This one has been a little idle tick in the backbrain for a while, and I just finally got around to thinking about it, especially at the end of the new story.

Why do these kids sport their mother's surnames? Granted, 'Sylvie Zone' isn't a name I'd hang on any kid and expect them not to grow up anything resembling 'well-adjusted' without some brain-tinkering. And arguing with Kei and Yuri in general is a good way to develop a severe case of large-holes-in-your-body-where-you-don't-want-them syndrome (AKA Capone's Disease).

It just seems odd, somehow....

--
Geoff Depew - Mephron
"Big O! Showtime!"

>Why do these kids sport their mother's surnames? Granted, 'Sylvie
>Zone' isn't a name I'd hang on any kid and expect them not to grow up
>anything resembling 'well-adjusted' without some brain-tinkering.

It's worse than you think. "MegaZone" is Zoner's only name, and thus his surname... so it'd be "Sylvie MegaZone." And that'd just be confusing. :)

That, and not all of the kids have their mother's names. Leonard and Kaitlyn both have the "Hutchins" last name.

And Corwin... well, he's a special case, really. :)

In the case of Guy and Priss, Gryph will have to answer. I don't actually know.

--truss.

>>Why do these kids sport their mother's surnames? Granted, 'Sylvie
>>Zone' isn't a name I'd hang on any kid and expect them not to grow up
>>anything resembling 'well-adjusted' without some brain-tinkering.
>
>It's worse than you think. "MegaZone" is Zoner's only name,
>and thus his surname... so it'd be "Sylvie MegaZone." And that'd just
>be confusing. :)

I knew that. Really. I just didn't mind-parse it right....

>That, and not all of the kids have their mother's names.
>Leonard and Kaitlyn both have the "Hutchins" last name.

<rummages> I thought... never mind. Mindwarp.

>And Corwin... well, he's a special case, really. :)

He's a SPECIAL child! Small bus and all that... (at least, the car mostly is the size of a small bus...)

--
Geoff Depew - Mephron
"Big O! Showtime!"

>>And Corwin... well, he's a special case, really. :)
>
>He's a SPECIAL child! Small bus and all that... (at least, the car
>mostly is the size of a small bus...)

When his mother whacks you upside your disrespectful head with her mystic mallet, don't come crying to me. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>>>And Corwin... well, he's a special case, really. :)
>>
>>He's a SPECIAL child! Small bus and all that... (at least, the car
>>mostly is the size of a small bus...)
>
>When his mother whacks you upside your disrespectful head with her
>mystic mallet, don't come crying to me. :)

I was talking about the car, man. The car.

Or Moose's Van.

Or maybe I'm just seeing if I can get Her to manifest so I can beg for salvation from doing technical support for a megacorp (really, that's about the best term for who I work for) and the many, many stupid people within. It's not the first time someone's been sarcastic at a god to get them to manifest.

I'm just hoping she doesn't whack me THAT hard.

Maybe I can talk her oldest sister into nursing me back to health... naah, I'm not that lucky.

--
Geoff Depew - Mephron
"Big O! Showtime!"

>I'm just hoping she doesn't whack me THAT hard.

Well, the last time I saw you, you were notably bigger than a Bug, so you probably wouldn't just pop out of existence. :)

>Maybe I can talk her oldest sister into nursing me back to health...
>naah, I'm not that lucky.

One is not quite entirely sure you would actually want that. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>>When his mother whacks you upside your disrespectful head with her
>>mystic mallet, don't come crying to me. :)
>
>I was talking about the car, man. The car.
>
>Or Moose's Van.
>
>Or maybe I'm just seeing if I can get Her to manifest so I can beg for
>salvation from doing technical support for a megacorp (really, that's
>about the best term for who I work for) and the many, many stupid
>people within. It's not the first time someone's been sarcastic at a
>god to get them to manifest.

Duh.

Oh, DUH.

It *just* clicked. Until now, I honestly had clue none who Corwin Ravenhair was.

Duh. Gee, stupid, this is AFTER the Twilight arc. Duh-huh?

--sofaspud
--feeling stupid now

>Duh.
>
>Oh, DUH.
>
>It *just* clicked. Until now, I honestly had clue none who Corwin
>Ravenhair was.

Well, congratulations. You got there in the end. :)

--G.
(some people probably won't until his mother actually appears in Christmas Rose... )
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>>Duh.
>>
>>Oh, DUH.
>>
>>It *just* clicked. Until now, I honestly had clue none who Corwin
>>Ravenhair was.

Question that probably belongs in another section of the forum: If those Three are sisters, shouldn't they share the same surname? Now granted, what they've got are more descriptors, but still...

