Need help with a drug name for a script

[SliceOfDog]

I've just this morning started yet another script, which I hope to have finished enough of to show about 10 minutes or so at my Uni's Studio Night Short evening on the 25th. Problem is, I can't think of a decent name for the central plot device, which in this case is a drug.

The play takes place (or will take place, but present tense is easier) in a world where the Upper Classes have quite literally separated themselves from the working class, who are sedated by taking a drug which suppresses Free Will. Effectively, those under the influence of the drug are at the mercy of any given command, which leads to terrible conditions and massive abuses of power.

I will stop there for a moment and say I need a good name for this drug. Anyone who has studied Chemistry or Medicine would be a good help. I want it to be fairly realistic, so no Unobtainium, if you catch my drift. Bonus points for clever inclusions of foreign words (Off the top of my head, including the Latin for Slave or something)

So yeah, everything is going fine (for the Upper Classes that is) until 2 things happen. The second (which I'm listing first for a reason) is that the chemicals used to produce this drug begin to run out. Oh oh... Did I mention that when people who have been taking this drug suddenly go cold turkey they become incredibly violent and angry? Because they do. A lot.
So there is a scramble to find alternatives and new sources for this chemical as more and more factories get torn apart in riots. As well as that, the Working Classes 'wake up' to realise the horrible conditions they've been forced into, and so even without the side-effects of the drug, they're pretty irritated.

The first problem they face (chronologically before the drug runs out) is a radical organisation within the Upper Class which tries to free the Working Class of this drug and improve their living conditions. I am very tentatively calling this organisation The Union, and so those who belong to the organisation would be Unionists. Now, is that too cringe-worthy? If it is, which I think it probably is, please offer any alternatives.

Anyhoo, that's all for now. I hope it sounds interesting and I'll keep y'all updated on whether it becomes a proper play or not :p

[Nelle Kozera]

I wonder if any of these are helpful or not.

Agflexifin

Canfloxi

Altrpolyx

Agrilixid

Rorine

Circtyl

Ronyxym

Octasancam

Canquirt

Whaet

Feyxgris

Cefloxist

Oxithoolon

Aroqufia

iMbinion

Qthofia

Fitcinute

Trubinace

Onness

Flyveneog

Tiyxdint

Ronflex

Sysdrilen

Desbinite

Lanlyn

Qloravo

iNti

Grislixness

Preair

Anteue

Fusannyx

[Adonisus]

Manavox.

That way you can go with some pseudo-religious overtones (Mana being the food that God gave to Elijah an the Israelites during their years in the desert).

[Daryn]

How about Ethersium or NuNova?

With the suggestions you have here so far, I'm pretty sure you can find something.

[Slate]

mancipium
N
possession; formal purchase; slaves

Plus, it sounds like another addicting drug, Opium.

[Tha_Pig]

Nepenthium (from Nepenthe, a mythological substance that made people forget their sorrows, but also erased their memory)

Iugumite (from the Latin Iugum: yoke, instrument to keep beast of burden tied down)

[Wolfgang of Borg]

Did I mention that when people who have been taking this drug suddenly go cold turkey they become incredibly violent and angry? Because they do. A lot.

Heh paxilon hydrochlorate?

Um while obviously i'm pretty rubbish at naming things, i think maybe connotations of slavery are a bit too blatant (seriously who'd name a behavioural modifier drug 'enslaveulot' or suchlike?) (unless we're talking about a world where people are literally chattel?). For a drug that makes people docile, obedient and trusting how about "domesticus" (Latin: belongs in a house), which sounds kind of like the Victorian name for live-in servants and also turns up in the IRL scientific names of formerly wild species that've been scientifically modified to better serve humans? (I'm guessing dehumanisation of workers might be a theme in this story?)

> those who belong to the organisation would be Unionists. Now, is that too cringe-worthy?
Yeeees, maybe a little. Not that i can come up with anything better :[ Morlock Liberation Front? Frederists? Seriously, i suck at this!

Manavox.

Manna's good, plus it hints at backstory -- food shortages (for whatever reason), authorities start distributing free emergency rations (algae derived or whatever) which contain anti-rioting drugs, anyone who finds out about the doping loves the sudden cessation of food riots (& indeed all non-white-collar crime) too much to make a fuss. The situation stabilises, then slowly worsens. Bit more plausible than a conspiracy angle?

mancipium
N
possession; formal purchase; slaves

Plus, it sounds like another addicting drug, Opium.

Otoh it sounds a bit too similar to 'emancipation', tho that might well play into an Orwellian name-things-the-opposite-of-what-they-are sorta deal?
Also i imagine this drug as more of a sedative or hypnotic than an opiate: people wouldn't get high from taking it, just nervous and agitated when it is withdrawn.

Iugumite (from the Latin Iugum: yoke, instrument to keep beast of burden tied down)

I like this one too, but wouldn't have got what it meant if you hadn't said.

