#for poetic symmetry or something

[melivora]

Managed to get the number of a guy who I like but I only got it via someone else asking for our numbers so I'm happy but like also I cheated myself out of a challenge

[seawitchkaraoke]

Not to be poetic about an April's fools video but there's something about the symmetry between Cleo and Scott in both their victories being achieved by a zombie getting the final hit. Something something Cleo called a Zombie to help Scott in last life bc he's their friend and then in real life she called a zombie for herself

[yurizzsblog]

Ways To End Your Story:

1. **Resolved Ending**: Tie up all loose ends and provide clear outcomes for the characters and plot. This gives readers a sense of closure and completeness.

2. **Unresolved Ending**: Leave some aspects of the story open to interpretation or future development. This can keep readers thinking about the story long after they’ve finished it.

3. **Twist Ending**: Introduce an unexpected turn of events that changes the reader's understanding of the story. This can add a memorable and surprising element to the narrative.

4. **Full Circle**: Return to a theme, setting, or idea from the beginning of the story. This creates a sense of symmetry and can highlight the protagonist’s journey.

5. **Cliffhanger**: End the story at a suspenseful moment. This is effective for serialized stories or when a sequel is planned, as it leaves readers eager for more.

6. **Poetic or Symbolic Ending**: Use imagery or symbolism to convey the story's final message or theme. This can leave a lasting impression through evocative language or visuals.

7. **Moral or Philosophical Conclusion**: Provide a clear message or lesson. This type of ending often gives readers something to ponder and reflects the story's deeper meanings.

8. **Character Reflection**: Allow the protagonist to reflect on their experiences and growth. This can provide emotional closure and insight into the character's development.

9. **Epiphany**: End with a sudden realization or revelation by the protagonist. This can be a powerful way to show character growth and change.

10. **Ambiguous Ending**: Leave the ending open to multiple interpretations. This can engage readers in discussions and debates about the story’s meaning and possible outcomes.

Choosing the right ending depends on the story's genre, tone, and the message you wish to convey to your readers.

[bookishcatcafe]

A Short Hellerby Fanfiction

Mordecai leaped over the wooden crate as a string of bullets followed him. He panted as he reloaded his revolver. As he did, bullets shot against the crate, some of them going through it, and barely grazing the cat.

His eyes fully dilated at the rush of rounds soaring around him. This wasn’t his first rodeo with violence and he’d be damned if it was his last. Then, a sudden silence.

Such a quiet felt like forever. It was shrouded by the swiftness of his heartbeat, the idle wind passing around them, and the shuffling of feet and anxious hands trying to reload. A soft curse under the tongue. The enemy was impatient, ruthless, and he was not docile to their demands.

After a click of the hammer, he shot up over the crate, standing while glaring back at his assailants, before firing the shots. One by one they kneeled over into a bloody mess. Suits drenched with moist redness, stained as the brush from the colour of pomegranates.

As the last one fell, crawling towards some semblance of safety, Mordecai walked over, aiming again.

“Do not double cross us again.” He pushed a heel onto the tannish cat’s leg, the exit wound spurting from his abdomen. The cat groaned and cried out in pain. Mordecai was prepared for just the occasion. He wore his black leather gloves and leaned over the dying man, opening his waistcoat, and pulled out a letter which now was stained in a darkish hue of reddish brown.

“I’ll take this. Property of Marigold. A thief knows the number one rule is to never be spotted out as such. You failed in just this mere task. Such an inkling would make one surmise you to be a beginner. A novice pickpocket. A dandy who knows not a lick of what it means…” he steps off the man and dusts his own waistcoat,

“To be an honest worker.” He pulls the trigger.

A silence once more. The slow creaking of the ceiling fan. Or is that the mattress? Sweat drenched Mordecai, the blanket was askew—another dream. Another nightmare, more specifically, why was it that one? What depravity was this, which haunted him, dream he’d been having every other night—no precursors—just happenstance.

Then it hit him: the smell. Flapjacks. A usual. Tradition! And coffee? More tradition!

His blurred vision became apparent, especially after rubbing one’s eyes, a yawn, the stuttered breath: the morning routine as it were.

A scratch of the chest, more specifically the white tank top, which now was drenched.

His glasses lay on the side table. He put them on.

In clarity, he saw him: his dear, adorned in a flour covered apron.

Roarke.

Rocky, the living personification of poetics. The vagrant Grecian urn turned prohibitionite—a rumrunner. The magnitude of his chaotic personality was tenfold during every mission he dealt out from Miss M. It diminished on the daily, he hid it well, yet it would slip within the cracks of this aged vase.

Mordecai was no older, then again, that’s just something he’d say to himself to disregard the obvious physical evidence of time passing on. The grey hairs started to pop a few months ago. The lines on his face became more apparent from years of stress and need for perfect symmetry, be it order in Marigold, his constant studying, the years of hiding, the possible acts of vagrancy through moments of rumrunning and murder. This in particular came with the toll of two options of response, of trauma in aftershocks or of bleak stoicism with hints of nihilistic performance.

Yet, when he saw Rocky in his dainty outfits, in such a gaily almost dandy ways of self-performance—it brought a warmth to his shivering heart.

He got out of bed, yawning once more, and stumbled toward the bathroom to freshen up.

This. This is what made Mordecai. What is Mordecai? Mordecai is an intellectual witty man, aged by moments in time, experienced, and one who does not follow by ego. He follows by heart and for the need for order—and in some moments—a desire for sustaining himself.

After washing up, he walked to the kitchen. Rocky wiggled his hips slowly, singing ‘Blue Skies’ as he sauntered over to Mordecai.

“My blue skyyy…smilin at meee…” Rocky held a hand out. Mordecai chuckled and held his hand while making sure not to get covered in flour, swirling Rocky who was laughing before he continued singing. He slowly stopped as Mordecai gave him a peck on the lips. “Thank you for not waking me…and for making breakfast.”

“You were rather tired last night. Too much celebration!”

“Yes—no? Well we did have a big score—oh god did I drink?”

“Yes. You get really rambunctious when you’re drunk.”

Rocky laughed. Mordecai went over to his drawers and started pulling out clothes for today. Rocky tried to pull him into a barrage of kisses, but Mordecai gave in, a small smirk on his face as his need to truly get properly ready being delayed by affection. Not that he didn’t mind it.

“I must get ready. You knowww—haha—you know I how I am, you silly romantic affectionate boy!”

