TEST DRIVE MEME 001 (#2)

[happyheartsstaff]

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 for our grand opening gala. 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. THE CASINO FLOOR

As you pass through the entrance to the casino floor, an attendant passes you a small bag of chips. The casino is loud and bright and filled with games of every kind — you want to play poker? They've got a table for that. Sabacc? There's a table for that, too. Slots, pachinko, and bingo are just a few of the other games on offer. The attendant in the lobby wasn't lying, either — everyone who plays wins. Everyone, every time.

Servers wander the floor with trays of shotglasses full of multi-coloured liquids, offering them to every Oyster "Compliments of Her Royal Highness." If you're expecting alcohol, though, you'll be surprised — these drinks are teas made of the distilled emotions of every Oyster in the hotel. Each colour of tea corresponds to a different emotion, and as soon as you take a sip, you feel overcome with that emotion.

JOY — the distilled essence of happiness, this tea makes even the most rough and tumble of Oysters giddy with happiness — for a moment. The effect fades into a general sense of contentment and affability after a few seconds, and that itself fades away slowly over the course of twenty minutes.

ANGER — this tea, anger in liquid form, can make the most even-tempered of Oysters ready to absolutely blow a gasket. For twenty minutes, anyone who drinks this tea will find themselves much more easily annoyed, frustrated, and all around irritable and snappy.

SADNESS — distilled sadness is a potent tea, capable of turning a stoic, stalwart Oyster into a blubbering mess in moments. Events that may have previously only been a minor disappointment become the end of the world, every repressed unhappiness comes to the fore, and for twenty minutes, any Oyster who drinks a sadness tea can hardly keep themselves together.

II. MAKING WAVES

If gambling isn't to your interest, there are many other areas of the hotel to explore! For the moment, only The Pool Of Tears and the Pig & Pepper Buffet are available for Oysters to peruse, but the staff assure anyone who asks that the other facilities will be open by the next day. Unfortunately, that means no one can buy any swimsuits from This Elegant Thimble, but the staff aren't going to kick anyone out of the pool for jumping in in their clothes!

There are four main attractions to The Pool of Tears: the pool, the jacuzzi, the wave pool, and the lazy river. The water is always just the right temperature, clean and clear and refreshing. It feels as if the sun shines down from above you, warm and comforting. Scattered through the pool area are clusters of modern lounge chairs, just waiting for someone to come relax in them. The Pool is, in a word, serene.

But not for long. The waves generated by the wave pool begin to get choppier, and larger, until it becomes clear that the generator itself is malfunctioning — too late, however, to avoid the tsunami that crashes through the whole Pool and leaves it flooded. Thankfully, no water escapes into the rest of the hotel, and the hotel staff work quickly to rescue those trapped in the Pool and drain the flooding — but you better hope you can tread water until they get to you!

III. EAT ME, DRINK ME

The Pig & Pepper buffet serves lunch foods from across all different cultures, offering something for everyone, and some things you've never even heard of.

On offer with these lunchtime dishes are cookies and biscuits and scones of all kinds, held on tiered trays with signs that proclaim Eat Me! in delightfully whimsical calligraphy. Nearby, hotel staff man a small booth for doling out cups of fruit waters from large pitchers, which have Drink Me! painted playfully on their sides.

It takes a while to feel the effects — perhaps you've even left the Pig & Pepper by the time it happens — but those who eat the cookies and scones inevitably end up growing in size, whether a few inches or feet, and those who drank the fruity water similarly shrink. Eat enough and you might strain the ceiling; drink enough and you'll be the size of a thimble! It's not permanent — if no one else can help you figure out how to get back to normal, the staff certainly will — but it's definitely inconvenient!

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?

Welcome to the (second!) first TDM of Happy Hearts, a new panfandom roleplaying game here on DW! If you have any questions, please direct them to the first comment on this page. Happy playing, Oysters!

PREMISE RULES FAQ TAKEN RESERVES APPLICATION MOD CONTACT HIATUS & DROPS WORLD INFO NPCS CALENDAR AC REWARDS

© tessisamess

Comments

[billowing]

Do we not all seek the approval of someone who is always displeased?

