WWYCD #114: Ah, Love or Aw, Crud?

[SKJAM!]

A teammate or close friend of your character surprises your character with the announcement of their engagement to be married. More disturbingly (in most cases) pictures and descriptions of the betrothed indicate that that person is *not* the sort your character would have expected the teammate/friend to pick.

Not only is the betrothed unattractive, but a total nerd/geek (or whatever personality type would normally turn off the teammate.) But the teammate is absolutely convinced this is the person he/she/it wants to spend the rest of their life with. If the couple is seen together, they act like any other couple deeply in love with each other--adjusted for personalities.

All investigative methods used, up to and including cosmic awareness, indicate that the betrothed is a normal (if on the low end of physical attractiveness) person, who is sincere in his/her love for Teammate. Indeed, the betrothed is almost pathetically grateful for Teammate treating him/her like a desirable human being. No evidence can be found that the betrothed is mind controlling the teammate or is in any other way "cheating".

The teammate/friend may in fact be mind-controlled or some such (whatever seems appropriate for the character and your campaign, but the betrothed is to all appearances an innocent bystander who truly loves the teammate.

What does your character do?


SKJAM!
Up too late

[Chuckg]

Starguard -- be puzzled, accept it, ask if she can be bridesmaid, and angst over finding a suitable present.

Dr. Pain -- "... I swear to God, I will never, NEVER figure people out sometimes."

Baron von Darien -- all immediate investigative actions having failed, he'll make a note to himself to check back every year or so to see what's happening.

[Hermit]

Mmm, most of my characters are solo, but a few at least have contact with other heroes.

Apex- Since the heroine in question would likely be his sister, Thunderstrike, you can beat he'd be nosey. When the guy seemed to check out, he'd start scanning AROUND with his telescopic X ray vision to see if there were a source behind this. Then pound whoever was behind it for manipulating her mind. There are certain guys it would HAVE to be mind control or magic for her to love (A sexist pig etc).

Wildcard- One of the Atlantic City Angels is no longer availible for a little game of "Aren't I a five card stud?" Darn. Depends on which one, and if the guy was a criminal or not (non super powered or otherwise). Wildcard might also give the "If you break her heart... " then make little slashy motions in front of his throat with a razor card for emphasis

[OddHat]

Style- Cast the runes to see if this marriage was going to lead to good or bad fortune for his friend. Set a spirit to seek whether or not magic was involved in his friends actions. Read his friends Aura to seek any signs of psychic interference. If there are any signs of psionics or magic involved in this, Style will track down and confront the manipulator involved. If it's less than a full Loa, it's in serious trouble. Style will then try to spare his friend and the innocent partner as much pain as he can while undoing the damage. If this is just love, Style will dance at thier wedding ... at which point his hunteds will probably bomb the reception.

Flesh Gordon - Wouldn't notice anything strange about this. However, out of pure coicidence he might stumble onto the master mentalist behind the whole plot, and deliver a very long lecture about love, freedom, and pastries. If the mentalist flees and his friend is "freed," Flesh will probably feel really guilty for having spoiled the wedding.

[paigeoliver]

Heather would act excited and buy them presents, but at the same time she would try and get as much attention as possible from the geek, because if Juliette likes him then he must be the coolest, you know social proof and all.

[BcAugust]

Assuming there's no proof of mental manipulation, Cyrande would wish anyone but Horus well and offer to manage the wedding for them(Though I imagine most of the New Sentinels wouldn't take her up on the offer. The phrase "What's a wedding dress?" spring to mind.). Horus, well... she'd take the long view and remember she's immortal and the normal isn't. She'd be very... polite and helpful.

[Chuckg]

Horus, well... she'd take the long view and remember she's immortal and the normal isn't. She'd be very... polite and helpful.

Campaign note -- at present, we're building up to a love polygon involving Horus... or, rather, a Love Geometric Solid That Can Only Be Fully Viewed In Five-Dimensional Space. :)

Indeed, often in our game sessions can be heard the despairing wail of Horus' player, as he laments "I'm not Tenchi! I'm not!!!"

(At present, Cateran appears to be wanting to fill the Ryoko slot, while Cyrande is considering auditioning for Ayeka... which is amusing, as the powersets are backwards.)

*evil grin*

[Metaphysician]

Lets not forget Viperia, Gravitar, and Istvatha V'Han. Plus most of the remaining female members of the Cult of Ra, probably.

[farik]

Husky would congratulate his teammate and wish them the best (he might be a little hurt if not asked to be in the wedding ceremony). Kenneth would do a thorough background check on the person to see if they may be being mainpulated. Kenneth will than have Sidekick impersonate Husky (assuming the teammate isn't one of the few who knows Husky's secret) and go over the dangerous aspects of having a non-powered significant other (kidnapping, blackmail, etc.). If Kenneth believes the plan is to make the SO a target to get at the teammate he'll probably build a suit of power armor for the SO.

[Blue]

What's to do? Attend the ceremony, if invited. Buy them something nice from the registry. No dilemma here.

[The Watcher]

Warp: "So you're sure the girl isn't using any sort of mental powers on Horus, Warmaster? Ok then, I guess it's true love then. Of course, you know what this means?"

