OOC/MuseVerse: Inkwell Party!

[clockwork_doc]

When he's not roleplaying in the Rift or the Nexus, the Doc Brown known as "Clockwork" lives in the Inkwell Bar and Grill, the local restaurant and hangout for his mun Victoria's muses. Clockwork also happens to own the place, so it's very easy for him to conscript it for his birthday. Anyone entering today will find that the bar has a wide selection of various cakes on it for people to sample, along with freezers full of ice cream. Clockwork himself is seated at the bar with a slice of chocolate cake, smiling at anyone who comes in.

Anybody's welcome to drop by, either just to say "hi" or to grab some cake. (One warning -- you might want to avoid the cake on the far left of the bar. Mrs. Plum made that one, and being a dead cook from "Corpse Bride" prone to putting body parts in her meals. . . .)

Comments

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

"Not too hard, I have a talent for this sort of thing," HatterDoc says proudly. Bernie toots and hops up and down.

"Exactly," Clockwork agrees. Then he frowns a little at Metody's wistfulness. "Not that there's anything wrong with geology. You do what you like to do. You're working with the rawest materials Mother Nature makes, anyway." Then Metody asks about temporal paradox. "Ahh, that can be tricky. One of the important things to remember is to try and avoid yourself. Seeing yourself older or younger without proper preparation tends to lead to shock." He looks around at the Metodys and Docs. "Less of a danger for us, I suspect, but even so."

"Nice to meet you too," TeenDoc says with a nod. And he's only too happy to explain how it works. "Well, this here lines up the cue with the ball, and this crank rotates the cue. . . ."

[metody-green.livejournal.com]

"He's got a personality," one marvels. There is a ripple of agreement. Personality is important.

Metody smiles. "Oh, I know. But you tend not to make cool things with the actual geology part. There's stuff that you make to look at the geology, but that's all observational. Sometimes I wish I was a participant." He looks over at their mutual hordes and laughs. "Yes, I guess it is less of a danger for us!"

Metodi/Ruth listens attentively, eyes tracking from part to part as the explaining goes on. At the end of it she hazards, "So it's designed for very delicate, precise adjustments in angle and movement, turning the game into one of pure wits instead of wits and physical ability?"

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

"Of course he has a personality!" HatterDoc says, waving his arms a bit. "You can't make things like these and not give them personalities! It's -- it's unWonderlandian!" Bernie nods his agreement.

"I see," Clockwork says. "Still, I'm sure there's plenty of interesting things to be found in the field. I don't know much about it myself, but a couple of things have caught my eye. Pumice has always amused me a bit." Rocks that float are cool. He chuckles. "Indeed. Still, best to avoid younger or older selves. You never know what you might change."

TeenDoc nods, grinning widely. "Precisely!" He makes a final adjustment. "There, that should do it. Let's see how it does in the field!" He shoos everyone away from the pool table, loads the cue into the device, then lines up a shot. "Prepare to be amazed!" he says, pulling the lever with a dramatic flair.

The pool cue promptly rockets through the window. TeenDoc stares after it as Clockwork facepalms. "Okay, I've got to adjust that rubber band a smidge."

[metody-green.livejournal.com]

"But...where does it come from? Is it something you add, or is it an innate part?" The topic is always one of keen interest to the MetodySwarm.

"Oh, man, you have no idea. There's these clever little compass-level things that you use to describe the way the rock is tilted across three dimensions, and all kinds of awesome charts to plot stuff on to tell you where stress or water or whatever is coming from. Still..." He trails off, then grins. "Though I suppose it's probably good that no one's invented a magma machine or earthquake inducer. That I know of."

Metodi has seen enough first uses of strange new devices to know to back up quite a bit. Really, experience has taught her that the safest place to stand is usually directly in front of or on top of whatever the machine is supposed to do, but no one ever accepts such comments with good grace. She jumps half a foot at the rocketing. The crowd of tiny people erupts with "My heavens!" "Gracious!" "Goodness!" "Oh, gosh!" "Gee whiz!" and the more simple, "Oh!"

