Mirror City Event TL;DRism

[pirate-mod.livejournal.com]

As mentioned on the Calendar…

11-18; Mirror City Mayhem
Well someone left the cake out in the rain, and the deities don't know if they can take it. Shh, that's their secret though.

Meanwhile, some of those insects citizens wake up to their regular City day as usual. Or is it? Everything about the landscape looks like same, from the sky to the sea but there's something just slightly off. Welcome to the Mirror City, where your citizen is the opposite of who he or she really is. The difference can be as great or subtle as you want to make it, because there are only 14 ways to get out.

The Seven Virtues and the Seven Contrary Virtues

One act of these 14 virtues (however you as a player would like to interpret it) will get a citizen out of the Mirror City. But there's a catch! Citizens must manage to carry out that act, whether willingly or manipulated, by midnight. That's 00:00 (in game time only, this doesn't have to be in real time at all). That leaves citizens only 7 chances to get out.

Now how might a citizen even know they're trapped in a completely different City? Why, the network and the fountain of course! Citizens trapped in the alternate dimension that is the Mirror City can still communicate with the City through the network. They might not even notice the change until someone who is in the City points out they're in the same room, but don't see each other. Eerie queerie. The fountain can also offer snippets of images both ways (City images for the Mirror City fountain, Mirror City images for the City fountain).

Surely City citizens who learn something is wrong will want to help their friends in the Mirror City. Fear not, the deities will have some kind of explanation, and they'll have a solution to offer: a ticket to the Mirror City for a trade. But don't ask them how this is happening or why, and even if a citizen does, deities rarely give straight answers.

[More details to come later! And yes, due to the nature of the event, participation is optional, and those who do participate may have their characters enter the Mirror City on any day between May 11 and May 18. They can also exit the Mirror City on any day between May 11 and May 18. How soon or how late is completely up to the player!]

The event will start this May 11. Yes it will be triggered by poor deity management of all the cakes they received for the May 8 cake curse! Ferocia may be behind this, or maybe Ferocia isn't. That's a deity secret. Regardless this event is their plan to rectify the situation. Where is the Mirror City you might ask? That's a deity secret too, but it certainly exists within the universe of the City as a whole. Citizens just can't see it. As for the rest of those details…!

Event Environment
♦ the Mirror City is 100% identical to the City, so all geographic locations are basically cloned, if it's in the City then it's in the Mirror City
♦ the Mirror City is not exactly a physical place; it's an alternate dimension

Event Mechanics
♦ characters unknowingly transported to the Mirror City (they would wake up in the Mirror City) must be affected by an opposite/reversal element, it can be very basic: if they're regularly mean then they would be quite kind in the Mirror City, or very subtle: they act as they normally would except for one detail such as they now drink the blood of vegetarians rather than virgins
♦ characters who want to voluntarily enter the Mirror City must trade a power or one of their senses with the deities in order to gain access (this will be announced in a deity post on May 12), they would then be struck with a sense of vertigo and remain where they are geographically, only the City will change into the Mirror City (this environmental change is almost unnoticeable)
♦ characters who voluntarily enter the Mirror City will not be affected by an opposite/reversal element
♦ the only way for an affected character to leave the Mirror City is to commit an act of The Seven Virtues and the Seven Contrary Virtues, and the magnitude of that act is flexible (see here)
♦ that act of The Seven Virtues and the Seven Contrary Virtues must be committed at 00:00 (midnight) of any day between May 11 and May 18 (this is in game time only, not necessarily real time, and backlogs are always welcome!)
♦ that act of The Seven Virtues and the Seven Contrary Virtues does not have to be committed by characters attempting to leave, for example: two normally kind characters can be affected with extreme hate and kill each other by 00:00 (midnight), unknowingly transporting them back to the City
♦ the only way for an unaffected character to leave the Mirror City is to help an affected character, those who don't help the affected or fail to help will be made to believe they're stuck in the Mirror City forever
♦ no one will be stuck in the Mirror City forever, this is only a deity trick to make characters run circles and panic for the lulz, any character left in the Mirror City by May 18 will be struck with a sense of vertigo at 00:00 (midnight) of May 19 and remain where they are geographically, only the Mirror City will change into the City (this environmental change is almost unnoticeable)
♦ affected characters and their assistants who succeed at 00:00 (midnight) will be struck with a sense of vertigo and remain where they are geographically, only the Mirror City will change into the City (this environmental change is almost unnoticeable)
♦ all characters are returned to normal (no longer affected, have their power/sense back) once they're transported back to the City

