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meraki-yao · 7 months

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RWRB Movie Thoughts: Choreography and Rehearsals

There’s been a couple of great essays on the one-shots in the movie and the theatricality of those scenes (see here, here and here), and I just want to talk a little about choreography and ferally scream a little about rehearsals.

Taylor mentioned in one of their interviews that a lot of the intimate scenes had a certain musicality to them, and as the boys both have theatre experience, Robbie communicated with them on the subject almost like creating a dance. It’s essentially, choreography. So here’s my interpretation of the choreography part.

I love dancing and took ballet classes for 14 years, and something really important in dancing and choreography is beats. And there are two ways to go about this.

One is literally every beat is a specific motion, it’s a series of sharply changing movements. It’s very apparent for Henry/Nick during the first section of their first hookup in Alex’s room. You can literally count 8 beats as you would for a piece of music, and for every beat, Henry/Nick is doing a specific move:

1: Block the door -> 2: Push open the door -> 3: Right Hand grab Alex/Taylor’s Neck -> 4: Kiss -> 5: Left Hand Grab Alex/Taylor’s Arm -> 6: Left Hand moves to Alex/Taylor’s Neck-> 7: Blank/No New Hand Movements -> 8: Left Hand in his Hair

You can literally count the beats, and hell, in this scene in Henry/Nick’s case, the beats are fairly even. You can almost follow the motions with a metronome.

The other kind is hitting marks: as in there are “key poses” to strike at certain times, but how to get from one pose to the other is more up to the actor. (There’s a great video explaining this idea in fight choreography/sword fighting: check it out here) I think that’s what the red room kiss counts as the boys have certain marks to hit: both of them hitting the wall, Alex/Taylor grabbing Henry/Nick’s thigh, then pushing him onto the table, then grabbing his waist while Henry/Nick grabs his hair etc. They have specific places for their hands and legs and well, themselves to be, but everything in between is pretty continuous motions that I don’t think can be precisely designed. You can still sort of count a beat, but it’s much less clear than the example of Henry in Alex’s bedroom.

So here’s my question.

How many of the scenes in the movie are choreographed, and what scene was which kind of choreography?

There are the two literal dance scenes, and then most of the intimate scenes go without saying, because it’s not just a matter of the choreography, but also requires discussions on intimacy and boundaries. Among the photos Matthew posted about rehearsals, I’m assuming all photos with the boys on a couch are the intimate scenes. (Matthew said the first hook-up was shot exactly as rehearsed)

But another photo Matthew posted was the hospital storage room scene, the absolutely adorable photo with Nick and Taylor squeezed together in the middle of a bunch of chairs.

Which means the mess of Henry and Alex falling into the storage room then flailing their limbs trying to figure out how sit properly without crushing each other was choreographed. And honestly…how? Because that scene looked like such a mess and so damn chaotic, I really can’t imagine any part of it being designed besides the general idea of “fall over, push each other a bunch, end up with Henry/Nick on the right and Alex/Taylor on the left.”

Also the Paris scene. Of course that has to be choreographed, but I just… can’t imagine how? Like the red room scene, Alex’s room, the polo tack room, if I don’t immerse myself in the movie I can sort of see the performance, the directing aspect of the scene, but the Paris scene, I completely can’t. It’s so well done, it looks so damn real. Of course, I know it’s not, but I can’t see it. That’s how well done the scene is. How in the fucking world did they do that? On top of that apparently, people who went to the March screening said there were three positions (which, please fucking release everything PLEASE), so again, how the fuck did they do that?

What other scenes were choreographed? They had two weeks of rehearsal (although Taylor said he got Covid on the second week so I don’t know how they went about that), how much did they do?

