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Snakes and other choices

Mari

Scribe
I have a snake that is an antagonist's familiar. I need a name. Tell me what you like: Dither, Akimbo, Withershins, Bugaboo and Puckeroo.


oooooooooo

The novel is meant to have a humorous appeal. With that in mind, what do you think would be more interesting to read about?



In the chapter I am currently writing, my wizard, Teller, is changing a piano into a calliope. In order to do so he is going to whistle up either an annoying old man's spirit, who will sit on Teller's head, telling him what to do.

OR

Teller calls up 2 brownies, Bob and Smegpot, who are on a cart that is being pulled by a pair of rats.

OR

An out of work banshie. (Everyone in banshie's clan is dead, and now does this, which isn't much call for calliopes.

OR

The wizard and his buddies, have just left Passamaquoddy. It turns out that the Passamaquoddy Indians, have their own little people. Nagumwasuck are self-conscoious fae. They ugly and usually conceal themselves from humans unless they feel the can trust the humans. They don't like being insulted.


Note: my wizard's familiar is a grumpy gnome.


So what way do you think would be the most interesting?
 

T.Allen.Smith

Staff
Moderator
Out of the lot of names, I like Dither.

Other than that, it's impossible to tell which of the scenarios will fit your story as I have zero idea what it's about & how each of the scenarios would fit or change your vision. Sorry, can't help you there.
 

Shreddies

Troubadour
Well, if you're going for meaningful names..
Dither means to tremble with fear or excitement, or vacillate. That might work for a snake (bonus is that it also sounds like slither, a very snake-ish word) or a chihuahua.
Akimbo is to have your hand(s) on your hip(s), I can't really see someone naming a snake that, unless they have a sardonic sense of humor, of course :) (You could make it work, actually)
Withershins is backwards, or counterclockwise, or opposite direction of the sun, etc. It might work as a creature's name, but it is also a fairly long name, and those are usually made shorter with petnames/nicknames, so what would the short-name be? Withers? That works for the same reason Dithers does, or maybe Shins?
Bugaboo might work as well, since snakes usually instill fear.
I'm not familiar with Puckeroo, but it sounds like a puckering kangaroo, so I don't know about that. :)

Personally I think Withershins may work the best, since it is long enough to have a nickname to separate it from formal and informal use, and the shortened version has a snake-ish element to it. (Either Withers, or Shins because it likes biting people in the shins.)
 
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