Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2026-03-26 10:41 am
rionaleonhart) wrote2026-03-26 10:41 am
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I Can't Help It If I Have Immaculate Taste.
Every so often, I post an analysis of how I chose my recent fic titles! I wasn't expecting to be posting another roundup only three months after the last, but I've launched into this year with a startling quantity of writing.
In reverse chronological order, my fic titles so far this year:
The Verge (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris). I originally envisioned this as a 'five times' fic, which would have made the title very simple: Five Times Chris and Robert Didn't Have Sex. After dropping the 'five times' structure and just writing it as a single linear story that happens to span various incidents, I realised to my horror that I'd have to come up with a new title. I went with The Verge. This fic is about moments in which something almost-but-not-quite happens between Chris and Robert; they're constantly on the verge of something.
Mixed Beans (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris). Absolutely inexcusable title. Robert books a romantic getaway with Chris's mother, Celia Bean! Chris hears 'C Bean' and assumes the romantic getaway is with him! The Beans have become mixed up! Mixed Beans! It was pretty much midnight when I finished this fic, I was desperate for a title so I could get it posted, and the moment the phrase Mixed Beans crossed my mind I became unable to think of anything else.
Ad Libitum (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris). I actually originally envisioned this as one of the scenes in the aforementioned Five Times Chris and Robert Didn't Have Sex fic, but it ended up getting too long, so I spun it off into its own thing and replaced it with the Oedipus Rex scene. This fic is about Robert and Chris, ahem, going a little off-script during a play. I wanted something relating to improvisation or ad-libbing. Ad Lib sounded terrible as a title, so I looked up what it was short for: Ad Libitum. To my delight, I learnt in the process that the phrase literally meant 'at one's pleasure' or 'as you desire'; it was absolutely perfect for a fic about off-script making out.
Chekhov's Knife (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris). At one point in canon, Robert shoots Chris by accident, then points out that he's demonstrated the principle of Chekhov's gun. This fic is about Robert trying to make up for the Chekhov's gun incident by tricking Chris into stabbing him in return. Therefore, Chekhov's Knife. It - it made sense to me at the time.
By Proxy (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris). Canonically, Robert has had a relationship with Chris's mother and Chris has had a relationship with Robert's sister. This is an absolutely bonkers element of their dynamic and I love it. This fic explores whether, by banging each other's family members, they're actually attempting to sleep with each other by proxy.
Finding the Way (The Goes Wrong Show). This one's fairly straightforward; Chris and Robert are stuck in the rainforest and trying to find their way out.
Cast and Crew (The Goes Wrong Show). This title refers to Annie, who is both cast and crew; she starts out as a member of the backstage crew, then joins the cast in The Play That Goes Wrong, and this fic is about that transition.
Backup Heating (The Goes Wrong Show, everyone/everyone). Canonically, Chris refuses to let anyone use the playhouse heating in the stage version of Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, which was a great excuse for embarrassinglyy self-indulgent 'everyone huddles for warmth' fanfiction. Therefore: Backup Heating. The backup heating system is everyone cuddling.
Sleep Well (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris). Robert kisses Chris good night; Chris objects to this; Robert is very concerned that Chris will not sleep well if he doesn't receive an appropriate goodnight kiss in future. The title Sleep Well technically works, but I'm not entirely happy with it because I also have a fic named Sleep Tight in another fandom; this is a little too similar!
Middle Ground (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris). Robert is in love with Chris. Chris is not in love with Robert. They find a way to meet in the middle, a middle ground between having and not having a romantic relationship. By which I mean they have no-strings sex.
The Morning After, Or Not (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris). Pretty much what it says on the tin; this fic is about a morning after that isn't! Chris wakes up in bed with Robert and goes 'oh, God, did we sleep together?' and it turns out that the answer is, in fact, no.
The Outsider (The Goes Wrong Show). This started life as a fill for an 'outsider POV' prompt on the Three-Sentence Ficathon. The Outsider is obviously a fairly straightforward title for an outsider-perspective fic, but there's also a touch of irony in the fact that this fic is about how Vanessa comes to know and ultimately to join the drama society; in the end, she's no longer an outsider.
Educational Experiences (The Goes Wrong Show, everyone/everyone). The educational experience in question is fucking; there's a lot of the drama society sleeping together here! The title comes from one of Robert's lines in the fic: 'Sleeping with one's castmates is an educational experience; it informs love scenes and such.'
Gone Astray (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris). This fic is set around Christmas, so I thought I could take the title from a Christmas carol. It's got some slightly melancholy elements, so I looked specifically at the lyrics for 'God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen', which always sounds a little melacholy to my ear. I ended up going with Gone Astray (from 'when we were gone astray') because it seemed to fit Chris shepherding a drunken Robert back home with him.
