#universal translator problem

[inmedicalres]

So, I need a linguistics nerd who likes fantasy willing to read some sections of my WIP. One of my characters has a super-over-powered Gift of Tongues and I want to make sure my book is playing with wtf would that even *mean* in a way that is fun for real linguistic people.

[hylianengineer]

I'm on a roll with weird linguistic facts so have another one: there is a hypothesized 'critical period' roughly from birth to puberty, during which humans can learn a first language with native-level fluency. After that critical period ends, if the person has not been exposed to language enough to learn one, they can still learn to some extent, but it's much harder and they don't reach normal, native-like fluency. Kind of like how the most people who begin learning a given language in adulthood will never have native-level fluency.

Unfortunately, there are actually case studies on this - which mostly stem from very severe cases of child abuse where children weren't spoken to or otherwise exposed to much language during early childhood. The ones who were rescued and exposed to normal language stimuli before puberty then learned their native language with full fluency, and the ones who didn't get that stimuli until puberty did not.

[waytootiredstudent]

Exchange I had with a prof today:

Me: "...but I don't want to make any trouble."

Prof: "No no don't worry about it, I love to be trouble, even better with an excuse"

[agnesandhilda]

rip to all the bastard münchen players who dropped off the face of the earth shortly after being introduced. smegma guy we hardly knew ye

[rivilu]

I want an origins remake/remaster so bad it's not even funny

[smallblueandloud]

the star trek universal translator fic has taken a sharp left turn into space latino politics which is like. not what this fic was supposed to be about. attempting to wrestle it back into the shape of plot is not going very well. so it goes i guess

[lighttrls]

doctor who is such a show because the doctor will just say things that are provably false in universe and everyone will just be like. oh okay thats fine. like bitch why are you lying to me i know the facts

[heritageposts]

Translation: What a shitshow. This years Eurovision has gone to hell. And it's first and foremost the EBU's fault.

Also, excerpt from the same article:

Throughout the course of the Eurovision Song Contest, the EBU has acted as if they live in a parallel universe. Eurovision is one thing, the world outside something else. The EBU has stuck its head in the sand. Shoved the problem under the rug. Held their hands over their ears and shouted LALALALALA. They appear to have done everything they can to pretend it's possible to hold an apolitical event in a world that's on fire. We have come together to be "united by music", they say, but the sharpshooters on Malmö's rooftops have nothing to do with us! In its struggle to remain apolitical, the EBU has become like a small fascist state in itself, where the artists' space for expression and action has been reduced as much as the undergarments of the Spanish dancers. It is reprehensible.

Reminder again to BOYCOTT EUROVISION 🇵🇸

Don't watch, don't vote.

[mavigator]

if you have time to scroll, you have time to read.

however, i'll start with a shorter version. family currently living in a tent in al mawasi:

two adults

three young adults

16 year old

14 year old

4 year old

infant

and

19 year old in egypt, separated from the family, and at risk of getting expelled from college due to tuition fees

no winter clothes. insufficient food. diapers needed for the baby. donate here. it takes thirty seconds. anything helps.

more information for those willing to spare more time:

a month after my new friend lobana (@lobana2001) got her bachelor's in english translation, israel's bloodthirsty attacks on gaza began. she also recently became an aunt to baby aziz. it should be a time of celebration for her, but, instead, she lives in a tent with the rest of her family and is forced to worry about whether her newborn nephew will stay warm enough as winter settles in.

her sister (nahariya) and her husband biggest problem should be baby aziz teething, not if they can afford to feed both themselves and the baby--if they can afford anything at all. mohammed should be continuing his studies in computer science, but his university was destroyed.

mamdouh should be able to devote his complete attention to his studies in medicine in egypt, but, with his family trapped in gaza, how can he?

luqman (16) and asim (14) should be learning who they are, making new friends and good memories, and finding their place in the world. bayna (4) and aziz (infant) shouldn't have to know fear at all!

and that's not to mention the parents, naseem and reem, who are under unimaginable levels of stress trying to help their children through this literal nightmare. please donate anything you can.

also: you can reach lobana on whatsapp! that's where i've been talking to her. you can message her on tumblr if you want her number. thank you so much if you read all of the way through. @batmanego @catgirl-lenin @lonniemachin

[cannimumsable]

desperately trying to not be an asshole when i correct my non-native speaker friend on her frecnh

[catmaraudersfan]

Fun idea I got while thinking of a few prompts on here:

Danny winds up in the DC universe. This universe speaks a different language than his and even All Speak isn't helping. Not to mention it's been a long time since he fully died and he hasn't been around the living much.

