metalogs | LOVE POTION #9

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LOVE POTION #9

LOVE IS... not in the air! The reintroduction of Confluences into this world has left it rocked, so the season of love is not quite as lovey-dovey as it usually is. People are stressed and anxious. Valentine's events are being cancelled left, right, and center in fear that a Confluence may catch young lovers unawares.

Unbeknownst to mortals, the God of Love really can't afford his month to be ruined by a few little dimensional catastrophes. This is his month! ... And for whatever reason, he seems to be stranded on the Earthly plane.

Surely he can fix things. Push it along a little. Though Gods don't usually meddle in mortal affairs, this is a personal catastrophe. All it takes is a few drops of love potion on a token of affection, and voila! Instant-connection.

(This event has a blanket warning for dubious consent of the love spell variety. To opt out completely, characters can simply not be in Sunset Falls at the time of the event, which runs through Valentine's Day.)

WHITE HEARTS FESTIVAL

Welcome to Sunset Falls, the most magical place in all of America! Literally. The streets are charged with magical energies, and while it won't be spinning your words into spells, it will give anyone who is magically inclined a comfortable little buzz. Maybe it's the boost you need to get a spell working, or maybe it's just a pep in your step. Confluence-displaced metas who take the Guilds up on their offer to tour the new housing will arrive just in time to witness the an annual tradition: The White Hearts Festival, a festival dedicated to all forms of love - familial, friendship, and romantic.

The whole town is decked out in pinks, golds and reds. Town square has been overtaken by food booths peddling elaborate meals and desserts with various magical effects. (It's probably better not to ask why some of the cookies being handed out are in the shape of anatomical hearts.)

Eat an emoji cookie and find yourself sprouting heart-eyes, or gaining a flurry of hearts above your head.

The Bolder Biscuit - by far and above the densest thing you've ever tried to eat - makes you bold. It compels you to march right up to someone and tell them what you think, good or bad.

And there's also the Firework Delight cake, which makes you shoot off literal fireworks the moment you touch that special someone that makes your life complete... but honestly, they go off when you touch anyone. Sorry if you end up giving off the wrong impression!

In addition, pop-up craft stands sell trinkets that guarantee you'll be together with your people forever and ever. The most popular item on sale this year appears to be the Eternal Bond - which is just an enchanted finger-trap that refuses to let go unless you tell someone a deep dark secret.

There is an altar at the town park where you can make your offering and give prayers to the God of Love in hopes he will smile favorable upon you. Lay your chocolate heart at its base and offer up a prayer to the God so that your life will be full of love and connection.

Truthfully, when it started it wasn't as cutesy as it is now. It became a lot more wholesome when people began to offer only chocolate hearts to the God of Love. Now it's fun for the whole family! ... So long as you don't veer into the woods. Some people still practice the old ways, and there are (what you hope to be) animal hearts nailed to trees. This is Sunset Falls, after all. Weird often goes hand in hand with terror.

LONELY HEARTS

For those of you who don't yet have those special people, lonely hearts still single can collect white rose enamel pins from the festival committee. They're expected to pick someone to give it out to as a declaration of their attraction by the end of the festival. However... there seems to be an issue this year. There's more pins here than there are people in town. Committee members start handing them out to anyone, single or not, and from there that's where things start to get a little weird...

You clip the pin onto your shirt and at once, your life has suddenly become a romcom. Everything is just a little brighter, the sounds a little more musical (sometimes literally), and you're suddenly compelled to reach out and find connection.

And the universe is conspiring to bring it your way! Cliches won't stop happening around you. Suddenly people are determined to give you a makeover so you can catch the eye of an admirer. Your friends are betting on your romantic future. A complex love triangle is springing out of previously platonic friendships.

You're not not limited to one partner, and that partner doesn't need to be romantic. It could be a best friend, or a nemesis that you're compelled to fight over and over again for the joy of it. What matters is the connection and the way the world seems to stop at nothing to give you that perfect three act structure: You Meet, You Lose, You Get.

