Monday DE: How Dare You!?

[splash_of_blue]

Morning, folks! Welcome to another bright, shiny working week... -_-

Funny how these things go, isn't it? I was mooching into the office in the rain, not particularly thinking of anything (not particularly awake, frankly) when I suddenly acquired the mental image of McGonagall screaming 'Coward! Coward!' at a fleeing Snape in Deathly Hallows, and suddenly realised I had today's DE.

That being the case: what is the greatest insult your character could think of, either for themselves or to call someone else?

For McGonagall - absolute Gryffindor that she is - it is, of course, 'coward'.

Comments

[aberration]

I actually have an answer that... I made up for this! I invented a word in Twi'leki, 'reimenja', that literally translates as 'slaver,' but when directed toward other Twi'leks also has a connotation of meaning 'collaborator.' Hera says it to Bib Fortuna here, though I initially created it as something she called Thrawn. It's definitely the worst insult she can think of.

[death_gone_mad]

For Amascut, it is stench and looking unkempt. Even though she does smell a bit like a dead cat to folks with a strong sense of smell. Her vanity is never a major plot point in canon about her, but it does color her interactions.

She does think necromancers are the absolute worst but it's not something that creeps into her language. What does creep in to her language and actual curses is that the worst hell she can imagine is reliving your most incompetent moments over and over again.

Fairy Fixit thinks being an idiotic god-botherer is the worst, but she is too damn diplomatic to be slinging around insults.

[ceitfianna]

This is harder than I expected as I don't have specific words for all of them though I do know what the worst thing would be. So I'll go with the answers that are closest to the question.

For Cassian like Hera, collaborator is one of the worst for him though I think apathy is also around the same level, but there's not as much one word for it. But it comes through in his attitude like when he lost it at Jyn on the shuttle and that was because he saw her as being apathetic and not fighting or doing anything.

Quentin, hm, I feel like there probably is something in canon but I don't know exactly what. For him its changed as he's spent more time with Toby from focusing on blood and now for him its people who use others and hurt for the sake of hurting.

Ivan-betrayer or oath-breaker as oaths are so important in Barrayar.

I think for both my Williams, it would be coward.

I'm not sure about the others.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

For Yamato, it's 'coward,' although he tends to use it less in the sense of 'someone who's fearful or who lets their fear get the better of them' and more as 'someone who leverages their power or strength to get what they want or to get a cheap sense of superiority.' Arguably the term he should actually be using is 'bully' but he doesn't mark a huge difference between them: Bullying and cowardice are exactly the same as far as he's concerned, because it's inherently cowardly to target those you think can't fight back -- and as far as he's concerned, someone who does that will never have the bravery to face people on an equal footing.

It's a stain that, once someone has marked themselves with it, is impossible to remove as far as he's concerned. If you're a coward once, then no matter what you do, that will never completely go away.

[irish_vagabond]

Cassidy has some of the most colorful insults containing words I'd never even heard before, but I think the worst thing he could call anyone with any sincerity is simply...boring.

Jesse: I'm just sayin', boring's not the worst thing a person can be, Cassidy.
Cassidy: I think you're wrong. I think boring's the worst.

Because Cassidy gets bored so quickly and so easily with just about anything. So the interest has to be instant and unique, or else his short attention span is just going to latch onto something else. Not that he thinks most people are boring, though--he does enjoy getting to know people and hearing what they're all about, but it annoys him if they're not doing anything fun or exciting, especially if they're stuck in a routine, or if they never want to break rules or ruffle any feathers. But if he likes you, he will go out of his way to make your life a lot less boring, ahaha.

[splash_of_blue]

For Sam - most insults just slide off, frankly; when you've got the reputation Lucifer has, either you develop a very, very thick skin or you crumble. About the only thing that would do some damage would be if someone he cared about suggested he had anything in common with his reputation. Calling him 'manipulative' would probably also sting a bit. Probably the greatest insult he'd use for someone else would be


Molly has a pretty robust self-image in many respects, but suggesting she's anything like her parents would probably be the worst thing you could say. Even then, most days, it would just leave you permanently on her shit list... on a bad day, though, the person saying it might just wind up getting punched across the room. Specifically for adult Moll, suggesting she betrayed/abandoned her siblings would have a similar impact to implying she's like her parents.

The worst insult she can give someone else is actually something superficial, like calling their suits ugly, because it means she can't even summon the interest in them to attack them personally: it's absolutely dismissive, she's simply decided that they aren't worth the energy or interest.