fandomhigh | Mythbusting, Tuesday, 7/21, Period 2

Class met in the Danger Shop today, and there was an array of logs stripped of their bark, gunpowder, and woodworking equipment set up at one end, with blast shields lined up near the middle of the room. Tyler glanced up from his notes as the class assembled.

"Morning," he said. "This is a things-that-go-boom week. There's an old Hungarian legend that a city called Paks defended itself during a siege by chopping down a cherry tree and making a cannon overnight. The cannon worked until it blew up and took the town with it. Now, I'm not a carpenter, but I see a couple problems with that story." A beat. "Which is why we're retesting it."

"You should just have time to make and test a cannon in class if you work in small groups; the wood and woodworking tools are over there. I'm handing out a sheet of specific directions, but basically you want to drill a hole through the log, add a metal tube with gunpowder in it and a fuse, load a cannonball, light the rope, stand back behind the blast shields, and -- in theory -- boom." He spread his fingers to demonstrate the "boom."

"Please wear safety gear, please don't be stupid. This is Danger Shop so you can't get hurt, but that doesn't make it playtime."

"Questions?"

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Proving your literacy.

Listen to the ... well, it's a little bit short to be a lecture.

Go to it! Here is a summary and here is a video showing how it worked for the Mythbusters crew. And yes, I'm totally simplifying how their cannon was made. Call it an example of the Rule of Cool.

Edited 2009-07-21 12:26 (UTC)

He's there.

After they tag in!

And we're done!

T.R. Wexler

It was probably bad that Turtle was listening and thinking about how this might put her one up on her sister Angela, wasn't it? Sure, Angela made a bomb out of some present packaging and a candle Turtle had made at summer camp. But Turtle was going to be making a cannon out of a tree.

Totally trumped it.

But here's to hoping that Turtle didn't wind up blowing off part of her face like Angela did. However, Turtle wasn't stupid like Angela was, so it should all work out.

Dutifully adjusting some safety goggles over her eyes, Turtle cracked her knuckles a little and looked around to see if anyone might want to partner up and help, although she was dedicated to thinking she could handle all her own, too.

Claire ~~Bennet~~ Butler

Claire listened. She wasn't sure how well this was going to work, but learning how to make things go boom could possibly come in handy with bad guys chasing her back home.

"Wanna work together?" Claire asked, barely suppressing a grin as she pulled on her safety gear.

Yamanaka Ino

Ino listened, though she didn't bother writing anything down, not when she was just going to stare, almost defiantly, at Tyler-sensei and wonder, yes, just how exactly did he plan to deal with her?

She'd like to know that too.

She would have to wait until the end of class to find out; he was a little busy making sure none of the other children blew themselves up. He blatantly ignored the stare.

Finally, after the experiment was done, he found Ino. "Can you stay behind a minute?"

Edited 2009-07-21 13:15 (UTC)

"Do I get a choice?" she asked, things all packed up. "Or shall I assume it's an order, Tyler-sensei?"

... okay, this was not a happy Ino.

"There's always a choice," he shrugged. "Right now, smart choice for you might be giving me one good reason not to just kick you out of Fight Club. And don't call me sensei if you're going to say it that way. Kind of mocks the title."

Chuck Bass

~~I swear, he just got done reading a text here~~

"And why should I be kicked out of Fight Club?" Ino asked, eyes narrowing. "All I did was walk away. I didn't injure her so she couldn't get up and walk out, I didn't use powers on her, I didn't pick a fight outside of the mats while in the gym. Are you saying that walking away from a fight is now a kick-out-able offense? Should I have given you a sob story as Fiona did to Ghanima-sensei? I'm sorry, I thought that was rather unneeded. Obviously I was wrong."

"Please. I can kick you out if I don't like the color of your shirt," Tyler said casually. It wasn't a display of power or meant to intimidate; it was simply true. "Anyhow, your problem -- and you know this -- is your attitude."

And, god, he sounded about 87 to his own ears when he said that.

"I have no problem with you walking away if you'd left it there. But tell me your sob story. Explain why being asked to fight somebody who learns faster has you like this."

Like your attitude has been so much better, she thought, but prudently kept her mouth shut on that comment.

"What do you want me to say? I've said to Fiona before that I'm not impressed with how fast and how much she learns stuff and so sorry that the one thing I've got left that's purely mine on this island that I can freely use I'm possessive of? Or that it bugs me 'cause you don't go from nothing to badass in, like, maybe a few months just because you practice a few times weekly? The body doesn't work like that? I've been training since I was four and you want me to just let her take my skills, use that half-ass sort of learning, and be okay with it? No. You've banned some of my powers, Cable-san banned more of them. I'm very sorry that I'd like to keep some of my skills mine."

She wasn't sorry at all, but at least her voice was level and mostly civil.

Edited 2009-07-21 13:34 (UTC)

Tyler's attitude was irrelevant; he was the teacher, here.

"This may surprise you," he said, "but I don't actually keep track of your personal life or the powers of every single person in the club. I had no idea you had an issue with Fiona. It sounds like the losers on the Internet would call her a Mary Sue, but that's, like, half the island."

He drew a breath before going on. "And I don't think saying you can't do something dangerous two hours a week is 'taking your powers'. You're being melodramatic."

Well yes, but when has that stopped teenagers from thinking like that?

"So what? I told you--I walked away. Why is that such a big deal? Should I maybe next time, if I get one, let her beat me up instead just so she can feel good about herself? And you let the telekinetics fight," she argued back, hands clenching. "You don't care if they use their powers to shove people around. How is what I do different than them?"

He would not swear. He would not swear. He would not swear.

"I think you should fight because it might be good for you, not for her self-esteem, but that's not really the point. But the day Ben Skywalker starts throwing mats around with his powers during his bouts, I'll have this talk with him -- if his granddad doesn't kill him first," Tyler answered. Without swearing.

"And I've never seen a Jedi make big pieces of wood appear out of nowhere. The wood's the biggest problem. The psychic dupes -- I don't like those either. I think they're distracting in a way telekinesis isn't."

Still. He sounded slightly more yielding on the second point.

"Isn't the whole point of fighting to distract your opponent so you can win?" Ino asked, crossing her arms. "Why are my 'dupes' so bad? If other people are so distracted it means their minds weren't on their fight enough. And--I don't get it. It's baby stuff back home."

"And I still really don't get why walking away is such an issue."

Page 1 of 3

Mythbusting, Tuesday, 7/21, Period 2

Sign In [7/21]

General Class Stuff [7/21]

Make a Cannon [7/21]

Talk to Tyler [7/21]

Talk to the TAs [7/21]

OOC [7/21]

Re: Sign In [7/21]

Re: General Class Stuff [7/21]

Re: Make a Cannon [7/21]

Re: Sign In [7/21]

Re: General Class Stuff [7/21]

Re: Make a Cannon [7/21]

Re: Sign In [7/21]

Re: Talk to the TAs [7/21]

Re: Talk to the TAs [7/21]

Re: Talk to the TAs [7/21]

Re: Talk to the TAs [7/21]

Re: Sign In [7/21]

Re: Talk to the TAs [7/21]

Re: Talk to the TAs [7/21]

Re: Talk to the TAs [7/21]

Re: Talk to the TAs [7/21]

Re: Talk to the TAs [7/21]

Re: Talk to the TAs [7/21]

Re: Talk to the TAs [7/21]