Rube Goldberg and You, Wednesday, September 20, 2023

[meepmeepmeep]

Well, the attempt on Stark's maker space during the party had gone...less well...for Beaker. So! Back to the drawing board!

Today, the class would be able to interpret from the props objects around the Danger Shop, was devoted to being able to launch yourself through a window. There were scale model pieces if you didn't want to risk life and limb and a Gonzo-sized motorcycle if you were, well, Gonzo.

There were also windows (without glass, Beaker had some sense of safety) to try to launch yourselves through--and fire suppressant foam to cover you in when you succeeded.

Because that's what happened when Beaker got onto that floor on Friday.

"Meep meep meep!" Beaker said when his all-meep explanation of the activity had been completed.

Comments

Sign in 9/20

[meepmeepmeep]

Ready to fly! Or fall with style!

Re: Sign in 9/20

[special_rabbit]

Amaya Blackstone

Re: Sign in 9/20

[professionalweirdo]

Gonzo the Great

Re: Sign in 9/20

[no_missing_piece]

Beta

Re: Sign in 9/20

[napking]

Gray

Re: Sign in 9/20

[but_mostly_america]

Sam Eagle

Re: Sign in 9/20

[gospel_of_oblivion]

Illyana Rasputin

Create!

[meepmeepmeep]

Yes, there is an option for musical accompaniment as you launch yourself (or a model) through a window! Beaker wasn't an amateur.

Re: Create!

[special_rabbit]

Oh, Amaya had plenty of ideas for machines to launch things out windows (she was maybe even thinking of adding a nice Defenestration feature to the Crumbler as they spoke), but she was getting a little caught up on the whole launching yourself out the window part of it.

Other people, now that she could understand, but she was feeling like she'd have to be pretty hard pressed to...

...well, she could think of a few situations, actually, where that would have been helpful, but she'd rather not think of them more than necessary, thank you.

Re: Create!

[professionalweirdo]

Amaya had proved to be a likeminded individual in past classes, so Gonzo headed over to her.

"You look like you have ideas," he said excitedly.

Would you like a volunteer to launch through windows, Amaya?

Re: Create!

[special_rabbit]

Would she ever!

"Oh," said Amaya, shaking her head a little bit, "I've always got ideas, it's just a matter of sorting through them and trying to figure out which ones are going to be the best to go with. For example, location. Where are we launching people from? Obviously, right now, it's here in the workshop, but then how to we apply that to other things, like, say, at your doorstep or perhaps a home office?"

Or, let's say, bedroom! Location was important.

Re: Create!

[professionalweirdo]

"Personally I like to launch myself from a theater stage," Gonzo said, nodding. "Or a boat dock! Anywhere you can get a decent audience, really."

Re: Create!

[special_rabbit]

"Mmm," Amaya nodded, with a thoughtful hum, as if factoring those possibilities into some sort of formulaic algorithm in her head right now. "That makes sense. Boat's kind of nice, too, because you've got the water right there. You've got experience, then, with being launched?"

Re: Create!

[professionalweirdo]

"Do I ever! I'm practically a master."

Re: Create!

[special_rabbit]

"I can't say I've ever really been launched," Amaya admitted, "but that's just fine by me. I'd much rather leave it to the professionals. So, I'm thinking maybe springed platforms...."

She did love a good spring.

Re: Create!

[professionalweirdo]

"Springs are good," Gonzo agreed. "But it'd need to be a pretty big spring to get enough height."

Re: Create!

[special_rabbit]

"Or maybe a lot of little springs and something tight to stretch out like a trampoline," Amaya pointed out. But this was good. Brainstorming was where you got all the stupidest best ideas.

Re: Create!

[professionalweirdo]

"Oh, a trampoline!" Gonzo looked off into the distance, eyes growing wide. "I can see it now: a giant trampoline. Me, in my best leotard, reciting the Canterbury Tales while dodging a pygmy hippo with a knife. . . ."

The fact that Gonzo was still alive was a testament to cartoon physics Muppet durability.

Re: Create!

[no_missing_piece]

Beta... was actually taking this project kind of seriously today, because this seemed like exactly the kind of thing Erend would enjoy. Except they really needed him in one piece if he was going to round up support for them from the Carja and Oseram, so... well, the idea of trying to find a safe way to do this seemed like an interesting challenge.

This mostly consisted of her hands flying through the air as she ran all kinds of frenetic calculations on her Focus, and a lot of muttering along the lines of "no, that's not it, risk is too high."

Probably not Beaker's preferred MO, being that risk-averse, but oh well.

Re: Create!

[napking]

Gray could have just taken his shirt off and let his wings out, sure, but where was the fun in that? So he was tinkering with springs to try to come up with something to really put some force behind it.

Re: Create!

[but_mostly_america]

"I am an eagle," Sam said indignantly. "I do not need to be launched."

Talk to Beaker!

[meepmeepmeep]

"Why are you like this" was a valid question, but not one Beaker could really answer.

OOC

[meepmeepmeep]

I swear if this tickle in my throat turns into a cold, I will cry.