The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)

by Becky Chambers

She belted along to the throbbing music as she worked. “Punch ’em in the face! Monkeys like it, too!” “Hey. Kizzy,” Jenks said. “I ate a har—monica! These socks—match—my hat!” “Kizzy.” A tool clattered to the ground. Kizzy’s hands clenched into fists as the music swelled to a stormy crescendo. She danced atop the shuddering ladder, her head still in the ceiling. “Socks! Match—my hat! Socks! Match—my hat! Step on—some—sweet—toast! Socks! Match—my hat!” “Kizzy!” Kizzy ducked her head down. She pressed the clicker strapped to her wrist, turning down the volume of the nearby thump box. “’Sup?” Jenks quirked an eyebrow. “Do you have any idea what this song is?” Kizzy blinked. “Socks Match My Hat,” she said. She went back up into the ceiling, tightening something with her gloved hands. “Soskh Matsh Mae’ha. It’s banned in the Harmagian Protectorate.” “We’re not in the Harmagian Protectorate.” “Do you know what this song’s about?” “You know I don’t speak Hanto.” “Banging the Harmagian royal family. In glorious detail.” “Ha! Oh, I like this song so much more now.”

Ahahaha this is so me

He ran a finger over the box. It came back dusty. “You’ve never even opened these.” The company logo caught his eye. “Holy shit, Kiz, these are Tarcska bots. Do you have any idea how top of the line these are?” “Bots are boring,” she said. “Boring.” “Mmm-hmm.” Jenks shook his head. “Once upon a time, the Human race would’ve killed for the computing power stored in these little guys—literally killed—and you’ve got them buried under old snacks.

Bots are boring

“Did you touch your face at all while you were talking to the Akarak captain? Like you’re doing now?” “Um, yeah, maybe.” Ashby pushed through the fog, trying to remember. “I don’t know, it all happened so fast.” “Something like this, maybe?” Rosemary rubbed her eyes with her palm, as if she had a headache. “Possibly. Yeah. Yeah, I think I did.” Rosemary grimaced. “That explains it. See, this—” She tucked her thumb back and held her fingers straight and flat, making her hand into a rough imitation of a Harmagian dactylus. She flexed her hand over her eyes, twice. “—is a really offensive thing to Harmagians. And those Akaraks’ gestures and dialect were very Harmagian influenced.” “What’s it mean?” Rosemary cleared her throat. “It means you’d rather rub shit in your eyes than keep talking to them.” Ashby blinked. He and Sissix both burst into laughter.

Haha unintentional cultural insults

If you have a fractured bone, and I’ve broken every bone in my body, does that make your fracture go away? Does it hurt you any less, knowing that I am in more pain?” “No, but that’s not—” “Yes, it is. Feelings are relative. And at the root, they’re all the same, even if they grow from different experiences and exist on different scales.” He examined her face. She looked skeptical. “Sissix would understand this. You Humans really do cripple yourselves with your belief that you all think in unique ways.”

How True

Sissix cupped her palm, flipped it and spread her claws, even though she knew Rosemary would not understand the gesture. Tresha. It was the thankful, humble, vulnerable feeling that came after someone saw a truth in you, something they had discovered just by watching, something that you did not admit often to yourself.

Powerful made my eyes tear up a bit