So You Want to Name a Sino: A Guide to Not Making a Fucking Fool of Yourself
Note: this will be long and very, very extensive because god I am so sick of this shit 2k16 I just want absolution and I don’t think that’s too much to ask, and even if it is I’m asking it, I’m not asking it emptyhanded I’m asking it with a WHOLE GUIDE FOR YOUR PERUSAL, because I’ve found that Wiki’s great if you want to know why and how we use names and not really great for when you actually want a name.
A theme of this blog seems to be my long suffering, and I want it known, recorded, carved in stone that as of almost 1:00AM on Thursday, December 22nd, 2016, I am officially Fed Up with the way Sino characters are named in fiction.
Let us be clear: this is first and foremost An Attack™* on all the white authors whose imaginations can only extend so far to provide us with a glut of Lings and Linglings and Ailings (not that those aren’t beautiful names) and Peonies and Pearls and, god forbid they start getting creative with their Sachas and their Wai-maes, but this is also for the Sino authors who can’t seem to do it either. And like, I get it. It’s not easy. Sinos are a disparate bunch with varying degrees of fluency in varying dialects of Chinese. Romanisation and naming customs are weird.
But also can we leave the idea of the inscrutable mysterious unknowable East in the 20th century please? There are resources. This is one of them. Let’s start before I steep for too long in my own bitterness and annoyance.
This is amazing and I have been looking for it for YEARS, because how am I supposed to write period X-Men AUs without giving Jubilation Lee an accurate set of names?
How do I give Wolverine puns to call her if I don’t even know what names work? How do I give Jubilee puns to call HIM if I don’t know how names work?
Does anybody else have this ONE fic that they always end up rereading? Like no matter how many other fics you read, there’s THE fic. The default fic; the home fic.
Why would you tell me this, redrobin detective? I am supposed to have a life! I haqve kids! Now I have to go through 200 pages of history to see what fic I’ve read the most!
So, you’re writing a thing, and you need to name a character. And, as we all know, naming a character is a giant pain in the ass. I offer this list of shit I use pretty regularly, for this purpose.
Behind the Name (The etymologies are weird as fuck, in a few places, but it’s great if you’ve got a name and need to find other names that are from or derived from the same culture/language)
Ancient Names Galleria (The weird shit is here. If you need Akkadian or Phoenecian names, those are totally covered.)
Trismegistos People (Names extracted from the Trismegistos Texts – mostly names from Graeco-Roman Egypt.)
Personally, I use the shit out of Trismegistos People, England’s Immigrants, and the Ancient Names Galleria. If you’ve got good sources I didn’t hit, feel free to add them in a reblog. I’m always looking for more good name resources. (And almost all of what I have is Europe and the Near East, with a little North Africa.)
Dropping this update in the most recent reblog in my notes, in the hopes it falls into as many laps as possible. Here’s some more good sources for names, this time with a more African focus.
(most popular American girls’ names, by state, from 1960-2012, as a gif)
Popular Baby Names (the US Social Security database of naming trends in the US, with search options for date, gender, location, and trend)
A Guide to Names and Naming Practises (a UK government guide to common names and structure of names from around the world, split first by continent and then by culture. PDF.)
Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature (an entire book on trends in English naming and name structure and the Puritan influence, from 1880. PDF.)
Things I am particularly looking for reliable sources for, if you’ve got them: North and South American aboriginal names, Southeast and East Asian names, names from the former USSR, Australian aboriginal names. (All of these by culture or language family, if possible, not just by current national borders.)
Dictionary of Old Khmer (Cambodian names can be found by going down to the category option and choosing “personal names” or “slave names” You might still need an idea for what you want the name to mean, though)
Japanese Names (wonderful resource for building a medieval Japanese name)
The Compleat Anachronist is a set of wonderful books the SCA sells on building names in different cultures. If the internet just isn’t enough
The Cheyenne Dictionary (includes a large number of personal names among it’s entries. Browsing it can be pretty helpful)
Pali Proper Names (Names from Buddhist South India in Pali, a language that developed between Sanskrit and modern tongues)
African Origins (names of Africans taken as slaves, as recorded by European sources. Can search by ethnic groups, but the records being drawn from aren’t always specific)
I also have records of Cree (Nîhithaw) and Tewa names, but I’m not sure about sharing them. The reason a lot on Native American names are difficult to find is because they’ve chosen not to record them. The Cree believe the names of the dead shouldn’t be spoken. The Tewa are uncertain if their language should be written down. (Similar situation with Romani names.)
But if you want to talk to me about other names, especially from 700 – 1200 AD, I’d love to talk and share resources. I have Guarani and Mochica names that i can tell you where I sourced them from. As well as a bunch of other random stuff. Mongolian names!
Batman headcanon that Bruce realizes early on that he can sway other heroes in the community by distracting them with his cute kids. He abuses this power so much and, though the Justice League are annoyed by it, there’s not much they can do about it.
