"It's a free-association thing," Dabbler replied. "When I originally devised my alias I wanted to suggest the sort of personality who would go from episode to episode at random, following up what interested me. Of course, later I got more obsessive about certain threads, so it doesn't fit as well as I had intended any more."
So "Dabbler" means --
"One who dabbles, tends to be interested in everything, knows a lot about a lot of things, experiments in many areas -- and, on the other hand, tends to test the waters before going in full splash."
Ah. I'm beginning to see the connection.
"Thought you might. You don't test the waters with your shoes on. Anyway, when I finally brought a version of myself onstage in the AddVenture -- although it was backstage, if you want to be technical -- I went with a description reflective of the characteristics I was attempting to convey. Hence the bare feet. There's also an association with ducks."
I see. Tell me about that.
"They dabble their feet in puddles. There's that old kid's song about 'Little Ducky Dabble.' So I incorporated that in my image, too. The duck pond in my suite Backstage, for instance, with the implication that I turn into one, sometimes."
Do you?
"Hey, it's an implication! You want me to spoil it by making it concrete?"
Please.
"Go suck a lemon. I could go on, of course, with the satanic/divine connotations, with the consequent association of creativity..."
Huh?
"In Latin American folklore the Devil has chicken legs, and witches have duck feet. You might try reading the Love and Rockets comics by Los Bros. Hernandez, if you want an accessible reference. They draw great women with big tits, too."
I'll take your word for it. (The interviewer pauses, as if wondering where to go next, then rallies.) So, Dabbler! The readers are dying to know -- do you go shoeless in real life?
Dabbler laughed. "Do you really think the readers give a shit about it? I'm here in this interview because you pandered to my vanity by optioning me, not because I think anyone else would be interested. Let's just say in real life I wear shoes whenever I deem it appropriate."
And is that often? Or ever, for that matter?
"I prefer to leave that a mystery. I will say, though, that the me you see here doesn't necessarily bear any resemblance, in appearance or habits, to the real me. Then again, it might. That's the beauty of representing one's self in the AddVenture with an avatar."
So what's it like, having an avatar? Or should I say being one? It's so hard to be sure which you're talking to in the AddVenture.
"I think it's safe to assume that if you're talking to an avatar and that avatar's original is writing him that you're talking to the original as well as the avatar. Put another way, my original's speaking through me right now, so you can regard me as him. On the other hand, my original's also speaking through you at the moment, which makes you an avatar pure and simple. Though you weren't last episode, when your original was speaking through you!"
Now I'm confused. Did you actually answer the question, anywhere in there?
"Well, I think I did. Maybe not. Maybe what I was trying to say, Roy, was -- you're an avatar, so how does it feel to you?"
Uh, this isn't about me.
"True. Next question?"
Already asked it. Just link back to the parent episode and take Option 2 for that, and start in on your answer.
"Oh goody! I love backlinking!"
Yes, I've gotten that impression.
Go back - Go to the parent episode.
Thu Sep 27 11:54:53 2001
Linking Enabled