𝐻𝒜𝒫𝒫𝒴 𝐻𝐸𝒜𝑅𝒯𝒮 𝒮𝒯𝒜𝐹𝐹 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
happyheartsstaff) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
funnyhearts2020-07-26 03:00 pm
happyheartsstaff) wrote in funnyhearts2020-07-26 03:00 pm
TEST DRIVE MEME 003
HAPPY HEARTS HOTEL
You wake up in a padded box. It rocks, gently, as though suspended in mid-air. You begin to stir, confusion or distress pushing you to try to sit up — and then the air begins to smell sweet, and you fall back asleep.You wake up in a padded box. For a moment, you are beatifically calm. You don't know how you got here, or why, but that isn't really all that important. You don't need to know where you are. You're just... here. And here is a wonderful place to be.
But there is a niggling suspicion growing in the back of your mind. A suspicion that here is not somewhere you wanted to be. That it is not where you're supposed to be. You remember... chasing a white rabbit (or was it a person)? A mirror? Bright light, and green ivy crawling over your skin... Before you can worry too much, the box jolts, and then settles, and after a long moment the walls fall from around you to reveal —
A hotel lobby?
"Welcome to the Happy Hearts Hotel and Casino," says an attendant behind a desk. "We're so pleased you could join us. We have your room keys and Empathies here, please make an orderly line and we'll hand them out once we've confirmed identities. After that, feel free to explore the hotel! We highly recommend starting with the casino. Everyone's a winner here in Happy Hearts!"
Is this normal? It doesn't feel normal. And hey — you could swear you had shoes before!
I. SHALL WE DANCE, SHALL WE FLY
Those of you hoping to make use of The Pool of Tears today are in for a disappointment — it appears to have been shut down for the day to make room for a special event! Dozens of small vehicles that resemble pink flamingos are parked along the grounds by the pool, and others are being flown above it with varying levels of skill.
People wearing name tags identifying them as guest instructors mingle around the parked vehicles to offer lessons on how to fly the flamingos. They'll also allow the flamingos to be checked out to be used for recreation, regardless of whether the person checking them out has had flying lessons or not.
Why is this taking place in the pool area and not outdoors, you may ask? Why, because a crash landing in water is so much softer on the bones than on solid land, of course.
Or perhaps you were hoping to spend some time at the Caucus-Race, making use of the hotel's private gym. It seems that, too, had been taken over for an event — dance lessons! There are more guest instructors there to lead dances of all kinds, from groups to couples to private instruction. Even if you didn't intend to partake of them when you came here, you may find yourself bustled away and facing your partner for the lesson before you know it.
Still another handful of guest instructors have set up in the Mad Tea-Party, offering a variety of art lessons — from paintings to drawing to pottery to glassblowing! Have a glass of wine, or something stronger, and try your hand at one! Anyone who chooses to do so will get to keep whatever masterpiece they produce.
People wearing name tags identifying them as guest instructors mingle around the parked vehicles to offer lessons on how to fly the flamingos. They'll also allow the flamingos to be checked out to be used for recreation, regardless of whether the person checking them out has had flying lessons or not.
Why is this taking place in the pool area and not outdoors, you may ask? Why, because a crash landing in water is so much softer on the bones than on solid land, of course.
Or perhaps you were hoping to spend some time at the Caucus-Race, making use of the hotel's private gym. It seems that, too, had been taken over for an event — dance lessons! There are more guest instructors there to lead dances of all kinds, from groups to couples to private instruction. Even if you didn't intend to partake of them when you came here, you may find yourself bustled away and facing your partner for the lesson before you know it.
Still another handful of guest instructors have set up in the Mad Tea-Party, offering a variety of art lessons — from paintings to drawing to pottery to glassblowing! Have a glass of wine, or something stronger, and try your hand at one! Anyone who chooses to do so will get to keep whatever masterpiece they produce.
