momslilassassin: (Default)
Ben Skywalker ([personal profile] momslilassassin) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2014-05-06 10:01 am
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Practical Mechanics [Tuesday, May 6, 2014]

A redheaded young man with a neatly trimmed beard, dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt, sat on the desk in the front of the classroom and let his legs swing as he waited for the class to arrive.

"Hey," he said with a slightly nervous smile. "I'm Ben Skywalker and this is Practical Mechanics. I graduated from Fandom two years ago, so I know that the experience in this class can range from 'we use carts and oxen at home, what's a car?' to 'I accidentally blew up a small moon and that's why I got sent to this stupid school', so I'm only going to base my critiques of your stuff on your own level of skill, not anyone else's." He glanced around the room. "Please don't use this class to try to blow up a moon. I've seen that sort of device before, so I'll recognize it and trust me when I say that you don't want to go to this particular principal or dean to explain."

He chewed on his lower lip. "I worked for two years at Stark's while I was here, I build droids--tiny and not so tiny robots--in my spare time when I'm not working on schematics for my own spaceship. I've also been stranded on a world where I had to use spare parts of a couple crashed ships to escape, so trust me when I say I know the value of practical mechanics. We'll get to the good stuff in a few weeks--there will be explosions, just not planet destroying ones--but today we're gonna start out small." He pointed to the first student on his left. "Okay, let's do the introduction thing: name, age, and the coolest thing you ever built."

He waved his hand at the piles of cardboard, compasses, exacto knives, pencils, wooden skewers, tape and mousetraps in the center of the room. "Today we're gonna build a better mousetrap...car. These are powered soley by the snap of power you get when the trap releases, so those of you who aren't familiar with how electricity works aren't at a disadvantage. You have a half-hour to conceptualize and build your cars, and then we'll race 'em against each other." He grinned. "It'll be astral."

Re: Talk to Ben & Cassidy!

[identity profile] nothornlessrose.livejournal.com 2014-05-06 10:23 am (UTC)(link)
Cassidy was quite interested in what was going to happen today. With all of the things she had seen in four years in Fandom, this version of a car was new.
ldymacgyver: (Daphne Blake)

Re: Sign in [5/6]

[personal profile] ldymacgyver 2014-05-06 10:24 am (UTC)(link)
Daphne Blake

Re: Sign in [5/6]

[identity profile] halfbad.livejournal.com 2014-05-06 11:43 am (UTC)(link)
Nathan Byrn

Re: Introductions!

[identity profile] halfbad.livejournal.com 2014-05-06 11:48 am (UTC)(link)
Nathan waited until the very last moment to make his introduction. The only good thing he could find about it was that it didn't have to be written.

"My name is Nathan," he said slowly, keeping his eyes straight ahead. They were uncovered today but everything else was still covered up behind gloves and scarves and hoodies and pants. "And I've never built anything before. I'm not very good with directions."

It wasn't out and out saying he couldn't read but it was close.

Re: Build!

[identity profile] halfbad.livejournal.com 2014-05-06 11:49 am (UTC)(link)
There were so many unfamiliar things in front of him that Nathan didn't even really know what to do. He spent a lot of time just picking things up and staring at them before he made any attempts to combine items into something that might look like a car.

Re: Sign in [5/6]

[identity profile] notaweenie.livejournal.com 2014-05-06 12:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Barry Ween

Re: Introductions!

[identity profile] notaweenie.livejournal.com 2014-05-06 12:35 pm (UTC)(link)
"Barry Ween. 17. When I was ten I built a wallet size fusion reactor," Barry said in an impatient tone. "Can we build something now?"

Re: Build!

[identity profile] notaweenie.livejournal.com 2014-05-06 12:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Huh. A mousetrap car? Okay, Barry could do way better than that.

First he increased the width of the cardboard wheels by cutting multiple circles the same size and then gluing them together for stability purposes. After creating an axle system that would take the initial kinetic to create additional acceleration, Barry put together the car and included a curved cardboard front end for aerodynamics and added a spoiler on the back of the mousetrap car because...

Okay honestly it didn't do anything but the spoiler looked cool.

Barry just hoped the axle modification didn't catch on fire.

Re: First Heat

[identity profile] notaweenie.livejournal.com 2014-05-06 12:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"All right Eleanor. If she's there Ready for your car to bite the big one?" Barry taunted.

Re: Introductions!

[identity profile] notaweenie.livejournal.com 2014-05-06 12:47 pm (UTC)(link)
"Fine," Barry said with a sigh as his left foot tapped impatiently. "Can I ask you a question then?"

Re: Introductions!

[identity profile] halfbad.livejournal.com 2014-05-06 12:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Nathan quietly thought about the question for a second. It wasn't something he'd ever considered since he hadn't really needed to know how things worked. Technology tended to give him headaches, after all.

"Maybe a watch? Or a clock?" Celia had clocks back at the cottage and while telling time wasn't a thing he could do, he'd spent hours watching the hands click and move when there was something else to do.

Re: Introductions!

[identity profile] notaweenie.livejournal.com 2014-05-06 12:53 pm (UTC)(link)
"Where are you from exactly? Different planet? The future? All of the above?"

Inquiring minds want to know Ben.

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