Obscure Facts You Have Used in Your Stories

[RetroFan]

Have you ever used an obscure fact or piece of trivia as a plot point in one of your stories, and if so what was it and how did you do it?

For example, in my LW story 'Sister In Law Surveillance' the narrator Rachel is able to deduce that her nephew is not her brother's biological son by the genetics for earwax. Wet earwax is a dominant feature, dry earwax recessive, and Rachel is already suspicious that her nephew seems to have nothing in common with his father, unlike the two sisters. The brother's wife, an annoying and vacuous mommy vlogger type, has posted parenting videos of she and the two girls extricating dry ear wax in one of the videos. Rachel watches these videos, notes that her brother also has dry earwax, but from observing her sister-in-law cleaning out the son's ears sees he has wet earwax, a dominant genetic feature impossible for two parents with the recessive genes for dry earwax and therefore Rachel's brother is not the biological father of his son. The cheating wife's biggest secret is exposed thanks to obscure genetics.

 

[NoJo]

That's cool - it would make a great Columbo episode if he were still around.

 

[oggbashan]

Winchester Geese in my story of that name.

https://www.literotica.com/s/winchester-geese

The Bishop of Winchester was given 'The Liberty of the Clink' which enabled him to licence, and collect fees from, playhouses, bear-baiting and more to the purpose of my story - prostitutes. His licensed prostitutes were known as 'Winchester's Geese'.

All those involved with the 'sinful' activities licensed by the Bishop of Winchester were considered continual sinners and were denied Christian Burial, being placed in unconsecrated ground known as 'Cross Bones'. Cross Bones exists and over the centuries about 15,000 people were buried there.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

I'm constantly dropping obscurata in my stories, mostly for my own edification, although I occasionally get comments and reviews from readers who appreciate knowing details of things like the origins of Stinking Bishop cheese.

I had a PM from a reader the other day who was yelling at me for including characters speaking Klingon in my story, since it made him think and got in the way of his wank-session. Don't make him think, don't try to improve his brain, just let him fap already.

(Obscure trivia: the term 'fap' as a euphemism and onomatapeia for male masturbation traces back to the late 90s webcomic 'Sexy Losers', from the perverted mind of that fabulous Toronto native Hard. I miss that comic...)

My series Time Rider is endless numbers of obscuure historical facts, since it deals with my characters jumping through various periods of history. Ever wonder what the interior of the temple of the Vestal Virgins looked like in Imperial Rome? How about the Louvre when Louis XIV reigned?

I love reading about obscure things and facts, even in my erotica, and love finding ways to impart these things. It's just fun.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

In one of my stories I went a little overboard in describing bills of material, the different types of bills of material, and different views of bills of material. I was called out on it by one of my readers and I had to go back and take out several paragraphs of technical detail.

 

[windar]

My co-author and I did a story set in Occupied France where one of the characters had to hike across the Pyrenees to escape into (nominally) neutral Spain. I spent hours looking over trail maps. If not for Covid, I might have been tempted to hop on a plane and research them in person.

Another story has a scene in the Mamartine Prison in Rome. The Romans only held people in prison until they could be executed. Among those held there were St. Peter, Vercingetorix, the leader of the Gauls against Caesar and Sejanus, Tiberius' right hand man until he tried to overthrow him (or so Tiberius said). Also a scene in the Tower of London revolving around the trial of Anne Boleyn...

 

[TadOverdon]

Apetahia raiateensis grows only on the slopes of Mount Temehani, on the island of Ra'iātea.

 

[yowser]

Geek Pride

You'll find a lot of obscurata in the Geek Pride challenge stories, most of which go many miles over my head, but these sorts of things are always fun for authors (which readers will get the in-joke or reference?)

Two examples of mine: the work and unorthodox interests of a 16th century monk Trithemius show up in An Infernal Folio. The poor chap in Frig Newton is obsessed by an early draft of Newton's Principia.

 

[NotWise]

I use a lot of obscure facts in my stories -- especially in the stories that are placed locally -- but I don't think I've used many as plot points.

An exception is in the story of Rodrigo and Honoria in part three of "A Valentine's Day Mess." Honoria is a courtesan in the court of the Duke of Escalona, and he uses her as a spy against the Duke of Alba, who was one of the most powerful men in Europe.

In the real world of the time, the family of the Duke of Escalona was Portuguese, and he campaigned against Habsburg plans to take over Portugal (which eventually happened anyway). I just placed characters in that context.

 

[oggbashan]

How often a Bedford OB bus from the 1940s needs greasing - Walking for Christmas.

How to repair sash windows; how to service and repair E04A Fords of the 1940s - Nibbling Fortuna's Toes.

Archaeology - various inc Oubliette

Beachcombing/Metal detecting - several

14th century warfare inc the difference in training required for crossbows and longbows.

WW1 and WW2 nurses - Lady Agnes' Fiancés and Normandy Hospital


How to sit down wearing a crinoline - Car Maintenance.

