When two syllables are too many

[selenak]

I just don't get it. I mean, I don't like uncanonical nicknames (in fanfiction! They're fine by me in fannish debate) in general, but if the canon name of a character is lengthy, I at least understand the impulse to shorten it so one doesn't have to type it out all the time. (Special case in point: Rumplestilskin, who was called "Rumple" in fandom before characters on the show started to use that nickname, too.) But when a character has a really short name in canon, like, say, Kili and Fili, why the need ot make it even shorter? Seeing "Kee" used in the summary is guaranteed to make me not read the story in question, by the way.

Comments

[lilacsigil]

Shortcut to intimacy, guaranteed to annoy!

[selenak]

Yes indeed. Or rather y - deed, I suppose.

[lonelywalker]

I think putting nicknames in the summary is a bit much. Used once or twice in intimate scenes in the story probably wouldn't bother me, especially if it was a Nicholas >> Nick common situation.

[selenak]

Ah, but would you let Sam or Bucky call Steve "Ste"? :)

(And now I wonder whether Ethan Chandler, being American, will ever shortan Malcolm to Mal. If he wants to taunt him or something like that...)

[lonelywalker]

Yeah, "Ste" would be going a bit far.

I'd call Malcolm "Malky", which is the Scottish nickname for a Malcolm. But I can't imagine ever putting that in a fic.

[musesfool]

Ah, but would you let Sam or Bucky call Steve "Ste"?

Arrgh no! But I also get super annoyed by the proliferation of "Stevie," which Bucky never calls him in canon. (Otoh, Steve does call Bucky "Buck" so that's okay if not used too often.)

[ratcreature]

Gah. It seems especially unfitting for dwarves. I mean couldn't you make the more romantic case about them using their real dwarf names rather than the public ones as the true intimate step? I mean of course those aren't in the text, but if you are going to make up stuff, you might as well invent some khuzdul or refer to them making secret iglishmek signs at each other or something.

[selenak]

Exactly. If you invent something, then something fitting the people and their culture would be way more believable.

Not to mention that making, say, Bifur into Bif suddenly produces an unexpected Back to the Future crossover... *veg*

[ratcreature]

Yeah, it is just bad all around. I'm not too fond of nicknames anyway, probably because people constantly want to shorten my name (all of three syllables long) into ugly deformed short versions, all of which I hate, whereas I like my actual name. I always have to firmly stress that I am going to ignore anyone addressing me with less than my full first name, and that any people who actually like me don't shorten it.

[muccamukk]

I sort of understand the impulse. As above it's a shortcut to intimacy, and if you come from a family, such as mine, that has sheered all names of two syllables or longer down to either one syllable or a one syllable nickname in case of the short version not working ala "Ste" (for example one of my aunts is Linda but everyone calls her Boo), then it honestly seems pretty normal.

I wouldn't do it, and it annoys me when it's done especially in the summary, but I can understand why it's done.

[intrigueing]

Yeah, IDGI either, but I think it's less about length and more about cutesyness and personal customization.

(Or, if I'm in a really ungenerous mood, perhaps I would, without evidence, speculate that perhaps it's not just about customization, but about overwriting, i.e., a preference for the squeeful-impression-of-the-character floating in the writer's brain, rather than something resembling the canon character. Which the authors like to act like they have ownership over, and flaunt that feeling of ownership by saddling the character with a nickname that embodies the squee-impression, narrows the character to only the squee-impression (because it becomes very hard to visualize someone resembling the canon character when the author refers to them by a nickname like that) and distances that squee-impression from the canonical characterization, context, source material, and other things that might interfere with the squee. But surely that's too harsh and pretentious for me to seriously claim, right?)

Either way, yup, doubly guaranteed to ensure I never click on a fic with that in the summary too ;)