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LOVE POTION #9
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.)
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.)
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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.
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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.
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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.]
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[ 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. ]
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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.]
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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.
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[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.
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[ 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.
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[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.
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[ He closes his eyes, settling his breathing as his lungs twinge. ]
I don't deserve you.
slides in a month late with starbucks
strange wasn't kidding. josh takes it all in without much reaction, bringing a glowing gold hand up to start projecting a healing field before he's even properly through the door. ]
Dude, what happened?
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Forgot ... sunscreen.