And so on...

 

[jsmiam]

It was imaginary, but Santalytics helped invent the theremin, which is a pretty obscure item itself. (Its descendant is in ‘good vibrations’ from The Beach Boys and many sci-fi soundtracks from the fifties onward.

 

[KeithD]

In my next story to post, it's revealed that Tennessee Williams wasn't from Tennessee, and the protagonist, who is, doesn't take that well.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Construction and decoration of ancient Roman oil lamps. Pay rates for British troops in the Great War. Federal laws and regulations WRT balloons in the USA. All kinds of fun factoids. None exactly central to a story, but some important enough.

 

[MillieDynamite]

In my next story to post, it's revealed that Tennessee Williams wasn't from Tennessee, and the protagonist, who is, doesn't take that well.

No, Williams, real name Thomas Lanier Williams III, wrote under the pen name Tennessee Williams and was from Mississippi. Most of his stories were set in Mississippi as well.

He wrote some of the most memorable lines!

"Sometimes I feel just like a cat on a hot tin roof." “What is the victory of a cat on a hot tin roof?—I wish I knew... Just staying on it, I guess, as long as she can...”

“I've got the guts to die. What I want to know is, have you got the guts to live?”

“Time is the longest distance between two places.”

“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” “In memory, everything seems to happen to music.”

“Some things are not forgivable. Deliberate cruelty is not forgivable.”

“Every time you come in yelling that God damn "Rise and Shine!" "Rise and Shine!" I say to myself, "How lucky dead people are!”

Tennessee Williams is a southern icon. He was required reading all through the south, including some southwestern states Oklahoma and Texas being the ones I know. My father had all of his works, magazine articles, short stories, plays until the place I grew up in was broken into, anything of monetary value stolen, anything of more precious sentimental value destroyed.

The even stole my fathers, fathers dog-tags. Pops old PI ID's, badges, and notebooks. WTF is wrong with people?

 

[Comshaw]

Interesting thread. Yes, I have used somewhat obscure facts and descriptions in a few stories. In one, set in an alpine meadow, I not only use alpine flowers as a description but add the names of those flowers. Most people, unless they're a hiker and nature geek wouldn't know or bother to know the names.

In another, I describe one of my characters having an M1911A1 pistol and the fact he had converted it to use the .45 Super round, with all the pertinent ballistic data like muzzle velocity and muzzle energy. Most people, unless they were a gun nut, wouldn't have a clue about those terms and figures.

I like running into things like that in a story. What I really love is to run into something with just enough information on the subject that it piques my interest and my curiosity sends me on an information quest about it. More facts to stuff into my aging and over stuffed brain.

Comshaw

 

[MillieDynamite]

Interesting thread. Yes, I have used somewhat obscure facts and descriptions in a few stories. In one, set in an alpine meadow, I not only use alpine flowers as a description but add the names of those flowers. Most people, unless they're a hiker and nature geek wouldn't know or bother to know the names.

In another, I describe one of my characters having an M1911A1 pistol and the fact he had converted it to use the .45 Super round, with all the pertinent ballistic data like muzzle velocity and muzzle energy. Most people, unless they were a gun nut, wouldn't have a clue about those terms and figures.

I like running into things like that in a story. What I really love is to run into something with just enough information on the subject that it piques my interest and my curiosity sends me on an information quest about it. More facts to stuff into my aging and over stuffed brain.

Comshaw

Consider, if you will, the 44-cailber Automag pistol. The amination is a 30-06 or .308 cut off at the neck down, with a .44 caliber slug seated there. The gun is, um, what is the word? Awesome, powerful, and expensive in the extreme. The gun was introduced in 1971, made famous by Dirty Harry in the movie Sudden Impact, and pricy to beat the devil. The company that created went in out of bankruptcy for two decades. Classic guns they manufactured cost 3,500+ and new guns The price on the new models is hefty: $3,795 for the 8.5-inch model; $3,485 for the 6.5-inch model. Spare magazines sell for $145. (if they are actually available again)

According to Dirty Harry, "If properly used, it can remove the fingerprints."

 

[ElectricBlue]

Have you ever used an obscure fact or piece of trivia as a plot point in one of your stories, and if so what was it and how did you do it?

My astronaut landing sequence on Titan uses the entire Apollo Eleven moon landing radio transcript. Armstrong became my astronaut, Fleming, Aldrin and Flight Control became the capsule's computer.

Found the transcript on the NASA website.

 

[beachbum1958]

In one of my stories there was a wedding scene where I noted in passing that the bride didn't walk down the aisle, because the aisles are on either side of the congregation, against the walls, or running behind the choir stalls; the central approach to the altar where the celebrant waits is the nave...

