LOVE POTION #9

[metamods]

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.)

Comments

[highborn]

[ What kind of question is that! At least she’s slowly becoming sure this really is just a matter of clarification, not a gotcha waiting to happen. She slowly unfolds defensively crosses arms. ]

The former, of course. It leads to the latter, if you’d like to be poetic.

[helpdesk_hero]

That isn't what I'd consider broadcasting. So there's the confusion.

[highborn]

Of course you don't, you're human. [ She offers a smile. ] You're almost completely oblivious to it.

[helpdesk_hero]

Oh?

[He shifts his posture a little, his face impassive. He knew how to read people, many different ways. And he knew how to hide.]

I'm not. But it's easier to let it be that way.

[highborn]

[ She shrugs, all confidence and unconcern. ]

Suit yourself. I think this is all rather beside the point, in any case.

[helpdesk_hero]

And what is your point?

[Because he isn't finding it.]

[highborn]

I was hoping you could tell me. I'm simply here to say hello to my good friend David.

[helpdesk_hero]

I...

[He's definitely lost the forcefulness of the small bite of his biscuit and he sighs, rubbing the back of his neck.]

Hello Vidana, good to see you. Should warn you, there's probably some magic funny business going on.

[highborn]

[ She won't admit it, but it's good to see the body language back again. That's the trouble of bragging about such a thing, humans always put a bit of effort into trying to hide it for the next few minutes. The smile that quirks this time is a little warmer. ]

Oh? Has it found you, is that why we've just had this extremely odd conversation?

[helpdesk_hero]

[He sighs, rubbing the back of his neck.]

More than once. When Loki and I got here he was talking about the food being a thing, and I probably shouldn't have and anything to eat. My mistake. I guess I was just distracted.

[By grief over being abandoned by his love. Which wasn't something he felt for Loki, not yet. So that had thrown him the hell off.]

[highborn]

Really?

[ Both ears prick upwards with obvious interest, and suddenly she's paying attention to the food stands around them. ]

Which foods? And what sort of effects are they having? [ Her glance hops back to David, hopeful. ] It seems there's quite the haze of romance in the air, is there anything sexy?

[helpdesk_hero]

[Yes, he can see the interest. Those ears are hella expressive.]

I don't know about the thing I bit, but there's cakes that are supposed to make fireworks go off if you touch the person who is effectively your soulmate. Seems impossible to me. I mean, you can't even make that happen, and whether soulmates exist or not is a whole other question entirely.

[Babbling. It's something he does when he's embarrassed. ANd given he hadn't said anything about something sexy, and he's blushing, it might not be hard to guess over that]

[highborn]

[ Oh, it's noticed. Vidana steps in closer, a hand rested on David's bicep to make clear that this is no longer a joking matter. ]

David. [ She leans closer, eyes bright. ] You must be honest with me. Which dish is the aphrodisiac?

[helpdesk_hero]

To my knowledge, none of them. There's cookies that make you echo emojis. I hated the hearts fluttering around my head.

[The air itself seemed more like an aphrodisiac than the food.]

I didn't eat anything weird before, uh, things got weird.

[highborn]

[ She looks briefly disappointed, but: ] Oh? Tell me everything.

[helpdesk_hero]

[Oh no. David takes a step backward. Definitely not hiding his emotions now. All of his body language speaks of being flustered and perhaps feelign trapped.]

N-nothing to tell.

[highborn]

[ She rolls her eyes, but — with that recent chastisement still fresh in her mind, doesn't take that step after him. Still, her best impression of a disappointed parent: ]

David. You must stop trying to lie to me.

[helpdesk_hero]

[Ouch, that's a look he's not used to getting these days.]

Maybe you don't have a right to know what my love life is like.

[highborn]

[ Alongside her most winning smile: ] But we're friends! And that's what friends are for.

[helpdesk_hero]

Yes, friends I know and trust quite closely.

[highborn]

You don't think that's me? [ She doesn't sound particularly hurt or disappointed, but she does take a step back to give him a thoughtful once-over. ] What does it take to gain David's trust then, hmm?

[helpdesk_hero]

Time.

[A lie in some ways. Not long after parting from Vidana he would meet a man he would come to trust within an hour. But he was a lot less... demanding.]

And less trying to make me flustered for the same of flustered.

[highborn]

[ With a sighing pout: ] But you're very attractive when you're off balance, have you considered that?

[helpdesk_hero]

[And there he is, off balance again.]

I-I hadn't. No. Uh. That's, um....

[highborn]

[ A moment of weakness. She pounces. (Metaphorically, that is; physically, she only takes back that step and slides in nearer again.) ]

Of course, you're very attractive when you're balanced, as well. Perhaps I might lay off a little.