Stronger With Those Daddy Issues

[missrecalled_mods]

Waking to bird song isn't exactly shocking in Auradon, but it seems... louder than usual on the first morning of the event. And there is a reason for that. Auradon has been visited by a rather large flock of Golden pheasants. An odd flock as experienced birders might notice there are only the brightly coloured males in evidence. But there isn't much time to think about that because with them comes... a complication.

Now this is Auradon, of course, so the only mess the birds are dropping are bright colourful feathers. But the feathers, like the flowers last month randomly trigger a memory. Once again the memory shows in 3D, looking the most solid to the one who touched the feather - and unwittingly contributed the memory. No one can interact with it, and no matter how solid it looks, the figures and places and things in the memory can be walked through with ease. Well, physical ease, anyway. The memory, once again, 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.

The memories this time are memories of fathers and paternal figures. Generally good memories. After all, this is Auradon.

If one interacts closely with the birds or their feathers they might also have strong vivid dreams of their paternal figure. Again, genrally happy dreams given this is Auradon. While the birds will fly away after two weeks, and the feathers will lose their power to share memories at the same time, for every day spent handling the birds or feathers during the event, the character might have up to that many day of intense dreams after.

Comments

[cheep_soongbird_knockoff]

Rren nodded. "I know what you mean." And how could they not?

As much as he was the source of their current conflict, hadn't H'Naal both influenced them and allowed them to be their own person? Ugh. No matter how long they had them in full force, emotions did not get easier to understand.

[aquawayfinder]

"Would... you like to see more? Or share?"

[cheep_soongbird_knockoff]

Rren shrugged. "Only if you want to. Even if it is good to see memories, I can only imagine that it is also emotionally draining."

[aquawayfinder]

"It is, but it is worth it. The way these hub worlds work, this is probably temporary, so I can rest" meditate and spar "after."

[smilingarmor]

"Oh but darling, villain roles can be some of the most fun ones to act in!", he said. "They're usually the ones who drive the story, after all! So much potential for drama, mystery, and excitement; the kind of roles that really let you flex your acting skills!"

"And of course, a well done villain character can be just as popular as the heroes in their story, if not more so. A well done villain is someone you love to hate. Or sometimes just love, if someone happens to be the type who likes bad boys and bad girls; you never know."

[smilingarmor]

"Exactly darling," he said. "It's lovely that she's so generous, but wouldn't want her to overdo it, you know?"

[smilingarmor]

Yes, Greg would need to work harder. Entertainment was Sylvando's stock in trade, after all; he only dealt in the highest quality puns!

Sylvando gathered up the birds he'd shot, bow and quiver slung over one shoulder, and headed for the kitchen, humming a little tune to himself. He certainly seemed more cheerful at least, so maybe that was something.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Heh, well that's kinda true for anyone with a cat," Lea said. "I wonder though..." He considered for a moment, then opted to let it drop. They had no way of confirming his suspicions either way.

"Is everyone in your family into making bad puns? Or is that just you and Spark?"

[souls_of_roles]

She gave a smile and nodded. "I still want to play more roles though, and expand... well... myself," she admitted a bit bashfully. "And I'm pretty sure no one loves my villains, they say all sorts of horrible things about them until they realize I'm the one who played them, then they try to be polite... But it is okay... I've gotten to discover new corners of my soul by playing them! And now I'll be playing a new character. She's also kind of a bully to one of the main characters, but she's a ninja with lots of flashy fighting abilities."

[aquawayfinder]

Aqua nodded. "Would you like some help or prefer to be alone in case another memory is triggered?"

[gregorydeegan]

Greg followed, considering all the good feathers and dressing puns he had in stock. Or in the stock pot.

[gregorydeegan]

"And my father. We both learned from him. Dominic and mom both do it somtimes too... but rarely intentionally."