Reach the end of your romcom's little arc and you'll find yourself freed from the spell... and probably will have some choice words for its caster.

HEARTS ON FIRE

Regardless of how you participate in the festival, everyone is at risk when the town itself falls under a love spell.

This may be unlike anything you've known before. Perhaps it's the first stumbling steps of puppy love. You want to be with this person all the time. Hold their hands and work up the courage for a kiss. Or perhaps this is something fierce and passionate. You want to be kissing them always, pursuing these passions heedless of consequences.

This doesn't need to be a romantic love. It can be strong and familial. Perhaps the sort you've always desired but never had. You could fall into a family unit with others affected by the spell. Compelled to hug each other and say words of encouragement or praise. Perhaps you, while living your own love story, are the best friend in someone else's - offering up the speech that tells them they deserve more than they think they do.

Whatever your flavor of love may be, you're prone to dramatic declarations. Confessions at the drop of a hat. It's go big or go home, and since nobody's going home right now, you might as well go as big as you can. Perhaps you're arranging for Flash Mobs to declare your feelings! Or making plans to move in together despite only having met a few hours ago.

This is all fine and well at first, but it may become clear pretty quickly that characters who try to hold their burning passions are likely to burn themselves! If you're the repressed type and you try to resist the compulsions that the love spell puts on you, you might just burst into flames, and someone will need to put you out. Don't worry — move quick enough, and there won't be any lasting damage, and if there is, the Guilds' healers can help you out.

MEET CUTE-PID

For those paying attention to that sort of thing, one constant of all these wild declarations can be spotted in the background. A tall man with curly blonde hair and an all too charming smile never seems to be far from the romance.

Those who are curious enough to follow will find he retreats to a lavish mansion on the outskirts of town. The mansion has the gaudy and abundant decor of a honeymoon suite on the Las Vegas Strip, with lights attuned to music and a massive twirling heart above the roof of the building. Peer inside and you will see hundreds of tiny viewing windows, each depicting a different romantic story unfolding outside of town. The door to the mansion appears to be locked tight and the windows are magically sealed, but some quick thinking may get you inside.

If anyone wants to engage him, HERE is a top level where we will summarize encounters. The more PCs involved in an encounter, the bigger its outcome will be. We will determine the impact on the god of love on Valentine's Day, so get your comments in by end of day on the 13th! You may also use this top level to ask event-specific questions about the effects on this page! (Please refer general questions about the setting to the FAQ, and refer any player plots to the PLOTTING page.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ He's casting as fast as he can, faster than he had been, hyper-aware of the distress Loki's in on the ground. ]

Just hold on. I'm almost there.

[ And he is. The spell's almost sealed, just a few more moments and he'll have to bones of it locked down. After that it's padding, extra protection - it's finding out how much of a difference isolation will make when Loki's already overtaken. ]

[ The spell forces its way into his blood, his mind, and as he becomes more aware of it the pain increases threefold. ]

It knows!

[ It's the will of a god and refuting it is agony in the pit of Loki's guts as he doubles over with a yell, anger fuelling his resistance. There is so much of the other god in the enchantment made on that deity's home-soil that the very air buzzes angrily as Loki tries to buck it off, an effort made far easier with Stephen assisting from above. Glaring at the ground, Loki sums up every ounce of rage he can and drops the phone, snarling for the other god to hear wherever it is. ]

I am ... Loki ... of Asgard, [ hothotHOT ] and I ... am not for anyone to put in their box — ARGHHH!

[ Flame rush up with a vengeance as the spell turns on the defiant will refusing to be enthralled any longer, engulfing him as he screams. ]

[ Fuck.

It's too late to prevent by the time he understands the battle unfolding below. Nothing he could do beyond what he's doing already. And then everything is flame, the heat of it reaching Stephen even up here, and he seals the spell with one last violent press of magic and then drops down into the buffeting heat to use that seal to its fullest potential.

