Mother, Tell Me What To Do- Event
May. 10th, 2023 11:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missrecalled_mods posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
kingdoms_of_auradonIt 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?
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?
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Date: 2023-09-29 04:39 am (UTC)And all four kids could have died or worse in Auradon and their parents would only care that they hadn't gotten what they wanted first.
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Date: 2023-09-30 10:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-10-04 12:43 am (UTC)And maybe, just maybe, those words were aimed as much at Lea as at Mallia.
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Date: 2023-10-08 09:39 am (UTC)Certain she'd finished, however, slowly, clearly, carefully, softly: "I'd asked questions." She hadn't been lecturing, she'd been shocked and concerned.
She didn't really wait for a retort to that, though, tilting her head a bit, eyeing Mal. "I do wonder, though: how old do you take me to be?" Was that a challenge of some kind, or a point she wanted to make? Because she hadn't changed her delivery, still not raising her voice any, certainly not seeming any more stern or annoyed... just baffled, almost. Just looking to clear something up, because apparently she suspected this was not just part of some kind of misunderstanding between them, but that it had something to do with the current topic...?
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Date: 2023-10-11 07:21 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2023-10-12 10:25 am (UTC)cw for prior violence?
Date: 2023-10-17 07:12 am (UTC)"Oh, they can do without it." It was the old woodcarver lady again, cheerfully walking out from trees that hadn't just been there, right where Mal could see her. A sword and several arrows were sticking through her torso, she was missing one arm at about her mid bicep, and she was carrying what looked like an adult's version of the arm she'd made for the child version of Chell in her other. There wasn't even a spot of red anywhere on her, though, her blue outfit entirely unmarred.
"But it's--"
"Not hurting anything." She got the arm into her sleeve, and as she raised it up in front of her... it was no longer carved wood, but looked just like her other.
"But...!" Past-Mallia wasn't entirely reassured by it; by the time she reached the elf lady, she'd taken child form again herself, big eyes full of tears, and hugged onto her legs.
"Oh, come now, poppet. It only hurts if you think it ought to, you know!" She reached up and pulled at the sword. It stuck at first, and then came right out, dropping dry dust behind it. There was no blood, no mess, not even a tear where it had gone through her top. "What about you? You're all right too, aren't you?" She crouched to hug the kid up, absently tucking the sword into a belt that hadn't been there, in a way that shouldn't have worked, but did. She hadn't slid it into the scabbard, but it was sheathed now....
"They shouldn't have even been here!"
"I know, I know...." She stood up again, shifting the much smaller figure up against the shoulder without the arrows sticking through it. "But better me, than someone who would get hurt. I can take it! Although, I think I'll be making a new leg. This one's not as sturdy as I'd like any more. Mind helping me with that, when we get back home?"
The littler figure nodded, giving in to a few little sobs and sniffles as she buried herself against the lady's neck. They began to head away, the carver rubbing her small back, saying something about how bones as old as the ones she had left didn't feel injury any more, and the scene was already fading.
Present-Mallia didn't comment, just continued to brush her hands through the flowers, not bothering to look up from them as she did.
CW: verbal abuse/gaslightingRe: cw for prior violence?
Date: 2023-10-17 07:34 am (UTC)Sadly it was her mother's lesson, not Mallia's.
That her human half was, once again, the issue. That she couldn't take a hut as well, that she'd always be an ineffective enemy at best. Her hands tightened into fists.
One of those fists hit a flower, however.
Maleficent sat upon her throne like chair in the ramshackle castle from which she ruled on the Isle. "Oh I suppose it's not your fault you're such a disappointment, dear," she said to a young Mal. Child Mal was maybe as much as eight or nine. "I should have known better than to take up with a weakling human like him. Still, one would have thought there would some of me in you," she said, shaking her head. She gestured the kid closer.
Little Mal inched closer to her mother, tried not to flinch as sharp nails drifted across her face without breaking skin.
"See, that's what I'm talking about. Weak. If you were like me you'd be fearless. But then... I suppose you're weak and useless like he is. I suppose fear makes sense for someone who will probably die young and miserably. Still... you carry some part of my name, dear. Do try and live up to that. I had thought that one day you'd be able to earn the rest of your name... but..." she moved viper fast, grabbed the child's arm and pushed up her sleeve, showing a large nasty bruise. "You thought somehow I wouldn't know that you lost that fight?" Disgusted she let go of the child. "When I was your age I was already making my name, showing my mother I was the baddest of my generation. But you let that... that.... ugh... his parents are both human. You should have had at least some advantage."
Little Mal's shoulders squared back, her chin lifted, but her lip wobbled. "His brothers helped..." she mumbled.
"So?" the woman snapped. "You should have been able to take them all. Their father is just a blowhard with an overinflated ego. You let them get you again, Mal, and you look weak. Well, you are weak of course. Human, pathetic. But you can't let them see that. So you go to your room young lady and don't dare come out until you've plotted a proper revenge to show them all that you're not to be trifled with."
"Yo... you really think I can, mother?" she whispered.
"You had better! If people think they can walk all over you they might be foolish enough to try it with me, and then I'll have to burn down half the Isle to make a point. You can't look weak, not when people see you and think of me. you want to keep even the bit of your name you have go upstairs and come up with something truly evil. If you have to be depressingly human, find some other way to make them suffer. Now go. I'm tired of looking at you."
Little Mal fled upstairs, running through modern Mal as the vision ended.
Mal had been hidden by the illusion, more or less. But when it vanished, there was nothing between her and Mallia. Nothing to keep Mallia from seeing the pained and stricken look for a moment before Mal slammed down a wall of anger over it.
"I am so done with this flower nonsense..." she said, seriously considering starting a rather large fire herself. Her eyes, still lined with unspilled tears started to glow green.
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Date: 2023-10-17 08:46 pm (UTC)"Well... I can already see that you've accomplished something she seemed incapable of, from what I know of her."
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Date: 2023-10-18 08:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-10-23 09:00 am (UTC)"...Have you considered picking your own name? It's very common practice to do so, at least among my people..."
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