The Reverse Mirror (Aka False True Emotion Mirror)

The Reverse Mirror is not to be confused with the True Emotion Mirror, even though True Emotion Mirrors have elements of the Reverse Mirror, too. The difference is that where the True Emotion Mirror is rewarded with absolute, unconditional love and forgiveness, the Reverse Mirror’s reward for the same deeds is hate, loathing, and wrath. Initially, Reverse Mirrors look at each other, thinking they’ve found their True Emotion Mirror, but once they dig in deeper, they realize they’ve found their polar opposite, everything they do not want to be and would be ashamed of of being. An Mature Thinker* and the Young Thinker* -pairing with an eerily similar external expression.

Bad Boy finds Bad Girl.

Let’s think of the classic Bad Boy -idea. He’s fun-loving, rebellious, dresses in black, and wears his hair long. He doesn’t follow the rules and seems irreverent. Shamelessly sexual, he does what he wants with whomever he wants. He meets a Bad Girl, similar in every way, and they look at each other thinking they’ve met their likeness.

She gets excited; she can now show him her true self. She shows him she uses illegal drugs, drinks too much, steals when she can, lies to governments, and is rude to waitresses. At the same time, the Bad Boy is confused; how can this be? Why is she acting this way? She is confused; how much worse does she have to behave to make him feel comfortable with revealing his secret flaws and failures. So she starts being violent at him, cheating on him, stealing from him… But he doesn’t budge.

She is his Dark Mirror, and he is her Light Mirror. They see their polar opposite, and neither can believe what they’re looking at is real.

The Dark Mirror will push you into a hole and the Light Mirror will push you out into the open – depending.

The Dark Mirror pushes you into things you want to be done to you, but they’re so cruel that nobody in their right mind would think you WANT IT. They are the pressure that turns you into a diamond or your blissful happiness through their intended abuse. They TRY to punish you, but instead, you thrive and love the treatment you receive from your Dark Mirror. It’s like you see darkness; they see the light; you see sunshine where they see darkness.

True Emotion Mirrors push you, too.

TrEmoRs push you to do things you wouldn’t think you’re capable of, too. The difference is that their love for you is unconditional, and they would never TRULY want to hurt you. They would back off too easily compared to the Dark Mirror, whose love for you is selfish, relentless, and cruel. They don’t care if you suffer because they suffer in your rejection, and therefore, they punish you for as long as you keep rejecting them – and the only way through their love for you is through their abuse – overcoming the obstacle they make themselves to be for you.

The dynamic with the Reverse Mirror

The dynamic somehow works out so that whatever they’re doing to you out of spite and anger toward you (for not loving them) will work out somehow in your favor. They push you through a ringer, beyond which lies things you always wanted. Their reward is always a disappointment, being hated, and sometimes even being murdered or executed for what they’ve done to you.

The heartbreak of finally seeing who they are deep down.

When you finally realize who you are with is the exact opposite of who you are, the antinome of your value system, it can come as a shock. The likely reaction you will have is simple denial. “You can’t seriously be that BORING?!” or “You cannot seriously be that EVIL?” Both the dark and the light mirror HATE what the other is all about. They both want their pleasure and pain from the opposite sides of the spectrum, and their dynamic is always on a collision course. What one wants to play with turns the other stone cold and vice versa. What the other takes deadly seriously is a game or a joke to the other.

You started with what you thought was your True Emotion Mirror, and you ended up with… NOTHING. Literally NOTHING. An empty vessel that looked perfect on the surface.

Don’t stick around to rescue them. They’re another person’s ideal, believe it or not. I know that makes you want to throw up.

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