little_details I stumbled across it via LJ's new promotion of communities. Quite helpful. Even without posting a question, via the tags I was able to learn more about comas.
Dictionary of English slang (http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/)
Babelfish (http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr). Although I recommend finding a real speaker of the language for anything beyond the most basis one word translations. Ex: good=bueno
World Wide Weather and climate conditions (http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/EGLL/2004/5/19/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA).
Time Zone Clock (http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/)
I've got other links in my "research" folder, but most are specific to details I can't imagine would be useful for others.
Oh, I've done lots of things that make me shake my head in amusement.
I've rewatched a scene over and over, trying to figure out if Spike has boots on or is barefoot in a scene in S6, then quized my flist as well.
I've begged for information on the layout of the Summers' home and was sent a diagram form one kind soul and pointed to a S4(?) extra that was all about the layout of the house.
I've googled for the perfect grotto in Italy, only to decide it wouldn't fit my need, which morphed into googling for caves in Ireland, switching to a cottage, which I googled for a look at it (but did play fast and loose with the combo of quaint/modern day features). Then quizzed fannish friends who were into wicca, etc. about power points, which lead to research about ley-lines, which lead to reading about corpse roads. I then added in some stuff that tends to by symbolically true across culture/religion - that evergreens represent life, blah, blah, blah and blended it together with Day of the Dead tradition. And after writing, had friends with wiccan cred look it over for believability, etc. Oy. Talk about the long and winding road.
Currently I'm plotting out characters moving around various parts of England. I've got my "The Rough Guide to Britain" and Google and eventually finding a UK beta. It is fraught with uncertainty, since it is a country to which I've never been. Such as: Would a trip from London to Glasgow require an overnight? Does one need a passport to travel into Scotland from England? How come everything in the Buffyverse is set in Cotswold? (The Deeper Well, the Coven, and the Watcher Council retreat centre.)
But for all the research I can't help myself but do, I keep in mind that I do not need to reach perfection, which is hard for a closet obsessive compulsive. If I don't do less research that the writers on the show who made the canon did, then life will go forward. Because I could seriously nit pick the way they think a university residence hall is run. I know others who would complain about the wicca/magic usage. Not to mention British fans who can point to the whacked out varient of Britishisms used, particularly by Spike. And let's not get into the Buffyverse version of Victorian England. Their research was a mix of truth and fiction and best guess wiht a deadline. If it was good enough for the Buffycanonverse, it's good enough for me.
no subject
Dictionary of English slang (http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/)
Babelfish (http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr). Although I recommend finding a real speaker of the language for anything beyond the most basis one word translations. Ex: good=bueno
World Wide Weather and climate conditions (http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/EGLL/2004/5/19/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA).
Time Zone Clock (http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/)
I've got other links in my "research" folder, but most are specific to details I can't imagine would be useful for others.
Oh, I've done lots of things that make me shake my head in amusement.
I've rewatched a scene over and over, trying to figure out if Spike has boots on or is barefoot in a scene in S6, then quized my flist as well.
I've begged for information on the layout of the Summers' home and was sent a diagram form one kind soul and pointed to a S4(?) extra that was all about the layout of the house.
I've googled for the perfect grotto in Italy, only to decide it wouldn't fit my need, which morphed into googling for caves in Ireland, switching to a cottage, which I googled for a look at it (but did play fast and loose with the combo of quaint/modern day features). Then quizzed fannish friends who were into wicca, etc. about power points, which lead to research about ley-lines, which lead to reading about corpse roads. I then added in some stuff that tends to by symbolically true across culture/religion - that evergreens represent life, blah, blah, blah and blended it together with Day of the Dead tradition. And after writing, had friends with wiccan cred look it over for believability, etc. Oy. Talk about the long and winding road.
Currently I'm plotting out characters moving around various parts of England. I've got my "The Rough Guide to Britain" and Google and eventually finding a UK beta. It is fraught with uncertainty, since it is a country to which I've never been. Such as: Would a trip from London to Glasgow require an overnight? Does one need a passport to travel into Scotland from England? How come everything in the Buffyverse is set in Cotswold? (The Deeper Well, the Coven, and the Watcher Council retreat centre.)
But for all the research I can't help myself but do, I keep in mind that I do not need to reach perfection, which is hard for a closet obsessive compulsive. If I don't do less research that the writers on the show who made the canon did, then life will go forward. Because I could seriously nit pick the way they think a university residence hall is run. I know others who would complain about the wicca/magic usage. Not to mention British fans who can point to the whacked out varient of Britishisms used, particularly by Spike. And let's not get into the Buffyverse version of Victorian England. Their research was a mix of truth and fiction and best guess wiht a deadline. If it was good enough for the Buffycanonverse, it's good enough for me.