iyashikeimemes | Test Drive Meme 003

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Test Drive Meme 003

                   Test Drive Meme 003
                
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                        And That's Final!
                    
Spring is in full effect, flowers are blooming, the farms have gone into overdrive to get ready for the summer and fall harvest. The weather starts with a light chill in the morning before the sun is shining bright by midday. It's not too hot, not too cold, and all sorts of people are opting to spend more time outside. Meanwhile, the students have been under a LOT of stress as school finals are ending! Yadah University and Minarai invite you all onto the campuses to see just what the students achieved before school lets out for the summer!

Yadah University has a couple of booths set up here and there, some on sciences and the inventions they made. A particular group of science students are super excited to explain their backstory and why they created their various inventions. In the middle of the quad, there's a stage where the arts and music students are performing. You're welcome to be an audience member, or, if it's an improv group, you might very well get pulled up on stage to help with the skit!

But the most popular booths of all are the magic booths. Yadah University is the only school that teaches practical magic, and the big ticket for this semester?

NON-MAGICAL ANIMAL TRANSFORMATIONS!

Yes, that's right, either with a wave of their wands or hands, a spell incantation, or standing in a magic circle with interesting drawings and ruins, you will be turned into an animal that most aligns with SOME aspect of your personality. Maybe you're incredibly relaxed and get turned into a bearded dragon! Maybe you can't even rub two brain cells together and are turned into a jellyfish. Maybe you're as sly as a fox or as loyal as a dog! No matter what you get turned into, for the next 24 hours, you are painlessly turned into an animal.

Now, while that is all well and good for those who volunteer to be transformed, well, these ARE students, and so there are varying degrees of success. In THEORY, you should be able to transform back and forth as you please and communicate with those around you... again, in theory.

In reality?

Weellll, there's bound to be some mishaps. Some people may not be able to transform back AT ALL, some may not be able to communicate, some only have PARTS of their body transformed, like the mane of a lion instead of your hair or the wings of a parrot instead of your arms. Some may have shrunk you down to the size of a mouse, but not changed anything else about you! Or maybe every time you sneeze or hiccup, you're forced to transform. Maybe you change back and forth due to hot or cold water being poured on you! Magic is really tricky!

Worst of all! You may have been shot with a stray spell and turned into an animal, whether you wanted to or not! Super sorry about that! But don't worry, no matter the level of mastery, it all wears off in 24 hours, and all of it is a painless transformation, so at least there's that. Well... at worst, 72 hours. But that's it! They promise!

Maybe hearing that a stray spell might strike you causes you to steer clear of Yadah University. Well, why not visit Minarai?

Minarai High School has its end-of-the-year Sports Day Festival! There are booths selling food from the Home Ec. classes, face painting from the drama class students, if you are feeling unsure of where to go or what to do, the Student Council is happy to show you around the school as guides! 

On more than one occasion, you may notice that certain booths will need help here and there. Maybe they need an extra hand in painting faces or selling baked goods, maybe you're asked to help watch over Minnow students and toddlers to allow parents to partake in some of the other activities! Speaking of some of those activities, there are all sorts all over the school.

There are your typical games: like the three-legged race, the egg-balancing race, the wheelbarrow walk race, the baton-pass race, water-balloon toss, the 100-meter and 200-meter dash, tug-of-war, a riddle scavenger hunt through the school, and other typical activities you might find. There are, however, also unconventional activities! Like the Inflatable Hamster Ball Obstacle Race in the gymnasium!  For a REAL challenge, there's even THE ULTIMATE OBSTACLE COURSE! that has been set up in the center of the school's track-meet field.

But perhaps you don't want to be anywhere near the schools. There is a much more peaceful option available to you.

                        Sunset Memories
                    
All throughout the Main Hub and Outer Rim, you will hear the locals talk about how "it's been 13 years!" As well as posters featuring a reminder to "camp safely and responsibly when viewing," whatever that may mean.

As it so happens, there are just rows and rows of charter buses set up near the Farmlands with lots of people getting on, putting camping gear in the storage compartments, and giant backpacks as well. Why?

