BoM/TWS Message Forum

This will have to be a two-tiered answer, since we have to consider the obvious: not everyone had a high school like Westside.

If I had found the book during my high school years, I'd have found it difficult to do anything with it, and most likely I would've had it thrown away. Reasons being that I only had three options to access the Internet - either at my school, where I'd be monitored intensely, or sneaking to the local university's computer rooms, or asking my sisters for help. Second one would've been good for translation, but then came the materials purchasing (how to explain my mother and sisters that I need $60 worth of craftsmanship materials) and constant vigilance on said projects. And, even if I could do a mask and polish it (without a car buffer, mind you), I'd have an insane difficulty trying to use it on anyone since my HS is nowhere near what Westside is. (Best way to describe it, it was a budget Catholic school, with only one group per grade, a very small campus and few hiding places.) Maybe I could've done something fun during one specific moment (senior day), but that was the only possibility and I'd have been at serious risk.

I feel I would've done a lot better if, instead of high school, I'd found the book at college. Since I was living on a dorm, on a much larger campus, there would've been bigger chances of success. Having access to the college's network through either the (much larger) library or computer centers, as well as more people to relate to and access to funds, and - most importantly - interest in trying this out, it would've been possible to replicate some of the hijinks.

Even if I somehow had the way to pull it out in high school, I'd have gone the way of the solo magician, since I don't know of any Blackwell equivalent around here, and I sure as fuck wouldn't tell that to what very few friends I had in high school. However, it'd stop pretty quickly, since I wouldn't have any potential target other than my family, and that's quite frankly unsettling. Truth be told, I'd probably wait until college to try it out, which would've made those years incredibly different.