"What?"

"We have to throw him a BACHELOR PARTY!" :celebrate

Spectrum: "Baron Darien is getting married? Googly eyed and in love? This has to be some sort of ruse."

Mystic: "Well, my mystic senses confirm it's True Love. I guess I should start conjuring up a wedding gift."

[ParitySoul]

Brand X - Well, that's great! Ummm...can we focus on stopping Viper from getting their hands on the Far Stepper teleporter designs?

[S7Michelle]

If it is anyone other than Adam or Angelica, Cannis talks with them over desserts and tries to figure out what the appeal is. After listening to the ravings of a person in love for a while, she nods and excuses herself. Over the next few days she investigates physically and by have assorted animals keep an eye on the situation for her. Once she is certain that nothing seems to be going on, she gets busy with fittings for her bridesmaid dress ~Why did she have to pick –THIS- shade of pink~ and shopping for the ideal present.

If Adam, Cannis suffers definite pangs of jealousy and spends quite a few nights snarling about it in her room once she is unable to find any signs he’s being tricked or forced into this. “Why did he pick –HER-?” Though strongly tempted to find a way to scare off or remove her rival, she knows full well that Adam would notice and probably object, which wouldn’t help in the long run. She’d end up being polite though feeling miserable and throwing herself into her work. Wheeler (superhero) just might find his attempts at flirting got a bit more productive as well

If Angelica (Adam’s 17 year old daughter), Cannis focuses on keeping Adam calm.



(Io has been through this one more than once)

Sailor Io is initially supportive if a bit confused. But once marriage is mentioned, she gets a lot more worried. “Are you pregnant?” (or “Is she pregnant?”) She looks relived at the denial. “I know that the breakup with (insert former boyfriend or girlfriend here since practically all the Senshi are currently involved with someone) hurt a lot and I know that you don’t want to risk losing (new person). But, don’t you think it might be a good idea to wait at least until you finish high school, if not college. You know how much I love Bladestar and that I have every intention of spending the rest of my life with him, but we aren’t even considering getting married until later. If (new person) loves you as much as s/he seems to, s/he is going to want what is best for you. And not finishing high school can’t be what’s best for you. Besides, its not as by waiting you are losing anything. You still can spend time together, talk with each other, and so on. You just don’t have to worry about getting minimum wage jobs to pay bills, cleaning house, cooking, and so on.”

If the teammate is one of the scouts, she then makes sure that the associated brother, knight, etc. doesn't overreact. Some of them have shown a strong tendency to consider beating up people who talk their sister into dropping out of school and getting married.

[Storm Shadow]

Storm Shadow - As the cold mind he is, he'll try to know and discover everything about it. If he finds the teammate is controled then he'll prepare a trap in front of the whole team just to de-mask the situation.

Dark Moon - She has a nerd boyfriend too, so it won't be so rare for her. She will wish them a good marriage.

[SKJAM!]

The Mask of Justice: Congratulate his comic-relief sidekick (and be relieved that said sidekick has finally stopped chasing women waay too classy for him.)

Rock Bottom: If it's not Tao, ask her to use her funky senses to check out the situation. If it *is* Tao, wonder if the inherited instincts of one of her gene donors have come forward.

Calculus: Check for mind-controllers and the like. Presuming he can't find any, congratulate the teammate, but send his regrets on attending the ceremony.

Kira Midori: Checks out Mimsey, her roommate, *very* carefully for mental or physical tampering. A couple of Kira's enemies are into gameplaying. Assuming no such tampering is found, Kira will accept the maid of honor position with as good a grace as she can manage.

Talion: "I don't get it, She-Cat. He's not a supervillain, crimelord or sleazeball. So what's the attraction for you?"

[Badger]

Superbadger: Whatever. (shrugs and walks off)

Though it might give him a little hope for himself (not exactly gifted when it comes to the ladies, ok they run and hide if he is in the vicinity :) )

[BcAugust]

Campaign note -- at present, we're building up to a love polygon involving Horus... or, rather, a Love Geometric Solid That Can Only Be Fully Viewed In Five-Dimensional Space. :)

Indeed, often in our game sessions can be heard the despairing wail of Horus' player, as he laments "I'm not Tenchi! I'm not!!!"

(At present, Cateran appears to be wanting to fill the Ryoko slot, while Cyrande is considering auditioning for Ayeka... which is amusing, as the powersets are backwards.)

*evil grin*

Hey, it's not like Cyrande is going to be without her share of suitors as well. (Firewing the first and most obvious, with the rest of the list containing anyone that thinks marrying the future Emperess of Malva a good idea, or just to have a gorgeous (Com 24), powerful woman on their arms.)

Heh, and can't forget Warp, Tesseract and Caterian. Or Starguard and Foxbat...

*looks again* I think Jeff just likes romantic subplots.

[S7Michelle]

Hey, it's not like Cyrande is going to be without her share of suitors as well. (Firewing the first and most obvious, with the rest of the list containing anyone that thinks marrying the future Emperess of Malva a good idea, or just to have a gorgeous (Com 24), powerful woman on their arms.)

