#and I guess also rwrb related

[degreeofdisorder]

as someone who's both a staunch anti monarchist irl and yet is obsessed with fictional modern royalty stories, it is truly one of my greatest pleasures to know that they all end with the same conclusion: monarchies are unsustainable in the modern era and they're bad for everyone involved. and the happiest ending possible is freeing the royals from their shackles. bonus points if they abdicate for love. it's just so good. i eat it up every time.

#yr livenats #and I guess also rwrb related #I never wanted henry to abdicate bc i wanted him and alex to have the worst most obnoxiously expensive and gay royal wedding in the planet #but I think it could have never worked for the type of person that he was #and I always wanted wille to abdicate (but in a way that toppled the swedish government #not just giving it to august) but I didn't really see him doing it bc it felt like the monarchy was too embedded within him #and anyways HE DID IT #FUCK THE MONARCHY #IN ALL THE POSSIBLE INTERPRETATIONS OF IT #yr s3 spoilers #young royals spoilers

[meraki-yao]

RWRB Movie Cut Scene: The Extended Polo Scene

Alright I went from obsessively wondering about one deleted scene to obsessively wondering about another deleted scene. Namely. this time, the extended Polo scene.

To start with I do really like what we got! It was really fun and quick and horny and it worked really, really well, both in atmosphere and pacing.

I remember in an interview (forgot which one) Matthew said the polo scene was originally six minutes then with the new editing idea which is what we ended up getting, it was cut down to like two and half minutes, which means we have three and half minutes worth of a deleted scene

I'm guessing what happened was the actual polo match -> conversation and introduction to Bea -> hooking up in the tack room, with that being said:

Alex was practically drooling over watching Henry riding on horseback playing polo (the asshole (jk I love you) even posted a photo of Henry on horseback from the match on his IG close friends stories) how did they go from wanting to make out and eat each other to having a conversation in public (as seen from the montage during the speech)

What the hell were the two of them talking about????

I want the scene with Pez I wanna know what they talked about and I wanna see more friendship. Oh and is this when Pez figures it out? Since in the scene where Zahra finds them Henry says Percy knows

I also really want the scene with Bea. They're obviously close that's explicitly stated in the movie, plus Henry posted a photo of them two from that day on his IG (yes I know it's marketing but right now I'm treating them as real sue me) and I recently learned that Nick and Eliie have been friends for a couple of years by now? I really, really, want more sibling scenes. (especially as someone who relates to Henry and has a sister that I'm very close to) Also Alex and Bea like each other so I really want to know how their proper introduction and this conversation went. On top of that, Henry told Bea about Alex but Alex didn't know that until Zahra busted them and asked, did he tell her here? After all, Bea knew definitively that Henry's gay, and she pulled Nora aside during the wedding, is she wing-womaning? I WANT TO KNOW

In the book it was just Henry and Alex so it was relatively easy to get away and sneak into the tack room. In the movie apparently, they met face-to-face in public and Alex had a whole introduction to the two closest people to Henry. However the fuck did they go from that to hooking up in the tack room without suspicion?

As awesome, hilarious (I can never hear a bagpipe the same way again) and fitting as the quick cut, it was flashes between the match and the hook up. What was the original edit of the tack room supposed to be???? What does the full hook-up footage look like???? Was it longer??? Was there dialogue??? I WANT TO KNOW

I swear if Prime doesn't release the deleted scenes I'm gonna over-analyse everything in every deleted scene and drive myself to insanity in the best way possible.

SO PRIME PLEASE FUCKING RELEASE ALL OF THEM

(probably not all at once because the promise of something new being released in the future is like, my one motivation to fucking live right now I have fucking problems, but like, PLEASE PROMISE YOU'LL RELEASE THEM PRIME)

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #rwrb movie #firstprince #alex claremont diaz #henry fox mountchristen windsor #henry hanover stuart fox #nicholas galitzine #taylor zakhar perez #rwrb thoughts #rwrb bts #rwrb deleted scenes #AHHHHHHHHHHH #COME ON COME ON COME ON #I NEED ALL OF THE DELETED SCENES #my rwrb list #rwrb rambles

[darkacademiaarchivist]

i've kinda been rotating the whole james somerton situation around in my head all day because i really liked his content and, like i said, i am super disappointed but i'd like to point out one point about the misogny that i noticed in some of his vidoes that i kinda ignored because i liked the rest but i think it's weird to call all women who shil mlm ships "straight white women fetishizing gay men" because queer women exist... Also, unfortunately because in a lot of pieces of media there are more well developed male characters than female characters so obviously mlm ships will end up being more popular if the characters already had more interesting dynamics...