Event Mechanics Examples
more ways to be affected:
- Someone known to kick puppies on occasion is suddenly an animal activist
- A tea totaler becomes a drunk
- A prude becomes a slut
- Outspoken to shy and quiet
- Favorite color from white to black
- Performer getting stage fright
*affected elements can be lulz or serious, this is completely flexible

sample acts featuring your deities:
Chastity | Sabine thinks sex is rather disgusting. Procreating through seeds and pollination is much prettier. So she doesn't do it.
Lust | Virginia, however, would rather like nothing more than to watch sexy cabana boys in jeweled thongs clean her pool.
Temperance | Maemi never gets more than he needs to live off/feed on/use.
Gluttony | Lenny finds some tea in the back cupboard. She drinks all of it.
Charity | Sabine gets hold of some new cake. She shares with the other deities.
Greed | Mouse hoards all of the neat electronics she can find.
Diligence | When Laszlo does it, he does it until he finishes. Anal retentive much?
Sloth | Someone asks to speak with a deity, Maemi really can't be bothered.
Kindness | This same person gets Sabine's loving attention.
Wrath | Hell hath no fury like Virginia without her cosmos.
Patience | Mouse worked this hard fixing that entire network for you.
Envy | Lenny is sitting in a cafe watching some brat drink tea. Where is Lenny's?
Humility | Laszlo admits. He has no baking skillz.
Pride | Maemi knows he's better than you.
*remember that acts can be executed individually, with an unaffected character, or with another affected character (characters don't have to be consciously aware that they're performing an act that will get them out of the Mirror City)
*acts can be lulz or serious, this is completely flexible

Event Communication
♦ characters in the City and Mirror City can communicate with each other through the network, this is one of the ways for other characters to notice their friends are missing from the City
♦ characters can also notice other characters through the Fountain in the Square, this works both ways for the City and the Mirror City

Event OOC Info
♦ "at 00:00 (midnight)" is only a rough estimate, an act can begin minutes before and end minutes after midnight, the deities will emphasize midnight (again this is in game time and not real time, so don't worry too much about timing being 100% accurate!)
♦ any deaths resulting from the Mirror City are exempt from the City!Death clause, basically they will not be considered City!Dead (no heartbeat, etc.) when they return to the City, however if they die in the Mirror City and it's not plotted as an act of The Seven Virtues and the Seven Contrary Virtues then they will remain the equivalent of City!Dead in the Mirror City until they succeed with an act, or until May 19
♦ for players posting character entries from the Mirror City, please tag or label the entry in some way with "Mirror City Post" for ease of reference on the Flist
♦ trades with the deities for voluntary entry into the Mirror City are to be assumed/mocklogged after May 12 for ease of play, we trust players to trade reasonable powers or senses
♦ this event is of course optional and nothing from the Mirror City will physically affect the environment of the City
♦ there will be no curses for either City or Mirror City during May 11 to May 18, those who have been asking for a stretch of non-curse days can use this period to plot whatever they would like (within reason!) if they are not participating in the Mirror City event

If there are any questions about this plot please ask them here! This entry will be listed under the Calendar as well. Thanks again and we hope this event is of some use to everyone, whether it's to participate or just to relax on a 7-day no curse stretch!

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And if you haven't done it yet, please vote here concerning poly's system for handling OOC and other player concerns!

Comments

[virginia-lupus.livejournal.com]

It's a damn good thing I don't have to be chaste, darling.

[virginia-lupus.livejournal.com]

Or temperate.

[pirate-mod.livejournal.com]

Now I want a martini.

