TBD & Timestream Idioms
We ended up on a bit of tangent the other day so here are some silly sayings to use for Time Balance Department and Timestream-related characters!
Curses/Exclamations:
"Gears grind me down." (God damn me.) "Gears of the Great Machine!" "By the hands of the First Clock!" "Flow forbid." (God forbid.) "Timestream's pockets..." / "You found this in the Timestream's pockets, didn't you?" (A curse meaning complete disaster, references Time Pockets from CROB) “Director’s scissors!” (Mild curse.) "Flow take it." (Mild curse/Can mean “I give up” in isolation.) "Rust and springs." (For heaven's sake.)
General Sayings:
"Do I look like a standard cog to you?" (Do I look stupid to you?/Do I look like a civilian or non TBD agent?) "That's not how the mechanism turns." (That's not how that works.) "Skip a tooth." / ”I skipped a tooth in my calculations.” (Make a mistake.) "You're wound too tight." (Stressed, anxious, etc) “Let your gears cool.” (Calm down.) "Clocked and counted." (Everything accounted for/Yes, it's done.) "May your gears stay meshed." (A blessing, like good luck or travel safe.)
Insults:
"You must be really spinning some stripped gears in there." (Your braincells aren’t touching/you are not intelligent.) "You sure all your gear teeth are touching?" (Are you insane?) "I am beginning to suspect your maintenance schedule was neglected." (You sound ridiculous/What you’re saying makes no sense.) “You skipped a century, huh?” (You weren’t paying attention/you are unintelligent.) “Smooth-geared.” (Smooth-brained.) “Right, and the Gold Kirin was caught.” (Incredulity, dis-belief.) “Might as well hang a flag with your work.” (You’re acting like a time pirate.)
Field Agent Specific:
“Only a Time Manipulator could fix this.” (Complete disaster.) “Looks like the Director’s work.” (Either amazing or terrible, depending on context.) “We’ll need a fleet for that.” (Call back up.) “Who let a cog-cat in here?” (Similar to “it looks like a tornado went off in here.”) “A universal translator couldn’t fix that sentence.” (You make no sense.)
Historical Accuracy Division Specific:
“You look like a Beastborn in the Dark Flour War.” (You look out of place/lost.) “Who tailored this century?” (Who approved this?) “Don’t pull that thread.” (Do not investigate that.) “That’s a tangled bobbin.” (Complicated and not knowing where to start.) “Mind your seams.” (Keep your story straight.) “Your seams are showing.” (I can tell you’re lying/your lie has holes.) “Don’t unpick that.” (Leave it alone.) “You’re missing your backstitch!” (You don’t know your fundamentals.) “Your pattern is off.” / “The original pattern didn’t look like this.” (Your time fix is incorrect.) “This timeline has too many patches.” (You’re fixing the problems instead of addressing the root cause.) “I can see the repair work.” (Someone meddled in history here.) “Cross-reference?” (Where did you get that?/Citation needed.)
Tell us if you can come up with anymore, or can think of some for the other divisions! :D We love worldbuilding languages
