Voicemail

[worktodo]

"Whatever you want, make it fast — I've got work to do, dammit!"

(Or just come harass him in person over here on the Farm!)

Comments

september 18th - an olive branch.

[worktodo]

Well, sure, this little science project will show you how it works. But it's not going to teach you why it works, any more than "hit these two rocks together" is going to teach you why it makes fire.

september 18th - an olive branch.

[newberktown]

Then I guess I'll just have to learn that, too. [...He figures it's harmless enough to mention her.] Carmen started teaching me about it, anyway. Ben Franklin, with his kite and his key.

september 18th - an olive branch.

[worktodo]

I better not catch you reproducing that one, by the way. Franklin may have invented the lightning rod with that stunt, and sure, it paved the way for a lot of other innovations to come, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a patently stupid thing to do.

[Figures Miss American History would gravitate toward Franklin, though. Hmph.]

The thing you're building is a contraption that a guy named Faraday came up with. And the light bulb you're using was pioneered by Edison. The point is, science doesn't happen in a vacuum. It's full of people looking at what everybody else is doing and saying, "I wonder what'll happen if I do this."

september 18th - an olive branch.

[newberktown]

[You forgot to mention his stunning good looks, Albert...

But instead of trying to come up with something that will appease Albert on all fronts, Hiccup goes for a different question.]

What kind of stuff did da Vinci do? Besides writing in code.

[He may have pronounced the name wrong, but he's a viking. What did you expect?]

september 18th - an olive branch.

[worktodo]

Da Vinci. It's Italian — not that that probably means much to you. And what didn't he do. Imagine a guy so fascinated by the world around him that he was trying to figure out every single thing he could, and he kept using all those things to help him figure out other things. The guy was a painter, but he was also interested in anatomy. Took apart a bunch of corpses, too, figuring out how muscles and bones worked. But then, you figure out how an arm works, you can draw it a lot more accurately when you paint.

[Seriously, he's not about to sit here and adoringly list off da Vinci's many accomplishments the way SOMEONE ELSE might, but he'll give the guy credit for being the genius he was.]

You compare someone to da Vinci, you're saying that they're a genius inventor and scholar years ahead of their time. That's who he was.

september 18th - an olive branch.

[newberktown]

[Sorry, but there's one part of that speech that Hiccup's a bit stuck on.]

He took apart corpses?

september 18th - an olive branch.

[worktodo]

You got a problem with people who take apart corpses?

september 18th - an olive branch.

[newberktown]

Uhmn, I--

[The little voice in his head is screaming ABORT! ABORT!]

It's just not exactly something you see every day, is it?

september 18th - an olive branch.

[worktodo]

Not anymore, it's not. Thanks to a notable lack of corpses around here putting me out of a job.

[TROLLFACE.JPG.]

1/2 - september 18th - an olive branch.

[newberktown]

[ o o p s . ]

september 18th - an olive branch.

[newberktown]

...Oh?

[HIS VOICE DIDN'T JUST CRACK. HE'S NOT UNNERVED AT ALL. EVERYTHING IS JUST FINE.]

september 18th - an olive branch.

[worktodo]

You know one of the perks of working on dead people? They complain a lot less than the live ones.

september 18th - an olive branch.

[newberktown]

Ahahaha... I'm just going to go sit down now...

[He suddenly doesn't want to learn about science anymore. =c]

september 18th - an olive branch.

[worktodo]

Come get me when you want to go, then.

[P A U S E]

And knock loud so I'll hear you over my bone saw.

september 18th - an olive branch.

[newberktown]

[HE'S JUST GOING TO, UH...

PASS OUT OR SOMETHING.

YEAH, THAT SOUNDS GOOD.]