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Professor Awesome (Parallax Universe): Difference between revisions
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{{Character | |||
| title1= Professor Awesome | | title1= Professor Awesome | ||
| image1= Professor Awesome by Aristide Twain.png | | image1= Professor Awesome by Aristide Twain.png | ||
| Line 7: | Line 7: | ||
| species= Human | | species= Human | ||
| gender= Male | | gender= Male | ||
| residence= | | residence= [[Parallax Universe]] | ||
| occupation= Mad scientist | | occupation= [[Mad scientist]] | ||
| romantic_partner(s)= | | romantic_partner(s)= | ||
| creator(s)= | | creator(s)= | ||
| parents= [[Eric's mother]] | | parents= [[Eric's mother]] | ||
| | | creation(s)= [[:Category:Creations of Professor Awesome|'''''See category''''']] | ||
| first_seen_in= [[PROSE]]: ''[[Paying It Forward (novel)|Paying It Forward]]''<br><small>(mentioned)</small> | |||
| also_seen_in= [[Professor Awesome/Appearances|'''''See list''''']] | |||
| copyright= [[Scott Sanford]] <small>(?)</small> | | copyright= [[Scott Sanford]] <small>(?)</small> | ||
| index= | | index= [[:Category:Featuring Professor Awesome|'''''See category''''']] | ||
}}'''Eric''', better-known as '''Professor Awesome''', was a | }}In the [[Parallax Universe]], '''Eric''', better-known as '''Professor Awesome''', was a mischievous thirteen-year-old boy genius who lived in the same apartment building as [[Jenny Everywhere (Parallax Universe)|Jenny Everywhere]] and [[Kim (Parallax Universe)|Kim]]. He cheerfully and explicitly identified himself as a [[mad scientist]]. | ||
== Description == | == Description == | ||
=== Physical appearance === | === Physical appearance === | ||
Professor Awesome's primary trait was the lab coat he wore. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Pit Stop (novel)|Pit Stop]]'', ''[[Morning After (novel)|Morning After]]'') | Professor Awesome's primary trait was the lab coat he wore. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Pit Stop (novel)|Pit Stop]]'', ''[[Morning After (novel)|Morning After]]'') He was a “gangly” teenager. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Pit Stop (novel)|Pit Stop]]'') He had a skin tone “similar” to dark-skinned [[Sophie Everytime (38167th Universe)|Sophie Everytime]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[How Jenny First Met… (short story)|How Jenny First Met…]]'') | ||
=== Powers and abilities === | === Powers and abilities === | ||
Eric was particularly skilled at robotics. Despite his scientific leanings, he | Eric was particularly skilled at robotics. Despite his scientific leanings, he wasn't sure he needed Kim's lessons about [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slide_rule slide rules], finding calculator apps sufficient for his purposes. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Misunderstandings (short story)|Misunderstandings]]'') | ||
== Biography == | == Biography == | ||
=== Early exploits === | |||
At the age of nine, Professor Awesome built a [[robot cat]]. He later built the [[Time Pestle]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Pit Stop (novel)|Pit Stop]]'') | At the age of nine, Professor Awesome built a [[robot cat]]. He later built the [[Time Pestle]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Pit Stop (novel)|Pit Stop]]'') | ||
[[Jenny Everywhere | [[Jenny Everywhere (Parallax Universe)|Jenny]] first thwarted Professor Awesome's efforts at supervillainy when he was thirteen, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Paying It Forward (novel)|Paying It Forward]]'') by which point he lived with [[Eric's mother|his mother]] in the same apartment building as Jenny and her roommate [[Kim (Parallax Universe)|Kim]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Morning After (novel)|Morning After]]'', ''[[Pit Stop (novel)|Pit Stop]]'', etc.) He had been using a [[de-pants-icator]] to wreak mayhem. Awesome had also built a [[Robot Toaster]] for unknown reasons; Jenny took it home after she'd stopped the Professor. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Paying It Forward (novel)|Paying It Forward]]'') Awesome “just about injured himself laughing” on one [[April Fools' Day]] at the math joke of the number 10 on [[David Lowe]]'s door having been replaced with an {{w|Aleph number|alpeh-null}}. | ||
