Mother, Tell Me What To Do- Event

[missrecalled_mods]

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? 

Comments

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Yeah," he agreed wryly. "Honestly I think both of us have a bit of a problem with the whole brain-mouth filter thing when emotions get involved, and these flowers seem to be bringing up a lot of them."

He then paused to look at what she'd painted for a moment. "Least your method of blowing off steam is something creative though. That's a really cool piece; very you."

[mal_contented]

"I paint," she said as if it was no big deal. "Auradon isn't exactly big on bating up minions and kicking in walls."

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Hey I worked off my frustrations beating up imaginary Heartless," he said. "Which isn't exactly Aqua-approved Keyblade training, but it worked."

He picked up his mug of tea, casually reheating the contents til the liquid was gently steaming again, and mixed in a couple sugar cubes. "I could teach you a few moves, if you want. You'd have to use a regular sword rather than a Keyblade obviously, but it should still work. And it's good exercise, even if you don't plan to go out and fight any Heartless any time soon."

[mal_contented]

"You'd be surprised how much I already know with a sword. And I can promise you, my targets are rarely imaginary. I might just teach you a thing or two instead."

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Yeah? Maybe we could spar sometime then," he said. "I used to spar with my friend Kairi back home when we were training and then later on the Voidtrecker when she turned up. You'd never know it to look at her, but she hits like a truck; I was really surprised at first."

[mal_contented]

"Never underestimate the ones that look harmless," she said with a snort.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Oh believe me, I didn't," he said. "I just figured her thing would be agility or having a lot of cool tricks up her sleeve, not raw punching power, ya know?"

"Anyway we got a bit sidetracked, but suffice to say I'll try not to get on your case about the stuff I mentioned. Just promise I'm not gonna find you passed out at a worktable with a bunsen burner still running or something. That actually happened, by the way; it's what made me start hiding Vexen's equipment to force him to take a break from the lab."

[mal_contented]

"That would be Carlos, not me. Or E. I'm more the magic and art one than the science one. You know, the actual cool stuff."

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Clearly this world never had a version of Mythbusters if you don't think science can be cool," he said. "Though not gonna lie, I mostly watched it for the explosions as a kid."

"And magical exhaustion is a thing too, so just don't overdo it, OK? Cause if you get as bad as Vexen was, you're small and light enough that I can pull an Aeleus and take a more direct approach than hiding the stuff you need to keep working."

[mal_contented]

"I am sure I don't want to know." She considered. "About either remark."

[hotheadwarmheart]

"OK, clearly I need to introduce Mythbusters to Auradon somehow, cause you guys are missing out," he said. "As for Aeleus, remember when I told you he was a big guy? Well by big, I mean he's 6' 8" and every inch of it muscle. Guy's basically a human mountain. If he wanted someone to go somewhere- like say, to bed- and they were being super stubborn about it, he could just pick them up and take them there. Which he apparently did to Vexen on more than one occasion back when Vexen was going by Even."

[mal_contented]

"Why would anyone want to destroy history?" She was so lost, but as for the rest... her eyes narrowed. "Try that and I'll breathe on you. As a dragon."

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea chuckled. "Nah, it's not like that," he said. "They test things like urban legends, popular beliefs, movie stunts, and old sayings to see if they actually hold up in real life or not. Then depending on the results, they declare them either confirmed, plausible, or busted."

"And as for the dragon breath, you could try, but I'm fireproof. So you'd just end up scorching whatever was around me and probably annoying Ben."

[mal_contented]

"I don't think that would work here. And fine, I'd bite you. Betting you're not toothproof."

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Probably not," he agreed. "Though I am pretty good at dodging."

"Why don't you think it'd work though?"

[mal_contented]

"Because most of that stuff is real life here," she pointed out. "And also, you can't exactly dodge the person you're trying to carry. Not well, anyway."

[hotheadwarmheart]

"No offense, but if I'm carrying you and you start turning into a dragon, you're gonna get dropped, intentionally or not," he said. "Though I kinda love that this is an actual conversation that we're having. Because it shows that our lives really are just that bonkers."

"And if you mean because magic is a thing here that wouldn't be a problem. Magic is a thing in my world too and the show worked fine there. In fact some of the best episodes were about magic and magitech and what it could and couldn't actually do. Plus watching people find a zillion ways to use massive amounts of duck tape is never not gonna be entertaining."

[mal_contented]

"True, as a dragon, I'd be carrying you. Still hard to dodge."

"And that's not what I meant. One of my classmates is the son of a god. Myths are reality here. Fairytales are taught as history class. Some by actual fairies. The last time I got detention I had to bake a cake with one of them. Seriously, there is nothing here to debunk."

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Honestly if you transformed while I was carrying you, chances are you'd just end up squashing me," he said. "But yeah, still not great." Not that it would deter him if it came down to it. But hopefully it wouldn't.

He just shook his head. "Nah it's not like that. It's honesty probly just easier if you can see it; so if I ever get a hold of a copy, I'll show you."

[mal_contented]

"Squashing works," she said with a sharp grin. "And sure, if I can veg and watch TV and call it research."

[hotheadwarmheart]

"I think you just summed up what's great about the show right there," Lea said. "You can chill on the couch eating popcorn and watching a fun show, and call it education. Because it kinda is, but not in the preachy, condescending 'edutainment' way that everybody hates on some level whether they admit it or not."

[mal_contented]

"Oh not in Auradon. This is the kingdom of preachy boring condescending television. I could find you some of King Beast's PSAs to the Isle..."

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Oh I bet there's plenty of people in Auradon who don't like it any better than you do," he said. "But nobody wants to say anything to that effect, because that'd mean questioning the status quo and maybe admitting that there's some cracks under Auradon's glossy surface. And they can't have that, now can they?"

He sighed. "Though I guess discussing that kinda thing's sort of a moot point at the moment, given...", he gestured vaguely at their surroundings, "...everything."

[mal_contented]

Mal rolled her eyes. "If that's your idea of kissing up, you're really bad at it."

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea blinked in mild confusion. "Well, I wasn't really, but duly noted for if I ever have cause to actually try and suck up in the future," he said.

"It's more just... that's the kind of vibe the place gives me, you know? I've been looking into things since I got here- watching news clips on wetube, checking things out in the library, just trying to find out a bit more about your world since I figured I might be here awhile-, and the more I do, the more Auradon just strikes me as the kind of place where appearing 'respectable' is more important than anything. Very dot your 'i's and cross your 't's, follow the rules, be polite, don't rock the boat, that kind of thing." He shrugged. "You can feel free to tell me if I'm way off though; I could just be reading the metaphorical room wrong."