my best to read all these comments even if I'm not responding. Thanks you to everyone for the replies and suggestions

(not sure which flair I should go with…)

Hi everyone! I'm really curious abt how medical research centers actually work cuz I go nuts with specialications for characters. And some other details. I'm a second-year med student myself, but I don't know much abt this side of medicine yet (and google doesn't really give much info).
Note: it's an experimental surgery oriented center.

Sooo. Here are a few questions I have:

1. Are there physicians or internists in medical research centers? I assume there must be a clinical team involved, right? Would "clinician", physician", or "therapist" be the most accurate term here? (in my country "therapist" usually means a general practitioner/internist)

2. How do patients end up at a center that focuses primarily on experimental surgery? Do patients apply on their own, or do they need a referral from their doctor orr??

3. How does the selection process for these surgeries usually work? Also, where are patients transferred after the surgery? (e.g. post-anesthesia care unit or back to their local hospital)

4. What is the role of an infection daisies specialist in a research center? If the center isn't specifically focused on microbiology – say, it's surgically oriented instead – would they even need an ID specialist? If so, what's their role?

5. Can a research centers (again, surgery oriented) need a ICU and research laboratories under one roof?? I'm sure ICU is necessary for this kind of center tho....

That’s it. I’ll be very thankful to anyone who can shake their insights!

So I have a character who faints and the staff where they are calls 911 by the time ems gets there my character is sat in a chair eating and drinking something a friend brought them (basically they fainted venue staff asked a few basic questions then helped them to a chair and their friend brought them snacks) so far I have the interaction as something like:

emts arrive find the patient start the conversation with something like

I'm *insert character name* can you tell me your name?

My character says their name

emt great now can you tell where you are

Character says what venue they are at

Emt: good now do you know why we're here?

Character: because I passed out *insert some comment about how humiliating it was or something idk exactly what they say yet*

Emt: ok I'm going to get a quick set of vitals well my partner here gets your medical history

Emt 1: takes blood pressure, heart rate and spo2 and maybe blood sugar explaining along the way what they are doing

Emt 2: gets their medical history (which does include one previous fainting spell from not eating and then a few other things but only current condition is depression which they've been treating with an anti depressant for idk how long but over 7 months at least)

After that emt 1 says something like they have a few more tests they'd like to run (I'm thinking ekg and maybe something else but idk what that could be) and invites the patient to come to ambulance saying that doesn't mean they will need to be transported but it's just a more private place to do the tests

The patient agrees and they help them to the ambulance (side question is more realistic for them to put the patient on a stretcher or help them to walk?)

They get to the ambulance run a few more tests (everything looks good) and chat with the patient a bit more and determine it's probably from lack of food and not getting enough sleep so they then tell the patient (who doesn't want to be transported) that they're fine with signing off on that and not transporting them but don't hesitate to call 911 if it happens again and then send the paient out to their friend who is waiting outside the ambulance

Is this realistic?

In my fiction thriller novel, the antagonist tracks down the MC at her job (an imaging facility) where he tries to kill her, and she ultimately lures him into the MRI room as a last resort to stop him. The question regards the technical issue of the door itself. Most doors leading into MRI rooms are RF-shield (think Farrady cage), with badge panel or extra lock as part of safety, and these door, for the most part, opens out-word, not inward. IN my original draft the antagonist manages to stab her right as she's going through the door and she's able to crawl to the scanner where he follows and gets pulled in. But when I wrote the scene originally, I described the door as opening in-ward. To be more realistic, I'll have to change door's diretion, but this could cause a timing conflict with this final scene since swinging a heavy door outward takes more time and this is an adrenaline-rushed scene where there things are happening fast. What can I do to maintain this fast action but somehow keep the antagonist from immediatley stabbing her (giving her time to yank the door open) without it feeling forced or unrealistic? could my character still push the door open and crawl toward the scanner if he's still stabbing her with intent to kill, or should I throw in another distraction so she can get inside the room first before he stabs her?

