Chapter Text
What Is “Petalpressed?”
In a most basic explanation, Petalpressed is a “Soulmate mark x Hanahaki au,” but the concept dives far further than that.
Firstly, “soulmate” is a bit of a misnomer in this case. While in the worldbuilding of this AU there is the concept of soulmates, it’s strictly folklore.
Part 1: “Tattoos”
The basis of the AU is that everyone has a “tattoo” or mark somewhere on their body of a plant (the only exception to this is dryads and the divine, at least in the case of the Percy Jackson universe in which I first created this for). This plant represents the individual as a whole, and can be any size and anywhere on the body. A person’s individual plant “tattoo” is always one plant, but it may be varying varieties of that plant or one specific color or type - such as a specific type/color of lily or orchid. Because of these tattoos, plant symbolism plays a major role in the AU.
These “flower tattoos” (though they certainly aren't limited to only flowering plants - they may also include trees, bushes, fruits, vegetables, mosses, and occasionally lichens, fungi, algae, and more.) have the potential to change over time as an individual grows. Most children are born with only a seed, sprout, bulb, etc, rather than a full plant as their tattoo. As they age, the plant grows and may even completely change plants (such as a lily becoming a cactus) and can do so multiple times over the course of a person’s life in reaction to various experiences. Any kind of experience that impacts a person enough to “change them” - as little or drastic as it might be - has the potential to change the type of flower/plant that represents a person.
The tattoos are 2-dimensional dynamic tattoos - they may shift slightly while being viewed, but don’t pop up from the skin. They will appear different as plants may appear different from day to day, and may “grow” with the individual they represent. They can also appear in any stage of the plant’s growth or fruit/flower cycle and etc. Some may appear in multiple stages of the plant’s life at time, showing multiple sprouts or etc at a time, and may also appear in or change between multiple different color variations of a plant at a time.
Tattoos also reflect the physical/mental/emotional state of the individual it represents. In the context of petalpressed!PJO again, Nico di Angelo’s flower is dandelions, and after he (spoiler alert) goes through Tartarus, his flower is wilting and dying for a period of a few days. It eventually begins to recover slowly as Nico himself also recovers.
The tattoos are the base aspect of the “tattoo” portion of the AU, and will have relevance again in the “hanahaki” section of the au. The second half of the tattoos is how the “soulmate” misnomer plays into things.
When an individual enters a romantic relationship, the plant that represents their significant other will appear next to their own tattoo in some form. This form may shift from time to time, but will generally be a notable addition to the individual’s “bouquet.” This can occasionally be subtle, such as a sunflower partner may cause sunflower seeds to appear on their partner(s)’s “tattoo(s),” but generally this will simply appear as the plant as normal. The relationship must be mutual for the secondary parties’ plants to appear on their partner’s “bouquet.”
Two individuals having the same plant is uncommon, and in universe lore is considered a sign of those two being “soulmates.” However, this concept is entirely folklore ( unless...? ). If two individuals with the same plant begin dating, another set of that plant will appear alongside their “bouquet” and may change independently to reflect the significant other whereas the rest of the “tattoo” remains reflecting the individual.
If an individual in the relationship views their relationship as failing, their partner’s plant on the individual’s own “tattoo” may appear to start to wilt or otherwise appear ailing. If the other party or parties view the relationship as fine, however, all plants on their “tattoo” will appear healthy.
In polyamarous relationships, a person will have plants on their “tattoo” that correspond to all of their respective partners. Tattoos are strictly related to romantic relationships, however, so aro-spec individuals or queerplatonic relationships will not have plants representing their platonic or queerplatonic relationships.*
* (Author’s note - This is due to the AU creator being aro/ace and wanting the AU universe normalizing the concept of not having a “second half” for a-spec identities.)
After a romantic relationship has broken off or been ended, if a participant of the relationship viewed it as particularly impactful, their tattoo may remain to have elements of their former partner or partners’s plants such as fallen petals, dead leaves, or other remnants of their plant. While their former partner’s plant as a whole may be gone, indicators that said plant was once there may remain for as long as the individual feels the relationship has majorly impacted them.
Part 2: “Hanahaki” elements
The secondary aspect is similar to Hanahaki disease, but instead of a possibly lethal disease caused by love unrequited, but instead just simply the individual will simply cough up petals or parts of the plant associated with their crush/romantic interest until either the infatuation is lost or the feelings are returned. This is never lethal, but can be distressing or inconveniencing for the individual coughing up these plants. For those who know the social circles of the individual with the crush, they may be able to glean who the individual has an infatuation with due to linking the plant being coughed up and the “tattoos” of their social circles.
Make this angsty as you will. >;3c
Universe Lore:
As mentioned before, there is a folklore concept of soulmates in Petalpressed universes, in which couples who share a plant that symbolizes them are considered “soulmates.” This is no indication that they are actually soulmates or even a compatible couple - it simply means they’re alike enough to be represented by the same plant. This concept of soulmates or plant compatibility is generally viewed on the same level as zodiac compatibility.
Even in the context of the Riordanverse for where this AU originates, the lore for how these “tattoos” came to be is very vague and loose. My concepts were that possibly Aphrodite and possibly Demeter and other nature deities decided to make it a thing just for fun.
The “mundane” explanation for how the “tattoos” work and came to be is something similar to the ability chameleons or octopi have to change colors. Why exactly it was developed is unknown, or how the whole throwing up flowers thing works, or why specific flowers appear on different people, but they’re still looking into it.
Most of the lore surrounding how everything functions or came to be is very open and free to interpretation.
That's all! Next "chapter" will be my very messy list of plant meanings for AU use/reference.