... the trope is most likely Orphaned Etymology. as for the names.
these should get you started(?) http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/The-Angels-of-the-Planets-146890.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_planets_in_Western_alchemy
on the alchemy part, i'm referring to names like "argent", "cuprum", and "auric". on planets. there's also their original greek names, artemisia, ourano, etc. on character name relation. there's their dub names. bonus points for being more recognizeable for the western audience.
like, Luna Selenia (ouch, too obvious), Mina Artemisia, and Lita Lycaea
.
edited 8th Aug '13 7:51:27 PM by ShanghaiSlave
Is dast der Zerstorer? Odar die Schopfer?I need a name for a set of Mooks... and a weapon.
First, the Mooks:
The first one is a powerful extradimensional being that exists in the space between universes. They are extremely fast (can hit a target inside a universe in less than a split second) and extremely painful (One-Hit Kill, unavoidable, unblockable, but preventable, see the weapon). After its strike completely erases its victim from existence, it returns back to where it came. How to counter: See Below. Would preferably like a speed- and power- based name that sounds alien.
The second guy is an extradimensional commander who fights his opponents head-on. He tags his opponents with a mark while using a special signal to signal the first Mook. Within 10 seconds, the first Mook will answer its call and eradicate the tagged target. How to counter: Silence it ASAP, so it can't communicate. Its name would be something like "(first mook's name) commander" or "(first mook's name) leader".
Now the weapon:
This weapon creates an "Instant Death" Radius for any foe that enters it at high speed. No matter how fast the opponent is, as soon as they get within the radius, they are hit by a faster-than-anything beam that instakills them. This is how one survives the first Mook- they speed down, into the radius, and die instead. Nicknamed the "Speed Trap", great against anything with Super-Speed, especially Speed Blitzers. I'm not sure what kind of name it should get though.
edited 11th Aug '13 1:22:45 PM by ironcommando
...ehehI have a steampunk story inspired by "Oliver Twist" on my hard drive. What's a good first name for The Fagin? I thought of "Isaac", or "Ikey" as in Ikey Solomon, the fence who inspired the character. But that doesn't fit because he's paired up with an original character, a Black female accomplice based loosely on Ann/Hannah, the real Ikey Solomon's wife, and even having the same name. She's also the Artful Dodger's mother, so I don't want to make the connection too obvious.
edited 12th Aug '13 11:47:29 PM by MorwenEdhelwen
The road goes ever on. -TolkienI'm looking for an alternative name for AIDS that would be fitting for the medieval-esque environment of fantasy-genre worlds, assuming that the people of such worlds actually can recognize AIDS as its own disease (even if they don't understand the cause).
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.@Marq: The Purple Disease. "Purple", because of Kaposi's sarcoma
. "Disease", not "plague", because plague
kills much faster.
![]()
That only accounts for exactly one way of telling that a person is afflicted with AIDS, though.
That only accounts for exactly one way of telling that a person is afflicted with AIDS, though.
Many other things (including, oddly enough, AIDS) cover a lot more stuff than a literal reading of their name would make it look. So I don't see how it's an issue.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanIt is here, because technically having AIDS only increases your risk of developing the virally-induced Kaposi's sarcoma (which only afflicts about 10-20% of HIV patients), meaning that most people whose HIV infections have progressed to the non-latent stage will be completely glossed over unless someone somehow makes the connection between this "Purple Disease" and their own affliction, whereas pneumocystis pneumonia
(lung-based fungal infection, 40%), cachexia
(general wasting, 20%), and esophageal candidiasis
(esophageal fungal infection) are "[t]he most common initial conditions that alert to the presence of AIDS". Calling it "the Great Morbidity" would be a lot more accurate (even if IMO it doesn't sound... "right", if that makes sense) given that the most obvious and shared distinguishing attribute is that the victim is no longer able to fend off any infection whatsoever, and thus in a early-modern environment is almost guaranteed to become a walking "zoo" of myriad diseases — only s/he's probably too sick to actually walk.
edited 13th Aug '13 5:38:33 AM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.Ninja'd.