God I know Matthew’s slowly releasing behind-the-scenes footage and I’m guessing a, he has a lot, like a lot b, he’s understandably taking his time, but I wonder if he’ll ever let rehearsal videos see the light of day. Besides my own curiosity about how their rehearsal worked, there's also that one adorable picture of what looks like Taylor said something that made Nick laugh which is just so cute, it would be nice to see what the boys themselves were like during rehearsals and what their banter was like

Anyways all this to say MORE BTS FOOTAGE PLEASE

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #rwrb movie #nicholas galitzine #taylor zakhar perez #matthew michael lopez #rwrb thoughts #rwrb cast #behind the scenes #seriously please tell me #i want to steal his phone #i want to see everything #it's just so... delicate?#or messy?#and it's all designed?#how did they do that

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cha-melodius · 9 months

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6. Do you have your work beta'd? How important is this to your process?

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

Hey anon, thanks so much for the ask! Sorry, I got a bit verbose on these ones lmao.

6. Do you have your work beta'd? How important is this to your process?

I do. These days the lovely @cricketnationrise and @celeritas2997 are my main document gremlins. I never used to have my work beta'd because I felt like I didn't really want critique (I get enough of that in my day job), but now I pretty much send them all my RWRB stories. For one, I get in-line screaming comments about phrases or parts that are exceptional, and for two, they make suggestions that have definitely made my stories better. For example, the epilogue to Please Don't Let Me Be So Understood originally ended slightly differently and tbh I wasn't 100% happy with it but didn't know how to fix it, and cee made a great suggestion to help keep it a bit more in character and a little lighter, not to mention that she actually suggested the last line that people have loved (thank you cee!). So yeah, I find their feedback very important these days.

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

Usually it depends on what kind of story I want to tell. For one shots, I figure out which character's feelings I want to be the main framing of the story. Each story is often about one of them more than the other, so it usually just feels right. I also think about what information I want to keep hidden or reveal. If I'm building up a mystery or need someone's motivations to be unclear, then that plays into it too. Funnily enough I find myself writing Alex & Henry more exclusively from one POV or the other than I ever have in past fandoms (where I more frequently did POV changes). I think that's because we canonically know a lot about their feelings, so keeping things interesting in a new story can sometimes require keeping the reader in the dark. That said the next big thing I'm writing (You've Got Mail AU) has pretty rapid POV changes!

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

All right I'm assuming this means other people's fics and not my own, but who knows. Also this is HARD, so I'm not really answering favorite of all time, because I don't think I could, but favorites I've read recently (which. I'm so behind on, omg). These are all firstprince.

we’re right here for a reason [M] by @smc-27, which is a How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days AU that's funny and sexy and full of heart.

Nebuchad-never had a friend like me [E] by @clottedcreamfudge, in which they have DRAGONS, because DRAGONS (and also because it's amazing and hilarious and full of exceptional magical realism worldbuilding).

Going Platinum [E... very very E] by @cricketnationrise, in which Alex is a camboy and Henry is a subscriber, because it's so creative and scorching hot, and I never thought I would be into a camboy au but cricket proved me dead wrong.

Get to know your fic writer asks!

#about my fics #about my writing #rwrb #rwrb fic rec #firstprince #firstprince fic rec #fic recs #red white and royal blue

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bluedalahorse · 9 months

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So I wrote a little something about the RWRB movie, particularly the erasure or diminishing of some other queer characters’ (not Alex or Henry’s) identities. I’m cutting it so you don’t have to read it, but of course you can if you would like to. Not going to tag it for now, just for peace of mind.

So overall, there were parts of the movie I found charming and enjoyable, and I think things really picked up in the second half. I did find the whole thing kind of uneven on a writing level. I know changes have to be made and things have to be cut when you go from a novel to a two-hour movie, and I sort of like looking at how the adaptation process works. After a second watch I can probably pin down some of the writing issues and appreciate what did work. I don’t know if I will or won’t post about it.

Really, right now, the thing on my heart that I want to discuss, is the representation issue.

I actually think they did a good job representing Alex and Henry’s relationship mlm onscreen, once it got going. The tender moments were tender, the spicy moments were spicy. You didn’t get actors looking at one another like “oh god I have to be in love with a man now” and we didn’t cut away from the intimacy scenes like we were ashamed of them.

