@DragonParadox I have a little experience writing the reversal of loss, but it's never an easy process, so if this runs long I hope you'll be able to get pertinent points from it. Apologies in advance.
[x] Plan Parting Veils
[x] The woman in front of you is your mother, but she's also a woman out of time. You know her, but it's been a decade since she last saw you. You and Dany have talked about this, have tried to understand what it might be like for her to see you, but now that the moment is here, it's different. To see magic undo death isn't new, as strange as that would have sounded a few years past. But you've never seen it through this lens, as the one experiencing a reversal of fortunes long thought quite impossible. Even after Bloodraven's promise, you dared not truly hope until this moment.
[x] "Mother," the word sticks in your throat, barely a whisper, but it's too late to take it back. "Do you recognise me?"
The key point here is to take her attention away from her surroundings to someone who looks familiar, even cloaked in magic as we are.
[x] Continue before she can answer, but make sure you have her attention. "It's Viserys." Reach out to her, try to give her something real to grasp after so long spent Elsewhere, but don't push. She's going to be in shock, the example of the last woman you raised from the dead whispers. Never have you felt so incapable of crafting fine words. "I know I look different. It's been a long time."
Do not mention how long. She'll be able to work it out and I refuse to push the abandonment button beyond what is absolutely necessary to show that we're still her son.
[x] "You're alive again." These words are more to yourself then any other. Maybe to Dany too. The thought strikes you.
Dany. She wears the visage of one of the highest planes. How could Rhaella recognise her? Reach out again, take her hand if she'll let you. "This is Daenerys, and...Ser Lonmouth. He has been a stalwart guardian after Ser Darry's passing."
Again, hammer on what is familiar over what is not. This is an anachronism, but it's an important one. We have to bring her into the world without hiding too much, but also without giving too much strangeness to let her try and dismiss it. We need our mother sane, for her sake, and ours. Not even getting into Dany's mental state if she starts screaming in fear at her own children.
[x] "I know you'll have questions, I do, but please. Believe that it's me. That it's your children." You take a deep, shuddering breath, and tears prick at your eyes for the first time in longer than you can truly remember. "And that we have missed you,
so much."
[x] If appropriate, proceed to hug. If not, give her space. This is an enormous overturning of what she thinks possible, we have to step carefully about it.
@Tomcost @Goldfish @Duesal @Azel please for the love of god give me advice here. My entire knowledge of GoT comes from this quest. I think I have the emotional tone right, now I just need to know if there's anything else I'm missing. This isn't a moment for speeches though. Or a moment for simple devolving to a child. This is a young man, possessed of power, presented with a gift more wonderous than any before it. Our ascent from nothingness, the Shadow Tower, even Dany's breaking free of Tiamat, they all are
nothing to this. Not in impact to the wider world, sure. But this is Viserys' mother. The only link he has (and may ever properly get) to a past torn away from him as a child.
He's reached towards the stars, towards the planes, and found purchase there. But the emotional depth is what truly matters. And there? Nothing compares.
Nothing.
Edit: my hands were actually
shaking a little whilst writing this vote.
