PSA regarding the happenings of the day

[xp_cypher]

It would appear that somehow, a lot of people seem to be under the general effect of my power.

I've been kind of racking my brain trying to figure out how to rigorously "science the shit out of this" as the line goes. The downside of having one of those powers with pretty 'fuzzy' boundaries. But between the random language breakthroughs and the odd noticing of patterns, I'm about as confident as I can be that something related to my power is happening.

(Heh. Confident...hey Angie, do you -actually- understand statistical intervals now? :D)

Anyways. What remains to be seen (and I am trying to figure out how to actually test) is:
-the size/radius of the phenomenon
-whether it's centered on me or static
-how long it will last
-whether any effects will be temporary

Plus, y'know, trying to determine what the hell actually caused it in the first place.

Thankfully, my power is relatively benign. The worst anyone should encounter is being potentially "stuck" in observing a pattern or speaking a language (this is probably why you're counting so much, Nica). Other than that, you might notice a mild tendency toward echololia (repeating what other people say back to them).

I am available to answer any questions people might have about all this. (keep in mind that "hell if I know" may be an answer)

Comments

[xp_cypher]

The first season I had to listen to them was brutal.

Thankfully we've got like fourteen years until that brood comes back.

[xp_darcy]

Wait–was it just the patterns in the screaming and the urge to repeat them yourself, or some sort of understanding as to the meaning?

[xp_cypher]

Oh, there's just enough understanding to cause me migraines.

So, I've had...way too long. Like 20 years to workshop this analogy (Brood X was here in 2004 and again in 2021). Only because I've been watching a fair bit of Dropout and I'm a memetic so-and-so, let's go with this.

Imagine you're in Grand Central Station, and there are like four million people there, all talking more or less at once. But offset just enough from each other that you can't really get single words out of any of it. One million of those people are Izzy Roland saying "I'm hungie." Another million are Sam Reich saying "I've been here the whole time." Another million are Brennan Lee Mulligan talking about how laws are threats. And the last million is Grant O'Brien talking about the fifty people he performed oral on at some party.

And they're all talking in their own slightly different versions of Simlish.

[xp_darcy]

Excruciatingly descriptive, sweetie. But yeah, we'll spare everyone else that.