But—sigh. The way they cut or diminished every other queer character in the story. Obviously I knew Luna and Liam had been cut out, so I was ready to adjust my expectations there. I’m glad Amy was played by a trans actress, although I also wish we like… knew Amy was trans and sapphic? Maybe there was a line about Amy’s wife that I missed, but I don’t remember one.

My biggest feelings of frustration, though, is how they handled Nora, who is very much bisexual and Jewish and a statistical analysis nerd. I get combining Nora and June to streamline things for the movie, but I do not understand why you wouldn’t make Nora bi? You can keep roughly the same number of scenes with her and Alex, and just rewrite their interactions to sound like two queer friends talking instead of a protagonist and his Black Best Friend archetype the protagonist says things to because he needs to say his internal monologue externally. Rachel Hilson did bring great energy to the role, so I liked seeing her onscreen. I just wish the script gave her more to work with and didn’t erase her bisexuality. Like there’s a certain audacity to the script saying that the B in LGBTQ isn’t silent (an important line to have!) when the film is either very much silent about a key character’s bisexuality or has written it out completely.

(Although, the part where Nora was obviously playing a drinking game over political debates? Loved that, excellent example of DC behavior right there, I did cheer at that scene. I am 100% serious.)

Also. There’s just… something. About implying that the gay Mexican journalist character was the one who leaked the emails, instead of the Republican Party. There’s something about writing that storyline in an America where gay people, Mexicans, and ~the media~ are regularly demonized. At a time when the actual Republican Party IRL is literally out here trying to do a genocide on trans people, and Florida’s Don’t Say Gay ban is on the books, and everything. I get that Prime was probably trying not to piss off the actual GOP and draw their ire, but like, conservatives are not going to watch this or like this anyway? I get changing the antagonists, maybe, but maybe we need to go in another direction with that. Hm.

One more thought, as far as overall vibe. Washington DC is statistically the city in America with the highest LGBTQIA+ population. Queer rights are visible in our city’s culture—maybe in a nerdier way than some of the more “hip” US cities but it’s still there if you know where to look. The West Wing/federal government are a bit removed from DC’s broader culture, depending on the administration, but Ellen Claremont is a liberal Democrat with a diverse staff, so she’s more likely to have an open relationship to DC’s queer culture than say, a conservative Republican president. So… idk. Let Alex move through scenes that reflect this culture, is what I’m saying.

Tl;dr I think the RWRB movie worked as a gay romcom in the Netflix Christmas movie sense. It reflected an mlm relationship and did it well enough. At the same time, Casey McQuiston writes books about queer community, which has always been one of the reasons I gravitate toward their work and come back to it. I feel like this movie chose queer individualism over queer community, and that makes me sad. It especially makes me sad in a time where we’re getting tons of mlm-themed things released but every other aspect of LGBTQIA+ identity has been ignored or diminished.

For comparison, RWRB is about the length of half a season of Heartstopper, and even half a season of Heartstopper depicts a range of LGBTQIA+ identities and knows how to write queer community, even when centering the story on a main mlm relationship. And yes, Heartstopper is different, different things need to be considered and so on. I do think the People Who Make Heartstopper looked at what the comic said, went “oh, one of the things this comic is about is about is queer community” and created a show that reflected that, even if they couldn’t adapt everything from the comic. I wish the People Who Make RWRB had looked at Casey’s book and done the same.

I hope we can simultaneously hold the competing truths that like, 1. it’s okay if the RWRB movie isn’t groundbreaking art, because some LGBTQIA+ movies are just allowed to be mid romcoms, but also 2. it didn’t do right by the queer community themes in the book, and it erased the queer women especially, and this feels like part of a larger pattern when so many mlm releases are happening all at once.

Anyway I’m done, for now. More thoughts later? I mean who knows.

Who’s looking forward to Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe?

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brownbitchshit · 9 months

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Review filled with probable unpopular opinions and spoilers.........

