Nicknames

You know, we have a Fox, and an Iceheart, and Weft... Makes me wonder how many and what kind of nicknames everyone's called at some point, and why, maybe.

*looks at Daaren* I bet half of yours translate to "shadow".

(Daaren hrmps and gives her a hint of a smile.)

Okay, anyone more talkative who'd start?

Weft: Well, uh, I've been called a lot of things...

Basaltine: Mine've all been variants on my name - well, all except for Love Hunk, Mr. Fantastico, Sex Champion...

Weft: You absolute liar I do not believe you have been called any of those and in your imagination doesn't count.

Basaltine: Kittycat.

Suitov: I keep accumulating them. It's something of a family characteristic. Really. Since about Suitov the second or third, I believe, none of the mainline family has escaped the deadly curse of nicknamehood. There's been a Steedfast, a Spurs of Iron, a Wetcup and so on. Weft, what about aliases? You must have worn fake names in the past.

Weft: Oh, well, yes. They've all been real names, though, not Adjective-Noun. Oh, and for some reason you keep calling me Twineball, which I pretend not to mind only to spare your feelings.

Suitov: I call you Twineball because you're complex and difficult to unravel.

Weft: Yeah, and last week you told me it was because I'm often found around boxes, and the time before that it was because I'm rough and twisted, and another time you told me it was because I'm such a knotty problem, and you even once said it was because I'm unmeasurable.

Suitov: Well, how long's a piece of string?

Weft: I deny the box thing. Incidentally.

Siri: Do you two ever leave each other alone? Purely out of interest.

Suitov: Don't worry. He'll decide he hates me again in a day or so. What do people call you, Siri?

Siri: I don't want to know.

Bloodhound. I was not pleased.

Don't worry, Hellie, your face is fine the way it is and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Can we make up new nix? I vote Daaren gets called "Hidden Teeth".

And if I'd kept track of how many people called me "pest", we could compare. *scratches Basaltine's ear*

What's so bad about "bloodhound", may I ask? Sounds like a praise of ability to me. I never even earned "terrier"; I don't have the persistence.

Well, they're prone to bloaty belly and ear problems - gnorg *enjoys scritching* - and their lifespan tends to be on the short end. They're big, and the drool isn't a myth. Half of them get called Toby after Sherlock Holmes's consultant partner, even though the original Toby was a spaniel-lurcher.

But I thought it was because of the pink eyes and the... er, the expressi... I'll... get my coat.

*glares after Basaltine*

Daaren: Nico, not everyone is as... look-on-the-bright-side as you. I mean, you felt flattered being called a rat.

Nico: What? Oh, back in Gyu-inee-areangya. Or so. Well, the people there liked rats.

Daaren: Because the rats ate roaches.

Nico: The bred-and-fed ones they sold steamed weren't half bad, you should have tried some. Don't look at me like that, 'm just saying people there didn't have that "rat equals vermin or traitor" attitude you get in some other places.

Serp: I get called feather-for-brains a lot. That's usually when I either laugh at them if they're all right people. If they're not, I hope they can afford months of unemployment and convalescence...

Sebs: Did he just use big words?

Serp: I call him Idiot, by the way.

Hehe. Serpentine, anyone who can look at you and still think it's a good idea to insult you clearly has it coming.

...what? I'm not actually advocating violence, only saying, there comes a time to dispense Darwin Awards along with the arnica...

Nico: Hmmm. Bree!

Sylvie: What?

Nico: Something I've been called. Their word for hummingbird.

Sylvie: Are those like jewelbirds?

Nico: Yup.

Sylvie: Well, that fits.

Nico: How do you mean?

Sylvie: Small, flashy dressers, and hurt really bad when one hits you right between the eyes. *grins*

Nico: *heh*

That takes me back. Has anyone else done the training exercise with the sip birds? You know, where you have to be fast enough to catch it or your entire group has to repeat a month's training?

I know a game like that, but it's not in groups. What are sip birds like?

What they were talking about. The small fast ones that drink from creeping plants.

'S not a game, it's a very important test. Hence all the peer pressure and ritual humiliation, to make sure you don't mess it up. Oh Siri, don't make that tutting noise. You obviously don't understand the first thing about educational psychology.

Nico: A few people called me Kitten or Kitty or somesuch, probably because soemtimes I'm easily distracted... (Why then am I the one pulling this thread back on topic? oh, well)

Daaren: I remember one guy called you "my pet".

Nico: I remember that what happened to him was rather... unfortunate. *evil grin*
And you have nothing to share?

Daaren: I'll tell you if I remember something.

Sparkles, What's-Your-Name, Spy, Murdering (various expletives), Pattypan for some reason, one that I'm not going to admit, quite often Monk or Offwhite or other names based on where I come from although I keep telling people it's not correct to refer to me as Mercy singular.

Back home I'm called "brother", "little brother", "elder brother" or "good brother" as appropriate. All these random nicknames are not encouraged.

Why Sparkles?

I think it's either sarcasm because I'm miserable a lot, or a variant on the "finicky = flamboyant = omg gay" thing.

Also heard are Chichi, Tiddles (from a rocca - I don't know what that one means, possibly my height), Slinky, Vish or Vichy (short for "vicious") and Felix. Which is cute. I hadn't been called lucky before.

I don't see what's so hard to use about my name, though. It's a single syllable in most languages. I mean, we research these things.

What happened to the guy?