Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2025-07-16 07:15 pm
rionaleonhart) wrote2025-07-16 07:15 pm
At Some Point I Should Analyse What Makes Me Decide To Go Lowercase.
Late last year, I posted an entry examining the titles of my fics that year, and explaining why I'd chosen those titles. It was an interesting exercise, so I thought I'd repeat it whenever I accumulate a good handful of fics!
In reverse chronological order, my fic titles for this year so far:
a little too late (Danganronpa). This title sounds more straightforward than it is! It's actually a play on 'too little, too late'. I considered naming the fic too little too late, but I didn't like the suggestion that Mondo's remorse was meaningless. too little, too late (but not nothing) felt too heavy-handed. I ended up going with a little too late; it's definitely too late, and it may only be a little, but 'a little' rather than 'too little' suggests there may be at least some value to it.
who you are and what you want (Deltarune, Kris/Noelle). In this fic, Kris struggles with who they are as a person in the light of intrusive thoughts; does thinking about hurting Noelle means they want to hurt Noelle? I considered who are you and what do you want?, then tweaked it a little to get this.
Communication (Deltarune). This one's a bit of a cop-out. The fic is about Kris communicating with the soul, and, I'll be honest, I couldn't think of a title, so I just grabbed the first relevant word I could think of.
Kindred Spirits (The Hundred Line/Horizon Zero Dawn, slight Yugamu/Nil). This is the sort of title you could theoretically do some fun double-meaning stuff with, but, alas, I have not. I just chose it because Yugamu and Nil have a great deal in common, by which I mean they're both incredibly horny for murder.
Piercing the Heart (The Hundred Line, Yugamu/Takumi). This one, on the other hand, does have a bit of a double meaning to it! Yugamu pierces Takumi's heart in the sense of emotionally getting closer to him, and also in the very literal sense of shoving a blade into his actual heart.
All That's Left (The Hundred Line, everyone/everyone). They're all doomed, and the fic is about the characters taking comfort in all they have left, which in this case is each other.
we're not going to do better next time (The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, Andrew/Ashley, NB incest, NB abuse). I named this fic for this Softer World strip, which I'd previously used for a Coffin of Andy and Leyley edit. Playing the different routes of the game, watching how things just kept falling apart in various awful ways, I started to feel almost like these two were stuck in a time loop where things will inevitably go wrong every time; they just don't have the capacity to make the right choices. It's a thought that both reminded me of the Softer World strip and inspired this fic.
The Long Road Home (Severance, Gemma/Mark). Pretty straightforward; this one's about Gemma finally making it home after a long struggle!
Null (Severance). This title is secretly a very bad pun. The fic is set in a void. I considered titling it Void, but that felt a little too on the nose. So did Null and Void. So I just titled it Null, and left the '...and void' implied.
Finding Air (Severance, Helly/Mark/Dylan/Irving). The fic starts with Helly almost being drowned, and she spends the rest of the fic trying to recover from that experience; she's still drowning in her own head, and she's metaphorically trying to find air. Turns out the secret to feeling like you can breathe again is having sex with all your colleagues.
For Someone Else (Severance). Helena struggles with the fact that the kindness and attention of her colleagues isn't really for her; it's for someone else. It's for the person they think she is.
Anthropology (Severance). This fic is all about Mark trying to understand Helly's outie; the name for the study of humans seemed apt for a fic about studying a person!
Overwritten (Severance). This fic is about Mark being reintegrated, and deals with the question of whether that means having his identity overwritten and replaced by someone else. I also like that it's a word you could hear in an office, where you might overwrite a file.
Double-Sided (Severance). It's about Mark's outie and innie working out how to communicate: two sides of a conversation, or the two sides of the story of what it is to be Mark. And their communication method involves taping paper letters together, so it's also a play on double-sided tape. I don't entirely like this title, largely because it feels very silly to name a story after double-sided tape.
A Duty to Ourselves (Severance, Mark/Helly/Dylan). Mark S tells Helly they have a duty to themselves not to have romantic or sexual relationships at work. Is that what the title refers to? Or are they actually fulfilling a duty to themselves by giving in and having sex; is the real duty to do things that are meaningful to them, things they enjoy?
Practical Research (Severance, Mark/Dylan). Mark experiments in an effort to learn about his own sexuality: practical research. As with Overwritten, I was aiming for a title that sounded slightly corporate, although I might have missed that mark and hit 'academic' instead.
Excuses (The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, Andrew/Ashley, NB incest, NB fucked up!). Another pretty straightforward title; Andrew is doing something fucked up and trying to make excuses for it.
Where It Leaves Us (Final Fantasy XVI, Clive/Joshua, NB incest). Clive and Joshua decide to thwart the villain by simply remaining in a void forever, and this fic deals with where that decision leaves them, both physically and metaphorically.
The Fine Print of Gratitude (Danganronpa 2). Komaeda looks after Hinata, keeps him company, nurses him back to health; it's hard not to be grateful, to some extent. But then there's the fine print: Komaeda nurses Hinata back to health after attempting to kill him.
