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

[obeytherod]

[Malik shakes his head, growling slightly. He hates being seen like this, but at least they were in this together.

Looking over at Bakura he points to his mouth and then shrugs, trying to pose a question.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

...?

[Bakura stares at him blankly for a moment. At first he thinks Malik's just hungry or something, but then it clicks. Is he asking about the language?

There's not that many ways he could say it, so he holds up his arm with Ryou's watch on it, tracing his finger around it backwards a couple of times to try to imply the past, then pointing at Malik's mouth.]

[obeytherod]

Hm...

[That takes him a minute, but he finally figures that Bakura trying to tell him it was something he could speak in the past, before this all happened...

Then it must be Ancient Egyptian. That would explain why it sounded so familiar, and yet not. It would also make sense--if he was forced back to his first language, maybe Bakura was too.

He reaches out to tap the Ring and then the Rod before pointing Bakura's mouth again and nodding. He's just trying to clarify that he understands.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[...he thinks he gets it. Nodding, he rests his arms on his knees, looking over the books thoughtfully. If Malik had been looking for a dictionary or something, then he was probably screwed, come to think of it. Lifting his hand, he rests it against the Ring, then frowns. He should probably warn Malik of Ryou's situation, too. But Malik can figure that out for himself. He's not very happy with Ryou today. Getting up off the ground, he offers his hand to help Malik up.]

No sense hanging around here.

[obeytherod]

[Malik gets up on his own, needing some sense of strength right now. Once they're up he pauses a moment to grab a book, using it as a prop when he points to Bakura's mouth, then traces some lines in the book, and then points to his own head.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

...what?

[Yeah, he isn't getting a word of that. Spreading his hands, he shrugs. Is he trying to say that he wants to learn to understand the language? Because that's the only thing he can guess.]

[obeytherod]

Ugh...

[Pinching his brow, he can't quite figure out how to explain it differently, so instead he copies the word Bakura just said.]

What... What? [He lifts his hands up in a shrug as well, then twirls them a bit to ask for emphasis.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Bakura blinks at him in surprise. Huh, he really is trying to learn it, isn't he? That thought warms his heart.]

I understand... I think. Hm...

[Lifting a hand, he points it at himself.]

I-

[Tapping his head.]

Think.

[Thumbs up.]

That's great!

[God, it's like being a mime.]

[obeytherod]

[Malik blinks, staring a moment, but all of a sudden he understands. Bakura understands!

Nodding, he copies the gestures and the words to go with them. His pronunciation is pretty good considering the two languages were related, but it still needs work.]

I... Think. That's great!

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Grinning, he gestures widely, hands spread out.]

You're doing good!

[He can at least understand him. Carefully, he repeats it again, so that Malik can get a better grip of it.

...Though it might do better if he writes things down so he doesn't forget them... Oh well. Pointing at Malik.]

You-

[Miming writing.]

Should probably write this down.

[obeytherod]

That's great. [He says again with more determination this time, and then copies the other words as best he can.]

You're do good.

[At the writing gesture, he grabs one of the books and flips to the back, ripping out a mostly blank page so he can start to write. He was just lucky enough to have a pen in his pocket.]

You... Should pro...uh. Write the down.

[fluffydeathdealer]

... [Yeah, he's going to need to do this slowly. Start with the basics, perhaps? Pointing at Malik-]

You-

[-tracing a plus sign in the air-]

and

[-pointing at himself.]

me.

[obeytherod]

You and me... [He copies the gestures, but then looks confused.]

Me...I? [Malik furrows his brow and frowns.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

Ah... [He should probably stick to one or the other, shouldn't he?]

You- [Pointing at Malik.]

And. [Plus sign.]

I. [He points at himself again, then pauses and does it again, repeating 'me', to show that they mean the same thing. Sighing, he wishes there was a way to explain his speech patterns easier. Teasingly, he lifts a hand to point at himself again.]

I.

[Drawing a heart-]

Love.

[He points at Malik.]

You.

[Smirk.]

[obeytherod]

[Those two words were the same? Malik thinks he understands, but it's still confusing; he doesn't know what kind of context is generally used for which, so he'll just stick to one for now.

Bakura's next "lesson" makes him smile.]

...I, love...you. [And then his smile widens into a playful grin.]

I think...that great! [Whoops, looks like he lost part of the word there.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[He grins back, amused, gently correcting the phrasing.]

'I think that's great'.

[He's careful to enunciate clearly, and isn't that a rarity for him? Considering his usual slangy dialogue, it's pretty awkward for him to try to talk properly. Hm... next basic. He'll be patient for Malik's sake.]

Yes. [He nods.] No. [Shaking his head...]

[obeytherod]

That's. [He repeats the word, nodding.]

That's great. I love you.

[The next words are the easiest by far.]

Yes. [He nods.] No. [He shakes his head.]

Uh? [He makes a so-so sign.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Hearing those words from Malik just makes him smile brighter. He thinks he's getting what Malik's asking.]

'I don't know.'

[He punctuates the comment with a shrug.]

'Maybe'?

[That one's harder to illustrate, so he repeats Malik's gesture.]

[obeytherod]

I don't know. [He emphasizes for no particular reason, it's just part of how he learns.]

Maybe. [He so-so gestures again.]

...Hm. [Malik seems a little confused on these two. Even with the context of his question, it's hard to pick out the difference.

The first one seemed to be an "I don't care" or "whatever", as far as he can tell. The second seemed to be along the lines of what he was originally asking--"sort of" or "maybe".]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Noticing the confusion, he repeats the first one, but this time on the word 'know', he taps his head and shakes it. For the other one, he decides to make it easier, repeating the gestures as he says the words.]

'Yes'. 'No'. 'Maybe'.

[obeytherod]

Oh. Yes. [Malik gets the three key words now, but he's still confused on the first.]

Know and think...?

[fluffydeathdealer]

Hm... [Gesturing for Malik to pay attention, he feigns a look of confusion, shrugging.] 'I don't know.'

[obeytherod]

...I don't know-- [He grabs an English books and opens it, pointing to the words.]

Yes? I don't know?

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Hm. This one was hard. He nods his head, deciding to clarify a little more.]

I. [Pointing to self.] Don't. [Shaking his head.] Know. [Shrug.]

[obeytherod]

Yes... [He nods in understanding and writes something down on his paper. He's writing purely in Arabic, so whatever Egyptian he's learning is being written phonetically.]