#with what they named the

[marlynnofmany]

Playing Translation Telephone

“Hi,” I said as the door slid open. “Captain Sunlight wants to know how your translations are going.”

Coals sighed. “They’re going. This one’s a mess.” He shook his lizardy head, brick-red scales dull in the light by the doorway. That part of the translation suite was always dim because Trrili liked looming in the shadows there.

But today she was at the workstation in the back, surrounded by glowing screens and a cloud of irritated hisses. “I think we missed a language,” she announced, snapping her pincher arms and angling her antennae into a scowl.

“What, really?” Coals asked. He ran a hand over his head, scales clicking quietly. “How many is that now?”

“Sixssss,” Trrili hissed.

Coals grumbled something I didn’t catch, and walked back over to the workstation.

Curious, I followed and let the door shut behind me. “What kind of project is this one?”

“Old records of a multi-species colonizing effort,” Coals said from his floating chair with the tail hole. “The originals are lost, and all that’s left is this jumble that’s been translated through a succession of languages, none of which they bothered to write down. And they want us to figure out what the originals actually meant.”

“Sounds tricky,” I said. Each of the screens held writing, most in languages I didn’t recognize. Some were notes in the trade language we all spoke, and I was amused to see how much swearing was in Trrili’s notes.

“It is very tricky,” Trrili agreed, jabbing a little wrist finger at the screen in the middle. “The grammar doesn’t match the words, and the idioms are an utter tar hole. It’s anyone’s guess what culture came up with some of these details.”

“I’m pretty sure the bit about rocks is a Strongarm saying,” Coals said. “It makes more sense than a Frillian interpretation.”

“Yes, fine, probably,” Trrili said with an irritated wave of her pinchers. “I’m stuck at this part that goes off on a tangent about the family arrangements of the wildlife. It’s clearly significant, and at least one layer of translation wanted to make sure the full interpretation was spelled out, but that just makes it more confusing.”

“How so?” I asked. I’d gotten the job on this ship because of my animal-care knowledge, so maybe I could offer some insights. I peered at the screen.

“This part,” Trrili said, “Is a recounting of a colonist’s experience in retrieving goods from a shuttle that crashed in a lake. The water creatures seem to have complex social arrangements, and somehow that relates to their behavior toward this particular colonist.” She folded her pinchers and leaned back, glaring at the ancient diary. “Of course this had to be written by someone disinclined to speaking clearly.”

“What kind of behavior is it?” I asked. “Are we talking mating advances, or aggressively protecting the young, or—?”

“Aggressive,” Trrili said immediately. “This word means mouth, possibly teeth specifically, and in the grammatical arrangement that it’s currently configured into, it has to be saying that the thing bit the colonist.”

Coals flipped through documents on another screen. “Do we know what the official name for the creature is?”

Trrili hissed. “Not even close. That’s what this whole tangent is: an attempt at describing it. I’d love to know if it was the original colonist or someone later who decided it would be helpful to tell us that this creature’s ancestors rejected social bonds.”

“Rejected how?” I asked.

Coals brought up another document. “I’ve got something on the legal system of the original colony. Sounds like there were multiple types of family arrangements at play. Possibly this colonist was just musing on a similarity to their own life.”

Trrili hissed. “How does that help us? I don’t see any accounts of this person’s family life, or even their species. We have no way to know if their own parents performed the socially-accepted rituals or not.”

“Wait,” I said. “Is this about the animal’s parents not doing a certain ritual? Like marriage? Is the colonist calling the fish a bastard?”

Both of my alien coworkers looked at me. Coals asked slowly, “That’s an insult in human circles, isn’t it?”

“Yes!”

Trrili threw her pinchers skyward and stalked away from the workstation. “Of course it is. You people are sentimental about everything, including reproduction. This would have been so much simpler if we’d known from the start that there was a human layer to this.”

“So what does it say?” I asked. “The colonist went into the lake to help with the crash, and got bitten by a bastard fish?”

Trrili was walking in circles hissing, so Coals scooted in front of the center screen. “Going by what we’ve figured out so far,” he said, “The colonist was trying to move salvage from the shuttle. Walking through shallow water. The water creatures were of many bright colors — it goes into detail about that, comparing them to refractive prisms and seaspray — but they kept their distance as long as the colonist kept moving. Pretty sure this part says one came in for a bite as soon as the colonist stood still. And that’s where we go off on an elaborate description of the creature’s family arrangements.”

I grinned. “‘Dear diary, today I waded through a lake and got bit by a rainbow bastard fish. Terrible experience; wouldn’t recommend.’”

Coals looked closer. “It does actually say something like that afterward,” he admitted. “There’s a suggestion that the next person to enter the water wear protective clothing.”

