Force, object. Or possibly pot, kettle.

[mrissa]

So today on the Writing Carter Hall Channel, we have a minor plot question. Which is stronger: a spell placed upon you by the Queen of Air and Darkness, or the instinct and ingrained knowledge of 50 years that your 5'2", 75-year-old, Up-North-Minnesotan mother is really not someone you want to mess with? Or, to put it a different way, exactly how much of a world of hurt is Coach Rob Laird in for?

Heh. Oh dear.

Comments

[shana.livejournal.com]

The latter. At least until decisively proven otherwise.

Ouch.

[tournevis.livejournal.com]

Queen of Air and Darkness as nothing on Mom. That's your plot point right there.

[also-huey.livejournal.com]

Which is stronger: a spell placed upon you by the Queen of Air and Darkness, or the instinct and ingrained knowledge of 50 years that your 5'2", 75-year-old, Up-North-Minnesotan mother is really not someone you want to mess with?

...how did YOU know my mother was the Queen of Air and Darkness?

You've been fooled by the accent, though. She's actually from northern Wisconsin.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

How odd; I'm usually so solid on that range of accents.

[retrobabble.livejournal.com]

He's not even real and I'm glad I'm not in his shoes!

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

The spell's gotta be much stronger; otherwise it's hardly magic at all, and hers ought to be up at the highest levels.

Which won't protect him from the consequences of messing with his mother, of course.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

See, yah, that's just it: "the latter, definitely" is the nice answer.

I'm afraid I just may not be that nice.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

You are a special little snowflake of icy death potential! And I'm sure you'll do what needs to be done.

[avocadovpx.livejournal.com]

>> You are a special little snowflake of icy death potential!

I think this belongs in mrissa's blurb file.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

It's certainly very sweet of you to say.

[tournevis.livejournal.com]

If you knew my mother, nice would not be the word you use. No way.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Nonono. It's not that Granny Laird will be at all nice. It's that if she wins outright to begin with, that will be a much, much nicer outcome than if there is a protracted battle with Coach Laird as the battleground.

[tournevis.livejournal.com]

I understand. Of course there should be a battle, totally. But in the end, to me anyway, there is no doubt that mom wins over any fae queen. And not in a nice way, for either Coach or the queen.

[orbitalmechanic.livejournal.com]

Well, right, if Mom wins that's the happy ending.

[tournevis.livejournal.com]

Again, this truly depends on the mother. Mine? Not a happy ending.

[bork.livejournal.com]

Mom. By a long shot. Tiny Upper Midwestern moms are not to be trifled with.

[stillnotbored.livejournal.com]

Never ever mess with mom.

[lydy.livejournal.com]

I gotta vote for the Queen of Air and Darkness. Moms are formidable, but they don't have that level of magic working for them. Although, I wasn't raised by a Mid-west mom. Maybe they're scarier. Although my mom was pretty scary.

[zwol.livejournal.com]

Is the necessity of messing with his mother the only reason he wouldn't naturally do whatever it is the Queen of Air and Darkness wants him to do?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Mostly, yes.

[zwol.livejournal.com]

To my mind, that makes it more likely that her spell would work, at least initially.

[columbina.livejournal.com]

What if your mother IS the Queen of Air and Darkness?

Just sayin'.

[columbina.livejournal.com]

And not only is my answer flip, but I see now someone beat me to it. OK.

More serious answer: A geas is a geas. If someone's actually being controlled by magic, then the magic wins. Which is not to say that there won't be hell to pay when the geas wears off.

Absent a true geas/magical compulsion/mind control, I say Mom wins every time.

[zwol.livejournal.com]

Sometimes the rule is that if the magician orders you to do something totally against your nature, morals, or basic survival instincts, you get a saving throw.

[columbina.livejournal.com]

There's that.

[nipernaadi.livejournal.com]

There is way around that - the spell that can fuck up your perception of reality in way that would work!

For example - if it is NOT in you to kill, then a spell that makes you to see your mother as your arch-enemy would be of no use. But do not lose hope yet - there is another way! Let you see your mother as a fish out of water and you WILL take the suicidal "fish" and make sure that it will say underwater until it stops fighting you!

[zwol.livejournal.com]

Yes, but that doesn't seem like the Queen of Air and Darkness' style. The Puck, now...

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Fear plus magic vs. love. Boy am I glad I don't have to write the thing.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

It has not been an easy day on the vertigo front or the writing front. Worthwhile on the latter, at least. But not easy.

Happily there are other fronts to be had, so the rest of the day balances out.

[pameladean]

Weirdly, I am thinking of Coriolanus.

P.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Perhaps I should too.

[fidelioscabinet.livejournal.com]

Which one is in the room at the time, and did the Queen use her Very Best mojo? Because I could see the Coach whipsawed, so to speak, between the two, depending on which one is paying the most attention.

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

I'm going with this. If the reality of mother is ascendant at all, it's temporary, or what's the point of being under a spell in the first place?

[skzbrust.livejournal.com]

My inclination is that training from childhood and/or basic elements of character always trump glamours.

[markgritter.livejournal.com]

I dunno; I think there could very well be an element of "I always knew this was a really bad idea, but now that I'm under a geas I can at least find out how bad."

I'm trying to think of other examples of this, but the only one I can come up with is the genie in Castle In The Air.

[juliansinger.livejournal.com]

a) Looks to be a lot, of varying different kinds, and b) My, do I want to find /out/, eventually.

[shweta-narayan.livejournal.com]

OHhhh dear.

[prettymuchpeggy.livejournal.com]

I suppose it comes down to whether to (b) be thumped by the familiar or (a) be thumped by the exotic. Said another way "Do you pick the devil you know or the devil you don't"

Personally, if it is the middle of the book, I would choose that the hero be thumped by the exotic because it could have interesting ramifications and cause chewy bits. If toward the end, being thump by the familiar ...well... that stuff happens to everyone some time and it lends to the reality of the charater.