II. WE TRADE IN FAVORS
The guest instructors aren't the only ones visiting the hotel today. It seems some traveling merchants have come to pitch their wares, and they've set up shop in the hotel lobby. There's display cases of delicately crafted jewelry, all manner of glassware, bolts of fabric, boxes of precious stones and crystal.
Why come to them when you can get what you need for free from the hotel's boutique? There's just no comparison when it comes to exquisite craftsmanship, of course, or the quality of their raw materials. But should you need a reason beyond that — there's something a little magical about their wares. This necklace is spelled to ward off evil, that circuit will grant clear thought, anything made from this bolt of cloth will always keep the wearer perfectly warm or cool, carrying that crystal will give a boost of healing or luck.
They deal only in trade. Teas, if you have them, will fetch the highest price and get you the most unique items. If you don't happen to have a tea, you're not out of luck — they will also accept favors. Perhaps they will ask you to convince someone else to make a purchase as well, perhaps they will send you on a hunt for a specific item. Perhaps they will ask you for something more intangible, like the shape of a smile or the salt of tears. Not your own, of course, you must inspire them in someone else. Hopefully there's someone nearby who can help you with that.
Why come to them when you can get what you need for free from the hotel's boutique? There's just no comparison when it comes to exquisite craftsmanship, of course, or the quality of their raw materials. But should you need a reason beyond that — there's something a little magical about their wares. This necklace is spelled to ward off evil, that circuit will grant clear thought, anything made from this bolt of cloth will always keep the wearer perfectly warm or cool, carrying that crystal will give a boost of healing or luck.
They deal only in trade. Teas, if you have them, will fetch the highest price and get you the most unique items. If you don't happen to have a tea, you're not out of luck — they will also accept favors. Perhaps they will ask you to convince someone else to make a purchase as well, perhaps they will send you on a hunt for a specific item. Perhaps they will ask you for something more intangible, like the shape of a smile or the salt of tears. Not your own, of course, you must inspire them in someone else. Hopefully there's someone nearby who can help you with that.
III. SECRET MESSAGES
By your second or third pass around the hotel, after all the visitors have left, you may notice something that looks a little out of place. A loose rock in the otherwise solid structures of the pool area, a shimmer of green tucked in among all the white abstract sculptures in a hallway, an odd knot in the wood of a bench or chair somewhere in the hotel.
No members of the staff seem to have noticed it so far, but for that to remain the case you'll have to work quickly — and work together. Maybe the rock is up too high for one person to reach, maybe the sculptures are too heavy for one person to move, maybe someone needs to stand guard or distract the hotel staff while the other pries out the wood knot.
All those who succeed in retrieving the piece of heavy green paper hidden away will find the same message: a drawing of a caterpillar, accompanied by a series of numbers and the words call a friend.
No members of the staff seem to have noticed it so far, but for that to remain the case you'll have to work quickly — and work together. Maybe the rock is up too high for one person to reach, maybe the sculptures are too heavy for one person to move, maybe someone needs to stand guard or distract the hotel staff while the other pries out the wood knot.
All those who succeed in retrieving the piece of heavy green paper hidden away will find the same message: a drawing of a caterpillar, accompanied by a series of numbers and the words call a friend.
IV. WELCOME HOME
Maybe you just want to be alone — well, that's what you have your room key for! Oysters room on the second and third floors of the hotel, one to a room. You were assured your room would be exactly what you'd always wished for — and for some, that's right! It's exactly as you would have decorated it yourself. But for others, their rooms are totally wrong. A grizzled cowboy can't have a pink room! Hotel staff are firm, though: every room is exactly as its owner wants it to be. Search your feelings, Oyster. You know it to be true.
On each bed are the Oysters' personal effects, minus weapons, as well as a towel folded in the shape of a heart, and a single foil-wrapped chocolate. If eaten, the chocolate is delicious, and incites a feeling of tender warmth in Oysters — not lust, but a desire for closeness. Why spend time in your room, when you could go find a new friend in the casino?
On each bed are the Oysters' personal effects, minus weapons, as well as a towel folded in the shape of a heart, and a single foil-wrapped chocolate. If eaten, the chocolate is delicious, and incites a feeling of tender warmth in Oysters — not lust, but a desire for closeness. Why spend time in your room, when you could go find a new friend in the casino?