For the Sunset Awakening, of course!

That's probably not all that informative (because it isn't), but if you do happen to go, get ready for a once-every-13-years phenomenon! After hours and hours and hours and hours on the bus, driving past the Farmlands and through the smaller mountain range that sits at the edge of the Farmlands, you will arrive in a desert.

It is immediately clear that this desert is more or less uninhabited by Iyashikei residents. However, there is a sense of... memory all over. Maybe you suddenly feel more nostalgic, maybe you suddenly feel more reflective. It's like the very sands and trees hold something within them... but... what?

There aren't any airships that fly overhead, and outside of the Ranger Outpost, this is a place left untouched. Once the buses drop you off, you're shown to the designated temporary campsites. The rangers there are happy to welcome you, so long as you are respectful of the desert. The Rangers go over the rules and expectations at the campsites, your standard fare about throwing out all your trash and food scraps in the correct bins, being mindful about fires, and respecting nature and other campers. If you don't have the correct tools and gear, thankfully, they have spares and backups.

All of this is very confusing, but there is excitement in the air. There's plenty of talk about "hoping one lands on them."

Lands on them?

As it would happen, every 13 years for exactly one month and one month only, there is a rather ethereal magical creature that emerges. Just as the sun is setting, tens of thousands of fuzzy Sunset Moths will come up from underneath the sands of the desert, climbing up the trees and unfurling their white wings under the light of the setting sun. The moths seemingly catch the colors of those last rays of light in their wings, and the wings go from white to beautiful pinks, reds, yellows, oranges, greens, purples, and any number of combinations.

The ground and trees become practically covered in these moths as they breed and lay their eggs in the sand. The sky is a constant artificial sunset as they fly through the air. There are all sorts of predators that come out to enjoy the feast, but that's not why people are here.

If a Sunset Moth lands on you, and there is a very good chance it will, considering how many there are, the Sunset Moth will leave a trail of glittery dust along the skin and restore a lost memory or feeling. The memory or feeling may be sweet, it may be sentimental, it may be bittersweet, or it may remind you of happier times. The memory or feeling is always, in some way positive, at least in some fashion, even if those memories or feelings might be in short supply for some.

The Sunset Moths are a reminder of the temporary nature of everything, living only for a couple of weeks after they emerge from the sand. Once the month is over, the buses return to take everyone back. The desert is protected land; it's not meant for those brought to Iyashikei to inhabit.

                        Weather Wise
                    
While Iyashikei is usually a very warm and welcoming place, as the month of May starts drawing to a close, there is a distinct sense of... nervousness? Worry? Fear? At least something bordering on concern as the month continues.

Why?

Well, the immediate answer is that June is the rainy season, and Iyashikei is filled with canals and waterways. While some flooding is to be expected, it's best to be overprepared rather than caught off guard. But there is... something a bit unusual about their answer. There's the sense that something more is under the surface but any attempt to get a more in-depth answer is met with just concern about how bad things can get and trying to use any sort of magic or abilities doesn't get them to open up any further.

So it's time to get weather-wise! There's no telling how bad it will be this year! So all of Iyashikei is getting involved, as it so often does. There's waterproofing the roofs and walls of homes. You can help by filling up hundreds and hundreds of sandbags. There's making first aid kits for anyone who is a new arrival, or going from home to home and helping make sure everyone has what they need. You can help by cleaning up the pathways along the canals so that when they flood, trash and dirt don't get in the water. In some homes, you can help by moving furniture upstairs, reinforcing windows, and taking inventory of how much clean water they have. Houseboats should have their hulls checked.

Head to the docks and beaches to help make sure the boats are secured and tied up tightly. Go to the Farmlands to make sure pens and stables are leak-proof. YOU will be asked if you're prepared for the rains as well! Do you have sensible rain boots, rain coats, a strong umbrella, a first aid kit, do you have enough food, medication, and anything else you might need? You don't? Better go get them while you're still dry and the paths are clear. No, no, no, residents will insist. You may have experienced serious rain or even hurricanes back home, but not like this, not like here.

And... there's that fear again.

