On the Subject of Suffixes

Clan/Rank : RiverClan Number of posts : 9741 Age : 25

So I recently made that traditionalism thing because of this traditional naming blog I had been cruising around for a couple of hours. I checked again a couple of minutes ago and he answered a question of mine about Reed's warrior suffix, telling me he should be a Reedheart. Looking through his definition of what kind of cats should be a -heart, he's completely right. There's a point to this story, don't go away.

Looking through his list of non-traditional suffixes, because I was bored and curious, I encountered -stem and he explained why it didn't really work as a suffix. -stem had some clear meaning that he mentioned, though; being supporting of others and the Clan while also enforcing the rules. Which isn't good enough for full traditional roleplays because every cat is supposed to be supporting of their Clan and Clanmates while also enforcing the rules. It's good enough for us, though. But I digress.

What caught my eye is that he added that he only ever saw the -stem suffix on original characters when being used with the Lily- prefix, which was coincidentally a canon character in the books too. Furthermore, I had a Lilystem as TC medicine cat in a fanfic I was writing before I replaced her with a FinchsomethingIcan'tremember because EVERYONE USES LILYSTEM.

What it made me realize is that people don't really pick their suffixes based on what really fits them, but rather what correlates with their prefix. Shocker, I know. But even though we all probably noticed it and did it themselves, it's really something we need to enforce. -stem isn't a suffix that's meant to correlate with a prefix, like -jaw.

This is like a Rockpaw becoming Rockheart because he's stonehearted and not because he has a strong sense of belief in himself and what is right and wrong. And then him becoming Rockstar and joining the 27 Club instead of StarClan. IT JUST DOESN'T WORK

It's not really as big of a problem as I thought, looking at Clan Ranks, but I encourage people to use suffixes that actually fit them instead of becoming a Lilystem because "HOLY SHET! LILIES HAVE STEMS!" or a Rockheart because "LOLOLOL ROCK AS IN STONE AND HE'S STONEHEARTED SO I'LL JUST--"

NO

The sad part is that I was about to do this as well by naming him Reedtail, because of this:

Spoiler:

They're not strictly reeds, but they're close and I think you'll know them as cattails.

SO THINK BEFORE YOU SUFFIX, KIDS

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On the Subject of Suffixes I42GrfL

Re: On the Subject of Suffixes Mon 10 Dec 2012 - 7:32 by Kip

This was a lesson for people around the world. XD

THANK YOU!!!

Re: On the Subject of Suffixes Mon 10 Dec 2012 - 9:40 by **Nix ♥**

Re: On the Subject of Suffixes Mon 10 Dec 2012 - 10:19 by **Sleepy**

There's tons of combinations you can still use even if you cut out a lot of suffixes cx Even more if you include lots of the technically non-traditional prefixes and suffixes that we're still going to be letting people use.

I think it's something about personal preference. I need rules to enjoy things ;w; Okay, it sounds enticing to let people do whatever they want, but the result is disorder and people feeling dissatisfied and frustrated.

This isn't a matter of being dissatisfied and frustrated, though. It's just a personal gripe I have. You can still pick something that sounds good and cool without having it be completely random x3

Re: On the Subject of Suffixes Mon 10 Dec 2012 - 12:53 by **Ice Cream Zombie**

I understand completely, but I have one tiny thing I want to say: Wouldn't it be more traditional if the names really made sense, such as reflecting the cats appearance, abilities, AND the prefix/suffix went together? That would be pretty neat, though that may be a little more challenging to do without making up a really common name. For instance, Littlecloud(Yes I know a cat in the canon) could be named Littlekit for being, well, a runt. Then Littlecloud for his white, long fur and maybe he's good at jumping as well, like clouds skidding fast across the sky.

The prefix and suffix would also fit together considering people can look at the sky and say something like, "Look at that little cloud!" So it's like Lilystem, in a way, but makes much more sense, character-wise.

Re: On the Subject of Suffixes Mon 10 Dec 2012 - 13:10 by Moon

Prefix - appearance, distinguishing features/traits, etc.

Suffix - personality traits, skills, etc.

Not much clearer than that. xD

Re: On the Subject of Suffixes Mon 10 Dec 2012 - 13:12 by **Ebby**

If anything, the names sounded really nice is just the cherry on top. o3o

Re: On the Subject of Suffixes Mon 10 Dec 2012 - 13:23 by **Sleepy**

*Christmas Zombie* wrote:: I understand completely, but I have one tiny thing I want to say: Wouldn't it be more traditional if the names really made sense, such as reflecting the cats appearance, abilities, AND the prefix/suffix went together? That would be pretty neat, though that may be a little more challenging to do without making up a really common name. For instance, Littlecloud(Yes I know a cat in the canon) could be named Littlekit for being, well, a runt. Then Littlecloud for his white, long fur and maybe he's good at jumping as well, like clouds skidding fast across the sky.

The prefix and suffix would also fit together considering people can look at the sky and say something like, "Look at that little cloud!" So it's like Lilystem, in a way, but makes much more sense, character-wise.

While that would be really cool, I think it might be asking too much x3 Bonus points if people get names like that, though.

Re: On the Subject of Suffixes Mon 10 Dec 2012 - 14:00 by **Ice Cream Zombie**

Oh I wasn't saying it HAD to be done, I was just wondering if it might seem better, because I was thinking of doing that for my next life or so.

Re: On the Subject of Suffixes Mon 10 Dec 2012 - 14:04 by **Sleepy**

Oh, yes. xD That would be better.

Re: On the Subject of Suffixes Mon 10 Dec 2012 - 14:08 by **Ice Cream Zombie**

Alright, thank you x)

-Poofs-

» On the Subject of Creations
» Suffixes and Their Meanings Help
» Jay's Challenging Subject Challenge Redux
» Bloom's Almighty List of Prefixes and Suffixes

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