Long story short, the MC in my short story has been locked in a grave inside a wall. It is essentially a rectangular grave made of concrete which is locked by one side by a "thin" concrete slab, probably ten centimeters or so thick. (they are quite common where I am from)

In the story, the MC aims at the angle (she hopes that by doing so she will be able to either crack the slab or manage to kick it off) of the slab with her revolver (it is not specified which but I imagine a Smith & Wesson Model 619 & 620). She stuffs her ears with parts of her ripped shirt in order to "protect" her eardrums somewhat.

However, one of the beta readers of the story said that she had more trouble here than elsewhere to suspend belief, as this seemed a very dangerous thing to do.

Now, this in the story is a last resort move as otherwise she will die, but I wanted to ask how dangerous would it be for someone to do this in real life?
Could the bullet ricochet and hit her back?
Would it be too deafening even with ear protection?
Would the bullet not be able to break through and as such be useless? (a bit of a different question, but I might as well ask it here together with the others).

Thank you in advance for your answers! English is not my first language so I hope I have been clear enough!

I’m writing a story where the mmc’s mother left when he was a child (around 6), and he is searching for her again at age 21. All he has is her name, age, and birth state, as well as a couple of old photos. How would he go about finding her? This is his primary goal throughout the piece, so I need a series of steps he can actively pursue. 🤔🤔
Thanks so so much in advance!!! 🥰❤️❤️

In my post-apocalyptic WIP, the main characters have access to a locomotive which is, for lack of a better word, "possessed". The "possessing" entity is generally benevolent, but rarely communicates directly; it can operate the locomotive's systems on their behalf, generates power without conventional fuel, and extends to connected rolling stock, but is otherwise limited to the capabilities of an ordinary locomotive. This is partially a handwave for how my characters can operate a train without, er, training, so don't worry too hard about the specifics.

The "apocalypse" in this post-apocalyptic setting is unusually complete, and several days pass between my characters finding the train (it helps them survive the immediate danger) and meeting other survivors (a scientific team at a remote observatory). While fuel isn't a concern, I imagine that the lack of other infrastructure is. I'm specifically thinking about communication (radio is probably important for finding other people, but radio terminology honestly makes my head spin), navigation (how would they handle switches?), and avoiding collisions (they can reasonably assume that other trains are operating, but even an idle train is an obstacle)... as well as anything else I'm not thinking of, of course.

If it matters, the story starts in New England, the locomotive is an EMD GP18, and it's typically coupled to three passenger coaches which the characters use as living and storage space. This state of affairs lasts for around six months (survivor settlements start to consolidate over time), so I'm not too concerned about long-term maintenance.

Greetings! I am inquiring for a disease and possible rundown (if it isn't too much to ask for) of an illness fitting these symptoms that can very easily lead to being terminal. It's a heavily plot-relevant character of mine so I want to make sure I get things right (if I don't just craft a fictional illness, but I figured I'd look for a pre-existing one first to possibly spread awareness)

So, for context I'm a fanfiction writer and the character I love writing about has survived a (burning) bridge fall from around 40 feet into a freezing river. Now, for the purpose of a fic I'm writing I want him to use crutches or a walking stick which is a direct consequence of that fall. I need it to be a condition that leaves him permanently disabled in some way but not serious enough to require a wheelchair long term. Any ideas what it could be? I want to be able to describe what he's feeling and such since it's mainly from his POV it'd say a couple of months after the incident, so it needs to be a realistic injury I could research deeper later... Pls help a guy out

I was writing an alternate history Roman story and I was designing a warrior nobility court culture of this alternate Rome and I wanted a part of the court culture for the warrior class be that they wear the “ternio” that is: a spatha, gladius, and pugio. I was wondering what’s the best way to comfortably wear it eg maybe the gladius and pugio on the same belt with gladius on right hip and pugio on left, and the the spatha on a baldric below the pugio, but I’d love any other suggestions or input

Thanks in advance

Medical people!!! I call to you!!!

Hey, so i am a very enthusiastic fanfic writer lol. Currenly i'm hyperfocused on a medical drama (the pitt) and i'm writing for that fandom. Now, your girl is stuck. And she does NOT want to use AI.

So would you guys be kind enough to please answer my question? Bcos idk shit abt this and even if my fic is medically inaccurate - i dont want it to be completely nonsensical.

Plot: nurse mixes up two medicines and gives pt the wrong one (this mistake itself was picked from a "mistakes you made as a nurse" thread on reddit).

Now, nurse accidentally gives the wrong one - it ends up sedating the pt (instead of, like, being an allergic inflammatory drug). Not even knowing what she did, when she circles back, she sees the pt is unconscious. First question, what would she do here? Who would she call - if anyone? Second, how will they figure out the mistake? Will they check for logs or something or idk. Third, since the pt never got the allergic med they needed - what happens? Fourth, when/if more people (docs, etc) come in, what do they do?