I'm not saying it's not a thing at all or that queer women can't be guilty of this as well but it did kind of rub me the wrong way to be this one sided about it... Mainly because a big part of my Instagram bubble is queer bookstagram where Heartstopper and RWRB are really popolar but there are also a lot of really popular sapphic books (sometimes even by the same authors). it's just really weird to frame it like there are a lot of people framing the Heartstopper fandom as a whole as toxic straight women because a lot of people in the fandom are queer and can relate a lot to the characters even thought there experiences isn't the exact same... (i relate a lot to Nick's journey with his bisexuality and i really didn't expext the comic to resonate so much with me when i started it i was just curious what the hype was about and i already liked radio silence)

i guess i'm just frustrated about dismissing the experiences of queer women and non-binary people when you also talk about queer erasure in your videos (AND PLAGERIZE WORK ABOUT QUEER ERASURE??? DID HE NOT SEE HOW MESSED UP THIS WAS????)

#it did strike me as odd recently that he rarely had sources anywhere #or they were hard to find at least... #which sucks because he talked about cool stuff and i wanted to look into it more #and it just sucks for all the other obvious reasons #sorry for any typos btw i'm writing this on a new tablet and i don't hae english spellcheck activated yet lol #james somerton #hbomberguy #todd in the shadows #rambles #my post

[sofia-not-sophie]

Okay just finished the rwrb movie spoilers below cut

This movie was fine? I guess? I think it cut a lot of parts that helped me connect to the novel, so while I think it was true to the story I don't think it was adapted in a way that was appealing to me. Mostly for three reasons

Tone: the more serious tone left out a lot of jokes and left aside Henry's theater-kid-like melodrama which I felt like made him way more endearing in the novel. I think of the novel as a funny romance with lots of angst, not a romance with angst and some jokes for flavor. Also it made Alex's character feel like he was moving slower, rather than the mile-a-minute way I feel like Alex was in the novel thanks to the comedic elements and also my second bullet:

Removing angst: the claremont-diaz divorce was so insanely relatable for me so cutting it and removing that hurt from Alex made him less appealing to me as a character, not to mention I feel like it caused him to lose a lot of his drive. This Alex was a character that wanted to be a politician, not an Alex that was floundering for the best way to use his talents, letting it change as he figured out where he could help the most but working hard no matter what. Not to mention I don't feel like Henry (and his family's) grief was explored enough. And also Bea. They made her a prep to cut her powder princess story. wtf. I totally wanted to see punk bea for my lesbian heart to pine over okay

June: She was so important in the novel and the merger of her and Nora's characters for simplicity's sake made movie Nora worse. I like that June gave Alex someone to play off of in both deep and comedic ways. Nora just didn't serve that purpose in the novel, she was a quirky brainy queer character that helped move the plot along (also they cut Nora's agency by making Alex and Henry be outed by Alex's jealous ex instead of political scandal for her to unwravel).

Also they removed Herny's interesting charity work stuff and his whole not touching monarchy money which helped him have more depth. (IDK what that fell under I just had to say that too, though that was sort of minor)

Anyways now what I liked:

Casting, I think it was impeccable, and I really liked who they casted for Phillip (cant be assed to google his name rn but he did great at his role of being resident homophobic asshole). And I did like Uma Thurman as this version of President Claremont. Also the actress for Zahra did amazing at adapting her character.

I liked the way they found times to cut down on plot events (cutting wimbledon and splitting up the big moments from the LA adventure into two other events that they kept, cutting Ellen's "so youre bi and dating a prince" power point but still doing a nod to it in a line)

The choice to lean into spanish language music was great. Literarally just my latino input, not much else to say here

I really liked how they dealt with space and the reading aloud of text conversations in the beginning, I had kinda been hoping it had carried over into the emails, which imo have many more iconic parts to them.

So yeah, good movie I guess, it just isn't as compelling to me as the book because they cut a lot of the stuff that helped me personally connect with characters, especially Alex, but it wasn't an awful adaptation of the story.

#also alex was reading one last stop in one scene which was funny #rwrb movie #rwrb #red white and royal blue #red white and royal blue movie #rwrb spoilers #rwrb movie spoilers

[neverwritewhatyouknow]

Zionism is not welcome here no thx!!! Judaism is a religion and israel is occupying Palestinian land they are literally living in apartheid but sorry you don’t have your “representation” in a cringe amazon ya novel movie. Grow up.

Wowwwwww

Okay. First off, nope.

Secondly, no.

Third, this isn’t a blog for the I/P conflict and I’m not making it one. But let’s break down this anon’s post, shall we?

1. Where did I mention Zionism anywhere in my blog? Automatically attaching the conflict and the negative view of “Zionism” to Jews is antisemitic

2. Judaism is a religion, which is the only true thing in this entire ask. Being Jewish is also an ethnicity, a culture, a people with such a history going back since forever. The religion part, is simply a part of it all. Not even the biggest part.

