I probably don’t have to tell you how much I love this chapter title. It mirrors A Wife, A Butterfly, quotes Nirvana, uses the l33t speak variant of Local 3’s band name and throws in a parenthetical for good measure1. What’s not to love?
It also illustrates the internal fight between hitting 27 chapters exactly and having shorter chapters for dramatic yet snappy pacing. There’s no real reason this isn’t part of the previous chapter aside from the artificial cliffhanger of the redhead’s return as it’s just the second part of the final open mic show.
Tidbits:
- I haven’t exactly kept track, but I swear “Thank you so much!” might be the single most common piece of musician between song stage banter.
- One of my earliest brainstorm notes was for Local 3 to be called Local Band Done Gone, but to stylize the logos as L3DG. Their first album would be called Edly and/or aL3DG3dly.
- Here Come the Girls
- “Have you always been the au pair?” ties back to “Nanny. I’ll have to remember that” during the living room memory conversation.
- “Jimmy started singing a song about stockpiling guns and losing imaginary friends. He threw in a little AWAB reference before pretending to answer a phone with nobody on the other end.”
- Nelson taking over his younger body came naturally as this scene evolved, allowing him to re-enter the plot for the conclusion while also making you wonder what he’s been up to over the last few years we haven’t seen him. You could almost write a whole ‘nother novel about those times…
- Speaking of using those gifts I gave myself—VAN!2
FOOTNOTES:
- Yes, I know how to spell (allegedly) ↩︎
- I’ve got a plan. Hand it to the man in the tan van. ↩︎
- Really! ↩︎