[virginia-lupus.livejournal.com]

I'd take a mojito. So wrong to say from Virginia's account. She'd slap me.

[pirate-mod.livejournal.com]

I kinda want sangria.

[virginia-lupus.livejournal.com]

Mm... I think even Virginia could get behind that idea. Who can resist the tastiness?

[floating-bamboo.livejournal.com]

A tea totaler becomes a drunk

...ohshit. XD

[by-tea.livejournal.com]

SCARY THOUGHT GET.

[floating-bamboo.livejournal.com]

YES >>;

[freakyfanboy.livejournal.com]

Hell hath no fury like Virginia without her cosmos.

I nominate this to be the City motto.

[toonurturing.livejournal.com]

Sabine seconds!

[virginia-lupus.livejournal.com]

Virginia's few surviving ex-husbands add their thirds, fourths, etcs.

[toonurturing.livejournal.com]

... plant any roses on their graves?

[virginia-lupus.livejournal.com]

She got over being the sentimental sort after the first funeral.

[toonurturing.livejournal.com]

... roses'll fix that.

[virginia-lupus.livejournal.com]

Sentimentality or the lack thereof?

[toonurturing.livejournal.com]

Well it would make it pretty.

[virginia-lupus.livejournal.com]

Should we be expecting the crypt (http://polychromatic-rp.info/xanadu-crypt.html) to be filled with roses soon?

[quackingly.livejournal.com]

...Ahiru would help plant the roses for that place. It'd make it less...creepy!

...Oh SHOOT the Opera House description. *goes to find her notebook*

[toonurturing.livejournal.com]

Sabine loves helpers.

[quackingly.livejournal.com]

Well, Ahiru loves helping!

[virginia-lupus.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, please. I was going to give you a poke on that. &hearts

[freakyfanboy.livejournal.com]

XD; I've got a first draft done, but it's like...long. How long would be too long?

[virginia-lupus.livejournal.com]

Hard to say. I think it will depend upon content. Still, go with long and if we have to, we can edit it down a bit. It isn't as though we have to worry about the printer charging us for an overrun or anything.

[tenmorehours.livejournal.com]

Okies. That's what I was thinking, but I wanted to make sure before I posted it up. XD; I should have it written up and posted on tldr in a few hours for everyone to check out soon, then.

[laszlo-jamf.livejournal.com]

Laszlo says he can cook, damn it.

...sort of.

...when he really tries.

[blue-satin-pjs.livejournal.com]

Okay, I was initially confused by the "Seven Virtues and Seven Contrary Virtues" thing; you're basically just taking it to mean the seven virtues and the seven corresponding vices?

So, say the Mirror City takes Santa Claus and makes him greedy for the duration of the curse; would he then have to commit an act of his usual charity to break out? Or does the act not necessarily have anything to do with what the Mirror City changes? That's what I'm stuck on at the moment.

[pirate-mod.livejournal.com]

The act doesn't necessarily have to have anything to do with the Mirror City changes. In the Tiny Tim example linked, Scrooge could give Tiny Tim a goose for Christmas or Scrooge could break his other leg, we're leaving that part flexible to encompass any kind of act a player would like to think of.

Special icon for you.

[lullabyoflondon.livejournal.com]

Oh sexy ancestress. ♥

So, basically, any act that fits into one of the Seven Virtues or Cardinal Sins could get them out? But it has to be some specific act (as determined by the player), right? Because otherwise, damn near anything could get them out, and nobody would be able to stay in there for more than a few minutes. XD

[pirate-mod.livejournal.com]

That's right, any act of the Seven Virtues or Sins. We realized that with the flexibility, many characters could get out within minutes, which is why there's a "at 00:00 (midnight)" condition and the deities will also be emphasizing that it should be a "specific" or "significant" act.

[lullabyoflondon.livejournal.com]

Okay, yeah, I forgot about the "at midnight" thing. XD Think I've got it now!

[lusting_heart]

Could someone who is generally insane become sane?