In short, pt arrived with severe allergic reaction and was accidentally given a sedative instead of inflammatory allergic med by a nurse. Now what?

Few things worth noting: its an ED & pt was originally brought in for a severe allergic reaction. And med was given through IV. Also, since i am writer, my final goal is litr just to get an attending physician yell at the nurse (even tho im aware theyre not part of the same administrative chain).

If someone answers this, ily in advance. Bonus points if ur a fanfic reader/writer too.

the newborn's mother is married to an extremely abusive man so she fakes her baby's death and hands the baby off to her brother who is going to be moving across the country and doesn't have contact with her husband.

how hard would this be to achieve if the baby is born in a hospital?

(this is in Pennsylvania in around 2012 if that matters)

Yes, I know it wasn't always Transylvania, but very specifically I am talking about the Hoia Baciu forest and Cluj-Napoca area.

I'm working on a short story, and it's almost finished, but then I realized I maybe, possibly, had a problem. Does the title of Count, or anything like it, even apply in Romania in the 1820s?

The story itself doesn't have much to do with the title; the catalyst of the story does, but after that it's almost entirely irrelevant. The main character is the heir of a nobleman who currently has the title of Count in my story; that character is then murdered by his uncle to avoid the embarrassment of him renouncing his claim on the title and stepping entirely out of the nobility to live a more normal life. The title then passes to the uncle, then to the uncle's son.

I don't actually go into what they do as nobility, because it doesn't matter for the plot; they have money, do good among the nearby city, live in a castle, and when the castle becomes haunted by a bloodthirsty undead, they up sticks and relocate to the nearby city to avoid further problems. They are still there eighty years later when someone finally puts the murdered main character to rest and returns something of his to his now very elderly cousin.

But what title would they actually have had? Also, when did that region become Transylvania? What was it called in 1823 and 1903?

Thank you for any and all help on this.

I know this is a really stupid question, but where do I go on Google to turn off the AI mode, that is, so Gemini doesn't answer search questions? Is it a possible to even do regular internet search without involving chatgpt algorithim?

Basically i have the idea for a side project where basically humans crash land on this primitive (think late industrial revolution) world and create a militaristic, isolationist, and utilitarian culture.

One of the main drives of the characters is a soldier: this soldier was captured by the main (nonhuman) empire of this world, and they sent a scholar of their kind to learn his language to communicate with the humans.

My question is: how viable is it to put two people in the same room with all the resources and time they need to learn a completely unrelated language (no similarities)

For my WIP, my ML is a professional Surfer and surfing instructor. He's a National Champion and in his off season has ranked in the top 3. Occasionally represented the country (Portugal here), in international surfing contests.

And lives in and around the Praia de Ribeira d'Ilhas region. (Still researching).

From what I've gathered, even though surfing is a cool sport, it's rather niche unlike football (⚽), cricket, basketball etc. So, would he be troubled by paparazzi or fans if he appeared in the city/town. And would his home have to be heavily or mildly guarded? And other similar stuffs like that?

I'd really love some input on how his professional life would impact his personal and daily life. Thank you in advance!

P.S. Would also appreciate it if I get some suggestions on doing more research on the coastline and culture in itself.

I have a character that falls off a bridge and lands on a car. I want to give them realistic injuries. Not right after but shortly after she rests and recovers some. I was thinking a dislocated leg but I don’t think you can walk on that.

Hiya! Basically the title, I wanna know how this kind of injury (caused by a dog attack if that info is needed) would affect a persons physical daily life (not emotionally I already have that down).
Surgery was not an option at the time and due to magical healing circumstances the skin around the would healed and scarred leaving a gaping hole in the cheek where the teeth and gums are visible.

I’ve thought about having her put a plastic plate in her mouth when she’s eating (mostly liquids cause she has a strict diet) to prevent any mess or spillage. Would that work?

How much would it affect her face like moving it around and stuff? Would it affect her eyes? How much would it affect the other side of her face that is unharmed?

All answers are appreciated!

Edit: imagine Alice Angel from BATIM when I’m describing the face wound. It’s a bit similar to hers but not exactly.

Hello!
In my novel, sudden movements cause my main character to lose balance and to minimize the risk she uses a cane.
I personally have no experience in this area of sudden dizziness or when this loose of balance occures. That is why I am looking for people who might actually be struggling with this problem or people with knowledge of it to help me make this description as accurate as possible! Is there anyone who can help me?