I'm not sure whether this post-titling analysis is actually making me any better at choosing titles, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless!
In reverse chronological order, my fic titles for this year so far:
a little too late (Danganronpa). This title sounds more straightforward than it is! It's actually a play on 'too little, too late'. I considered naming the fic too little too late, but I didn't like the suggestion that Mondo's remorse was meaningless. too little, too late (but not nothing) felt too heavy-handed. I ended up going with a little too late; it's definitely too late, and it may only be a little, but 'a little' rather than 'too little' suggests there may be at least some value to it.
who you are and what you want (Deltarune, Kris/Noelle). In this fic, Kris struggles with who they are as a person in the light of intrusive thoughts; does thinking about hurting Noelle means they want to hurt Noelle? I considered who are you and what do you want?, then tweaked it a little to get this.
Communication (Deltarune). This one's a bit of a cop-out. The fic is about Kris communicating with the soul, and, I'll be honest, I couldn't think of a title, so I just grabbed the first relevant word I could think of.
Kindred Spirits (The Hundred Line/Horizon Zero Dawn, slight Yugamu/Nil). This is the sort of title you could theoretically do some fun double-meaning stuff with, but, alas, I have not. I just chose it because Yugamu and Nil have a great deal in common, by which I mean they're both incredibly horny for murder.
Piercing the Heart (The Hundred Line, Yugamu/Takumi). This one, on the other hand, does have a bit of a double meaning to it! Yugamu pierces Takumi's heart in the sense of emotionally getting closer to him, and also in the very literal sense of shoving a blade into his actual heart.
All That's Left (The Hundred Line, everyone/everyone). They're all doomed, and the fic is about the characters taking comfort in all they have left, which in this case is each other.
we're not going to do better next time (The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, Andrew/Ashley, NB incest, NB abuse). I named this fic for this Softer World strip, which I'd previously used for a Coffin of Andy and Leyley edit. Playing the different routes of the game, watching how things just kept falling apart in various awful ways, I started to feel almost like these two were stuck in a time loop where things will inevitably go wrong every time; they just don't have the capacity to make the right choices. It's a thought that both reminded me of the Softer World strip and inspired this fic.
The Long Road Home (Severance, Gemma/Mark). Pretty straightforward; this one's about Gemma finally making it home after a long struggle!
Null (Severance). This title is secretly a very bad pun. The fic is set in a void. I considered titling it Void, but that felt a little too on the nose. So did Null and Void. So I just titled it Null, and left the '...and void' implied.
Finding Air (Severance, Helly/Mark/Dylan/Irving). The fic starts with Helly almost being drowned, and she spends the rest of the fic trying to recover from that experience; she's still drowning in her own head, and she's metaphorically trying to find air. Turns out the secret to feeling like you can breathe again is having sex with all your colleagues.
For Someone Else (Severance). Helena struggles with the fact that the kindness and attention of her colleagues isn't really for her; it's for someone else. It's for the person they think she is.
Anthropology (Severance). This fic is all about Mark trying to understand Helly's outie; the name for the study of humans seemed apt for a fic about studying a person!
Overwritten (Severance). This fic is about Mark being reintegrated, and deals with the question of whether that means having his identity overwritten and replaced by someone else. I also like that it's a word you could hear in an office, where you might overwrite a file.
Double-Sided (Severance). It's about Mark's outie and innie working out how to communicate: two sides of a conversation, or the two sides of the story of what it is to be Mark. And their communication method involves taping paper letters together, so it's also a play on double-sided tape. I don't entirely like this title, largely because it feels very silly to name a story after double-sided tape.
A Duty to Ourselves (Severance, Mark/Helly/Dylan). Mark S tells Helly they have a duty to themselves not to have romantic or sexual relationships at work. Is that what the title refers to? Or are they actually fulfilling a duty to themselves by giving in and having sex; is the real duty to do things that are meaningful to them, things they enjoy?
Practical Research (Severance, Mark/Dylan). Mark experiments in an effort to learn about his own sexuality: practical research. As with Overwritten, I was aiming for a title that sounded slightly corporate, although I might have missed that mark and hit 'academic' instead.
Excuses (The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, Andrew/Ashley, NB incest, NB fucked up!). Another pretty straightforward title; Andrew is doing something fucked up and trying to make excuses for it.
Where It Leaves Us (Final Fantasy XVI, Clive/Joshua, NB incest). Clive and Joshua decide to thwart the villain by simply remaining in a void forever, and this fic deals with where that decision leaves them, both physically and metaphorically.
The Fine Print of Gratitude (Danganronpa 2). Komaeda looks after Hinata, keeps him company, nurses him back to health; it's hard not to be grateful, to some extent. But then there's the fine print: Komaeda nurses Hinata back to health after attempting to kill him.
I'm not sure whether this post-titling analysis is actually making me any better at choosing titles, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless!