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

[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."

[mal_contented]

"Look, sure, for some people it is all surface. Not arguing that. But a lot of the kids here? Are actually... like this. That. Whatever. It's a mix, I guess." She gave a small shrug.

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea refrained from mentioning the fact that the children of the wealthiest and most privileged families in the kingdom- many of whom had titles in front of their names from birth- didn't exactly make for a good sample of Auradon at large. It wouldn't be helpful, and Mal could hardly be faulted for drawing on what and who she knew.

Instead, he just nodded. "Yeah, no group of people that big is gonna be all one thing, I know that much," he said. "I wasn't thinking about the kids so much as I was the adults though; the ones who've been around long enough to really decide what the 'status quo' looks like. It's just..." He frowned thoughtfully. "Lets just say for now that if any of them turn back up here, there's a few things I'd like to... discuss with them." Given the tone in which he said the word 'discuss' It was fairly clear that he suspected the conversations would not be pleasant ones, should they ever happen. "Probably with Aqua present so I don't say or do something particularly stupid."

[mal_contented]

"Aqua would be a good choice, not saying anything would be a better one. I really don't want hurt feelings to create another villain, okay?" she said, eyes narrowed and mildly threatening.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Honestly if adults can't handle a few hurt feelings, then this world has way bigger problems than villains," he said. "Besides, they should've thought of that before they-" Lea caught himself, biting his metaphorical tongue before sighing and rubbing the bridge of his nose as if warding off a headache. He pulled a chair out from under the table and slumped into it.

"Sorry, it's just... there's a few things about the situation in your world that really push my buttons. And I feel like if I don't say anything, it'd be as good as saying I was OK with those things when I'm really, really not. But no one who I might actually want to yell at about it is here anyway, so not saying anything is kinda the only option, and it's been driving me nuts. And all that frustration just kinda comes out randomly sometimes. I... need to work on that."

[mal_contented]

"That is the villain problem. I mean, come on, my mom cursed a kingdom because she didn't get invited to a birthday party. Evie's mom? Went full on evil because a magic bit of glass said her step daughter was prettier than she was. Carlos' mother... well she's always been a little evil so never mind her. But seriously, like a quarter of the villains on the Isle... really a few hurt feelings and petty jealousy. And yeah, you do."

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Honestly, if somebody decided to curse or kill someone just because of something like that? Chances are pretty good they were already looking for an excuse to curse or kill somebody," Lea pointed out. "But anyway, I can at least promise I won't deliberately start any trouble. Can't really promise there won't be any, because sometimes stuff happens; pretty sure you know how that is as well as I do."

He opted not to mention that the status quo shake-ups Mal and Ben were planning for after they left meant that both of them would likely have to get comfortable with hurting people's feelings eventually. Or at the very least ticking certain people off.

[mal_contented]

She shook her head. "We saw it again more recently. Someone who everyone here would have sworn was good."

Audrey's name went unspoken.

"Maybe things work different on different worlds, but that's how things work here. If you aren't nice," she made a face "you could create the next villain."

And it was up to her and Ben to find a new way to deal with that issue.

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea chuckled bitterly. "So basically 'happiness is mandatory'," he said. It was obvious he was quoting it from somewhere. "Or at least the appearance of happiness. Light forbid that someone..." He cut himself off with a sigh and a shake of his head. "...Never mind."

"Anyway, for the record, no one has to be 'nice' to me. If you or anyone else has a problem with me, I'd rather they just come out and tell me directly so we can take care of it, rather that trying to come up with a million ways to dance around it for fear of hurting my feelings. That'd actually make me feel less insulted than niceness for niceness' sake."

[mal_contented]

"Do I strike you as someone who is nice for no good reason?" she asked, brow arched.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"No," Lea said, "but I just figured I'd put it out there. So if anybody asks, you can tell them I said that."

[mal_contented]

"Uh... huh..." she said, see how impressed she didn't sound?

[hotheadwarmheart]

Fortunately Lea wasn't trying to impress her. "Look, you can think what you want, but I'm telling the truth," he said. "And I'll tell anyone else that asks too. In my experience dancing around a problem causes so many more headaches than just being direct does, so I'd rather avoid it, at least where I'm concerned."

[mal_contented]

She shrugged. "In my experience, trouble is going to bother you no matter what."

[hotheadwarmheart]

"True," he said. "But that's just another reason that I prefer to get it done with early on. Tends to be more manageable that way, and it lets me get on with my day afterward."

[mal_contented]

"If you say so," she shrugged.