What normal household item becomes a mythical magic item when given to someone in a fantasy novel?
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AHEM. *Cough-cough
THE RAPID-FIRE WAND.![](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/2e848bf4-e538-4674-98f2-8cde78bf4544.png
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Vacuum cleaner.
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I'm not sure exactly what you mean.
If you're asking what household item doesn't actually change, but would be considered extraordinary by someone in a medieval setting, and function and be useful in that environment, I'd say matches.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Match
It sounds like China had a primitive chemical match well before Europe, but that it wasn't until the early 1800s that Europe had the match in common production, so I'd guess that a European fantasy setting likely wouldn't have matches.
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Light at the flick of a switch.
It's was a glacially cold moonlit night. Our hero turned on the LED ceiling lights.
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I'm not sure exactly what you mean.
If you're asking what household item doesn't actually change, but would be considered extraordinary by someone in a medieval setting, and function and be useful in that environment, I'd say matches.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Match
It sounds like China had a primitive chemical match well before Europe, but that it wasn't until the early 1800s that Europe had the match in common production, so I'd guess that a European fantasy setting likely wouldn't have matches.
Oh, another one. A stainless steel knife. Stainless steel apparently didn't exist until the early 1800s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stainless_steel
"The knife that does not rust."
It sounds like we didn't have aluminum until the early 1800s, either (and it was very expensive for a while, until we got processing with electricity), so very lightweight metal objects would be pretty remarkable.
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Polaroid, lighter, vape, flashlight, fleshlight
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Polaroid, lighter, vape, flashlight, fleshlight
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Lots of small tech, but if we want it to stay useful to them longer than one battery charge, I'd say a crank-powered flashlight or lantern.
I suppose anyone doing a lot of math, like a moneychanger, would also lose their shit over a solar powered calculator.
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The standard faire would be a mirror or the ladder to the attic or a broom.
If you’re looking for the path less traveled, a microwave magnet is a fantastic way to curse your nemesis’s compass.
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The magical item that confuse the monster's sense of direction.
And also can instant kill them.
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This post did not contain any content.wrote last edited by [email protected]
Stick of deoderant.
People tend to very much not consider how fucking awful everyone smells when almost everyone is a manual laborer, washing machines don't exist, indoor plumbing largely does not exist, people tend to have a wardrobe that can fit in large satchel, not an entire walk in closet.
This is part of why people really really viewed annointing oils and incense as luxury items.
Just mask the smell lol.
EDIT:
Any kind of memory foam anything, pillows, mattress.
Totally impossible to produce without modern industrial society, heavily reliant on modern chemistry, oil processing, etc.
The level of comfort would likely be seen as literally supernatural.
Also:
Zippers.
Yep, you heard me right, zippers.
Sure, you could have a finely skilled artisan who crafts mail or scaled armor.
... Zippers?
Real ones, made of metal?
Yeah, the not shitty ones are made of metal alloys that roughly medieval people could not create, not to mention they are made of very small pieces that must be pretty precisely shaped, and then also all finely and sturdily woven together.
If a handheld clock is basically magic in your scenario, a zipper is almost as hard to craft, but has a much, much broader range of practical applications.
And if its made of plastic?
Again, plastic requires oil refinery. Plastic = Magic.
Yeah, theres a reason why most pre industrial fashions use folds and drawstrings and buttons... and not zippers.
EDIT 2:
Maybe not common household items unless you are a bit of a prepper, but uh:
Mylar (space) blankets / ponchos.
Emergency water filtration 'straws'.
Sanitary wipes / individually packed steri-wipes with alcohol for cleaning wounds.
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Hair dryer
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wrote last edited by [email protected]
A microwave without an accompanying, compatible power source would just be a weird box.
EDIT: Oh, you said the magnet from one, I can't read lol.
Well, uh microwaves have electromagnets.
They don't produce much of a magnetic field without a power source.
So... same problem, actually.
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Lots of small tech, but if we want it to stay useful to them longer than one battery charge, I'd say a crank-powered flashlight or lantern.
I suppose anyone doing a lot of math, like a moneychanger, would also lose their shit over a solar powered calculator.
A solar powered calculator, that one I like.
That is simple enough that it could actually keep working through the isekai teleport, and it also probably would comport with the arithmetic knowledge of the smartest person in the village, and might not get you immediately killed as a witch or warlock.
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Vacuum cleaner.
Useless without a power source.
Just a strange, misshapen polearm of some kind, or possibly an artwork.
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Light at the flick of a switch.
It's was a glacially cold moonlit night. Our hero turned on the LED ceiling lights.
Which drew their power from...?
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A microwave without an accompanying, compatible power source would just be a weird box.
EDIT: Oh, you said the magnet from one, I can't read lol.
Well, uh microwaves have electromagnets.
They don't produce much of a magnetic field without a power source.
So... same problem, actually.
I cast one of my donut shaped microwave magnets in your direction. Qty: 30
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Which drew their power from...?
Divine intervention
