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[scension]

Those of you with familiars, I have a question - how do you name them? Did it give you any trouble?
What happens if they don't like it?

It doesn't feel like naming a pet, or some future family member. Waiting for inspiration to strike hasn't worked yet.
And now I'm starting to feel like I have to give this phone a name, too.

Comments

[schmisse]

What sort of familiar do you have?

[scension]

He looks like this: Attachment.jpg

[It's just a normal photo of a gangly, four-eyed, wide-mawed, demon-like monster, about the height of a person. It looks rather out of place slouching on top of what is obviously a bed at the inn.]

He can get overprotective sometimes, but he means well.
It's important to look after him.

[schmisse]

[ It's fortunate this is all done through text, else the way she winced would have been caught on camera. ]

Oh. He probably needs a lot of attention.

[scension]

No, he mostly does his own thing. He's only clingy from time to time.

[...She might just want to be polite about how it looks. He knows he would.]

But it's hard to think of name ideas that fit him. I don't exactly have examples to go off of.

[This is technically untrue; he has one example. He is not about to base anything off that example.]

[schmisse]

It's not a pet. It's a source of magic. I don't think you need to name it anything.

[scension]

I guess need is a strong word, as long as we can work together. It's more like, not bothering to think of one feels kind of cold.

[schmisse]

[ Maybe this is why she's called the "Ice Queen", because she can't even name her familiar... ]

You really think so?

[scension]

You don't?
I know mine is only clingy because he wants to keep me safe. Brushing him off while knowing that would be harsh.
Maybe it's another of those personality differences they all have.

[schmisse]

The way I see it, it's a business relationship.

My familiar watches over me and interferes when need be, but I'm still the one who has to do things on my own. It's what he is supposed to do. I, on the other hand, have a responsibility to get better at the magic he allows me to use. If the relationship does not exist, then I'll just be a normal girl with no way of defending myself, and he doesn't exist.

[scension]

[...This is starting to veer a little too close to shoving her familiar into a machine and just using them as a battery. The mental association obviously isn't this stranger's fault, but - damn.]

Is that the same as what he thinks about it?

[schmisse]

It's not like he can talk and tell me what he thinks.

Of course, back in Remnant, before I was able to summon him, he was a mindless creature created to kill and destroy. Then I defeated him and called him to my aide. It's the same relationship we have now here in Camelot.

[scension]

["Mindless", huh...]

Did you ever feel awkward about that? Going from looking at them like an enemy to bonding with them?

[schmisse]

Not really, although I understand why it would be strange.

It's not a requirement to name your familiar anything. Although it would be truly strange if you named your phone, too.

[scension]

[Welp, if she can't relate, he'll just drop it.]

Yeah, I'll just ignore the phone when it talks from now on. Unless it asks for a name first.

[schmisse]

Hang on. Did you just say your phone talks?

[scension]

It didn't at first. It just started recently. We think it's magic-related, but who knows why or for how long.
Unless that's normal for this kind of machina, but it doesn't sound that way.

[schmisse]

Oh! That IS weird. Phones aren't supposed to talk.
What does it say?

[scension]

That it's tired, or uncomfortable, or doesn't like the cable it's connected to. Things that aren't on the screen.

[Is that what it's been doing? Yeah, that feels roughly like a description of what it's been doing. Although...]

It sounds pretty bad when laid out like that... I promise I've been treating it the same this whole time.

[schmisse]

That's convenient, but it sounds like your phone has its own personality. I never knew it could do that!

[ Now she wishes her phone could talk... ]

Did you touch anything and then it started talking, or what?

[scension]

It was right after the big formal mask party at the castle. We think it's magic-related.
Other machina started doing it too, I just can't always tell what they're saying.
To be honest, it's annoying.

[schmisse]

Oh, it must be because of the second branch of magic people have learned, then?

Why would you say it's annoying? Though I can't really imagine having an ability like that.

[scension]

Mostly because the city has so much machina, it's hard to listen to them all at once.

I wouldn't have guessed magic like that existed, either. We've seen machina that used magical power sources before, but never the reverse. Only people who wanted to replace one with the other.