Heh, and can't forget Warp, Tesseract and Caterian. Or Starguard and Foxbat...

*looks again* I think Jeff just likes romantic subplots.

:) And I thought our GM was bad. Though hmm...come to think of it, we've definately had at least a few triangles along with one near pentagon.

Wait a second. Starguard and FOXBAT?!?!

[Reaverofpeace]

All I got to say is I'm not in the middle of any love relationships as of yet. ::Looks around in panic at calling attention to himself::

But for the question, seeing them together and in love I let them be, if it is mind control time will tell and only one member isn't or doesn't have the potential for immortality. And even that is iffy.

[Metaphysician]

Me, I'm *relatively* safe, being an android and all.

[The Watcher]

Me, I'm *relatively* safe, being an android and all.Until the next incarnation of Mechanon turns out to be Mechanette. :p

[Chuckg]

Wait a second. Starguard and FOXBAT?!?!

Yes, he's apparently going to be my character's stalker. :eek:

I can already hear the bad love poetry sung to out-of-tune ukelele accompaniment below my window balcony at 3am.

And I don't even *have* a window balcony. :)

[OddHat]

Me, I'm *relatively* safe, being an android and all.

"Dude, Electra is totally checking you out!"

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/mark_clay/electra.jpg

[JeffreyWKramer]

Until the next incarnation of Mechanon turns out to be Mechanette. :p

Well, remember, some ladies do like their toys...

[JeffreyWKramer]

:) And I thought our GM was bad. Though hmm...come to think of it, we've definately had at least a few triangles along with one near pentagon.

I find the romantic/sexual entanglement plots too much fun to just pass up.

Cyrande will definitely be attracting some suitors... and I've given some thought to how to draw the Warmaster into this sort of subplot as well.

[ParitySoul]

Yes, he's apparently going to be my character's stalker. :eek:

I can already hear the bad love poetry sung to out-of-tune ukelele accompaniment below my window balcony at 3am.

And I don't even *have* a window balcony. :)


Knowing Foxbat he has one built into the back of a semitruck that he drives up next to her for 'effect'.

[Veavitdpoh]

Ian: "Love really does conquer all." *chuckles, shrugs, makes a note to keep his sunday free for the wedding... then thoughtfully pauses before turning solemnly to the group gadgeteer* "I require you to harness their love in the form of a raygun, arrow or similar line-of-sight ranged weapon."

My characters have done the romantic thing, the harem thing, the saving-himself-for-true-love thing - even the flaming homosexual thing. I think Ian is going to go for the Bruce Wayne thing: takes relationships seriously, but long-term commitment = achtung! Verboten!

[Metaphysician]

. . .I should have went with another special effect than sonic powers. . .

( OTOH, thats still better than having Overrider end up dumped in the 21st century. . . )

[JeffreyWKramer]

. . .I should have went with another special effect than sonic powers. . .

Well, you didn't pick specifically vibratory powers...

[S7Michelle]

Yes, he's apparently going to be my character's stalker. :eek:

I can already hear the bad love poetry sung to out-of-tune ukelele accompaniment below my window balcony at 3am.

And I don't even *have* a window balcony. :)

Diabolical. Of course, he could always do what one of my character's stalkers did and decide your job is too dangerous. Thus hiring you a bodyguard. A significantly less powerful than you but incredibly persistant bodyguard that insists on following you everywhere.

[JeffreyWKramer]

Of course, he could always do what one of my character's stalkers did and decide your job is too dangerous. Thus hiring you a bodyguard. A significantly less powerful than you but incredibly persistant bodyguard that insists on following you everywhere.

Thankfully for Starguard, I've already stuck Warp with that. His dad has assigned paid for and assigned a couple of big, meta-enhanced bodyguards to make sure no terrorists, kidnappers or assorted other threats get to his only son.

Still, it bears thought. Maybe Foxbat can hire Bulldozer for bodyguard duty (he works cheap). Or maybe Grond...

[S7Michelle]

Me, I'm *relatively* safe, being an android and all.

I'd be more than happy to send Sailor Valis your way.

Sailor Valis was an insane and annoying robotic scout that managed to drive my character crazy. She had some of the most bizarre conspiracy theories you've ever heard of. Constantly was talking about how she "NEEDS MORE POWER." Gave nicknames ending in Y. So it would be Microy, Starguardy, Horaus-Raey, etc.

She ended up in jail in our world. Broke into school twice. Once to steal a robot a different student was making as a homework assignment so that she could take it to a dance with her. And once because she thought someone was in there and was ignoring her.

[BcAugust]

I find the romantic/sexual entanglement plots too much fun to just pass up.

Cyrande will definitely be attracting some suitors... and I've given some thought to how to draw the Warmaster into this sort of subplot as well.

Heh, actually looking forward to it. Though Cyrande's alternate morality will cause a few problems...

[Metaphysician]

. . .okay, let me just say this: if Overrider shows up, I'm heading for the Microverse and not coming back til its safe.

[JeffreyWKramer]

. . .okay, let me just say this: if Overrider shows up, I'm heading for the Microverse and not coming back til its safe.

No plans for Overrider at the moment, anyhow.