CAMPUS WIDE EVENT: THE LANGUAGE BARRIER REINSTATED

[intercom_voice]

[Today, something somewhere went wrong. On the evening on the 15th, any bilingual (or otherwise) knowledge granted by the Campus has simply...disappeared. At least for anybody walking by the North Wing.]

Tja ... det här kommer att lägga sordin på våra studier, är nu inte det?

[Translation: Well...this is going to put a damper on our studies, now isn't it?]

((ooc: So! For the next 5 days (the 15th~20th), your character officially only knows their native tongue. Aka, whatever language they primarily grew up with. They can no longer read, speak, or understand any other language but.

For fun you can even use Google Translate to show what your character is speaking at a glance! Don't worry, we all know it's probably gibberish :P

If you go the Google route, please be sure to put a translation at the bottom. If not, then please take care to specify what language your character is speaking in at the start of every thread.

If you have any questions, just head to the mod plurk or send this account a PM, but most importantly--have fun!))

Comments

RYOU IS IN JAPANESE, KURA IS IN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN...

[fluffydeathdealer]

[It's easier for the spirit and his host to notice the change than it is for most others. After all, they're one of a very few people that share a mind with another person. And Bakura finding himself unable to understand his host is... bizarre. He tries for a while, but it just makes his head hurt. He can't even read his host's thoughts.]

What the hell is this...

[Sorry... I really don't understand...
Just shut up! Go to sleep! I can't stand hearing you talk like this inside my head!

Damn... is this some kind of language-scrambling curse? What the hell is he even talking in? It sounds familiar, but hearing it spoken aloud is bizarre. Like a dead language. Having no memory of how the words were meant to be pronounced, it's almost impossible for him to recognize his own language.]

Is this some kind of joke?!

[moderndaydragon]

[On seeing Bakura, Karasu had momentarily been filled with relief, then remembered exactly what he was. An old, ancient spirit, and this place seemed to have locked them into their first language -- there was probably a zero chance of her understanding him, wasn't there?

...And then he talks, and it's confirmed. Sighing, she goes over anyway, giving a weak smile and a wave.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

...! Hey, Karasu... Do you know what the hell language I'm speaking?

[...not that she could probably understand him, but maybe if she heard it, she'd recognize it?]

[moderndaydragon]

[She doesn't understand him at all, unfortunately, and gives a confused shrug at the question. The language, she can recognize, yes, but she has no idea even remotely what he's asking.]

I can only speak Japanese, Bakura-kun. Sorry.

[fluffydeathdealer]

[What the hell-?! She's speaking the same way as Ryou. Then, most likely, they haven't changed... he has. What kind of curse only affects one soul when there's two in the body?! Did Kai do this? He did use magic after all... Kh... at least it's confirmed what's going on.]

Dua en etj.

['Thank you'. He deliberately dropped the 'netjer' from it. Because like hell he's thanking the gods for her. Even if it makes for poor grammar. Lifting a hand to his head, he pinches the bridge of his nose irritably. Some way to ask... He points at his mouth and shrugs, looking lost.]

[moderndaydragon]

[She nods, managing to at least get the general idea from it, but gives him a helpless and panicked look rather than her usual happy one, despite her best efforts. It's hardly a surprise -- having a full language ripped away from her on top of being unable to understand anyone else is making it really hard to stay calm and collected.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Reaching out, he pats her on the shoulder, resting his hand there afterwards as a comforting weight. Even if he can't understand her, she's still there. They haven't disappeared, or been separated. And it's not like they've not had trouble communicating before. She can't speak in her dragon form. He's been getting a little used to one-sided conversing thanks to that. So he's a little less panicked than she is on that front.]

Be of good cheer, Hedj! [He couldn't resist the joking nickname, his tone light as ever.] We're still here, right?

[moderndaydragon]

[The light tone gets a bit of a smile from her, and she moves her hand up to clutch at Bakura's a little. Touching her like this, he might be able to notice that she's trembling ever so slightly, though like with her expression, she's trying desperately to control it.

It isn't fair. She was finally able to enjoy herself and be happy, and this had to go and happen.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

...

[He may have promised Malik that he wouldn't, but to hell with it. Stepping forward, he wraps his other arm around her back, drawing her into a tight hug for a moment. It's brief, and a little hard, but she's a dragon; she can handle it.]

Don't take it to heart so much!