Anyone who participates in the second prompt will receive an item with a minor enchantment of their choosing! For players apping in this round, you can include it in your list of items. Current players can reply to the second comment on this page to receive approval of their enchanted item. Please direct any questions to the first comment on this page, and happy playing, Oysters!
© tessisamess
no subject
With all Wen Ning has been through, it's something of a relief to know he's well, and whether or not A-Yuan remembers the burial mounds, he can only imagine how pleased Wen Ning would be to be reunited.
"Oh?" he can't help looking perplexed. Lan Sizhui has been here for no time at all, and he already has things to show him?
"Sure, all right, lead on."
no subject
Sizhui neatly stacks his used things where he sees others stack their used things.
"When I'm from, I had just remembered about my time before I was brought to Gusu," he explains. He looks at Wei-qianbei to make sure he was following and continues, "of someone cooking and being quite horrible at it. Someone who cared and looked after me. Someone who invited Hanguang Jun for a meal yet ran off before paying."
no subject
Lan Zhan deserves all the credit, for raising A-Yuan into the smart, respectable, talented junior he is today, but even so, just to be remembered...
"Come on, the cooking couldn't have been that bad," he gives a short laugh, throat still tight with emotion.
no subject
"It made my stomach hurt on a few occasions," he teases. "But the intention behind it was good. This person buried me in the dirt, saying that, with enough sun and water, I'll grow big like him and have many friends."
He wants to throw his arms around him and hug him once more. Instead, as they move out of the restaurant and off to the side, Sizhui faces Wei-qianbei and crouches down, hugging his leg, the familiar motion bringing forth another surge of emotions. As grown as he is, he misses Wei-qianbei. And the life once upon a time.
no subject
"Well, you've certainly grown up big, shot up more like a weed, than a radish, and-"
It leaves him feeling a bit fragile as well, a regrets he'd never thought he'd have in his youth had haunted him ever since, and just knowing even one good thing had come from it, that one precious person had survived, it was more than he could have hoped for. When A-Yuan clings to his leg, the motion alone is enough to jar loose his tears. Even so, he can't contain his wide smile, and gentle laughter as he reaches down to muss the boy's hair.
"And still childish in plenty of ways, I see. I'm glad I haven't missed it all."
no subject
"Only a little bit, Wei-qianbei. This place may just be an opportunity for us to catch up on lost time."
His memories, what little he had, were positive, joyful.
no subject
"Then, what's a little danger in exchange for that?" he teases. Certainly, it's one more person he wants to keep safe, but... even so, he can't deny he's glad for the chance to spend time with A-Yuan. Lan Zhan isn't exactly verbose, so hopefully he can trouble Sizhui to talk about his time in Cloud Recesses as well.
"Lan Zhan will be glad to see you too!" he adds, "he told me so much- ah- well as much as Hanguang Jun is likely to tell- about Cloud Recesses."
no subject
He beams.
"I had thought it was a little strange that you did not hug me back warmly when I had first seen you. But now that I know, I am glad that I had another chance to tell you of who I am and report that Wen-qianbei is doing well."
no subject
"Lan Zhan didn't think you remembered and..." it seems kind of silly now, but it had been sitting heavily on his mind since he'd found out that A-Yuan was still alive, that Lan Zhan had raised him as his own son. The last thing Wei Wuxian wanted was to bring back memories of the hardships and turmoil from the days before his life had changed.
"I know things were difficult then. Not necessarily something a person might want to remember," he doesn't do well with such serious topics, or being so open about his feelings, but Lan Sizhui deserves that much and more. Still, he can't help trying to lighten the mood, no matter how heavy it gets.
"But I'll gladly make up for it. You'll be sick of me again in no time!"
no subject
He's giddy within at the prospect of his family together and growing.
"I don't recall it being difficult. There were times when food wasn't as plentiful but I always felt safe and happy. I had my family there. Which included you."