[ SECRET POST #3255 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3255 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.


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02.
[Paul Walker, Fast and Furious movies]


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03.
[Inuyasha]


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04.
[Z Nation]


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05.
[Hugh Dancy (and Claire Danes)]


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06.
[Jessica Jones]


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07.
[The Oatmeal]


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08.
[Star Wars: The Old Republic]


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09.
[Harry Potter]










Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 020 secrets from Secret Submission Post #465.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Annoying names in fiction

[(Anonymous)]

Someone on facebook posted a link to some article about YA books, and there was one set in Ancient Mesopotamia. I thought that was something different, and went to look at the Goodreads page.

And you know what turned me off, immediately?

The protagonist's name was Jayden.

Now, I don't know much about Mesopotamian names, maybe that was a name then and there, but I think it's pretty unlikely. And why does she just happen to have a name that's trendy now, in 21st century America? That would have just bugged me too much.

It really bugs me when authors don't do their research about names. Find out what names were used in the culture and time period you're writing about.

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[(Anonymous)]

I was just remembering a horrible case of this today. I saw the movie Catch Me If You Can in the theater, and all these years later the only thing I remember about it was a scene where Leonardo DiCaprio's character was flirting with some random older lady and asked her her name, and she said "Ashley."

The movie took place in what, the 1940s? Ashley wasn't a girl's name until the 80's! There aren't any middle aged female Ashleys yet in 2015; there would be zero chance of any existing back then!

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[(Anonymous)]

Eh, claims of "zero" are tricky.

Actually, both Ashley Jensen and Ashley Judd were def middle-aged in 2015 (born 1068/69)

The name as spelled "Ashleigh" wasn't unknown in the 30s and 40s, since it's derived from Gaelic Aisling.

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[(Anonymous)]

Uh, no.

Ashleigh is just a different spelling of Ashley. Comes from a surname meaning ash meadow. Nothing to do with Aisling.

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[dancing_clown]

FYI: Catch Me If You Can was set in the 60s, and girls were named Ashley well before the 80s (though it probably is suspect to have a middle-aged Ashley in the 60s).

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[(Anonymous)]

Eh, not exactly. It may not have been a common name for girls, but that doesn't mean there weren't any female Ashleys before 1980:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashley_(name)#First_name.2C_female

Keep in mind those are just a listing of people notable enough to be in Wikipedia, so chances are there were some obscure female Ashleys born in the 60s and 70s, and perhaps earlier.

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[(Anonymous)]

I've never read any of R.A. Salvatore's books because he has a character named "Drizzt Do'Urden" and I couldn't contain my eyerolls.

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[(Anonymous)]

But Drizzt Do'Urden is awesome, though. =(

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[(Anonymous)]

This annoys me so much! Most frequently when reading Dragon Age fanfic though, as some people chose the most ridiculous names for their player characters. It is especially annoying with Hawke as we know the names of most of their family, and I find it hard to believe that Leandra and Malcolm (normal names!) would call their firstborn Dajdejfhs and then give the next kids the (semi-)normal names of Bethany and Carver. It would make sense then though why Hawke goes by his/her surname.

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[elaminator]

would call their firstborn Dajdejfhs

Hahaha, I get where you're coming from, but in my case it isn't just Hawke. Anytime I read BioWare fic there's a moment of, "What's the protagonists name again? That's weird."

The name can be great and I'll still have a hard time getting used to it because it isn't mine. BioWare games are such personalized experiences that I guess it's just hard to disconnect.

Though IA that some names just don't go together. I wish I had researched the surnames of the Inquisitors before I decided on names, but I didn't (I searched names ahead of time, found some I liked); some of them aren't the best match but I'm okay with them now regardless.)

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[(Anonymous)]

I don't read any fic where Hawke or the HoF use a custom name. It's too confusing and I've run into too many perfect princess Couslands/Lavellans and too many grimdarkedgy custom male protags.

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[vethica]

The one thing in Breaking Bad so far that has broken my suspension of disbelief is that one of Walt's students is named Chad. These kids are supposed to be around my age (born early '90s). No one my age is named Chad.

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[(Anonymous)]

I just had to check this out, and according to Behind the Name Chad went from being the 85th most popular male name in the US in 1990 to 144th in '95 and 236th in 2000 and then all the way down to 704th on the list in 2014. So to say no one is named Chad would be incorrect, but it has certainly been declining steadily in popularity.

http://www.behindthename.com/name/chad/top

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[(Anonymous)]

I was born mid 80s and I was in concert band at school with a Chad who was a few grades below me.

Some kids would call him Chadwick to tease him.

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[(Anonymous)]

Mesopotamians had awesome names like Shamshi-Adad and Peshgaldaramesh and it is a crime to make it appear otherwise.

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[(Anonymous)]

This comment gets all my love.

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[cbrachyrhynchos]

Likely a reason I bounced right off Mirror Empire, not only a dozen conlang names but a dozen unmemorable conlang names.

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[skeletal_history]

This happened in "Everwood," IIRC -- I never watched the show, but I remember seeing a commercial for it which involved a character named Madison, and getting irritated because she looked like she was too old to have that name. At least judging by the apparent age of the actress, she would have been born before the movie "Splash!" came out, which is the source of that name's enormous burst of popularity. (As was I.)

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[(Anonymous)]

A bunch of characters have that exact problem with that name. Like the antagonist in the second Charlie's Angels movie, who's an adult.

I vaguely recall being bothered by some other names on Everwood (only saw a few episodes) that I don't remember specifically what they were, but it was like... too many "unusual in a trendy way"-sounding names in the same place. I had the same problem with Gilmore Girls, too.

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[shortysc22]

Oh that's a terrible reason to not watch Everwood! I really love that show and I don't know, Madison kind of fit her.

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[(Anonymous)]

lol when I watch Walking Dead I can't help but laugh at the idea of a young teenage boy with the name "Carl," who the hell names their kid Carl in this day and age? and now they have another teenage boy named Ron. They're both just... such old people names.

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[(Anonymous)]

I dunno, that's much easier to buy than an old person with a modern popular baby name (like the Madison example). Lots of kids get named after grandparents or given even older generational family names. Ten years ago some friends of my family had a baby girl and named her Martha, and my parents thought that was funny because it was an "old lady" name. But of course it was, she was named after her mom's grandmother.

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[scrubber]

"Katniss Everdeen"


Pick one, Susanne.

Re: Annoying names in fiction

[(Anonymous)]

One what?

Never mind, you're the only one intelligent enough to understand why those particular names shouldn't go together, aren't you?

A character named Travis

[(Anonymous)]

in a novel set in the Eastern Roman Empire in late antiquity.

No, the novel was not about time travel.