I don't know if you're still big on Killer and Color things, but I wanted some help on naming the two Killers (or if you have any advice on how to handle the two Killers put in the same scene?). Something that's not weapon or tool based
This is the anon from forever ago that asked for advice on two Killers and Color (link - a little refresher just incase)
But with two Killers, I was wondering if you might have any name suggestions? Killer is iconic, but I feel that describing a scene they're both in would be confusing to the readers. It would be like:
"Killer patted the back of Color as he flopped down beside him on the couch. While Killer was busy making coffee in the kitchen." Who is who??!?!
It would become confusing on which Killer, is well, which. I could use the physical traits of describing - since recently freed Killer is missing an entire arm, but that'd be a doozy.
And I like the idea of a name change. Like stepping back from the prejudice the name holds. He's a changed skeleton, he doesn't wanna be viewed as that tool that wrecked havoc for Nightmare anymore. Killer is his own skeleton now, with his own thoughts, motivations, and worldview. But I can also see him keeping the name because he doesn't believe he deserves to be anything more.
Just looking for some advice if you're still interested in Killer 🙏 I can provide more information for either Killers if you need more
An easy way to name them would probably to be to shorten the name—either between them both, or only for one of them. Like, you can have Killer and Ki. Or Kil and Ki.
Depending on their motivations on why they’re with Color, why and how they left Nightmare, how long they’ve been away from him—perhaps one of them is able to believe they deserve to have a different name, but the other hasn’t gotten there yet.
So one could still be Killer, the other could have one of the shorten names mentioned above of course—but they could also have a completely different name.
Or, depending on how you want to frame it—one of them still goes by Killer, the other one goes by something different in public to avoid confusion, but perhaps in private—alone with those they feel will not wrestle their name from them—that one is slowly starting to go by, respond to, and use Sans again.
If you don’t want weapons or tools name, you can maybe lean on flower names? Given the original killer’s thing with golden flowers.
You could also give them number names if you want, given Chara was their partner in crime and Chara has their thing about liking the number nine—though some may find that dehumanizing of a sort, perhaps one or both of the Killers prefer it because it’s like reclaiming power and agency back. The numbers could also potentially be used to identify them from other Killers out in the multiverse.
You could also use colors, since Color is there. Perhaps this is something Ink’s artist eye is willing to—perhaps when he makes them new outfits, there’s a consistent color for them to separate them from eachother and other Killers, to also individualize them.
If they both want to still go by Killer at any point in the story, or if they both just instinctively respond to it still (they’ve been Killer for more than they’ve been Sans, understandable they’d still respond even if it’s not their name anymore) they can have color coded outfits or features to show who is who in the text, even if they didn’t base their names on the color.
Alternatively, perhaps one of them decides to get some body modifications—like a tattoo or whatever a skeleton Monster body can have, perhaps it’s even a flower or one in a specific color. This could be something that Killer is proud of, did so willingly—and the tat is out in the open.
Or perhaps it wasn’t something planned, just something that Killer did while trying to explore their identity and assert control, but at this point it’s a funny memory between them, Color, and anyone else who knows and so a nickname of a sorts was born to tease him.