Well, better to be safe than sorry, everyone will insist! Besides, everyone always needs a first aid kit in their home anyway! Even minor flooding can be inconvenient, to say the least.

Truly, all of Iyashikei is getting ready, as if holding its breath because as soon as June hits?

The rains will begin...

MOD NOTE: June will be a unique event month and so the effects from that event will be added here in the TDM once the month of June starts.

                        A Kindly Curious Question
                    
There are several little beeps, or depending on whether you've begun customizing it, maybe a little song instead starts to play on your Glimmer. A little envelope notification appears and does a little wiggle. Should you open this, a cute little message appears:

Hello hello Iyashikei!
 
This is the monthly Kindness Curious Question (K.C.Q.)! What is something you’d love to learn about? Answer honestly to get your sticker!

Answer honestly on the Glimmer and you'll get your K.C.Q. Digital Sticker! It will immediately go into your K.C.Q. digital sticker album folder on your Glimmer.

What's the point, you might ask? Well, when you open that sticker and press on it, the little sticker will help you make a difficult task feel less complicated. To be clear, it doesn't make the task EASIER, just gives you more confidence to handle it.

                        < isopods >

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That's good. I can't imagine you without something to tinker with. Some sort of project to occupy your mind. Or your hands, for that matter.

[... when is the last time he had coffee, that said. He's dying to take a closer look at the music box Viktor is working on, but he doesn't want to disturb anything on the table. So he stands awkwardly near the door, rubbing his thumb against the rune on the inside of his wrist the way he used to fuss with his cuff.]

I still do. Some things don't change.

Eh, no, I think I would have gone utterly mad with nothing to do. Fortunately, there are a tremendous amount of things to study. [Spoken brightly while his hands moved over the kitchen counter, his words rapidly started picking up in intensity; the kind of way Viktor always spoke when he was excited about whatever breakthrough he was having.] You will not believe the kind of technology here, and what most other worlds find completely normal. Electrical engineering, Jayce--literal lightning in a bottle used as a power source. Steam and clockwork are considered archaic to most as far as I have been able to tell, and chemtech as we know it doesn't seem common eith-...

[Viktor trailed off as he glanced up; not yet noticing the rune where the awkward way he stood round was far more obvious.]

...Nothing will catch fire if you sit down, you realize. Please, make yourself comfortable.

I'd hate to see that happen. [He keeps his comment as dry as possible so as not to betray how heartbreaking that comment really is. He's seen Viktor utterly mad, he knows it intimately and gods, he hates it. But this Viktor, maybe, he can help.

But the excitement and chatter distract him enough, and he perches on the arm of the sofa to watch Viktor make coffee, not wanting to let him out of his sight for even a moment.]

Sorry. So thins aren't powered by steam and gears, here? There's -- what, it's elemental? You mentioned lightning.

Electrical, specifically. The research I've done indicates sunlight, wind, and water can also be utilized as power sources, but most of it seems grounded in converting them to electrical energy-

[He continued on like that for a minute or two, detailing the basics of electrical engineering ~~in ways I am not remotely qualified to comprehend~~ as he finished in the kitchen and set two coffee mugs on the table. Barely stopping for breath, Viktor continued as he settled on the couch.]

-have a library here that is nothing short of magnificent, Jayce, even the Academy has nothing quite like it. This whole world is... [He huffed out a breath that almost sounded like a laugh, picking up his own coffee mug--it smelled faintly of anise just as he'd always preferred it.]

It is like everything we ever dreamed the world could be.

[And Jayce watches him, eyes wide and bright, feeling excited for his partner. Look at him, flourishing in this strange new place. Already picking up on a new kind of technology, discovering all this city has to offer. All the potential it holds.

All the potential Viktor holds.

When Viktor sits, Jayce joins him properly on the sofa, picking up his mug but not drinking his coffee yet. And then Viktor's rambling comes to a stop and he sets the mug down again, reaching over to set a hand on his partner's knee, instead.]

I can't put to words how happy I am for you, Viktor. Truly. This is... incredible. Just a few months here, and you're already working with a new kind of tech? Amazing.