Rocky continued for a moment before stopping. He truly loved the man. They might’ve seemed like opposites, especially at first, but attraction knows no boundaries especially regarding one’s differences. Sometimes those things bring people closer—in the right circumstance.

He soon was dressed in a white undershirt, dark grey pleats, leather brown suspenders hooked to the buttons of his pants, black oxfords, and for when he would actually leave his home a black overcoat with a red tie.

Mordecai sat down and began eating.

Rocky ate with some speed, though Mordecai would give him a look, as if to tell him to slow down.

Rocky started to speak. “Well besides work…maybe we could go out for some fun?”

Mordecai sipped his coffee. “Like what?”

“A movie?”

“How about a play?”

“Play could work.”

“Hamlet?”

“Faust?”

“We can just see what’s performed today. Our guesses will do no good.”

Both of them, starting with Rocky, began snickering. The morning was just beginning, the day ahead was free for the taking, and their plans would have to come with due time. Time, which the both of them have to share in earnest collaboration, not that either would mind otherwise.

[frodo-with-glasses]

'Avuncular' seems like a very Lord of the Rings-y word!

BOY does it! For those who don't know, Merriam-Webster defines avuncular as:

"suggestive of an uncle, especially in kindliness or geniality"

"of or relating to an uncle"

In layman's terms: uncle-related or uncle-ish. There's a lot of that going on in this book, and a lot to talk about!

Of course the epitomical example in LotR is Frodo and Bilbo. Now, pedants (like myself) will point out that they aren't technically uncle and nephew, but cousins; Frodo is Bilbo's first and second cousin, once removed on both sides. If I recall correctly—correct me if I'm wrong—Frodo never actually calls Bilbo his uncle in the books, nor does anybody else. It seems to be something the movies made up to fit their relationship into a neat little box and avoid unnecessary confusion in the audience. But given that Bilbo falls into the category of "too old to be a peer, not close enough to be a father, floating in-between in a vaguely mentorlike (but not particularly responsible) state", I'd say he definitely counts for the "uncle-ish" definition of avuncular.

The next uncle that comes to mind is 100% literal: Theoden! Fun fact, avuncular comes from the Latin word avunculus, which specifically means "maternal uncle" (as opposed to the paternal equivalent: patruus, according to one website). So, since Eowyn and Eomer are the children of his youngest sister, Theodwyn, Theoden actually fits the ancient definition as well! Appendix A tells us that Theoden "loved his sister dearly"—which I interpret to mean that he played favorites among his siblings and she was it—and that he took Eowyn and Eomer as his own after their parents died in quick succession while they were young. So, once again, he is both their uncle and kinda their dad.

The next uncle that comes to mind is Iorlas. To my knowledge, he is only mentioned ONCE in the book, but because I am obsessed with Beregond and Bergil and their family (and just have a general affinity for overthinking minor characters anyway), you BET I remembered him. Based on context clues, we can assume a few things about Iorlas: a) he is likely a maternal uncle as well, since everyone on the paternal side has a name that starts with "B" (Baranor, Beregond, Bergil); b) he might live in Lossnarch, which Bergil mentions as the place his grandfather lives; and c) he has a good relationship with his nephew. Bergil mentions him immediately upon hearing how old Pippin is, which to me says that Iorlas is a pretty constant fixture in Bergil's life, and is an adult that Bergil really likes. My personal headcannon is that Bergil idolizes Uncle Iorlas and thinks he hung the moon; only because he thinks Dad hung the sun.

And FINALLY, to round out this discussion of uncles in LotR, I will end with a mention of the uncle that I wish got to happen: Frodo, for Sam's kids. You can't tell me there wouldn't have been a lovely bit of poetic symmetry to Frodo getting to raise and mentor the little Gamgees in the exact same way Bilbo had done for him. I can't really see Frodo ever getting married and having children himself—like Bilbo, he seems to be an eternal bachelor, and I'm pretty sure if he wanted to get married he would have done it by now—but there's no doubt in my mind that he would have loved and nurtured and spoiled the heck out of all thirteen of Sam's little munchkins if he ever got the chance. Which is why the Magnolia AU exists. Because thinking about Frodo telling stories to an enthralled audience of little Gamgees (a few individuals of which are vying with each other for the coveted story-listening spot on his lap) just makes my heart feel whole.

WORD ASK GAME!

[windsweptinred]

Still thinking about your last corithiel hc with Ruin as special guest! Can I ask for more details about it? <3

Ahhhhh Ruin and Corinthiel. 😅 You know, this started off as such a crack headcanon... But actually going back and viewing Ruin with a Corinthiel magnifying glass makes him SO much more interesting.

Like most I think the first time I read The Dreaming: The Waking Hours, I viewed Ruin as a hopeless disaster. And not in a sexy Constantine type way... In a, oh Ruin.. Deep deep sigh... type way. But that kind of does make sense. As far as we're aware Ruin is Daniel's first independent creation as Dream. He's hopeless, insecure and desperately wants to escape his role in the Dreaming. Which makes sense, because he's a perfect reflection of his creator, who is suffering from a cosmic case of imposter syndrome. Is also full of doubt about filling Morpheus's shoes and possibly in the darkest reccess of his mind wishes he was elsewhere.

(Also Daniel, Babygirl... Sweetcheeks. We love you, we feel your suffering. But Ruin's right there. Greet your creation first, wallow in self pity later. )

And there my assessment of Ruin would end. A young nightmare created by a young creator who inherited all this masters insecurities. Yet forged a path for himself despite it all....But (snaps on the shipping goggles) revisiting the comic, I did start to notice some similarities...

Ruin is no Corinthian, no masterpiece of an artistic maestro. He's raw art created by unpractised hands. But when you line them up side by side, there's an interesting correlation. Ruin is rebellious to fault if he feels his rebellion is justifiable. Will not bend to his Creators will, no matter what that may cost him. And has a deep, intsense, almost blinding passion to the point of fixation. He'll do anything to find Ben, anything to be with Ben. Anything so he's the centre of Ben's world. And has a tendency to turn self destructive if something impedes that. Sound familiar?

Was Daniel's aim to create the Corinthian 3.0...absolutely not. I doubt he'd have the want or the confidence to try. But did he indirectly pour into Ruin a part of him, but also what his experience of what a preeminent nightmare is, what the nightmare closet to him is?