Performance Notes (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris, Robert/everyone). I was so pleased with this title. I looked up lists of common theatre terms, trying to find something that could fit, and then I spotted the phrase 'performance notes' thrown out offhand; it wasn't actually one of the terms listed in the article I was looking through, but it happened to be mentioned in a definition of another term. It was perfect. Robert sleeps with a bunch of other members of the society, and then gives his opinion on how satisfactory their sexual performance was. Performance notes!
The Sensible Thing (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Vanessa). Robert casually proposes to Vanessa; Vanessa spends the rest of the fic desperately trying to achieve the sensible thing of turning him down.
Broken Hearts and Broken Bones (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris). The broken heart is... theoretically Robert's, because this fic is about him being in unrequited love with Chris and attempting to seduce him. The broken bones are on account of the inevitable injuries that take place as a result. This title doesn't entirely fit - Robert doesn't feel especially broken-hearted - but I liked the sound of it as a title, so I thought I'd attempt to get away with it.
The Fic That Goes Wrong (The Goes Wrong Show). This is obviously titled by analogy with The Play That Goes Wrong; it's a work of fanfiction that goes awry, in much the same way the Cornley Drama Society's plays do.
Bad Timing (Ace Attorney, Apollo/Trucy, NB accidental incest). I actually managed to post one non-Goes Wrong fic at the start of the year, before Goes Wrong canon ate me! Phoenix tells Apollo and Trucy that they're half-siblings. His timing is, er. Well, it would probably have been better if he'd told them before they ended up in a relationship.
My last couple of Goes Wrong Show fics have been less popular than my others on AO3; it's a small fandom, so nothing gets a huge readership, but the drop from around fifteen kudos to two kudos still caught my attention. I'm not panicking about this - they got a lovely response here on Dreamwidth, so I'm happy! - but it did make me wonder whether there was a reason. Did people drift away from the fandom after Christmas Carol Goes Wrong ended its run in theatres? Did I mess up the summaries somehow?
It took me an embarrassingly long time to realise the answer: my last two fics heavily reference Robert banging Chris's mother, and it simply had not occurred to me that this may not be a selling point for the majority of Robert/Chris shippers. I forget sometimes that not everyone is as delighted by this as me.
In reverse chronological order, my fic titles so far this year:
The Verge (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris). I originally envisioned this as a 'five times' fic, which would have made the title very simple: Five Times Chris and Robert Didn't Have Sex. After dropping the 'five times' structure and just writing it as a single linear story that happens to span various incidents, I realised to my horror that I'd have to come up with a new title. I went with The Verge. This fic is about moments in which something almost-but-not-quite happens between Chris and Robert; they're constantly on the verge of something.
Mixed Beans (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris). Absolutely inexcusable title. Robert books a romantic getaway with Chris's mother, Celia Bean! Chris hears 'C Bean' and assumes the romantic getaway is with him! The Beans have become mixed up! Mixed Beans! It was pretty much midnight when I finished this fic, I was desperate for a title so I could get it posted, and the moment the phrase Mixed Beans crossed my mind I became unable to think of anything else.
Ad Libitum (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris). I actually originally envisioned this as one of the scenes in the aforementioned Five Times Chris and Robert Didn't Have Sex fic, but it ended up getting too long, so I spun it off into its own thing and replaced it with the Oedipus Rex scene. This fic is about Robert and Chris, ahem, going a little off-script during a play. I wanted something relating to improvisation or ad-libbing. Ad Lib sounded terrible as a title, so I looked up what it was short for: Ad Libitum. To my delight, I learnt in the process that the phrase literally meant 'at one's pleasure' or 'as you desire'; it was absolutely perfect for a fic about off-script making out.
Chekhov's Knife (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris). At one point in canon, Robert shoots Chris by accident, then points out that he's demonstrated the principle of Chekhov's gun. This fic is about Robert trying to make up for the Chekhov's gun incident by tricking Chris into stabbing him in return. Therefore, Chekhov's Knife. It - it made sense to me at the time.
By Proxy (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris). Canonically, Robert has had a relationship with Chris's mother and Chris has had a relationship with Robert's sister. This is an absolutely bonkers element of their dynamic and I love it. This fic explores whether, by banging each other's family members, they're actually attempting to sleep with each other by proxy.
Finding the Way (The Goes Wrong Show). This one's fairly straightforward; Chris and Robert are stuck in the rainforest and trying to find their way out.
Cast and Crew (The Goes Wrong Show). This title refers to Annie, who is both cast and crew; she starts out as a member of the backstage crew, then joins the cast in The Play That Goes Wrong, and this fic is about that transition.
