#florigenesis

*(also, in the Discord conversation this AU spun out of, I mentioned red and then @elf-kid2 (whose idea this whole thing was in the first place!!) pointed out the angst potential: "It's about the vacillating emotions as someone mistakes it for blood and panics, then looks closer and it's just flower-petals, so they relax for a second, before panicing again EVEN MORE because those are FLOWER PETALS and they're remembering with dawning realization and dread, EXACTLY what that symptom means, and what might happen if/when the disease progresses" and i was like OH FUCK, THAT'S PERFECT. btw, have you read Elf's fics? they're fabulous)

The first image below was the one I sent to the Discord server as a visual example, so that's what I've been imagining Megamind coughing up. Reverse image search brings up an Amazon listing for an "Arabian Nights" cultivar, so the second image below is a composite of several other Arabian Nights dahlias - they have a nice gradient, but most aren't actually as dark as I was hoping for. It probably depends a lot on lighting and time of day.

So here are a couple other varieties! The ones on the left (or first, depending on whether the image layout cooperates -_-) are called "Aurora's Kiss" and the ones on the right (or second) are "Shadow Cat."

I'm not sure what cultivar specifically is Roxanne's; it might be any or none of these, or it might be specific to her. But, looking at these, I'm thinking probably Shadow Cat is closest to what I had in mind. Some dahlias are very tidy-looking - Aurora's Kiss is a good example of what I mean by "tidy" - and Shadow Cat is reasonably neat but not too strict with its edges. Its petals look more...idk, comfortable? Whereas Aurora's Kisses seem very packed in and tightly wound. Which, Roxanne is organized, but I would not call her "tightly wound." More on this in a moment.

Color-wise, when Megamind is in his early stages... the first few petals he coughs up are probably somewhere in the brighter Arabian Nights range, but then they eventually deepen in hue to something like the first image, or the very, very dark flower in the last image. Those are what he's horking up by the time Minion finally figures it out.

Now, interestingly, I discovered whilst writing this fic that the very dark burgundy dahlias are sometimes called "black" dahlias. At some point, I got curious about the floriographic meaning of dahlias - I was set on them for Roxanne enough at that point that a negative meaning couldn't make me change my mind, but floriography is fun to read about anyway! Dahlias can mean a lot of things: from joy to rebirth to dignity to finding inner strength. The intended meaning depends on color and probably also context. Except for when the dahlia is black, like Roxanne's, in which case the meaning is, uh... betrayal, lmao. Oh, well. Like I said, that wasn't going to change my mind. xD I know better than to revise something when it jumps out at me as quickly and as hard as "her flowers are burgundy dahlias" did, so I just shrugged and kept on writing.

I like dahlias for Roxanne for a lot of reasons. They frequently have intense depth of color, and while they come in a lot of different shapes - some of them very round, as I mentioned - their petals in full bloom resemble a firework explosion no matter what type they are. And some cultivars aren't tidy at all! Look at the ones in the bottom row:

They aren't roses, but they are vaguely rose-like - so, just close enough to the stereotypical Romance Flower to have someone nodding along instead of scratching their head, but off-beat enough to maybe not be most people's knee-jerk, first-pick alternatives (based on the composition of a lot of romantic bouquets, I'd assume the obvious second-fiddle to roses would be carnations. Or baby's breath. The former of which I loathe for reasons unknown to me, the second of which just doesn't feel like Roxanne). Also, they can get BIG, so there's a lot of potential for Megamind to be in a lot of pain >:) Shadow Cat blossoms get up to 4 inches in diameter.

This last trait isn't unique to dahlias, but the especially dark-hued flowers look absurdly soft and velvety to me. Roxanne is capable of going hog wild when she wants to, but seeing the best in people is an established part of her character and I think there is probably a deep level of compassion built into that trait - so I try to write her as someone who is soft with people, not in the sense of being weak-willed, but in the sense that she approaches people with care and the desire to understand them.

So, the burgundy dahlia is a dark red flower with a good depth of color, and it's distinctive enough to stand alone in a bouquet and plain enough to support a different focal point equally well. It's showy and big, but it's organized. It's soft but it's got a lot to it. I feel like that all suits Roxanne pretty well!

Thank you for the ask, this was fun :D I hope you have a lovely day, love you too!!