#give me all your throughts in the comments in reblogs in my dms or asks or anything really i am begging at this point

[courfee]

help me decide on a title for my fic please i'm getting desperate

i'm gonna put some info about the reasoning for the titles and general info about the fic under the cut, but feel free to also just vote based on vibes

ok so fic:

this is an accidental fake dating jegulus fic. james keeps having panic attacks which he does not want anyone to know about. regulus accidentally walks in on him while he is panicking the first time, helping him to calm down, and ends up becoming james' go to method for getting comfort, which prompts all of their friends to assume they're secretly dating. james and reg finally go with it to stop getting questions and keep james' cover.

it's supposed to still be somewhat light hearted vibes for the story, like this isn't pure angst and poetry and whatever. idk if it helps to convey the vibes, but the first sentence is as follows:

"The first time it happens it takes James completely by surprise, which is, in retrospect, the entire reason it goes so badly."

titles:

ritardando:

in music it indicates a gradual or sudden decrease in tempo, followed by a complete stop, its used to add a sense of drama and intensity to the performance, creating tension and capturing the listener’s attention

its supposed to signify reg essentially stopping james' panic

in german you also have a "retardierendes moment" (idk what it's called in english) in story telling which is usually in the fourth act and is there to slow down the conclusion, mislead the reader to expect a different ending (e.g. have another little drama happen before the happy end/give a spark of hope before the hero meets their final tragedy)

downside of this is that there is obviously the r-word in english which is linguistically related to this and i do not wanna evoke that association?

also music has literally no significance for the fic and also maybe this is too pretentious for the vibes i'm going for?

rallentando

essentially very similar to ritardando, gradually decreases the tempo in music and is supposed to prepare the listener for a new section (new key/tempo/etc), used to create relaxation or mellowness, allowing for more expressive playing

it couldddd stand for panic attack is over and the new section becoming jegulus, however we go into the story with james already very much crushing on reg so thats not new for him.

plus the slowing of the heartbeat isn't exactly a romantic thing in this context?

it does sound a lot prettier as a word than ritardando, however it's a more uncommon musical word as far as i am aware so idk if people would get what this is playing at

also music has literally no signficance for the fic and also maybe this is too pretentious for the vibes i'm going for?

objectively i could change the below poem to include this word instead even if i guess it wouldn't be 'the end's' one as much

you make my heart beat slower:

rather obvious where this is coming from. play on the general "you make my heart beat faster" only it's the opposite cause james is being calmed down

it just doesn't really sound all that nice? i'm not vibing with it as a title too much it feels off

doesn't shorten to anything nice (ymmhbs looks kinda dumb)

the end's conducted ritardando:

see above ritardando

i wrote a poem for the general sentiment of feeling where this line is coming from:

decrescendo:

so far my working title

in music this signfies a decrease in volume

which is not at all what i was playing at, i just mixed up the words when i thought about it, but objectively it is a nice word

??????

no musical relevance in the fic