Over Trrili’s aggravated hissing, I said, “That colonist might have been a human.”

“Might indeed,” Coals said. He scrolled up through a page of notes. “That could actually shed some light on a couple other spots, now that you mention it.”

Trrili appeared beside us. “Bring up the part about the colony leader mating with someone’s mother.”

I laughed. “I can tell you right now that that’s an insult. The colonist is likely complaining about the boss, not describing something that actually happened.”

Coals looked at Trrili. “Told you we need an insult chart.”

Trrili tilted her head dramatically. “That’s so much work!”

“So’s this,” Coals pointed out. “How about you take another look at what we’ve got so far here, and I’ll start a list of common human insults.”

Trrili took a position in front of the screens, hissing quietly.

“I’ll be happy to help,” I said to Coals. “My people are very creative on that front.”

“So I gather,” Coals said. He scooted over to me, digital notepad at the ready. “And not one of those insults revolves around eggs. Mindblowing.”

“Well,” I said with a tip of my head. “There is the thing about teaching your grandmother to suck eggs. That’s kind of an insult.”

“What?” Coals said. “Never mind. I can tell this is going to be a long list.”

~~~

The ongoing backstory adventures of the main character from this book. More to come! And I am currently drafting a sequel!

#my writing #The Token Human #humans are weird #haso #hfy #eiad #humans are space orcs #translations #in spaaace #thanks to the random person who commented on a previous story #with a mention of their encounter #with what they named the #Caribbean Bastardfish #'oh hey' says I #'what a very human thing to name it. hmmm...'

[ayy-junipei]

Fears

#Dungeon Meshi #Dungeon Food #Senshi #Chilchuck Tims #WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN HIS LAST NAME IS TIMBS #Anyway #OG Junipei content

[willgrahamscock]

the bond between mutuals who only share one or two fandoms is stronger than an entire fandom combined… I do not know what you are blogging about but you are right, pip-pip and bing-bong are homosexuals who crave blood and understanding and I will heart that in support

#alex says things #justice for pip-pip and bing-bong #that’s what ur blorbo names sound like to me

[wolxoltl]

Time really is a flat circle.

#adventure time #fionna and cake #winter king #the winter king #simon petrikov #fionna and cake spoilers #what even is their ship name #icecest? simoncest? #i need therapy #shitpost

[stil-lindigo]

hobie motherfuckin' brown!!!!!!

#i am so normal about hobie brown (lie) #what the hell has this movie done to me #i have taken art drugs #cant. stop. drawing him. oh my god #its hard to tell but the webbing behind him spells out his name #my anticapitalist king. im sorry but i /will/ be purchasing a poster of you #hobie brown #spiderverse #across the spiderverse #spiderman #spiderman across the spiderverse #stillindigo art

[sing-you-fools]

me: this is a background character who's in one scene, has two lines, and is completely irrelevant to the rest of the story. i am going to stop obsessing over what to name him and use the random name generator on behindthename.com. i am going to accept the first thing it gives me and move the fuck on.

behindthename.com:

#guess i can call him charlie #i'll know what it's short for #and maybe someday i'll have a Fandom and someone will deep dive this far and find out the truth #a bitch can dream #writing #writeblr #naming characters #behind the name #names #character names #my writing #charizard cockburn #pokemon #sing-you-fools #1k #5k #10k #25k #50k

[let-them-fight]

can we stop doing this trope

#tumblr #politics #media #fiction #tropes #social justice #like soooooo much of the popular media I see big on this website does this. like #marvel #mcu #atla #tlok #the legend of korra #avatar #rwby #bioshock #the clone wars #dc #dc comics #<- just to name a few #this might get me harassed by a certain fandom but you know what they already harassed me 2 times before third times the charm!

[liquidstar]

Yes, Greece still exists, we didn't all die 2000 years ago. Yes, people speak Greek. You people are so fucking stupid for real. So many of you claim to love ancient shit but can't even acknowledge the actual living culture of the people whose mythology and classics you romanticize. You keep leaving annoying comments about how you just forget Greek people still exist, thinking you're being quirky because you love ancient stuff soooo much that you forgot about the people it came from. You think about it so little you don't even realize that an actual Greek person has to read this shit, making it clear how little you actually care about the culture beyond the romanticized (and westernized) mythology. Don't claim you love Greece, don't use our mythology anymore if you can't acknowledge that we're still around without making it about how little you think about us. It's mind boggling that you'd think a Greek person would read this and think you're anything but obnoxious. Explode.

