#and morty says the name its addressed to doesnt ring a bell (but is quite nice). now we have context for what that means! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

nihiltism · 5 months ago

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hi i just realized yesterday that i can just make tropes and themes i really enjoy and keep putting in ocs like, actual lore mechanics, so more facts about my oc universe!

-names have tangible power over characters' identities, sort of indicative of an overall sense of self. this is mostly a fun thematic quirk, but i may as well give names power to give some context to why i put so much stock into name based symbolism.

-thus, names are a thing tied to the physical self and not the soul. this is why most undead lose theirs, since you have to be a certain amount of detached in order to puppet your body around.

-(though, this can range. for instance, morty has always stayed relatively tethered to their body. they've lost the ability to recognize their old name, but they can still hear it and appreciate it. they're distanced, but still sentimental. meanwhile, iris plays fast and loose with her tether, thinning it out in attempts to continue her studies in magic even while undead. this makes her link to herself much more unstable, and she just straight up can't hear or parse her own name being called after a point.)

-characters with names associated with identities they currently clash with may react with pain upon hearing it, like hearing a particularly loud bass note.

-it's not uncommon to see people with names that are more like aliases or epithets. one, because names do hold power, it makes sense to not tell the entire world your name. two, some don't actually have a name they're hiding, or recently cast off their old one, and are just using a descriptive epithet until they've figured themselves out.

my oc universe is so funny because I have no solid setting and the main reason everybody is in the same universe in the first place is that I couldn't be assed to make another one, but I sure do have a somewhat in depth view of ghosts, undeath, and a fictional afterlife that kind of underlines everything else!

#fun fact morty is actually one of those epithet guys they just got their selfhood recontextualized #realized they are at least a person in the eyes of others and in doing so adopted a nickname others gave them #jazzhands. its like that. most of my guys have name symbolism in some form #my favorite one ive thought of is during drosera's deathspiral arc nobody (not even herself) calling her by name #Except trigger. and it hurts drosera's ears a ton but she prefers that over the silence . etc etc #similarly. allegro is the only one to refer to adagio by name at the beginning of their arc. and vice versa at the end.#trigger is also an alias guy she kinda just picked up a fun nickname somebody called her #she has a name but if you called it to her itd probably sound like the faiiintest whisper to her.#note also. this can be a transgenderism allegory but out of all my ocs having identity crises id consider only maybe 3 gender related #and thats a stretch bc two of thems ideal gender is Normal Guy and Thing That Is Too Sharp #anyway this is neat to me because it also gives an implied thematic definition for like #when a word is crossed out or even just somebody says a name doesnt ring a bell when it Should #thats a thing in one of hero's quests with morty actually. hero brings a letter to morty's home written Generations ago #and morty says the name its addressed to doesnt ring a bell (but is quite nice). now we have context for what that means!#anyway im rambling #blorbos from my brain #veespeaks

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