songerein | { mirror mirror }

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{ mirror mirror }

MIRROR MIRROR

With the sleepwalking curse over, everyone will have some time to rest and recuperate—until Jack Frost comes barging in with news of a clue on how to help his beloved Ice Queen who still remains asleep. The clue was the mirror shard that was in her chest, and there are theories that it may have been a fragment of a much stronger, powerful mirror she had been given some time ago. Problem is, he can't find it nor can he remember who gave it to her. He does, however, have a magic incantation that will allow people to enter mirrors and hopefully find a trace. Unfortunately, this horrendously backfires and we have mirror chaos instead. Dammit, Jack.

More details on everything can be found here. We will request any thread submissions for certain prompts during AC .

I. REVEREIN

II. MIRROR WORLD

COMMENTS

I. REVEREIN

It all begins in Reverein, where there's a strange shift in the air upon Jack's attempt to cast the spell. But instead of affecting just one mirror, it reflects off the surface and spreads out to the entire town, hitting every reflective surface instead. Ripples can be seen before the surfaces still, but it's too late. Every reflective surface—glass, mirror, window—is under a different effect because of the botched spell.

And some are being unwittingly pulled into them.

Fortunately It is possible to communicate and even watch people from the other side of the mirror, but it's only through certain mirrors and at certain times. It also will be temporary, so while one mirror might work one time, it may not work again.

A. Strange Reflections. While some mirrors may still reflect proper images, many will have…unusual changes.

🪞 You are what you see. Whether it's an odd hairstyle, change in skin color, or style of clothing in the reflection, suddenly the viewer will look exactly like what's reflected. The most extreme is a different form entirely.
🏡 Glimpses of home. Everyone will have a rare glimpse of their home world, and these can be instances from the past, present, or even a limited future. They are just reflections and cannot be interacted with, and future reflections may be blurry to prevent the person from seeing too much. For those who have memory issues, such visions will also be blurry, but perhaps they can help stir some things…
🔮 Most desired. Mirrors that have a bit of a pink hue to them will reflect the viewer's most desired "thing." It could be an object, person, place, or even a general idea. However, if not careful the viewer may become trapped in a trance and will need to be removed or smash the mirror.

B. Clone Wars. Mirrors that do not show any kind of reflection are to be quickly taken away and covered as it will begin to create duplicates in Reverein of what is reflected within it. Yes, even people, and they will be very obviously fake: wrong colors, different voices, odd behavior, etc. and will usually be harmless. These "clones" will continue to appear and multiply until the mirror has been covered, and will need to either be destroyed or captured and shoved into the mirror, where it will lose its "no reflection" status and become a proper mirror again…only for them to appear on the other side in Mirror World.

C. Mirrorsnatched. A mirror with a black rim has the chance of absorbing a significant personality trait or memory of the one looking into it, and when this happens, the person will walk away feeling very muddle-headed and off. The mirror will "keep" this part of the person and someone from the Mirror World side must find their essence and "shove" it back out onto any mirror surface so that the original owner can break the mirror and retrieve it. The downside of this method is that breaking a mirror means one less mirror those on the Mirror side can use, so they need to choose carefully.

D. The Unknown. Appearing in both the Mirror World and Reverein will be a strange mirror masked, black cloaked figure called "The Unknown." It traverses through the mirrors and through the walls, seeking those with happy reflections and will try to corrupt them with nightmares. People on both sides of the mirrors will be able to confront and try to stop the Unknown, though beware its chocolate attacks.

II. MIRROR WORLD

Everything in this "Mirror World" is, in a word, chaotic. Imagine an AI-generated monstrosity based off of Picasso, Escher, and Dr. Seuss, where everything seems to be upside down, backwards, colors everywhere and nowhere, and everything feels so fragmented that one step feels like walking towards the edge of a cliff. In a way it's nightmarish in an unusual sense, and those inside can feel that touch of "madness" that seeps through the cold air.

Beware the strange creatures in the Mirror World. They are grotesque monstrosities, many of them looking as if they were stitched together from different parts. Fortunately they are susceptible to weapons and dreamotion and those inside the Mirror World will find they are able to use different abilities, especially those with reflective properties.

A. Fragment of their old self. In order to get out of the Mirror World, those inside will need to catch a small fragment of themselves that has escaped and is running around. This fragment is actually a piece of their old self prior to arriving in Songerein. For some, this self may not be so different, but for long-time residents, they may seem a lot more different. To make things more interesting, this self can be from any point of the character's past. It just has to be a version of the character from before entering Songerein. This version will also appear "homesick" and "want" to return to their original home, regardless if the character actually feels that way. Thus the fragment will seek out mirrors that will reflect anything of their home world. Shattering these mirrors will weaken the fragment until it can be caught. But that's only half the challenge. If the fragment is injured, the original will also feel the damage but to a lesser degree. If the fragment is destroyed, then the original will be "knocked out" for a few seconds before a new fragment appears. However, this fragment will be much more distorted and worse than the one before.

