ask for fanfic writers: 10. how do you do your researches?

It really depends on what I’m researching! If it’s information, a whole lot of googling. If an intelligence agency ever laid hands on any of my past three laptops, I’d probably get arrested. There are searches on everything from: 

“How do you build a dirty bomb at home?”

“How long can a corpse be kept in formaldehyde before it starts to decompose?”

“Structural integrity of the Tower Bridge, London”

“On-ramps, Tower Bridge, London, South Bank”

“*street view of Tower Bridge, London*”

Then there’s basic info like time zones and flight times, menus at specific restaurants, transit routes, for Against the Rest of the World I also had to search things like specific cargo manifests, laws in different countries, local cuisines, etc. If I’m doing location research, like for a crime scene or something, I’ll often just street view until I find a suitably gross-looking neighbourhood or something along those lines. I’m about to start location research in eastern Europe for the current fic. Should be fine! And sometimes, if I don’t find a real thing that suits my needs, I’ll invent one, whether that’s a restaurant or a whole country. So we’ll see!