#paltxi

[dragonofpandora]

I hate making ref sheets but ArtFight is forcing me to so Paltxi finally has a proper one, ft. Tompiva. In reality Tompiva definitely has more patterns, I just simplify them for the sake of my sanity when drawing her.

[dragonheart-swtor]

Share: last song, last photo on camera roll, and lock screen

I was tagged by @sleepswithvillains, thanks! No-pressure tags: @sunsetofdoom​, @sith-shenanigans​, @elaphaemourra​

Have, in order: a random selection from my Liked playlist on spotify, a meme sketch of my new Na’vi OC Paltxi created specifically for the purpose of encouraging me to practice the Na’vi language which I’ve started learning (ft practice Na’vi which I have since been informed has a grammatical error; it should be “Nga terul pelun,” not “Ngal terul pelun” - either way, it translates to “Why are you running? Why are you running??”), and a close-up shot of my corn snake Constantinople (Connie for short) when she was a baby.

[dragonofpandora]

Paltxi finds a strange and rather alarming tawtute artifact in the woods

(happy May the Fourth (be with you))

[dragonofpandora]

Please listen to me, O Eywa. Walk with me. Hear my every word. Guide my path.

Color of an old piece. Lighting and shading on Paltxi is meh because I was extremely lazy with it, but I’m super proud of the background and the overall atmosphere.

[dragonofpandora]

(-(WHISTLE) -Cindy? I think the Heryuan have arrived. -[Owlbears??] Uh - -Three ‘awtsi. -Thank you. ...Should we be worried? -I don’t think so. They agreed to meet with us, right? -I’ve never seen an owlbear. -You sound like you don’t know whether you should be scared or excited.)

Translator’s note: the literal translation on that last sentence, just for fun, is closer to “Your words come to me as if (you) don’t know the answer that is whether you should feel fear or excitement.” Translations on multi-clause sentences are a doozy sometimes.

Enter the Heryuan, one of the northernmost clans, and one of their somewhat unique animal companions, the ‘awtsi, nicknamed “snowy owlbears” in English. (For whom I have some design sketches and notes that are probably going to go up soon...)

[dragonofpandora]

Furia plltxe sawtuteru / How to talk to skypeople (lit. “Regarding talking to skypeople”)

Bonus zoom on their stupid gremlin face:

[dragonofpandora]

(Na’vi: -Cindy! Are you coming? -Yes, soon! -Okay - [breaks off into English] ... -Dammit!)

‘ìnglìsì Paltxiyä mi lu nì'ul sìltsan to leNa'via tìpuslltxe oeyä, hrh / Paltxi’s English is still better than my Na’vi, lol.

Yes, I did just realize I entirely forgot to draw the face mask on the human and I don’t care, it’s too late, pretend it’s there. invisible face mask wow magic *throws glitter and runs away*

His name is Matthew; it’s written Mätew when Paltxi speaks it to reflect the accent they give it (same with Cindy->Sìnti). Also, I tried to make Paltxi’s English mistakes things that a Na’vi speaker learning English would actually have trouble with - they delete an “a” in “Cindy is (a) good teacher” because Na’vi doesn’t have an equivalent, and they say “more good” instead of “better” because (at least as far as I know) Na’vi doesn’t have an equivalent to the English -er suffix, it’s just “nì’ul,” meaning “more” - “nì’ul sìltsan”, “more good,” where in English that gets collapsed into “better.”

Na’vi translations of the English sentences, for practice:

-Furia zamunge ngal tsyosyuti akalin irayo si oe. ... -Ma Mätew! Kaltxì! Fwa tse’a ngati oel oeru sunu! -Kaltxì, ma Paltxi. Ftarmia ‘ìnglìsì ngeyä srak? -Sran! Sìnti karyu asìltsan lu. -LeNa’via tìpuslltxe Sìntiyä mi lu nì’ul sìltsan to ‘ìnglìsì oeyä.

[dragonofpandora]

(-Beautiful! Everything is so bright! :D -Woooo! -Is that fun?)

Translator’s note: "is that fun?" is supposed to be the equivalent to a dry-humor "having fun?" in English, since I don't personally feel like the literal "to possess fun" would make a whole lot of sense to Na'vi (and if there’s a verb for “to have fun” I didn’t find it hrh), so I chose to translate it indirectly.

“Paltxi Experiences (Deep) Snow For The First Time And Immediately Turns Into An Overexcited Child”

[dragonofpandora]

(-Stoooooop.)