Later, on a morning when Jenny had been dealing with [[shifter hangover]], [[Thoth (Morning After)|Thoth]] informed her that “the kid” had been performing reckless mad science again, advising her to go check on him. He had been trying to design a new de-pants-icator, not out of intent to use it, but simply to prove to himself that he could improve on his earlier schematics. Jenny convinced him to keep it at that and not actually build the Mark 2 prototype, further promising not to tell his mother about the incident if he disposed of the page in his notebook once he was done with the thought experiment. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Morning After (novel)|Morning After]]'') | Later, on a morning when Jenny had been dealing with [[shifter hangover]], [[Thoth (Morning After)|Thoth]] informed her that “the kid” had been performing reckless mad science again, advising her to go check on him. He had been trying to design a new de-pants-icator, not out of intent to use it, but simply to prove to himself that he could improve on his earlier schematics. Jenny convinced him to keep it at that and not actually build the Mark 2 prototype, further promising not to tell his mother about the incident if he disposed of the page in his notebook once he was done with the thought experiment. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Morning After (novel)|Morning After]]'') | ||
=== Fixing the dream spinner === | |||
A little while later, they appeared to be on good enough term that Jenny took him to [[Universe (Pit Stop)|a parallel universe]] so that he could collect some live [[trilobite]]s to bring to his science teacher, [[Mr Hernandez]]. When it transpired that Hernandez had only wanted ''fossil'' trilobites, and the numerous trilobites he'd brought got free and caused mayhem in the school, he was asked to go home early. Later in the day, Jenny went to him for help to repair the broken-down [[dream spinner]], the dimensional vehicle of [[Genevieve, Princess of Everywhere|one of her counterparts]]. To his surprise and glee, she knocked at “Eric”'s door and ''asked'' him to take on the mantle of “Professor Awesome” once again. | A little while later, they appeared to be on good enough term that Jenny took him to [[Universe (Pit Stop)|a parallel universe]] so that he could collect some live [[trilobite]]s to bring to his science teacher, [[Mr Hernandez]]. When it transpired that Hernandez had only wanted ''fossil'' trilobites, and the numerous trilobites he'd brought got free and caused mayhem in the school, he was asked to go home early. Later in the day, Jenny went to him for help to repair the broken-down [[dream spinner]], the dimensional vehicle of [[Genevieve, Princess of Everywhere|one of her counterparts]]. To his surprise and glee, she knocked at “Eric”'s door and ''asked'' him to take on the mantle of “Professor Awesome” once again. | ||
After he successfully repaired the device with [[Kim (Parallax)|Kim]]'s help, they shared some pastrami sandwiches from [[Morrie Greenberg]]'s and said their goodbyes. Before leaving, Genevieve repaid Eric with a large gold coin. Kime offered to help Eric translate that gold into modern money and to take him to the hardware store so that he could spend these “wages” on new equipment and parts. She explained that she was already all set to sell some gold, as she had to make something of a chest of pirate gold Jenny had brought back from a recent adventure. Before they could do so, an [[Angel]] appeared with much fracas in the very same parking lot, heralding yet another crazy adventure. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Pit Stop (novel)|Pit Stop]]'') | After he successfully repaired the device with [[Kim (Parallax Universe)|Kim]]'s help, they shared some pastrami sandwiches from [[Morrie Greenberg]]'s and said their goodbyes. Before leaving, Genevieve repaid Eric with a large gold coin. Kime offered to help Eric translate that gold into modern money and to take him to the hardware store so that he could spend these “wages” on new equipment and parts. She explained that she was already all set to sell some gold, as she had to make something of a chest of pirate gold Jenny had brought back from a recent adventure. Before they could do so, an [[Angel]] appeared with much fracas in the very same parking lot, heralding yet another crazy adventure. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Pit Stop (novel)|Pit Stop]]'') | ||
=== Argument with Judy === | |||