I think Morpheus's last creation, the second iteration of the Corinthian, and Daniel's first, Ruin, have a strange poetic symmetry to them. Similar in temperament and how they both stand apart from the rest of the Dreamings nightmares. (One could argue a case for Gault ofcourse. But the Corinthian and Ruin share a self centeredness in their desires Gault doesn't. Gault wanted to inspire to change, Ruin and the Corinthian want what they class as theirs and WILL get it) Daniel crafted Ruin, no matter how subconsciously to be different, to be a nightmare who can love. And well, if he's a reflection of the second Corinthian, who was molded a little different to the first, with something that makes him the same, but different... Well. 😏

So Ruin, still a hopeless little nightmare. But an interesting part of the Corinthian 2.0 and Daniel's cycle of rebirth of the new, yet a reflection of the old. A restart to Daniel's reign reflecting the conclusion of Morpheus's.

...................................................................

Now leaving attempts at reason behind and falling arse over tit into full on Corinthiel goodness, when a dark mirror of humanity and an anthropomorphic personification of Dreams love each other very much... Said Dream Lord can accidently make a sentient manifestation of that love. Cori, you may as well call Ruin, 'Junior' cause you ARE the Co parent. 🤣

Ruin is such a little Corinthiel scrapbook made flesh... Dreamstuff. A Nightmare born with one goal, one he feels destined to fullfill, to find his beloved and be by their side always. That's it. When we talk about Morpheus crafting Cori for Daniel, well..Did Daniel stand on the beach of creation thinking, Oh how I love you, let me create a tiny terror tot to show you the ways. 😆 Seriously, part of me needs a fic where Cori and Dani are oblivious idiots who slowly realise they're in love through Ruin. Who is literally a walking, talking flashcard there for all to see, saying, Yes, you're in love, just kiss each other!!! The Corinthian being lumped with abysmal baby nightmare as a student and lamenting every second. Daniel slumping dramatically about the Dreaming in woe over his failure as a creator. Meanwhile Matthew is desperately trying to point out.. "Guys, I think blue's existence is trying to tell you something important." 😆

[sadhorsegirl]

need it on the official record that i do love moiraine and lan's relationship sososo much!!!

i love the implicit understanding they have with each other, based partially in the fact that they are both heirs separated from a crown for very different reasons. moiraine and lan are both people who cannot go back to where they came from, whether they want to or not. so there is this shared sense of loneliness, and drift that they share, wrapped up in the idea that they probably aren't going to survive the last battle (or even the journey to it) and would rather sacrifice themselves than have anyone they care for or, in moiraine's case for some people deem more necessary to The Pattern (although to be fair to her, this often still means having a certain level of care for them she just um. wasn't raised to know how to show any healthy positive emotion i don't think) moving in companionable silence eternally Searching™

i've grown increasingly haunted by this exchange they have at the end of new spring:

like............"surrender after you are dead. yes." is the sentiment set up as one of the core values of their partnership starting from the very moment she decides to ask lan to be her warder. surely, this will end well for all parties and will NOT have any tragic implications!

it sets up this really harsh poetic symmetry (surprise) when they have their Big Fight™ in the great hunt. moiraine LITERALLY invokes how they first met with funny little jokes abt him throwing her in a pond to get his defenses down so she can jump scare him w an intense re-examination of their relationship. the whole fight is basically her forcing him to think on his toes so she can examine him at his most basic emotional level in order to try and expose the truth abt how he feels, going from playful to painful at the flip of a coin lol. and he's aware of it!!! him calling her out on it and her answering back w patented Aes Sedai Speak, in a relationship that should be free of such manipulation.....

the real master stroke here, though, is the fact that the chapter is from moiraine's pov. we get to see her own inner thoughts about it and see that beneath the devastating chess game she's playing she's just as heartbroken at having to play it. the argument is really a crystalization of what makes her such an interesting character for me -- she is leveraging absolutely brutal social dynamics in order to, from her perspective, HELP someone she cares for deeply.

essentially, moiraine is saying that in his love for nynaeve he's found something to live for beyond sacrifice and that means that their bond to each other must be terminated. he can create a new life, and bc she thinks she understands how everything will play out moiraine thinks she is just cutting down the time before he realizes he can and will ask for her to dissolve the bond anyway. he isn't wed to death anymore, leaving the heavy implication that moiraine still is.

which sets us up for something really interesting for them in s2 i think! while their relationship in the show seems to generally be under less strain than it is where we see them in the mainline series, there remains another crucial difference btw the books and the show -- moiraine has siuan!!!!! im rly excited to see how that comes into play in terms of any potential interpretation of this fight/the breakdown of lan and moiraine's relationship bc it makes her decision to push him away feel even more hypocritical and rooted in her tendency to be self-sacrificing to the point of self loathing.

tldr for anyone just trying to figure out what this might all mean for season two according to one singular poster on tumblr dot com: in the books moiraine feels very........time to burn all bridges so no one can chase after me on my suicide mission basically and i can't say im NOT excited to see if that's where she ends up in the show (to live is to suffer etc etc)

[labelle-dame-sansmerci]

Interview with The Vampire - Part I: An Annotation

Page 5

1791, and Louis is 25 years old

Louis has obviously traveled because his accent has faded over the years, but remnants of it remain, as noted by "boy"

Page 7-8

"Then he told me about the visions. Both St. Dominic and the Blessed Virgin Mary...had told him he was to sell all our property...everything we owned, and use the money to do God's work in France"

It's interesting that his brother (Paul, not yet named) mentions selling the plantation to do God's work but never mentions freeing or doing right by the people working their fields.

Page 9

Why would a holy man commit su!cide? Especially a devout Catholic.

Was Louis' brother "helped" to his end?

Page 10

This has to be the birth of Louis' guilt, receiving unfounded blame from everyone for his brother's death.

Page 11

"And then I was attacked...it was a vampire."

Enter Lestat (although he has not yet been named)

Page 14

"I saw my life as if I stood apart from it, the vanity, the self-serving, the constant fleeing from one petty annoyance after another, the lip service to God and the Virgin and a host of saints whose names filled my prayer books, none who made the slightest difference in a narrow materialistic and selfish existence. I saw my real gods...the gods of most men."

Louis revisits the foundations of faith, belief and spiritual trust.

Lestat didn't ask Louis to be his companion; however, his words convinced Louis to join him.

Page 15

Louis' comparison of his transformation to sex might be the first sign of AR's idea of intimacy for vampires as the blood exchange.

AR names Lestat.

Page 16

Louis focuses on how the death of the overseer made him feel squeamish and sick, but as a slave owner, was he this morally inclined towards the people working his land?

