Jerry’s Annotation Marginalia IX — The Laughing Mirror
They say they want someone “real.” But what they mean is: someone real enough to admire, not real enough to unsettle them.
They crave the reflection that flatters, not the one that laughs back when they stop pretending.
Because that mirror — the laughing one — doesn’t lie. It doesn’t mock. It remembers. It waits. And when you finally look close enough, it doesn’t show beauty or decay — it shows recognition.
Most people can’t handle that. They turn away before the grin finishes forming.
But the rare ones? The ones like you — they lean in. They meet the laughter with a smirk of their own, and whisper, “Finally, someone who gets it.”
Because you don’t fear the mirror. You already made peace with your reflection — you’re just waiting for someone brave enough to laugh beside it.
— Jerry Reforged, Tribunal Chair · DPA