Wapsi Square Forum

Not quite sure where to put this, so seems as good a spot as any ....


I was wondering how/why Castela got the nickname "Pickles".

My guess - she gave it to herself.

Someone probably use the word "Prickle" in regards to Castela (ie: "Does she have Prickles?"), Castela hear and repeated the word but dropped the "r" as some kids do.

And the nickname "Pickles" stuck.


or I could be quite wrong

Anyone got their own hypothesis/guess to share?


Hopefully this is one of the Waspi Square mysteries that gets explained sooner than later.

(maybe is someone can bribe Paul with a ScoobySnack?)

Possibly somebody discovered that Castela's vines are covered with little flower buds that can be soaked in vinegar to make a flavorful pickle?

This would completely explain both her nickname, and her enthusiastic, excited style of living. She's always cutting a caper.

(drops a firkin of gherkins into the Pun Jar)

Maybe she smells like pickles when she misses a bath?
Maybe, while at the orphanage, a bully who was tired of calling her a bush to be mean was trying out new plants, called her a pickle, and the name stuck because it's kinda cute in a weird way, which totally fits Castela?
Maybe she had a mishap with pickles, possibly while playing hide-and-seek?
...hmmm...
[fanfic] Castla ran, stifling a giggle as Astali counted to thirty. She came upon the orphanage's kitchen, and had the idea that if the children weren't allowed in there, Astali wouldn't think to look for her in there. Glancing quickly up and down the hallway, Castela scurried inside the kitchen and found a pantry full of canned and jarred fruits and vegetables. She crawled in and pulled a big car of pickles in front of her and waited. Astali ran by the kitchen, playfully calling out Castela's name, then her footsteps faded into the distance. A short while later, Castela heard heavier footsteps in the kitchen. Suddenly the pantry was opened and an unfamiliar hand grabbed the pickle jar. Startled, Castela yelped. The cook was just as surprised and jolted upwards, banging his head on a shelf. He dropped the jar, which shattered and spilled pickles and pickle juice all over Castela. The smell would take days to wash out, and in that time, Astali had taken to calling Castela "Pickle", at first in moments of exasperation... But the nickname would later grow to be an affectionate pet name, and one of Castela's favorites. [/fanfic]

Whatever happened to her horns, anyway? Is Castela hiding them using the an incomplete version of the "human form" illusion thing Nudge was teaching her a while ago, when Monica and Shelly were being lectured after racing through the city?
If so, why? The mall is currently paranormal-friendly. No need to make the effort.

Perhaps she can change her shape by rearranging her vines? That would explain the dramatic proportional shift Castela's body has gone through since her first appearance... She looked like a ten-year-old back at the orphanage, and her speech pattern seemed much more mature as well.

...I may be looking way too closely at this, but perhaps Castela emulated older girls to try to ward of bullys at the orphanage, and now that she is happily adopted, she can act like the little kid she really is.

She gets her horns when upset; they are also clear. Not sure what this says about what they're made of....

NOTDilbert wrote:She gets her horns when upset; they are also clear. Not sure what this says about what they're made of....

Perhaps they are just made of plant material with no chlorophyll.

Castela herself that she is part plant, part animal. Perhaps she has the ability to make keratin too? Polar bear fur is keratin, and is translucent. They actually have black skin. Their fur acts like fiber optics, funneling light into their dark skin to get a little more heat. They look white because of the same reason fiber optic cables look white from the side.
Maybe Castela's horns are translucent/transparent keratin.

GlytchMeister wrote:

NOTDilbert wrote:She gets her horns when upset; they are also clear. Not sure what this says about what they're made of....

Perhaps they are just made of plant material with no chlorophyll.

Castela herself that she is part plant, part animal. Perhaps she has the ability to make keratin too? Polar bear fur is keratin, and is translucent. They actually have black skin. Their fur acts like fiber optics, funneling light into their dark skin to get a little more heat. They look white because of the same reason fiber optic cables look white from the side.
Maybe Castela's horns are translucent/transparent keratin.

I just figured they were thorns...

Thorns, perhaps?

Of course, "pickle" used to be an idiom for a problem or for trouble. . .

I suppose that she'd at least qualify as a pretty pickle.

Catawampus, I think you've hit the nail between the eyes.