>(some people probably won't until his mother actually appears in
>Christmas Rose... )

Oh ghod.... *evil Jinnai Laugh* Ed... and HER... *cackle some more*

Blessed be. *VEG*
Nathan Baxter

>>>Duh.
>>>
>>>Oh, DUH.
>>>
>>>It *just* clicked. Until now, I honestly had clue none who Corwin
>>>Ravenhair was.
>
>Question that probably belongs in another section of the forum: If
>those Three are sisters, shouldn't they share the same surname? Now
>granted, what they've got are more descriptors, but still...
>

Don't see why. After all, the custom of family names is comparatively recent - it's been around in the Western world only half a millenium or so. The norse beliefs that involve the Norns lapsed long before, so descriptors are much more appropriate for the Norns, but any more recent arrivals could logically TREAT them as family names.

drakensisthered

So I simply said one of the great trite truths: "There is generally more than one side to a story." - Corwin, Roger Zelazny's 'Courts of Chaos'

Question that probably belongs in another section of the forum: If
>>those Three are sisters, shouldn't they share the same surname? Now
>>granted, what they've got are more descriptors, but still...
>>
>
>Don't see why. After all, the custom of family names is comparatively
>recent - it's been around in the Western world only half a millenium
>or so. The norse beliefs that involve the Norns lapsed long before, so
>descriptors are much more appropriate for the Norns, but any more
>recent arrivals could logically TREAT them as family names.

They might follow the Scandanavian naming tradition, though. If I recall correctly, it would be Skuld Ymirsdottir. Or something like that. Could be wrong about the parentage, but I think that the Norns came into existence during the death of Ymir.

Ebony the Black Dragon
aka Draco Draconis Ebenium
known to the AEsir as Aaron F. Johnson,
Senior Editor, Living Room Games
http://www.lrgames.com

>Question that probably belongs in another section of the forum: If
>those Three are sisters, shouldn't they share the same surname?

Not necessarily - the Norns are older, in concept at least, than the whole surname thing, and Asgard doesn't generally stand on ceremony for that kind of thing. Last names in Asgard tend to be descriptive (Silverspear, Ironhammer, Lightwalker) rather than familial.

Corwin's last name is the same as his mother's because, knowing he would be raised in Midgard where that kind of thing is more common, Skuld gave it to him that way. Had he been raised in Asgard he could just has easily have been Corwin Gryphonsson, or Corwin Oakenstaff (he prefers to fight with an iron-shod wooden staff, similar to the one wielded by Yoshi in Giant Robo), or any number of other things.

Of course, just by coincidence, "Ravenhair" is just as descriptive for him as it is for his mother, so it works out anyway. If he'd come out brown-haired, things would have been awkward. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>Of course, just by coincidence, "Ravenhair" is just as descriptive for
>him as it is for his mother, so it works out anyway. If he'd come out
>brown-haired, things would have been awkward. :)

'Cause "Corwin Shithead" just lacks flair...

-MegaZone, megazone@megazone.org
Personal Homepage http://www.megazone.org/
Eyrie Productions FanFic http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
See what I'm selling on eBay

>>Of course, just by coincidence, "Ravenhair" is just as descriptive for
>>him as it is for his mother, so it works out anyway. If he'd come out
>>brown-haired, things would have been awkward. :)
>
>'Cause "Corwin Shithead" just lacks flair...

Mind if I name my first kid after you? "Dipshit Knight" has a nice ring to it.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

Bastard.

*shatter*

--
Geoff Depew - Mephron
"Big O! Showtime!"

>Bastard.
>
>*shatter*

seconded

*shatter**crumble*

>>'Cause "Corwin Shithead" just lacks flair...
>Mind if I name my first kid after you? "Dipshit Knight" has a nice
>ring to it.

Yeah, that was what I was thinking of when I posted. ;-)

-MegaZone, megazone@megazone.org
Personal Homepage http://www.megazone.org/
Eyrie Productions FanFic http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
See what I'm selling on eBay

>>Duh.
>>
>>Oh, DUH.
>>
>>It *just* clicked. Until now, I honestly had clue none who Corwin
>>Ravenhair was.
>
>Well, congratulations. You got there in the end. :)

I have to admit that I didn't get it until you added the paragraph
describing his facial markings. Then it was "Oh yeah, Gryphon DID bed
Skuld, didn't he?!?!?!"

Though to be fair to both of them, it and was very much a mutual thing.

>--G.

Captain Willard
Commander, Free Socorro Liberation Front

>>>And Corwin... well, he's a special case, really. :)
>>
>>He's a SPECIAL child! Small bus and all that... (at least, the car
>>mostly is the size of a small bus...)
>
>When his mother whacks you upside your disrespectful head with her
>mystic mallet, don't come crying to me. :)

*twitch* Agh. Up until the moment of reading this, I didn't put the two together. This is a... Frightening thought. I'm gonna go back to hiding in the chaos of the DracoDen version of MegaTokyo, where the only thing I have to worry about are Buma, not deities...

