lebateleur | Return of the Mac

Here I am, back from the equator and enjoying a cloudy, rainy day in the Oaks. Cheers to all the people I recently friended (quite a few of you), and to

amasugiru for a beautiful angsty Mustang and

clares_flaw who drew me a very happy 58. And of course to

metal_dog5 for denture pr0n. I think.

And because I've seen this all over the place on my flist, I'll jump off the bridge too.

Title Meme
Pick five, or ten, or more, of your fic titles. List them in your journal and explain how you came up with each one. Post this promptly as well, so that the meme spreads.

I like the idea of this meme because I hate coming up with titles. Trying to get a succinct phrase that both grabs attention and conveys the point of a fic without betraying too much is tough. Thus, I like using puns or multilayered terms for my titles (and then there are some fics - Memory, Comfort, Mother's Love - whose titles are painfully obvious because I couldn't come up with anything better).

Going roughly in order of writing:

Mentha suaveolens -

metal_dog5 and I bonded over this title, because there's several different varieties of applemint. Seriously, we're talking a protracted email exchange and several chat sessions. I stuck with this applemint because it's the variety I happened to be growing by my front door when I wrote the fic.

Kurikaeshi　is a Japanese word meaning 'a repeat, refrain, or iteration in a cycle'. Since the entire fic is Hakkai waking up and thinking, Ah, I've been here before in regards to his relationship with Gojyou, the meaning is pretty obvious, as is the reference to their previous incarnations as Kenren and Tempou.

Ikka Danran I originally considered calling this story Tabimae, but it didn't quite fit. Luckily, the Japanese have proverbish sayings called yojijukugo or 'four character compouds,' of which ikka danran (一家団欒) is one (一石二鳥 - killing two birds with one stone is another well known example). Anyway, its meaning is pretty similar to One Happy Family. Fit the fic perfectly, especially since they all happen to be in Gojyou's house. Ah, irony.

Ishin Denshin - another yojijukugo (以心伝心), one could translate it 'by means of the heart, the heart is conveyed.' It refers not to telepathy exactly, but the ability to wordlessly transmit ones thoughts to another and/or understand them implicitly. Which is what I envision Gojyou & Hakkai beginning to learn how to do at the close of this fic.

Ante - is another title pun, referring both to Kenren and Tempou constantly upping the ante throughout the story, as well as the fact that the fic takes place before the start of their relationship. (I'm a sucker for 'how did they get there?' stories, in case you couldn't tell).

The Liar and the Auror - is one of those fics where I can't choose between titles. I still like 'Lion and the Auror,' with Harry all roar and bluster, but 'liar' probably does fit better. Basically, I wanted a title that would mislead people who haven't read the fic.

Divine Comedy - is still a WIP, but

fragilistikal will be happy to hear that I've picked it up again. 'Divine' because it's the Sanzou-tachi in their Heavenly incarnations and 'comedy' both because it's a humor fic and because everyone will still be standing at the end (something which Gaiden fic does not necessarily guarantee).

これで以上です。