#this post is edited because you're all annoying. maybe I'll turn it back someday #it sucks that people can't even be normal about a funny family story once the fact that we're greek comes into the fold #suddenly its all about blorbofied mythology shit and idiots saying ''GREECE IS REAL???? 🤯🤯🤯🤯'' yeah percy j*ckson didnt make it up #maybe it would be less annoying if they weren't all saying it like I'd think it's funny that they don't know we exist instead of like #disturbing on a personal level. like what the fuck #man if you can't acknowledge we exist in real life just name your oc Icarus something else idgaf #so yeah explode. Skase. Voulos'to. Valto mesa sto katamalakismeno mouni tis mana's sou. Psophise. etc.

[catmask]

actually, i did want to ask you all - a commonly shared sentiment about character creators in games or dressup games online is there's very frequently a lack of black hairstyles.

so it made me curious - what are some black hairstyles you wish would be included more in character creators/dressup games? or ones you get really happy to see are included?

#you're welcome to just comment the name or rb with pictures! #scratchpost #both out of curiosity because i would like to make a picrew at some point #and also because i like hearing about what kind of hairstyles people like :D #txt

[noknowshame]

why is religious Christmas imagery all so joyful and pleasant? where is the inherent horror of the birth of Christ? A mother is handed her newborn child, wailing and innocent. Her hands come away sticky. Red. Simply by giving her son life she has already killed him. He is doomed from the beginning. Her love will not save him from suffering. Because the thing cradled in her arms is not a baby, it is a sacrifice: born amongst the other bleating animals whose blood will one day be spilled in the name of what demands it. the night is silent with anticipation. Mary, did you know? That your womb was also a grave?

#instant conversation enders for my multiple youth pastor cousins #don’t say it (I’m gonna say it) #The Child is The Price #but i mean come on #as someone who isn't actually even christian the real-life historical version of this is still cursed as fuck #i mean we know that jesus was a person who existed. whatever circumstances he was born in #its terrifyingly ominous to imagine being so unaware of the affect your child will have on the future of humanity #time itself will one day be counted around your birth of him #and all because he will suffer an excruciatingly painful death that you will not be able to prevent #not only that. but regardless of his or your intentions #regardless of whether there is a god #for millenea unfathomable millions will have blood spilled and will spill blood in his name #atrocities will be committed that you cannot even conceive of #and all on his and your behalf #you love your child. its beautiful. but there's horror in what you've done. because everyone else will love him too #and what's more dangerous than that?

[pien-art]

alright, they got to me :)

(click image for optimal quality)

for my most dearest @cecefly <33

#my art #fanart #good omens #good omens s2 #go2 #azirowley #aziraphale #crowley #crowley x aziraphale #aziraley #idk what their ship name is #art #bildad the shuhite #ineffable husbands #good omens fanart #fan art

[soaked-doors]

*romance dawns your trio* celebrating the end of the semester with these fools

#romance dawn #what a trio name like that’s crazy. they’re rly called romance dawn #one piece #monkey d. luffy #cat burglar nami #roronoa zoro #luffy #nami #zoro #zolu #romance dawn trio #zoluna #one piece fanart #my art

[itsjesscapade]

Poor girl's CPU is being worked so hard...

#robot girl #my art #robot #trans #eroticism of the machine #etc #digital art #suggestive #oc #original character #idk what this thing's name is but she is so girl

[stargirl230]

thanks for the light

I was just trying to figure out how procreate works but then the op brainworms got to me and 35 hours later here we are! can you tell I miss home-cooked meals :')

(no reposts; reblogs appreciated)

#my art #artists on tumblr #fanart #one piece #opla #zosan #blackleg sanji #op sanji #roronoa zoro #nami #usopp #monkey d. luffy #i was like wow procreate is so cool for letting me check time spent on each canvas...35 HRS and 22 MINUTES???? #tbf it's spread out over 3 weeks BUT STILL #guys...the file name for this is nakama.png and im so emotional about it #something something comfort food and family and this is what love looks like and now im sobbing #im so predictable it's the found family that gets me every time #and the scene where they all announced their dreams with a foot on the barrel?? i swear i teared up a little #also this is lowkey the most complicated thing i've ever made im so proud #nothing but the best for these strawhats <3

[mangoish]

#there are tiny number to assist with what frames to read first because im incompetent and dont know how to format comics #congrats grian we commend you lol #my art #grian #grian fanart #hc #hermitcraft 10 #hermitcraft #hermitcraft smp #watchers #watcher grian #the file name is “it was just a prank bro”

[kidovna]

grabbing lunch from earth-50101 before saving the multiverse🍟

#across the spiderverse #favourite squad!!! what’s their name #miles morales #gwen stacy #hobie brown #pavitr prabhakar #spiderman #spider gwen #spider punk #spiderman india #artovna #spiderman across the spiderverse #this is my subtle way of spreading the McAloo tikki burger agenda bc it’s the best thing on the McDonald’s menu #marvel