I like it - but I think it should have a down side

Proposing a New Tool! by SealRat on 2008-07-18 01:34:00 UTC Reply

So, we all know that if you can't fix something with duct tape and gorilla glue, you're basically screwed. Duct tape happens to be a personal favorite of mine (I have a wide variety of colors from camo to hot pink), and in a discussion about an insane RPer Chatvert and I have gotten to know well, this came up. She fails at reality, so I was going to beat her with a clu-by-four and then the duct tape showed up.

Duct tape is used to keep things together, yes? Well, take that, and apply it to canon. Thus, you get the Duct Tap O' Canon. Basically, you can use it to fix holes in canon that may spontaneously appear, and if you wrap a Sue up in it, she suffocates. Feel free to be creative here, from wrapping her up like a spider's dinner to sticking her humiliatingly on a ceiling or other such surface.

It can also be used to tie up canon characters to placate them a little bit in case they have been so drastically affected by the fic or the Sue that they need to be tied up while the perpetrator is disposed of.

Sounds good/bad? Please feel free to bash or approve, I care not. This just popped in my head and I thought it might be worth exploring.

Duct tape by Fichunter on 2008-07-18 13:57:00 UTC Reply

The handyman's secret weapon!
I like it - but I think it should have a down side by Sedri on 2008-07-18 06:11:00 UTC Reply

Just going on a string of logic here...

What if a former-Sue/Stu is an agent? Would it hurt them, particularly if they're in the canon that SueAgent came from? What effect would it have on agents in general, as we, too, don't really belong in the canon?

I'm picturing this 'DTOC' as being much less sentient than Canon itself, which, as we all know, tries to protect its agents. Feel free to shoot down said picture. But I personally think that most helpful tools ought to have problems, as well.

That said, I very much like the idea. Cheers, Seal!

Good points all around by SealRat on 2008-07-18 23:35:00 UTC Reply

Yes, I agree that the DTOC wouldn't be very smart, so you'd probably have to get specific types that were individualized for canon, like LotR tape doesn't work in Narnia or something.

I do agree that it should have a downside; it might burn agents in general if they don't belong in that canon, which they don't mst of the time. For ex-Seus/Stus, I guess the effect would be stronger. I wasn't figuring that it would work immediately though, like it would start affecting someone only if they had it stuck to them long enough, so short-term contact while applying it to someone else would probably be safe.

And then, when you got back to HQ, you'd have to keep it in a box by itself or something so it wouldn't start forcing canon on random objects it was dropped on.

Might work. by Tawaki on 2008-07-18 04:00:00 UTC Reply

BTW, I thought for a moment you were talking about the Duct Tape of Healing from Nodwick (which Igor would find very handy).
we duct-tape canons all the time by Paddlebrains on 2008-07-18 01:39:00 UTC Reply

In the DBS, that is. They often need restraining. However, the idea of duct tape that is in some way poisonous to Sues is intriguing. What do our resident science geeks say?

Give the non-biology science nerd some leeway... by Enelya on 2008-07-18 08:09:00 UTC Reply

...but I'm sure you could mix some sort of poison into the glue that makes the duct tape actually sticky, so the poison would be of a sort that's absorbed through the skin.

Or radioactive handcuffs.

A problem immediately springs to mind by kd7sov on 2008-07-18 16:19:00 UTC Reply

Specifically: when pulling tape off the roll, I always touch the adhesive with my fingers. So either agents would have to carry supplies of an antidote (leading to the possibility of the Sue getting ahold of it) or they'd need to pull it off with pliers.

What about Gloves? by WikiMaster on 2008-07-19 12:25:00 UTC Reply

Super Gloves.

Gloves with glopsnerch? *grin* by Sedri on 2008-07-20 06:47:00 UTC Reply

Okay, that's sound, but something similar?

Actually, I was thinking... by WikiMaster on 2008-07-20 09:45:00 UTC Reply

...of gloves that can stimulate leather from Canon creatures from across the Multiverse,like Dragons or Kine of Araw.

Ooh, clever. That could work. (nm) by Sedri on 2008-07-20 10:02:00 UTC Reply

Thank you. (nm) by WikiMaster on 2008-07-21 13:36:00 UTC Reply

Unless the poison needs a specific activator. by Cassie Cameron-Young on 2008-07-18 18:48:00 UTC Reply

Something you have to apply to the tape to make it work? Or maybe it doesn't work on anyone wearing a PPC flashpatch.

It could be a time thing. by SealRat on 2008-07-18 23:41:00 UTC Reply

Like those heat or ice packs that take a little while to work after exposed to air. So you rip it off the roll, and then you've got a short but specified amount of time before whatever-it-is that's on the tape starts to eat through your skin. A fun thing here would be a type of reaction that actually causes explosions, and they are possible by the laws of chemistry. I can't remember any offhand, but there are a few. Also, you could put fire to the tape and then it explodes whatever it's holding.

Or, you'd just have to be really careful when taking it off if poison is used.

Canon-specific tape is also an option, as is kill-specific. Like LotR tape doesn't work in Narnia, and poison versus fire or just pain until you can kill them some way else. If you were to tie up a canon character with it, generic tape would just subdue them but harm a Sue that didn't belong, and in that case it would probably burn Agents, but if you only hold the sticky side for a short period of time, it should do too much to you.

I think that's like walking a tightrope by Sedri on 2008-07-19 00:21:00 UTC Reply

PPC agents aren't exactly known for being careful with their tools. To make so many little details about how to use it would be to make as many opportunities for an agent to get themselves hurt, or to endanger the mission. Still, it should work, but I think it should be as simple as possible.

I propose... by BeetleFire on 2008-07-19 19:48:00 UTC Reply

... that the poison, or whatever is put on the sticky side, is activated by glitter, or some other property specific to 'Sues. That would minimize the danger to Canons and Agents (though some extra precautions would have to be taken for ex-Sue Agents).

I agree! Good! But what about the Canon influence? by Sedri on 2008-07-20 02:01:00 UTC Reply

Or do you propose that this now be Poison Duct Tape instead of Canon Duct Tape? PDT would be just as useful, but I do love the idea of original canon Words being bound in the grey tape and killing the Sues with Canon overdose...

Or am I just all mixed up?

Yes, I love that idea, too by BeetleFire on 2008-07-21 03:47:00 UTC Reply

I think it's our ideas that are a little mixed up, not you.

I also think you've restated my idea quite well. The canon in the tape would have to be harmless to Agents (or perhaps just tingle or sting a little) even though they're not canon themselves; hence the glitter activation.

Although I do wonder if Agents who are native to the 'verse count as being Canon enough, despite not being canon characters.