Kevin's Watch

I wouldn't go so far as to say "dorky," but working-class football hooligan is certainly one of the possible images conjured by it, in the UK at least.

--A

"Kev" is a hooligan, "Kevin" is a dork.

*sigh*

It's ok, that only applies if you're British.

Oh, yeah, I forgot. Over in the states, Kevin implies a handsome, athletic, talented kind of guy. Kevin Bacon, Kevin Costner, Kevin Smith, Kevin Spacy, Kevin Kline...

Oh wait. Maybe not. Sounds more like actors who are in bad science fiction movies ...

Wayfriend wrote:Sounds more like actors who are in bad science fiction movies ...

I take it then that we don't want any of them to have roles in the Gap movies?

Relayer wrote:

Wayfriend wrote:Sounds more like actors who are in bad science fiction movies ...

I take it then that we don't want any of them to have roles in the Gap movies?

We could cast them all! "The Gap Into Kevin"...




....Actually, I don't want to think about that.

Au contraire ... Kevin Smith is Vector; Kevin Kline is Hashi Lebwohl; Kevin Spacey is Holt; Kevin Costner is Warden; and Kevin Bacon is Deener Beckman. Oh, and Kevin James is Angus.

(Actually, Kevin Kline would actually make an interesting Hashi.)

I can see it.

Now, how to make it go away?

Wayfriend wrote:Actually, Kevin Kline would actually make an interesting Hashi.

And, oddly, I can see Spacey as Holt. I really don't want to think about Costner as Warden though.

Actually, I have to disagree when it comes to 'science ficition'. In Science Ficition, you're generally suppose to get the science right, or at least belivable.

Now, if it was just 'scifi' like Star Wars is where the science doesn't actually matter one wit, then that's a different beast. Genre names are a killer, huh?

Also, I gotta agree that Lord Kevin sounds awful - primarily because its so out of place with the rest of the Land. And then there's Hile Troy, whose name SOUNDS like it shoulda been swapped with Lord Kevin's name.

And don't get me started on 'Lord Foul'.

Nerem wrote:Actually, I have to disagree when it comes to 'science ficition'. In Science Ficition, you're generally suppose to get the science right, or at least belivable.

Now, if it was just 'scifi' like Star Wars is where the science doesn't actually matter one wit, then that's a different beast. Genre names are a killer, huh?

Yeah, but in SpecFic, anything goes.

Nerem wrote:Actually, I have to disagree when it comes to 'science ficition'. In Science Ficition, you're generally suppose to get the science right, or at least belivable.

Now, if it was just 'scifi' like Star Wars is where the science doesn't actually matter one wit, then that's a different beast. Genre names are a killer, huh?

Also, I gotta agree that Lord Kevin sounds awful - primarily because its so out of place with the rest of the Land. And then there's Hile Troy, whose name SOUNDS like it shoulda been swapped with Lord Kevin's name.

And don't get me started on 'Lord Foul'.

Donaldson has himself mentioned that he recognizes the problems with "Lord Foul." I believe he even said in the GI that he'd name him something different if he were writing it now. However, he had a specific reason for using such an obvious name at the time. He wanted to be explicit that he was using this character as a symbol of "absolute" evil. Unlike Tolkien, he wasn't averse to admitting the metaphorical nature of his characters (even though he's not a polemicist--go figure ).

I have no problem with Lord Kevin. Never did. To me, it only strengthened the ontological ambiguity SRD was trying to achieve. If characters in the Land can be named "Kevin," then the Land isn't as foreign as the literal interpretation would suggest. It really could all be in Covenant's head.

In my mind, with 'Lord Foul', the reason why it rings so false is because who would dare call their deadly foe by such a lame name - It's pretty humilitating! "Yeah, ma. We got our butts kicked by Lord Kittenflufferstein. Ma, stop laughing!"

I never had an issue with Kevin's name. One reason is that, right from the start, I considered it a "Land name" that was only coincidentally similar to our common one. I was able to "turn off" the connections, and hear it as if it was a foreign word I had heard the first time, a collection of syllables without connotations except in the story. Grav·in, Kev·in, Mith·il, etc.

Eh, I can't really do that when its "Fantasy name, fantasy name, fantasy name, fantasy name, STANDARD AMERICAN NAME, fantasy name, fantasy name" Its not the issue of the name itself. Its how out of PLACE it is next to all of the others. In my own stories, I'll either go with fantasy-style names, or more modern names. Mixing always leads to bad times, UNLESS its something like a normal American going to the Land. (Which is while Hile Troy's name always irked me as well, since it feels just as off. It'd be like meeting someone named Uthor Lightbringer today.)

I had lunch with Uthor just the other day!

I never had a problem with Kevin's name either... or Lena, Elena, and Llaura (another normal name except for the spelling).

One could say the same thing about Nick. We've got Morn, Angus, Vector, Sorus, Hashi... and Nick (although this story is set in the near-future of our world, so it makes more sense).

And while we're on the subject of names... (Runes spoiler)...


The Ramen in the first chronicles had descriptive names like Gay (Rue), Lithe, etc. But in Runes they all have names that SRD borrowed from (I think) Marathi.

To be honest, I always found Kevin a little discordant myself. And Hile Troy's name made it difficult for me to think of him as from our world. *shrug*

--A

Avatar wrote:To be honest, I always found Kevin a little discordant myself. And Hile Troy's name made it difficult for me to think of him as from our world. *shrug*

--A

But that's exactly the point. He was blurring the line between the two worlds. I think the "Berek"/"Berrett" thing in TIW was part of this.

How many people do you know are named "Covenant?" Why doesn't that bother anyone?

(According to WhitePages.com, there are about 30 Covenant's listed.

There is even two Thomas Covenants listed, one in Lawrenceville GA, one in Marion VA.

Along with Grace Covenant, Faith Covenant, even Christian Covenant... talk about being burdened at birth! )