🟆005🟆

[71lines]

Who: TENTEN and some other losers
What: Fooling Around!
Where: Collections, the dumbest place to fool around!
When: Post Babadon't!
Warnings/Notes: I'll warn if necessary.

Collections was... weird. There were, like, five mirrors, weapons just sitting there (she'd claim them all except she couldn't even lift the dumb hammer and the sword was better left unmentioned), a fan that followed her around, wafting a fresh breeze over her (honestly a godsend, considering the heat)... Oh. And the horn.

The horn blew bubbles.

No, it didn't make any sense to her either, but she'd seen two people give it a toot and half-fill the room with bubbles, much to their delight.

There were other things, of course. She could think of uses for those Shen gong whatever doodads. That puzzle box was interesting, but someone was already working on it. There were a set of figures that turned into animals when hurled onto the ground, but they never did anything. The theory was that there was some kind of command word that no one knew.

Right now, though, she could be found in front of the Mirror of Erised, scowling at it. "So, what's the big deal? There's all these warnings about how dangerous and addictive this thing is, and all it shows you is stuff you can't have. What kind of person gets sucked into not eating because of that?"

Comments

[freakenstein]

“Probably depends on what it is they can’t have, and what their life is like” A voice chimes in from off in the stacks. The guy working on the puzzle box doesn’t look up from the object as he talks, turning the oddly familiar box over in his hands. Fingers sweep over it in a way that feels right for some reason, but it remains stubbornly unaffected.

“It’s like anything that’s addictive. And for someone who has a lot going for them, the mirror is probably more of a tease than a temptation, or maybe even just a fun lark. But for someone who has nothing, or who's in a miserable situation, even just the glimpse of a better life or an escape has the potential to be very addictive to some people."

[71lines]

"Then they ought to take steps for a better life." Yes, Tenten's kind of a 'bootstraps' gal. "Staring at a fantasy isn't gonna make anything happen. The only way your life improves is if you go out there and make it happen yourself. And even then, you might not get your fantasy." Boy, does that last one have some hard lessons from her childhood wrapped up in it.

She leans over, glancing in his general direction, then goes off to look at something else. "If the thing provided step by step instructions through some code you had to solve, then I could understand an addiction. But just the image... Take a photo and move on with your life."

[freakenstein]

Nodding idly to himself, he gives a noncommittal noise in response. There's something about the way she worded that last bit that struck of personal experience, and whatever opinion he may have had on the subject of picking oneself up by their bootstraps, they weren't worth voicing if they were going to potentially strike a nerve.

But the idea that the mirror would be improved, or at least more rational to get lost in, if it actually held the code to getting what it showed you, startles a sharp laugh out of him.

"Who knows? Maybe it does." Almost as soon as it's out of his mouth he seems to realize that might not have been the best thing to suggest out loud, and tries to walk it back with a shrug. "Or maybe that's what people tell themselves. That if they look at it long enough they can figure out the trick to getting what they want out of it."

"Personally, I'm less interested in why people would obsess over it and more in why anyone would want to make it in the first place. Sadism or masochism?" Seemingly giving up on working out the puzzle for the moment he turns to lightly tossing it back and forth between his hands as he talks.

doot. sorry for the wait.

[71lines]

She pauses, then turns back to squint at the mirror from a distance before shaking her head in disgust. The fact that she'd even been tempted was-no. Ugh. Still, she hadn't noticed a code earlier, and she'd given it a careful look. "You're probably right. About searching for the trick."

But there wasn't one. Sometimes dreams just didn't come true. So you made new ones.

She squats, looking down at a top that was spinning, spinning, spinning... She poked at it, and the thing still didn't fall. "I'd guess it was a trap. For defending someone's home or property. Catch the attackers by surprise and use that to either buy precious seconds or attack while they're off-guard."

lol, it's okay

[freakenstein]

If he noticed Tenten taking a look back at the mirror he didn't comment on it, instead, nodding at her guess, and with his interest in the puzzle box quickly fading, followed her lead in looking over the other objects the room had to offer.

"Huh, practical, strategic, and defensive...I like it. Much more constructive use than any of the ideas I came up with. I was assuming something along the lines of use for psychological torture or something specifically tailored to get people addicted to it." As he voices his own guesses it was with a kind of chipper tone that contrasted sharply with what he was saying, and it wasn't until he'd already said it that he realize how that might come off. Going quiet for a moment and nervously fidgeting with the box again he quickly added, "I like your idea better."

One could probably make a game out of getting people to try and theorize the purpose the mirror was created for, with everyone's answers telling a little something about them. The fact that he'd jumped to more sinister conclusions, maybe didn't say the best things about him.

He hadn't even dared to look at the mirror for himself. Partly because he was well aware of all the things he wanted but could no longer have and didn't need a reminder thank you very much, and partly because he had a healthy fear of his own addictive personality and took those warnings to heart. That alone colored his opinion of the thing.

“Did you check out the other one? That ‘Mirror of Enviable Image’? Seems a little redundant but it has fewer warnings attached to it.” Looking up at something draped on top of the ominous black vending machine, there staring right back at him was just about the creepiest ventriloquist doll he’d ever seen. A noodle arm draped down in front of him, and he only hesitated for a moment before giving its plush hand a cheeky shake and moving on to look over the machine's snack options.