Ok, I’ve been making some progress here. I actually feel pretty good about having figured out how to make the mirror work 
I had set it up so that you can’t look at your own head-based body part (eyes), but now with a new command “reflection-examining” you can bypass this by the command resulting in directly printing the description of your eyes, while you actually didn’t enter a command about yourself, technically. There are several conditions accounted for in the command…
So, I am learning, I think… but, I have several other questions. I tried to expand the complexity to learn more still, and ran into some other issues. I added conditions for two different mirrors. One is small-sized and hand-held, and one is large and not hand-held. You can examine yourself in full in a large mirror, but not a small one. You can reflection-examine yourself in a hand-held mirror only if you are holding it. The problem is, the conditional that makes you need to hold the hand-held mirror to use it is also making the full sized mirror require the player to hold it to use it, but this shouldn’t be. How can I fix that?
Also, I added a condition that the mirror has to be lit to work. I wanted to make it so that it could just work if the room was lit too, and I thought all rooms were lit by default… but it doesn’t seem that being in a lit room lights a thing? How can I go about making a thing be lit if it is in a lighted space? I tried several things and looked at documentation and tutorials online and it didn’t help.
A thing has an indexed text called indexed printed name. Understand the indexed printed name property as describing a thing.
When play begins:
repeat with item running through things:
now the indexed printed name of the item is "[item]".
A body part is a kind of thing. A body part can be head-based. A body part can be back-based.
A eyes is a kind of body part. A eyes is head-based. A eyes is normally a part of every person. The description of a eyes is usually "You gaze into [the random person incorporating the item described]'s eyes. [the random person incorporating the item described] averts [the indefinite article of the random person incorporating the item described] gaze uncomfortably.". The description of your eyes is "It's a little unnerving to stare into your own eyes, but they are gorgeous!"
Understand "eye" as eyes.
A hands is a kind of body part. A hands is normally a part of every person. The description of a hands is usually "You notice [the random person incorporating the item described]'s hands."
Before examining a body part that is part of the player:
if the noun is head-based, say "You can't look at your own head!" instead.
A thing can be large-sized or small-sized.
A thing can be hand-held. A thing is usually not hand-held.
A thing can be reflective-surfaced. A thing is usually not reflective-surfaced.
A mirror is a kind of thing. The description of a mirror is usually "It's a frame containing a reflective surface." A mirror is normally reflective-surfaced.
After examining a thing (called the mirror):
if the mirror is reflective-surfaced:
say "You can 'reflect something in [the mirror]'".
Reflection-examining is an action applying to one visible thing and one visible thing.
Understand "reflect [the thing] in [the mirror]" as reflection-examining.
Before reflection-examining:
if the mirror is unlit and the mirror is not in a lighted room:
say "It's too dark to use a mirror.";
stop the action.;
otherwise if the mirror is not reflective-surfaced:
say "That isn't a reflective surface.";
stop the action.;
otherwise if the mirror is hand-held and yourself is not holding the mirror:
say "You'll need to pick it up to get a good angle.";
stop the action.;
otherwise if yourself does not incorporate the noun and yourself is not the noun and yourself is not holding the noun and yourself is not wearing the noun:
say "That could be tricky!";
stop the action.;
otherwise if the mirror is reflective-surfaced:
continue the action.
Carry out reflection-examining:
if the mirror is not small-sized:
say the description of the noun.;
otherwise if the mirror is small-sized and the noun is yourself:
say "It's hard to get the full view.";
now the noun is your eyes.;
say the description of the noun.;
otherwise if the mirror is small-sized and the noun is not yourself:
say the description of the noun.;
The Pirate Ship Deck is a lighted room. "You find yourself on a pirate ship deck".
Yourself is in the pirate ship deck.
EPM [Eye Patch Man] is a man in the pirate ship deck. The printed name of EPM is "Eye Patch Man".
The description of EPM's eyes is "Eye Patch Man's left eye is covered by an eye patch!"
HHM [Hook Hand Man] is a man in the pirate ship deck. The printed name of HHM is "Hook Hand Man".
The description of HHM's hands is "Hook hand man doesn't have a right hand. He has a hook!"
A dead fish is an animal in the pirate ship deck.
The Captain's Cabin is a room. "The Captain's Cabin is spotless, and full of ornate objects, novelties, and decorated to the point of being gaudy. Right now, all you can think about is getting a good look at yourself...". The Captain's Cabin is east of the Pirate Ship Deck.
A captain's desk is a supporter in the Captain's Cabin. The printed name of the captain's desk is "ornate desk".
A handheld mirror is a small-sized hand-held lit mirror on the captain's desk. The description of the captain's hand mirror is "This ornate mirror has a brass handle in the form of a serpent which seems to slither its way all around the frame."
The large mirror is a large-sized lit mirror in the captain's cabin. The large mirror is fixed in place. The description of the large mirror is "Affixed to the rear wall is a floor-to-ceiling mirror set in a dark wooden frame which is decorated with floral inlays made of pearl."