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missrecalled_modsHello, all!
This event is going to be a little weird, even by Missrecalled standards.
The inspiration for this event is the Star Trek The Next Generation episode Darmok.
For those unfamiliar with the episode, it can be seen on Paramount+ or you can watch an abridged version (for free) here.
The short version is this: The crew finds a species that speaks only in allusions to stories in their cultural history. They wouldn't say "I have failed" they would say "Shaka, when the walls fell." All the sentences are short. There are very few verbs, and very few adjectives. There is nearly always the name of a place or a person.
In this way, very simple sentences can explain and express complex concepts and situations. For example "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra" is said to express that in similar danger with a mutual enemy can an alliance or friendship be forged. The larger chain for that, for those curious is as follows:
"Darmok on the ocean. Jalad on the ocean. Tanagra on the ocean. Darmok at Tanagra. Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra. The beast at Tanagra. Darmok and Jalad on the ocean"
That is the full story as it is told of how Darmok and Jalad each arrived at the island Tanagra separately, together faced a beast, and then left together as friends or at least as companions.
Rarely are more than one sentence be put together this way, however. This made communication with the Enterprise crew... interesting.
But what does this have to do with Missrecalled?
Whelp, something in the translation magic is going to have a biiiiit of a break down starting on February 21st 2025. First is the written word. Poor King Ben is not going to be happy to find that every book in the library has become utterly illegible. All writing of any sort - old, new, in books, in spray paint on a wall, on a page - looks blurred and drippy and utterly unreadable. As though someone changed all the script into a language no one looking at knows and then made all the ink run.
Trying to write, the writing will look like the same running ink as soon as anyone starts.
Speaking... well people can speak. But they will find that what they are trying to say is not what actually comes out of their mouth. Whoops. Someone trying to say "I don't know what is going on" might instead say "Buzz, not a toy."
Because the basis behind all of this is... Pixar films! In place of the grand stories the Tamarians had in Trek, we have Pixar! This includes all animated Pixar movies, as well as the shorts. But not behind the scenes interviews.
Of course, characters know their own stories and those can also be used. For example if someone is trying to express that they will always be there for someone else, they might say "Sora, his Heart open" if they are from Kingdom Hearts. But remember... Just because 2 people know the same story does not mean they feel the same way about it. Someone else might try to express the same thing but say "Sora, his Heart full".
Please avoid any character using their own name or the name of anyone in the conversation. So Lea couldn't say "Lea on the rooftop with three ice creams" to remind Roxas and Xion that they are his friends, but he could say "Sunset with ice cream".
Also, where possible the shorter the sentence, the better. Let's get super creative with this!
There is however an easy mode. For the players only. This is supposed to be really hard on the characters, but to keep this from killing us the players, we have a bit of a hint you can give. Hover text! The hovertext code (With thanks to secret helper mod of secrets) is:
This will let you put the translation in the hovertext so the person you are playing with can hover to see if they don't have the spoons to parse it themselves OOC. Use of hovertext is completely optional, but if you choose not to use it, OOC communication is highly recommended.
This event is going to be a little weird, even by Missrecalled standards.
The inspiration for this event is the Star Trek The Next Generation episode Darmok.
For those unfamiliar with the episode, it can be seen on Paramount+ or you can watch an abridged version (for free) here.
The short version is this: The crew finds a species that speaks only in allusions to stories in their cultural history. They wouldn't say "I have failed" they would say "Shaka, when the walls fell." All the sentences are short. There are very few verbs, and very few adjectives. There is nearly always the name of a place or a person.
In this way, very simple sentences can explain and express complex concepts and situations. For example "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra" is said to express that in similar danger with a mutual enemy can an alliance or friendship be forged. The larger chain for that, for those curious is as follows:
"Darmok on the ocean. Jalad on the ocean. Tanagra on the ocean. Darmok at Tanagra. Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra. The beast at Tanagra. Darmok and Jalad on the ocean"
That is the full story as it is told of how Darmok and Jalad each arrived at the island Tanagra separately, together faced a beast, and then left together as friends or at least as companions.
Rarely are more than one sentence be put together this way, however. This made communication with the Enterprise crew... interesting.
But what does this have to do with Missrecalled?
Whelp, something in the translation magic is going to have a biiiiit of a break down starting on February 21st 2025. First is the written word. Poor King Ben is not going to be happy to find that every book in the library has become utterly illegible. All writing of any sort - old, new, in books, in spray paint on a wall, on a page - looks blurred and drippy and utterly unreadable. As though someone changed all the script into a language no one looking at knows and then made all the ink run.
Trying to write, the writing will look like the same running ink as soon as anyone starts.
Speaking... well people can speak. But they will find that what they are trying to say is not what actually comes out of their mouth. Whoops. Someone trying to say "I don't know what is going on" might instead say "Buzz, not a toy."
Because the basis behind all of this is... Pixar films! In place of the grand stories the Tamarians had in Trek, we have Pixar! This includes all animated Pixar movies, as well as the shorts. But not behind the scenes interviews.
Of course, characters know their own stories and those can also be used. For example if someone is trying to express that they will always be there for someone else, they might say "Sora, his Heart open" if they are from Kingdom Hearts. But remember... Just because 2 people know the same story does not mean they feel the same way about it. Someone else might try to express the same thing but say "Sora, his Heart full".
Please avoid any character using their own name or the name of anyone in the conversation. So Lea couldn't say "Lea on the rooftop with three ice creams" to remind Roxas and Xion that they are his friends, but he could say "Sunset with ice cream".
Also, where possible the shorter the sentence, the better. Let's get super creative with this!
There is however an easy mode. For the players only. This is supposed to be really hard on the characters, but to keep this from killing us the players, we have a bit of a hint you can give. Hover text! The hovertext code (With thanks to secret helper mod of secrets) is:
This will let you put the translation in the hovertext so the person you are playing with can hover to see if they don't have the spoons to parse it themselves OOC. Use of hovertext is completely optional, but if you choose not to use it, OOC communication is highly recommended.
