Xenoethnography
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Listing Series
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Cultural Exchange by Therrae (Dasha_mte)
Fandoms: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
26 Nov 2017
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Summary
It also didn’t help that the average glyph message was only three characters long, used no articles or prepositions, and usually had no verbs. What was the proper response to:: Curiosity; Sensation of great speed? Was it a question? A comparison? Why, after a brief visit by National Security Director Mearing, did four different ‘Bots send:: Emphasis; overlapping? Why was a particularly bad joke by Bulkhead derided as ::Undercharged when there were actual glyphs for Not funny and Humor fail? How did any of that work?
Series
- Part 1 of Xenoethnography
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Summary
With a put-upon sigh, Cliffjumper split and retracted his outer and inner chest plates, revealing a torso full of complex mechanisms. Most of what was visible was covered in tough cushioning cable, but Kim identified the brachial actuators from Ratchet’s lectures. And the secondary sensor router. And nests of fans and radiator plates that made up his primary coolant system. Then she noticed the smell. It was not exactly unpleasant—earthy and damp, a little like mildew and a little like swamp. It was a weird smell to come from a mech. Abruptly, June leaned out and down, one hand reaching out to point at the inner surface of Cliffjumper’s armor. “Ratchet, what is that?”
Series
- Part 2 of Xenoethnography
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Code Switching by Therrae (Dasha_mte)
Fandoms: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One, Transformers: Prime, Transformers (Bay Movies)
06 Jul 2018
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Summary
The infirmary was a whirlwind of action. Arcee, Wheeljack, and the trainees were getting Ratchet’s space back into shape before he returned to duty. Carly had found a long, fluffy dust mop and was making enthusiastic use of it. Arcee and Epps were wiping down tables. June and Dr. Nomura were sorting cables by size and port compatibility. Wheeljack was doing something in cabinets. When Kim came in, he turned and pointed to her. “Good. I need a human.”
Series
- Part 3 of Xenoethnography
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Proof of Concept by Therrae (Dasha_mte)
Fandoms: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One, Transformers: Prime, Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015)
05 Jul 2019
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Summary
“The good news here,” Dr. Nomura said, “Is that we don’t have to rush the solution to any problems that arise. An immobile mech, the energon system depressurized and the lower lines drained—the patient is not going to bleed out or go into shock. He is not using weapons. He is not going to sustain additional damage from the open systems. And there will be enough residual energon available to the protoform to keep that healthy under these conditions for…judging by the size, I would say two or three days. Plenty of time to deal with any unexpected emergencies.”
Series
- Part 4 of Xenoethnography
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Probability by Therrae (Dasha_mte)
Fandoms: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime, Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015), Transformers Bumblebee
07 Sep 2019
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Summary
They have words for ‘certain,’ ‘speculation,’ ‘hope.’ They hardly ever use them. Verb tenses (indicated with sound tags, like English does with ‘ing’ or ‘ed’) mark off whether a thing didn’t happen, possibly happened, probably happened, was personally witnessed to have happened, reliably documented to have happened, logically must have happened, or is hoped to have happened. Future tense is not as elaborate, since none of that has happened. Although there are a fucking boatload of past tenses, at least it is consistent. No irregular verbs at all.
This afternoon was all structural comparisons with Arcee. She says a sentence in English, then again in Cybertronix while I write it down. Then she checks the spelling. Then we would go through and gloss word by word.
It rained recently.
{Short term but undetermined time unit—past event} {Rain—certainty, logically must have happened} (evidence is implied)It might rain later.
{Short term but undetermined time unit—future event} {Rain-possibility} {event calculated at non-zero}The rain was cold.
{Short term but unspecified time unit—past event} {Rain-personally witnessed to have happened} {273.8 degrees kelvin}Series
- Part 5 of Xenoethnography
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Long Range Projections by Therrae (Dasha_mte)
Fandoms: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime, The Transformers (Cartoon Generation One)
16 Nov 2019
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Summary
“Ew. So, what’s the issue? I mean, what specifically is scary about Earth? The general creepiness or—oh. The prophesy. There’s a big evil coming from here in a few hundred years. Right?” Again, silence. Kim could feel the slight vibration of his torque engine idling through her feet. She wondered if she should let the topic drop. She decided not to: “Optimus, are you stressing so much about this you’re running combat protocols?”
“In fact, yes.”
Series
- Part 6 of Xenoethnography
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Conjunction by Therrae (Dasha_mte)
Fandoms: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One, Transformers: Prime, Transformers (Bay Movies)
08 Feb 2020
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Summary
Kidfic, linguistics, and American cultural tropes.
Series
- Part 7 of Xenoethnography
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Indexicality by Therrae (Dasha_mte) for Martha
Fandoms: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One, Transformers: Prime, Transformers Animated (2007), Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015), Transformers (Bay Movies)
19 Jun 2022
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Summary
Parenthood.
Series
- Part 8 of Xenoethnography