B. Distorted Memories. At random points while traversing, characters may come across strange pockets of the world that they will feel drawn to. Following said instinct will lead them to a shifted landscape that will reflect images of home from different points in time (past, present, maybe even future) as if they've just walked right into it, but just like everything else, they are distorted. The changes can be as subtle as the wrong color of clothes, having too many limbs, to something major like the sky now being the ground. The only way out will either be destroying the anomalies or correcting them, and they will be rewarded with a mirror shard that will aid in their escape.

C. Warped Sense of Self. The longer a person stays within the Mirror World, the less "coherent" they will feel, and sometimes sound. Their memories will slowly become more disjointed, their personality feeling a bit "off", and they may even forget who they are or where they are from. Even their physical selves will start to twist and change, starting with something subtle (e.g. eye color) and then growing more drastic as time goes on (where did those extra fingers come from? Or why are they suddenly much shorter?) Finding those reflections of home will help with these anomalies, but those weak of heart be warned: the distortions may only exacerbate the issue and make them believe that they are the truth instead. Help anyone who might be caught in fixing these so that they can recover.

D. Finding an exit. To leave the world, those inside must find a mirror that will connect back to Reverein, and those on the other side can also try to help by posing as "anchors" for those inside to recognize. Otherwise, there are many mirrors in the Mirror World that will lead to different places within Songerein—presumably. However, perhaps due to the magic or needing something else, they will be unable to pass through any mirrors that are not connected to Reverein. This is where players have the fun opportunity to make up whatever kind of location or place the characters may see reflected on the mirrors. They could be existing locations in the game, or new ones that could be explored in the future. One unique place we can mention will be reflections of a city covered in night.

Only upon finding a mirror that leads back to Reverein, but they will also need help from the outside. Someone from within Reverein must also be there to physically reach in and pull them out—while hopefully not accidentally be pulled in themselves.

I. REVEREIN

II. MIRROR WORLD

COMMENTS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He nodded. "Yes," he said. "You look like you very much need one, and if it were my own son, I would have done so already. But given our circumstances, I don't want to make assumptions and perhaps do something you wouldn't be comfortable with."

"I..." so much to say. About how he hadn't had a hug from his own father in so long. Just rare times, usually after an akuma had put one or the other of them in danger. But how could he explain any of that? Or how those had become not only rarer, but more and more uncomfortable?

He couldn't.

But he also couldn't refute that even if it was uncomfortable... he could really use one.

So he simply gave a small nod, still shaking, fighting tears.

Permission granted, Gabriel shifted forward and wrapped the shaking teen in a hug, tight enough to feel relatively secure, but not so much so that Adrien wouldn't be able to pull away from it when he was ready. "It's alright to cry, if you need to," he said gently. Words he wished he could have heard from his own father. And that he wished he could say openly to his own son. Perhaps someday...

Edited 2024-03-27 05:12 (UTC)

He was stiff for a moment, but at those words, he dissolved, starting to sob openly into the older man. So much. There had been so much since he last saw his father. And so much conflict, wanting him back, terrified to wake up one day and find out all since had been a dream.

He held Adrien as he cried, not saying anything but rubbing the teen's back soothingly with one hand from time to time. This close, such intense emotions were overwhelming, so he focused on keeping his own breathing steady and maintaining his composure while Adrien shed his clearly much needed tears. Someone had to remain steady and in control here, and as the adult, that role fell on him.

"I... I... I want to go home..." he gasped. And while that was true, that wasn't what he really meant. He meant that he wanted to be done with nightmares and impossible dreams all together. This place, the night mare his father had become, that his akuma form had given, and the nightmare of the emptiness of having lost his parents. He wanted them back, both of them.

"I know," he said softly. He didn't know precisely what those words meant to Adrien, but the emotions behind them were crystal clear. Whatever they meant, though, it wasn't a wish within his power to grant. The most he could do was offer understanding and a steady shoulder to cry on. "I know..."

He was shaking and crying into him. He knew he shouldn't, he knew it was dangerous in so many ways. He could be akumatized, this could be used against him... He didn't even have a charm from Ladybug with him to cling to. He needed to get himself under control. He needed to. He knew he needed to.

And yet... he couldn't.

Gabriel would hold him for as long as it took for him to cry himself out. This had clearly been building up for quite some time, so best to get it all out. However, if it went on much longer, he might have to shift them to a better position; his knee was beginning to protest kneeling on the hard floor for so long. "You're safe," he said, a soft reassurance against the nameless trickles of fear. "You're safe, and it'll be alright."

