Ficlet: The Fallacy of Loneliness

[lls_mutant]

Wow.

I wrote a little ficlet last night called The Fallacy of Loneliness. Just a little, half-depressed bit about Sirius being at home during OotP and Remus coming home. I think the roots of it are pretty clear to anyone who reads my journal clearly. Hubby's in Sweden this week, which means I can't even talk to him on the phone because international cell calls are SO expensive. It was going to be a dark fic, and then right when I was done the first part, the doorbell rang. It turned out the be one of the women from the house I went to when I locked myself out. The lockout morning was the first time I'd ever met these people, and the woman who came over can only speak a very little English. But she came over and gave me a bag of homegrown tomatoes from their garden. How nice is that? I mean, really? When people do things like that- such a sweet and thoughtful gesture, even if it's a small one- how can you write dark fic? So the fic got a happy ending.

I'm surprised at the response, though, a bit. Pleasantly, but it was one of those that I just didn't put the work into or anything. It was nice- I've needed a smile. Between hubby being gone (he'll be back for a few hours on Saturday and that's it), and my last doctor's appointment (which actually was FINE in the scheme of things- the baby is fine and he's in the 50th percetile for weight, right where he should be, but I wasn't happy with the scale. Ick.), I really needed a nice little pick me up.

This weekend is going to be odd. Tonight I was going to go to the church musical, but it's sold out. Oops. Should have gotten my ticket earlier. I'm disappointed to miss it because so many of my kids do the musical each year, but there's not much I can do about it, sadly. (But they usually record it, so I can borrow the DVD from someone later.) It's Carousel anyway, which I don't really care for. But I would have liked to see the kids perform. Instead, I'm going to watch Keeping the Faith. It's one of my favorite movies and I've seen it like four or five times, but I want to write a review for it.



(Figure this will probably form a lot of my review, but hey. Honestly, I could write the review without watching it, but I need to get the stuff for the Quotes and Did You Notice sections, and besides, it's a great movie.)

I do remember seeing Keeping the Faith for the first time in theaters, and at first I was a little disapppointed. The trailers made it out to be a comedy, and it's not. It's a drama with funny elements to it. But once you're over that hurdle, it's such a good movie.

There's all sorts of stuff I can say about the plot and the acting that I'll save for the actual review, but what I really, really like in Keeping the Faith is how it explores both religion and interpersonal relationships. I like that people who are religious are portrayed as well, people here. Good people (which is often rare in Hollywood), but people. Not only the main characters of Jake and Brian (an excellent Ben Stiller and Edward Norton, by the way), but I like how they portrayed the older clergy as well. They could have made the older clergymen very one-note, and very hidebound and wrong. Especially since they were such bit parts. But what I loved was that they didn't.

So much of the theme of Keeping the Faith is about having faith not in God, but in other people. Jake and Brian both have an unshakeable faith in God, but they do have a hard time believing in people. And I like that the elder clergy in both their religions see that, and eventually demonstrate their own faith in the boys. The elder clergy guides them to make the decisions they need to make- but they don't pressure. (Well, Jake gets a little bit more, but there's a decent reason for that.) And how they relate to each other, and to Anna... it's all really so well done. And it's the kind of movie that leaves you with a smile on your face at the end.

The other thing I really like is how they deal with the Jake/Anna relationship. So often romantic relationships in movies are so formulaic. But even though Jake and Anna do the obligitory break-up midway through the movie, it's well done and believable. I mean, the break-up isn't over the "you LIED to me?" that most romantic comedies do, or something stupid. The problems that Jake and Anna face are problems couples actually face for real. Different religions, different priorities, and communication and commitment issues. The seeds for those problems are sown from the very beginning... but so are the seeds for their solutions. (spoiler here, but...) When Anna converts to Judaism, it's not a huge shock because we've already seen her frustrated with her life and feeling that her life is lacking SOMETHING. She calls it the "victory energy" at one point, and I think in that scene she's saying that she needs religion- not for Jake, or anything like that- but because SHE has these feelings and this is what's right for her. And while I'm sure her feelings for Jake might have contributed to it, I don't think that's at all the main reason why she does it.

Anyway, great flick. If you haven't seen it, do so. Besides, Edward Norton looks really, really cute in it.