Some time later, Eric got into an argument at school with [[Judy (Misunderstandings)|Judy]], a girl with whom he'd become somewhat acquainted, because she wanted to put together a robotics project. Eric felt mildly jealous that she was getting into his own area of expertise, and also tried to dissuade her by telling her that as he was a mad scientist while she was just “an ordinary smart person”, he had a natural advantage and it would be unfair of him to let her try and fail to beat him — something which, obviously, she did not take very well. Going home, Eric tried to talk about it with [[Eric's mother|his Mom]], who mistakenly assumed, upon hearing that Judy was a girl, that Eric had some kind of romantic interest in her. Their talking at cross purposes did nothing for Eric's mood and he dropped in on Jenny and Kim, only for them to make the same mistake, delivering to him a long and rambling collection of dating advice. After the women realised their mistakes, however, Kim agreed to help Eric with his math homework. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Misunderstandings (short story)|Misunderstandings]]'') | Some time later, Eric got into an argument at school with [[Judy (Misunderstandings)|Judy]], a girl with whom he'd become somewhat acquainted, because she wanted to put together a robotics project. Eric felt mildly jealous that she was getting into his own area of expertise, and also tried to dissuade her by telling her that as he was a mad scientist while she was just “an ordinary smart person”, he had a natural advantage and it would be unfair of him to let her try and fail to beat him — something which, obviously, she did not take very well. Going home, Eric tried to talk about it with [[Eric's mother|his Mom]], who mistakenly assumed, upon hearing that Judy was a girl, that Eric had some kind of romantic interest in her. Their talking at cross purposes did nothing for Eric's mood and he dropped in on Jenny and Kim, only for them to make the same mistake, delivering to him a long and rambling collection of dating advice. After the women realised their mistakes, however, Kim agreed to help Eric with his math homework. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Misunderstandings (short story)|Misunderstandings]]'') | ||
=== | === Disappearance of Jenny === | ||
One day, having noticed that [[Jenny Everywhere (Parallax Universe)|Jenny Everywhere]] had mysteriously disappeared, and worried that [[Kim (Parallax Universe)|Kim]] wasn't answering when he tried to knock at her and Jenny's door, a worried Eric broke into Kim and Jenny's apartment with the help of the [[Robot Toaster]]. Finding an unmoving, unresponsive Kim on the bed, he panicked and went to [[David Lowe|David]] for help. Being aware of Kim's nature, David was not worried about Kim's apparent catatonia himself, but he agreed that Jenny's disappearance was concerning enough to warrant waking her up in the daytime. Recalling what she'd told him about the bottle of Jenny's blood, David located the hideaway and dribbled some of the precious liquid into Kim's mouth. She woke up with a start, lashing out like a wounded animal at David, with her claws out, until her higher brain functions came back online and she calmed down. | |||
She was worried when David told her what blood he'd made her drink, as she couldn't actually feel Jenny's presence as she should have — not “her” Jenny, and not any of the other infinite Jennies in the Multiverse either. Before long, however, she felt their presences all returning, and her roommate reappeared with a “Pop” in the middle of the room. Jenny explained that she was never in any danger: ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Absquatulation of Jenny Everywhere (short story)|The Absquatulation of Jenny Everywhere]]'') her and all her other selves' temporary disappearance was something that occasionally happened to Jenny, serving to resynchronise the mental connection between them all. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Absquatulation of Jenny Everywhere (short story)|The Absquatulation of Jenny Everywhere]]'', ''[[The Disappearance of Jenny Everywhere (short story)|The Disappearance of Jenny Everywhere]]'') | |||
=== Presents set aside === | |||
When [[Jenny Everywhere (Parallax Universe)|Jenny]] and [[Kim (Parallax Universe)|Kim]] went through their closet to sort its contents, they found multiple items set aside for Eric, including a [[rocket boot]] which they decided to only give to him if [[Eric's mother|his mother]] allowed it, and a broken “Carnot-engine” [[perpetual motion machine]] which they thought they might use as a birthday present for him. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Cleaning Day (short story)|Cleaning Day]]'') | |||
=== An ethical difficulty === | |||
A school [[Coach Haggard|PE teacher]] unhappy about the rampant hormones of junior high school kids, and knowing Eric to be a mad scientist, cornered him and badgered him into doing something about the situation. Eric's refusals to do anything being themselves refused, he eventually capitulated and created a "[[Heteronormalizer]]" that would provide blinking lights and the illusion that something was happening. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Fragment: Professional Ethics (short story)|Professional Ethics]]'') | |||
