A story I've recently been working on centers on a mostly psychological struggle between a scientist and....a fish. A fish who can talk, and who has an ominous message. Problem is, I have no clue how to paint this fish character as actually threatening and ominous when the idea itself seems so silly. Any suggestions?
This fish can be threatening enough if your character is in the water with it and it has large teeth. However I want to find out how you're going to get them to communicate at a level higher than fight and bite. Perhaps your fish is in the habit of whistling to its mates (as whales do) and your scientist has deciphered the whistling code and sent out some messages of her own? Do you have dreams along these lines after working with the sonar on USS Mariana (inshore defense vessel 3944)? Sample dialog: Jack Cousteau: Sorry I didn't message you at 4 PM like I promised. I was tied up on the Interstate. Fish: Yeah, that 405 can be a real bitch this time of day. Jack Cousteau: It wasn't bad until I got to the Santa Monica freeway interchange. Fish: Are you car pooling? Jack Cousteau: No. Say, what did you think of that biodiversity report by Boris Worm I sent you? Fish: Not bad, but I think he's working from a small sample size. But he's got a point. We're tired of being hunted down and butchered by you naked ape bastards! Jack Cousteau: The Japanese say there's no problem harvesting 50 humpback whales to further scientific research, since there are tens of thousands of them. Fish: How about we harvest 50 scientists? I have a couple of white shark friends who'd be happy to help!
Sounds to me like you just brought this up to show everyone how wacky and creative you are. Why are you even writing about an ominous fish when you have no idea what one is or how to do it or if you think it's silly? Fish aren't really ominous but they can be really creepy. They just stare all the time and can't move their mouths very well.
So, edit your post if it needs improvement. I do it from time to time, since, contrary to popular opinion, I'm not perfect. As for communicating with fish, I think this is a lost cause, since our brains are too different. There could be a case made for communicating with marine mammals, such as whales, dolphins, sea lions, and seals. The question is, from the standpoint of the marine mammal, does this land mammal who is whistling messages to me have anything to say that's worth responding to? More important than communicating with fish, or with marine mammals, is defending them from fishermen, whalers and sealers. We humans are far more of a threat to marine life than they are to us.
