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faketrex · 3 months

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It's my blog and I can throw up (not in the vomity way) bits of what I'm writing if I want to, right?

Especially if I've bitten off more than I can chew with this one, right?

Maybe screaming about it will help! Ha ha!

RWRB alternate universe, wherein HENRY IS LITERALLY A GHOST. 5 times Henry haunts Alex, and 1 time he doesn't. Supposedly.

CLICK BELOW FOR FIC SNIP

“Okay,” Alex whispers to Cash as the train starts to move forward again, “we've got one more stop on this side of the river and then it'll be out the left window. They say it's pretty easy to see, I don't think we'll miss it.”

“Hmm,” Cash says.

It's impossible to miss it, actually. Most of the riders turn their heads to look out the left side of the wagon as the train leaves the next station. The train rattles out into the open and onto the bridge over the Seine and suddenly the Eiffel Tower is there, right there, larger than life and twinkling with flashbulbs in the night. Alex forgets all about getting a photo and just grins into the dark, listening to the oohs and ahhs of the other tourists in the car. He elbows Cash lightly, just enough to signal “I told you so” and “thank you.”

The Eiffel Tower sparkles, kitschy and wonderful all at once.

Alex feels a little electric fizzle, like static on the back of his neck.

He slides his gaze just slightly away from the blinking lights as the view disappears behind an apartment building. Someone has sat down on the seat right across from Alex without Alex noticing, which is normal, but Cash didn't notice either, which is weird, and –

“Whiskey tango actual fucking foxtrot, Henry? What the hell?”

This is not a coincidence. This absolutely cannot be a coincidence. This is – holy shit, this is –

Henry's wearing a tux again. “Good evening, Alex. I –”

Alex's chest feels wrong, his breaths feel wrong.

“Hey, Alex, hey, hey, what's up?” Cash says urgently, talking right over Henry. “Are you okay?”

No, Alex is not okay. He's being stalked, apparently. “I – Cash, this fucking guy is – I –” He can't get a sentence out. He waves a hand wildly in Henry's direction and presses the other against his sternum, like maybe that'll help. “He –”

“Woah, woah, Alex.” Cash puts one hand on Alex's shoulder. “What guy? Where?”

Alex stares at Cash. He turns his gaze back toward Henry, and sees Cash's head turn briefly in the same direction but then immediately back to face Alex again; he's checked their surroundings, there's no external threat.

Through all this, Henry looks more and more concerned, but also sheepish, or maybe embarrassed. He leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees, his hands clasping together to dangle in the air and twist anxiously.

Alex focuses on the weight of Cash's hand on his shoulder and tries to take deep breaths, even while his mind races and races and doesn't seem to be able to get anywhere.

“He can't see me, Alex,” Henry says quietly.

“What the actual fuck,” Alex breathes.

#faketrex #wip: it's a ghost story baby just say yes #fandom: intro to international relations #faketrex writes #fic: common misconceptions of ghosting

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hms-chill · 4 years

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RWRB Study Guide: Chapter 13

Hi y’all! I’m going through Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue and defining/explaining references! Feel free to follow along, or block the tag #rwrbStudyGuide if you’re not interested!

Washington (327): George Washington, general who led the colonial army during the American Revolution and has been elevated to a nearly mythic leader in American popular ideology.

The general (327): The general election, when the American people vote for their president.

Travis County (328): The Texan county where Austin is.

White House Press Secretary (329): The spokesperson for the executive (presidential) branch of the US government.

WikiLeaks (329): A nonprofit/website that publishes leaked documents from anonymous sources, typically things related to politics.

Gulf of Mexico (332): The body of water that Texas borders.

“At war, in a muddy trench, love letter soaking red in his chest pocket” (332): The mention of trenches in particular evoke World War I, a war that felt generally pointless and left many feeling disillusioned. Sure is fun how this chapter fills with war imagery after they’re outed, huh?

Prisoner of Azkaban (334): The third Harry Potter book, where we are introduced to Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, characters who Henry canonically believes are gay.

Mercurial temper (336): “Mercurial: characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mood” - Merriam Webster

FSOTUS (337): First Son of the United States (Alex’s official title).

Scorched-earth (337): A military policy (remember that war imagery?) to destroy anything that might be useful for opposing troops.

Anne Boleyn (338): Second wife to King Henry VIII.