=== Watching the sky === | |||
At past one in the morning on the night between [[Christmas Eve]] and [[Christmas Day]], a sleeping Eric was woken up by [[Jenny Everywhere (Parallax Universe)|Jenny]], who talked him into joining her on the roof. Quickly getting dressed in his day clothes — complete with labcoat and “essential gadgetry” including “both [[robo-spider]]s and the [[stochastic photon homogenizer]]” — he followed her to the said roof, where she explained that she wanted to watch “the flyover”. The Professor slowly realised that she meant “[[Santa Claus (Parallax Universe)|the bringer of presents… the lurker at chimneys… the eater of a billion cookies]]”; Jenny, appearing to treat him as incontrovertibly real, advised Eric not to say the name out loud, though she told him that she had borrowed an “[[Amulet of Unheeding]]” from [[Steven Lucas|Steve]] and [[Thoth (Morning After)|Thoth]] just in case. | |||
Before they could see anything, however, Jenny was hit in the face by a large snowball coming from nowhere in particular, and they were then knocked down by a sudden gust of wind. When they got up again, there were contrails suddenly criss-crossing the sky, as though hundreds of aircrafts — ''or just one, moving extremely fast'' — had passed over the city in the blink of an eye. Melodramatically angry, Jenny started waving a fist in the air and shouting up at the sky: “You just wait! I know [[Jenny Cornelius|who’s]] driving the fat man this year!” — but she got no reply, and Eric calmed her down by calling her attention to the two large, scarlet-wraped presents with their name on them that were suddenly lying on a parapet. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Watch the Skies (short story)|Watch the Skies]]'') | |||
=== The Valentine's Day intruder === | |||
On [[Valentine's Day]] of the following year, [[Jenny Everywhere (Parallax Universe)|Jenny]] had dozed off on the couch while reading ''[[The Tail of Jack the Bodice Ripper]]'' when a [[Cupid (Valentine's Visitor)|strange copper-coloured robot]] made its way into the apartment through the balcony. It tried to sneak up on Jenny, but was tackled by the [[Robot Toaster]], waking Jenny with a start. After punting the intruder into the kitchen with a kick, Jenny ran to Professor Awesome's apartment, assuming he was to blame, but he told her otherwise, explaining that his last invention to date had been a new grappling hook for one of the [[robo-spider]]s. Followed her back to the apartment, the Professor briefly admired the “sweet engineering” of the golden robot before managing to separate it from the Toaster, with whom it was still wrestling, but it then revealed that it had the ability to fly and escaped out the window, leaving only its bow. Jenny was left to wonder what the whole encounter had been about, while the young mad scientist resolved to try making robots capable of flight in the future. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Valentine's Visitor (short story)|Valentine's Visitor]]'') | |||
=== Later events === | |||
At some point prior to [[April Fools' Day]] 2023, Professor Awesome constructed the [[non-canonical imaginizer]], a device which could project events onto the [[Fourth Wall]]. [[Kim (Parallax Universe)|Kim]] got her hands on it in time to use it as part of an April Fools' Day prank. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Return of the Puritan Streaker (short story)|Return of the Puritan Streaker]]'') | |||
=== Meeting Herbie and Sophie === | |||
Noting that the boy didn't seem to have many friends his age, [[Eric's mother]] and [[David Lowe]] agreed to have David drive Eric to a “dinner thing” at the Emanuel temple on {{w|Sukkot|Sukkot}} week. After the meal, Eric was initially bored, but then ran into [[Herbie Popnecker]] and [[Sophie Everytime (38167th Universe)|Sophie Everytime]], taking a shine to the latter. When he caught up with them to take Eric home, David greeted Herbie casually, having known him for “some time”, but was surprised at Sophie, perceiving that she was someone “special” but never having met the likes of her before. As he and Eric drove home, David told him what little he knew about Herbie, but confessed to her that he was unfamiliar with Sophie, though he seemed optimistic about the young mad scientist's chances of figuring out how to to contact her. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[How Jenny First Met… (short story)|How Jenny First Met…]]'') | |||
=== The Sophiad === | |||
