A Twisted (?) Idea.

[Bob Schroeck]

The very first handwaved vehicle was not created in the early 21st century, but in the early 20th -- when British inventor Caractacus Potts accidentally created Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang.  (And maybe handwavium itself...?)
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Stephen Mann]

If you're going to go that route, handwavium more likely came from the research into flubber.

[HRogge]

I would like to keep the inventor/source of Handwavium unknown.

[Duane Peters]

"
Theorizing that one could vastly improve technology by harnessing quantum field fluctuation effects, Professor Ned Brainard dipped himself in a vat of flubber and vanished.
He awoke to find himself trapped in space, facing mirror images
that were not his own, and driven by an unknown force to change history
for the better. His only guide on this journey is Wilby Daniels, an observer from
his own time, who appears in the form of a talking sheepdog that only Ned can
see and hear. And so, Professor Brainard finds himself bouncing from moon to asteroid, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time
that his next bounce, will be the leap home."

[robkelk]

I think we've started describing Gernsback-3 here... (Gernsback-2 being Fenspace as we know it.)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Mark Skarr]

"Handwavium? That's what you call it?" Rose nodded and leaned back against the park bench. "I see. And you want to know where it came from? That's easy: it's been here forever. It's dreams and wishes made manifest from the subconscious human mind. It's a neat little side effect of the laws by which your reality operates. Why can't you control it better? I can see that question forming, and, fortunately, it also has an easy, related, answer: it's the subconscious human mind, which you guys can't control. You can't control your own wishes and desires, so if you give them form and power, what makes you think you can control it any better than herding cats? Why can't you make useful weapons out of it? Very easy. You Homo Sapiens are a very social race, and, honestly, weapons are alien to you. You'd rather think or talk through your problems, and not kill each other. Oh, this is why I love your race: so many questions, so much potential. This Handwavium stuff is just further proof of that. Um, no. Keep it away from me. I don't want to get any of it on me. It's dangerous to people like me."

[Black Aeronaut]

If Mayonaka had been around to hear Rose's spiel:

"Well of course that's how it works. Anyone that thinks they can honestly can control it is out of their damn minds! The only reason my dad has so much success with the stuff is because he kinda lets it go where it wants to. It's pretty cool to see him work sometimes. People like to say he's crazy, but I think he's brilliant in how he taps into his subconscious mind. It's why he seems like he's having a Blue Hair moment when he's working with the stuff.

"Oh, if you have some kind of allergy to the stuff, then you might want to keep your distance from AC."

[Mark Skarr]

"No, my dear." Rose said with a sly smile. "All genius contains within it a modicum of insanity. Some people's modicums are simply larger than others. And it is no alergy, simply a public safety warning. Imagine, if you can, how dangerous your Handwavium would be, should someone with complete control over it should interact with it. You've seen that psychopaths have better control than you happy-go-lucky Fen. It's their focus and determination, not a lack of imagination. Imagine someone with complete control over their mind and body interacting with it. Someone who can feel the turn of the universe, to turn a phrase. No, dear, I do not interact with reality-altering substances lightly. But, already, I say too much. I like to hear my own voice, as Simon would say. I have an appointment in Las Vegas. Matter of saving the world. Be safe."

With a gentle bow and smile, Rose turned and walked into the cafe. She did not come out.

[Proginoskes]

Handwavium is Mania, obviously!
Well, not quite: the appearance of Handwavium was caused by what was essentially a Maniac Storm triggered and fuelled by a threshold level of nostalgia (or something that might be called "Bardo Longing") rather than a sudden shift in scientific Consensus. It is a substance that provides the initial Mania for the act of creation, and remains in trace amounts generating enough Mania to allow the Wonder's continued function.

Alternately and more simply, Handwavium is Mania generated by fanac (including amateur astronomy and "space speculation") as opposed to other miscellaneous thought.

Seriously, I think everyone is entitled to pet hypotheses, but the true origin of Handwavium shouldn't be pinned down even outside of the stories. It just appeared from nothing and without ascertainable cause, like a cat getting under foot when it was in the opposite corner of the house a moment ago.

[Ebony]

If you're going to go that route, handwavium more likely came from the research into flubber.

And another test vehicle for 'wavium would be a well-known Grand Prix and rally racer, a white old-style Volkswagen Beetle, number 53. Or, as his friends call him, "Herbie."

  
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."

[Mark Skarr]

"Was that just a line of bunk you handed them?"  Simon asked as Rose came back.  "Or were you serious?"
"About what part?"  The pretty girl began actuating controls to take the pair back to Las Vegas.  "Part of it is completely true."
"The part about it being, basically, carmelized dreams."  Simon crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.
"Oh, that," Rose smiled.  "That'll be a good enough answer for many of them.  Those that don't like it wouldn't like the truth anyway.  That'll keep the lazy ones from digging too deep into the nature of the stuff."
"It's not nice to play with the perceptions of the locals, Rose."
"No, dear, it isn't."  She smiled and flip the last control.  "But, if they're going to ask questions they're better suited to answering, I'm going to give them the answer that's easy for them to hear."

[M Fnord]

"It's not nice to play with the perceptions of the locals, Rose."

"No, dear, it isn't." She smiled and flip the last control. "But, it's safer than them trying to figure it out when they're not ready."

Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[Bob Schroeck]

<golf clap>
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Mark Skarr]

Aweome! Where is that and how did I miss it?