Do not get ahead of yourself, I haven't done anything too significant with it yet. Just as with any other form of technology, extensive study comes before practical application.

[Drinking his coffee was a perfect excuse to cover up how he was internally fumbling for words--Jayce's casual touches were definitely vastly more frequent, and it continued setting off quiet alarm bells in Viktor's head. Not from discomfort, of course--but the variation from what was expected told him something was just flat-out wrong. How long had it really been snce...well, Viktor presumed 'his death' was definitely a safe assumption now. Months? Weeks?]

[For the moment, acting as normal as possible seemed like the best approach. At least until one or both of them figured out how to navigate the situation.]

Besides. I would not have felt quite right starting some major undertaking on my own.

[Months, certainly. Maybe as much as a year, since everything happened in the Council Room. Since Viktor had died, and then Jayce proceeded to make every wrong decision he could. Honestly, it's taking all of his restraint not to pull Viktor into his arms and keep him there.

So he smiles, and takes up his coffee again, doing his best to focus on the warm mug and not the man next to him.] You may have to catch me up a bit, but... I'd be very happy to work with you, again. Always.

Spectacular. Easy enough, for someone of your intellect.

[Viktor barely hid a soft smile behind his mug before setting it down, quickly shifting his focus.]

Before that, of course--I have a couple of things that should at least fit you for the purposes of staying overnight. In the morning we can worry about finding clothess and whatever else you might need. I can show you around, and...

[Viktor trailed off, a thought he didn't dare hope for occurring to him as he set down his coffee.]

We could locate a suitable living space for you, unless you would prefer...?

I'll stay here. [He's a little embarrassed at how quickly that comes out, and he stares hard at his untouched coffee again.] Sorry, I just mean. If you have the room. Just until I'm a little more used to the city.

And I'd like that. You showing me the city. It'd be a lot easier with a guide, I think.

...Do not be absurd, you can stay as long as you want to. I only was not sure if the close quarters would be, hm...up to standards, but we can figure something out.

[Immediately losing some tension he didn't realize he'd been holding, Viktor shrugged with one shoulder.]

Learning the city's layout is something of an adjustment period as any new surroundings would be, so I would not mind making that process a bit simpler.

You can be honest, Viktor: do I look like I care about up to standards right now? [He gives a dry laugh, finally tasting his coffee (exactly how he used to take it). He knows he looks like shit right now, he accepts that. Especially if Viktor is from when he says he is.

Even if it was only a year ago, if as much as that, Viktor looks so young. Before everything broke them.] Um, I saw a few boats, but most of the transportation I didn't recognize. I'm guessing it runs on this electricity?

[A quiet hum of acknowledgment, then:] ...You look tired. Other than that...this is not the worst I have seen you, I think.

[Quickly brushing past the backhanded compliment, Viktor thought for a second or two.]

Something like that. I haven't researched it in depth yet--my friend Aqua might know a little more. His world's technology level is more similar to this one, and much as I would like to explore their design in exacting detail, asking him might be faster when it comes to the broader concept.

You're making friends? [He doesn't mean to sound quite as surprised as he does, but -- well. When has Viktor ever been the most social person? It's a relief, to think that Viktor's had friends here. People to keep him company, to teach him about this new world.]

I look forward to meeting all of them.

[Behold, the very familiar Look of 'how do you get your foot that far into your mouth?']

I befriended you easily enough, did I not? Besides--as it turns out, when people do not think you a trench rat, they are much more tolerable to speak to.

[weird how easy that is]

...I do think you will like them. Most of the people here have been effortlesly kind.

[... harsh, but more or less fair. But it still stings a little, and Jayce's face twists in a frown.] I never thought of you like that, you know that. And I just meant -- well. I rarely saw you outside the lab. You've always been so focused on work. That's all.

Which is how we met, if you remember.

I did not mean anything by it, Jayce, I was only pointing out a fact. We have more important things than a social life to focus on, and I prefer working with you than being anywhere else.

I don't -- [He sighs and sets his fingertips against Viktor's knee again, shaking his head a little]

Let's not argue. But I'm glad. That you have friends here. You deserve to have good people around you.

