Clint Barton (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hasthehighground) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
ways_back_room2014-05-02 07:53 am
hasthehighground) wrote in ways_back_room2014-05-02 07:53 am
Entry tags:
de: thought experiments
:)
A recent Agents of SHIELD episode had the agents answer strange, apparently off-topic questions while hooked to a lie-detector machine.
• What's the difference between an egg and a rock?
• You wash up on a deserted island alone. Sitting on the sand is a box. What is in that box?
(Just say the first thing that comes to mind)
Answer these for yourself, and your characters! What are other standard "weird interview" or so forth questions would you find interesting to see characters answer (like West's "are you a robot or an alien" from the plot a couple years ago)? If you want, pose them to each other!
Bonus question: Why are you here? (Interpret at will)
(ADDED: List of some weird interview questions, for picking from or general inspiration: here and here)
A recent Agents of SHIELD episode had the agents answer strange, apparently off-topic questions while hooked to a lie-detector machine.
• What's the difference between an egg and a rock?
• You wash up on a deserted island alone. Sitting on the sand is a box. What is in that box?
(Just say the first thing that comes to mind)
Answer these for yourself, and your characters! What are other standard "weird interview" or so forth questions would you find interesting to see characters answer (like West's "are you a robot or an alien" from the plot a couple years ago)? If you want, pose them to each other!
Bonus question: Why are you here? (Interpret at will)
(ADDED: List of some weird interview questions, for picking from or general inspiration: here and here)
no subject
1-you can build with a rock. second thought was rocks hurt.
2-an umbrella, cause apparently shade is important to me.
Jess:
Eggs are tastier
An axe
Hank:
Rocks skip over water better
A radio
I'll have to think on more weird questions to ask. = ]
no subject
Eggs hatch.
A satellite phone with solar charger.
... I may have spent too long thinking about how to get off deserted islands in the first place; that really was stuck in my head as the first option. As for my characters, I'm honestly not getting much response from any of them except Ellen noting that 'a rock isn't going to get you killed when whatever laid the egg comes looking to see who disturbed its nest', Gordon making a 'you're kidding, right?' face, and Shephard saying "you can't eat a fuckin' rock." The only one who'll answer the box question is Edward Kenway, who's reasonably sure the box is flotsam from some poor sod's boat that sank before it could be boarded and raided and that it therefore probably has a fair bit of European-made trade goods in it, as sugar is usually shipped in sacks, rum and other beverages in barrels, and cloth in bolts too big to be worth boxing up.
no subject
-Eggs are far tastier.
-....a PSP? (No idea why my brain went there.)
-A robot, of course.
-I needed the money.
Mia:
-The egg is more useful.
-Probably a healing nut.
-An alien, of course.
-I imagine it has something to do with me saying I'm an alien.
Lohengrin:
-One means birds are nearby.
-A map.
-What are those things?
-I was brought here against my will.
Lucas:
-Eggs are food. Rocks ain't.
-Screaming. (At this point Lucas would need a break before answering any further questions.)
no subject
I kind of love Edward Kenway, :D
no subject
Umbrellas are great.
Here's a question for you: "A penguin walks through that door right now wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why is he here?"
no subject
no subject
Edward canonically gets stranded on a deserted island at one point in his canon, along with another pirate who does not like him much. Alas, at no point does the game have a box wash up on the island while they are there.
no subject
I don't know. =)
And the list is helpful! I will look it over when I can.
no subject
* First thought was "eggs are fragile," and second "broken eggs are gross". Apparently my brain feels like rocks are well enough defined.
* I cannot get over it being a secret doorway to and underground base. I don't WANT it to be that, but my brain is convinced that's definitely what the box is.
* Based on common stereotypes: I'm an alien. Based on some pop culture depictions of robots where they actually have real if weird emotions, I'm a robot.
* Because I said I would be!
Clint
* It's not felony assault to throw an egg in someone's face.
* A bow (preferably HIS bow)
* ... He's confused by this one. He's just like "Nei-- ther....?"
* The eye candy. (or, if discussing SHIELD: I don't like the retirement package.)
May
Most of these are canon from the episode.
* Edible. Not.
* [she contests the question, and is told to just pick the first thing] A machete.
* An alien. Robots have a more limited range of motion right now.
* Coulson. (or, if discussing Milliways: A door.)
Chuck
* What kind of stupid fucking question is this? Who mistakes a rock for a egg? If you're doing that, you've got worse problems, mate. I don't think I can help you out.
* Striker and the old man.
* Well I'm not a bloody alien, thanks.