[His tone is lightly chiding.]

Everything passes.

[Tugging Ryou's watch off, he holds it up and taps it. Time passes. Wait it out. It always passes.]

[moderndaydragon]

[She seems surprised at the hug, but returns it just as tightly, clinging for a brief moment and breathing a bit sharply.

When he pulls away, she seems to feel a lot better, glancing down at his watch and back at him. It takes her a moment, but she manages to get it, smiling an actual smile this time and nodding.]

Domo arigato!

[fluffydeathdealer]

Heheh.

[Patting her on the back, between her shoulderblades, he puts the watch back on. It takes him a little effort because of his fingers, but he does it out of stubbornness.]

You look better when smiling, Hedj.

[moderndaydragon]

[The pat gets a slightly snorted giggle, Karasu running a hand through her hair with a sigh that's a little more relieved this time. She's still worried, but that Bakura's still here and trying to calm her down is enough to help her relax some.

She glances around, then back to him, frowning a little. Still, she'd really like it if they could find some way to talk. It's not like she can just spontaneously learn Egyptian, and the hieroglyphics are --

-- wait a moment. That's it. Her face brightens as something dawns on her, holding up a finger and pointing down to indicate that Bakura should wait here. She runs off before he can say anything else, knowing exactly what she needs.

It's about fifteen minutes later she finally comes back, holding up a sketchbook and a pencil with a tote bag slung around her.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

Uh-

[Before he can stop her, she's already running off. With nothing better to do, he folds his arms over his chest and leans against the wall. Ugh, how boring... by the time she's back, he's graduated to sitting on the floor, legs stretched out across the hallway insolently as he drums his fingers on the floor.]

About time!

[moderndaydragon]

[She gives him an apologetic look, sitting against the wall next to him and opening the sketchbook to show why it took so long.

The first page shows a little doodle of her and Bakura, with speech bubbles over their head. Rather than words, however, she's drawn a very simplified Shien in her bubble, with a simplified Ghostrick Witch above Bakura's.

They can "talk" through drawings! At least, that's the idea she's hoping is getting across.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

...

[Why do you have to pick the girliest monster he has as his example?]

Right...

[He nods, holding out his hand for the sketchbook. Great. First the rose for Harriet and now this... the universe really wanted him to practice his shitty drawing skills, didn't it?]

[moderndaydragon]

[Because it was easy to draw.

She hands over the book, pulling her legs up to rest her chin on them and watch him curiously.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[He has to adjust the pencil a few times before he can get a proper grip on it enough to draw, but once he does, he sets to work. It takes him a little bit of work, and he isn't even bothering with details, but he manages to draw a chibi Karasu and a chibi Bakura sitting down and apparently brofisting.

The idea behind it is "we can work together on this".]

[moderndaydragon]

[She blinks at that, then bursts into giggles. Taking the pencil from him, she doodles them in the same position next to it, but has them high-five instead.

She gets the idea... and they'll definitely work together.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Bakura grins and nods. Her reaction earlier made it clear that it wasn't just him that was affected; he could have easily kept thinking so if she wasn't so stressed. So they'll have to try hard.

Well, since she drew it... he offers his hand for her to high-five it.]

[moderndaydragon]

[That gets another laugh, but she doesn't hesitate in high-fiving him, smiling a little and definitely looking better, now.

After a moment, she draws Bakura again, scribbling a random symbol in his speech bubble and putting a question mark next to it. What are you speaking?]

[fluffydeathdealer]

...

[That's a question symbol, right...? He guesses so, anyway. But it is a good question. What the hell is he speaking?

He shrugs, looking unsure.]

[moderndaydragon]

[So he has no idea... which means it's probably what she thought it was in the first place.]

Egyptian.

[fluffydeathdealer]

[That gets another shrug from him. He doesn't recognize the word at all like this. Though he can guess what she means.

Because that language... that language is the language of his past, right?]

What a pain...

[moderndaydragon]

[She nods in agreement, blowing the strand of hair out of her face as she leans against the wall, closing her eyes.

Cripes... the worst part is, she'd joked about this with the Thief King, and now it actually happened. She has to remember to never ever do that again, because apparently this place can hear.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Drawing his legs up, he loops his hands over his knees, staring off into space. For a little while, he's just silent.

Then his stomach grumbles.

Grabbing the sketchpad, he draws a knife and fork, showing it to her.]