3. “Let’s relate this to RWRB, why would a Jewish character from Vermont not be allowed on screen due to a century old (and longer) Middle Eastern issue? How does Nora impact that? She doesn’t. Warning: Satire and sarcasm to make a point, I don’t agree with the following: By your logic, anon, we can’t show Americans onscreen since they fully did commit genocide on indigenous tribes. Or wait, what about Christians and Catholics? We definitely can’t show them! They’ve been murdering people of all races and religions since the 0s, like hello, Spanish Inquisition? They also run the US government and things are shit. Guess we can’t have anyone even remotely attached to a possible negative past in a movie. Guess we’ll have to read more books. Jews are not a conflict happening in the Middle East. Jews are Jews.

4. Here’s why cutting Nora’s Jewishness out, and thereby the representation, is so harmful. You get stuff like this. Jews are not a middle eastern conflict! Jews are not the politics of a nation they may not even live in! Jews are not killing babies and drinking blood! Jews are fucking cool and because we so rarely ever get any cool Jewish representation, people never learn a thing about who we are.

I’m assuming this person came from the Jewish or jumblr tag, since they’re calling the book/movie cringe. But good to know they’ve read my stuff, right? Erasing powerful Jewish representation can kill Jews because people don’t get to see who Jews really are, and because of that, we’re villains at all times to everyone.

Yes, this is a real Ask I just got. Wow.

#rwrb movie #red white and royal blue #red white royal blue movie #rwrb cast #rwrb #red white and royal blue movie #casey mcquiston #red white royal blue cast #nora holleran #rachel hilson #Jewish #jumblr #why RWRB erasing Nora’s ethnicity is important

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

The thing here, is than I will not listen to any cishet people criticizing any Casey McQuiston book.

They are not for you.

Of course you don’t get them. You aren’t supposed to.

If you are cishet I do not want you talking about how rwrb is “basically smut” or recommending it as a “spicy book”. I don’t want to hear you treating rwrb as if it was fucking fifty shades of grey. I don’t want to talk about the upcoming movie and how they better “keep the spicy scenes”.

And One Last Stop. I don’t want you talking about how One Last Stop would be better if it was straight (yeah, people say that). I don’t want you saying than so many representation is not realistic because guess what, we don’t care. And also, it isn’t true. Queer people exist. Queer people of colour exist. Suck it up. “I couldn’t relate” that’s because it is not for you.

For now, I haven’t heard anyone saying weird things about I Kissed Shara Wheeler so I’m not going to say anything. But unless you grew up surrounded by Christianity and have some religious trauma in you and the whole book hit so close home it was scary, I don’t want to hear you. However, coming from someone in the same conditions as the book (Grew up in a small town, repression and denial from myself, thinking god hated me,etc etc), IKSW was not Casey’s best book (tbh I can’t see Chloe and Shara dating in the future. They most likely will break up in like, their first or second year of college).

HOWEVER, if you’re cishet, I don’t want to hear your opinion on it.

Idc what people say about this, Casey McQuiston’s books are not for you. Let’s us have one thing without criticizing it for anything or sexualizing it just as you sexualize queer identities.

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #casey mcquiston #firstprince #alex claremont diaz #henry fox mountchristen windsor #red white & royal blue #one last stop my beloved #one last stop #biyu su #jane su #august landry #ols #iksw #chloe green #shara wheeler #smith parker #rory heron

[mochalottie]

My thoughts on the RWRB movie trailer because I get feral about this book and am incredibly picky about details

i've been doubting the chemistry between Alex and Henry and the trailer has given me a tiny bit of hope for what we might get. their smiles, their little looks, the sex scenes (because it will be rated r so no fade to black scenes babes). they work, but it's not quite how I imagined it.

Uma's accent is actually pretty cool. being irish/british i read everything in my head without an accent, so hearing Ellen's 'voice' so to speak is really cool! but if she doesn't give Alex her patented powerpoint presentations i'm going to be upset.

the little look Alex does whilst waiting in line? it's so adorable/such a little shit mood it made me awe a little bit. but the 'how's it going?' with Henry just walking off? that put me off a little. just a tiny bit.

the music works i guess? i mean generic classical music is always going to either be Vivaldi or Handle and it's only the trailer, but i hope they actually get good music.

cakegate is going to be so fucking funny. i can already tell. they got that bit right.

i'm a sucker for small details. but the way that Henry actually turns up for the 'best friend meeting' in the book is so specific. the prince riding up on a horse fresh from a ride through the fields. it's like colin firth in pride and prejudice that's literally how i picture it every time i read it. to replace it with him in a suit driving an admittedly very nice car? with Alex wearing fucking jeans and not his iconic chinos? seriously? also is that shaan??? they haven't gotten rid of him thank god.

the 'my nda's bigger than yours' again is fine?? as a quip?? but the thing about Alex wearing lifts is a good poke at the height differences.

