I have a specific belief- call it a habit from too much unchecked fantasy reading- that names are extremely important. Less so in the way that they are to the Fae, where names are equivalent to servitude, but in the way of control. now that ive said that, lets talk about aglaea!
I first noticed this with Aglaea in Amphoreus. As always, I keep track of what people call each other- given name, nickname, etc- and while Tribbie calls everyone cute nicknames, and Aglaea's mimicking of that could be seen as consideration for her teacher, its. not. it just doesn't feel like it. Not when Mydei is called mydeimos by all his followers and mydei by Aglaea, and De by Tribbie. Not when Phainon refuses to give his real name. I don't think Aglaea has said anyone's full name yet, excepting very formal circumstances. (and cipher, but i think her actual name is ciphera... so maybe not)
I honestly see it as a loss of agency. Like when you join the flame-chase journey, you lose all prior ties. You are bound to this fate by aglaea's golden threads and a name taken away from you- even more so after 3.2 came out and we learned that names like Kephale and Cerces are just placeholders for the humans beneath them.
Mydei is the best example of this, and I think it was explicitly mentioned by Krateros. Something about him never being shown the proper respect (as befitting of a crown prince, whatever) by the flame-chasers. Krateros associates Mydei's name and title with respect and power. Cutting his name in half diminishes that.
Oh, that's a point i should mention. Since most of the flamechasers are in positions of power or respect, their names are associated with it by others. Cutting down the names may not affect the person themselves, but it could always affect the way others see them, and if we've learned aynthing from 3.2, it's that public opinion matters.
Alternatively, Aglaea could just be giving them nicknames as signs of her own respect. a tribute to those who have undertaken the journey with her, and are prepared to lose their body and reincarnated selves to the cause.
Personally, any time she's on screen, she stresses me out, so I do think that it's an intentional decision. thats all folks back to your regularly scheduled doomscrolling
(edit because i just thought of it: Anaxagorous believes this too. The thing about respect and stuff being attatched to a name. His ass hates being called anaxa, and while its become a bit both ingame and online, I kind of see it as holding onto that autonomy I was talking about earlier. It's a respect thing. About not getting a part of who he is slashed in half for someone else's convience, about not sacrificing part of himself for the flame-chase. Just a thought. )