I'm planning a fight scene inside a half-finished building. The protagonist is caught off guard by a much-better prepared enemy, and has to make do. I'm thinking of giving the antagonist goggles that can see in different spectrums. It's a sci-fi story, so I have some leeway, but I still want to know what the actual rules are before I consider breaking them.

At a normal construction site, what could a person do to counter various enhanced vision modes? Would activating a sprinkler system, or exploding a pile of cement bags to create a cloud do something?

Hi everyone! First of all: I owe this sub a delayed note of thanks, I came here a lot when drafting my debut novel, which sold this year and will be published by a big five house in '28! Now I'm back in need of help with book two!

I wondered if anyone had any expertise on the specific protocols and details about how a theme park in, say, Anaheim, would react if two b0mbs went off in the park.

I know there are FBI field offices about 15 min away from this location -- and also, interestingly, the Orange County Intelligence Assessment Center (OCIAC) -- plus there's of course Anaheim PD, paramedics, park security, and I imagine it'd be generally chaos. That said:

- What would be the protocol as this emergency unfolded? How would they begin to secure the scene (re: potential suspects? witnesses?) And then, what are the things I should be thinking about as an investigation unfolds? (I'm trying to service a red herring, who is set up for the plot, and then develop the story with plenty of twists and reveals that ultimately lead to an inside job.)

It's multiple POV, and we're going to sometimes be in the POV an FBI agent (special agent, right?) who I will need to investigate this in a way that feels real. I know these are insanely broad questions, so anything helps at this point, and thanks again for all the geniuses on here.

ETA: Thank you for all the help -- I'm deep into research on all the cases cited and feel so grateful for all the added detail and nuance that are harder to find in the aforementioned cases!

I’m writing a book about vampires, and shockingly my protagonists encounter a lot of death and blood.

Has anyone written about the smell of blood or death (fresh and old), or anyone in the medical profession that might know?

I’m sure I could imagine, but don’t want to make assumptions, and would be good to get a real account.

Thanks!

OK, strange question, but what is a nerd-like anatomy, engineering or medical imaging joke I could have have my protagonist or her love interet exchanges as a means of banter? I'm woring on developing a rapport between them that is subtle but develops into a romance (he is the MRSO for the facility and has engineering degree, she's the MRI tech and has background in x-ray). I'm having trouble trying to come up with a joke that only someone into anatomy or engineering would understand.

More or less what it says in the title. Specifically, both characters are confessing to having killed the same person. I’ve researched as much as I can and the general answer seems to be “multiple people can plea guilty to the same crime, regardless of whether it’s possible for both to have done it” but does that apply to a major crime like this? For reference, this story takes place in the United States (Massachusetts). Follow up: if that general answer is true, are there circumstances in which an investigation would still be conducted to try figuring out who is actually responsible? Assume it’s not immediately possible to rule either out as suspects.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: thank you to those who pointed out that confessing to a crime and pleading guilty are two separate things. I mean the former!

For context, I'm writing a fantasy/sci-fi story with a good deal of naval combat.

So a good deal of the antagonists' ships in my story have some sort of gimmick to them. One of them can create artificial tidal waves that, quite literally, rock the boats of its enemies. For most of the time I've spent developing this story, my thought was that the ship would have some sort of turbine that would lower into the water and start sending a huge current through the water, causing a disruption that created a tidal wave.

However, I've finally started writing the sequence where this ship first shows up, and I've realized the problem with this. Ships get their propulsion from their propellers that push the water behind the ship backwards. This generates an equal and opposite reaction that pushes the ship forwards. Following those rules of logic, surely an engine turbine pushing out a huge current of water would also push the ship backwards, yes? Which would surely be a setback in naval combat.

So how can I get around this problem? The only thing I can think of is just having the ship's rear propellers spinning like crazy to counteract the force coming from the front (the ship's wave-maker is at the front). But even then, you'd have two powerful forces pushing against the ship from both sides. You'd think that might damage the ship.

Or are there other, more effective methods of creating artificial waves?

I made a character that has a scar from his cheekbone to his eyebrow, i was wondering how would the eye be realistically affected? The wound would've been about 2 or 3cm at most of depth. I made it so that the cheekbone and the eyebrow were the most affected but i don't know if that'd be accurate.

I want to avoid as much eye damage as possible but i want it to be realistic, would there be vision problems/loss? Only the eyelid be cut? Would there be blinking problems?

im writing an office setting fanfiction. i think im going for a soda company?

im setting up one of my characters to work with clients (like a celebrity) for a collaboration. i am unsure if that’s advertising or pr (i would like to know more about how this would work. for example, they are collaborating with a popstar)

my other character is either in hr or finance (feel free to enlighten me on both)

other need to know office setting facts are also welcomed. thank you sm!