Before I start the review,I'd like to say that I went into watching this movie with the absolute mindset that there's no way a book like RWRB (which is one of my most favourite books of all time) can be adapted into a 2 hour long movie and since series wasn't doable, I'll have to make do with this. So I truly went in with the hopes of seeing my FirstPrince and generally getting the heart of the movie. But contrary to what people are saying, I think the movie tried to adapt too much of the book plot and lost the main vibe of the story in the process. As I go into the details and spoilers, I'd like to be clear that they are my opinions only. It's in no way an attack or criticisms on anyone who loved the movie. So please do not take it personally and consider it my ranting.

................................. Spoilers.….....................................

1. First problem I have with the movie is how much it tried to adapt of the book. I know, it sounds controversial but lemme explain. The book had too many plots and I personally felt like despite cutting down characters and simplifying some major plot points, the movie tried to show too much of too many plots. In the process, the plots that needed the time to breathe in order to translate the main heart of the story, got lost in translation. For example Henry losing his father, his existential crisis, him being in the closet for the crown. Even though he kept saying he cant be out and everything but the story never really showed what's at stake. Even Stephen Fry's King seemed very harmless which made the entire plot kind of moot. Same goes for Alex. Without his parents' divorce, his entire I don't think I'm good enough vibe just didn't come across. I generally felt like in order to get all the stories across, they didn’t spend any time to capture the fear of them being together, the horror of being out and the repercussions of what it meant and mostly why their characters are more than just 'Privileged public figures who live in palaces'. By not showing Henry's mom they erased the pain and impact he had of losing his father and by not showing June and Alex's parents' divorce,they erased the explanation about his fierceness and determination.

2. I personally was in support of aged-up Alex and Henry simply because it made their love-story more solid. But the problem was despite having aged-up cast, Matthew Lopez tried to keep their characters very true to the book. Which meant at time Taylor Zakhar Perez as Alex looked extremely immature and weird acting like a early 20 something guy when he clearly was not. Also his entire 'They don't like me' 'I don't know if I'm good enough' insecurity seemed childish especially since none of his other issues were shown like his parents's divorce or ADHD. Again I think instead of going through the checklist of getting all the book plots done, they should have explained Alex's background a little more showing why him as a brown man feels this need to be the best, why he finds it so hard to accepted by people. Obviously they mention it, but they never get into it. Which is a shame tbh.

3. Erasing June and keeping Nora while not explaining who Nora is, kind of lightened Alex's character even more. Apart from helping Alex to realize his sexuality, she literally served no purpose. At least if June were there, they could've shown some sibling bonding and a deeper look at Alex's character and explain the whole dynamic of being the first son and daughter of USA while being POCs.

4. The few changes that truly bothered me which served no purpose at all and again changed the tone of the film are Alex's confession scene in the rain and him giving a speech without Henry's input. I don't know why they chose not to give us the passionate reunion when Alex storms into the Kensington and instead cut to the V&A scene because honestly it didn’t make sense. We could do without the V&A scene and instead spend more time on them talking about their feelings more and just spend more time into that moment to build its momentum. It all felt extremely rushed which easily could have been avoided. And also why Alex will choose to come out without Henry and make a speech about their relationship without their input made no sense. It just made it seem like being Bi and dating Henry is easier for Alex and he had no real threat by putting himself out there like that whereas in the book we could feel how vulnerable it made him and how scared they both were when he made the 'America, he is my choice' speech.

Now the things that I liked/loved :

1. The lake scene. The entire scene was so well done, maybe because for once they took the time to slow down and let Henry's emotion show for once. I thought it was more beautiful than it was in the book.

2. Alex's involvement in the politics. If there was one thing that Matthew Lopez did to adjust the plot to Alex's age was this and I personally liked seeing this bit because again for the first time it gave us a glimpse of who Alex was and what his ambitions were which was lacking from the rest of the film.

3. Alex's scenes with his family was spot on. No complain there.

4. Alex and Henry's intimate scenes were well done. Although I wish they were a bit longer and more sensual but I liked it. I am confused though why is this film R-rated (except for TZP's butt scene) because the sex scenes were extremely innocent.

5. Henry when he finds out about the leak. That scene was again well done because they took the time to show the emotion and the heart of the movie.

To sum it up, I feel like the movie tried to adapt too much of the book. I think Matthew truly made the movie like a fan which in my opinion backfired a little. Because I think since this book is too long to be adapted into a movie, the best course of action should've been to capture the main theme of the story and make many changes accordingly. I think he chose to serve the book lovers, which is not a bad way to make an adaptation but I think as a movie, it is what let it down. As the book fan, you probably will be happy to see the plot checklists being ticked in. But as a movie, I found the plots very rushed, characters underdeveloped and underutilized, unnecessary storylines and the love story underdeveloped. Although I would give kudos to Nicholas Galitzine and Taylor Zakhar Perez because they were good as Henry and Alex. I wish Matthew had done a better job with their character development because these two could have really made Henry and Alex into 100% perfection and take the movie to the next level.

#red white and royal blue #red white and royal blue movie #nicholas galitzine #rwrb movie #taylor zakhar perez #hrh prince henry #alex claremont diaz

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arse-crack-thistle · 3 years

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rwrb winterfest - day 18 - music

@rwrb-fests

in which my dear princess bea needs a little comfort at christmastime (ace rep)

Bea always has a hard time around Christmas.

Part of it has to do with her father. She seems to find new pieces of him to miss every day. Today, it’s his laugh—the deep chuckle he lets out when David jumps on his lap and licks his face or when he’s had a little too much brandy and Bea says something sarcastic and rude about her grandmother.

She misses how the family used to gather around a table in one of the sitting rooms in Kensington and play gin rummy at Christmastime. The tree would stand tall in the corner. Their father insisted they decorate it themselves, despite Philip’s disapproval. It looked sloppy covered in tinsel and an assortment of colorful lights and ornaments. The star at the top tilted towards the left, but at least the tree filled the room with a delicate pine scent. The fire burned at a soft glow, and everyone around the table laughed and wore paper crowns from their Christmas crackers. It didn’t matter who they were, they were just a normal family.

Now, the room feels cold, even though the fire cracks across from her. In the corner, the bare tree sags. She hasn’t had the energy to decorate it herself since Henry’s been in New York, and while she and Philip have reconciled their differences, he’s never really liked this part of their family’s traditions. Her mother works a ton since stepping up as the heir apparent, so Bea didn’t want to bother her either. Her cat meows next to her on the couch.

Christ, she wants a hit. She wants something to wipe her memory and just let her be. She just might reach for the brandy on the liquor cart. Why did she convince Henry she could handle it being here? Or that she could handle him leaving?

No, he needs to live his life without her, even if she misses him. The hardest part about being ace is watching her people find their person.

She’s happy for Henry and she loves Alex, but she’s lonely when they’re gone. And with loneliness comes dark thoughts. And the chance she will relapse multiplies.

Bea should call her sponsor. Or Henry. Or literally anyone. She knows they’ll answer. She knows she’s loved. But the only person she wants to hold her and make Christmas special again can’t.

She really misses her father.

Bea leaves the room. She puts as much space between her and the brandy as she can. When her fingers itch for something, she must fill them, and the best remedy is music.

Her favorite room in this place looks exactly how she left it the day before. The piano sits, awaiting Henry. The mismatch of rugs were her idea—benders with musicians in Galway inspired her, or what she remembered of them did. The cat finds her way to her spot on the brown settee.

Before picking up a guitar, Bea passes tchotchkes from their travels on an antique side table. Nesting dolls from Russia. A Statue of Liberty figurine from their first trip to the U.S. A toorstag from Henry’s month in Mongolia. A coconut bra from Bea’s drunk cruise in the Caribbean. She’s since become a more sensitive and culturally-minded traveler.

She sits with the instrument on the floor, her back against the settee. This particular guitar was a gift from her father on her fourteenth birthday. It was handmade for her, and her initials sit just below the artisan’s label under the sound hole. The koa wood has a rich, dark finish; Bea likes to drag her finger across the wood grain when she’s deciding what to play next or when she’s lost in her thoughts in between songs. When her father first gave it to her, the sound was bright and lively, but in the time since, it’s become mellow and warm. Perfect for fingerpicking.