[scaredofdogs]

[He considers that. In a way it makes sense.]

Whose approval do you seek, Lan Zhan? Is there anyone who could possibly be displeased in you?

[billowing]

I cared a lot, what Shufu thinks.

[scaredofdogs]

You are his favorite. There is no way you have to worry about his approval.

[billowing]

Perhaps your Wangji is his Shufu's favorite.

I have lost the favor of mine long ago.

[ He doesn't say it's because of Wei Ying but it's um, it's kind of implied. He made his choice. ]

[scaredofdogs]

[He frowns as he considers that. He doesn't know much about what his Wangji would have done to lose that favor. But he knows there is much that he still doesn't know about his death and the time after. But he might have a feeling about that implication as he falls silent for a few seconds.]

.....

......I'm sorry.

[billowing]

...I made my choice.

[ He doesn't regret it. He can still be sad, that he has lost Qiren. But he wouldn't change it. He would only like to change his mind. ]

[scaredofdogs]

I'm sure he hasn't given up on your or anything Lan Zhan. Some people just take time to accept things.

[billowing]

[ How does he say, he's been disappointing him for sixteen years. ]

...I suppose. It hardly matters, while we're here.

[scaredofdogs]

I guess that is true.

[He reaches up and rubs his nose a little.]

I think as long as you don't regret the choices you made, then you shouldn't let those that are disappointed in you, weigh you down.

[billowing]

[ He gives Wei Ying a small smile. ]

No.

The only person who could weigh me down is me.

[scaredofdogs]

Are you disappointed in yourself?

[He leans on the table, ready to sing Lan Wangji's praises if he does.]

[billowing]

No.

Not anymore.

[ Now that he has a purpose. ]

[scaredofdogs]

[That makes him smile.]

Good. Because I was ready to fuss at you if you were.

[billowing]

What would Wei Ying say?

[ Not sneaky at all, fishing for compliments. But it's been a good night, and he feels close to this Wei Ying. Close enough to maybe let down his strict guard for a second. ]

[scaredofdogs]

I would say that Lan Wangji is the strongest, most fearless, most gentle, smartest person I know. And that he has no reason to be disappointed because everything will work out as it should when he is around.

[billowing]

[ That hit him in the chest a lot harder than he'd meant for it to. ]

If I am any of these things, it is because Wei Ying is at my side.

[scaredofdogs]

You are all of those things and more. And it gives me pride to be at your side.

[billowing]

[ Lan Wangji is still feeling a little heartbroken from their exchange earlier, but... as long as Wei Ying feels this way about him, things will be fine.

He drinks up his tea, and feels at peace. ]

[scaredofdogs]

[He'll make up for that...mistake.]

Thank you Lan Zhan..for all the things you told me today. Even if they weren't all good to hear, it helps to think there will be more for me after this place.

[billowing]

Mm.

I think you are happy.

In my time.

[ They've only just re-met so, he can't be sure. Wei Ying was always one to hide his feelings behind a smile. But ... Lan Wangji was pretty sure. ]

[scaredofdogs]

[He wonders how happy if they part ways in lan Wangji's time..but he doesn't say it.]

I'm sure I am. Even in my time..things feel different then before. Maybe because people think I'm dead so I get a little more freedom but..I don't think that's it completely.

Plus I've been by your side, so of course I'd be happier!

[billowing]

[ Why does Wei Ying keep saying that, each time like a little needle piercing through his heart.

Should he say he stayed, because everyone knows Wei Ying is alive, and though he does not personally care for his own reputation or safety, Lan Wangji does?

No, it would be embarrassing, which is why he never said anything in the first place. ]

I don't know why, when you first returned, you did not want to see me.

[scaredofdogs]

A-ah...it wasn't that I didn't want to see you. It's that I thought it might be easier that way. I figured everyone would try to kill me if they knew I was back.

[He wasn't really wrong about that...]

And..I wasn't sure how you would react.

[billowing]

[ Wow, Wei Ying really thought he'd wanted to kill him.

The opposite couldn't be more true. ]

When did you change your mind?