[SliceOfDog]

Thank you to everyone who's responded. I'm very pleased, the amount of response has been much better than I'd expected XD

I'm sure I'll come back to this and use quite a few of the suggestions in later projects (I have a soft-spot for drugs and chemicals with interesting effects as plot devices) but I think Tha_pig's two suggestions take the cake in this particular project's case (Though Slate's Mancipium was a close second). I've changed it slightly to Nepenthine, because the suffix -ine is more common for a chemical, whereas -ium is often an element, and particularly in 20th Century onwards English, if I'm not mistaken, a metallic element. But still, I'd never heard of Nepenthe, so thanks for that one.
And you might have noticed I said both suggestions had been adopted; that's because the ingredient that runs out (See original post) also needed a name, and I believe Iugum is perfect (With Yoke perhaps becoming its nickname, although as this will be a play I'm not too sure, as it will most likely be interpreted by the audience as 'yolk', which would be a silly ingredient in a mind-controlling drug. Especially one not created by Martha Stewart)

i think maybe connotations of slavery are a bit too blatant (seriously who'd name a behavioural modifier drug 'enslaveulot' or suchlike?)

A perfectly valid point, and you're right, in most circumstances I'd agree with you. However, this project is intended to be a play, and as is often the case in the staged medium, won't be after 100% realism. Symbolism is rife and it doesn't always make sense if you look at it from a literal sense. For example, I recently auditioned for a play at the Uni where a woman who had been locked away all her life escaped and found refuge in a house of 4 men initially loyal to the regime which enslaved her. However, throughout the play they are convinced not to turn her in and they allow her to get away. In the set is an empty bird cage, and as the men decide to let her go she goes up to it and opens the cage door. It's not the kind of thing that you'd write into a novel or a movie, even though the rest of the script would make the transition. It's just the way theatre works *shrugs*

food shortages (for whatever reason), authorities start distributing free emergency rations (algae derived or whatever) which contain anti-rioting drugs, anyone who finds out about the doping loves the sudden cessation of food riots (& indeed all non-white-collar crime) too much to make a fuss. The situation stabilises, then slowly worsens. Bit more plausible than the conspiracy angle.

Again, as described above the process in writing a play tends to be less focused on realism than a novel or movie. However, in this case in particular I'm after a vaguely alt. reality thing. The Upper Classes live very much like Victorians, and speak as such, but have most of the modern day luxuries. The working classes are pretty much going to reflect Thatcher-Era Miners' Strikes meets modern day prison escapees.
Other things will show it is neither meant to necessarily be near-future or past-fiction. For example, Britain is at war with America, which will be described very much along the lines of "the colonies", "the yanks", etc. In keeping with that theme, there will be references to the Empire, which is still active. However, neither of these will quite reflect how each event (or series of events) happened historically. My idea at the moment, although it is still rough, is that the Iugum (if that is the final name) comes from India, which will of course be owned by the British. The Americans want it, and hence the war. There is no mention at all of the German, Spanish or Russian empires, or of the Oriental powers or Australia, and I think France will have only a small empire, as it does not use the drug and therefore has less industrial capabilities. Towards the end of the play, a slightly inferior substitute for Iugum is found in the form of an African flower. Africa will, I think, be a highly contested landmass, split between the British and the Americans. There won't be any reference to the Slave Trade, because I don't really want race issues to enter into the mix, so it can be assumed that it didn't happen or was immensely different in this reality.

Sorry, I'm sure you didn't really need to know all that, but I'm tired so I'm rambling ^^

Also i imagine this drug as more of a sedative or hypnotic than an opiate: people wouldn't get high from taking it, just nervous and agitated when it is withdrawn.

That is very much the case. In fact in small doses it hardly affects people at all; they can act freely but are simply very open to verbal suggestion (This is the case with house servants, who need to have some element of self-control so that they can perform more complicated tasks and their Masters don't need to be stupidly specific with their commands. Terms such as "Help them out won't you" and "Deal with the noise" will get results from someone who is under small doses, because they can apply logic to the task, they simply are compelled to complete it)

Right, I really should sleep now. Thanks again for the help guys
If anyone has a better name for The Union (the organisation that attempts to 'free' the working classes from the drug, often by sabotaging drug shipments and such) please feel free to suggest them.

[Wolfgang of Borg]

>Symbolism is rife and it doesn't always make sense if you look at it from a literal sense. For example, I recently auditioned for a play at the Uni where a woman who had been locked away all her life escaped and found refuge in a house of 4 men initially loyal to the regime which enslaved her. However, throughout the play they are convinced not to turn her in and they allow her to get away. In the set is an empty bird cage, and as the men decide to let her go she goes up to it and opens the cage door. It's not the kind of thing that you'd write into a novel or a movie, even though the rest of the script would make the transition. It's just the way theatre works *shrugs*

Huh i hadn't thought of that.. yeah the same kinda thing happens sometimes in arty indie movies, there was this fantastic one i saw once called La Antena


> Again, as described above the process in writing a play tends to be less focused on realism than a novel or movie.

Heh sorry sometimes i have this geeky compulsive need for things to make sense and so pick holes in everything and invent backstory for the nonsensical or unexplained parts.. i had like three different theories to explain why The Matrix's machines kept humans around (since the power plant thing violates thermodynamics), one of which turned out to have been the original explanation before the script got dumbed down (movie scifi seems to lag about twenty years behind written scifi). I should really just relax. So anyway um

>the Iugum (if that is the final name) comes from India

Soma!

>If anyone has a better name for The Union (the organisation that attempts to 'free' the working classes from the drug, often by sabotaging drug shipments and such) please feel free to suggest them.

If you're up for a P. G. Wodehouse reference: The Drones Club.

[SliceOfDog]

Hey guys, thought you might be interested that I've finished my initial introduction scene, and performed it to a live audience this Monday. It seemed to go fairly well, and I'm confident that I want to expand it to a full play. Any feedback would be appreciated;