She plays a few chords as she tunes it. Her cat purrs behind her ear. Crystal from the chandelier above her twinkles. She settles in the quiet moment and plays.

But there’s no heart in it.

Bea thought if she changed her scenery, if she gave herself something to do, she’d get out of this riptide. But every song, every passing minute, pulls her further and further out.

If no one’s around to hear her play, is it really music?

Is this her safe space if no one’s here to create its harmony with her?

She’s so lonely.

And the tune is as frozen as she feels.

It’s times like these she wishes she wanted her grandmother’s happily ever after—marry a man, pop out a couple of kids, and be a dutiful royal. But she can’t. The thought of marrying someone, of making and raising children, of being a mindless princess puppet actually nauseates her.

If only she had her own community of people like her, she might be able to rely on Henry less. Her other married friends wouldn’t feel so bad for her. She could just go on ignoring her grandmother and Philip, when he gets to be too much. Her mother wouldn’t worry as much.

And not that she wouldn’t miss her father less, but maybe she wouldn’t feel so empty without him here.

Maybe the soul could find its way back into her music.

So Bea snaps herself out of it just enough to text Pez and ask for his Instagram login. She has a plan that her handler—and her grandmother, for that matter—would definitely disapprove of.

But fuck the crown.

Bea needs to take her life in her own hands and demand more for herself. She needs help to feel better, but she has to be the one to initiate. If Henry could do it, so could she.

Part of the AA mantra is to have the courage to change the things she can.

She’s got it, and she can do it.

Pez responds quickly and without question, of course. She sets her guitar to the side and downloads the app. After she logs in, she leans forward and rests the phone against the floor pouf in front of her.

Bea takes a deep breath and starts a livestream, and the viewer count immediately skyrockets. Her grandmother is really going to hate this.

“Um, hello,” she says. “I’m sure you all weren’t expecting to see me, but our friend, Percy, was kind enough to lend me his account for a short while. I hope that’s all right.”

She shifts a little uncomfortably. She never minded the spotlight as long as she could control it, but even now, she feels more venerable than ever. Last year’s Christmas pajamas hang loosely on her. Surely, her reindeer bottoms will go viral, as she sits with her legs crisscrossed in full view of the camera. Her cat mews.

“Yes, thank you for that, darling,” She says to her and then looks to the camera.

“I just wanted to come on here to talk to you all. See, as we’re in the holiday season, it’s all a bit overwhelming, isn’t it? And in all of this hustle and bustle, one finds they get a bit lost along the way.

“I’ve noticed this in myself every year, but this time it’s more frustrating. I’ve just been feeling rather lonely lately, as one can during this chilly time, so I thought maybe you lot have experienced that as well. I wanted to connect with people like me. I don’t mean, like, I want to wallow in my problems—or that I have especially difficult problems—I mean I know I’m very fortunate—I just—um. Let me—let me straighten this out.”

She sighs. This could be a disaster. She could come off entitled and whiny if she doesn’t focus more on her words.

“It seems the people in my life all have a partner, and I am so happy for them, truly. But I don’t want a partner or a relationship of any nature other than friendship. And so during this time of year—and, I suppose, other times as well—I find myself the odd woman out.

“For example, here I am, alone in this place, with only my cat, with whom you’ve already become acquainted. Now, I know I’m very lucky to have this, but it’s empty houses that can lead people down a dark path, isn’t it?”

Bea needs to say the words. She needs to make it very clear. She watches the screen flood with comments and hearts. Hundreds of thousands of people are watching, and tomorrow she’s going to be on every media outlet.

“I’m aromantic and asexual, if that wasn’t clear. I can’t and don’t want to fall in love, and not that it’s anyone’s business, I’m not even faintly interested in sex. And that may be confusing for some of you, but for me, it makes my life, my mind, make sense.”

She’s slowly but surely finding her way back to shore now.

“For years, I thought there was something wrong with me, but there’s not. I thought the only way I could be happy was to be in a relationship, but it’s not. And if you yourself are ace as well, I want you to know you’re not alone.

