Moxxie (
imp_resario) wrote in
dreamcrystals2022-12-08 12:24 pm
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Entry tags:
A Matter Of Opinion
Sender: Moxxie
Subject: re: Armaments, traditions, and customs, vis-a-vis names
Reverein, I need a little help in resolving a minor dispute on a matter of opinion. And weapons.
Namely, the naming thereof.
Now, I've always had a mind for the classics in both music and literature, and giving a weapon a name all its own is a way of establishing personal significance, identity, and legacy, to say nothing of gravitas in recognition of or anticipation of the deeds ascribed to it. What, pray tell, would be Der Ring des Nibelungen without Nothung, the accursed sword of Siegfried? What would be the Arthurian legends without Excalibur or La Chanson de Roland without Durandal?
I would assert, therefore, that the practice is timeless, and has a well-earned place in the modern day, and with modern weaponry besides; that something like, for example, a shotgun can have enough significance to its wielder and within its deeds that it is no less worthy of being given a name than the weapons of old.
HOWEVER, in contrast, a certain colleague of mine does not share my views on this matter and describes the entire practice as, and I quote them directly,
"Cringe, T B H".
Which to me not only shows a lack of dramatic appreciation but also ignorance of the proud tradition upheld by the act of doing so. Thus I put it to a vote in a public forum before my fellow dreamers:
Is the practice of naming weapons really just a relic of a bygone sentimentality, or is it a timeless practice honoring the tools of the world's second-oldest trade?
Subject: re: Armaments, traditions, and customs, vis-a-vis names
Reverein, I need a little help in resolving a minor dispute on a matter of opinion. And weapons.
Namely, the naming thereof.
Now, I've always had a mind for the classics in both music and literature, and giving a weapon a name all its own is a way of establishing personal significance, identity, and legacy, to say nothing of gravitas in recognition of or anticipation of the deeds ascribed to it. What, pray tell, would be Der Ring des Nibelungen without Nothung, the accursed sword of Siegfried? What would be the Arthurian legends without Excalibur or La Chanson de Roland without Durandal?
I would assert, therefore, that the practice is timeless, and has a well-earned place in the modern day, and with modern weaponry besides; that something like, for example, a shotgun can have enough significance to its wielder and within its deeds that it is no less worthy of being given a name than the weapons of old.
HOWEVER, in contrast, a certain colleague of mine does not share my views on this matter and describes the entire practice as, and I quote them directly,
"Cringe, T B H".
Which to me not only shows a lack of dramatic appreciation but also ignorance of the proud tradition upheld by the act of doing so. Thus I put it to a vote in a public forum before my fellow dreamers:
Is the practice of naming weapons really just a relic of a bygone sentimentality, or is it a timeless practice honoring the tools of the world's second-oldest trade?
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I haven't actually seen that one since I got here. I should visit the well again, see if I could perhaps get it to come out, since I rather liked that sword.
... I also named my pistol Doomsday.
If you must know it's a reference to a television show I loved as a small child.
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Okay, a magic sword is an obvious candidate for naming. But you said you don't name 'mundane' weapons, right? What's so special about the pistol?
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Also through a process I'm only familiar with by secondhand description he fed the Zoroastrian metaphysical concept of diligence to it and now it shoots lasers and also I can't be certain but it makes me
better
It's all something to do with cognition.
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Not that knowing better had it make any more sense. And a few drops of ink hit the page as he hesitated.]
Seriously, what am I missing when it comes to weapons? Have I just been obliviously using ordinary firearms this whole time? Why is it every other world with a delegate in dreamland gets some kind of
kooky crazy metaphysical murder machine instead of a hunk of precision-tooled-but-otherwise-ordinary metal?
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it only functions as a firearm here and in other metaphysical places.
As best as I can explain it- when you point a gun at someone, they expect it to be loaded unless they've already seen you fire it quite a lot.
When you squeeze the trigger, they expect it to fire. And they expect bullets to hurt.
In a world bound by the laws of physics, they soon learn the difference, and everything is fine.
But in a world like this one, which is warped by the perception of people, a gun that merely looks threatening is threatening. The more visually impressive, the better. And if you've lent an extra few pounds of cognitive weight to a weapon by, for instance, binding the essence of a cognitive construct to it, then you have quite a dangerous tool at your disposal.
I also used to own a Sig-Sauer P230.
Interesting factoid: suppressed firearms, I've noticed, make the same sorts of sounds they do in media, here.
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Let's extrapolate that point you're making here. About cognition.
Does it not follow that naming a weapon and treating it as special, in a place such as this, would actually make it more special?
For example, if I were to name a pistol something like "Flametongue" then would it not follow that it would start exhibiting some sort of fiery aspect?
I wonder if there's some way to test this out.
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The application of the name may help with your own personal cognition coming to believe that your weapon is 'better'.
But if what you want is a gun that sets things on fire, you could apply fire-patterned engraving or decals.
I am not joking, that worked.
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We're assassins and nightmare-hunters, Akechi, not food critics.
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Then I watched a girl get her favorite grenade launcher custom-engraved with a snowflake pattern, fire it into a mob of enemies, and freeze them solid.
If it looks stupid but it works...
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