Kneecapped (339): A form of injury often used as torture. Typically, the victim is shot in the knee pit with a low-velocity handgun.

Wetzel’s pretzel (339): Wetzel’s Pretzels are a soft pretzel stand common in airports.

B12 (339): A vitamin that the human body doesn’t produce, so we get it from the food we eat or supplements.

“Bit short for a stormtrooper” (340): Leia’s first words to Luke, when he comes to rescue her from captivity in A New Hope.

Autoharp (341): An instrument in the zither family; it looks vaguely like a piano crossed with a harp or a guitar. The chord bars, controlled by buttons along the bottom, mute every string except those needed for the chord, and the strings are strummed or plucked. (listen here and here)

“I, I will be king, and you, you will be Queen (342): This is from “Heroes” by David Bowie (listen here).

Hoping the sandbags will hold (342): When faced with a flood, one of the most common ways of protecting a building is to stack bags of sand up in a temporary wall to hold back the water. Stacking them is usually a communal endeavor, but once they’re up, all you can do is hope.

Sobriety chip (343): A small coin often given to people in recovery to mark the amount of time they’ve been sober.

Sponsor (343): Typically someone who has been through a recovery program (such as Narcotics Anonymous) and helps guide a person or group in their own recovery.

Recalcitrant (344): obstinately defiant of authority.

Duchess of Cambridge (346): The position held by an oldest prince’s spouse.

Abdicate (346): Abdication is the act of giving up the throne. Historically, only Edward VIII has abdicated willingly; he did so to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson (also, they were Nazis. This isn’t an Alex/Henry parallel; just want to clarify that). Currently, abdication is only possible with Parliament’s permission. (also, from what I’ve found, Harry and Megan didn’t abdicate.)

Baby (348): You know how this is Henry’s favorite pet name from Alex? And how it’s what his mom calls him? Yeah. (There’s a more in-depth analysis here, for those who want to Feel Things)

The mall in front of Buckingham Palace (355): An open space in front of Buckingham Palace, a common place for tourist photos.

Tories in Kensington (356): The Tories are a conservative British political party; Kensington here refers to the Kensington Parliamentary Constituency.

Labour (356): A liberal party in British politics.

“Never tell me the odds” (358): A Han Solo quote, after being told that their odds of successfully flying through an asteroid field are 3,720:1 (clip here).

——

If there’s anything I missed or that you’d like more on, please let me know! And if you’d like to/are able, please consider buying me a ko-fi? I know not everyone can, and that’s fine, but these things take a lot of time/work and I’d really appreciate it!

—–-

Chapter 1 // Chapter 12 // Chapter 14

#rwrb study guide #rwrb analysis #alex claremont diaz #red white and royal blue #rwrb #red white and royal blue analysis #henry fox mountchristen windsor #henry fox mountchristen windsor x alex claremont diaz #june claremont diaz #nora holleran #bea fox mountchristen windsor #pez okonjo #English Major Brain™️#firstprince

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hms-chill · 4 years

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RWRB Study Guide: Chapter 7

Hi y’all! I’m going through Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue and defining/explaining references! Feel free to follow along, or block the tag #rwrbStudyGuide if you’re not interested!

Crêpe-eating tourists (157): Crepes are a thin, flat pancake traditionally filled with sugar, but commonly filled with other toppings. They are an iconic French dish and are popular with tourists both for this reason and because they are typically inexpensive.

Place du Tertre (157): A square in Paris, it is in the Montmarte district, which is known for its art history.

Crusty baguettes (157): Baguettes are a French bread that is meant to be crusty on the outside and soft on the inside.

Le Monde (158): The most popular French newspaper.

Fromagerie Nicole Barthélémy (158): A famously wonderful cheese shop in Paris.

Parisian cheese shop (158): French cheese are known for being fancy and especially good.

Pisces (159): A zodiac sign known for being compassionate, artistic, and intuitive. (more)

NYU (159): New York University.

The Met (159): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, a famous art museum in New York.

Joanne (160): JK Rowling, who wrote the Harry Potter books, and has been pretty consistently homophobic and transphobic on twitter.

