Help me name a character by Cybersnark

TALK STORY

Help me name a character

POSTED BY: CYBERSNARK
UPDATED: Sunday, December 10, 2006 09:50
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VIEWED: 2183
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Tuesday, November 21, 2006 4:54 PM

Okay, a (non-fanfic, intended for eventual sale) story recently popped almost fully-formed into my head, as they are wont to do (usually at the worst possible time).

This one's a cyberpunk murder mystery (inspired by Ghost in the Shell, Armitage, and Ergo Proxy), featuring androids (with a particular "virus" as the macguffin). One bit of stage dressing I'm going for is to have all the androids have odd non-proper-noun names (instead of their factory-assigned alphanumeric designations). Kinda like the handles in The Matrix.

My lead character is a female android P.I. named Sonnet (her previous owner was a poetry buff, and she herself reads Blake, Tennyson, Byron, and the like --studying humanity) she has an underworld informant named Tear (with a small tattoo under one eye).

The male lead (responsible for at least two of the murders, and source of cyber-sexual tension with Sonnet) is a brooding amnesiac, suffering from migraines as the virus rewrites his cyberbrain. I've been calling him Chrome, as a Gibson reference (see "Burning. . ."), but that sounds very similar to another central character (the main victim, whose dying secret propels much of the story).

Any ideas? Cool words or concepts that could inspire a memorable name?

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Tuesday, November 21, 2006 5:12 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK

How about "Memento".... the movie will make the connection for a lot of people, but the actual definition is:

1. an object or item that serves to remind one of a person, past event, etc.; keepsake; souvenir.
2. anything serving as a reminder or warning.
3. (initial capital letter, italics) Roman Catholic Church. either of two prayers in the canon of the Mass, one for persons living and the other for persons dead.

I think even the 3rd definition might be fitting for the situation.

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." http://www.myspace.com/6ixstringjack

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Thursday, November 23, 2006 11:54 AM

GOMITHROUS

I'm useless when it comes to making up names but you could try http://www.rinkworks.com/namegen/. I'm not sure if it'll work for the kind of game your making but you could give it a shot.

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Thursday, November 23, 2006 12:15 PM

THESOMNAMBULIST

Quote:
Originally posted by Cybersnark:
Okay, a (non-fanfic, intended for eventual sale) story recently popped almost fully-formed into my head, as they are wont to do (usually at the worst possible time).

This one's a cyberpunk murder mystery (inspired by Ghost in the Shell, Armitage, and Ergo Proxy), featuring androids (with a particular "virus" as the macguffin). One bit of stage dressing I'm going for is to have all the androids have odd non-proper-noun names (instead of their factory-assigned alphanumeric designations). Kinda like the handles in The Matrix.

My lead character is a female android P.I. named Sonnet (her previous owner was a poetry buff, and she herself reads Blake, Tennyson, Byron, and the like --studying humanity) she has an underworld informant named Tear (with a small tattoo under one eye).

The male lead (responsible for at least two of the murders, and source of cyber-sexual tension with Sonnet) is a brooding amnesiac, suffering from migraines as the virus rewrites his cyberbrain. I've been calling him Chrome, as a Gibson reference (see "Burning. . ."), but that sounds very similar to another central character (the main victim, whose dying secret propels much of the story).

Any ideas? Cool words or concepts that could inspire a memorable name?

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

I always enjoy coming up with names for things I write and I'm always on the look out for them. A couple of years ago I was travelling on the Eurostar across to Belgium and I met this guy. He was a comedian, slightly run-down looking and exhausted by sunlight from the look of him, anyway he had a kind of skater boy look to him and he wore a t-shirt with the icon of the acid head smiley face, and he was sporting a rather fine black eye!

After we arrived at Brussels I asked him his name:
....It was Jackson McCloud!

Always thought that a good name for a character.

As for making others up how about :

Finch Pickles
Hawkenberry Ford
Tanner Blonde
Manners Loom
Credit Hume
Heston Solier
Bruno Chinkle
Silicon
Cuff Flash
Jambo Emmit

and so on....

www.cirqus.com

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Thursday, November 23, 2006 6:55 PM

TRAVELER

I noticed in the cartoon show "Invader Zim" most everyone had three letter names. You may want try jotting down three letter combinations and see how they sound. If you want a longer name put two or more of them together.

Traveler

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Thursday, November 23, 2006 7:17 PM

JADEHAND

Ummm, been thinking a lot on greek mythology lately. How about Lethe?
Definitions of Lethe on the Web:

* Forgetfulness. In Greek mythology, the Lethe is one of the rivers that flow through the realm of Hades. Called the River of Oblivion, the shades of the dead had to drink from this river to forget about their past lives on earth.
www.poestories.com/wordlist.php

* (Greek mythology) a river in Hades; the souls of the dead had to drink from it, which made them forget all they had done and suffered when they were alive
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

* In Classical Greek, Lethe literally means "forgetfulness" or "concealment". The Greek word for "truth" is a-lethe-ia, meaning "un-forgetfulness" or "un-concealment".
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lethe

"Reality is something that you rise above
We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are
Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run
The fearful fall foul of fate as often as the reckless."
Rich(.Com)-Marillion
visit WWW.Marillion.com for a better way of life.