Taking a hold of the space he's created, Stephen tugs at its contents— and voids it. Creates a vacuum.

The upside is there's no air. No loose and drifting elements for the magic already inside to continue to hijack. No external fuel for the fire that is Loki. The downside is the fire is magic, and Loki is fuel. The other downside is there's no air.

He can't speak because he can't breathe, but he holds it long enough to see if it's having any effect on the blaze. If it isn't, he'll let the air back in - clean air, stripped of the spell on its way through Stephen's ward. If it's helping to quell the flames, he'll hold the vacuum firm to starve them for as long as he can. ]

[ Loki is fuel and he goes up in a wild furore of flames, violently licking at his skin and hair and clothes before Stephen drops down and casts something (oh, there goes the air but it's alright because Loki doesn't need it) and the furious fire gutters.
 
He drops to the grass and rolls from side to side, smacking at himself to try and put it out. The lack of oxygen definitely reduces the flames but they cling to him like orange leeches, flashing higher wherever he burns fastest, anguished screams filling the glade of hearts. ]

Help, help!

[ At least the rolling is helping too, on top of Stephen's spell. ]

[ Back floods the air and down swoops the cloak, coated in Stephen's earlier ward as it presses in around Loki to keep the incoming air from breathing new life into diminished flame. Stephen sucks in breath and closes his eyes, dragging his thoughts back over anywhere he's been in the last few days, searching for— there.

A moment later, half the contents of the Diadem's pool come cascading down over them from a portal opened above. ]

[ The cloak smothers the flames that try to leap to wherever it can't reach, covering a far greater surface area than Loki's best efforts, yet the downpour extinguishes the god-sent inferno once and for all so that Loki's shrieks are drowned out (literally) and the enchantment gives up its grip.

(The chair. He burned me in a chair. I burned at the Siege of Asgard. I burn.)

Shaking in shock, whimpers leave the godling as he curls up on his side to see his badly burned hands from trying to smother the unrelenting flames and from the pain all through his body he knows it was a bad day not to wear his armour. He can't see well through one eye; his ear is throbbing; Loki's face and neck stick to the grass.

More than anything, his mind feels frozen in the shock of being on fire. Again. ]

[ It works. It's over. Or as over as anything like this can really be when the happening of it was so awful. Stephen shuts off the portal and stops the downpour, sloshing over sodden earth to kneel at Loki's side. ]

We need to get you to a hospital.

[ His godhood makes no difference when he's covered in burns, deep and fierce as the spell that's just been purged from him. Hospital is Stephen's first thought because it always is. But a hospital isn't the most efficient option here, and he halts in the middle of his careful checks to determine the state Loki's in as a better option lands with him.

He knows a doctor, of a sort. One who could fix this a lot faster than any hospital could. ]

Stay still. I'm going to call someone.

[ Loki coughs, wheezing as he forces himself up on a shaky hand, burned skin an angry red which his usually carefree flirtatious self inhabits, now scorched raw. A mortal couldn't sit up with those sorts of burns but he doesn't intend to lie on his back like a weakling — not in front of an Avenger, certainly not one who saved him. ]

Take ... me home. My place. [ He shakes his head a little, wincing. ] No hospitals.

[ Whoever it is that Stephen wants to call, they can wait until Loki isn't looking like Deadpool knocked on his ass. ]

Your hand. [ He twitches his fingers, meaning to touch Stephen's. Through swollen lips, he hisses, ] Guide your portal.

[ It's bad. Loki's going to need some serious attention. But since there are ways to expedite the healing process, Stephen doesn't fight him on the hospital.

The sitting up he does almost fight him on, only it has a purpose. Once Stephen understands it he offers his hand closer to minimise the reaching Loki needs to do and twists to opens up a portal, allowing himself to act as conduit for their destination. ]

[ Loki sends what little magic he can summon into Stephen's transportation spell, sending the edges of it a lime-green. Once the teleport dies, they are sat on the soft rug of his lounge with a coffee table and cosy-looking lavender couch nearby. A quick glance of the apartment reveals a very Manhattan feel, open-brick and purple accents around norse knick-knacks on shelves ... a Thor comic-book poster framed on one wall.

