Editing 2692: Interior Decorating

{{comic
| number    = 2692
| date      = October 31, 2022
| title     = Interior Decorating
| image     = interior_decorating_2x.png
| imagesize = 281x424px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = It all came flat-packed in Pandora's Box.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by A BOX OF SIEGE WEAPONS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The {{w|Damocles|sword of Damocles}}, {{w|Siege Perilous}}, {{w|Chekhov's gun}}, and {{w|Pandora's box}} are legendary/fictional physical objects associated with impending threats. These names are now used metaphorically for complex concepts related to danger.  Cueball seems to take these names literally, and decorates his house with objects like those named, apparently claiming that his objects ''are'' the originals. Physical objects are not, of course, hypothetical/abstract concepts{{Citation needed}}, even when [[1762:_Moving_Boxes|labeling boxes]].

The Sword of Damocles is a reference to being in constant danger of disaster. The term comes from a (likely apocryphal) lost history of Sicily, in which Damocles was said to be an obsequious courtier who envied the king's power and luxury. The king offered to let Damocles serve as king for a day, but during that day, arranged for a sword to be hung above the throne, suspended from its pommel by a single hair.  This was to teach Damocles the lesson that, along with the privileges of being king, there was also perpetual and inescapable danger and anxiety. The term has passed into general use for any tenuous situation in which serious harm is perpetually a clearly present threat.

The Siege Perilous, in {{W|ArthurianLegend|Arthurian legend}}, is a seat at the Round Table, reserved by Merlin for the knight destined to retrieve the Holy Grail.  It was said to be fatal to any unworthy person who sat in it. The term is used as a metaphor for any situation that's exceptionally dangerous to anyone not fully prepared.

Chekhov's Gun is an element in a story which doesn't have obvious importance at first, but turns out to be be important to the narrative. The term originates from playwright Anton Chekhov, who repeatedly used the example of an unfired gun to advocate removing superfluous elements from a narrative.  In one such case, he said "If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there." (It should be noted that, like most artistic rules, experienced writers will deliberately violate this advice when appropriate, especially to creatively misdirect similarly experienced audiences.) Cueball might not want Megan touching it because doing so means it will have to be fired shortly afterwards, following through its core concept.

Pandora's Box is a tale from Greek Mythology. According to myth, Pandora was the first woman, created by Hephaestus, and was given a jar (later translated as "box") and told never to open it. Eventually she did, and unleashed all the miseries into the world. The term has come to represent any situation where a small but ill-considered action results in numerous, often intractable, problems. Supposedly, Cueball's version contained all of the concepts he is now using as home decor, and might imply that posessing, or using these objects that are abstract concepts as decor will end up having detrimental effects on him.

Thus each of the four objects represents the likelihood of future harm. Being in a room with them should make Cueball's guests very nervous.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Cueball and Megan stand in a room. At one wall a sword hangs by a thread above a chair. On another wall a rifle is fastened to a board with unreadable writing. Megan has one arm stretched towards the rifle.]
:Cueball: Yeah, I think the sword of Damocles looks nice hanging over the Siege Perilous.
:Cueball: Hey, don’t touch Chekhov’s gun!

:[Caption below panel:]
:My home decorating theme is "ominous metaphorical objects."

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Fiction]]iamgoingtokillmyself