"Safe?" he mumbled. "How can any of us be safe?" he mumbled. After all, the butterfly Miraculous was still missing.

"You're safe because I won't allow anyone to harm you," he said gently, but with conviction. "Not while I can prevent it." Oh if only Adrien knew just how close the butterfly Miraculous was just then. But he did not, nor did Gabriel suspect he even knew about it. His mind was focused on more mundane dangers and other things that might threaten a young teen, either here or in their own worlds.

"How... how could you stop anyone from harming me w..." he cut himself off. This wasn't his father. This wasn't actually his father. Even when he was acting so unlike his father, it was hard to remember that. Or maybe... especially because of it.

He smiled slightly, and though Adrien likely couldn't see it from his current angle, his tone lightened just slightly to match. "I may not have your bodyguard's build or Nathalie's skill in martial arts, but I'm neither helpless nor especially frail," he said. "Not to mention in this world, we potentially have access to magic via Dreamotion. Though I imagine that both of us have had more than our fill of magic today."

The idea of his father fighting seemed so ludicrous. He could mess up his schedule, or his suit. But then... Ladybug said he helped in the end that, that was how he...

And he trusted Ladybug, completely.

Still, the thought was weird enough to cut through just deeply enough that he could push his emotions back down for now, and work his way towards his usual composure.

"I don't think I'd be much for magic anyway, even in some weird bizzaro dream world."

At the sense of Adrien beginning to regain some composure, Gabriel was both relieved and bit resigned. Relieved because the sheer force of emotions that Adrien's sobbing had been concerning, and he was unsure how he would have handled it had Adrien simply been unable to stop. And resigned because despite that obviously much needed catharsis, he could tell there was still more behind it. Now, however, wasn't the time, with both of them already tired.

"I'm sure you'd be quite capable at it if you chose to put your mind to it," he said. "But at the moment, that's neither here nor there."

He pulled back from the hug enough that Adrien could see his face, but he didn't break contact just yet. "For now, how about you have a seat on the couch, and I'll make us some tea? I have a feeling we could both use a cup. And while I'm up, I'll find something to cover the rest of the mirrors in the house until whatever this is passes."

Gabriel Agreste making tea... since his mother died that was ll but unheard of. He would have someone else make it, more more likely have someone else fetch it from outside, in a cup with a label that made it clear to whoever saw it that the drink was expensive. Even if no one else saw it.

Except that more recently he had started cooking, and actually eating with Adrien again. And somehow...

... Somehow that had been worse.

So the offer filled Adrien with very strong mixed feelings, confusion and dread among them, even though he kept them from his face. "Al... alright..." he said finally, looking down at his hands, playing with his doubled rings as a nervous gesture.

Gabriel nodded, finally letting go and getting back to his feet, glad to no longer be kneeling before moving to the kitchen to put a kettle of water on the stove to heat. While it was doing so, he got a tray, cups, and the other necessary accoutrements together. He got out a jar of honey as well, and since he wasn't sure how this Adrien preferred his tea, also got out the milk.

As it would take a little longer for the water to heat, he went upstairs to fetch a few spare towel and blankets o cover the house's mirrors. Once he was certain he was out of sight though, he took a moment to lean on the wall and just... breathe. No doubt Nooroo would be concerned, but for Adrien's sake, he needed to remain relatively calm and in control despite the onslaught of intense teenage emotions.

He returned with a large towel that he draped over the top of the mirror that had sparked this particular incident, obscuring its surface- pointely without looking directly into it- before returning to the kitchen to retrieve the now steaming kettle and turn off the stove. Once he'd added it to the tray he brought the whole thing into the living area, setting it on the coffee table in front of the couch. "I... wasn't certain how you like your tea, so I brought both milk and honey," he said a bit awkwardly, carefully pouring hot water from the kettle over the teabags in both of their cups. Tea thus poured, he sat down on the couch next to Adrien and added a spoonful of honey to his own cup, stirring it in gently.

Adrien, for his part, had gone to sit on the sofa as he'd been told to do. Part of him very much wanted to pull his knees up to bis chin and hold his legs, like he was holding himself together. Maybe doing it physically would help him do it emotionally. But there was no universe, even in a dream, where he could see Gabriel Agreste being alright with anyone's shoes on the sofa like that, much less Adrien's, not with Adrien allowing himself such a hunched over posture.

So he sat with proper posture at the edge of the sofa. He had long been practiced in making that seem natural and preferred rather than stiff and stifling. While he waited, to help calm himself down, he pulled out his cellphone and started flipping through the pictures.

And it worked. While Gabriel finished with the mirrors and setting up the tea tray, Adrien calmed down, and there were warm wistful feelings coming from him as he looked over an album of photos from a recent day when they had all been hanging out together.