'the sun shine's out his ass and you have a vitamin d defficiancy' YES ZAHRA!!!! the first good quip that had me grinning.

THE CORNETTO SCENE!!! in the wrong clothing again because they're meant to be in cosy relaxing clothes but STILL!!!

HOSPITAL SCENE!!!!! HOSPITAL SCENE THIS IS NOT A DRILL

Henry looks like he's in physical pain at the party, and also Alex's suit no ew where's June when you need her. oh yeah. not here. that's why the costumes are all off XDD

the first kiss scene is perfect. word for word i can't wait to squeal and cry and shriek the roof down.

yes we're getting the karaoke scene. but it won't be with their iconic kimonos. brb gonna go sob for the loss of hoe dameron and prince buttercup.

POLO!!!

yes to Zahra and the closet scene. no to 'Brexit your head from your body' that's just...giving me the heebie jeebies for some reason. yes to 'your royal highness' XD

feel forever about him ughhhhhhhh lemme just sob for a sec

DAVID!!!! <33333 and Prince Henry belongs to England TTTT__TTTT

also I know they probably changed the queen to a king because it would have been in poor taste but now that charles is king that shot is giving off vibes of recent times that are just not good. they should've kept it as a queen and made her look completely different.

We're getting the rain scene!!!!!!! and the lake!!!!!!!!!!!

the ass grabbing? yes it's a very Alex move but mate there's people right behind you

okay but truthfully? seriously? i love this fucking book. i know to most readers it's a silly little romcom with some politics on the side. and that's what we should expect from the film. but to me? this is my favourite fucking book of all time. it was the one that if I became a film director or producer i would have adored to produce. both henry and alex are my comfort gays, but in ways that not many people realise or connect with.

alex realises he's bi in the book. i realised i was bi a few days before reading the book. everything he goes through i related to hard. and having that, that connection to someone who isn't real but very much could be was a godsend through a period of a lot of confusion.

henry lost his dad to pancreatic cancer a few years before the book. i lost my dad to a brain tumour when i was eleven. it will be ten years this year, and the movie comes out a week before his anniversary. that passage where Bea so beatifully describes his grief, the one that begins with 'it happens when you're young' made me sob so much because that's exactly what it feels like. i relate to these characters, i love their little quirks and details. and it's a bit disappointing the changes that have happened as it's adapted to film.

and i know it can't be directly faithful, that there are some things you can't fit in because you have a certain runtime. i know also that the executive producers and companies have a say in how it goes. but there were better ways to change it, better ways to do it rather than handing it over to a streaming service.

this book is so important to me, so i hope at least that when the film does come out on the 11th of August that i will at least kind of enjoy it. i know it won't be what i wished it would be, but at least it's being made.

and who knows, maybe no one will touch boyfriend material and i could make that instead XD

#lottie watches movies #rwrb film #red white and royal blue #ignore this massive rant if you'd like #alex claremont diaz #henry fox mountchristen windsor #i love my comfort gays

[alittlefrenchtree]

Do you like tzp physically but also appreciate his personality? (oh god, it's not a shade or provocation even if it sounds like that lol it's really just curiosity if it's just something aesthetic or you love "everything about him")

This is a really good question, actually. One I have asked myself a few times already, in fact. I’m not sure I have all the answers just yet which means this is going to be awfully long in the oversharing side of things but, lets say you’ve just asked for it? 😁

God, where do I even start?

Ok. One thing to know is, before watching RWRB (and knowing anything about TZP), there was a beautiful and peaceful window of a few days during which I was pretty indifferent to him (can you imagine???). I had seen a couple of pictures and too many gifs of the movie and I was like, yeah he is (they both are) pretty but I’d probably never looked twice if I was crossing path with him in the street, not knowing who he is. (The naivety of me I swear). To be fair with Taylor, I’ve almost never looked twice at men I’ve crossing path with. Women? All the damn time, their attractiveness is very immediate to me, but with men I usually need a bit more to develop an interest. (I haven’t enough data on how pretty non-binary people affect me, so I can’t compare sadly). So that’s a first element of answer, I guess? Men’s physical apparence alone is rarely enough for me, so I suppose it’s the same with Taylor.

Watching RWRB, a couple of scenes has caught my eyes in the sense of *oh, he is damn pretty*. The biggest two are probably the New Year Party and that scene with Miguel (you know which one). These two scenes were probably the first nail in my coffin but it was still very much related to Alex but it was something about his charm, his smile, the way he handle himself and seduce people that works a bit too much on me. 