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Friday, November 24, 2006 2:47 AM

SISTER

..since something is re-writing his program; how about "Soon." Has a little possibility and menace to it.

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Saturday, November 25, 2006 10:32 AM

CYBERSNARK

So, at this point, the list looks like:
Chrome
Memento
Lethe
Soon

Plus others I've come up with:
Mortal (doomed to die)
Axiom (a truth)
Rubicon (a point-of-no-return)
Nihil (latin for "nothingness")
Ephemeron (not relevant, soon forgotten)
Gossymer (faint, almost nonexistent[intentional misspelling])
Lambent (a faint light in darkness)
Paradox (impossible)
Rune (a symbol or sign conveying both mystical and practical information)
Sine (as in sinewave)
Seraph (a warrior angel, also used by the Oracle's bodyguard in the Matrix trilogy)
Sunder (broken and destroyed)
Card (an unpredictable variable that may be played [risked] or held [protected])

I kinda like "Soon," personally. It fits, and it has that "wrongness" when used as a name that makes it all the more memorable.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Saturday, November 25, 2006 10:50 AM

SISTER

Hey Cyber!
Glad you like "Soon"...goes nicely w/"Sonnet" as well.
Good luck with the story.

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Saturday, November 25, 2006 2:34 PM

FIREFLYGAL

Quote:
Originally posted by Cybersnark:
Okay, a (non-fanfic, intended for eventual sale) story recently popped almost fully-formed into my head, as they are wont to do (usually at the worst possible time).

Any ideas? Cool words or concepts that could inspire a memorable name?

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

Oooo, I'm late but how about Cortel, cross between Cortex and cortical (electrodes) giving a nod to our BDH's and also pointing to that fact that his brain is doing funny things. How about the name Synapse too?

I aim to misbehave!

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Saturday, November 25, 2006 2:40 PM

CYBERSNARK

Ooh, Cortex is also good. Why didn't I think of it?

[aside]
Is it bad that one of my supporting characters is slowly morphing into Dom Deluise? Can Dom Deluise even play "serious?"
[/aside]

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Saturday, November 25, 2006 2:48 PM

FIREFLYGAL

Quote:
Originally posted by Cybersnark:
Ooh, Cortex is also good. Why didn't I think of it?

[aside]
Is it bad that one of my supporting characters is slowly morphing into Dom Deluise? Can Dom Deluise even play "serious?"
[/aside]

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

I thought Cortex was a bit too blatant, which is why I thought of Cortel but go for it either way

Can your Dom character be the comic relief or does he HAVE to be serious? You can name him Luise?

I aim to misbehave!

Firefly items:
For lapel pins and badge holder lanyards
e-mail FireflyGal1@hotmail.com
www.outtotheblack.com
www.cafepress.com/fillies
www.cafepress.com/mssquarepeg.com
www.cafepress.com/mrsquarepeg.com

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Saturday, November 25, 2006 3:04 PM

MAGHAFFAR

Well, since he's responsible for 2 murders, why not call him La Muerte?

Or maybe Mat Flaneur? Mat from the Arabic for death, and Flaneur from the French: to wander aimlessly down the street.

And of course, for a good "gag" name, nothing beats my all-time fave: Milosh Smegma, the gag part being the Smegma. Look it up...

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Saturday, November 25, 2006 4:05 PM

STINKINGROSE

Mnemonic?
(amnesia, seeking for a way to remember something..OK it worked in my head.)

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Saturday, November 25, 2006 4:47 PM

PIRATECAT

BARABUS

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Sunday, December 10, 2006 12:25 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK

You ever figure out what to call your character?

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." http://www.myspace.com/6ixstringjack

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Sunday, December 10, 2006 9:50 AM

CYBERSNARK

Right now, the short list is:
Rubicon
Cortex (which also evokes images of the sub-sentient mind, which is the source of the "malfunction")
Chrome (which I may keep, 'cause it's starting to get more familiar as I use it)

I decided to drop "Soon," just cause of the alliteration with "Sonnet." They spend a good chunk of time together and I didn't want to start calling them "The S-Team."

Oh, and the "Dom Deluise" character is Rupert Kohn, the murder victim (and Chrome's "father"), though we see him later as an AI avatar, dressed up in gaudy faux-Egyptian robes and babbling about the nature and destiny of man and machine. Completely over-the-top and geeky, which is where the Dom Deluise part comes in.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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