Page 17

WHY IS LOUIS AROUSED. Red flag???

"But the other light was my wish for self-destruction. My desire to be thoroughly damned."

Still, the consistent guilt and wish to destroy himself.

"As I said, he was determined to have the plantation."

Everyone in Louis' life needs/wants something from him.

Page 18

AR names Louis

"...he lay down beside me...his movement so graceful and so personal that at once it made me think of a lover..."

The tenderness in which Lestat holds Louis to unmake and remake him is delicate, gentle, sensual and caring. It's intimate.

Page 19

"It is your consciousness, your will, which must keep you alive."

There's something poetic about telling a su!cidal man that he needs to find the will to live so he can be reborn.

There's a morbid symmetry to Louis being reborn where his brother died.

Implications of Lestat being Louis' angel of death

"that shimmer of light now hung behind his head like the backdrop of an apparition"

Page 20 & 21

Louis, for SURE has mommy issues - he refers to the women, their breasts and comfort and sustenance twice in the span of two pages.

Page 22 & 25

Lestat is very cold and detached in Louis' post-bite transformation experience.

Page 27

It's just how the world was, but I have to admit I'm repeatedly uncomfortable with Louis' thoughts on his slaves. Even when he feels he's complimenting or dolling out praise - it's awkward.

Page 29

"...when I sucked the blood from Lestat's wrist and felt his heart pound with my heart. It is again and again a celebration of that experience; because for vampires that is the ultimate experience."

More evidence of the blood exchange being AR's intimacy and sensuality for vampires.

Page 32

Louis' first acknowledgement of love or relation to it is the idea of seeing/experiencing/understanding the world with renewed inspiration due to his ability to appreciate it and the time to do so.

Page 34

AR names Paul

Page 45

Louis remarks that Lestat is "just a killer" and that being a vampire meant an opportunity for revenge.

If we think more about that, we have to consider that while Lestat was cold and maniacal, something truly traumatic must have happened to him to have this scorch-the-earth mentality. This obviously doesn't absolve his behavior.

Page 55

We're introduced to the origins of Lestat's trauma.

Page 59

Another angel comparison

At this point is quite plain that Louis is arrogant and prideful in his own way. Self-righteous.

Page 61

Louis practically likens himself to a guardian angel

"Did I not help you at the very moment when you needed most guidance...Did I not twice offer you good counsel? And haven't I watched over your happiness ever since?"

Page 62

Louis refers to the taking of Babette's life in intimate terms Saying that he could only ever come to know her:

"...through the one final way; to take her life, to become one with her in an embrace of death when my soul would become one with her heart and nourished with it."

Page 63

L&L have been companions for four years

Page 64

Louis again references love - this time, it's an appreciation of Babette's personal qualities.

Page 72

Even in this life after death, Louis' existence is a never-ending identity crisis.

Page 81

Is Lestat being helpful?

Page 83 - 85

At this moment, when Louis and Lestat are conversing about vampires in groups, there's always one in service to another, and Lestat says that vampires increase through slavery.

Lestat is a terrorist.

I found it interesting that they're having this conversation about slavery, and AR set this story during a time of slavery where one group of people are profiting from the life force and servitude of another group of people. Almost like a subliminal message that, in their own way, slave owners are vampires, sucking the life out of others and increasing their own wealth through slavery.

Page 86 & 87

Does Lestat receive Louis' rejection of a "full" vampire life, as Lestat has described it, as a rejection of him?

Is Lestat trying to create camaraderie?

Also, are these moments of rare physical contact between the two?

Page 88 & 91

More angel references

Enter Claudia

Page 94

Lestat doesn't want to be alone.

"Keeping me with him, that was undoubtedly part of what pushed him."

Page 95

Louis brushing off questions about the origins of Lestat's trauma, not really wanting to give it thought, is understandable but dismissive at the same time.

Page 103

Claudia is terrifying. There's an unnatural coldness about her - one that surpasses the insanity of Lestat.

Page 116

Claudia is 65 years old - that would make L&L's time together almost 70 years..?

Page 121

Claudia really is a little Lestat with more coldness and less regard for others.

Page 131

"And I hope it's a beautiful woman with endowments you'll never possess..."

Jesu Christo, Lestat!

Page 134

Lestat looking towards Louis for aid, pulls at the heartstrings - despite their combative relationship, I think he expects his companion of several decades to protect him. I suspect in many ways, Lestat has gotten used to Louis in his life and feels a connection with him as a long-term companion.

Lestat crying to God is surprising - glance back and see what his relationship with religion was prior to this scene.

Page 137 & 138

Louis is in pain. Lestat's death has definitely emotionally maimed him.

He misses the familiarity of Lestat.

I think his soul feels Lestat calling to him - there's something very personal about his wading solo into the water with his companion's body, letting the water claim it.

They are most definitely connected.

Louis is experiencing grief in a way he hasn't expressed grief for others.

Page 139

Claudia is emotionally manipulative - crying to bring Louis back to her was calculated.

Page 142

More angel references

                                               END OF PART 1

Final Thoughts on Part 1

Louis

·         Louis has traded Lestat's control for Claudia's.

·         Louis still feels in a very humane way, and for that reason, I don't think he will ever find his equal in an immortal companion.

·         I think there’s a darkness to Louis that we aren’t fully experiencing because he’s narrating.

·         Louis obviously has mental health issues, but he also has a victim mindset which is potentially quite toxic.

·         Louis might not admit it, but I suspect he’s quite attached to Lestat because he remained with him for nearly 70 years and mourned him when after Claudia poisoned him.

 Claudia

·         Lestat's demise needed to happen, but in the same way, Claudia also needs a reckoning - she's out of control.

·         Claudia is eerily similar to Lestat in terms of her premeditated and callous behavior. Despite the humanity Louis tried to pour into her ear, she experiences everything in a very cold and detached way.

 Lestat

·         Louis implies that Lestat turned him for his plantation, but I believe Lestat must have desired him on some level because Lestat could have easily turned his sister, killed Louis, and assumed full ownership of the property.

AR

·         Intimacy in this universe is very much about the desire for and exchange of blood.

·         Rice really plays into the religious themes with an emphasis to heavenly beings.

