Language LOL: Translator Malfunction

[rumham]

You know what's cool? Chatting with your pals. Reading the Internet. Navigating the roads because you can understand the Gods-damned street signs. You know what's not cool? Not being able to do any of that. By that metric, one might describe today in the Nexus decidedly uncool.

It's utterly without warning that the multiversal hub goes from automatic to manual translation. Shop signs, radio and television broadcasts, conversations on the streets between vendors and friends and businesspeople are suddenly a jarring cacophony of dissonant languages. Then there's the silence. Then there's the shouting. Turns out people get pissed off when nobody understands them!

Momentary chaos dies down as the average people of the Nexus come to grips with their new situation. Shopkeepers wait outside their stores and stands with expectant expressions, impatiently waiting for the translator to pull itself together and start working again.

Except...

It sort of doesn't.

No, it super doesn't.

Citizens of the Nexus, it would appear you're going to have to adjust...

((The temporary LANGUAGE LOL is now underway! It's freeform fun until you're done and participation is completely optional. Don't feel like this event should stop you from making threads which are unaffected by the LOL in the mean time. If you want your Language LOL'd character to interact with a non-LOL thread, please ask the OP if they want to play that dynamic first. For the OOC and organization post, GO HERE. ))

Comments

[grantuseyes]

The messengers look briefly perplexed, at a loss. He doesn't know it? But? Wait. This is confusing.

And how to explain it. The messengers look amongst themselves; some shrug to the others. Eventually, one decides he might have an idea and gets to work on a new drawing. The others watch and there briefly seems to be an argument going on. A debate on the legs apparently. Some count on their fingers, others shake their head, some grab another black crayon to just add their own. This frustrates the original artist but it perseveres with its original vision.

Finally, Jim is given a fresh new drawing!



Uh....huh.

[boldygoing]

...what the shit is that.

Jim stares at the drawing, turns it side to side, trying to make sense out of it. It's a six-legged, two headed... thing. With crazy hair. That's crying. In a puddle of blood.

Is this supposed to make more sense? Because it doesn't.

But the little people are looking up at him with such expectations that he's pretty sure if he says as much, they're either going to cry or draw him something even more nonsensical and creepy. And there's that symbol again, floating around the... thing... in the center of the page. "Okay, so what does this have to do with me? You gave me this for a reason, right?" he asks, tapping a finger on the first sketch. More importantly, why the hell does it seem so familiar, the longer he looks at it?

[grantuseyes]

Yes! Yes! The messengers tap the drawing as well, just mimicking Jim because that's fun. One gets caught up in just that and is soon slapping it with open palms like a drum. Bap bap bap bap.

As to the why, one of them gets right on a new drawing to further elucidate. Or just keep adding weird layers to this whole thing. Either or. This one's done fast too, so Jim is handed a new parchment in less than a minute.



The one is still drumming his hands on the first drawing. Bap bap bap. This is good fun.

[boldygoing]

...what.

Jim stares at the hastily drawn sketch in disbelief. This thing is... inside his head? Inside his head. What is it? Some kind of... rune? How did it...?

No. He knows the answer to this one, without even having to ask. Even though he'd had Hermione check to make sure he hadn't brought the curse out of the Nightmare with him, that doesn't mean he didn't bring something else. The scars on his shoulder are proof enough of that.

But it's been months since then, and the nightmares and panic attacks have been well within the bounds of what he would have expected after that horrible night. So... whatever it is, it hasn't made anything worse. Hasn't hurt him, not that he's noticed. It's something he's damn well going to look into, but the immediate panic is tempered with reason, his brow furrowed in thought.

"...thanks." He's still not sure what to make of these weird little artist dudes, but he probably wouldn't have known about this without them.

[grantuseyes]

The messengers respond by clapping and blowing kisses. You're welcome! We love you!