He manages to get across that, while yes, he's not human, he means no harm. Luckily the other group portrays the same intent. One of them (John Constantine) seems to be lecturing some of the members (JL) about something. (Be polite because he may LOOK like a kid {he returned to looking the age he half-died at after he fully died} but John can sense, backed up by other JLD members, that he's MUCH older than he looks. Not to mention the Ghost King thing.)

Over time, Danny begins to learn this universe's language.

One day, Danny is ranting about the Observants and how they keep screwing with Clockwork.

Cyborg speaks up and asks who Clockwork is and that Danny slipped into Ghost Speak halfway through his rant. Danny takes a moment to translate the name and gives the name Kronos.

Poor Danny is confused at the sudden silence and tense atmosphere.

Wonder Woman frantically asks what Kronos did now and how he got free.

A confused Danny says he's NOT free and that THIS is the problem.

Everyone else goes from relief to learn he's still trapped to shocked, confused, and more than a little horrified to learn their friend wants to FREE Kronos?!

Seeing the horrified and bordering on betrayed looks, Danny starts explaining about the Observants and how they've been acting up.

What everyone else HEARS?

'THERE'S ONES *WORSE* THAN FUCKING *KRONOS*?!'

'What have these psychos done to make KRONOS look SANE to this guy?!'

They get their answer when seeing he hasn't quit sold them on freeing Clockwork, more like he seems to have driven them against the Observants, which, he's not complaining, but that's not the PROBLEM.

Danny then tells them about Dan and how the Observants wanted to kill him to prevent it and how Clockwork not ONLY saved him, but found a safer, non-bloody, way to stop that timeline from happening. He DOES assure them that Dan has long since healed emotionally and mentally.

The group is shocked at Kronos' KINDNESS, wonders if death calmed him, and if his madness somehow slipped into these Observant psychos.

[ceaselessbasher]

I'm sorry but I find it funny to receive a Very Formal email and also see Very Formal posters around that basically say, "Unlike those other cringefail schools around campus, we do not have bugs. Stop asking us about the bugs."

[crustyfloor]

The scene in "The true face" comic where we are shown the confrontation between Mizi and that dogshit npc is so fascinating, and the worldbuilding! Even though Alien Stage's universe doesn't function in the same ways as ours, it is to be expected that some of our world would be reflected in theirs, as long as a society exists. Heteronormativity and misogyny exist in some ways in their world. And it is taught by the aliens, from, Mizi knows and it is reiterated to her that as a female it is expected for her to only find mates in the other gender, not friendship, because it is expected that men and women aren't supposed to mean anything to each other beyond the means of reproducing and "mating", she feigns obliviousness to this when the npc asks her about her about Till, and to note- she is quick to make it clear that he's her friend, because she knows how they're percieved. Her reaction when that sentiment is shut down by the NPC and he begins trying to subtly convince her to acknowledge him too- is repulsion

It's interesting because she's aware of the expectations people have of her, and how she's forced to oblige them or else she won't survive. She's aware of how superficial the world around her is, and it disgusts her, especially in another scene where, in a way, she confronts Till about his feelings for her, even reiterates that she truly only has room in her heart for Sua (I think this ties back to the fact that she's repulsed that man and woman are a strict norm, because she doesn't believe in it and that's such good background info skdjufh) and again, she's repulsed when he tells her he likes her because she's pretty, not because of anything meaningful or because of her as a person, something that shows he sees her like what she's looking for but because of another aspect of the facade and get-up that she hates (This is how she knows a lot of other people see her, so it puts her off when he says the same). It disappoints her, yet she can't express that, she pretends to laugh it off whilst feeling bitter inside. These scenes center on how Mizi has a problem with not feeling like she's seen as a whole person, only the object of someone's desires, only a symbolic figure contributing to something "greater and more significant". Mizi's perspective reflects that of a lot of women in our world in the way that she resents being seen as something instead of someone, a beautiful girl, and not a person, etc.