Tomorrow I plan on cleaning all day, especially since my parents are coming next weekend. And I want hubby to actually come home to a clean house for once. (I'm a terrible housekeeper.) Sunday I've GOT to write. I have so much that's not done....

One final thing: to those of you who might someday want children. Do NOT tell any names you might be thinking of. You get so much freaking flack....

Okay. I like the name Toby- probably Tobias as a formal name, but we'll see. We've in no way decided on it, but I suspect that might be the baby's name. (It wouldn't surprise me if it's Tobias Joshua or Toby Joshua, because hubby really likes that combo, and if I can have Toby in any way, shape or form for the first name, I'm not going to put up too much of a fight on the middle. Besides, I love the name Joshua.) But man- they asked me at lunch the other day, and I told them we were thinking about Toby. Wow. What a reaction.

I didn't know it, but apparently Toby is a pretty offensive name to some people. I can understand it, to an extent. The guy who had the strongest reaction is black, and has watched the movie Roots several times. I've never seen Roots, but apparently there's a very powerful scene in it where a slave is being whipped and being forced to change his name from the African name he has to Toby. I've actually gotten this reaction from several people- and every single person who's had a violent recoil against the name Toby has been black and cited that scene in Roots. I guess it would be like naming your kid Damien after you've seen the Omen... or something even worse. I can't quite put my finger on it. But I can understand where they're coming from.

However. I have never seen Roots. I don't really want to. And my associations with Toby are: 1.) the guy I knew in college, who was a great guy, 2.) Toby Keith, the country singer, 3.) Tobey Maguire, Peter Parker himself, and 4.) Toby Zeigler, the Communications Director on West Wing. Four very, very different men, so I don't really think of it as an old man's name, or a kiddie name, or offensive. I like the name, and screw anyone who doesn't. It's not like we're naming our kid Adolf (or worse, Rudolph. Our last name is Hess.).

So when you have kids, don't tell people the names you're thinking. For some reason, they seem to think they have the right to argue. (Even my mother insists on telling me she hates the name. I asked her if she had a reason why (if she came up with something like it sounded bad with our last name or rhymed with something obscene, I'm all ears to those sorts of points), she said no. She just hates it. I told her tough, if we name the kid Toby, I'll bet you you LOVE the name by the end of a year, because your association with it will be with your grandson.) But world? BACK OFF. It's hard enough to get my husband to agree to a name, do you think I'm going to worry about anyone else???

Hope everyone has a great Friday!

Comments

[magic-at-mungos.livejournal.com]

What's wrong with Toby? I like Toby - he's not going to get huge amounts of stick in the playground and it doesn't sound weird with your surname.

I'm black (well mixed race and English to boot), and never seen Roots, but still? I still don't have any serious thing against the name.

[aome.livejournal.com]

So when you have kids, don't tell people the names you're thinking. For some reason, they seem to think they have the right to argue.

I've seen this and heard people complain about it over and over, and it just baffles me. I did know someone who refused to list the names they'd chosen until after the birth, for just this reason. When I heard the name, it wasn't something I'd pick myself, but I would never say that to someone. We just smiled and said "How lovely!" Thank God, no one ever argued about our girls' names. (Oh, wait - my father didn't like MiniPlu's name because it apparently was a slang term for "whore" in Dutch (his native language), but you know what? We're not in Holland. He never complained again, though, and we didn't let it bother us.) We announced MiniPlu's about 4 months in advance of getting her referral, but didn't announce Two's until almost the last minute - but that was partly because we had a terrible time settling on a name. (Because, really, when you use the ONLY name you can agree on for the first child, what's left for the second same-gender child?)

So, anyway - yes, stick to your guns. Tell any nay-sayers that they'll get over it, and it's not their decision, anyway.


As for KtF - I haven't seen it in awhile, but we own it, and I do enjoy it. Like you said, it's got a nice show of human-ness, and I like how they eventually figure out how to be true to themselves. Also, I crack up every time the two boys are trying to share each others' religions, including when Jake is failing abysmally to make the sign of the cross. :D

[aome.livejournal.com]

And here I thought your FA name meant you were blonde! :D

[magic-at-mungos.livejournal.com]

No, just a bit dippy really :D It was a joke at the time that goldfish have a three second memory and I clearly had a worse memory than that and was therefore a blonde goldfish.