Loki hisses and jerks his head to the couch, trying to stand. ]

[Honestly, when you're used to your local Weird Shit being fairly confined to the occasional science experiment gone wrong, things like magic and other super powers takes some getting used to.

Which is why when Loki and The Wizard That Other Peter Knows suddenly appear out of nowhere, Peter has a slightly delayed response from where he's standing. Which... happens to be in the kitchen with the fridge door open.

Okay, listen, he'd just swung by to see if Loki was around and figured since he wasn't that it wouldn't hurt to put together a little sandwich. Swinging is hungry work and a guy's gotta eat. He was going to leave a i.o.u note, honest.

It's only really a seconds of pause before Peter reacts, jumping back a little with a relatively predictable woah--! and he's fully prepared to launch into an awkward Peter-ramble of excuses and non sequiturs, but something is wrong. The kind of wrong that he doesn't need a special spider sense in order to feel.

Immediately, he's rushing over to the two of them, though his focus is quite clearly honed in on Loki, slightly too-familar hands immediately moving to support the Asgardian in his strained movements.]

Oh...! woah, woah, woah--! Hey, what did-- What happened?! Why are you--[He glances up, eyes finding Stephen's face with a momentary sharp confusion etching in.] You know, we've only met twice, but I gotta say so far your track record is starting to look like you just show up places and bring big wizard problems with you.

[ Stephen's busy taking quick and careful stock of where he might be able to put the pressure of a hand up without inflicting too much pain when there's a woah from somewhere nearby. By the time he looks up to catch it somebody's making their way over. A somebody who's perfectly at home in Loki's apartment and in helping him up off the ground and over to the couch.

... A somebody who's a little too easy with the insights for a person Stephen's never met before in his life. ]

I'm sorry, I show up places - ? [ The and bring big wizard problems is silent but heavily implied in his tone, he's an innocent bystander to the impact of a god's guerilla love bombing here thank you, but the cogs are busy turning and fall into place with a final thunk before he has time to finish his sentence.

Two conversations under false stars combine, one with Loki on his way to a date, the other with Peter on the brink of a breakdown, and suddenly he knows who this is.

Stephen relinquishes Loki to the support of a stranger whose name he now knows, buries indignation under the more pressing matter of a freshly cooked god. ]

He was on fire. Be careful. [ Really thorough description of the events just passed, fully explaining why Loki is more than just singed and they're both drenched, you're welcome. Shifting focus to Loki, ] Unless you have any healing power up your sleeve, I'm looping someone in.

Peter? What are you ... doing here? Not s'posed to see ... this.

[ Gasping in pain as he makes his way onto the couch with Peter's help, he keeps his good eye on the two of them as they spar and his heart does a little flip at the protective tone in his not-boyfriend's voice. That's cute.

Loki hopes he still has his eyebrows, unrelatedly. ]

Loop, loop. [ That said to Stephen, he gives Peter what he intends as a reassuring look but probably comes off as pained. Since it really is, too. ] Stephen saved me. S'okay.

[It's probably just as well that Loki confirms this isn't actually Stephen's doing, because rightly or wrongly the question is at the tip of Peter's tongue. He has a lot of space for benefit of the doubt generally, though in a situation like this that capacity is shortened considerably.

He does keep a bit of a cautious eye on Stephen for a moment longer though the mild defensiveness doesn't last too long and its fairly swift to move toward concern taking over. As well as the realisation he's fairly superfluous here.

Unless you have any healing power up your sleeve--

And he doesn't. Not even a little.

It feels fairly pointless, but the moment he sort of perches on the edge of the couch, one hand very carefully and loosely sliding beneath Loki's to squeeze on if he wants to as he offers a slightly forced lopsided but softened smile.]

What, you're saying you'd let Gandalf see you like this but not me?

