XOXO ❅ VALENTINE'S EVENT

[nightmods]

XOXO

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.

OOC DETAILS
❅ 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.

Comments

Re: Dan Sagittarius | Open

[branchifer]

For a frolicking woodland creature, Branch has definitely taken to doodling around on his phone comm like a pro.

But also to be fair, he'd be a Gen Zer if he'd been born on Earth in the same world and country as Dan. Maybe being glued to a screen just a little too much is some kind of contagion, hopping species.

There's a lot of useful information, though, and he hasn't stopped being curious about the human world. And there's general knowledge too, about human machines, about building things, about survival skills (in case he ever finds himself in the human wilderness), etc etc. He'd never dreamed he could have the equivalent of basically a million scrapbooks right at his fingertips. He liked reading but he'd had so few before rejoining village life - he'd rarely come into the village to have a chance to pick them up.

Right now he's currently sitting against the wall that has his tiny little front door. At this point, everyone knows that's the tiny door to his tiny little house that they're allowed to tap at, though it's clear he's taken over some of the interiors of the walls due to how he definitely comes out of random holes in the walls at times. He's only commandeered one of the actual human rooms for a work room to tinker in with big human stuff.

He's mostly just lounging and looking chilled out. The only sign he's alert to the chaos going on is the way his big ears are sort of scanning to track the noises like little radar dishes.

He's outside his little hole and at his 3-foot size because there's chaos going on and he wants to be aware of any threats before they happen. He's near his door so he can shrink boogie out if one of said threats gets too close. So far it seems like it's just the baby myth kid getting up to some mischief, though.

"...I have no clue what that is either."

Woodland creachur, after all.

He shrugs.

"If you haven't needed to know it by now it's probably not that important."

[hallelujahjunction]

"Thank God for that," Dan says, coming to a stop. He's lost whatever it was that shot him, and he doesn't consider that Branch could be the source of the tiny arrow for more than a half-second. The arrow isn't the right size, but more than that, it just doesn't seem in keeping with Branch's character. Branch antagonizes with painful traps out of terror, not mischief, and that issue has largely been addressed as Branch has settled in and had autonomy and resources.

"I just don't want no one to think I'm ignorant on purpose," he says, unsure why he's just blurting things out. Normally he keeps his ignorance fairly under wraps, and more than that, he keeps his self-consciousness about it quiet. Nothing's less sexy than someone being insecure, especially when it's something they could change about themselves, but Dan isn't about to learn to read. That's a hard pass. He'll never share the love for archives and tomes and the written word, never will try to, and never will want to open up the conversation as to why he's committed to staying in the dark on certain things - which makes it so strange that it's so close to the surface, like it's not even words he's saying, like it's just thoughts he's drooling out.

There's a beat as he realizes what's happened. He holds the blood-tinged arrow out in his palm, then tucks it into his pocket and wipes off his hands with a handkerchief.

"Err, careful. Someone's running around taking shots at folks with these little arrows, and if it's big enough to draw blood on me it could be dangerous for you." He keeps scanning around for the threat, but can't seem to see anything. "Let me know if you want a bodyguard until the hooligan's caught."