~Khirsah

>He's a SPECIAL child! Small bus and all that... (at least, the car
>mostly is the size of a small bus...)

I resemble that remark...

Honestly, one year when the school system was playing football with the advanced student program, they defined us as "special" and we got to ride the short bus for the year. That was quite an interesting experience for all involved...

LAST EDITED ON Jun-08-01 AT 04:29 PM (EDT)

>Why do these kids sport their mother's surnames? Granted, 'Sylvie
>Zone' isn't a name I'd hang on any kid and expect them not to grow up
>anything resembling 'well-adjusted' without some brain-tinkering.

Sylvie has her mother's name because her father's name is goofy. I think Truss already covered that.

As for Gryphon's kids, since their mother kept her own name, their parents figured they'd let the kids pick for themselves. Kate and Len leaned one way, the twins (probably because of Priss, who seems to be in charge) the other. No big mystery.

As for Corwin, he has his mother's name because she's the one primarily raising him, because hers is the more important lineage in the structure of his life, and because his parents aren't married anyway.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>This one has been a little idle tick in the backbrain for a while, and
>I just finally got around to thinking about it, especially at the end
>of the new story.
>
>Why do these kids sport their mother's surnames? Granted, 'Sylvie
>Zone' isn't a name I'd hang on any kid and expect them not to grow up
>anything resembling 'well-adjusted' without some brain-tinkering. And
>arguing with Kei and Yuri in general is a good way to develop a severe
>case of large-holes-in-your-body-where-you-don't-want-them syndrome
>(AKA Capone's Disease).
>
>It just seems odd, somehow....
>

(MODE = Lying through my teeth)
Under the laws of the WDF, children take their mother's surname until
age twelve. At any time between twelve and eighteen, a child may have
his or her name changed to the father's surname. Generally, the decision
is made based on which parent the child feels closest to. Some children
end up with hyphenated names, even with this system.
(/MODE)

There, that sounds like a believable invention.

Peter Eng
--
Canon? No canon here, move along...

>Why do these kids sport their mother's surnames? Granted, 'Sylvie
>Zone' isn't a name I'd hang on any kid and expect them not to grow up
>anything resembling 'well-adjusted' without some brain-tinkering. And
>arguing with Kei and Yuri in general is a good way to develop a severe
>case of large-holes-in-your-body-where-you-don't-want-them syndrome
>(AKA Capone's Disease).
>
>It just seems odd, somehow....

Well, not every kid in UF uses their mothers' surnames. My fictional kids all go by the ungainly name of Ajlond-Mui--which, other than being a mouthful, is just begging to be mispronounced, especially the last part.

(Now, this begs the picky question...why isn't UF me Pearson Ajlond-Mui, all things being equal? Writer's caveat, my good man...writer's caveat.) :-)

--DocMui

>Well, not every kid in UF uses their mothers' surnames.

(Nor even all of mine, as discussed above.)

>(Now, this begs the picky question...why isn't UF me Pearson
>Ajlond-Mui, all things being equal? Writer's caveat, my good
>man...writer's caveat.) :-)

I briefly considered having G do this (well, his own name and Kei's, not "Ajlond-Mui" - that would be a big practical joke) after Crossroads, or even drop "Hutchins" altogether (it's really not very heroic-sounding, is it?), but decided it would break his mother's heart.

(What's that you say? His mother died in the radium explosion in UF? Yeah... that's what he thought too, at the time... )

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>I briefly considered having G do this (well, his own name and Kei's,
>not "Ajlond-Mui" - that would be a big practical joke) after
>Crossroads, or even drop "Hutchins" altogether (it's really not
>very heroic-sounding, is it?), but decided it would break his mother's
>heart.

I dunno, especially in the case of the UF storyline, I always thought Benjamin D. Hutchins had a sort of 'Chester W. Nimitz' or 'William F. Halsey, Jr.' ring to it, therefore really making it ring true once the character had a shipyard to run. My $.02. (Chad E. Collier got to many 'Chuck E. Cheese' jokes made about it when I was younger to ring true to anything quite like that)

>(What's that you say? His mother died in the radium explosion in
>UF? Yeah... that's what he thought too, at the time... )

Buh?! <snarf>

Damn you, sir, you story leaking bastard. You enjoy doing that, don't you? :)

------------------------------
"You're a louse, Roger Smith."
------------------------------
Chad Collier
Digital Bitch
J. Random VFX Company

>I dunno, especially in the case of the UF storyline, I always
>thought Benjamin D. Hutchins had a sort of 'Chester W. Nimitz' or
>'William F. Halsey, Jr.' ring to it, therefore really making it ring
>true once the character had a shipyard to run. My $.02.

