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

[memorypuzzle]

[It's like his blood has run cold suddenly. He's speaking Egyptian? Casting a glance over his cards, he frowns. The symbols look like nonsense to him. So the knowledge of how to speak Egyptian has superseded his ability to understand other languages? That means he probably won't understand Yugi either. And that also means there are very few people that will understand him, if any.

He glances back at her, nodding with a concerned look on his face.]

Thank you, Karasu. It makes more sense to me now.

[Odd, how natural these words felt. He'd never even have noticed he wasn't speaking Japanese if she hadn't pointed it out.]

[moderndaydragon]

[That's... a weird way to pronounce her name, but she does manage to recognize it as her name, and the tone is enough to get the idea across. She smiles a little, nodding in what she hopes is a reassuring way, but the concern and panic is still evident enough on her own face that it probably falls heavily flat.

After a moment, she digs into the bag at her side, producing a sketchbook and a pencil, giving Yami a curious glance.]

[memorypuzzle]

... [He nods, reaching out to tug out a chair and sit down. Despite the situation, he's at least physically relaxed, his legs crossed and his head leaning on one hand as he gestures from her to the table. Sit down, Karasu... they can share the sketchbook and maybe find a way to talk through it.]

[moderndaydragon]

[She smiles a little more, relief seeping into her expression as she sits down as well, flipping past the sketches already done to get to a blank page. After a moment of thought, she shrugs and starts out the "talk" with the usual "hi".

By sketching a little Blue-Eyes waving.]

[memorypuzzle]

... [That earns her an amused chuckle. Taking the pencil from her, he pauses for a moment before drawing a little stick figure with spiky hair waving back.

...nobody ever accused him of being an artist, okay.]

[moderndaydragon]

[She puts her hand over her mouth to try not to laugh, but it's harder than usual, seeing as the stress really wants to get that giggle out. In the end, she gives something like a half-suppressed snort.

She thinks for a minute, then draws a card, making a little doodle of a Dark Magician in the spot and putting a question mark where the text would usually go.]

[memorypuzzle]

[Ah! He nods, firmly, and holds out one of his cards, tapping the odd symbols where the name was.]

Sy iew?

[Translation: What is it?]

[moderndaydragon]

Japanese.

[She holds her hand out for the card, asking to be handed it for a moment.]

[memorypuzzle]

[He hands it to her without hesitation. It seems he keeps very good care of his cards; there's not even the slightest bend or scratch to it.]

[moderndaydragon]

[Much like hers. Even the ones in the bag she's careful to keep as good condition as she possibly can, so her deck could be considered absolutely spoiled, especially for cards.

She smiles a little at the picture, then erases the question mark to write down the text on the Black Magician's card, name and all. To the side, she writes it down in romaji too, even if she's sure he can't understand it, and finishes off by writing the Black Magician's name to the side as well in a way she hopes that Yami can at least pronounce, even if he can't understand it.

After a moment of thought, she writes down "Nihongo" above it all, then draws arrows to everything else she's written.

She gently hands the card back, then points to what she's written and her mouth, trying to indicate it's the same language that she's speaking. Granted, it's probably obvious, but still...]

[memorypuzzle]

...uh.

[What the hell are these weird symbols she's written? Even in romaji, it's like staring into the abyss. There's no way he can pronounce anything written there because he has no idea what the sounds associated with the words are.

Giving her a confused look, he puts the card back with the others, gathering them up and neatly putting them back into a deck with practiced ease.]

Dua Netjer en etj?

[Thank the goddess for you.]

[moderndaydragon]

[She gives him a bit of an encouraging look, pointing at Nihongo then pointing at everything she's written.]

Wakatte imasu anata ga wakarimasen.
(I know you can't understand me.)

Dakara watashi omae wo tasukeru ga shitai nihongo saishite yomu to kikikomu wo mitomeru.
(But I want to help you understand that this is Japanese when read and spoken.)