“This is the real reason why I did all of this. I was lonely and sad tonight, and I wanted you all to know that if you feel that too, it’s okay. I hope I can learn about and grow in the ace community—not to replace my happily coupled friends, but to explore new friendships with people who can understand what I and some of you are going though.

“We’ve been taught that there’s one way to be happy, and I just don’t think that’s true. And I’m willing to prove it if you’ll help me. Starting now.”

Bea reaches for her guitar and places it in her lap. She finds the first chord of “Horchata” by Vampire Weekend. A text notification from Henry pops down.

HOLY SHIT I LOVE YOU!!!!!!

A smile creeps up her cheeks.

“Something I love to do when I’m down is to pick out a little tune. If it’s all right with you, I thought I’d play a round for us. Maybe answer a few questions if you’ve got any.”

Bea picks the first note, and the tone is perfect.

She feels warmth grow in her chest and travel around her arms and down her back.

Like her father hugging her from behind, arms crossed over her shoulders.

Just like he used to do many Christmases ago.

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meraki-yao · 6 months

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The taylor zakhar perez hashtag just full of praise for Nicholas acting and twitter full of anonymous messages asking for his recast because he's not as good as Nick. That shit hurts and I can't even enjoy the new content I'm tired of the hate that man has been getting for a year and a half (it's not about Nicholas I love him so much)

First and foremost this is awful and Taylor doesn't deserve any of this unfair critism that are frankly insults, it's fucking sick

I will say this about the acting (and I'm typing this while listening to the podcast where Matthew talks about how well suited the boys are for the roles)

Both of them nailed their roles. But because of how the roles are written, certain things show easily than others.

Henry is more emotional sensitive and "broken", and because that's kind of an unhealthy mentality which isn't the normal state of human being, it's easier to pick up, which is why even with a surface glance audience can pick up on Nick's intensity and level of performing. For example, Henry spiraling on the lake. It's a crescendo of negative emotions, and you can see it go from opposite of the previous emotion (happy and content) to increasing panic and heartache.

Alex is the healthier one, in the movie he doesn't have much baggage as Henry does, but he does have baggage. At first Alex might seem like a sunshine puppy or something but if you paid attention to the details which Taylor does, you can read so much more. His fingers fidgeting whenever he's nervous like when Henry's taking off his clothes or Zahra barging in looking out. Like him clenching his jaw and watching every second of Henry's face when he goes in. Like how you can feel the aggressiveness in him die down as Henry shouts his thoughts during the Kensington confrontation. Like how fucking in love he looks all conveyed in his eyes.

So TL DR and this is my understanding of the performance: the tricky part for Nick is not to go overboard so that it's too dramatic to the point of being unrealistic, while the tricky part for Taylor is too not under perform it that Alex becomes one dimensional. AND BOTH BOYS NAIL IT PERFECTLY.

But for people who watch it passively, or watch it with negative assessment already in mind, it's easier to miss Taylor's details than Nick's details.

I WANNA MAKE IT PERFECTLY CLEAR THAT I DON'T AGREE WITH THE SHIT TAYLOR'S GETTING I DON'T AGREE WITH ANY OF THIS AND TAYLOR JUST IS ALEX TO ME

But this is a speculation from the acting perspective as to part of the reason why Taylor's getting so much shit

Also Twitter people are just another fucking type of crowd who mostly should use their life to do something better (I'm not on Twitter and never will be) and I'm convinced that there's still racism involved in these commentary even if it's internalized or latent

Anyone who says Taylor should be recast or is not as good as Nick either didn't actually pay attention to the movie or don't understand Alex. Taylor read the book 8 times. Matthew and Nick, the two most important people in regards to his performance, have nothing but praise for him.

Taylor is Alex, just as Nick is Henry.

Hopefully after a while these stupid "opinions" die down and only intelligent/genuine/constructive comments will be left and things will get better. And I truly hope Taylor can see more support than insults. He doesn't deserve any of this.

I'm sorry that this has affect you, and I understand it. Honestly this is why I don't directly look at tags, especially the actors' tag, block whoever I don't wanna see or deal with, and don't go on Twitter.