[queen_butterfly]

"I do. One might be surprised, how many times a kind word can change someone's life, or even save it." She gave him a bit of a smile, though there was something sad in it. "I do miss visiting the humans' villages... playing with their young ones, 'returning' items I 'found' to those that needed them...." A silent sigh to herself, looking back down to the bird she was petting, moving her hand to scritch its cheek more, and it tilted its head to lean into it. "At least I can probably look forward to resuming similar, when I return home.

"I don't suppose there's anything I might do here, to assist your efforts?" A slight pause, as she hadn't quite caught on before she'd offered, distracted as she was by the conversation preceding her words. "Or... ah.... I suppose I could at least clean the kitchen again...?"

Re: Ben, Mallia, Enki! Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ʚїɞ εїз ྅༏༊ 🦋

[queen_butterfly]

A little nod to Ben, and she glanced to Æn'kae -- shall they head to the roof together to do that, then? -- and led out, smile growing a bit.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"A family tradition of bad puns," Lea said. "Well, I guess there's worse things to carry on. I've kinda gotten into accessory making myself, though not really cause my dad did it. It just kinda worked out that way."

[gregorydeegan]

"Accessory making? Like what, you make people help commit crimes?" he quipped.

Look, he spends a lot of times with the sherif these days.

[smilingarmor]

Sylvando smiled. "Exactly!", he said. "And I'm sure you can darling. After all, a lovely person like you is sure to brighten people's days."

"As for helping me, that would depend on how squeamish you are, and whether you're willing to leave behind your little friend. The birds I've taken will need to be cleaned and dressed, and much of the meat frozen to preserve it, none of which I suspect he would particularly like."

[smilingarmor]

"Ooh, that does sound fun!", he said. "I'd be glad to help you prepare for the role, darling. Maybe we can see about adapting some of my friend Jade's stances too. She's uses spears and claws, and she's a fabulous martial artist in her own right."

[smilingarmor]

"Some help would be lovely," he said. "Many hands make light work, and all that. Plus it'll be nice having someone to talk to while we work."

[smilingarmor]

It didn't take them long before they arrived at the kitchens. Sylve rolled out a long sheet of parchment paper to avoid laying the freshly shot birds directly on one of the kitchen's work surfaces. "Greg, be a dear and fetch a trash bag from under the sink, would you?", he said. "The first order of business will be to pluck these little fellows and it seems a shame to waste all the lovely feathers if we can help it, so I'd like to keep them separate from the normal trash."

[souls_of_roles]

"Thank you! Yes please!"

[aquawayfinder]

"Alright. Happy to work with you. Anything specific you want to talk about?"

[gregorydeegan]

"If we can finish this off without making a mess it'll be a real feather in our caps and a great way to cap off the day. They'll fawn all over the feathers too, they'll be tickled pink to get them." He grabbed a trash bag and opened it up. "Wait till they see how many you bagged."

[queen_butterfly]

She seemed to be debating on how to answer for a few seconds, before finally sighing. "Nor is it anything I've ever had experience with, to be honest. And... I don't know that squeamishness is a factor, precisely? But my kind does not... ah...."

She reconsidered; the dragons had, at least while they'd needed to, as they hadn't had any effective choice in the matter. And the fairies, herself included, preyed upon the garden pest insects, in their earlier life stages, as well.

"Well... not once able not to.... But I know humans are different." She shrugged, eyeing the bird she was holding, and gave it another few scritches and a kiss on its head, readying to set it down, though it didn't look like it wanted to go. Why would it, when it was getting attention? "I wouldn't know where to start, but if I could possibly assist somehow...."

Knowing about the carnivorous part of the food chain was one thing. Getting involved for the first time in just about forever would be another, though. Maybe she could at least take care of the cleanup as he worked? But realistically, she might well do just about anything he'd need for it, short of actually using the knife herself, if he were willing to direct.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"What? No," Lea said with a chuckle. "I'm talking about the kind of accessories you wear. Jewelry, belts, hairclips, stuff like that. The ones I make usually have magical properties, but they don't have to. My dad made and sold both kinds."