[Viktor let the matter drop without objection; they'd had countless brief arguments over the years, always over one minor equation or detail--and they had always fizzled out just as quickly. Even that was familiar, and he found himself relaxing slightly at the touch to his leg. Something he wouldn't allow from anyone else, certainly.]

...

[There were so many things he wanted to ask about--had Viktor told him about the Shimmer he was planning to experiment with, had it cone to anything at all, how long did he really have left--but none of it quite got any further than scattered thoughts. Did he even want to know? Did he want to ask, seeing how tired Jayce looked now compared to when Viktor had last seen him?]

My condition has neither improved nor worsened since I arrived; Aqua is the only one that knows anything about it. I have been going to the hospital once a month--just to be sure everything is unchanged.

If...it would help set your mind at ease, you could come with me next time.

[It's that assurance that does it. This is how Jayce Talis breaks down. He slides to the floor in front of the sofa and sets his forehead against Viktor's knee, shoulders shaking in silent sobs as tears slide down his face.

He's not better. But he's not worse, either. Viktor is stable, which isn't something Jayce ever knew he could hope for. And after losing him over and over again, it's what he needed to hear.]

Thank you. [It comes out small and weak and exhausted, and Jayce loops his arm over Viktor's legs carefully. Just holding him like this.]

Jayce-?! [Viktor startled at the sudden reaction, hands hovering as he internally panicked over what to do. This was alarming uncharted territory, these intense rections--not unlike his partner, but so unexpected and leving Viktor floundering for how to react. What had happened, had Viktor outright collapsed and died right in front of him? Gods, he hoped not.]

[But this closeness, this familiarity, had they-...no. No, Viktor was certain he would not have allowed either of them to make so stupid a decision.]

I told you...I am not going anywhere. [A thin hand tangled in Jayce' hair, the other reaching over to rest gently on his back.] Not yet.

I know. I know, that's why I'm crying. [There's something like a laugh in there. It's shaky and thin, but he manages it. The fingers in his hair go a long way to calm him, the hand on his back more so, and he relaxes against Viktor's legs.

His own leg aches from the position he'd dropped into so quickly, but it's worth it to feel close to Viktor like this right now.] I'm happy. I'm relieved. And yes -- I'll go with you, next time.

I am more accustomed to doing these things alone, but...if that will help your mind settle, the company does not bother me.

[We could stay here, whispered a wickedly selfish voice in Viktor's thoughts. If his future was as short-lived as it seemed, if nothing about his illness progressed in this realm, then...no. No. Viktor wanted so badly to change their world, to make it as peaceful and safe as this one. He couldn't just abandon all of it simply because he was afraid of dying.]

Come on--get off the floor, you will strain your leg.

Now where have I heard that before? [He sniffs and wipes at his eyes with another one of those choked laughs, but listens to Viktor's request and hauls himself back up again. And if he's sitting a little closer than he was before, then so be it.

He's thoughtful for a moment. Viktor has questions. Of course he does. He knows his partner well enough to feel all of them buzzing around that brilliant brain of his. But he's not sure he's ready to explain, not when it still feels so raw.]

You can ask. I might not be able to explain it all just yet. But you can ask.

...

[He wanted to know, but he didn't want to know. Stubboornness and scientific curiosity clashed with the common sense that said unspekably awful things had happened foor his partner to end up like this. So Viktor just thought it over for a moment, not quite meeting his eyes as a hand laid over one of Jayce's own.]

If you truly can not tell me, for one reason or another, I will trust you and refrain from pushing the issue. But I-...

[Viktor sighed, shoulders dropping as a deep-seated exhaustion made itself clear.]

...How long do I actually have?

[Jayce turns his hand so their hands are touching palm to palm, and he links his fingers with Viktor's. Needing that extra contact as scenes of Viktor's repeated deaths beat at the back of his mind.]

It doesn't end like that. Not where or when I'm from. Maybe there are other ways it played out, but -- [He shakes his head a little, exhaling harshly.]

I want you to know I was there, at the end of it all. With you. Please remember that no matter what else happens, it ends with me by your side. Your partner.

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