Just from my experience on dealing with shit like this, I would say give yourself some distance from RWRB and social media for a bit, even if it's a day or two, and come back when it hurts less. Take a bit of a break. And avoid places you know you will see shit like this as much as you can.

Both of the boys did amazing, and imo perfectly in the movie and in these roles, and they deserve all the love and support. Both of them.

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #rwrb movie #firstprince #nicholas galitzine #taylor zakhar perez #rwrb thoughts #Anon ask #answered #meraki essay

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meraki-yao · 2 months

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Ahhh there are so many of your WIPs I’m interested in!! 😍😍

But the ones I’m most curious about are I know better (but you’re still around), The Little Prince, and the Sleeping Beauty/Soulmates AU. Can I get a bit more about those?? 🙏😘

Ahhh Thank you so much for the ask my dear!

I know better (but you’re still around)

Song Fic based on Taylor Swift's "Majorie", about grief and remembering family members that have passed

Something I really want to see in the movie sequel is Henry reconciling with his disconnected family members, so in this case, Philip and Catherine, and learn to deal with their grief together.

I've written a fic focusing on Catherine coming out of her grief before, but I kind of want to expand on it and include Philip, because he's in the deleted Thanksgiving scene so they clearly made up, but even in the books I found the sudden change of attitude of Philip kind of out of nowhere. Also, I feel like? Philip tends to be universally painted as an asshole in rwrb fics (well, still better than Queen Mary, at least sometimes he redeems himself) so I kind of wanted to make him more sympathetic and rationalize his actions a bit as an eldest child/sibling. (cuz the book makes it clear he's not actually homophobic, it's more about sticking to the status quo for him, and that I can understand)

The idea is that there's one-word change in the "And if I didn't know better" lines for each verse: "I'd think you were talking to me now", "listening to me now", and "singing to me now", I'm thinking of relating each word to each Fox child's memory of Arthur: so Arthur used to talk to Philip, listen to Bea play guitar, and sing to Henry. Something like that.

The Little Prince

I think I mentioned a little bit of this before? The campfire monologue is written in such a fairy tale style, like something from the Grimm brothers or Hans Anderson. And in the universe, Henry wrote that. I came up with the idea that to cope with his issues, Henry compartmentalizes what happens to him into fairy tale-style stories. I did something similar when I was young, which is why my diaries when I was a kid make no fucking sense lmao

So with this fic I'm doing the reverse: Taking apart the monologue and writing out the events implied in the monologue, so for example "the king gave the prince a suit to armor" = the king telling Henry not to come out on his 18th birthday

Sleeping Beauty/Soulmate AU

I watched 1950's Sleeping Beauty in January and came up with the headcanon that the movie takes place in a soulmate universe where soulmates meet each other in dreams, partly inspired by the Malec fic night vision with a similar setting with the addition of a count down timer until soulmates meet. I think that will explain how Aurora and Philip fell in love and knew each other was the one immediately, as well as the "I know you I walked with you once upon a dream" thing

So the basis follows the basis of the original movie: Henry and Alex are princes of neighbouring kingdoms who were betrothed at birth, but then Queen Mary as the Maleficent (Need to figure that one out) curses Henry and the whole "raise him in isolation thing" happens (Shaan in the position of the fairies)

But the divergence will be throughout their growing up they have dreams where they meet each other and develop feelings, which is the soulmate aspect of the fic

And then the rest of the story follows the basis of the original

The problem with this, and a couple of my other pre-existing movies AU is how much I'll keep and how much I'll change, and how to change the settings in a way that stays true to firstprince but still makes sense in the storyline. So like what the curse is, how isolated Henry will be, how will his prince identity be revealed, should I let Henry fall asleep like Aurora and let Alex do all the saving or something

Ask Me About My WIPs!

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #rwrb movie #taylor zakhar perez #alex claremont diaz #nicholas galitzine #henry fox mountchristen windsor #henry hanover stuart fox #firstprince #rwrb fic #rwrb fanfic #firstprince fic #firstprince fanfic #meraki fic #meraki writes #tag game #answered

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