*looking at some of her characters and wondering*

[pirate-mod.livejournal.com]

For the purpose of this plot, yes.

[lusting_heart]

Thanks. ^^ *goes off to start some plotting*

[proto-typing.livejournal.com]

Regarding the change made to a person who unknowingly ends up in the Mirror City, is the character aware that a change has been made? Or do they remain oblivious, as though they've always been that way?

For example, suppose I want to turn Proto human during his stay in the Mirror City. Would he instantly figure out that something is up because he's clearly not a robot anymore? Or would he carry on as though he'd always been human, unaware that anything is different?

[pirate-mod.livejournal.com]

For the most part we prefer that the characters are unaware that anything is different. This allows for other unaffected characters to get involved and also makes the task of getting back much harder. Ultimately though, whether an affected character is aware or not is your decision as a player. We only request that this awareness not disrupt the plots for other players who wish for their characters to remain clueless for longer.

[notawhiteant.livejournal.com]

Will the characters in the Mirror City be aware that they have changed? Like if, for example, I wanted to make Pesche the opposite of an arrancar, which is I guess a Vaizard, would he believe himself to have always been such, with relevant changes in his memory, or will it just be a thing where he wakes up one morning expecting to be his normal self but discovers his hollow hole is gone and any other relevant changes, and he's all all like "What's up with this?"

[pirate-mod.livejournal.com]

Sorry if pasting the answer above looks lazy, but it covers the same topic ;-;!

---

For the most part we prefer that the characters are unaware that anything is different. This allows for other unaffected characters to get involved and also makes the task of getting back much harder. Ultimately though, whether an affected character is aware or not is your decision as a player. We only request that this awareness not disrupt the plots for other players who wish for their characters to remain clueless for longer.

[notawhiteant.livejournal.com]

Oops...guess I should have read a little more carefully. Thanks though!

[pitselly.livejournal.com]

I have a question! Can two unrelated aspects of a character be mirrored?

eg... Character A loves food and has blue hair. In Mirror City, Character A isn't ever hungry and has red hair! What I plan to do isn't so vapid, but I need another aspect to make the first thing that I plan to do work correctly.

If this isn't acceptable, I completely understand, and can come up with something else! ♥ I'd just like to know if I can use the idea I currently have instead; I really like it XD

[pirate-mod.livejournal.com]

Yes more than one aspect can be mirrored, and they definitely don't have to be related!

[oooooooohhh.livejournal.com]

... Ooooh.

[sandmullet.livejournal.com]

Holy crap David Firth scares the shit out of me D:

[fromthewell.livejournal.com]

♥

[ohrosalita.livejournal.com]

Umm, i think people are doing it wrong.

Either that or I have it wrong, hence needing to check. People seem to be posting about 'my character is affected with temperance and lust' &etc. As far as I'm aware, the mirrored aspect doesn't need to be a sin or a virtue, that's just what gets them out?

Or am I wrong? A few people I've been talking to are confused.

[darklilprincess.livejournal.com]

I kinda agree with this one..? I thought people become the exact opposites of what they are in Mirror City? :x

[robot-mod.livejournal.com]

People don't have to become complete opposites of what they are, but they can.

A character who has been taken involuntarily into Mirror City only has to have something opposite about his or her personality: a teetotaler becomes a drunk, a performer gets stage fright, a puppy-kicker becomes an animal activist, &c. That's the effect of Mirror City, and it can be as big or as subtle as you like.

[darklilprincess.livejournal.com]

...it's majorly late, but...

Have I ever told you guys you all TOTALLY ROCK?! <3 <3 <3

[robot-mod.livejournal.com]

Ah, no, you're right:

The Mirror aspects do not have to be a sin or a virtue: they only have to be an opposite of a character--quiet becomes loud, bold becomes shy, for example. (Really, the lulziest/most dramatic/best ones I can think of don't have anything to do with the sins or virtues.) The act of committing a sin or virtue is just what gets a character out.

I think we're going to put up a condensed version of this same post later just to clarify things now that the plot has started and we can see--and hear--where the confusion is for people.