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Weird Research Phases You've Had In The Past


Randoman
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Have you ever had phases in your life where you do research on a topic, just out of fun or plain curiosity/boredom? (it doesn't count if you've researched something out of personality self-improvement or school/career related purposes, since there's a clear reason and purpose as to why you've researched it. Also, researching specific video game/TV show/movie series don't count) Even if it's watching a bunch of youtube videos to learn more about a certain topic, that counts. Also, feel free to share findings of your research in this thread.

For me, I was into researching edible wild mushrooms almost a decade ago. Sadly, I never got to a point where I could accurately and correctly identify which mushrooms were poisonous and which were edible. I was hoping to reach a point where I could actually distinguish between edible and poisonous mushrooms in real life and safely forage them. I really needed an expert/veteran mushroom hunter for that, which were hard to find where I live.

More recently, I've been researching unintentionally creepy children's show characters. It's a really intriguing topic, since it shows just how the littlest touches in a character design can make a well-intentioned character design look terrifying. Some of the gems I've found in my research include the following:

Ratafak Plachta from Slniecko

 

The Bears from Mommi Ja Aabits

 

Mr. Noseybonk from Jigsaw

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Copyright, product recalls, and censorship. This did actually pay off for a paper I had to write in a community college sociology course. For instance, has anyone here heard of the dreaded Cabbage Patch Snacktime doll that was said to snack on the hair and fingers of unwitting children?

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I've had several but the first one that comes to mind is back in august of 2019 when I first stumbled upon smashwiki and began my extensive research of the history and culture of competitive smash

 

this was around when I first started playing competitively and still had a lot of motivation so I was addicted to the site for at least a few days

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Once in a while, I'll look up a horror game that I have absolutely no intention of ever actually playing, usually right after learning the game exists. Though I despise morbidity, I do appreciate the work that goes into crafting an eerie atmosphere and the build up to a horrifying discovery or an outright jump scare. I've even devised my own theses on writing horror stories.

  • The less often blood appears, the more shocking and horrifying it will be when it does, especially in relation to a corpse or killer. There's a reason murder mysteries are creepier than slasher films.
  • The more lighthearted or innocent the subject being corrupted, the more horrifying the result.
  • Your horror story must alternate between moments of high intensity and periods of low intensity. Constant high intensity is exhausting. Constant low intensity is boring. The change in pace is what keeps the story going forward.
  • Vulnerability is key to instilling a sense of fear. If there is a character who is equipped and trained to deal with the crisis, removing them from the situation is a good way to take away the sense of security they provide. Note that this does not require killing them, though it is a common occurrence.
  • It is better to be disturbing than disgusting. Disturbing keeps the audience hooked with intrigue. Disgusting makes them want to disengage. The line is thin and must be straddled carefully.
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  • 1 month later...

Language trees, how languages are connected together and what remnants of them remain. And also the languages that are bizarrely unconnected to their surrounding regions like Finnish and Basque. Mind you I don't go as far as to try and learn any of these languages as I'm pretty awful at that.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/24/2022 at 4:08 PM, AnonymousSpeed said:

I actually did check the melting point of steel beams.

How extensively? Did you go on a website? Read a book? Work in a forge/workshop/lab of some kind?

I read romance of three kingdoms, outlaws of the marsh, and records of the grand historian because of dynasty warriors and suikoden (no direct link between those and the records). I guess it could qualify as research...it was mostly extracurricular. I also have Journey to the West but haven't finished it yet.

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  • 2 months later...
On 3/20/2022 at 2:33 PM, kellyf said:

The history of mankind is full of shocking things, especially if you read the details of the wars. World War II and the research I did on it for write my essay namely the use of nuclear weapons and its consequences is simply astonishing in its inhumanity.

 

Yes, I completely agreed with you also read research on these topics and the creation of nuclear weapons is one of the most stupid things that people invented - a simple arms race between the two countries prompted this process and now in our time there still exists in politics because of this tension especially this year

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