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AnJLVerse: Some Study Notes 1. Names
Sunday, March 18, 2007

The AnJlverse is post-BDM, and pretty much canon.

Names:

I’ve always loved the way Joss plays with names, so pretty much every character or place name that doesn't come from a FF source is significant in some way.

1. Another Girl Another Planet

Every chapter title is a song, and the lyrics are appropriate to the chapter content.

My OC: Ilargia Donovan. The original concept was a younger version of Katherine Hepburn in ‘African Queen’. The green eyes came because I wanted to give a nod to ‘Big Trouble in Little China’. I wanted the voice of common sense and common people that Wash was, but without the dress sense. Ilargia was a witch goddess, and a moon goddess, hence the choice of Hecate as her present home, and the moon imagery River uses. All the place names on Hecate are also witch related.

Wei Fen means ‘dangerous smoke’, appropriate for an arsonist. Hong Da and Cheng Shu both mean ‘red shirt/tunic’, being expendable henchfolk. Tiy is an Egyptian name. Hence her curse in ch 16 about Amemait, who devoured the souls of the guilty in the underworld. The bazooka named ‘Rosebud’ was me having a ‘Citizen Kane’ moment.

2. Zen and the Art...

A lot of bird and doll imagery. But Mount Abora was out of 'Kubla Khan'. It's the dulcimers...

Ruksha means demon.

3. Cold Comfort Mountain

Stella Gibbon’s book ‘Cold Comfort Farm’is a comedy about a large dysfunctional family. The film ‘Cold Mountain’, all backwoods Americana. A desire to write the Cobb clan. All the names are drawn from either county names in Georgia, or country singers. ( Ray and Carrie being Johnny Cash’s parents.) Except the pilot of the ’Daedalus’, Newmark - that’s a nod to William Gibson.

4. Viva New Vegas

G (Grissom) is G-man (think Pinkertons) Dodge (Greg) is from Johnny Dodge, a first tv role. Pancho, (Nick) finale S5. Honey (Sara) was an endearment used by Grissom. Miss Kitty Fantastico (Catherine) was too good a name to pass up. As was River’s Dru impersonation, as ‘Miss Edith’. Rik (Warwick) was easy to name, but his character owes more to Christie (Alien4: Resurrection) and Mac (Brass) is from Max Allan Collins, who wrote the tv tie-in books. (And ‘Road to Perdition‘.) Conrad = Ecklie. All the nuns are from the film ‘Black Narcissus’, (nuns in a former harem house) and Marlon is Brando, from ‘The Wild One’. As is Bleekers Bar’n’Grill. Roy means King in French. Other names are all-purpose Western, nicked from anywhere, but the feel is ‘Deliverance’/’Rambo’ followed by anything Eastwood, and a good helping of Tarantino/Rodriguez.

I picked the name Delmonico’s for the restaurant, having heard it mentioned on CSI. I then looked it up to discover that the first Delmonico’s was the first restaurant in the US.


I read anything. I'm a movie geek. I have a terrible weakness for puns, even in other languages.

Next: Imagery

COMMENTS

Sunday, March 18, 2007 1:01 PM

BLUEEYEDBRIGADIER


And sudden it all makes sense;)

BEB


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