[ignipes.livejournal.com]

I like the name Toby. It makes me think of cute little boys in baseball caps with ice cream cones at the park. (Well, it does.)

And speaking as somebody who's named after the Hindi goddess of death and destruction -- and has spent significant time working in India, where everybody knows that -- people's reactions to the name are never as strong when the kid actually has the name. I think most just consider an unborn child a free-for-all for expressing their opinions about anything and everything, no matter how unwelcome.

Would they really meet a Toby and shun him because somebody in some movie had his name? Might be worth asking them, if you think they are being really rude. (I'm a big fan of pointing out bluntly when people are being inconsiderate, because otherwise how else will they ever stop?)

And speaking of Adolf...one of my friends in college was from Austria, and her dad was in school during WWII. In his class there was a poor kid who's name was Adolf Hitler.

[pinkfinity.livejournal.com]

I like the name Toby.

We went through hell in naming both of the boys, because my grandmother was desperate for me to name first Harry then Jon after my grandfather Julian, and for various reasons, Aaron got to "have" the firstborn name, and then we were going to continue a Tandy tradition of flipping the Hebrew and English names, so the first name in English inspires te middle name in Hebrew, and she flipped out over that, too, even though Jon's English name and middle Hebrew name were going to be after my grandfather, and we ended up relenting and it's fine because it was a name we were going to use anyway, it pissed Aaron off for years, sigh.

And of course, the name you choose may not be the one everyone uses - Jon has decided that Catherine's name is actually "Cake".

Also, you won't be happy with the scale. Don't worry about it, and join Weight Watchers afterwards, and if it takes nine months to take it off, that's *fine*.

[topaz-eyes.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised at the response, though, a bit. Pleasantly, but it was one of those that I just didn't put the work into or anything. It was nice- I've needed a smile.

Ah, but it was something you obviously needed to write out of your system. What struck me was the *honesty* of it. Sirius' bitter resentment at being alone, his hopelessness that he can't change it, just endure it--then Remus' devotion to him on his return. It read like it tumbled out. The best stories are those that come right from the heart--I think if you had "put work" into it, you might have dulled the raw edges that make it work. I am so happy for you that the response has been so positive because it deserves it. (I will rec it anytime.) I can see how it could have gone dark but I think this ultimately works out better--when Sirius realizes Remus doesn't like the situation any better at the end--it's so true. (And yes I'm reading my own experience into it, why do you ask?)

I agree with you about names. You are never going to please everyone with your name choices so if they don't like it, they can deal with it (or go to hell--whatever works). I broke tradition with my side of the family re naming (we all have two middle names; the oldest child's middle names are those of the grandparents). My MIL hated my daughter's name at first, but it was the name we'd always intended for a daughter. The MIL totally forgot about her distaste for the name anyway when she held her granddaughter for the first time. My son's name is the reverse of a famous celebrity, by coincidence; we had more than a few raised eyebrows when we mentioned our choice, but we did *not* name him after that person.

I think Toby (and Tobias) is a beautiful name. I'll come beat talk sense into those who think otherwise if you want. :-)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

I can kind of understand that people have an intense dislike for a name. I hate certain names because of association. Ethan is at the top of the list, since it's the name of an ex. I'm trying to think of one that's movie related, but a lot of the villian-esque names or names I haven't liked I wouldn't have liked anyway. (Like I said, it would be horrible if we named our kid Rudolph, but that wasn't gonna happen in a million years anyway, y'know?)

And that's why I like Toby. It's not weird at all. It's not something that anything rhymes with easily. (Although any kid that comes from me and my husband is pretty much guaranteed a life of geekdom ;) ) And it's unusual, but not strange (like Aragorn, which hubby suggested (jokingly) at one point.) So... yeah. I think it's a personal thing- especially to people who've seen the movie.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Yup. I'm not too worried about it, it's just kind of annoying, y'know? I'd never say that to a perspective parent, even if I hated the name (which has happened). The only time I'd say something is if I could see a true issue with the name- someone was telling us about a friend who named their kid Chase. Which is a fine name, except his middle initial was A. and their last name was Fox. Chase A. Fox just seemed like a name you might want to reconsider, y'know? Or I was reading Diary of a Mad Bride and the girl decided not to take her husband's last name because her initials would then spell ASS. Good thing to know!