[She speaks slowly, carefully, trying to let him hear how she's speaking. She has absolutely no idea if her intention is getting across at all, but even if not, hopefully he'll manage to pick up the sounds of it in case anyone ELSE speaks it.

And maybe then he can bring them to her.]

[memorypuzzle]

[So that's the same language, then... whatever she's written. So if he sees anyone with those symbols, or that dialect, he can probably direct them to her. He nods firmly, giving her a thumbs up. It's not like he can do much else on that front. Taking the pencil from her, he carefully draws a bunch of stick figures with speech bubbles, all of which he fills with random symbols.

...he wonders if she can tell he's not actually writing, he's just trying to find out if everyone else is speaking in tongue too.]

[moderndaydragon]

[Phew. She smiles a little when it seems that he gets the idea, nodding happily with a relieved look.

She leans on her hands a little as he draws more, frowning at the picture with a confused look. A bunch of people with random scribbles? Random scib...

Oh!

She takes the pencil back to do a quick sketch of a group of people all looking confused, then makes her own random symbols in all of their speech bubbles. That done, she places the pencil down and gives him a curious look.

Is that what he was asking?]

[memorypuzzle]

[He nods, giving her an appreciative smile. Then it definitely wasn't just him...]

That's good to know. I wonder if this has happened before...

[Taking the pencil, he sketches out an hourglass. How long has it been?]

[moderndaydragon]

[She tilts her head at the hourglass, frowning as she thinks.

She takes the pencil, drawing 7 boxes to try to mimic a calender, then shades in one of them. It's been about... a day, she thinks?]

[memorypuzzle]

[It takes him a while to get it, because what calendar has only seven boxes? But if it's been going on that long and he really hasn't noticed it... he really needs to talk to more people.

Once they can understand him, anyway. Nodding, he draws out one of his cards - Black Magic - and taps it questioningly. Does she think it's magic?]

[moderndaydragon]

[She looks at the card he's tapping, thankful that at least it's pretty easy to guess what he's asking -- because even he can't want a duel right now.

She nods in answer, frowning a little worriedly. She holds up her hands, palms-up, and manifests the little "gems" of ice she's gotten used to doing by now. Holding it out so he can see, she dispels them after a moment, then points at the Blue-Eyes drawing before pointing at herself.

She can't think of anything else it can be but magic... and she IS the Blue-Eyes. It'd have to be something way better than what she can do to do this.]

[memorypuzzle]

[Huh... so she can do that too, just like Kai. That's pretty impressive. How many people here can use magic, anyway? He nods in response to it, reaching out to poke the ice before it vanishes.]

I understand. I wonder who caused it, then...

[moderndaydragon]

[She can guess at the question, shrugging helplessly. Hell if she knows.

The poke at the ice definitely draws her attention, and she cups her hands again, focusing a bit more intently this time. The result is a handful of ice once more, but this time, all the pieces are larger, and shaped like actual gemstones.

She giggles a little, then lightly places them on the desk for him to see.]

[memorypuzzle]

[That earns a slight whistle of surprise from him as he leans on his hands to stare. That's pretty good work... gemstones made of ice.

But when they melt, they'll probably damage the book, so he shifts it out of the way to make sure.]

[moderndaydragon]

[She giggles a little at the whistle, but just smiles and shakes her head a little when she notices him move the book. Not that she faults him, but she's got a little trick.

Picking up one of the "gemstones", she takes Yami's hand and places the ice in it, closing his fist around it.

It's cold, yes... but it won't be melting. She's practiced enough to keep whatever she's got in play completely frozen, and the look on her face says she's definitely proud of it.]

[memorypuzzle]

That's something special. You'll have to explain this once you get your ability to speak back.

[He handles the cold of it with ease. Curious... where did a person gain these abilities?]

[moderndaydragon]

[She takes a guess that he's asking about how she's doing it, so she nods a little, trying to indicate she'll tell him about it later.

As it is, she starts putting together the little gems, willing the eyes to reshape and reform slowly. Once she's done, there's a crude -- but recognizable -- little statue of Yami there.]