Becoming a little bit obsessed with everything related to the movie, I’ve started seeing a lot of Taylor everywhere and a lot of Taylor things have piled on Alex Charm. Mostly, Taylor’s confidence and easiness with himself and his body. We’ve talked about it a few times here, but him being so damn good at moving, evolving in his environment and interacting with people but mostly seducing people (not necessarily in a romantic way just, seduce people like actors can seduce cameras or singers can seduce live audiences)? That precisely??? It does half the job for me, even if him being so goddamn beautiful doesn’t hurt either.

So all of that is mostly why I’m screaming all the time and how he’s slowly but surely driving me a bit crazy. I guess it's up to you to know if it falls in the "physical" spectrum or "personality" side?

But this doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate his personality either, obviously. If I didn't like him as a person, or if i thought he was a jerk or something, i wouldn't spend so much time looking at him, I think. But the things I like about him as a person don’t worsen the hold he has on me? They make me like him and want to hang out with him as a friend, not increase the urge to drop on my knees for him. At least from what I’ve seen so far. Pretty sure that if we were actually friends, I’d fall in love with him like everybody else.

I think I’ve touched on the subject a bit before, but it does seem the another way around with Nick for me. I can see his prettiness without feeling a need to fall on my knee for him but I’m pretty sure he could make me want to do that with his brain? Good thing we’ll never find out 😌

Like I’ve said. A bit of oversharing on my side 💀

#alft asks

[bloodenjoyer]

oh Please spill the tea on RWRB because I hear a lot about it from book blogs I sort of vaguely follow and I'm dying to hear a mutual's takes on it at this point,

well honeslty i dont even judge ppl who like rwrb like i myself will sometimes indulge in YA romance whatever ...esp if its nostalgic to me..(i know i have a few friends and mutuals who dolike rwrb) and forgive me because im not entirely sober. but basically that book Sux majorly. like.

Okay hi picking up from where i left off. The politics were stupid and bad ( which like. Doesnt automatically make a book bad or an unenjoyable read but still) Like they were so weird and wishywashy democrat. Very "there are good people on both sides!!!!!!" but also like theres this gay republican guy who outs the main character for his own campaign? But like it didnt make a lot of sense. also a lot of emphasis on the. diplomatic relations between the usa and the uk LOL i didnt find that offensive or anything and honestly it was kind of silly. Very fanfic-y but not necessarily the worst part of the book just silly . Oh also loved to suck the english monarchys dick. like...a lot. There was so much "ohhhhh its so hardddd being the prince of england and also im gay its sooo hard and people dont get how hard it is for meeeeee also we colonized people which is sad and embarrassing but yiu just dont get itt" like idk. Weird

Then like the romance aspect was like...idk. It was supposed to be enemies to lovers (<Trope! Always forced trope but whatever) but like it was more like. Mad-at-eachother to friends-with-benefits. Like there was no real romance to the book imo??? readers are expected to believe theyre in love because the book STATES theyre in love but theres not much actual depiction of them falling in love. Like oh wow theyre fucking and stuff. Also their EMAIL SEXTS get leaked. which was really fucking funny not gonna lie. it was just. it was just typical shitty ya i guess. very very obviously fanfic with the names changed. like i do get why people couldve enjoyed the book maybe. but personally it wasnt for me and if the movie is bad im not surprised!

#Also there was that weird insensitive joke abt israel that made my skin crawl but apparently they took it out of more recent prints?idk #i could probs say more but its been years since ive read that book. So i forgor #asks

[welcometololaland]

Hellooooooo friend 👋🏽

For the fan-related ask game: F, G, N, and Z? Please and thank you. 😁

(P.S. I am one of your biggest fans. You da best!! 💕)

SONIA! (As you know) I am a huge fan of yours too. So, I guess we are even! Thank you for the ask :)

F - What is the longest you've been in a fandom?

Look, I've actually never published anything for Veronica Mars but I think I've been in that fandom since I was like fourteen or something! I've never truly left in the sense that I stopped consuming the media (as I have done in other fandoms), in fact, I was watching season 1 last night, and I do read the odd fic! So, I think I'd say Veronica Mars for the past *counts on fingers* SEVENTEEN YEARS (minus the two or so years after s 4 where I had to wallow in sadness).

G - Who was your first OTP?

I think it would have to be Logan and Veronica from Veronica Mars. The first OTP i was REALLY REALLY obsessed with enough to drag me into an entirely new fandom was definitely Alex and Henry from RWRB.

N - Three things I wish I saw more of in fandom?

I don't think I need to explain this, but more diverse voices in fandom. As a writer and as a person, I think I could learn a lot from others especially when it comes to life experience, culture, religious practices etc., and it's a gift when someone in fandom is willing to share those things.