Off in the back, Rue mutters, "Hell."

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

HatterDoc opens his mouth to speak -- then closes it again, looking puzzled. "Hmm. I'm not sure. Most everything I make seems to have some personality. I don't know if I add it in or if it just happens." He looks over at TeenDoc. "You're the one who make clanks most often, what do you think?

"I'd vote innate," TeenDoc says, adjusting his pool cue device again. "I wasn't thinking of personality when I made Spinbot, and look how he turned out." He looks, rather embarrassed, at the crowd of Metodys (and Metodis). "Sorry if I scared any of you. It's just hard to get all this right on the first try."

Clockwork grins at his Metody as he talks. "Sounds fascinating." He looks thoughtful. "You might be able to use an earthquake inducer for informational purposes, but I imagine it would be difficult to find a clear enough area to test it. Don't want to disrupt the lives of millions of people like that."

[metody-green.livejournal.com]

"I wonder when it comes in. There must be a before and after point." They all study the teapot, delighted with the thing. One offers it a hand to sniff, just in case it does that.

"Its fine." This is from Cloudprincess Gothbarbie Metodi. "We're all just a little jumpy, is all."

OriginalCrispy Metody grins. "I think it'd be a bit dangerous to try out. All the continental plates press up against each other - nudge one and stress build on the others. Besides, a strong enough earthquake rings the world like a bell."

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

Bernie doesn't really sniff, but he does gently nudge the hand. HatterDoc and TeenDoc both look thoughtful. "I'm not sure," TeenDoc admits. "It just seems to -- happen, honestly."

HatterDoc shrugs. "Perhaps there's potential in everything to have a personality, and something occasionally randomly unlocks it?" He takes off his hat and studies it for a moment. "Perhaps my hat has a personality from being worn on my head so much?" That would be a pretty smart hat.

TeenDoc smiles reassuringly. "I see. I'm just glad it didn't hit any of you." He pokes his invention with a screwdriver. "Why can none of them work on the first try?"

Clockwork nods, frowning. "Good point. You could end up doing more damage in the long term than you thought, even if you performed the experiment far away from any people." He grimaces a little. "And ethics with science are extremely important, otherwise. . . ." He trails off, not wanting to bring up old bad memories.

[metody-green.livejournal.com]

"There's a Japanese idea that a thing has a kind of innate personality after it's been around long enough. Sort of like it wears off of people using and caring for it. I wish I could remember the word for it."

Metodi grins at TeenDoc. "It seems like an excellent way to aim a spear with pinpoint accuracy, if you kept it so tight. And maybe you just need practice at making it? Nothing I make comes out right the first time."

Metody nods. "The trouble is that we've only got one planet. It's a bit hard to justify large scale experiments - and geological phenomena tend to be so wide in human scope that poking at them can cause a stupid amount of trouble for people. I kind of envy biologists, actually. Their experiments can fit in a room."

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

"Sounds about right," HatterDoc says, replacing his hat on his head. "Perhaps we all bleed off bits of personality for others to pick up." He pats Bernie on the lid.

"That's true," TeenDoc says with a small smile. "Though I've never been a fan of violent uses for my science." Lies, to a degree -- he's usually nonviolent, but he does like making rayguns. "And yes, that's usually the way. Practice makes perfect and all that." He frowns, like he doesn't quite approve. Then again, he is a Spark.

Clockwork nods back. "Yes, I would think it would be a lot easier if you could somehow isolate a bit of earth and perform any experiments you wanted without fear of ruining things." He thinks. "Like a little flying island free of people or wildlife. Of course, that could effect air currents negatively. . . . And doing it on other planets risks either hurting the inhabitants or throwing something's orbit out of whack. . . Great Scott, it really IS all interconnected, isn't it?"