Freddie Mercury (161): Lead singer of the band Queen, Mercury never officially came out, but he had long-term relationships with both men and women and was known for his camp performances, and there are claims that he was “openly gay”. His flamboyance and camp performances, as well as his relationship with partner Jim Hutton, essentially demanded that people simply take him as he was. He died of complications from AIDS in 1991, one day after admitting openly that he had been diagnosed four years earlier. (More)

For context within the book, he wrote “Don’t Stop Me Now”

Elton John (161): A famous British musician. He came out as bisexual in 1976, then as gay in 1992. He and his husband, David Furnish, became civil partners in 2005, the day they became legal in the UK. They were officially married on the ninth anniversary of their civil partnership, the year that gay marriage was legalized within the UK. (More)

Bowie (161): David Bowie, who was a bi British musician and actor who, in 1976, described his bisexuality as “the best thing that ever happened to me”. His wife (who was also bi, and with whom he often shared partners) claimed that he had a relationship with Mick Jagger, though his bisexuality has been consistently erased, both during his life and since his death. (More)

Again for book context, Henry’s dog is named for David Bowie

Jagger (161): Mick Jagger, an English singer/songwriter and member of the Rolling Stones, known for his promiscuity. As mentioned above, he and Bowie pretty clearly had a relationship, though his Wikipedia makes no mention of queerness. (More)

Oakley Street (161): A street that runs through an affluent borough of London.

Stonewall (161): The Stonewall Inn in New York City is a gay bar. The riots against police brutality there in July of 1969 are heralded as the beginning of the gay rights movement.

SCOTUS decision in 2015 (161): The Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage across the US.

Walt Whitman (161): An American poet who wanted to become The American Poet and saw himself as the quintessential American. His poetry often deals with his queerness, and he absolutely slept with Oscar Wilde in the late 1800s.

Fun fact; he is celebrated in the movie The Dead Poets Society, which is incredibly popular with Sad Gay English Majors and which Henry would definitely have seen.

Laws of Illinois 1961 (161): In 1961, Illinois became the first state in the US to repeal its sodomy laws.

White Night Riot (161): A series of riots in San Francisco protesting the lenient sentencing of the man who killed Harvey Milk, the first openly queer politician. The riots were the most violent queer uprising since the events at the Stonewall.

Paris is Burning (161): A 1990s movie celebrating drag ball culture in New York. It celebrates in particular queer communities of color in the late 1980s, when the AIDS epidemic was at its peak.

“If I die of AIDS...” (161): This is a real photo; you can find it here. The man’s jacket could refer to a form of protest called “die-ins”, where people with AIDS would go to a homophobic politician’s office or another public place where they were refused treatment and simply not leave until after they died. (see it here)

Chop my own tit off (162): Fun mythology fact; the Amazons (warrior women from Greek mythology) actually did this to make themselves better archers.

H fucking W (162): George HW Bush, a former US president.

George (163): George Villers was the boyfriend of King James the I/VI, and Prince George, Duke of Kent, was rumored to be in a polyamorous relationship in the 1920s.

Edward (162): Edward II was a famously gay king. He was may have been "wedded brothers" with Piers Gaveston and may have also had a relationship with Hugh le Despenser the younger following Gaveston's death. (More)

James (162): The British king known for translating the Bible and being just... indescribably gay and very deeply horny. He promoted his boyfriend, George Villers, to the highest non-royal position in the UK within a few years of starting to date him. James’s friends actively tried to set him up with hot guys for their own political gain.

Alexander (163): Alexander Hamilton was an incredibly bi founding father. He’s remembered for founding our current national banking system, having the first ever American sex scandal, and for literally never shutting up or knowing how to stop being A Lot All The Time.

Catalina (164): Catalina is an island near Los Angeles. On a more meta level, St. Catalina was a respected writer.

June (164): June Carter Cash was an American singer/songwriter/director/comedian.

Tricky Dick (164): Richard Nixon, a president remembered for wiretapping his opponent.

Taft (165): 27th president of the United States.

Eisenhower (165): 34th president of the US.

Baby (166): this is what Henry’s mom calls him; I wrote a thing about it here.

Daily Mail (166): A trashy British tabloid.

Lollapalooza (167): A music festival in Chicago known for setting fashion trends and having lots of drugs.

Joni Mitchell (167): A singer/songwriter known for her innovative use of the guitar, including unique tunings, chords, and a unique fingerpicking/strumming style. (Listen here)

Cocaine (168): A highly addictive drug. It is snorted, smoked, or injected, and while it makes people feel more confident or forget their problems, the highs from it last only up to about 30 minutes, which often drives people to take it more frequently. Side effects (aside from addiction) include a loss of appetite, irritability, and increased mental health issues.