[And then, with a slight sideways glance at Stephen.]

Your fast-tracking that buddy of yours here, right?

[ He heard that, but he chooses to rise above it in the interest of getting things moving. He has his phone out, miraculously in one functional piece, and is casting a quick glance toward Peter at the question before his attention slides to Loki again. ]

I'll need you to let him pass when I go to collect. [ Stephen knows what that green-tinged portal meant, felt it as they passed through: this is a by-invitation-only space. Better extend that invite to whoever Stephen brings through his portal today. And back to Peter, not quite a reply: ] If he gets any worse, yell.

[ And with that he's excusing himself to another room to, as Spider-Man so eloquently put it, fast-track that buddy of his. ]

[ The driest wheeze of a laugh dies in his throat at the Gandalf comment. even as he starts to feel the urgency of staying away fading away. What if he just napped? Is he allowed? He thinks he should be, he's the one who got roasted and his opinion is salient. Stephen will find the portal amendment still works, letting through Josh with no problem. Apparently Loki is either too high on pain to rescind it or hasn't seen fit to bother yet.

His gaze slides to Peter as Stephen excuses himself down the hall and his hand trembles where it's being gently held. It's taking a lot not to scream and cry but the humiliation would be far worse and longer to live down than the physical agony, so stubbornness it is.

He feels like a melted ugly lump of a god, not at all worth Peter's awe or company. Or affection. ]

M'sorry.

[ Not just for the state he's in, but the people he was with while enchanted. ]

I didn't m-mean to ...

[Outwardly, Peter is all jokes. Coping mechanisms and all, you know how it is.

On the inside he is a mess--heart racing, pulse thundering, cold sweat at the back of his neck.

That is all, hopefully, very much contained somewhere under his outward appearance though which mostly consists of him nodding a little too much at Stephen's exiting comment before letting his attention fix quite firmly on Loki, who he immediately offers a smile to.]

Hey. Hey, what are you sorry for? It's fine--it's going to be fine. You're going to be fine.

[He has to be fine.

That's, in effect, what is running through Peter's mind on repeat with no off button.

It has never crossed his mind that Loki isn't deserving of anything Peter has directed toward him, and in some ways that's even moreso now as he reaches across to very gently shift a stray few strands of hair to the side of Loki's forehead, forcing himself not to shake.]

It's fine. You just need to get through this a little while longer, then they'll get you all patched up and good. It's not going to be long, I promise.

[Maybe he can't promise that, but he's going to as his eyes flit briefly to where Strange has gone to try and gauge what's happening, even though it's barely been a few seconds. And then, to Loki--] And, listen, you can squeeze if you need to--[He gently bounces his palm beneath Loki's] I can take it. Trust me. I got you.

[ There's a nasty burn on his cheek, right into the shifting muscle, and it hurts when he smiles exhaustedly. His grip tentatively gets a little tighter around Peter's hand, not wanting to hurt him and not entirely trusting himself, but in dire need of the concern and care pouring off Peter in waves. ]

The love spell. It made me ... made me act on ... thoughts I had. Old feelings for others. [ He doesn't want to lie; he always does. ] It was not real with them.

[ A charred hand with black-tipped fingertips shakily rises to trace Peter's jaw, the green of Loki's stare surrounded by red broken bloodcells. His voice is raw as he exhales from smoke-seared lungs. ]

I resisted, Peter. For you.

[Being very much true to his word, Peter doesn't worry too much at all when Loki's hold tightens and if every nerve-end wasn't very possibly alight with pain from the burns then he very well would have squeezed back in encouragement.

As Loki begins to fill in the blanks with confessions, the line of Peter's brow wrinkles with confusion, mostly related to why Loki is prioritising this information in particular to tell him about. He gives a little shake of his head like he's about to tell Loki it's fine--because it is fine, really, they hadn't exactly done anything like put labels on anything or spoken about exclusivity and, look, Loki's a hot hipster god so... You know.