More interaction in DMs and asks in a way which allows readers to know creators AND creators to know readers! I was explaining to someone last night that my extroverted personality really manifests in wanting to know other people beyond the surface level. I get that not everyone wants to reveal everything about themselves online (which is SO valid), but I'd like to have more meaningful conversations with people and interact with more people. I love WIP Wednesday and Seven Sentence Sunday and all that, but I also love talking to other people about THEIR writing or their passions or their lives. I don't want to just talk about my writing all the time lol. This is an open invite for anyone to chat to me about LITERALLY anything. I promise I'm very friendly!

Appreciation for the people who make writers as good as they can be - sensitivity readers, beta readers, the readers who leave really lovely long comments or any kind of comment that is funny or thoughtful or kind. I love writers in fandom, but from my personal writing experience at least, it takes a fucking village, and I want those people to have their virtual flowers!!! I don't think I've nailed this yet, but I'd really like to develop that skill.

Z - Ramble about something

In light of paragraph (N)(3) above, I would like to make a personal shout out to YOU, @rmd-writes @athousandrooms and @celeritas2997 who have lived in many of my documents and put in SO MANY HOURS of work over the past (almost) 2 years. I really think my writing has transformed so much in that time. I can see such a marked difference in sentence structure, grammar, CHARACTERISATION and plot if I compare my writing from 2021 to now. It's actually very humbling to see how far I've come and I have to thank you all so much for helping me improve! Also, @dustratcentral for being such an iconic cheerleader. love your work.

(Send me an ask based on the alphabet)

#fandom alphabet game #appreciation post #veronica mars #logan x veronica #LoVe #RWRB #firstprince #beta readers #sensitivity readers #readers

[cha-melodius]

Hi! :)

I apologise if you already did something like this, but I had a thought, so I wanted to share it: TMFU RWRB AU. If we ignore/rewrite ~100 years of history, Illya could be a member of the Russian tsar family (who would still be in power in this AU). And Napoleon could be the son of the US president. Do you have any thoughts on it?

Alternatively (thought this wouldn't really be a RWRB AU, but I thought of it during the scene where Alex is memorising facts about Henry's life), Illya could be a member of the tsar family and Napoleon could be a spy sent on a mission to spy on him (I guess part of the objective would be getting close to Illya and winning his trust, so Napoleon would plan to seduce him). So, Napoleon learns all about Illya from the files, memorises all his likes and dislikes and such, and then goes to Russia to carry out his mission. He falls in love with Illya for real, but unfortunately, Illya finds out that he is a spy and he gets angry and starts believing that none of Napoleon's feelings were genuine. Cue lots od angst. But they'd make up eventually, of course.

Hope you have a great day!!

So I've had someone prompt a RWRB AU for lokius, but I had never considered a napollya one, and it's kind of shocking how well it works give how different the source materials are lmao.

Honestly "if we ignore/rewrite ~100 years of history" is a great premise for an AU to start with. Yes, absolutely, let's do Russian royalty is still a thing, but also if the US and Russia still don't really like each other that much? If they're one false move away from open hostilities? A ridiculous spat like falling into a cake could ACTUALLY cause an international incident and be devastating for foreign relations. Also consider Illya losing his father at a young age (not dead in TMFU, but could be adapted that way), absolutely being a frigid ass to Napoleon at every opportunity because Napoleon is too damned pretty, and of course Illya could never, ever actually be gay openly. Napoleon would make a great FSOTUS heartthrob, with Gaby in the Nora role? Perfection. The only thing idk is what Waverly's role in all of this could be. There are some interesting potential twists too, like if Illya is an only child like in TMFU canon he'd actually be the heir to the throne. (Why do I kind of feel like this would end with the fall of the alternate-history Russian monarchy? 😅)

Ok, and I also LOVE your second option too, I'd probably set this one in the last days of the actual Russian monarchy. All the hidden identity stuff would be SO painful and so amazing. I'm just getting a feeling like Illya wouldn't easily trust people, so it takes a while for Napoleon to break past his walls, which makes the fact that Napoleon ultimately betrays the trust when Illya opens up to him so much worse. Of course he'd manage to prove himself to Illya and probably help Illya escape in the end.

Thanks so much for sending these in, they were a lot of fun to think about!

#tmfu #tmfu aus #headcanons and aus #the man from uncle #the man from u.n.c.l.e. #illya kuryakin #napoleon solo #asks and answers

[the-paper-monkey]

Is there a reason why you dislike Red, White and Royal Blue?

Honestly, I read it and enjoyed most of it, but the ending I hated. But that's just me, I like fluff, but that ending was something else...

What is your gripe with the book?

RWRB fans keep scrolling. I'll try to keep it nice (post-writing edit: this was not kept nice) but I really disliked this book. I am also NOT AN AMERICAN and I think that makes the biggest impact on enjoyment of this book. If it were a romcom between a random American boy and British boy then I could critique it on its writing merit alone, but the choice of the author to engage with politics in such a brainless manner is really symptomatic of the cancer that is modern American liberalism.