[M Fnord]

It's right there, and I just made it.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[robkelk]

Are you hanging it on the discussion page for Legend of Galactic Girls, or do I have to?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Mark Skarr]

Oh, good. I was thinking that it might have been somewhere obvious and I, somehow, missed it.

But, I've gone back and edited Rose's response to Simon.

[Black Aeronaut]

Nice. That should be the first page you see on the official book: "So, You're A Slider And You Just Got Here..."

Oh, and Mark? Ever read this one: http://drunkardswalkforum...e-End-of-Their-Era  This is the one on the regular discussion threads, so you can add your thoughts there.  I think Rose might find this to be interesting. 

[Mark Skarr]

"So," a grin slowly formed on Simon's face. "Do you actually know what that stuff is?"

"It's Handwavium."

"Ha ha. What is it?" Simon leaned across the console to look at the beautiful girl.

"I don't know. But I know what it isn't," Rose turned on the view screen. "Your office or Suzannah's"

"Stop avoiding the question."

"It's dangerous for us to deal with." Rose answered. "It's natural to them, but not to us. It won't kill us. At least, not on purpose. But, it's a reality-altering substance, and we're foreign to their reality."

"So, that whole white-blood-cell-thing?" Simon looked at some of the displays. "Marjorie's office, actually."

Rose nodded and changed some settings. "I don't know for sure, but potentially. It could rewrite someone to only survive in their world. So, if I ever take you back, avoid the stuff like the plague. I'm not willing to see what happens if we cross a Hellion with Handwavium. The universe isn't ready for that."

[Black Aeronaut]

"I don't know for sure, but potentially. It could rewrite someone to only survive in their world."

I call BS on that.  Handwavium is the Great Adapter - it makes everything compatible with everything! Well... within certain bounds.  (Some folks, I hear, can never even look at tapioca pudding again.)

[Mark Skarr]

"I don't know for sure, but potentially. It could rewrite someone to only survive in their world."

I call BS on that.  Handwavium is the Great Adapter - it makes everything compatible with everything! Well... within certain bounds.  (Some folks, I hear, can never even look at tapioca pudding again.)

No, Rose doesn't know.  There's no BS, but she's not willing to take the chance.  And Handwavium's rules only apply to it in Fenspace's world.  If Rose took a batch to MegaDenver, it would follow Gummi's rules for that world.  Ditto my world of Super San Diego.  It's Fenspace behavior can only be predicted, safely, in Fenspace.
  

[Black Aeronaut]

Ahhh, so it would work, but only in unexpected ways.

Nothing new to Fen that happen to go extradimensional, then. There were always worries in the early days someone might trigger a Gray Goo Disaster, or something equally horrific.

[Ebony]

Ahhh, so it would work, but only in unexpected ways.
Nothing new to Fen that happen to go extradimensional, then. There were always worries in the early days someone might trigger a Gray Goo Disaster, or something equally horrific.

I suspect that the Gray Goo Disaster would only really happen in some place like the City, since that's something they expect nanite-like substances to do.
  
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."

[Mark Skarr]

blackaeronaut wrote:

---

Ahhh, so it would work, but only in unexpected ways.
Nothing new to Fen that happen to go extradimensional, then. There were always worries in the early days someone might trigger a Gray Goo Disaster, or something equally horrific.

Again, I would say it depends entirely on the world.  In a lot, it would probably lose its "silliness” and pacifism.  Take it to a reasonably hard-science world and it would be forced to behave in the manner dictated by the laws of that world.  Take it to Illuminati University . . . and we have a new substance banned from campus (but maybe not banned as a pizza topping).  Or, maybe it would advance to true sapience and get a degree (probably from WUSE).

Honestly, in Gummi’s MegaDenver world, it would probably behave just like it does in Fenspace, but the quirks would probably be a bit more serious (life-threatening, semi-passive quirks could develop, but could be compensated for in advance).  In Super San Diego, it would work, again, close to its Fenspace behavior, but, as a McGuffin of Plot Device it could do thing that it is forbidden from doing in Fenspace.  Also, there is nothing stopping its quirks from being immediately lethal.  (MD is a bit more comic-booky; SSD is a bit more gritty.)

In both worlds, it would count as a potential Super-Origin and that would allow it to violate several of its own rules from Fenspace, such as being “weaponized” or directly dealing lethal damage, potentially massive amounts.  It would also run into the problem of having to give way to the “facts” of such world.  Like having its abilities controlled by Bob (from MegaDenver) or materials it can’t interact with (Hellion bases from SSD). 

Rose’s concern is, for the most part, paranoia.  But, she’s seen a lot of things and been surprised by worlds she’s visited.  And, as an experienced traveller, she knows the second rule is “All Bets are Off.”  (The first rule, for those who care, is “When dealing with evil demons, it’s never that easy.  No matter how hard ‘that easy’ was.”  Doesn’t quite apply to Rose, but she understands the value of keeping the rules in order.)  So, Rose’s first priority would be to keep it from infesting any of her companions (she’s plenty powerful enough to keep it from infesting her.)  Followed immediately by keeping it in its own universe.  The stuff is unpredictable enough in Fenspace, it could be downright lethal in other realities.
Edit:  Added Rose's Public Safety Warning

[M Fnord]

Mega... Denver.

(does not compute.jpg)
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"