But then there's the soft touch to his face and that clarification that at first makes Peter's heart skip from a kind of giddy surprise, though not even a half-beat later he feels a kind of heavy dread sinking into his stomach.]

You... resisted a spell... Isn't there a kind of cause and effect to that?

[He doesn't want to hear the answer to this. He knows he doesn't want to hear the answer.]

Aye. This. [ His current state, having burst into flames. His smile wavers, breathlessly trying to laugh and wheezing. ] I pissed off the god ... who cast the spell.

[ Gasping in pain, he grits his teeth for a moment before he sinks back into the pillows, closing his eyes to regain some control. ]

He was a ... little bitch.

[ Whoever the fuck the god of love on this world was, Loki felt his influence in that nasty twist to the love spell. Igniting any heart passionate enough to tell him no (Loki is going to rip that son of a bitch apart, one day). ]

But I — I'm sorry, for what I did.

[ That's his priority right now, reassuring Peter. ]

[Loki is in this state, one way or another, because of Peter. Because he wanted to resist that local god's whims and, in effect, was punished for it. And now, Loki is in intense pain, suffering greatly, and undeniably in an awful way.

It really is kind of a track record, isn't it? People getting close to Peter and then ending up getting hurt, whether it's directly because of him or only tangential. It doesn't really matter which it is though because the reality is still the state that Loki is in. And even if Asgardians are durable, there's always a limit.

Peter swallows with some difficulty, trying to keep down the panic and guilt welling up in his stomach because right now that doesn't help anyone--feeling are secondary to the material right now and he can wallow later.

Instead, he shifts a little, trying to make sure Loki has as much or as little physical support as he needs from Peter as he gives a half-hearted chuckle to mask the discomfort.]

This doesn't sound like something to apologise for. But next time? I think you should go ahead and just kiss the wizard. This is--[not something worth going through for me.] ... You shouldn't be in this situation.

[He glances toward where Stephen is making his call, his skin itchy and unreasonably impatient with how (not) long everything is taking.]

[ Peter wears guilt as well as Thor. Loki gives him a soft smile, seeking to reassure. ]

I will never have ... anyone ... tell me what to do. [ He glances after Stephen too although he can't hear the conversation, a flicker of lashes switching back to Peter. ] Besides, have you r-read any myths recently? I've suffered far worse for far less. I ... I have got this, Peter Parker.

[ Trying to lighten the mood as he swallows down the crawling pain alight on every inch of his body, Loki tries to sound flippant. ]

Sorry I'm ... ugly, more than anything. Hah.

Would it come as a massive shock to hear I didn't exactly Major in Classics?

[It's his own attempt to keep things as even as possible, have a little dig at himself for not knowing more of the myths Loki speaks of or the horrors he's endured as the pad of Peter's spandexed thumb strokes lightly across Loki's knuckle--a part that seems at least comparatively less marred by burns.]

And are you kidding? I mean, I'm not convinced it's possible for you to be ugly. Even if you're a little char-grilled. Like, have you ever seen a well-cooked steak? That's probably one of the best-looking things I've ever seen.

[ ... Not helped, Parker. Not. Helping.]

... Not that I'm saying you look like a steak. Not even a well-done steak. You don't look like any steak at all. I'm just-- yeah. I'm going to shut up now, you've endured enough for me without putting up with me.

I'm a steak.

[ He laughs and gasps in pain, but the smile remains, hissing it out to try and calm down from laughing. His hand in Peter's gives a fond squeeze and he blinks up with affection brimming over in his red-rimmed eyes. ]

It's dangerously easy ... to adore you, Peter Parker.

Don't laugh!

[You know, part-panic, part-amusement (sorry, Loki!), with a smile that's equal parts warm and worried about this entire thing.]

You're supposed to be like 'I'm not a piece of meat, Peter Parker!' Or at least tell me you're, I dunno, the best, most marbled filet mignon you ever did see! I don't eat a lot of steak. I don't really know what I'm talking about.

LOVE POTION #9

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slides in a month late with starbucks

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