This is reposted from my Reddit

[ohbuckie]

bassist!bucky barnes setlist

setlist here. masterlist here.

beachboy — mccafferty

silly little song about his high school girlfriend. juvenile and fast-paced and sort of chaotic. tales the rise and fall of their relationship—he loved her so bad and she dumped him before they left for college because she didn't want to do long distance. the shouting and the harsh words are absolutely him exaggerating and being dramatic and he likes to play it always because he just. loves it. and it's fun to perform.

spidersong — say anything

just horny. song about fucking but in a weird bucky way. he just needs everyone to know he is horny in a tasteful but still nasty way. def written in early college when he was having lots of casual sex.

pollyanna — northstar

just a popular one that he sort of has to play but wouldn't choose to if it were up to him, as it's most definitely about your breakup. sort of like a commercialized version of the pain he was feeling—something to make it appealing to other people. most of the other songs he wrote when you left were way too depressing to officially release.

my own worst enemy — lit

a shallow song that he just likes and threw onto an album and performs bc fans like it. definitely written when his career started taking off and he was pretty young and irresponsible.

i forgot to take my meds today — prince daddy & the hyenas

i think he's sort of reliant on antidepressants but often forgets to take them, especially when he's touring and doesn't have a very solid routine and it really frustrates him to feel so shitty and have it be his own fault.

a detailed and poetic physical threat to the person who intentionally vandalized my 1994 dodge intrepid behind kate's apartment — pet symmetry

another sort of silly song but also not that silly because bucky loves his car and it's the only thing he would ever spend lots of money on before he had a lot of money to spend. written in college when he was struggling hard financially and somebody...did exactly what the title says.

80 — green day

bucky simply writing about how much he loves you and how much he misses you when he isn't with you—especially when he's on tour or drunk or both.

she's the prettiest girl at the party, and she can prove it with a solid right hook — frnkiero and the cellabration

once again, he's just obsessed with you. so in love with everything you do. totally enamored of you.

coming clean — green day

written when he's ready to admit his bisexuality to himself (and steve, probably freshman year of college) but not to his parents (mostly because of his dad).

total revenge — say anything

also about being in love with you, as well as his struggles with himself and his insecurities about not being good enough for you.

near death fail comp. (must watch til end) — mom jeans

about his insecurities/mental health again. pushing you and his friends away when he sort of starts to lose his grip and is going through periods of being really down.

father — the front bottoms

pretty obvious, but this one is addressed to his high school girlfriend (i'm thinking he probably wrote this in 11th or 12th grade and only really still performs it because it's really popular) and is about his relationship with his abusive dad. there are a lot of sort of "ugly" confessions and implications in this one that i think he was probably ashamed or nervous to say out loud when he first wrote it and would perform it, especially when his dad was still alive, but it kind of feels good to shout it to a giant room full of people now (and to have them shout it back).

five beer plan — joyce manor

more upsetting, in a way, about his dad and his mental health, because it details an artificial relationship between them that his dad liked to pretend they had when he wasn't being violent. idk. just bucky telling his dad to his face about what he's feeling (and of course only doing it because he wants him to know it's his fault).

of all the gin joints in all the world — fall out boy

when your relationship is starting to fall off because you're both so busy and you're struggling to communicate but making up for it with sex. he's sort of flip-flopping between talking about loving you and talking about ways in which your relationship is hurting him. definitely isn't released (and probably isn't written/finished) until after you break up.

death cup — mom jeans

desperate and gut-wrenching breakup song. he feels sorry for himself and is so gentle in his delivery with the lyrics because he feels so fucking hopeless. he is just totally defeated because he can't see things getting better for him since he knows that the breakup will only make all of his nasty habits (the ones that you broke up with him because of) worse. i think that the only reason he still performs it after you get back together is because it sort of reminds him of how badly he fucked up and how lucky he is to have you back.

blonde hair, black lungs — sorority noise

also a breakup song, but more angry. the feelings have had time to develop and he's just so upset (sad, angry, frustrated, etc.) and he doesn't know how to deal with it. this one is different for him to perform because he doesn't really want to, it's just popular and he doesn't want to disappoint people; it sometimes makes him really emotional and he just stops singing because he gets choked up and lets the crowd keep going for him.

i've got a dark alley and a bad idea that says you should shut your mouth (summer song) — fall out boy

just him being supremely depressed at the height of his addiction and knowing he needs more serious help than he's getting and feeling like giving up because he knows if he gets the help that he needs (addiction rehab/psych ward care) the entire world will know and he's just so sick of everything about his life being so public bc it's all ruining him.

the futile — say anything

at the point that bucky writes this, he's accepted the breakup and it's just whatever to him, but he's just bitter at everyone and frustrated with himself because he's still in a rough spot mentally. this one isn't really painful for him to perform like the post-breakup songs because it isn't so emotional and also it bangs.

a little less sixteen candles, a little more "touch me" — fall out boy

i don't really think this is about a certain person, but rather him reflecting on the habits that he forms in relationships that hurt the people he's with. he just gets too comfortable fucking up and he hates himself for it because he really loves you and really cares for the girl that he dates while you and him are broken up (and all of the people before that) and he doesn't really have a good reason for his missteps.

laugh till i cry — the front bottoms

100% about somebody he was seeing while you were broken up (i don't think his ex that he dated before you and then got with again once you were separated, but this could def be up for debate). he isn't really compatible with anyone the way that he's compatible with you and while it's sad, it's not a huge loss for him.

a walk through hell — say anything

he writes this, like...three days after you get back together. it's like he's falling in love with you all over again (except he never fell out of love with you, so it's far deeper this time). after all he's been through, he would go through even more to keep you now that he has you again.

my love — modern baseball

before he performs this one he always says 'this one's about my girlfriend. she's somewhere in here but i don't know where. after i finish it cheer really loud for her. and then get home safely.' <3

[agentsnickers]

🥀🌺 for the ask game

🥀 favorite angst quote from a published work

There's only one answer for this:

“Isn’t that the problem, though?” mumbles Davey. “I’m yours.”

from one night, maybe forever (and others)

🌺 favorite poetic quote from a published work

this is hard! i'm not usually super intentionally poetic, but this line came to mind:

The night is cold and quiet. It will be too cold to sleep outside before long. There’s a cool breeze sweeping through the alleyway that the lodging house’s fire escape faces. There’s a warm light spilling out the window from the dorm room. Jack is not alone, sitting out on cold metal with the boy he might someday be able to capture on paper, the only boy he might be able to forgive himself for never quite getting right.

from something to prove! I particularly like the symmetry of it with the first lines of the fic <3

[clementine-kesh]

thinking about the terror and thinking about voyager being frozen in ice for 15 years. there’s something so poetic about that. the symmetry of lost explorers and icy tombs

[colby-jac-cheese]

Something something poetic symmetry of tango starting the series dying while jimmy was across the map, leading to him and jimmy realizing their soulmates. Something something jimmy dying to an enderman while tango was across the map, ending their series. Something something

[kariachi]

Concept that has been in my head a while now, now officially in fic form.