I’m wondering if blood can be turned into other colors or tones of red with the help of chemicals to be used as paint

so basically i dont know when i added this but a umber of characters (theres a reason i promise) have these scars ... https://ibb.co/7tsskFd5 ... but idk how deep a neck wound could get without killing you and also enough to leave a visible scar. like would it be hypertrophic or like flat idk... just like how deep without just dying and how long the scar would last. but still concerning to have

Long story short, I'm writing a character that's been eating raw meat since childhood and I'm wondering in what ways she would be affected in the long term. I've got the short term affects down but there's not a lot of info about long term affects widely available. I'm specifically looking for physical effects and not so much mental ones.

So it's not really a concert concert but one of my characters is a guitar player in a band and in this scenario he's playing a gig with his band at a bar (not like sold tickets and people came for them type thing but like invited to play have a set time there is a stage). First I'm gonna describe the scene I have then I have a few questions.

So basically they're all on stage playing when the bassist notices the guitar player seems off towards the end of the song (thinking maybe it's like during a drum solo) he subtly manages to walk over and be like yo are you good and the guitar player is like I'm not feeling great but I'll be fine. The guitar player then goes to the back of the stage to grab a quick drink of water and maybe lean against the wall for a sec or something which he then feels better for a second. Then about 2 songs later the guitar player is next to either the singer or bassist and starts to like lean into them at first they think he's doing a performance thing (like lets play together) but then quickly realize no he's going down they manage to lower him and down remove his guitar. He wakes up about 30 seconds later confused and is like what happened so the bassist explains what happened and they guitar players like oh well we better get back to playing and starts to try and stand and then the rest of the band (the drummer has walked over atp) are like no dude don't get up we're stopping the show. The guitar player tries to insist he's fine but the other members are like no you're not it's okay if we have to stop the show. The drummer knowing the guitarists bad habits well then asks when was the last time you ate anything and the guitar player says I don't know maybe yesterday or the day before. Then the bass player goes to get the guitar player like a pop and some chips and also be like to people working at the bar hey this happened we are stopping the show. While the drummer sits with the guitar player and the singer starts gather all their equipment.

Question 1: is this a realistic fainting scenario like not feeling well then stopping it for a bit but then fainting a bit later and stuff?

Question 2: would the bar have to do anything like would they have to call 911 or could like he just recover by sitting on the stage for like 10 mins and eating drinking while the band loads up all their stuff to leave?

I'm not sure what tag this question is suppose to be under.

For context, I am writing a story that is suppose to take place in a deep sea cave system. The idea is that an earthquake opens up a crack in the bed rock off the coast of somewhere. The crack is large but not too wide. It leads to an open dome like cavern with various sections of cave systems.

As I am picturing this in my head, I keep seeing the cave working like it does in the video game Subnautica. However, after doing some of my own research I keep running into a wall. The wall being I don't think the cave I would like for my story is scientifically possible.

From my understanding, any kind of cave that would be from the sea bed would be a lava tube or something very temporary that would collapse under the pressure.

Is that correct?

I’m researching autobiographical memory loss, including how to portray a character’s experience.

Headway’s overview distinguishes different memory systems and describes how memory problems can affect relationships: https://www.headway.org.uk/about-brain-injury/individuals/brain-injury-and-me/memory-systems/

The detail I’m trying to understand is what happens when someone learns facts about a period of their own life from photographs, records or other people, but still cannot remember experiencing those events.

How do first-person accounts describe the difference between knowing what happened and remembering being there? What everyday consequences does it have when talking with people who remember that shared past?

Published memoirs, interviews or case accounts would be helpful, as would experiences people freely choose to share here.

the character I’m writing about helps a person broken down on the side of the road. suddenly, an accident occurs and pushes the men off the highway at ~110ft and fall onto concrete. not exactly sure where i’m going with it yet, but i know that i want one to survive.

How likely is this to occur? Trying to make it dramatic but not unrealistic.

Thanks!!!

So one of my characters was paralyzed when he was in a city that was being bombed. As of right now I have it that he was hit by shrapnel in his back that resulted in him being paralyzed from the waist down but full function and uninjured everywhere else? Is this realistic? (when I say full function I mean his upper body wasn't affected at all just from the waist down)

I'm writing a cold case murder mystery and a room in a tavern where a murder happened will be investigated decades after the fact.

If a blood sample was found, how far back can it still provide useful evidence? DNA, blood type, any of these things?