Ah well. If I can get hubby to agree, that's enough for me.

And yeah, I love some of the humor in Keeping the Faith. My favorite is the karaoke guy faking the Japanese accent :) He cracks me up.

[magic-at-mungos.livejournal.com]

I say go ahead and call him Toby. Everyone will have to lump it. (And about being condemmed to a lifetime of geekdom I sure wouldn't have minded having a chemist as a mum. My grandpa had a chemistry background and my dad said he would have bee so proud to see me take Chemistry A level)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

people's reactions to the name are never as strong when the kid actually has the name. I think most just consider an unborn child a free-for-all for expressing their opinions about anything and everything, no matter how unwelcome.

See, that's exactly it, and that's why it drives me nuts. If I handed people the baby and said "This is Toby!" the reaction is TOTALLY different than if I tell them that's the name we're thinking. People are annoying some days.

And ouch. In WWII Austria, that would SUCK. Horribly!

[marauderthesn.livejournal.com]

Toby? Really? I've never heard anyone say that about the name Toby, but then again, I'm white. Probably the people LupinsLittleNephew grows up with won't know anything much about Roots anyway.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I did Weight Watchers back in 2000 and lost 70 pounds on it. I'll start it again as soon as the baby's here- it's a great program.

Families are tricky with names, aren't they? I can completely emphathize, because Howard's parents were hoping we'd name our kid after Howard (he's already the third- and his middle name is Sherman. ICK.), and my mother really wanted me to name the baby after my father. My dad's name was John Michael, which is a nice enough name, but I don't like the name John. I haven't since I was 11 or so, because I have a strong memory associated with it. (My brother and father joined Eagle Scouts, and had to come up with Indian names. My six year old brother comes up with Screaming Eagle. My father comes up with Big John. Which is funny enough in itself, just in the lack of creativity. But at 11, I said "what, like large toilet?", which, when you're 11, is an INCREDIBLY funny joke. And for some reason my parents both cracked up too. But now that story is what I think of when I hear the name.) So we just decided NO family names at all- that way everyone is offended equally ;) Except my grandmother, who keeps demanding that we do NOT use her name for any of our kids, because she despises the name Florence and thinks it falls under cruel and unusual punishment. (We agree with her, so there's no worries there!)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

can see how it could have gone dark but I think this ultimately works out better--when Sirius realizes Remus doesn't like the situation any better at the end--it's so true. (And yes I'm reading my own experience into it, why do you ask?)

LOL. But given that our experiences here are so similar... it's actually exactly what I was going for. I wanted it to come across that Remus doesn't like the situation- and not just because Sirius is miserable, but because HE wants to be with Sirius. And yeah, the happier ending did work better. Besides, I like happy endings.

The MIL totally forgot about her distaste for the name anyway when she held her granddaughter for the first time.

That's exactly why I'm not worried about my mother's opinion. Heck, since we haven't decided on a name, my mother's been joking around and calling the kid Durwood, and she says even that's growing on her now. See? Told her so ;

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Exactly. I've never seen Roots. I don't have any desire to see Roots, although who knows? I might some day. And like you said, most of the people LLN will know will never watch Roots. (That's also why I'm not worried about the fact we found the name from watching West Wing. What kid is going to know The West Wing?????)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Heh. Actually, I'm not at all worried about it- it hasn't remotely changed my mind. We might not choose to go with that name, but if we don't, it's because we found one we liked better. As far as I'm concerned, unless people have a legitimate reason (like the Rudolph thing!), I don't care WHAT they think.

Heh. Our kid has two Ph.D. fuel scientist parents, who both love reading, fantasy (although hubby tends towards seriel killer novels and other more mainstream stuff), were both in the marching band, and did "geek sports". He will probably be taught to play with boffer weapons at a young age as well- as soon as I believe he's ready for it. And TV? Good luck, kid. He can watch Sesame Street, select videos, and anything on the History or Discovery channel that we think is age appropriate. He will be fully encouraged at all times to just be himself- if he likes what's in style and popular, great. If he doesn't, that's perfectly acceptable too. But he will also likely be very, vrey short. I am 5'4", and the tallest woman in my family. Hubby's 5'7", and not short for his family (the tallest men are his brothers who are 5'9"). Anyone putting dreams of basketball in my son's head had better think again ;) But yeah- with parents like us, geekdom is inevitable!