If they are thorns, those are the biggest freakin' thorns I've ever seen! Can you imagine how big they'd be when she grows up?

And I've seen some pretty impressive thorns. My old backyard is infested with honey locust trees. They had thorns up to 20cm. And the thorns had thorns. They were freaking thorn fractals. And they had some weird kind of chemical on them that burnt and stung and slowed the healing process. And they are sharp, hard, and strong enough to use as makeshift nails.

One deflated a lawnmower tire. Another went clean through my sister's foot. Another impaled a bird on a windy day. These trees are murderous.

But they are only about 2cm thick at most. Castela's (t)horns are about as wide as her wrist.

GlytchMeister wrote:Another impaled a bird on a windy day. These trees are murderous.

Are you sure it wasn't a Whomping Willow?

Catawampus wrote:Of course, "pickle" used to be an idiom for a problem or for trouble. . .

I suppose that she'd at least qualify as a pretty pickle.

That's a pretty interesting theory. Then again, "pickle" does seem to be a term of endearment for folks in places other than the US (at least it seems that way based on my reading of Harry Potter or some other such exposure to British women talking to/about their kids ). It's possible that "pickle" was something that Atsali picked up (perhaps in the same way I did) and decided she wanted to use with Castela because she thought it sounded cool or sweet or whatever.

EDIT: Yeah...now that I think of it, I got "ickle" from HP, so not sure where in particular I heard or read "pickle" being used that way. I just know it was from a British character.

Reminds me of the phrase "cute as a bug's ear." Doesn't make much sense at first glance - most bugs are icky and don't have ears. But it originated with German; a nickname for little girls is 'bug' as in ladybug (kafer), so the phrase is a literal translation that means 'cute as a little girl's ear' - makes much more sense, and is much cuter in real life than bugs.

NOTDilbert wrote:Reminds me of the phrase "cute as a bug's ear." Doesn't make much sense at first glance - most bugs are icky and don't have ears. But it originated with German; a nickname for little girls is 'bug' as in ladybug (kafer), so the phrase is a literal translation that means 'cute as a little girl's ear' - makes much more sense, and is much cuter in real life than bugs.

Some anthro artists seem to differ in opinion.

shadowinthelight wrote:

GlytchMeister wrote:Another impaled a bird on a windy day. These trees are murderous.

Are you sure it wasn't a Whomping Willow?

Don't you dare give any genetic engineers any ideas. The stationary honey locusts are bad enough. Give 'em rapid plant movement and an attitude problem, and we have ourselves a BIG problem.
How big?
The whomping willow is limited to blunt force trauma. The above described abominable monstrosity would be able to nail your sorry butt to a wall.

Notice to all genetic engineers who are intrigued by this idea:

Don't. Just don't. Stick with creating x-men. They're much more harmless.

GlytchMeister wrote:Don't you dare give any genetic engineers any ideas. The stationary honey locusts are bad enough. Give 'em rapid plant movement and an attitude problem, and we have ourselves a BIG problem.
How big?
The whomping willow is limited to blunt force trauma. The above described abominable monstrosity would be able to nail your sorry butt to a wall.

Notice to all genetic engineers who are intrigued by this idea:

Don't. Just don't. Stick with creating x-men. They're much more harmless.

I was thinking more along the lines of a honey locust / mantis shrimp hybrid. I already made several plant / plant hybrids when I was a biochemist, so I'm sure that a honeymantis locustshrimp wouldn't be any real difficulty. They would be spiffy additions to my Dread Army of Dreadful Doom when I make my move to become global overlord.

Sounds like good eatin"!

A giant horde of insects that are tasty and nutritious - the Evil Overlord just solved third world hunger! But, created a tartar sauce shortage.....

Catawampus wrote:I was thinking more along the lines of a honey locust / mantis shrimp hybrid. I already made several plant / plant hybrids when I was a biochemist, so I'm sure that a honeymantis locustshrimp wouldn't be any real difficulty. They would be spiffy additions to my Dread Army of Dreadful Doom when I make my move to become global overlord.

Add some capsicum genes for spice, throw in just a touch of Balrog DNA and you might be able to get them to self-ignite with the proper stimulus. Self-cooking spicy popcorn locustshrimp... yummy and convenient.