My little slice of fiction hasn't gotten to the Quirks yet, but the name of the ship is indicative of some of them. And I figure: Basic Spaceworthiness is something that the first fen figured out how to do reliably.
Vis-a-vis vehicles versus cargo containers... PArt of the quirkiness of handwavium. Plus vehicles automatically have the mental image of "It will take me where I want to go" that is important to fen-stage tinkering. After all, what fires your imagination more: a black 1983 Pontiac Trans-Am with a very intricate entertainment system or a metal box 4 m x 4 m x 12 m? That may bring the "kludge" factor back into it.
You can't just lob the gunk onto a cargo container and get anything more than a spaceworthy [i.e., Vacuumproof] box. You have to do SOMETHING to it. Weld the cab from a Kenworth to the front and add pylons that look like they do something so that the input from the creator will spark the Handwavium to do whatever it is it does. Scribe "runic circuitry" all over it with a soldering gun and apply the handwavium to them.
A plywood Millenium Falcon is more likely to work than a Plywood Borg Cube.... unless the Fen building it go crazy kitbashing the thing...
And, in re jobs... Yes, I see the Pinafore as intended for tourism jobs but somehow keeps doing the bounty hunting/medical thing. Her main cabin is VERY well-appointed.... except for the patched bullet holes from the previous owner. Her captain got her cheap for a reason, after all.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''
-- James Nicoll
Vis-a-vis vehicles versus cargo containers... PArt of the quirkiness of handwavium. Plus vehicles automatically have the mental image of "It will take me where I want to go" that is important to fen-stage tinkering. After all, what fires your imagination more: a black 1983 Pontiac Trans-Am with a very intricate entertainment system or a metal box 4 m x 4 m x 12 m? That may bring the "kludge" factor back into it.
You can't just lob the gunk onto a cargo container and get anything more than a spaceworthy [i.e., Vacuumproof] box. You have to do SOMETHING to it. Weld the cab from a Kenworth to the front and add pylons that look like they do something so that the input from the creator will spark the Handwavium to do whatever it is it does. Scribe "runic circuitry" all over it with a soldering gun and apply the handwavium to them.
A plywood Millenium Falcon is more likely to work than a Plywood Borg Cube.... unless the Fen building it go crazy kitbashing the thing...
And, in re jobs... Yes, I see the Pinafore as intended for tourism jobs but somehow keeps doing the bounty hunting/medical thing. Her main cabin is VERY well-appointed.... except for the patched bullet holes from the previous owner. Her captain got her cheap for a reason, after all.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''
-- James Nicoll