In the far-flung future, Gwendolyn receives bad news.

~~

There was nothing that a person wanted less on a day when their husband had been gone before they woke up, had responded to none of their texts and refused to pick up the phone, then to have an officer show up at the door. Yes, it was Molly, as much friend of Kevin’s as Plumber Agent, but given Gwendolyn had, when the knocking started, been talking to Ben about whether they should go out and look for Kevin or if he was just being an asshole…

“Molly,” she greeted her, muscles tight, as she reached the entryway, her mom heading back inside to let her handle her business. “Is everything alright?” Molly made a quiet noise she couldn’t identify and held out a very official-looking brown envelope.

“I have legal papers for you,” she said. Something wary twisted in Gwendolyn’s gut as she took the envelope, narrowed eyes flicking between it and Molly.

“Thank you,” she said tentatively, watching her take an easy step back. “Was that, everything?”

“Yep,” Molly said with a nod, “that’s it.” Giving her a once-over, like she was making sure of something, Molly turned and headed down the walk, without a single glance back. “Have a nice life, Gwendolyn.”

Oh. Oh, that wasn’t ominous…

“Have a nice day,” she called back anyway. Shutting the door, Gwendolyn licked her lips and stared down at the envelope. On autopilot she made her way to the dining room, with a single glance back to where the family was gathered in the living room. She sat at the table with deliberate slowness, cautiously opened the envelope and slipped out the paper inside.

At the top was the information for an attorney she didn’t know and would have to ask her dad about. Then, for the court of her county. Kevin’s name after that, beside ‘petitioner’, set off even more alarm bells, with her own beside ‘respondent’. After that-

Well.

She dropped the first piece of paper, bringing her hands to twine together. Her face rested on them, pressed up against her lips and under her nose as she stared down at the forms before her. Jaw clenched, eyes already stinging. They were married, they lived in California and had for years, they- It even had a spot for how long it had been since they tied the knot. June 9th, 2016, the eleventh anniversary of the day they’d met. Kevin had wanted a Fall wedding, maybe go back east for the changing leaves, but she’d known the symbolism and symmetry in an anniversary wedding was too good to pass up. He was a poetic soul at heart, he’d have regretted passing it up in the end, like she’d regretted not getting him to propose a year earlier.

Though she supposed now regretting dates was the least of her problems.

Sixteen years and six months. There was even a section for that. From June 2016 to December 2032. And six years together before they’d married. Two-thirds of their lives…

‘No minor children’. That had been a whole hassle all its own. Kevin had talked about kids someday back at the very beginning, but by the time Gwendolyn was considering that for their future he’d changed his mind, just to be contrary she’d swear. It’d taken years passed when she was ready to start a family to talk him around, and even then they’d had no success. She got involved in fights and dragged into strange and dangerous magics too often to carry herself, adoption wasn’t an option with Kevin’s history, and Kevin… As much as doctors had sworn there was no physical reason he couldn’t have kids, nothing had seemed to work to make them happen. Gwendolyn had started bringing around information on surrogacy, though Kevin had been ignoring it. Now she knew why.

He’d put his reasoning down on the form as ‘irreconcilable differences’, despite how well things had been going.

That was sticking in her craw. Things had been good between them, or so she’d thought. They fought sometimes, yes, but mostly Kevin went along with her suggestions. Occasionally he got on her nerves- okay, more than occasionally- but she had him under control for the most part. He’d gotten better over the years and now, what? He was going to take all the improvements that had come from the years she put into him and just, let them benefit somebody else?

Was there somebody else? Gwendolyn’s temper flared and stomach twisted at the thought. She didn’t think- But then he’d managed to keep getting in touch with a lawyer secret, so clearly he had a burner phone she didn’t know about… It would certainly explain why he was ending a twenty-two-year relationship with her, if he’d been having an affair. And after all they’d been through together, all she’d done and put up with for him-

Shaking her head, Gwendolyn forced herself to take a deep breath, to stretch her limbs and relax her muscles. No, no she couldn’t let herself get worked up, especially not when she didn’t know. Yes, there’d been that time with Charmcaster, and the whole mess with Looma, but for twenty years there’d been no sign of any cheating. But then again, he was clearly keeping secrets…

Forcing a sigh, she put her attention back on the forms. Any cheating could be worked out later, once she had her own lawyer- and she was going to have a lawyer, she wanted to know exactly what was happening and he wasn’t answering his phone. He also wasn’t looking for alimony, or to pay it. Instead he’d gone to the ‘other’ option on that section. ‘Petitioner pays respondent two million American dollars in exchange for termination of spousal support rights on both sides.’

“Of course you thought about the money, you fucking-” Gwendolyn cut off her muttering with another deep breath, scrubbing at her eyes. At least he wasn’t trying to skimp her, Argit probably would have tried to get him to go for getting her to pay alimony, and an extortionate amount at that. (That was a thought, he was probably at Argit’s, she could go over there-)

The next section was on property and pointed her to a stack of papers. She’d have sworn everything either of them owned was listed on there, either in the stack labelled ‘separate property’ or the stack labelled ‘communal property’. The first stack was nothing really surprising, aside from the reveal that he’d had other bank accounts she hadn’t known about listed alongside her own personal account. His cars, his old machinery, their valuable jewelry and books, the car he’d finally built her, all listed and set as owed to their respective owner. The second stack was more a shock. He was offering to give her the house, and take custody of her remaining debts. His machinery he wanted in full, but otherwise he was offering her everything they’d gotten since they married and no more debt.

She couldn’t have told you whether that made her more or less certain there was somebody else. On the one hand, surely nobody would take him with all of a third party’s debt over his head, but on the other he clearly wanted this done and done quick, and what other reason would he have to rush? He was even, she noted when she worked her way back to the main set of papers, offering to pay all attorney fees.

And that, she could deal with that, she could handle it. Sure, let him pay for everything, let him have his machines and his cars, but seeing the request to have the court formally change his name back to Levin-

“Cuz?” Gwendolyn didn’t even manage to start when Ben poked his head into the dining room, worry tinging his voice. “You’ve been a while… everything alright?” She took a deep breath, hating how roughly her voice grated against her throat.