 

[Comshaw]

Consider, if you will, the 44-cailber Automag pistol. The amination is a 30-06 or .308 cut off at the neck down, with a .44 caliber slug seated there. The gun is, um, what is the word? Awesome, powerful, and expensive in the extreme. The gun was introduced in 1971, made famous by Dirty Harry in the movie Sudden Impact, and pricy to beat the devil. The company that created went in out of bankruptcy for two decades. Classic guns they manufactured cost 3,500+ and new guns The price on the new models is hefty: $3,795 for the 8.5-inch model; $3,485 for the 6.5-inch model. Spare magazines sell for $145. (if they are actually available again)

According to Dirty Harry, "If properly used, it can remove the fingerprints."

The first time I saw or read about one of those a friend sent me a gun catalog in early '71. It had the .44 auto mag in it, as well as the rocket pistol (Gyrojet) and the .221 bolt action Fireball pistol. The original .44 auto mag wasn't on the market long, a little over 10 years and 3000 sold, before the company went out of business. Additionally, no one in their right mind would try to carry a gun as big as it was. But if someone happens to have one of those original .44 Auto mags in good condition, they are worth a butt load.

It has been resurrected and you can buy a new version of it. That said, the .44 mag has fallen down the scale when it comes to big pistol rounds: the .454 Casull, the .50 S&W and the wrist busting Thunder Five, a pistol chambered for a 45-70 cartridge are examples. A friend also has a bolt action pistol, similar to the .221 fireball that shoots a 30-06 round. I've never had the fortitude to shoot the damn thing. But the .44 Auto Mag will always have a place in memory, not only because of what it is but because Dirty Harry made it ultra cool.

The thing about the .45 super based on a M1911 is that the pistol was designed and produced over 100 years ago and is still a main stay of the gun community. And it stays relevant because it can be converted to use rounds like the .45 Super. The 1911 design is still one of the best pistols to ever be produced.


Comshaw

 

[MillieDynamite]

The first time I saw or read about one of those a friend sent me a gun catalog in early '71. It had the .44 auto mag in it, as well as the rocket pistol (Gyrojet) and the .221 bolt action Fireball pistol. The original .44 auto mag wasn't on the market long, a little over 10 years and 3000 sold, before the company went out of business. Additionally, no one in their right mind would try to carry a gun as big as it was. But if someone happens to have one of those original .44 Auto mags in good condition, they are worth a butt load.

It has been resurrected and you can buy a new version of it. That said, the .44 mag has fallen down the scale when it comes to big pistol rounds: the .454 Casull, the .50 S&W and the wrist busting Thunder Five, a pistol chambered for a 45-70 cartridge are examples. A friend also has a bolt action pistol, similar to the .221 fireball that shoots a 30-06 round. I've never had the fortitude to shoot the damn thing. But the .44 Auto Mag will always have a place in memory, not only because of what it is but because Dirty Harry made it ultra cool.

The thing about the .45 super based on a M1911 is that the pistol was designed and produced over 100 years ago and is still a main stay of the gun community. And it stays relevant because it can be converted to use rounds like the .45 Super. The 1911 design is still one of the best pistols to ever be produced.


Comshaw

I have a 1911 colt which my father gave me, and a Beretta Mod. 96D in 40 cal. both are kick ass guns.

 

[Comshaw]

I have a 1911 colt which my father gave me, and a Beretta Mod. 96D in 40 cal. both are kick ass guns.

Yes they are. Do you practice with them or get time to shoot for fun? Anymore I don't get as much range time as I'd like to.

Of the ones I have, my very favorites to shoot for fun are a .36 1861 model Navy revolver and a .44 New Model Army. Both black powder. When I'm out shooting, I think about all those guys that went into battle knowing they only had six rounds before they were out. Reloading one of those old cap & ball pistols takes time, a lot of time. There isn't any way to do it while someone is shooting at you. I guess that's why most of those cavalry troopers carried three or four of them.

Comshaw

 

[TadOverdon]

The Russian Dneper motorcycle used during WWII was reverse-engineered from a BMW design.

 

[gordo12]

I used a Glass Roofed master bedroom in Hidden Boss.

During a major move between cities with our house unsold, we rented a house where the MB had a glass roof. Coolest thing. You could listen to the rain or lie and watch the stars. Waking up in the middle of the night when the moonlight hit your face was common.

I've never forgotten it!

 

[Bramblethorn]

Some that I've used:

Redhead responses to analgesics.

The HeLa cell line.

Parasitic mind-control wasps.

Gold is made by smashing neutron stars together.

The smallest 3-geodetic digraph of degree 2 has order 20.

 

[Comshaw]

The Russian Dneper motorcycle used during WWII was reverse-engineered from a BMW design.

Yes it was and it's still being produced and sold today as the Ural.
They are the only motorcycle/sidecar combo in production today that has two-wheel drive. There is a drive shaft that runs from the rear wheel of the bike to the sidecar wheel.

https://crocomoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Ural-Tourist-1997-photo.jpg

As cool as it looks I wouldn't advise buying one. The mechanical reliability is right up there with the Yugo car.

Comshaw