It started with Dick when he was smol and had the biggest, bluest eyes ever in the existence of ever. Bruce saw how much more cooperative other heroes were when he had a teeny Robin trailing behind him. None of the other leaguers /dare/ yell at or argue with Batman when Dick is with him. Therefore, to cut down on fights Bruce just brings Dick to all meetings, and has the smallest of smug smirks as Jordon is going purple trying to restrain himself from ripping into the Bat but lil Dickie is half asleep snuggled into Bruce’s shoulder and Diana will rip Hal in 37.9 pieces if he wakes up the little bird.
If he wanted to escape awkward conversations, he’d just bring Jason with him because he knows the League wants to make Jay feel open and welcome with his new family. So when Superman starts calling Bruce out on some shit, he calls over his new bird and tells Jay that Uncle Clark wants to hear about his day. Ad Jay just lights up because people care about him now so he goes on and on about how happy he is in sixth grade and to learning and fed and loved and the League is enamored and no one even notices or cares that Batman’s suddenly gone.
Timmy knows that Bruce uses him and he’s (mostly) okay with it. He usually bribes Bruce like ‘Sure I’ll be extra cute so Flash will stop bugging you IF you take me to the new exhibit at the historical museum Saturday’ and Bruce, of course, has no problem with this and in fact s so proud of Tim’s negotiating skills and pretty soon they’ve got each other’s backs covering for each other. Sometimes Tim asks if Bruce can scare the pajamas off the Titans to get them into action or something similar. It’s a mutualistic interaction that they both appreciate and understand.
With Damian Bruce expected things would be similar to Dick since Damian is also very teeny and precious but Dami is having none of that. He does not get THE PLAN and every time Bruce tries to distract the heroes with Damian’s cuteness, Dami won’t play along. He acts surly and sassy and rolls his eyes and pretty soon all the League is after Bruce because Damian is reminding them how much they want to rip into Batman for whatever. Bruce is just standing there ‘I am betrayed by my own flesh and blood’. But nah, Dami’s just too much like his poppa. (That’s not to say he isn’t still a cutie patootie, but he does it on his OWN terms thank you very much. He’s talked to Grayson, Todd and Drake, he’s totally in on the scam. He’s already been manipulated by one parent in his life)
Damian isn’t allowed to antagonize reporters, at least not openly. Reporters ask questions, and, well, there’s a lot they could find if they looked too closely. Damian has strict instructions about the image he should present to the press: polite, introspective child who is Not At All Suspicious
But obviously, he’s found a workaround
Damian really only encounters reporters inside the manor itself, where he’s likely to be accompanied by assorted pets. They ask the standard questions: what do you want to be when you grow up? Do you get along with your brothers and sisters? Oh, so I guess you like animals?
Yes, Damian likes animals. He also likes it when reporters leave him alone, so he answers in the affirmative and invites the offending party to meet his pets, starting with the most common animals.
Some immediately abandon ship. They were just making smalltalk, so oh no, sweetie, I’m afraid I’ll have to meet your cat another time! But it was so nice to meet you!
The ones interested in Damian himself meet his cat, and his dog, and sometimes his cow (but not his giant bat-monster, who cannot be seen by anyone), but that isn’t the end of the list.
You see, not all of Damian’s pets are either pets or his. Some of them are animals that happen to live on the manor grounds: ducks, songbirds, deer, squirrels, and other more interesting animals. Damian keeps an eye on them. He likes to observe them in their natural habitats.
So stubborn members of the press are invited to see the colony of hissing cockroaches, the huge spider in the pantry, or the giant garden slugs.
“Do you like animals?” “Sure! Except for snakes. I don’t care for snakes” “I found three king snakes by the pond yesterday. Want to see?”
That tends to clear them out
The tactic has failed only once, on a photographer from the Gotham Times, formerly of National Geographic. That guy visited every animal, took pictures of all of them, and mailed Damian a personalized animal calendar. Damian has deemed him “acceptable company”
I will never not be astonished by people actually thinking Batman SHOULD become a murderer and kill the Joker.
I will never not be astonished by people actually thinking murder should be the ultimate way for a man who is perfectly aware of how mentally unstable he is, who is perfectly aware of how his sanity DEPENDS of his iron-clad moral code, to show parental love to his equally traumatized son -who is an unapologetic killer himself (and as much as I love Jason, last time I checked, killing people was fucking problematic, duh).
I will never not be astonished by people actually thinking love equates butchering who you fundamentally are, in the most soul-destroying way, for the sake of someone else.
Don’t get me wrong, the depth of the conflict between Bruce and Jason about killing criminals (and the Joker in particular) is immensely interesting and make for endless amazing discussions. It is, because on top of the ethical question, it creates emotional conflict and therefore a good story. But said conflict and story are only good because of who the characters are, because of how their history shaped them to develop certain convictions and to make certain choices.
Wanting Bruce to solve the years of grief and trauma and emotional hell between him and Jason by erasing his own mental history, by erasing everything he went through, everything he overcame in order to not loose himself, is not only incredibly harmful(1), but it would also end the story in a very, very unsatisfaying way, for everyone. You don’t solve a conflict for the better by completely destroying a character for the sake of another. You do it by making them both grow through finding a way to meet in the middle.
