kingdoms_of_auradon | Mother, Tell Me What To Do- Event

It began with flowers. Now, flowers were nothing new to Auradon, but these were clearly no ordinary flowers. For one thing, they were distinctly not native to the area, looking much more like they hailed from somewhere far more tropical, though even should anyone- Missrecalled or local- be familiar with such things, they wouldn't be able to identify what species they were or exactly where they might be from. For another, rather than growing over time, they'd all just simply appeared overnight. And they'd appeared everywhere. From outdoor spaces where one would usually find flowers, to all sorts of places indoors where one normally wouldn't find them. Draped in living garlands around the shoulders of suits of armor. Twining around the legs of tables and chairs. Literally sprouting right out of the woodwork or wallpaper in places.

Avoiding them entirely would be difficult, though doable if one were particularly determined. Fortunately, aside from their mysterious appearance and their sudden ubiquitousness they seem to be harmless. They even smell nice, though no two people will be able to agree on exactly what the smell is like, just that it's pleasant.

However some of the flowers will randomly cause something odd to occur. Touching one, or breathing in too deeply from one of the random flowers will draw forth a memory for all nearby to see and hear. Only one memory will display at a time, and anyone in the area can see and hear it, but only those close enough to have caught the scent of that particular flower will get the full effect. They'll see the figures and setting as solid, and may experience subtle additional effects related to the memory, such as the feeling of a breeze or the smell of cooking food. Anyone else will see and hear everything fine, but will not experience any additional sensations and will see the scene as somewhat transparent. The figures aren't solid, they just seem like that to anyone who was close enough to smell the flower when it triggered.

The memory, oddly enough, will not be from the perspective of the one it belongs to; they and their companion or companions will be observing from a third party perspective, thus allowing a person to see their own face in the memories without the aid of a mirror. Nor can the memories be interacted with; those viewing them are observers only, and while they'll be able to hear the figures in the memory and each other speaking, no one in the memories will be able to hear or perceive them in any way. The memories vary in content and tone from person to person, for obvious reasons, but a common thread will soon be spotted: all the memories involve the person's mother or similar maternal figure. Generally they are more likely to be positive memories, if such memories exist.

Once the memory fades that flower looses its ability and becomes just like any other flower in this event. However another flower nearby might have been activated...

Picking one of the flowers and taking it back to their rooms- which are one of the few places that remain entirely flower-free, for some reason- will result in the person having vivid dreams of their mothers or maternal figures. Again, while the content of those dreams will vary widely for obvious reasons, in Auradon, the tone will be generally positive. Perhaps bright and cheerful, perhaps nostalgic and somewhat melancholy, but the dreams will be generally good ones, and those who have them will wake feeling generally refreshed and like they slept well. The dreams are just that, dreams. Even those with no memories of their mothers can have these dreams - but in the drams they will have a mother, and the dream will center around that maternal figure one way or another. Again, these are dreams and our minds can create the sweetest fantasies when so inspired. These dreams will linger one day past the event for every day the flowers had been kept in the bedroom. Also, oddly, of the flowers people pick will show no signs of wilting or drying out, even days after being picked no matter where they're left.

Then, after a week, all the flowers- whether picked or left alone - vanish overnight, just as suddenly as they appeared. A strange phenomenon, to be sure, but once it's over, other concerns will likely take precedence once again. After all, something like that couldn't possibly happen again, right?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Yes, yes, love blah blah blah. We done here?"

Fine, then.

"...Have you considered picking your own name? It's very common practice to do so, at least among my people..."

Mal scowled at her. "My name's my name. Nothing's gonna change that now."

"...Why not?" This wasn't her making fun, this was her just plainly not understanding it.

"Names aren't hair. You can't just change it when you get bored with it. Your name is who you are, and all you can do is live with it!"

"None of that has proven true, in my experience. I'm actually an outlier, in not having felt much like going by another all this time. I think that friend of mine was up to something like fifty, last we bothered to try counting...."

"Well then that's one more way your world is different," she snapped. "That's not how it works here."

"But why isn't it?" Yes, please explain this to her? She seemed to be asking in all seriousness....

"Because people have to know what yo call someone!"

"No, no... why can't one simply decide their own name? I don't understand why it's such, here. What stops you from deciding on another?"

"Because I'm Mal! that's just who I've always been! Who I'll always be, now!"

"But that's precisely what I don't understand. What is it that stops you from deciding on another name for yourself?" She seemed serious enough about it, calm, keeping her voice down, soft and thoughtful. Nothing accusatory, only confused....

"Names are what we get from our parents. No one else gets to choose them."

"I'm not questioning the convention," she said, trying to pick her words carefully, "so much as trying to understand the justification behind it. If you should decide you would rather be known by another name... I, for one, would respect as much, and call you by that."

"Well no one else would! I'm Mal! That's what everyone would keep calling me!"

Still patient, still calm: "Is there a name you would rather be called? Set aside, for the moment, the practicality of it. Would you have a preference for something else?"

"I.... I'm just Mal. That's it. Why would I have some other idea for a name?"

"Perhaps I'd read too much into it, then, but you seemed... a bit resentful of it? So if something should occur to you, that you would like better... I would request that you would let me know, that I might grant you that."

"....Why? Why are you so... so focused on this?"

"Because it's something that seemed to bother you." She tilted her head slightly, faint frown betraying some bit of concern. "And it feels... wrong, to leave it to fester. Especially when the solution would cost me nothing at all that I am not wholly prepared to give freely."

"Why does it matter to you that it bothers me?!" she demanded.

She blinked, quiet a second, frowning in a way that wasn't quite readable. Worry? Confusion? Simply considering what she thought overall of the purple-haired figure before her and trying to figure out how she might react to something she'd say?

"Are you so unused to someone acting on respect for you and care for others in general, that it actually makes you uncomfortable for them to offer you such basic courtesy?"