[WORLD TWO | SIGNET MELTDOWN MINGLE]

[spellbindmods]

Who: Anyone!
Where: Everywhere
When: Day 197-200
Open/Closed: OTA

[ If you've never experienced that ear-splitting, spine-tingling, bone-crushing headache that comes with Qri doing...something...then you're in for a treat. It lasts for about an hour on the first day, though usually it fades after a while and things go back to normal.

This time, you aren't so lucky. As soon as the headache passes, you notice there's a certain something missing within you. You may not notice it immediately, but the next time you hear someone talk their words might be equivalent to gibberish. When you go to ask someone what's going on with your telepathy, you find that your words just circle your own brain, no one answering because the message simply can't be received.

This...may be a problem. Hopefully you know how to play charades. ]

Comments

[quakeitoff]

a: questions, questions

[Keiichi has NOT ever experienced the Qri Migraine, and then once that passes he just feels... off, and people are milling around looking confused, so-- he waves down folks he would recognize from the coven's apartments at random, launching into a spiel as soon as he has their attention.]

Hey...! How are you feeling? Do you know what's going on? Oh, well, I guess I don't know that's something going on, but things just seem off, right? It's just sort of strange! I was feeling pretty awful earlier too, but I guess maybe that doesn't have anything to do with anything-- what do you think? Are you okay?

[...Well, that rapid-fire spiel might be a lot even for a person that did speak Japanese, so if you don't...!! Good luck!]

b: language labels and game time!

[And, later during this mini-crisis once everyone sort of has an idea of what's going on...! Too much of a social butterfly to let something like a paltry LANGUAGE BARRIER stop him, Keiichi's taken to spending even more time in the rec areas of the apartment complex than he normally does-- after all, ping pong or Shehui's equivalent of Uno transcend the need for language! And in the meantime during the signet power outage, he's taken to safety-pinning an index card to his shirt like a makeshift name tag, on which he's written "Japanese" in both... well, Japanese, and English.

He's currently sitting at a rec room table, sorting through a stack of board and card games to try and pick out ones that don't rely so much on shared language. On the corner of the table is a small stack of index cards, some safety pins, and two pens, in case anyone else would similarly like to advertise which languages they can speak! Take one? Or just otherwise respond to Keiichi's cheery grin and wordless-but-enthusiastic wave?]

w: for wildcard

[Or, hey, maybe something else is going on! You tell me!]

[mesmerevenant]

[ If the tags didn't catch Jun's attention, Keiichi's wave sure did. He smiles and waves back, of course, then points to the tags questionably—eyebrows raised. A gesture meant to ask if it was Keiichi's idea, and if he should just go ahead and take one. ]

[quakeitoff]

Park-san--! Oh!

[He nods and makes an offering/pushing gesture towards the cards; take one, take one!]

a!!

[osuni]

[Ah yes, Keiichi's favorite person is here to help.]

If you're talking this much, then I'm going to assume that you're okay as well.

[that sure was a weird thing, but]

Hm... I'd say that the government here is probably to blame? They've been asking questions about our signets. They might have found out that we can communicate with each other through them. That or... maybe you ate something funny today?

[quakeitoff]

Oh! Do you think? Could they do that? Is it possible to stop magic things without magic...? Hopefully we can find a way to fix them soon! And, I don't think so! It was just a headache earlier, [just a headache, really Keiichi] and the signet thing sounds more like it... That's so weird!

a

[alienates]

[ karkat does not speak japanese, unfortunately. so, during all of that, he kind of just... stares.

and stares.

and then he walks away midway, only to come back with a drink. he takes a sip, still staring. ]

[quakeitoff]

[Keiichi is exactly the kind of person to oblivious continue rambling at someone as they walk off, so, that works]

But I'm new, so, I guess there's still a lot I don't know!

[He does stop there, though, and lean in expectantly for a response. He's done!! Really really!!!]

[mesmerevenant]

[ At first Jun thought that his migraine could be attributed to his new glasses, which he finally has. When the telepathy and language issues happen though, it becomes obvious that this is something far more serious.

Thankfully, he can speak English, Korean, French, and even some Chinese—but he'll be out of luck with all the Japanese speakers.

All the more reasons to advertise his skills as a translator, at least? In the rec room and just outside the apartment complex, Jun'll be posting up a sign with all four aforementioned languages and the contact details of his cellphone, should anyone get desperate enough to ask for help. ]

[terezias]

[Terezi can be found either in the garden or outside the building, scribbling what looks like a grisly execution scene in sidewalk chalk: there's a large monstrous creature (recognizable as His Honorable Tyranny, if you know your troll culture) and a lot of horned faces looking on as some dastardly villain is hanged. She seems cheerfully oblivious to the idea that her defacement of public property might be unwelcome; she'll greet you with a chirpy,]

Hello!

[in "Alternian" that sounds oddly like English, or, if that gets a blank face, she'll simply hold out a stick of chalk and point out a bare patch of floor. Maybe you can try Pictionary?]