“Kìlsaniru sì Olangiru lu ftxozä frazìsìt. Ayuvan sì aysäwäsultsyìp sì wem len, ulte awnga wäsul olo'fpi awngeyä. Fìtxon len ayutan a fa’li. Olangi yora' fayutan stum frakrr, slä aymaktoyul ayoeyä foru ngäzìka tìyora'it tolìng. ...Sìnti hangham ulte poleng pol fmawnta oeti ke txung fula tse'a tìyora' Angilanä. Po ke lu keyawr.”

“Kìlsani and Olangi have a celebration every year. Games, contests, and fights occur, and we compete for our clans. Tonight the pa’li games happened. Olangi almost always win these games, but our riders gave them a difficult victory. ...Cindy laughs and tells me it doesn’t bother me to see Angilan’s victory. She’s not wrong.”

[dragonofpandora]

(-...MAYBE I didn’t think that through. (lit. “...MAYBE I didn’t think about that result.”) -Do you ever? (lit. “You never do, yes/no?”) -The Heryuan clan should meet us here. -I’m sure they’re watching us already. (TYPO: should be “Furia nerìn fol awngati li oe am’ake ‘efu”; I got so wrapped up in figuring out one part of the sentence that I entirely forgot another, hrh.) -Because winter is coming, visitors arriving is more and more more rare. They'll show themselves when they feel ready. We should wait until then.)

Still not totally clear what I’m going to do with the Heryuan design-wise, but I have a concept. Also may be abandoning this “plotline” early, since I’m losing interest in it, whoops.

[dragonofpandora]

(We go where no one goes.)

Ikran are surprisingly hard to draw, part two

[dragonofpandora]

(I am SO TIRED)

a mood from the beginning of midterms

[dragonofpandora]

(-”...we do have to take the Scorpion.” -Are you sure you still want to go? -Yes. ...Are you sure I can’t fly with Tompiva? -Yes. She can’t keep up. I’m sorry, sibling; I know you don’t like these. -It’s fine. I’ll be fine. You wouldn’t bring danger, I know that. -I’ll breathe easier once we’re flying. Please, introduce me to your friends.)

Translator’s note: I accidentally started a long discussion in Kelutral about how to translate the epistemic “would” in “You wouldn’t bring danger (to me)” while asking for help in translating the sentence, hrh. The <iv> infix seen here is not actually what the final verdict was, but the final verdict didn’t come about until afterward and I am simply too lazy to erase and change it. It should be something along the lines of “Ngal hrrapit ke molunge am’aluke,” literally “You didn’t bring danger, without a doubt” (or slightly less literally, “I have no doubts that you didn’t bring danger”).

Paltxi has ✨traumaaaaa~✨

[dragonofpandora]

(-Say, have you visited the cold place beyond this forest? -No, I've never had the chance. Why? -Would you like to? (lit. "Do you want to do that?") -Yes! You're going soon? -Yes; we'll [I and the others will] fly there tomorrow. I asked the olo'eyktan if he would allow us [you and I] to go. -On the surface, I told them you can help converse with the clan that we don't understand well. But truly, my main reason is that I thought you would want to come with us.)

Translator’s notes: - Watch me flail around there not being a word for “north” in that first sentence - Watch me rampantly abuse Na’vi’s clusivity - “On the surface” was me working around getting across “allegedly”/”supposedly”/”in theory”

[dragonofpandora]

(-My father taught me this recipe (lit. “way of cooking”). -I wish I could show you the fish my mother cooked. The plants she used to give food flavor don’t grow here.)

*flops on the ground ironically fish-like* what was supposed to be a simple two-chunk conversation about fish recipes at the lakeside turned into an exercise for me in finding ways around words that don’t exist (yet) in Na’vi. “Recipe” turned into “fya’oti ‘emä” (”way of cooking,” as best I could figure how to say that, and tbh I’m not convinced it’s a perfect translation), and “herbs/spices/seasoning” turned into “ ’ewllit sar fte surit tìng veyru” (”plants used in order to give food flavor/taste”), which sure is a mouthful - but got the point across probably better than “way of cooking” for “recipe,” hilariously.

Good practice, but not what I was expecting out of the planned sentences xD

[dragonofpandora]

(-Say, what do you think I'd look like as a human? -That question is odd. Why do you ask? -I dunno. You were a human when you were born, and you know what you look like as a Na'vi. -Why can't I know what I'd look like as a human? -Sure. You'd be tall and thin, probably. Otherwise, very similar. You've seen my original body, you know that. -You're no fun.)

Hypotheticals with Paltxi.