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iyashikeimemes2025-04-30 11:57 pm
iyashikeimods) wrote in iyashikeimemes2025-04-30 11:57 pm
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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.
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No. He won't chase that train of thought.
Instead he sighs, and lets Viktor hold him like this.] Now that I'm done crying on you, you should tell me more about what it's like, here.
[A beat, and -- ] And you should keep petting my hair like that.
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It is difficult to describe in many aspects; much of it is like nothing I have ever seen before. A tremendous city that runs off of magic as well as technlogy I have nly barely begun to comprehend. I can harddly wait for you to see the library and the university, it all makes even the Academy look small.
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Maybe... [He's trying to choose his words, here. To explain this in a way that Viktor will easily understand without knowing the events of the past several months] Maybe there's a reason we're in this place, after all.
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[It was Viktor's turn to be quiet for a second or two, turning that concept over in his mind. He was not one to assume every single occurrence in the known universe had a distinct purpose; a concnept as superstitious as 'fate' seemed like a laughable concept to a scientist. However, it was impossible to overlook that many inscrutable things did have reason behind them. The question was whether or not this was one of them.]
You may be right. [A reason that Viktor was allowed time beyond his expectations, a reason Jayce had come from so far ahead of him--there was something missing in this equation, a variable that Viktor could not even begin to imagine.] It is not a quandary that needs solvng right this second, Jayce. We have...time, to consider the matter. [Said in the distinct tone of that time itself not being a concept Viktor was used to just yet.]
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Whatever it is, whatever the cause, he'll take it.
Another thoughtful pause, and he finally remembers to say -- ] I ran into a girl, um. Kind of literally, actually. Before I saw you. She's a scientist here, I think. A yordle, maybe? Similar ears, anyway. But she's working on testing the powers that people come in with, once she has her lab set up. [There's a small, snorted laugh at that.] I think I might have a job interview with her.
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[He shrugged at that, idly tapping his fingers against Jayce's shoulder in thought.]
I could not make a great deal of sense out of how her abilities might work, but it may be worth consideration.
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The idle touches are nice. Being pet, like one might pet a cat, has soothing properties, and Jayce feels more relaxed than he thought possible, anymore.] Overzealous is a good word for it. I'm interested to see her theories, anyway.
Tell me more about your friends?
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[All the same, he latched on to the subject change a little too quickly.]
Well--there's Aqua, somethng of an aspiring medical student. Brilliant for his age; I think he could easily match ome of the Academy's best. [This was, of course, because Aqua was technically older than both of them. But that certainly wasn't Viktor's secret to explain.] A young girl named Maria--she has a condition not unlike my own, and comes from a wildly technologically advanced world I admit I do not quite understand. Then there's another girl, Xion--I do not know much about where she comes from, but she was very excited to find out I did not have a last name. Apparently that's uncommon in her own world.
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But he can do it differently, this time. He knows what to look for. He can see it, stop it. Change it.
He keeps hold of Viktor, arms looped around his thin frame.] It sounds like you're still surrounding yourself with brilliant minds.
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...I've missed you. Things have not felt quite right, separated for months like this.
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So no, he's not about to let go, and while he adjusts to being here he's going to stick as close as possible.] I'm so glad I found you again, Viktor. Even if we don't fully understand this place yet, it's brought us both here.
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[He leaned his head on Jayce's shoulder with a quiet, tired sigh. Too many question, an abundance of concern, and yet all Viktor could really do was let this unusual amount of contact play out if that was what was necessary.]
I understand, if you are not prepared to answer this quetion either. But did I- [An uncertain pause, like he wanted to hope he knew the answer and yet couldn't be sure.] -...tell you what I went to the Undercity for?
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They're dangerous.
I'm from the Undercity.
The memory of Viktor slapping his hand away in anger.
It's his turn to stroke his fingers through Viktor's hair, returning the gesture as he rests against his shoulder.] Not then, no. I found out later. I was angry, at first, but not at you. I was angry that your body was failing and that was the only thing that could help. And I was angry that I was too busy to see how much you were hurting.
I wish you had. But I understand why you didn't feel like you could.
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My acquaintance warned me it was likely such a course of action would lead to me being despised. That 'love and loyalty are the sacrifices we make for progress'. But I did not see any other options.
['Jayce will understand.']
...I was planning on telling you. [An unspoken I don't know what happened to change my mind lingered in that statement, but Viktor didn't push the subject. Despite everything, despite the risks to himself and their collective reputation, there was barely any doubt in his mind that his partner would support him when he truly, desperately needed it.] Whatever happened, however you found out--it was never my intention to hide anything from you.
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If -- [He takes a deep breath and pulls back to look Viktor in the eye, needing him to know that he means this with his whole heart.] If it happened again here. If that's what it came to, I would understand. You're stable now and that's wonderful, and Janna's mercy it stays that way. But if anything happens, if it means you being healthy, or pain free? Then do it.
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I-...have been less than supportive, myself. I do not think I recognized or understood the kind of pressure you were under. Truthfully, I thought you preferred the focus and spotlight, and I never questioned until recently whether it might have been wearing on you.
We have both been colossal idiots, haven't we?
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I didn't mind the spotlight, if only because it let our ideas be heard. But I'd rather be in the lab with you, any day.
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[A soft, bitter laugh.] Kurva. Did we manage to do anything right, Jayce?
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We got a lot of things wrong along the way. But in the end, we did the right thing. In the pursuit of something great, we were still able to do some good. [A small smile. A joke with himself. But also, just a little bit of relief.]
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Well--I suppose that is not so terrible. A small amount of success is better than none at all.
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