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XOXO ❅ VALENTINE'S EVENT
One major problem with being the group that's responsible for solving all kinds of problems in the myth world is other myths can kind of be dicks about it. That's why, on Valentine's Day, Cupid shows up, quickly offloads his kid (the toddler Baby Cupid), and runs off to take care of spreading love on his holiday, with barely a how'd you do. He doesn't even say thank you.
To be fair, you can't fault him too much for only trusting the Guardians to babysit his kid in these dangerous and uncertain times, especially when children at risk against the fearlings.
Still, that means there's a giggling toddler, about 2-years-old in appearance, but maybe with the mental age of a 4 or 5 (he is definitely old enough to understand he's being naughty and deserving of a time out) flitting around the Pole causing all kinds of Valentine's related problems. Fortunately, the toddler has learned that he's not quite old enough to know the right times to help people fall in love (Adult Cupid just helps things along when they're already falling, or when they need help falling back in love, of course).
Instead, Baby C is doing what his father taught him to do and causing all kinds of tricks to try to get people to admit feelings that already exist or manufacturing ways for them to become closer to each other.
HONESTY ARROWS ♥ Baby Cupid isn't shooting magic arrows that cause anyone to develop feelings for each other but he sure is trying to make sure people talk about whatever feelings they have. Anyone hit will be compelled to blurt out various truths about themselves, their personal history, and their feelings to whoever is around them and will have difficulty stopping or drawing themselves away. In fact, if someone walks away they'll feel compelled to find someone else to confess to. The effect wears off anywhere between 5 minutes to a half hour.
TATTLETALE ROSES ♥ Vines of roses are now growing all over the Workshop. For those who are in love, they take the form of the face of the person they're in love with. The more they try to hide it or deny it from someone they're talking to, the more of them bloom with the person's face.
THORNY VINES OF CLOSENESS ♥ The rose vines have their own annoying purpose: bonding! For people that clearly need to become friends, fall in love, or fall deeper in love, thorny vines will wrap around both people, forcing them into a little cage together. The thorns fortunately won't poke them - they seem to be maneuvered in a way to just make sure there are no gaps to escape through. The vines are magically reinforced and can't be opened with any physical or magical means. After that, one of two things will happen:
1) A card will fall from the ceiling of the cage saying: Tell each other how you really feel about each other!!! This will happen if the cage thinks they need to affirm the status of their relationship, whether they need to admit they're in love, admit they've been bitten by the friend bug if they're reluctant to, or really need to talk about how much they mean to each other as friends. Only then will they be let out of the feelings shame corner.
2) If the two don't know each other, or both people could afford to get to know each other better multiple cards will drop from the ceiling with icebreaker questions, as if they're a bunch of new hires at an orientation.
How many will they have to answer before they're released? Who knows! But they have to answer them honestly or the cage won't open.
CANDY LONELY HEARTS ♥ People who are on the lonelier side and in need of support might find a candy heart on a random surface. The messages on them are on the platonic side (Like "You rock!" or "Shine on!") They'll feel compelled to eat them (even if they're on the floor). When they do, a glowing red thread will appear and tie itself around their finger. Briefly, in the air, the glowing string will form into letters that tell the person what they need to do to be release, whether it's telling someone they're lonely, asking for some kind of support, or admitting a vulnerability.
Then it'll whip out and grab someone else nearby, wrapping around their finger as well. Sometimes, two people might eat a candy at the same time and each have a string appear and they'll tie in the middle.
The strings are unbreakable, and they won't be set free until whoever ate a candy talks about their loneliness or vulnerable feelings - regardless of whether or not the other person is an eager listener.
❅ Starters: You can make up your own wildcard effects, feel free! If you do, please consider posting it to the Wildcard comment below so others might be able to pick up the same effect as well if they like them.
❅ Multiple effects: Feel free to have characters slammed by as many of Baby C's traps in the same thread as you want. No reason someone can't have the worst luck and trip three Cupid traps at once or several of them in a row.
no subject
Taylor got a red string tied on her, and fortunately for her, she had been able to not get tied to someone right away -- mostly because, reacting fast, she managed to get a couple insects wrapped into it. It's like she's tied to herself...which is not favorable, because having to carry that around hanging from her hand is cumbersome, but she's been trying to find a way to get rid of it instead of having to do what the string indicated she should do.
Unfortunately for Taylor, this kind of magic won't be held under loopholes forever. She didn't take into account someone else would get their own string entangled upon hers, and so Boimler's ties itself to the string on her finger, connecting them. When she sees him careening towards her, guided by the string, Taylor mutters under her breath]
Shit...
[She really had hoped she wouldn't have to play along but looks like all options are closed off now, now that someone else is involved]
no subject
I - and I cannot emphasize this enough - hate magical bullshit.
[A pause.]
I want to study the magic to figure out how it works on a fundamental scientific level - [Far from being annoyed at how nonsensical it is, he is fascinated by the tricorder readings he gets every day. He's Starfleet, of course he'd want to figure out how some kind of new metaphysical interaction with physical reality works.] - but also I hate it.
[Unfortunately, that statement doesn't count enough as any sort of confession. The string stays tied. He sits up but doesn't get off the floor yet.]
no subject
Still, Boimler's statement does get her to raise her eyebrows]
I mean, I get it. Good news, a lot of bullshit does have its own little rules. Why hate magic so much, though?
[All magic is just science that hasn't been fully understood yet, they say! Or something like that -- and Taylor is well aware that's not too far from the truth.]
If it makes you feel better I don't have magic bullshit, so that's all fine. I have nothing like that.
[........
Half-truth. Taylor may not have magic, but she has superpowers, powers she has been hiding from the rest, things she didn't want them to be aware of. She can already see it coming: this string, and the rest of the things happening in the Workshop today, it all is going to lead to her unmasking. She's going to have to admit she's concealing actual powers over insects, she's sure that's big enough for the string to accept as she opening up and exposing some vulnerability -- because she wanted to keep it hidden to not cause undue suspicion on herself]
no subject
[A pause.]
...Also! Saying you don't have magic bullshit kind of makes me think you do have magic bullshit.
[Why the emphasis otherwise?]
But, look, that doesn't matter. [As far as he knows the force this world conceptualizes as magic doesn't exist in his world but lots of alien species have uncanny abilities of various kinds. Telepathy, empathy, even Q's reality manipulation. It's really no big deal at all if someone has some kind of powers or magic bullshit.]
Let's just figure out how to get out of this. [He pulls out his tricorder to scan the string.] Preferably in a way that doesn't involve forced emotional intimacy.
no subject
While she tries to figure out the next reasonable step, she nods]
Not wanting to play along with it? Sure, I'm game, I don't want to be telling to everyone things I don't want them to know.
[There are too many skeletons in her closet, and all Taylor hopes is that she can get away of this day having unveiled only the topmost layer!]
Never saw anything like these strings before? To dislike 'magic' and other you must have seen plenty of things.
[Taylor can't recall a power similar to this, at least from recent memory. Statistically speaking, it's guaranteed there's a parahuman out there in her world who can do something like these strings, and there's plenty of parahumans who manipulate emotions and the such, but this particular combination is one she doesn't recall seeing in person yet]
no subject
The magic thing is new. Even when extremely weird phenomena happens in my world, it's quantifiable and still follows the laws of physics.
Just...weirdly.
[Absurd bullshit can still be scientifically studied.]
This stuff just apparently works at random. It has internal logic but the way it interacts with physics makes absolutely no sense at a fundamental level.