I get having a fave and siding with him. Believe me, I do. Nobody is never 100% objective when it comes to characters and stories we’re deeply attached to and we all have our opinions and biaises. Hell, everything I just wrote is deeply influenced by my own feelings and opinions about Bruce/Batman. But stories like that work because of who the characters are and how they feel about each others precisely because of that.
And wanting Bruce to become an entirely different character so his love for Jason (and Jason’s for him, for who he is) can be acknowledged and validated would not save their relationship.
It would kill it, because they wouldn’t be Bruce and Jason anymore.
(1) And I will point you to Batman v. Superman if you want to see HOW ACTUALLY FULL OF LOVE AND HEROISM (HA) BATMAN BECOMES WHEN HE DECIDES TO KILL “A FREAK DRESSED AS A CLOWN” HE DEEMS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATH OF HIS LOVED ONES. Duh-bis.
Quick sketch of Cassandra Cain as Robin. (She’s holding up the cape, her arm doesn’t just turn into funny tentacle things I just have no drawing skillz .___.; )
What looks effortless is actually a perfect combination of impressive upper body control, short and very rapid dance steps, and hooped skirts beneath the dancers’ floor-length gowns to help conceal their busy feets.
[Gif and video show more than a dozen women, in red dresses and head scarves, dancing on a stage. Each woman holds a handkerchief and a bouquet/twig. Their upper bodies slowly move into poses and then stay perfectly in that position like statues. Meanwhile they smoothly move across the floor, seeming to float.
A few times, a skirt moves slightly, betraying the fact that they are dancing.
It’s not very often that I ask other people for help, but this is something I can’t do on my own. And if I could borrow a moment of your time, I would like to begin.
Just a few months ago, last October 2017, my best friend gave birth to the most beautiful, precious boy named Arron.
For a while, she was without a doubt the happiest mother in the world – struggles and hardships included. Because at the end of the day, even through all the sweat and tears, she gets to see the sleeping face of her precious baby boy. And that’s when she knows it was all worth it.
But here’s the thing: Arron was born with a clubbed foot.
In hopes of being able to correct it early, my friend had Arron’s pediatrician fit him into a Ponseti brace and for 2 weeks he’s been wearing it. 2 weeks, and it’s been nothing but constant trouble.
And he has to wear it for 5 years.
He cries. He screams. He’s barely able to sleep. And he’s in so much pain, it’s driving my friend to wit’s end. “This thing is a torture device,” she once told me. “It breaks my heart hearing him scream this way.” And it breaks my heart as well. Even more so when I finally saw what it’s been doing to him.
Terrified that there might be something wrong with the Ponseti brace, my friend started doing some research of her own. And what she discovered was very disheartening.
A 25% chance of relapse. Multiple tenotomies, where they cut the Achilles tendon. Flat foot. Rolled ankles. Inverted knees. Injury to the non-clubbed foot. Tendon replacement surgeries. So many things that could go wrong with the treatment, and right now Arron is not responding well to it.
And so, my friend decided to look for an alternative. What she ended up finding was this:
A $2,055 brace called the DTKAFO or Cunningham. It’s a new innovation that hasn’t yet been patented, so not many doctors know how it works. But it offers a wide variety of advantages in comparison to his current brace.
Only 2 braces are needed, and it’ll bedone by the age of two thanks to the 23/7 wearing and constant correction it provides. It allows full mobility, which doesn’t hinder milestones. There won’t be any delays in his rolling over, crawling, or walking. Relapse rate is at a 10%chance, and most cases are from improper use by the parents and starting the treatment later than protocol. It has two straps: one on the thigh, and one on the foot, meant to keep the brace attached but doesn’t need to be tight like the Ponseti. The brace is 1.5 inches too short to make sure the foot plate is snug against the foot no matter where he moves, so it’s always doing what’s needed.
And the creator of the Cunningham lives only a few states away.
But it’s not the travel expenses itself that are my friend’s immediate concern. It’s the brace: the $2,055 that neither my friend nor her husband have, even despite their work, and their insurance can’t cover for it. We had hoped the creator of the Cunningham would allow partial payments of the brace, but perhaps due to previous clients he is now requesting them in full. They have already set up the date: January 4, 2018. My friend makes her journey there on January 2.
I know this is different from what I usually post, but if anyone is able to spare a few dollars or even just help spread the word to someone else who can, it would mean the absolute world to us. My friend is a great person, and the best mother I know because she puts her child’s needs in front of her own. We don’t want him in his current brace any longer than he needs to be. Her precious little boy doesn’t deserve this suffering, especially for something that was never his fault. Please help Arron. Please help a mother and her child.
[Images shows a little baby.
In the first picture he has a little Santa hat and a soother.
The second image shows his legs, wearing grey, boot shaped braces.
Third to fifth show the damage to his feet and legs. Bad blisters on his heel, deep impressions on his legs, the skin on top of his feet looking crushed and misformed.
The final image shows a different, transparent brace. It is designed to spiral around the leg, with space for the leg to get air.
kiragecko 