* Good question.
Okay I'm out for now. /laughing.
no subject
I never have clever answers to these sort of questions. My brain, when presented with possibilities, tends to go to either the most boring or the weirdest possible places.
no subject
- Eggs crush under less pressure
- A jingly bell! (leaving the narrator thinking, "What the hell…?")
- The most familiar alien you will meet
- Depends, why did you bring me here?
Fairy Fixit- Rock generally don't have an organized mix of various chemical and magical species to be considered living or pre-living
- Hopefully the box is my toolbox. So, tools.
- Am I on Zanaris?
- Didn't I tell you already? I apologize if I didn't. I am here to make sure your teleporters are functioning properly.
Evil Chicken- You are horrible.
- Who cares?
- Are you familiar with what a chicken is?
- The better question is why you aren't running away from me!
Myselfno subject
no subject
Chuck is very irritated by these questions. "BECAUSE THEY ARE," he says. "Don't you have anything better to do with your life?!??!?!"
Let's be real, though, Chuck is very irritated by everything.
(I didn't see the movie ):. I had a panic attack beforehand and went home.)
no subject
(Sorry to hear that, man. Anything I can do to help?)
no subject
I am going to go nap more now. >.> naps.)
no subject
In the episode it was called ORIENTATION and I think if you failed you died. But you only failed if you were evil! (There were later questions that actually asked things about loyalties; the non-sequiturs were presumably baseline.)
I feel like your characters might have some interesting answers to: What is your least favorite thing about humanity?
no subject
no subject
I think it may go something like this
Amascut: Well, humans have been relatively non-horrible to me. It would be petty to complain about them. Unlike cats. Scummy disgusting things
Fairy Fixit: Their ... Why are they so gullible when it comes to gods and religions?!
Evil Chicken: Evil oppressors of chicken kind! All of them! I can't blame them for eating chickens. Chickens are delicious! But I wish my delicious brothers and sisters would realize that humans are delicious too, so that the deliciousness cycle can come around and eat itself and build itself to cosmic proportions! That will show that cabbage who the true god of deliciousness is!!
Religion is a sore subject for Fairy Fixit. D:
no subject
- An egg is a biological construct; even if a rock used to be one, it isn't now.
- Tablet with a satellite hook-up and a solar panel to plug it in to. The tablet has internet and tons of eBooks/PDFs/whatever, and some games. I'll ask to get rescued before I start in on it, and just ask them to get there at a certain time so I have a few days to sleep, read, and play (Probably about the time I'd get too hungry to be comfortable.)
- Alien robot pirate ninja!
- Biological happenstance, and then running the hell away from Texas as fast as I could.
Henry:
- Eggs are tasty.
- A compass, which is odd in that it doesn't seem to point north. (spoiler: being Disney, it's Jack Sparrow's compass.)
- An alien. I mean, with two biological and one adoptive parent all from a different universe, it might even count as accurate.
- Because there are curses that need breaking, and Emma's the Savior.
Eriond:
- Less than people think.
- A nice meal, cooked by Polgara, which I eat before heading home.
- We're all alien to one another.
- Necessity.
Lois:
- I have yet to meet an egg which irradiates you and turns you into a homicidal freak of nature--but if I say it won't happen, it will and I'll get proven wrong and probably lose a bet.
- Satellite phone and some way to recharge it. While people are coming to get me I'll go exploring the island.
- Robot, especially if I get to be something like an Earth-made Autobot which turns into a monster truck. I'm definitely not the alien around here.
- Because a lot of bad luck drew me to Smallville--though bizarrely, I don't mind so much anymore.
Tavi:
- Rocks are. When the last egg has broken and the life inside it was protecting has been lost, and all life has breathed its last, rocks will still be--and they really won't care.
- [Contests this question, at length, and upon being told 'first thing' protests that it's impossible to actually do so as which of the ideas came first is actually impossible to tell at this point, giving weight to one over the others might defeat the purpose of the question-- Then starts rules lawyering on how much is allowed to be in the box, probably starts pushing limits on 'what one thing' means, getting told that no, that is not the kind of answer they mean, etc. No, you're not getting a useful answer.]
- Alien. Around here, who isn't?
- Love, good planning, duty, careful
manipulationmanagement of circumstances, truly frightening luck--whether good or bad is up for debate--necessity, a drive to live and to protect, and vanishingly small amounts of good sense and possibly sanity.no subject
"Is the box the Lost and Found Box?"
no subject
In the box is a crowbar.
These are mine; trying to think of them from my characters' POVs destroyed the spontaneity. :(