Disclaimer: I did not finish this book. It's one of the only books I've ever DNF'd. I paid real monnies to buy the ebook. This waste of $15 is probably why I'm so bitter.

With RWRB it really comes down to four Ps:

Premise, pacing, prose

This is perhaps on me, but when you look at the blurb: "photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations. The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince."

See now, to me, that premise reads as—fake friendship, enemies/rivals to lovers, where they slowly come to understand what they like about each other. From a narrative pacing perspective, I would expect to see this click for our protagonists at the midpoint or perhaps the climax. Certainly not them having a conversation and resolving all their differences within the first 10% of the book (hospital broom cupboard). It's been a couple years since I (attempted to) read this book, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I strongly feel that they went from hating each other—with no substance to that hate beyond a petty misunderstanding—to resolving their differences, to kissing and fucking, within the first 20% of the book. What is this pacing??

After that I realised that this book should've been pitched with a forbidden love/Romeo & Juliet premise, because clearly that was what the author was going for. I don't necessarily have an issue with that. It's just disappointing to me because it was misleading and I wasted my money on a book that's actual premise doesn't interest me in the slightest. I read romance primarily for the internal conflict within the relationship, not the external conflict, though having both is fab (e.g. Captive Prince).

I'm not quite sure anything happens in this book. The protagonists are 'enemies' for maybe 10 pages and then fuck for the rest of it?? I skipped pages and pages and pages of 'banter' between Alex and those girls, and politics that read like it'd been penned by a 12 year old, and somehow managed to miss nothing. I've never read a book where I could skip so many pages with it having so little material impact on my understanding of the narrative.

I also found the prose and dialogue very... 'aliens guess at the way humans speak based on a diet of nothing but mediocre social media themed fanfiction'. And I say this as a fic writer myself. There's a bunch of female characters that serve no purpose other that to cheerlead the main couple and be wholesome, flawless, quippy and supportive, because that's feminism, baby. I can't speak at length about the characters because I dropped the book pretty early on.

2. POLITICS

RWRB is very much a product of its time and its author's nationality. That it was written and published during the Trump administration is no surprise. I think, just as Cinderella (2021) will be a perfect specimen for future study of the hot mess that is 2020s liberal feminism, RWRB will serve the same for 'left-wing' democrat politics for the 2016-xx political landscape. It's an AU where a while, blonde female presidential candidate wins the election and leaked emails have no effect on the outcome of said election. Jee, I sure wonder who she's meant to be 🙄

I understand that this book was intended as a light-hearted romcom, a silly romance for readers to turn off their brains and enjoy the wholesomeness. But clearly I am not the target audience as I am incapable of turning off my brain under any circumstance, especially not when reading a book. I am also not a romance reader, nor much of a genre fiction reader. Again, not the target audience. I also do not think you get to introduce politics as one of the most prominent themes and then not have your book critiqued on its handling of that subject matter.

I am far too much of a political cynic to read about this wholesome good working-class American political family that hold all the right views and have no flaws. I was disappointed but not surprised as soon as I realised this was really gonna go for the pro-democrat lens. I'm too foreign to view that party as anything more than middling centrists and outright antagonists on the global stage. Perhaps some people enjoy reading books that put them in a fantasy lala land where everything is good and just in the world, but I think this sort of passive idealism is exactly why the USA is a conservative hellscape in the first place.

A goodreads review that articulates my thoughts well: "This is the most idealized, grotesque, good-versus-evil look at politics I have EVER SEEN. In this book, the Democrats are a rainbow-wearing gloriously diverse coalition of kumbaya-singing angels, and everyone else is a villain we won’t talk about. Democrats are 100% motivated purely by the love of Doing The Right Thing, and they have never done anything wrong, ever, in their lives. The American people love them implicitly and will turn historically red states blue just to show them that. It’s not only sickening, it’s damaging. DO NOT IDEALIZE POLITICIANS."

And even moving away from politics to just address the wealth and privilege of these characters who fly back and forth over the pond on private jets to see each other... like, I don't have an issue with rich MCs (tbh Henry should be exactly my fave type), but I do have an issue with the desperate, self-aware attempts the author makes to keep things 'progressive'. Yeah, sure the characters lampshade their privilege. But these themes are not engaged with in any meaningful way, to the point where I wish they'd been excluded entirely. If you're going to write a book about the top 0.000001%'s issues, at least be unapologetic about it. If you keep mentioning privilege but do nothing about it then it feels hollow and insincere. I have nothing but contempt for philanthropy, so don't get me started on that.

Bonus: (not a P but) Anglophilia

As a foreigner from a culture closer to the UK than the US, the British fetishism vibes were pretty hilarious. I am certainly not gonna call it 'problematic' (I hate that word regardless). It's just cringe and excruciating to read. No one talks like that! No one. Not even the Prince of England.