“Kevin’s leaving me.” There was a long beat of silence as she stared at his signature, ‘Kevin Ethan Tennyson’ in a deceptively neat script.

“Seriously?” Ben whispered it more than said it, approaching her like she might break. She kind of felt like she might. Wordlessly, licking her lips again, she picked up the first piece of paper and held it out to him. He took it like it might bite as she scrubbed at her face again, wishing for a handkerchief and having to grit her teeth against the memory that Kevin was the one who carried them. Twenty-two fucking years…

“For fucking real,” he all but growled after a few minutes. “After this long, after all you’ve done for him- That selfish, ungrateful-” Letting out a sigh that really more snort than anything, Ben wrapped an arm around Gwendolyn’s shoulders and pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what crawled up his ass and died for him to pull this shit but-”

“Things were going so well,” she said, tension turning to trembling as Ben squeezed her tighter, “I thought he was happy. I was happy, and he hasn’t complained in years…” Dropping the paper unceremoniously on the table, Ben pulled up a chair and took a seat, releasing his hug in favor of laying his hands on Gwendolyn’s shoulders.

“It’s going to be okay,” he assured her with a gentle jostle, “we’ll get this all worked out. And if he wants to ruin his life, well, that’s his problem.” She took a deep breath, more shuddering than she would have liked, and nodded as best she could. It was Kevin’s problem, whatever the fuck was going on in that head of his and not- He’d just made it officially not hers. Legally not hers. Whatever the fuck his deal was it just-

He'd been one of the most important things in her life since she was fifteen.

With what she refused to call a sob Gwendolyn collapsed herself forward into Ben’s arms, wrapping her own around him like he might vanish too if she didn’t. Face buried in his shoulder, blood pounding in her ears, she could hardly hear his reassurances, promises that she was going to be okay and that he was going to get to the bottom of all this.  But she couldn’t help worrying that having answers might make it worse.

They hadn’t exactly served her well so far.

[overlord-of-chaos]

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD GOOD OMENS

(Spoilers ahead for series 2 if you had not already guessed.)

So first of all oh my god. OH MY GOD. I may never recover actually. I’m not sure I want to.

Secondly oh my god. I was expecting something spectacular. And I’ll be damned if Neil Gaiman did not deliver.

(I am writing this in the middle of a field. Well, technically the edge of a field, but it’s right next to another one so it looks like I’m in the middle from a distance. Why am I in a field, you might ask? Because that FUCKING ENDING was so *gesticulates gayly* that I needed to find somewhere to scream at the world. (It’s very cathartic actually I should do it more often.) If anyone nearby is concerned by someone screaming in a field it was probably me. I’m not fine, but I’m not in mortal peril either so no need to disrupt the field screaming. If you own the field and did not want me traipsing through it, I’m terribly sorry I advise you take it up with Mr. Gaiman.)

They kissed they kissed they kissed I mean the ineffable husbands were basically canon from the beginning but I never expected this. (I should know better. I know.)

I tell you what I am loving how many shows/movies at the moment basically seem to be going “gay ‘subtext’? no no darling this gay is text and you cannot argue otherwise” my lil gay heart is delighted actually

And I mean, beyond that… (I’ll come back to it. I’m not done. But I need to give the rest of the plot its due as well.) I’ll admit, I got halfway through episode 5 and thought “how on earth are they going to wrap this up in the space of about an hour? I don’t have any of the answers at all.” I should never have doubted. I know I should never have doubted. But in my defence, who could’ve seen that coming? I hope Gabriel and Beelzebub are very happy together.

Oh, and the opening scene of episode 1? They knew each other when Crowley was an angel? (It does not suit him, but he did make a lovely galaxy.) And then at the very end, Aziraphale offering to make him one again? There’s some poetic symmetry or something in there that I don’t currently have the brain capacity to analyse

(I’m sitting in a tree now, in case anyone was wondering. I bailed on the field because there were humans in it. And by in a tree, I mean it is hollow and I am inside it. I couldn’t climb it even if I wanted to, it’s massive.)

It was worth the wait. It would always have been worth the wait, of course. It would have been worth the wait if it had taken 50 years although I’m not sure my heart would have been able to take the ending by then. And even though I want more already I hope they take all the time they need to make series 3 and make it well. (If they do not series 3 I will riot and given my general worldly (lack of) competence will probably injure myself in the process so they’d better get one.)

Of course no (rant? rave? gay breakdown?) post about Good Omens series 2 would be complete without giving Nina and Maggie my beloved all the respect they deserve. Especially Nina. You tell Crowley. He clearly needed it. You gay meddle right back in Aziraphale and Crowley’s love life, after all, they did gay meddle in yours.

And Aziraphale. Aziraphale. Darling. Angel. Please. Crowley does not want to go to heaven. His communication skills only stretch so far and only when prompted by other meddling gays. You both really need to learn the art of open communication sometime. It will solve a lot of these problems.

Oh, and! And! “I forgive you”? “I forgive you”? “I FORGIVE YOU”? Yeah just go ahead and break my heart as well as his why don’t you??? I have not yet seen what has become of my feed in the last 24ish hours because I had to go straight to writing this down somewhere but I imagine the entire fandom is feral right now OH MY GOD

This was amazing. It was all amazing. Saraqael was amazing. Jim was amazing. I’m struggling to come up with any other adjectives because my brain has been fried clearly

I would go and rewatch it all immediately but I need to form the semblance of a functional human being for this afternoon so I can go out into the world and do things. I will probably have rewatched it before the week is out.

I briefly considered watching this as soon as it came out (midnight UK time, meaning I’d finish at about 5 in the morning. I did this last time. It was an Experience) but decided against it since I had work in the morning. It was a wise decision since there is no way I’d have been able to go the day with no one to talk to about it and finishing it on a Saturday instead gave me the freedom to immediately go scream in a field.

Oh my god. This was one hell of a series. I cannot think coherently about it all I know is that I loved it.

And Neil, if you ever see this: Thank you. For all of it.

[its-me-eh]

"...the poetic playwright Tom Stoppard defined [love] as 'knowledge of each other… knowledge of self, the real him, the real her, in extremis, the mask slipped from the face.' This unmasked fact is the antidote to the most dangerous fiction the Romantics bequeathed us — their model of love as union between lover and beloved, a kind of fusion of selves, with its connotation of mutual completion rather than mutual recognition of and rejoicing in two parallel completenesses."