And that's really cool that your grandpa would have liked your chem. My grandfather was similar- he wanted three doctors (any sort of doctors) in the family. He was okay with them marrying in (since he only had 7 grandkids). Wouldn't you know he got it?

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

Ohhh. Will read the story when I get home tonight. I love OOtP stuff.

As regards the name: I think it's WONDERFUL. I've only known one Toby. He was the best friend of the first boy I ever kissed and I was dreafully jealous of him (Toby) because I swear that my 'boyfriend' liked him better than me. (Which was probably true, in the long run. Oh well. ;) ) Anyway, there wasn't much of a point to that story except that Tobies are good friends. If every name of every evil character from every piece of pop culture were eliminated from your choices, you'd have to name your son something like Big Red Kite or Wide-Eyed Seal Pup -- neither of which could possibly have a slave-beating alter ego. :D

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

LupinsLittleNephew -- snigger. Can *we* call him that?

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

Damn. Was your friend friends with little adolf? Did he have a nickname?

A guy in my high school was Bradley Pitts. :D

[magic-at-mungos.livejournal.com]

*am seriously impressed* What were the doctrates in? And what are boffer weapons? Me and my sister got loads of books (new and hand me downs. We were the youngest on both sides and both of my parents being teachers). You and Mr LupinsLittleSister sound like you will make wonderful parents :)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

I'm the only one of the 7 who actually got the doctorate, and I got it in fuel science. I married someone with a fuel science doctorate (how we met), so there's two. And the third is my cousin's husband- he's got one in chiropractary. (Or whatever it is.) But it wouldn't surprise me if my cousin eventually got hers, either in physics, chemistry, or education.

Boffer weaposn are AWESOME. They're light PVC piping that you cut to the length you want- broadsword, short sword, staff, whatever. Then you put foam pipe insulation around the "blade" or whatever is going to hit the other person. Add on a guard (also fashioned from the foam), and then wrap the entire blade in duct tape. Hilts usually are wrapped in electrical tape. They're sort of like Nerf weapons. SO much fun. We played with them all the time in college. But with kids, they have to be old enough to understand when you can use them and how hard you can hit with them, so they do have to be kind of old.

I got a lot of books, too. My mom's a teacher, and she really emphasized reading. Only problem with me was I was TOO much of a bookworm! I'm the only kid I know whose parents told her to stop reading and come watch TV with the rest of the family. (Usually, the compromise was I could read as the family watched TV as long as I was in the same room.) Hubby also was a big reader, especially since his family was not very well off and libraries are good things. He actually couldn't afford to see the Star Wars movies, so he read the novelizations and then pretended that he had seen them. And both of us are still huge readers- and my mom already gave our baby two books :) (Goodnight Moon and... I forget the other one. But a classic baby book.)

And thanks- I really hope we will be!

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Actually, that's the nickname I plan on using for him online. I have enough people on my friendlist that I don't want to be calling him by his name all the time- I feel a little better if he's got an online nickname. And for the LJ, LLN or LupinsLittleNephew is perfect :)

I'm trying to get hubby to concede to a really adorable nickname for Mutant Reviewers. (pfrsue and poolman, a little help here please? :) ) Hubby posts to the MRFH forums, and goes by Duckie. We all refer to our significant others by nicknames in our reviews anyway, so I just use his forum name. (He got the nickname in high school because his friends thought he looked like Duckie in Pretty in Pink or Sixteen Candles or whichever John Hughes flick it is.) So I want to call the baby Ducklet on the site. For some reason I can't figure out, hubby doesn't go for that. (I have no idea why. I think it's absolutely darling, especially since it is a boy.) So either LLN or Ducklet (or both, depending on where I'm writing) will be his official on-line name :)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

If every name of every evil character from every piece of pop culture were eliminated from your choices, you'd have to name your son something like Big Red Kite or Wide-Eyed Seal Pup -- neither of which could possibly have a slave-beating alter ego.

