#ritardando

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LITERARY: Girl Acacia

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it's been exactly a year since the last chapter of Operation Walburga's Arbitrary No Kissing Ever Rule and I still miss it. This scene is probably one of my favourite things I've ever written and I've wanted to draw it for forever, so now seemed like an appropriate time

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look at that!! i've talked about it so much and now chapter 1 actually exists in real life!!

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“Ah,” Sirius interrupts in recognition. “A rent increase again? How much is it?” “It’s about thirty-two bucks more a month for each of us...” Regulus grinds out. “Fucking hell, what’s wrong with him?” “Capitalism,” Regulus says weakly. “Fucking hate capitalism,” Sirius mutters.

chapter 3 of ritardando is here :)

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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

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hey so. ritardando is now actually longer than operation wanker. which feels vaguely weird even though that was the plan all along. but now it is real and there are more words and the story is still very much not over and i gotta write more

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i am debating rewriting all 38k currently existing words of this fic to include pov switches but idk if i should hhhhh like fake dating fics are so very much 1 pov fics for me but also i feel like? This one might benefit from regs pov on top of james help

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The second time it happens James is somehow not any less taken by surprise, which is, in retrospect, the entire reason everything is getting so much worse.

chapter 2 is here (:

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little ritardando update: there are now 50k words, that's fun

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i have made a whole playlist for this fic yet all i'm listening to while writing is the twilight soundtrack :/

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out of context line/snippet

thank you for the tag @sommerregenjuniluft mwah

i've decided to rewrite the entire fic meaning i am once again writing on chapter one, so here is a snippet from where im at currently :'))

“Good morning, Reggie,” he greets cheerfully while his heart starts beating quicker. “You’ve already said that,” comes the dry reply. “Incorrect,” James corrects, “I’ve texted it. That’s different.” A beat of silence. Then, “Anyway.” “Shoot,” James prompts, suddenly a lot more sober. Regulus clears his throat and even through the distortion of the speaker James can hear the awkwardness. They’re so not used to talking to each other, even less so on the phone. “You should clear this up, James. I’d rather not they assume we’re dating.” There is that odd thing again that James’ heart does, a little stumble, a missed beat. Only this time it comes along with a little stab right through its centre. “Oh– Yeah, sure,” he hurries to say. “Understandable. I already tried telling Marls what’s going on yesterday but I was a little too out of it to make much sense I think...” A groan from the other side of the line. “Fucking fantastic. So that’s why she was there when I came out of the bathroom and did what I can only describe as gleeful cackling? She didn’t want to elaborate on that, but if she saw you right before me that explains an unfortunate amount of things.”

no pressure tagging @imsiriuslyreading @alarainai @my-castles-crumbling @nothingtoseeherebyeexx @starsworth @onthemerits @that-bitch-kat3 <3333

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snippet game

thank you @messymoony for tagging me ily <333

James' eyes flick down to the shirt still hanging between Regulus’ fingers. “Oh, you can just throw that over the chair there, don’t bother with folding it.” Regulus looks down at his hands and considers the red piece of fabric for a moment. “Actually, do you mind if I keep this?” James is sure his brain must have malfunctioned there for a second because there is no way that is really what Regulus just asked him. “What?” he asks taken aback. “Do you need this shirt? I’ll obviously give it back to you after you signed your contract with the Catapults, but until then, can you part with it?” Apparently not a brain malfunction. At least not until now. “I, uh... why?” “Even if my friends didn’t know my wardrobe, this–” and he pointedly lifts the shirt “–is so glaringly not mine, anyone getting a glimpse of it in my room could figure out where I got it. If we want to be convincing, this is a rather dead cert.”

no pressure tagging @otrtbs @where-is-vivian @roblogging @snarky-magpie @ultravioletbrit

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i need to change up my plan for my fic to include reg sideplot but its getting so convolluted idk how to keep this organised anymore, i am so not made for planning out things help

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hi fra darling <3 for the word game: idiot, rude and hand <333

hi laurie my love!! <333 these were such fun words i struggled choosing how to answer a little

idiot

"If I could have it my way I’d get rid of your stupid boss and I’d be your sugar daddy or something so you’d have all the time for me because I miss you. I’m not replacing you, not with Regulus and not with anyone. So stop being an insecure idiot, alright?”

rude

“I’m not trying to be rude or anything, it’s just, I’m sure people in secret relationships have a reason for why the relationship is secret and telling some stranger about it probably isn’t their preferred way of outing it.”

hand

“Guess I’ll have to keep my hands off myself while thinking about you then. Bummer.” How Regulus manages to say this with a completely detached intonation is an utter mystery to James.

give me a word and i'll find it in my wip

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i might start posting this fic in 2 weeks simply because then itll have been exactly a year since i posted the last chapter of operation wanker and that feels like a nice occassion

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i'm so very much fucking with time in this fic and it bothers me because i care about consistency a little too much