Eighth Crash [Action/Voice]

[broji]

{In today's episode Ginji can be found refilling a metal dish suspended from a tree with seed and peanuts. If you guessed "bird feeder", give yourself ten points! After making sure the feeder's still attached securely to its branch, Ginji will make himself comfortable on the lawn and pull out his journal. He'll sit there for a while, enjoying the fresh air and the milder weather, before starting a new entry.]

Hey everyone. So...what's it like for you back home? Do you come from a large family or a small one? Have you set out on your own or still live with your parents? Got any siblings? Kids?

I'd like to know.

[After the voice post is finished, he'll spend the next few hours watching any animals that might wander over to the feeder and run through a few sketches of different wing shapes.]

Comments

[voice]

[broji]

Really? That'd be great, ma'am.

[Well, nonverbal sounds and gestures can actually tell a person a lot, so it might work out!]

So, if you're a teacher, then where do you usually start your students out at? Do you have them study from books, or do you take a more hands-on approach?

[voice]

[piealchemist]

Both, actually! I always start with the hands-on approach first, though. You can learn the basics from a book too, but it's usually better to learn by doing when you're first starting out! After that, I usually have them study from books instead.

[voice]

[broji]

Yes, I've always liked the hands-on approach myself, but there are some things you just can't get your hands on and some conditions you can't necessarily recreate. For mechanics, I mean. But I expect it's the same for alchemy too, sometimes.

And I'm guessing certain things are easier to make than others, right? Is that based more off of scale, complexity, or the number of different components it takes to put something together?

[voice]

[piealchemist]

Um ... wellll, it's mostly the complex part and how hard it is to get certain ingredients for the item you're making. The easier to make stuff uses lots of easy to find ingredients, and usually leaves lots of room for mistakes too, even if it's still possible to totally mess up. But the harder stuff can be a little ... dangerous. To make things worse, they usually use super hard to find ingredients, too. So if you mess up, you'll need to start over again. ... Aaaaand your workshop might be on fire, too.

[voice]

[broji]

I guess it does make sense, but wow, messing up a complicated item and then having to start all over from scratch. Must be pretty rough. [It's kind of like a failed airship design, but at least with those you can scrap the metal and some of the other parts for your next shot at it.]


So that's actually happened before, has it? [Catching the workshop on fire...]

[voice]

[piealchemist]

A few times ... or maaaaybe a little more than just a few. [ ... ] But it's better that it catches on fire than anything else! It's really terrible to end up with a hole in the ceiling! ... Or um ... no ceiling at all, ehehe.

[voice]

[broji]

[Okaaaay, that's dangerous. She definitely wasn't kidding.]

But you do at least wear goggles and protective clothing, right? Or ah...you know, take other safety precautions?

Fire's one thing, but explosions are something else!

[voice]

[piealchemist]

... Welllll ...

[ ... ]

I'm really, really careful?

[voice]

[broji]

[Um... In other words 'no', right?]

Unexpected things can still happen even when you're really, really careful, though. I know this from experience.

[voice]

[piealchemist]

I-I know that ...! I've been an alchemist for at least ten years now! [... Which probably means she has no excuse for not being more careful. Erm.] But uhm ... I guess I should proooobably be a teensy bit more careful than I usually am ...