re: reggie’s name. as i’ve mentioned before, reggie’s full name is reginald victor mantle ( the third ). reginald is broken down into two root latin words: ragin ( advice, judgement, counsel ) + wald ( ruler ). implies regal association, given that it’s derived from an old german king ‘raganald’ the reason reggie’s referred to as ‘the third’ despite his father’s name being richard is because he’s the third generation of mantles to have an ‘r’ first name. starting with his grandfather, randy, he’s the third mantle man to have the initials R.M. so he just says ‘the third’ because 1. it sounds regal and 2. it’s close enough. his middle name is meant to resemble his mother, victoria’s name, as richard picked reggie’s first name. reggie doesn’t hate it but doesn’t give it out too often, given his relationship with his mother is a turbulent one. he’s not keen on people using it but it normally isn’t an issue. in regard to his ethnicity, considering that he’s of full chinese descent, richard specifically didn’t want reggie to have an ethnic name, thinking that it would block him from success ( the businessman in him ). thus why he continued the trend of R.M.’s in his family and severed reggie from any connection to his culture. victoria actually wanted to at least make reggie’s middle name chinese. she even picked one out while she was pregnant : jian. strong / indefatigable. but richard was insistent. if she was to choose their son’s middle name it had to be on his terms. so she opted for something more simple / masculine. just something she, herself, could give to him. she eventually tells him one day, late in life. he’s indifferent, though still strings the names together : reginald jian mantle.