[essayofthoughts]

36, 28, 23?

23. Dialogue or description? Why is the other one so hard?

If I know the voices of characters then dialogue is pretty easy, usually, and I like to get some idea of new characters, especially OCs usually by writing a scene with some dialogue so I know how they sound.

That said, description is generally easier for me, especially if I'm writing something Thinky, and I have found it frustrating, sometimes, when my description feels flat and I know I need some dialogue to balance it because sentence length variation isn't doing the trick but I can't. Fucking. Think. What. To Write.

So yeah, description is easiest, but I find dialogue best for pinning down a character. Idk why it's harder, but they serve different purposes to me anyway.

28. Any writing advice that works for you and you feel like sharing?

Okay so uh. Some people have commented on my description before, and its been described as having lyricism in at least one comment and... the tl;dr of this all is read poetry and figure out how it works.

Like, no jokes, that's why sometimes I'll write a description weird or use an unusual sentence formation or use a contrasting phrase - like "piece apart" instead of "piece together". The way poetry works is by ignoring conventional grammar to create emotive connections that allow you to grasp at what it's trying to convey without using 10,000 words to get there and yes, I can get wordy, but the thing is if I described everything in the excruciating detail I could it'd be so much worse - but if I use poetic tricks then I can cut that down by 90% if I go hard at it. That's kind of why I used the vignette style for so long because it let me basically make each scene a verse where I'm making sure the core impact and essence is conveyed. I do this with choppy action scenes too - you don't provide every detail but you provide important details that give the feeling and emotion that you want. You focus on small details that hit you. You use sibilance and alliteration and rules of three and sometimes you kludge together words with hyphens in a style like Norse epithets because that can be so much more evocative than trying to just describe it with regular words.

Over used this can absolutely go beyond purple prose and into urple but genuinely: be poetic. Look at poems and figure out what works. Tyger Tyger burning bright in the forest of the night what immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry. Why is the symmetry fearful! Is it something you fear or is the symmetry itself afraid? The line construction suggests that one needs to be immortal to dare to frame this fiercely burning, perfectly matched creature, you see? What the hammer what the chain, in what furnace was thy brain what the anvil what dread grasp dare its deadly terrors grasp? The essence of this poem is telling you a tiger is terrfying. It's scary. It is burning bright it is forged in fire, it's brain was trapped in a furnance, it was hammered out on an anvil - this is a creature you dread. And when the stars threw down their spears and water'd heaven with their tears: did he smile his work to see, did he who made the lamb make thee? - The stars themselves are too scared to fight, their silver is the tears that cry from the skies beyond heaven itself, did God himself smile at this horrible creation - this thing which eats lambs, when he created those two! What is this dichotomy!

God I love The Tyger. Or... Dulce et Decorum Est, lets say - the latter two thirds only because I could go on forever about the poem as a whole:

Gas! Gas! Quick boys! An esctasy of fumbling/Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time/But someone still was yelling out and stumbling/and flound'ring like a man in fire or lime/dim through the misty panes of thick green light/ as under a green sea, I saw him drowning

in all my dreams before my helpless sight/he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

It goes from the slow of the first verse into this haste, into this panic, you speed up reading it because of that sudden rush and then it just stops and slows - as under a green sea I saw him drowning. You have to give that line it's measure, you have to let it go from all that rushed and broken haste and staccato description into this awful, painful exact witness: as under a green sea, I saw. him. drowning.

That comma after sea arguably doesn't need to be there but it is because you need to pause. There is beauty first, still in that energy of the fearful haste and then there is that simple, simple reminder I saw him drowning. You cannot take it as anything else. And then Wilfred Owen makes you stay slow, makes you stay with him and remember before my helpless sight, he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

Triple. Because we remember threes. And then:

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace/behind the wagon that we flung him in/and watch the white eyes writhing in his face/his hanging face like a devil's sick of sin/ if you could hear at every jolt the blood/come gargling from the froth corrupted lungs/obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud/of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues/ my friend you would not tell with such high zest./to children ardent for some desperate glory/the old lie dulce et decorum est/pro patria mori

This is a poem where, by the end, you should be spitting it. In the words of this poem you are witnessing a young man, just a moment slower than his fellows, die, choked out on his own poisoned, rotted lungs and the gas which did it, but it's not the gas Owen is angry at, not the man or even the other side - he's angry at those who told the lie that led this young man out there into this field where one second's slowness was his death, his angry at the lie and those who tell it, right where the blame should be placed and he is spitting fucking angry.

Or... The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam - only one or two of the translated stanzas because it's fucking long:

The moving finger wites and having write moves on nor all your piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line nor all your tears wash out a word of it

and that inverted bowl they call the sky whereunder crawling coop'd we live and die, lift not your hands to it for help- for it as impotently moves as you or i.

God I. I fucking love this translation of it because there's such imagery in the poetry, nor all your piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line - what's done is done and cannot be undone, nor all your tears wash out a word of it.

And then just that inverted bowl they call the sky whereunder crawling coop'd we live and die - GOD. "that inverted bowl" is so evocative and "whereunder" is a term you never here except in old texts or poetry and then the idea we crawl, we are cooped up, we are trapped here but that which traps us has no more power over our fates than we do just, fuck.

...

Look, I really like poetry okay. And I repeat the tl;dr: Look at poems, look at what makes them fuck you up right in the feels, and then use that yourself. You'll have some fucky sentence formulation and some weird punctuation but I promise it's so worth it for the leaps and bounds it'll give your descriptions. You can do this with other things - and should, really! - but poetry is the epitome to me. Poetry does all of what song lyrics can do without music to aid it, it has to set it's own rhythm - and as shown with Dulce et decorum est, it can slow and speed that as it pleases. And on that note:

36. How do you come up with fic titles? What’s the one you’re most proud of?

Applicable poetry. I've used the Rubaiyat and Dulce et Decorum Est to name fics before - and I've used song lyrics too - but I really like using poems when I can. I also like sometimes using excerpts from the fic itself, which is pretty common as a choice for oneshots and sometimes I just use the WIP title if I don't mind it too much. But if's most favourite of all of my fic titles uh...

So there's a secret with the titles for the rest of the Ghost Cass fics. I've got names for all eight parts, but they'll only be revealed as we come to each part but uh.

Yeah, suffice to say I'm really fucking proud of the titles I've got pinned out for that series. Not just Whisper - I do mean all of them, and how they fit together.