Edit: this goodreads reviewer really gets it

#i don't like to talk politics on this blog but let it be known i think both major american political parties are conservative af #who decided to publish this president!hillary au sdfghjkl #i'm sorry i'm a hater #asks #anon #the sorry attempt at politics that this book makes is honestly sickening #anti rwrb

[khaleesiofalicante]

went on a lbaf deep dive on your blog cause why not and i noticed some things so now i'm curious

so it says here Joseph is dead and the family hates the ny institute resident so i'm guessing these two facts are related and also it says that Madeleine is still head of the institute which probably means she didn't become more important within the clave.

and here you said that Aurelia is close with Abigail and has a private love life , same as Abigail so i'm thinking maybe a poly relationship with one of the warlock of the warlocks council? that'd be so cool to see

i don't have much to say about that except yes absolutely

and this is more relevant now than ever and i need it

anyways love you 💚

NOT THE RECEIPTS???

joseph is indeed dead. we don't know how or when or why. that's for you to figure out hehe. although a person can hold an important position in the clave AND be a head of the institute :)

Aurelia, unfortunately, won't be much of a big presence in the story as I thought (it became clear when I finished the outline). I had to rework her character and arc. You can ignore that bit tbh. (Although Abigail as we know is secretly dating someone)

I was LITERALLY thinking about mavid rwrb au today (it's one of those fics where i wrote/thought the epilogue first and need to work backwards so I keep thinking about that scene while listening to taylor swift oof)

Love you too!! 💚💚

#lbaf

[cosettepontmercys]

im so glad other people feel the same way about rwrb as i do! a lot of people ive seen said they loved it and i was just SO disappointed the entire time. the fact that the emails were just like "im doing [this] today and also i miss you i guess" made the email leak feel like nothing. and the fact that they cut out all the mental health related stuff made me so sad. ALSO WHEN ALEX WHEN TO LONDON he was soaking wet when they were talking but we didn't see the part where he was outside yelling which made no sense. i thought maybe i was too close to the source material because ive read the book, ahem, 7 times but the more i sit with it the more annoyed i get

lizz !!! it's been so long; i hope you're doing well, friend! 🤍 and yes, very, very disappointed in the lack of mental health stuff (especially how much henry's grief is intertwined with it all), how ... different everything felt (esp. the emails). i have also read the book ... a [redacted number] of times, and i was going to reread it right after i watched the movie (i want to annotate it for a friend as a gift) but .... i have decided to sit on it for a while first </3 i'm glad so many people love it!! i really am! i am just not that person and that's disappointing for me personally but </3 oh well </3

#post: answered #mutual: lizz #anti rwrb #rwrb spoilers

[reneewalkersbiceps]

Can i ask why you didnt like the rwrb movie? I didn't either tbc and i haven't seen anyone else talk about why i personally disliked it😭

i just personally didn’t think the characters had much. chemistry tbh! like heartstopper, sex education and first kill (rip) and other recent LGBTQ+ mainstream projects have similar kind of cheesy, fun, YA vibes but the difference is the chemistry between the actors is so strong!!

also there was blatant pandering in some parts, like the president’s (uma thurman’s) whole speech about bisexuality and every bit of the politico-feminist side of it felt quite disingenuous and patronising to me :/

and i didn’t really think any of the characters were fully fleshed out. as someone who (admittedly) hasn’t read the book, i felt like i barely knew any of the characters or their motivations and then it kept being thrown in like ‘oh guess what?? these characters are together!’ and i was like oh, okay.

there’s a lot more i could take issue with tbh but i won’t go too deep! i just wish we had better shitty, LGBTQ+, cheesy, mainstream movies and tv but that’s a whole other story lol.

sorry! that was a lot but that briefly summarises my thoughts 💖

(p.s. also totally understand if people love/relate to the film and characters, we don’t all have the same experiences/identification in the world so we’ll all perceive things differently!)

#not aftg #rwrb spoilers #rwrb #rwrb movie #red white and royal blue

[alittlefrenchtree]

I'm the Nick Taylor Matthew reunion ask.

The ask did seem a little rude. At least to me. So sorry about that.

The point is, I would also like to see Nick and Matthew reunion bc we literally have nothing between them. Except an old recycle picture of Nick (the Happy birthday picture).

Thank you for writing it again, it's appreciated 🫶

Of course I would also love to see Matthew with Nick! I think the previous ask was only mentioning Taylor and Matthew because they seem closer with each other -- or at least we have seen more public evidences of that. And Taylor being more present on RWRB related events, there is a bigger chance for them to meet publicly, I guess. But if we can manifest some Matthew and Nick content as well, I'm all here for it, obviously 💜

#alft asks