manywinged:

another absolutely fantastic trope is when a scifi/fantasy character calls the oblivious object of their affections a term of endearment in their fictional first language during an emotional moment which they refuse to translate, and their love interest assumes due to the unresolved sexual tension fuelled rivalry aspect of their relationship that it’s an insult, only to have their world absolutely rocked to its core when they finally manage to get a translation and realize that the other person has been pining for them the entire goddamn time

like,

character a: it’s just, i try so hard but i honestly think [character b] hates me. i mean, they called me a [untranslated word or phrase] a few weeks ago, and they’ve hardly looked, let alone spoken to me since then :(

person they’re talking to: “[untranslated word or phrase]”? are you sure?

character a: …i think so. why?

person they’re talking to: hmm. yeah. well that’s uh. well it’s not an insult. that’s a declaration of love.

character a: w

character a: what