Both kinds of name are acceptable. However, it would make sense that early-modern medical people would coin names that would relatively easier for the commoners to understand/memorize, right? I mean, consider that the name "syphilis" was coined in the 16th century via a poem by an Italian physician and poet, by derivation from the name that he gave to what he supposes is the first person to be afflicted by the disease.
edited 13th Aug '13 5:42:41 AM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.Hmmm...a term coined by the medical community will be somewhat exact to the presentation, while a term coined by the common folk will likely be based on "iconic" characteristics of the disease. Hence, I was proposing "The Purple Disease" - Kaposi's sarcoma has a certain iconic value (clustered cases of it were the first instances of AIDS being diagnosed and defined as a condition) despite its low frequency.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanKeep in mind that early-modern medicine may not have used the same naming standards as current modern medicine does. In fact, I doubt that there was anything even remotely resembling a universal standard at the time.
On a side-note, "the flesh-eating death" would be a fitting early-modern name for necrotizing fasciitis
, wouldn't it?
So... "the Great Morbidity"?
Blame it on unholy pestilence-spreading forces wanting the mortal races to suffer as much as possible by expanding its transmission vectors. The mortals are lucky enough that said unholy forces haven't managed to turn it into a full-blown epidemic — or worse, a pandemic.
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.I need help on Japanese names.
One of my story took place in Sengoku period Japan, and for some reason none of the cast have names, only "role/title" at the moment. At least I need a name for my main character:
The Lady (what I referred her to at the moment), main character of the story. She is a swordswoman, and the story revolves around her Roaring Rampage of Revenge against the BigBad, who kills her family, friends, and fiancee. She is The Unfettered in her quest, but will have Character Development to a more... positive one. Rather cold and ruthless, her body riddled with scars, rather disheveled hair, and her katana is blood-red (also bit delusional... she sees her blade as normal, unable to see its true color). Her character motif is a shark in terms of brutality (dismemberment is a popular choice for her Finishing Move ).
edited 13th Aug '13 7:27:44 AM by MoodyXander
Its not the Trope that matters in the story, its the execution.In general, I would recommend behindthename.com for finding real-life names for characters. In addition to languge and gender, you can also search somewhat my name meaning as well, which makes it very useful if you are looking for a meaningful name.
In your specific case, my recommendation would be Akane, which supposedly means "deep red", which goes with the Lady's blood theme (alternatively, it could be a good name for the sword). Also, there is Rin, which apparently glosses as "dignified, severe, cold", which may go with her "stoic" personality. If you don't like either, you may want to look into making your own name. (Japanese names are somewhat mix-and-match due to the way the language is set up). Hope this helps.
Nihil assumpseris, sed omnia resolvere!- I have a female character with the first namd 'Raeza' (pronounced Ray-zah) I'm trying to find a last name for her (perferably with three syllables or more, because it flows better)
- This one is much more simple, I have a male character with the last name 'Ulrich,' but I need a name for him that screams 'rich white boy.' I want it to sound somewhat common and sophisticated, but not something that is too forgettable (not something like Michael or Daniel or something)
edited 14th Aug '13 10:25:33 AM by TheMuse
I'm having trouble coming up with the name for a webcomic. The comic itself revolves around a centuries old robot ,NICC, who finds himself reactivated in an antique store. NICC manages to convince the stores owner, Sean, to keep him on bored instead of selling him for parts. The strip is then the two co-existing, trying to be successful and introducing NICC to the 300 years he missed in storage.
Any Ideas? Kinda looking for a light hearted tone.
Theres sex and death and human grime in monochrome for one thin dime and at least the trains all run on time but they dont go anywhere."An Antique's Store"? (Although I fear that you might get a fair few people trying to correct the placement of the apostrophe... ^^; )
Otherwise, perhaps "Any Old Iron"?
My Games and Asset Packs

I have a Cast Herd comprising several noble ladies in a fantasy setting who are expies of Sailor Moon's protagonistic Cast Herd (plus a few personal additions), and thus each of whom comes from a house that is named after one of the major astronomical bodies of the Solar System (even though they don't actually exist in the setting; I think there's a trope for that) — namely, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, the Moon Why? , Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Plutonote . I'm looking for names that are meaningful in a "relevant to the planet their House is named after" sense, but not too obvious, plus additional names whose meaningfulness relates to the Sailor Moon characters that nine of them are based on. Any help with that?
edited 8th Aug '13 7:08:24 PM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.