Accidental Video - Backdated To Mother's Day

[sos_pilot]

Type: Video
Sender ID: perfpilot (Della Duck)
To: Public
Subject: missing another mother's day
Warnings: Sads!


[ The feed turns on abruptly, with the image jostling - as Della had violently thrown the device on her bed and not realized it turned on. Everyone is treated to her yelling mid-rant, as she kicks furniture and stomps about, pulling at her hair. ]

- Missed it AGAIN, and this time, it's not even MY FAULT! How is that FAIR?! Haven't I done enough? Why can't I just... why? Is this someone's sick idea of a joke?! Am I just not... allowed to be with them? In any world? In any universe? Why? Why? I... I just...

[ Her voice breaks, and she sits on her bed, burying her face in her hands. After a moment, she shuffles, and pulls out a piece of paper from her jacket. From this angle, it's difficult to tell, but it could be a drawing of three little duck boys. She runs her fingers down the image, and then begins singing softly.

Fair to say a good number of people here know Della as an adventure-loving nutjob. But here and now, her voice is filled with genuine love. ]

Look to the stars, my darling baby boys,
Life is strange and vast,
Filled with wonders and joys,
Face each new sun with eyes clear and true,
Unafraid of the unknown...
Because I'll face it all, with you...

[ Then, out of the corner of her eye - which may be tearing up - she spots the device. And can guess what happened. ]

... Aw, phooey.

[ With a swallow, she reaches over, and weakly smiles. ]

... So. Uh. Anyone know any good jokes?

[ ooc: if you'd like to tag della but not interested in something this depressing, feel free to hit me up for a quest-starter! ]

Comments

[telepathicignorance]

Yeah I think you mentioned that before.

[sos_pilot]

oh, no, I'm getting repetitive? That won't do! you need FRESH stories!

[telepathicignorance]

(Somewhere, they snort.)

You never actually told me the details.

[sos_pilot]

THAT I CAN DO!

you want this story over text or prefer face to face interaction?

[telepathicignorance]

Might as well meet up. I'm gonna be at the bakery not far from the docks on Eltrut.

(They send location coordinates.)

[sos_pilot]

See you in two shakes of a duck's tail! Prepare for the WEIRDEST STORY EVER!

[telepathicignorance]

I can probably do weirder.

[sos_pilot]

A WEIRD-STORY-OFF! EVEN BETTER!

Text -> Action

[telepathicignorance]

Wait til you hear about the laser dolphins.

(And they'll be at the aforementioned bakery when she gets there, looking as cranky as ever.)

[sos_pilot]

[ And when Della arrives, she's looking...

quiet. No eager running up and babbling their ears off. Despite the frequent use of caps lock in her thread, she's still pretty upset about things. Her eyes are a little red and puffy from earlier tears, and she has her hands in her pockets, moving slowly and calmly as she approaches him. ]

... Hey. Thanks for this.

[telepathicignorance]

(And well, it's a relief that she isn't, but also worrying.

...Why do they keep making friends? They didn't sign up for this.)

Yeah. Got anything you want? I'll buy the pastries.

(If they're gonna hang out here and tell stories, pastries are obligatory.)

[sos_pilot]

[ get loved, fucker

Della manages to put a smile on, at least. ]

I'm not picky. Grab your favorites, and we'll split 'em.

[telepathicignorance]

(Love? They know it exists, but they'll believe that's real for them when they see it.

No. They've seen it a lot and still think it's fake.

They grin.)

Sure.

(And they'll go and buy a bunch of pastries. It's probably a good 15 minutes before they return carrying a bag of mango fritters, a bakers dozen of strawberry and custard spandauer, and a half dozen of some little puffy things stuffed to the brim with a mix of spinach and cheese.

Can they eat all this in one sitting? They intend to find out.)

[sos_pilot]

[ Hey, no complaints here. When you've eaten nothing but black-licorice-flavored oxy-chew for ten+ years, all food is delicious and welcome. ]

We might pack on the pounds after this meal... but, hey, more of us to love. Better find a good place to sit and chew.

[telepathicignorance]

(Chris shrugs.)

That's not really a problem for me. (They are kinda thin and scrawny looking for someone who eats stuff like this pretty regularly.

Superbrain and stress + regular physical activity do that to a person.)

Could grab one of the tables outside here or go down to the docks.

[sos_pilot]

Tables here.

[ Docks mean ocean, and ocean sucks. So as they make to sit down... ]

Okay, before we start swapping stories, context probably helps. So, starting point - do you know anything about genies? Or sitcoms?

[telepathicignorance]

The wish granting lamp guys and the TV show genre? (They shrug as they sit down.)

Yeah. (They open the bags and boxes of pastries and set them in the middle of the table.)

[sos_pilot]

Okay, good! So I don't have to explain too much.

[ She's just gunna grab one and start chomping. ]

Now, my twin brother, Donald! He and I have been adventuring since we were kids. While I never stopped loving it, he... kinda did. All the danger and heartbreak was really getting to him, and I won't lie, a lot of us in the family just ignored his pain. Total jerk move on our part - we just thought he was being stubborn.

So one day, we're all out treasure hunting, get caught by gigantic killer scorpions, the usual. As we're ready to fight for our lives, turns out Donald found a genie's lamp... but he didn't know what it was. And he made a wish.

[telepathicignorance]

(Okay, they're already off to a pretty weird start.)

Family of adventurers, huh? (They're not sure there are any families of professional adventurers, or even professional adventurers period.

The closest thing they can think of are the enhanced, and while the enhanced do have families boosts are infertile and mods don't inherit, so multi-generational households of heroes or villains aren't really a thing. Plus, she said they've been doing this since they were kids and children are ...pretty fragile.)

What, did he wish for you all to be a normal family with normal lives or something?

[sos_pilot]

Bingo! Got it in one. Now here's where it gets wacky.

The next thing I knew, we were back home in the mansion - but our memories were all messed up. We didn't remember being on that adventure, or on any adventure in the first place. We were a classic, cheesy family sitcom! With applause and awws and boos and everything! But we had no idea, we thought it was normal!

[telepathicignorance]

(Their face scrunches a little as they think about it.)

There are a lot of stories sbout wishes going wrong. Were there producers and cameramen and everything?

(Were those the "humans" she talks sbout?

They grab a fritter.)

[sos_pilot]

In a sense - they were kinda there, but even if they were in plain sight, we couldn't see them! We could hear the audience, but not really acknowledge them - like, we couldn't talk when they were laughing, y'get me?

The "plot of the episode" was getting a family photo taken. But as it went on, my son Huey - who is so, so, so smart, my lil genius - finally realized something was going on. When he opened books... they were completely blank!

[telepathicignorance]

Big reader then?

(They take a big bite of their fritter as they ponder this. They've never experienced anything quite like that. The closest thing they can think of is being trapped in their own nightmares... maybe some kind of telepath could mess with people that way?

Could they? Is this what getting hit by their dreams feels like?)

[sos_pilot]

The biggest! He loves to learn! He's got so many facts in his brain that he can spit out at any second! And he loves helping out people too, he's such a sweet kid! And he's always there to help his brothers out of trouble!

[ ... she may be getting too distracted in Mom Love to remember telling the original story. ]

[telepathicignorance]

(They can sense her pride. Getting sidetracked is a thing they're used to happening with people.

...Listening to her like this is giving them a weird feeling, actually. Time to get back on track.)

So he was the first to notice something was wrong because he couldn't read his books. What happened next?