Backup Heating (The Goes Wrong Show, everyone/everyone). Canonically, Chris refuses to let anyone use the playhouse heating in the stage version of Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, which was a great excuse for embarrassinglyy self-indulgent 'everyone huddles for warmth' fanfiction. Therefore: Backup Heating. The backup heating system is everyone cuddling.
Sleep Well (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris). Robert kisses Chris good night; Chris objects to this; Robert is very concerned that Chris will not sleep well if he doesn't receive an appropriate goodnight kiss in future. The title Sleep Well technically works, but I'm not entirely happy with it because I also have a fic named Sleep Tight in another fandom; this is a little too similar!
Middle Ground (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris). Robert is in love with Chris. Chris is not in love with Robert. They find a way to meet in the middle, a middle ground between having and not having a romantic relationship. By which I mean they have no-strings sex.
The Morning After, Or Not (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris). Pretty much what it says on the tin; this fic is about a morning after that isn't! Chris wakes up in bed with Robert and goes 'oh, God, did we sleep together?' and it turns out that the answer is, in fact, no.
The Outsider (The Goes Wrong Show). This started life as a fill for an 'outsider POV' prompt on the Three-Sentence Ficathon. The Outsider is obviously a fairly straightforward title for an outsider-perspective fic, but there's also a touch of irony in the fact that this fic is about how Vanessa comes to know and ultimately to join the drama society; in the end, she's no longer an outsider.
Educational Experiences (The Goes Wrong Show, everyone/everyone). The educational experience in question is fucking; there's a lot of the drama society sleeping together here! The title comes from one of Robert's lines in the fic: 'Sleeping with one's castmates is an educational experience; it informs love scenes and such.'
Gone Astray (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris). This fic is set around Christmas, so I thought I could take the title from a Christmas carol. It's got some slightly melancholy elements, so I looked specifically at the lyrics for 'God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen', which always sounds a little melacholy to my ear. I ended up going with Gone Astray (from 'when we were gone astray') because it seemed to fit Chris shepherding a drunken Robert back home with him.
Performance Notes (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris, Robert/everyone). I was so pleased with this title. I looked up lists of common theatre terms, trying to find something that could fit, and then I spotted the phrase 'performance notes' thrown out offhand; it wasn't actually one of the terms listed in the article I was looking through, but it happened to be mentioned in a definition of another term. It was perfect. Robert sleeps with a bunch of other members of the society, and then gives his opinion on how satisfactory their sexual performance was. Performance notes!
The Sensible Thing (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Vanessa). Robert casually proposes to Vanessa; Vanessa spends the rest of the fic desperately trying to achieve the sensible thing of turning him down.
Broken Hearts and Broken Bones (The Goes Wrong Show, Robert/Chris). The broken heart is... theoretically Robert's, because this fic is about him being in unrequited love with Chris and attempting to seduce him. The broken bones are on account of the inevitable injuries that take place as a result. This title doesn't entirely fit - Robert doesn't feel especially broken-hearted - but I liked the sound of it as a title, so I thought I'd attempt to get away with it.
The Fic That Goes Wrong (The Goes Wrong Show). This is obviously titled by analogy with The Play That Goes Wrong; it's a work of fanfiction that goes awry, in much the same way the Cornley Drama Society's plays do.
Bad Timing (Ace Attorney, Apollo/Trucy, NB accidental incest). I actually managed to post one non-Goes Wrong fic at the start of the year, before Goes Wrong canon ate me! Phoenix tells Apollo and Trucy that they're half-siblings. His timing is, er. Well, it would probably have been better if he'd told them before they ended up in a relationship.
My last couple of Goes Wrong Show fics have been less popular than my others on AO3; it's a small fandom, so nothing gets a huge readership, but the drop from around fifteen kudos to two kudos still caught my attention. I'm not panicking about this - they got a lovely response here on Dreamwidth, so I'm happy! - but it did make me wonder whether there was a reason. Did people drift away from the fandom after Christmas Carol Goes Wrong ended its run in theatres? Did I mess up the summaries somehow?
It took me an embarrassingly long time to realise the answer: my last two fics heavily reference Robert banging Chris's mother, and it simply had not occurred to me that this may not be a selling point for the majority of Robert/Chris shippers. I forget sometimes that not everyone is as delighted by this as me.
no subject
Oh, that is a hilarious answer! Unfortunately, some people in fandom have less delightfully interesting taste than you have.
no subject
Chris: (looking haunted) Is it the fact that you keep referencing Robert's affair with my mother? Therefore, among other things, bringing to mind the time this came to light on our radio show? The time Robert forced me to call him Dad?
Riona: (absently) No, that makes your relationship better, obviously.
Chris: D-does it?
Riona: What could it be?