When the NPC then hits her for her response and lashes out at her, (for context the translated comic is free on Vivinos's patreon) this shift in her personality is just so visceral, while she's trying to gain her bearings, she breaks down, very visceral fear reflected in her demeanor because he sees right through her and she's scared and trying to escape the dangerous and overwhelming situation by feigning obliviousness again, that's how you know it's her defense mechanism with the way she grapples for it in this moment to defend herself, it's not to reveal that she's a manipulator or malicious like the npc is accusing her of being. Because in this moment, Mizi looks genuinely scared and confused, this method is how she adapts and how she's been trying to survive up to this point, how people perceive her equates to her value, and she truly hates it

The comic nailed the uncomfortable reality that women in our world face, reflected through Mizi's perspective. Her identity is traced directly to her appearance, what she is rather than who she is, and she hates it. It conveys the suffering Mizi went through that we didn't see, and what the other characters didn't see either and how exactly that affected her, because the truth is- the people around her may have pitied or envied Mizi or didn't even think anything over her, just saw her as a bubbly and overwhelmingly positive person because that's what she showed others, but nobody understood her, the ignorance they had even put her in danger or left her lonely. That's why it's shown the NPC thought she was "cunning" and "manipulative" for acting the way she did, acting oblivious and stupid while everyone adored her for it. That's what ignorance and the empathy barely anyone had for Mizi, because they thought she had it so good, resulted in .

Even Sua, on her part, didn't truly understand or sympathize so much with Mizi because of the perception she had of her; she sees Mizi in some places and in others she doesn't. She believes Mizi's facade to be real because that's what Mizi showed her. It was easy to fall for it because Sua herself was using Mizi as a balm for her own pain, and that, only seeing Mizi as her unshifting and peaceful paradise that she could forget the entire cruel world with. And as Mizi played into it, that's what also fed into her resentment. Mizi was somebody dear to her, but it's not surprising that Sua resented Mizi for seemingly having it so "easy" in comparison to herself

That's why I really like this scene, the way Mizi responds to the way Sua sounds when she subconsciously expresses this to Mizi, and Mizi then hits her, shows Mizi's pain, having nobody who truly understands her

It's important to highlight that Mizi didn't hit Sua out of ill will, she's scared of what she did after she's done it, she's hurt, and she's trying to hide it because she's relieved to be with Sua, but Sua's words, that same "It must be nice being so lucky and not having any worries at all, yes?" sentiment that directly paralleled what that NPC said to Mizi was a trigger because Mizi was violated and hurt, she's not always treated well, her agency was ignored. Sua may not have known the details, but that ignorance is why Mizi responds that way. When she lives every day with her pain, never being acknowledged and having to act like she isn't bothered, this is a logical, immediate response on Mizi's part, ( or in a more metaphorical sense, to give back the same pain she was given) even if it's obviously not okay, This environment fosters these types of interactions, this is just the reason (not the justification).

It's so interesting how Alien stage explored Mizi's perspective this way, how she's constantly perceived as fortunate in a terrible situation, she inspires adoration and devotion just as much as she is the subject of ridicule and resentment, yet she has to take it and adapt even if it means being the person everyone assumed she was to ensure her survival, again that's how she adapted to this environment and acts the way she acts according to what others already think and expect of her, to survive. The honest truth is that she was trying.

[puddingbrainscientist]

it feels like this season, doctor who is dealing with the fundamental rules changing. it was strictly sci-fi, you could always logic your way out of any problem with technobabble and a clever plan.

but it feels like so much of the plot is wrapped around poking at the medium of being a television show, of being a story. we have multiple characters looking at the viewers, we have the maestro playing the theme tune, we have such clear parallels to season 1 (2005) that it feels like a universal coincidence. like the whoniverse itself is recognizing its a medium and playing with its tropes.

the genre is changing too - we are leaning more and more into fantasy, rules like you would see in stories about fae, not sci-fi. musical numbers out of nowhere that no one seems to question, with rain inside and musical sidewalks. the vocabulary of rope and power in coincidences. hell, even the way that time travel works is changing! suddenly stepping on a butterfly (specifically a trope in scifi that has been mocked/debunked previously) has consequences. the doctor swiping away the translation circuit's effects with the wave of a hand and breathing life back into a creature without breaking a sweat.

not to mention the way that space babies foreshadows to a universe that creates a story with all the ingredients it knows are supposed to be there (re: bogeyman - there's supposed to be a villain so it made one)

something IS going on. there is a bigger player - bigger than tecteun, bigger than the toymaker. could it be rtd just having a grand ole time using canon as is playground? maybe. but i hope it's something cool.