Some time later he had an accident with an explosive left behind by a [[Octo-Brianna|careless visitor]] during one of Jenny’s adventures. At exactly the right time [[Sophie Everytime (38167th Universe)|Sophie]] reappeared and gave him a magical healing lollipop of the kind Herbie enjoyed, admitting, “You can’t get them around here”. She then told him she didn’t think she should be there yet, gave him a [[Thymon Plushy|strange plush toy]], and [[Shift|shifted]] away. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Preludes and Knick-Knacks (short story)|Preludes and Knick-Knacks]]'') | |||
Reasoning that Sophie might be in a nearby universe, and that he’d run into her at temple the first time, he built his own shift engine and tried to voyage to temples in neighboring worlds. Instead he found himself in a [[The Void|strange emptiness]] where he encountered an [[Tiny Thymon|gargantuan eldritch abomination]] which he recognized as matching the toy Sophie had given him. To his surprise it knew him by name, warned him he was out of his universe too early, and told him, “You will return home. And tell Sophie that Tiny says hi.” Eric instantly found himself back where he started, with a broken shift engine but a very welcome prophecy that he and Sophie would see each other again. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Doll’s Source (short story)|The Doll’s Source]]'') | |||
One day Eric came home to a letter on his door from Sophie, inviting him to meet her elsewhere in the city early in the morning the next day. When he got off the bus she took him to a nearby park where she had concealed a [[Smog Ship|peculiar dimensional transport]], which she explained she couldn’t take home or leave unguarded – so she planned to blow it up! She enlisted his help to rig up a time delay mechanism to make the machine shift to another dimension after they had gotten out and then set off some dynamite. After doing this, they had all day to spend together. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[A Game of Two (short story)|A Game of Two]]'') | |||
=== An unwelcome visitor === | |||
Some time later Eric encountered an [[Jenny Nowhere (38167th Universe)|unfamiliar woman]] in the hall outside his apartment carrying an odd gadget. The visitor did not at all get along with Kim and in the excitement she left behind a strange electronic device, a pistol, and a motorcycle. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Auntie Matters (short story)|Auntie Matters]]'') | |||
== Behind the scenes == | == Behind the scenes == | ||
In 2022, [[Aristide Twain]] created a full-body illustration of the classic, kid version of Professor Awesome. To date, this remains the only visual depiction of the character. Based on notes from [[Scott Sanford]], he was depicted as black, a detail which had not yet been mentioned in [[Scott Sanford's Jenny Everywhere stories]] themselves at the time. | In 2022, [[Aristide Twain]] created a full-body illustration of the classic, kid version of Professor Awesome. To date, this remains the only visual depiction of the character. Based on notes from [[Scott Sanford]], he was depicted as black, a detail which had not yet been mentioned in [[Scott Sanford's Jenny Everywhere stories]] themselves at the time. Sanford [https://scott-sanford.dreamwidth.org/48965.html later commented]: | ||
{{quotebox|I'd originally imagined him as a skinny pale white kid, a very stereotypical nerd. When asked about his hair color, I said brown and remarked that going purely by textual evidence there was no particular justification for any particular appearance or ethnicity. And I got this delightful picture. Apparently Professor Awesome is black now. Cool.|Scott Sanford}} | |||
Eric's ethnicity was later established in-text in Sanford's ''[[How Jenny First Met… (short story)|How Jenny First Met…]]''. The illustration would go on to be used in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Preludes and Knick-Knacks (short story)|Preludes and Knick-Knacks]]. | |||
<gallery widths="310"> | <gallery widths="310"> | ||
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</gallery> | </gallery> | ||
{{Incarnations of Professor Awesome}} | |||
[[Category:Individuals]] | [[Category:Individuals]] | ||
[[Category:Humans]] | [[Category:Humans]] | ||
[[Category:Males]] | [[Category:Males]] | ||
[[Category:Scientists]] | [[Category:Scientists]] | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:Mad Scientists]] | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:Parallax Universe individuals]] | ||
[[Category:Companions of Jenny Everywhere]] | [[Category:Companions of Jenny Everywhere]] | ||
[[Category:Recurring Characters]] | [[Category:Recurring Characters]] | ||
[[Category:Incarnations of Professor Awesome]] | |||