[witchhooded]

[ jade's ears stand at attention; she's curious. the picture before her is gruesome and truly disgusting... in the same way a child scrawling an action scene might be, in some manner. the chalk just makes the image something closer to creepy and unique than... horrifying. maybe.

she's not sure. her mouth opens for a moment then her tongue sticks out in thought and then she hears terezi's voice and.

hm.

she's a little surprised. ]

Salutations?

[ she thinks! ] No charades??

[terezias]

Well, you do speak Alternian.

[She states this like it is perfectly obvious fact, and not groundbreaking in any way.]

[soulcomet]

[Alternianglish was her worst subject in school, but she does know a greeting when she hears one! and she knows how to return it.]

Hello!

[that's about as good as it's going to get, though, sadly. Madoka crouches down to have a look at Terezi's artwork — uh. what the heck is going on here.]

[terezias]

[Helpfully, still in English:]

It is a public trial and execution. He has embezzled some funds.

[Yeah, good luck translating that.]

[idolpedia]

H..hello. What is that, Terezi-san?

[The "Hello" is in English. The rest? She is still learning to phrase things correctly in English. So the rest of what she says is in Japanese. Sorry??]

[terezias]

[She tilts her head at Dia. Still in English:]

You are speaking a strange human language, too. Would you like chalk?

[She holds out a stick of green chalk, helpfully.]

[alienates]

[ karkat quickly walks by, stops, and walks backwards until he's next to terezi. ]

Are you drawing more fanart?

[terezias]

This is an original story. Do not steal.

[She grins, though; she's happy to see Karkat.]

I presume you have noticed the language changes by now.

[osuni]

a; thanks qri

[thanks for that ear-splitting, spine-tingling, bone-crushing headache qri, what would Okuni do without spontaneous PAIN out of nowhere?

Not accidentally drop this serving tray of free samples all over the nearest person's shoes, for one thing.

Okuni, for once, didn't actually mean to cause chaos -- she's too busy squatting down on the ground, a hand on her forehead as she tries to reorient herself -- but today's boss is yelling at her in Shehui gibberish and it's just. a lot to take in.

she'll apologize very nicely as soon as she gets all her sense back, promise.]

B; pictionary????

[Now that Okuni has more or less understood what's going on -- she's doing her best to Deal in the only way she can.

so have Okuni hanging outside the coven apartments, armed with a white sandwich sign board and a marker.

the sign board has a very detailed picture of a rice ball on it.

that's it. nothing else. and from the way Okuni immediately accosts anyone who's trying to enter the dorms, it seems as if this message of hers is very important!! (it's not, she's just hungry. feed her.)]

b

[mapsio]

[Well, it might be Okuni's lucky day! Because Haru is stopping to stare at the whiteboard.]

You must be hungry, right?

[Duh, Haru. Obviously.

Do you want to go get something?

[osuni]

[It's truly Okuni's lucky day to have attracted a generous soul such as Haru's...]

Oh, Harucchi! As expected, you understand right away, huh?

[The fact that she can understand her doesn't surprise her, since she's clearly Japanese. TRULY, LUCK STRIKES AGAIN]

And you have good timing too! Let's go eat something yummy.

[TREAT HER!!! she's poor]

b!

[fixdown]

[Oh... That sign. Now that he thinks about it, he wouldn't mind a nice rice ball, either—]

Are you hungry?

[Maybe that's a silly question, but hey, you never know. Maybe she lost her rice ball and needs help finding it or something— It is kind of strange, though, now that he thinks about it. If she's hungry, why is she just holding up a sign instead of going off to get food?

Josuke's totally forgotten about the current language issues, also, but fortunately, he speaks Japanese anyway.]

[osuni]

[Okuni awakening everyone's hunger for riceballs...

also look josuke, okuni has very good reasons for holding up this sign.]

Obviously! [She says, as if this should be very obvious, even though JOSUKE IS RIGHT, WHY ISN'T OKUNI GETTING FOOD FOR HERSELF... She cocks her head in realization at understanding him, oooh lucky...] I'm starving. I haven't eaten anything for days!

[she ate something five hours ago...]

And I just got fired from my job, so I'm feeling all wobbly at the moment... I could really faint at any moment...

[witchwithoutacause]

[ Hey you know what's cool walking down the straight and having your head explode. Amanda is truly and wholly unprepared; she doesn't even tend to get normal headaches that much, except for like, minor knocks to the head because she's a reckless idiot. So, if you wanna like, find her scrambling to get to a bench or a seat or something so she can curl up and suffer, that's cool.

Hope you speak English. ]

[toblueskies]

[ this pain was entirely new to Ritsuka. the disorientation was different from the after-effects of Rayshifting, too, and this made for a deadly combination. she couldn't make out what people were shouting about as she passed them by, shouldering her way roughly off of the crowded streets to try and find somewhere where she could calm herself down and reorient her thoughts.

she didn't understand why this was happening, and for a brief moment she didn't care, just just needed to move.

—or run directly into someone else who was fleeing for the same reasons. that works, too. at least pained groans are universally understood? ]

[witchwithoutacause]

[ Shouldering through crowds? Amanda would've hurt everyone between her and a nice place to sit down if she'd been further away. Just let her give up. On life. On functioning. Practically clinging to a bench, she mostly kinda actually ignored Ritsuka. ]