Airon
This entry exists so that I have a place to point people when they ask about my screen name, IRC handle, or what-have-you.
It started when I was around eleven. I had discovered a text-based online Star Wars game called Star Wars Universe. It was a MUD, and true to the genre, the very first thing it asked you was to give a name for your character. (This was the golden age of MUDs—everyone and their mother was buying a shell account and cobbling together lousy zones. But I digress.) I had the dual problem of being both utterly unoriginal and prohibited (by my parents) from using my real name online. I tried all the Star Wars names I could think of—Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan, Darth Vader, Chewbacca, I wasn’t picky—but of course in a popular game like that all the obvious names were taken. And Aaron wasn’t allowed.
And then, in desperation and a flash of nutty-eleven-year-old cleverness, I thought of a loophole. A perfect way around the rules. A true Jedi’s name, alright.
AirOn.
Needless to say, that didn’t go over too well in Star Wars Universe. In he schoolyard my peers would chant “Air-on, Air-off,” over and over as they took my lightsaber and tossed it back and forth over my head ruthlessly. (Their pummelling eventually drove me to a life of crime, where I stole credits from their pockets as they slept.) In a hunting party with my friends BaCKbReAKeR and Bonith, I probably didn’t have the worst name, but at least they weren’t named after a lousy chair.
So, the next incarnation of the game came around, and I knew I couldn’t be AirOn any longer, but I still wasn’t particularly good at coming up with character names. I noticed that if I just switched around the letters of my name, it sounded so much cooler. Aaorn was born, and it traveled to such realms as my AIM screen name, IRC handle, and previous website URL.
An improvement to be sure, but one which brought with it an unending stream of questions: “hey did u no u spelt ur name wrong?” “Like acorn???” and “R U AARON CARTER?” (seriously).
In later (non-Star Wars) games I acquired a last name and a title—Mushir Aaorn al-Dhulin—which was pretty damn cool if you ask me. By now I’ve totally disregarded my parents’ warnings about online predators and gotten in the habit of just using my real name, but I still get lots of Aaorn questions in IRC. So if I pointed you at this page: now you know.
Comments
Hah, I am the master of shittastic names. The legion of (B/G/C/J/M/D and most used, T)oniths, Khelros, Jheren, Ryuko, Emmrald, Talon, Nytehawk, Platinum Strike, Death-Strike, Yeoman Seth al-Khargadin… Don’t remember what title I had under Tonith al-Dhulin. One of the sho ones… hmm. Ah, how the pummelings bring back good memories of DAKAE.
Posted by Ryuko at November 21, 2003 6:08 PM :: LinkI remember when AOL came ‘round. I thought geek999 was the coolest screenname ever.
My first MUD name: Kheray Daymoan (from Kieran Desmond).
Posted by Kieran at November 22, 2003 10:04 AM :: Link…which is funny, because I remember thinking the same about ReaperKS. (Where did you get ‘reaper’ from?)
Posted by Aa at November 22, 2003 11:42 AM :: LinkEveryone knows it’s Raper Kiss.
Duh.
(Forgot who made that one up - I’m pretty sure it wasn’t me.)
Posted by Ryuko at November 22, 2003 7:07 PM :: LinkDude..I want a name….not that I have any clew as to why you all have them…but change my sn for me…my dad gave me this one..and well, it’s awful…
Posted by brie at December 4, 2003 6:07 PM :: Linkomg…I spelt “clue” as clew…what the heck was I thinking…I swear I’m no that big of a ditz….wow…..
Posted by Brie at December 4, 2003 7:20 PM :: LinkAlex.. don’t forget about Spike ;D And very interesting story Aaron.. kind of. haha. Can I be known as Nitsirk Adyag? I’m so creative.. I kill myself sometimes.
Posted by Kristin at December 5, 2003 12:12 PM :: LinkPost a comment
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BONITH! Hahahahaha!
Anyway, I’m not sure where Budai came from, but I don’t really like it as much now as I did 7 years ago, heh.
On a related topic to your chair-naming, I named one of my multi characters on Dreams after a brand of footwear.
Posted by Evan at November 21, 2003 5:52 PM :: Link