But when he heard his fa... Gabriel... coming, he shoved his phone back away quickly.

"I'm not picky," he said to the comment about not knowing how he liked it. "But um... thank you." His father pouring the tea did make him a little uncomfortable again. No, not his father.

This was so weird still.

But he looked over. "Since you made the tea... maybe I should get us something to eat?" he offered, unsure and uncomfortable once again.

Gabriel was glad that Adrien had calmed down, though noticed he still sat rather stiffly, as if he were afraid to lean back and relax on the furniture in his own house. Or maybe it was just his imagination? With the intense emotions subsided the usual awkwardness had settled back in between them to take their place, and it might be coloring his perceptions. He gave a polite nod to Adrien's thanks as he turned his attention to his own tea.

"That's not necessary, but if you feel up to it and you'd like to, I'd have no objections," he said, then offered a bit of a wry smile. "Though if it's anything that requires actual cooking, I hope your skills in that area are better than mine. Making tea or coffee is largely the extent of my skills in the kitchen." True, Emilie had once said that he made a decent omelet, but he wasn't certain how much of that assessment had been her being charitable to spare his feelings.

He shrugged the smallest bit. "I was just going to put together a small charcuterie..." he said. That would let him feed Plagg some cheese and give him an excuse to be in the kitchen long enough for a whispered conversation too..

Besides, if he constantly chose meat and cheese platters whenever they needed to fend for themselves, as the only thing he could make, then keeping the house stocked with cheese wouldn't look odd.

"Alright," he said. "We should have everything you might need in the pantry, though if we're short on anything, feel free to let me know, and I'll be sure and pick up more at the market once things settle down." As even shop windows were a potential hazard at present, he wanted to hold off on any shopping trips until the issues with the mirrors had passed.

He nodded, and headed into the kitchen. Once inside he pulled out the cheeses and quietly fed Plagg, giving the small kwami a hug as well. He put together the platter and after giving Plagg another cheese wedge and hiding him under his shirt, he brought it all out.

"It looks like we're low on salami and camembert." He was eating extra of other things so it was never just the one cheese they needed to restock on.

Gabriel nodded his understanding, making a mental note of that. "Thank you, " he said for both the information and the food.

And after that, awkward silence descended once again as they waited for their tea to steep. He nibbled on a bit of hard cheese himself for a moment before deciding to break it, clearing his throat softly. "I... think I owe you something of apology, Adrien," he said. "I wish that I could say that my witnessing that memory of yours was entirely accidental, but the truth is that I'd come into it early on and had originally intended to go upstairs and give you a bit of privacy. But when I heard the name 'Marinette', I recalled you mentioning once before that she was a friend of yours, and I'm afraid that curiosity got the better of me. It may have worked out well enough in the end, but I still shouldn't have intruded like that; I'm sorry."

He shuddered a bit, looking down. He rotated his two rings around his finger. "I... Don't know why.... of all my memories of her... that was the one the mirror..." he swallowed hard. "I don't know why you would want to watch..." He didn't know why he hadn't been able to pull himself away.

A tear ran down his face and his hands curled into fists. He wanted to be home. He wanted to be with Marinette. And Nino. And everyone.

But even if he could... there would be people missing. For the rest of his life... there would be holes. People he could only ever see again in moments like that. Only see in dreams and...

Pain filled him, but he found himself standing. Walking towards a mirror. Maybe... Even if it hurt... maybe... this was a way to see them again? It would hurt... but.... one more time.... his shaking hand was reaching for the cover Gabriel put over the mirror. Dread and hope twisted inside him like a spiral, faster and faster, mixing and driving him.

Edited 2024-04-29 07:04 (UTC)

"It... was rather obvious that she wasn't at her best just then, yes," he said. "But she seems like a fine young lady, if perhaps a bit high strung. And to me a least, that particular memory speaks highly of both of your maturity; many full grown adults wouldn't have been able to remain good friends with someone after a romantic rejection, and I'm glad the both of you were able to make it work."

When Adrien stood, Gabriel did as well, uncertain of his intent for a moment, until he saw him moving to the mirror. Then realization hit as Adrien's emotions coalesced with logic, and he understood. Thankfully, his longer stride allowed him to close the distance between them in time without looking desperate. He rested a hand on Adrien's shoulder before he could pull the cover away. "Adrien," he said gently, "though I know very little about your friends, I think it's safe to assume that they wouldn't wish you to hurt yourself for something like this."

"In any case, I witnessed one of your memories. I think it only fair that I allow you to witness one of mine. If you'll allow me?" Was it a risk? Absolutely. But it was worth it if it stopped Adrien from trying such a thing again.

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