foolyoutwice (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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ways_back_room2017-10-04 07:54 am
foolyoutwice) wrote in ways_back_room2017-10-04 07:54 am
Translation Fail Plot
Hullo! As discussed a while back--and now with Moderator approval!--I will be hosting a plot for a (partial) failure of the Milliways translation field.
Loki, getting bored of fishing the traditional way, will be dabbling about in fish-luring spells down at the lake, thanks to the library's collection of magic books. That would be merely an ecological disaster anywhere else, but the babelfish living in Milliways' walls will be affected as well, condensing in the part of the walls nearest the lake as they try to obey the spell. The result will be translation failures in the building--but only in parts of it. If you want your character to be entirely unaffected, they can be.
(............some might at this point ask "but if the babelfish translation manages to work throughout the grounds even if the fish are only in the bar walls then why would this be a problem." the answer is, uh. uh. magic. magic is why. those poor fish are feeling very stressed and it's throwing off their usual biological functions.)
My plan is for this to kick off next weekend. Say, FRIDAY THE 13TH, since we have one this month. It'll last a few days (i.e. no new translation-based EPs after one week, though of course people can finish up threads indefinitely.)
If this timing is super duper impossible for someone who really really wants to participate, let me know and I can see about rescheduling?
If anyone wants other fish-based weirdness to happen, also let me know!
Loki, getting bored of fishing the traditional way, will be dabbling about in fish-luring spells down at the lake, thanks to the library's collection of magic books. That would be merely an ecological disaster anywhere else, but the babelfish living in Milliways' walls will be affected as well, condensing in the part of the walls nearest the lake as they try to obey the spell. The result will be translation failures in the building--but only in parts of it. If you want your character to be entirely unaffected, they can be.
(............some might at this point ask "but if the babelfish translation manages to work throughout the grounds even if the fish are only in the bar walls then why would this be a problem." the answer is, uh. uh. magic. magic is why. those poor fish are feeling very stressed and it's throwing off their usual biological functions.)
My plan is for this to kick off next weekend. Say, FRIDAY THE 13TH, since we have one this month. It'll last a few days (i.e. no new translation-based EPs after one week, though of course people can finish up threads indefinitely.)
If this timing is super duper impossible for someone who really really wants to participate, let me know and I can see about rescheduling?
If anyone wants other fish-based weirdness to happen, also let me know!
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1. When we originally bounced this idea a little while ago, it was suggested that the translation fail would be something on the lines of 'how it would look if it went into google translate and back out again'. Is that the sort of thing you're going for, or are we going for total language barrier i.e. French is French, English is English? (I'm cool with either, just trying to work out how to play it).
2. Will we be able to see the fish?
3. Am I correct in understanding that the affected areas will be, loosely, the ones furthest from the lake?
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2. No, unless you have a character who normally sees the babelfish.
3. Yes. Loosely speaking, obviously, since I don't think there are any two people who have a consistent layout of where the bar is in relation to the other features of the place.
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(of course he is)
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Hmm. I mean, the disruption is on the receiving end rather than the speaking end--failure to translate into a language the person hearing it understands, so I don't know that it would technically work that way? That said, the real answer is "this is supposed to be as much fun as possible for anyone who wants to play," so. You could certainly handwave that that's how it's working out.
Actually, heck, if the babel fish are supposed to be "excreting a telepathic matrix" you could handwavily say that your guys happen to have snagged a bunch of telepathic-matrix-goo that makes things around them go into another language...? I mean, that's not how babel fish work, but NOTHING is "how babel fish work" since they're a goofy thing made up for convenience.
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Question! Will the fishing spell also affect the fish in the fireplace? And what about the trilobites, and especially the Curious Squid? Not fish, but ostensibly catchable on a line/with a net/fishable out of the water?
Poor aquarium critters, but I'm also imagining firefish swimming across the bar, through the air, and I kind of love it. :)
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If anyone wants to yell at Loki because their pet goldfish is freaking out, they totally can.
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That is all. *cheerful*
--oh except to say that I expect Loki will leap at the chance to be helpful with the Allspeech, right, because he loves being helpful to people who can't keep up with his skillset
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Guaranteed reliable.
SO reliable.