See, that's my point exactly. :) There's just SO many names that you could get rid of because there's someone who doesn't reflect well on them. Heck, one of the few names I kind of like in Harry Potter (Tom) belongs to the biggest pyschopath of the lot. (Of course, I have other associations with the name Tom that are far greater.) But yeah. It's just... I don't care, when you get right down to it! And actually, I think more of like the person you describe when someone says Toby. It sounds like a nice-boy name. (But not a stodgy name like Sherman, that would sound REALLY bad during sex.)

And hope you enjoy the ficlet! It's very short. Don't know what's gotten into me! :)

[ignipes.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, Wide-Eyed Seal Pup would definitely be on the only kid in his school with that name.

[ignipes.livejournal.com]

Actually, the context of the story (told by my friend's dad) is pretty sad. I guess they were on some sort of school trip to England -- I don't remember exactly why Austrian schoolkids were travelling to England post-WWII -- and at mealtimes, they would call the kids' names for them to get their food. And every time this kid Adolf's name was called, he was too scared of the other kids' reactions to go up and get his meal, so my friend's dad would get it for him.

[magic-at-mungos.livejournal.com]

Well, tell your husband that he's already Mr lupinslittlesister in my head, Ducklet is not so bad comparatively :D

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

But the nickname Wesp might be less than inspiring. Or the sentence, "hon, could you change Wide-Eyed Seal Pup's diaper for me?" Heh.

[pfrsue.livejournal.com]

Parents get to choose names. Annoying friends get to choose nicknames. Ducklet he has been dubbed, and Ducklet he shall be. (And you know very well how I much I like the name Toby.) :)

[moonanddogstar.livejournal.com]

I never realised that there was so much prejudice against Toby. My mum has watched Roots and apparently that scene is extremely powerful, but as others have said, your choice would be severely restricted if you couldn't use a name because of TV/movie connections. I'm glad you'll go for Toby if that's what you want regardless of what others say. He's your baby after all!

I also wanted to say thanks for the link to your fic. I really enjoyed it (and left a 'proper' review there).

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

I don't know that it's prejudice, and honestly, if you've seen Roots I suspect I can see where you're coming from- especially if you're black. The scene is supposed to be extremely powerful, and is basically a stripping of identity. And I guess the owner keeps shouting "Your name is Toby!" throughout the scene. If I'd seen the movie, maybe I'd be much, much more against it, and I can see where, to a black person who HAS seen the movie, it would be a symbol of something very nasty. So I think there's some good roots there. But yeah- it's just... ::Sigh:: I have no desire to watch Roots anyway. (Especially right now!)

And thanks for the review- I'll respond to it over there!

[calzamante.livejournal.com]

I say you should stick with what you want for your kid's name - if you think about it, ANY name you choose will have less-than-perfect connotations for SOMEONE - but as long as it's not you, who cares!

You're the one who'll be using your kid's name for the next eighteen years - I say make sure it's one you don't mind screaming down the street at the top of your voice! (BTW my kids are called Charlotte and Benedict. Bit gutted that the Pope decided on the same name, but there you go...)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

if you think about it, ANY name you choose will have less-than-perfect connotations for SOMEONE

That's exactly it. I don't really care WHAT other people think about it (as long as it's not an extreme reaction, like if we named our kid Aragorn), but it's just the fact that people dare to argue with me, y'know? If someone's got something objective to say (like, "do you realize if you name your kid that, his initials would be ASS?", or "do you REALLY think Gaylord Focker is a good name for a kid?"), fine. But if it's "I don't like that" or "there was this character in a movie most kids will not have seen until they're teenagers"... ::sigh:: go AWAY people.

Totally understand how you feel about the Pope- I had actually said (promised!) no Harry Potter names. I was actually off safe, because JKR and I do NOT have the same taste in nomenclature. I actually screamed louder (well, maybe) at Tobias Snape than I did at Remus/Tonks! :) (Obviously, I'm not letting it bother me. Tobias Snape is a mere mention, and unless you're a true geek you wouldn't pick up on it right away. Plus, even if is IS a major character in book 7, our kid will already be 2-3 by that point, and I can prove he's not named after a HP character. And Remus/Tonks doesn't stop me either ;) )