I guess so. I've gotten used to the way it looks on me, but it still strikes me as rather clunky when hung on many other characters. I'm certainly not ashamed of it, but it just doesn't ring right in a lot of cases...

>>(What's that you say? His mother died in the radium explosion in
>>UF? Yeah... that's what he thought too, at the time... )
>
>Buh?! <snarf>
>
>Damn you, sir, you story leaking bastard. You enjoy doing that, don't
>you? :)

It's one of the great joys of having these forums.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>(What's that you say? His mother died in the radium explosion in
>UF? Yeah... that's what he thought too, at the time... )

Take cover! It's another Deus ex Machina!

Benjamin Brill
who lives near one of the (former) largest cities of the world and is still as far away from civilisation as Tatooine.

>>(What's that you say? His mother died in the radium explosion in
>>UF? Yeah... that's what he thought too, at the time... )
>
>Take cover! It's another Deus ex Machina!

... since when is Gryphon having mixed up the weekends his mom was going to be in Worcester a deus ex machina?

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>>>(What's that you say? His mother died in the radium explosion in
>>>UF? Yeah... that's what he thought too, at the time... )
>>
>>Take cover! It's another Deus ex Machina!
>
>... since when is Gryphon having mixed up the weekends his mom was
>going to be in Worcester a deus ex machina?

You really like doing that, don't you.

Benjamin Brill
who lives near one of the (former) largest cities of the world and is still as far away from civilisation as Tatooine.

>>Take cover! It's another Deus ex Machina!
>... since when is Gryphon having mixed up the weekends his mom was
>going to be in Worcester a deus ex machina?

Yeah, not like he never does that in real life, right Gryph?

So, the grandparents are coming *this* weekend, not *next* weekend, huh?

-MegaZone, megazone@megazone.org
Personal Homepage http://www.megazone.org/
Eyrie Productions FanFic http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
See what I'm selling on eBay

>Take cover! It's another Deus ex Machina!

Nah, Gryph's mom isn't a Deus ex Machina... Decorator ex Machina perhaps...

Let her into your home, she'll redecorate it.

-MegaZone, megazone@megazone.org
Personal Homepage http://www.megazone.org/
Eyrie Productions FanFic http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
See what I'm selling on eBay

>>Take cover! It's another Deus ex Machina!
>
>Nah, Gryph's mom isn't a Deus ex Machina... Decorator ex Machina
>perhaps...
>
>Let her into your home, she'll redecorate it.

Now you've given me the mental image I will now share, because I'm a sadist.

"Now, the bridge is nice, but maybe some curtains on the klaster here, and here... oh, and some doilys on the cosmocompass to offset the lighting. Megazone! You're not going to just put that can down on the arm, are you? Here, take this coaster I just made out of a recycled Kilrathi fighter wing!"

Gentlemen, I give you.... Iczer-Mom.

--
Geoff Depew - Mephron
"Big O! Showtime!"

>Now you've given me the mental image I will now share, because I'm a
>sadist.
>
>"Now, the bridge is nice, but maybe some curtains on the klaster here,
>and here... oh, and some doilys on the cosmocompass to offset the
>lighting. Megazone! You're not going to just put that can down on
>the arm, are you? Here, take this coaster I just made out of a
>recycled Kilrathi fighter wing!"
>
>Gentlemen, I give you.... Iczer-Mom.
>

Not as far fetched as you might think... I recall the Iczer's showing up in UF...

___________________

Vaughn doesn't know I exist. I guess this explains why the rest of reality keeps ignoring me as well. >_<

>Now you've given me the mental image I will now share, because I'm a
>sadist.
>
>"Now, the bridge is nice, but maybe some curtains on the klaster here,
>and here... oh, and some doilys on the cosmocompass to offset the
>lighting. Megazone! You're not going to just put that can down on
>the arm, are you? Here, take this coaster I just made out of a
>recycled Kilrathi fighter wing!"
>
>Gentlemen, I give you.... Iczer-Mom.

... I can just picture that... You're an evil, evil being, you know that?

Agh! It's Iczer-Mom! Full ahead, Maximum Warp! I don't *care* if the ship tears itself apart! She's not getting into my room!

>>Take cover! It's another Deus ex Machina!
>
>Nah, Gryph's mom isn't a Deus ex Machina... Decorator ex Machina
>perhaps...
>
>Let her into your home, she'll redecorate it.

Not this one buddy, I believe in creative chaos. For example there is this new isectoid/fungial lifeform in the corner of my livingroom that has either killed or scared away anyone who tryed to change anything in that room. ^_^

Benjamin Brill
who lives near one of the (former) largest cities of the world and is still as far away from civilisation as Tatooine.