[queeniewithabeanie]

The Phantom Zone Problem

Dpxdc Prompt #76

Clark is, for the first time in a while, nervous for a JLA meeting.

The Justice League, through the means of their dark division, had finally gotten into contact with, and set up a meeting with, the king of the infinite realms. Since it was such an important meeting, it was restricted to the founding members. The goal was to set up a tentative alliance.

Key word being was.

The minute the ghost king appears on the Watchtower, his eyes lock onto Clark with disgust he previously thought only Lex Luthor held for him as the king spat out, "Superman".

Clark's immediate thoughts are how did he mess this up already, before Bruce takes the wheel and asks what Clark was thinking in a more... diplomatic way.

"King Phantom, whatever Superman has done please explain so we may fix it. We hope to make an ally out of you today."

Translation: Tell us how Clark fucked up so I can hopefully salvage what little chance we have of working together.

"Well first off, he's Kryptonian which means he's taken up sending his worst criminals to the Phantom Zone," he says as if that explains everything.

At the JLA's bewildered looks he continues.

"Here let me explain it to you more clearly. Imagine that the infinite realms and this universe are neighboring houses, and your worst criminals are raccoons you've found digging around in the garbage. Sending them to the Phantom Zone is the equivalent of taking the raccoons and putting them in your neighbors' yard."

Phantom eyes Clark again.

"Basically, its really rude, and since the explosion on Krypton—the problematic neighbors moving away so to say—we thought we wouldn't have to deal with it anymore."

Clark is going to pack away the fact that this king just compared his species going almost entirely extinct to rude neighbors moving away and is instead going to try to salvage what he can of this meeting.

Though it is flashing alarm bells in his small-town farm-boy goody-two-shoes brain that he's being considered a bad neighbor.

Ma and Pa would be so disappointed.

[rafsgrl]

bf sylus headcanons ♡︎

- he’s a biter, likes to bite your hand, cheek and fingers

- wears a ring with your name engraved on the inner part

- very serious about you

- likes when you wear heels bc he knows your feet are going to hurt later, which means he can carry you on one arm, holding your heels on the other

- he always buys you expensive things

- gets offended when you want something cheap

- pays for your nails and other maintenance things

- genuinely gets mad at you if he finds out you paid for yourself one day

- he loves it when youre holding his arm, or any of his fingers when walking out n about

- when it comes to you he gets cuteness aggression which results him in pinching your cheeks a little harder than he intends

- he’s obsessed with your face, when you’re talking he’s just deeply admiring you which makes him unconsciously pinch your lips

“???”

- gets really offended when you don’t give him attention

- despite his exterior he’s a softy

- always puts his hand on top of your head and ruffles your hair a bit

- you get annoyed and then he fixes up your hair for you

- gets very moody when you both get into an argument he makes it everyones problem ( luke and kieran suffer the most )

- luke and kieran literally have to beg you to talk to him

- when you makeup, hes quiet and his eyes soft, very glad that you aren’t upset with him anymore

- whenever you hangout he hands you a rose

- always puts his coat over your shoulder on chilly nights

- when hugging you he lifts you up a bit

- gets very lovey dovey when sleepy, multiple light forehead kisses and on your temple moving down to your eyes and cheeks

- puts your hand on his heart whenever you make him feel something

- always tags along when shopping and helps you pick and choose

- always makes you coffee/tea in the morning

overall he’s head over heals for you, if you asked him to kill for you he would, when it comes to you he’s a big softy, the way he looks at you and the way his eyes soften, confirms you are his moon, stars and universe.

────୨ৎ────

authors note: i had a lot of fun making this, hope it got you feeling a little smth (⸝⸝ᵕᴗᵕ⸝⸝)

©satroucat 2024 all rights reserved; pls do not translate, plagiarize, repost on other platforms.