Spitfire (168): Someone with a quick temper or willingness to fight.

High as a kite (169): Someone who’s “high as a kite” is on a lot of drugs and is still enjoying the high.

Clean (169): Drug/alcohol free.

Stiff upper lip (170): Ability to seem determined or hold it together in the face of hard times.

A levels (170): A UK test taken for admittance to college, similar to the ACT/SAT in the US

Henry V at RSC (171): Henry V is a Shakespearean history play about the life of Henry V, especially focused on the events of the Hundred Years’ War. RSC, or the Royal Shakespeare Company, is a Shakespeare theater company in London.

Travis County (171): The Texan county where Austin is located.

Surfside (171): A beach in Texas.

Adderall (172): A prescription drug taken for ADHD but commonly abused by students to help them stay awake for all-nighters or focused for unhealthily long study sessions. However, given McQuinston’s claim that Alex has undiagnosed ADHD, it likely helped him to be able to focus and helped his brain work the way it was expected to.

Almond milk (vs. dairy) (173): Texas has a huge dairy industry, and almond milk is not great for the environment.

The Gun File (173): American gun law is so deeply broken.

WASPy Hunter’s Harvard pencil cup (175): Harvard is a prestigious college in Boston; it has a reputation for being mostly rich white folks.

Iron curtains of gerrymandering (175): Gerrymandering is a form of drawing lines for voting districts to disenfranchise marginalized voters. It is a form of skewing elections to keep power in the hands of the powerful that divides marginalized votes, making people of color or poor folks the minority in their districts, therefore erasing their votes on a broader scale.

Vision-boarding his funeral (175): a vision board is typically made to inspire someone to pursue a goal.

Parks & Recreation (175): A popular American sit-com focused on the parks and recreation department in a small town in Indiana.

Leslie Knope (176): a Parks & Rec character. One of her defining traits is an aggressive, overwhelming love for the people in her life.

Mid-century rug (177): Mid-century furniture and style is characterized by lots of color and playful patterns (following the more reserved WWII period in the 1940s); it is rising in popularity again as a classy yet fashionable look.

J14 (178): A teen fashion/celebrity magazine.

Sacramento Bee (178): The largest newspaper in Sacramento, CA.

Southerness (180): In positive lights, the American South is known for its genuine, warm, unselfish hospitality.

Jane Austen my life (180): Jane Austen is a British author whose novels star lower/middle class women who fall in love with rich men. They typically try to avoid these men for large portions of the book, or at least have rather negative feelings about them due to a misunderstanding or other failure to communicate.

LSAT (181): the test taken for admittance to law school.

Carmarthenshire (183): A largely agricultural county in South Wales. As a tourist destination, it is known for its wide range of outdoor activities.

Llwynywermod (184): A royal estate in Carmarthenshire, the biggest building of which is a renovated three-bedroom farmhouse. It is surrounded by the rolling green hills common to south Wales.

Finals (in the US) (185): At US colleges, a semester’s final tests (typically worth up to 30-40% of a final grade) take place the week after classes end.

Stamp on his forehead at The Tombs (185): Tombs is a bar near Georgetown. According to reviews, and “Tombs Night” parties, where students celebrate their 21st birthday and get their foreheads stamped at the end of the night, are a Georgetown tradition.

Jumped in Dalhgren Fountain (185): Dalhgren Fountain is in the center of Georgetown’s campus. Swimming in it is a Georgetown tradition.

Summa cum laude (186): “with greatest honor”.

Ceviche (186): A seafood dish native to Peru that spread to Mexico, where it contains lime, avocado, chili peppers, onions, and cilantro.

Palm Room (187): The gateway to the West Wing, the area of the White House where most politics happen.

Hoe Dameron (190): A reference to Star Wars character Poe Dameron, a rebel pilot and the first Latino main character in the series.

Prince Buttercup (190): Princess Buttercup is the heroine/love interest in The Princess Bride,

West Hollywood (190): One of the most prominent gay neighborhoods in the US.

“Call Me” (191): The most popular song of 1980; it was originally written for the film American Gigolo and inspired by the film’s opening sequence of a character driving along the coast of California. (Listen here)

“So Emotional” (191): An absolute bop about enjoying being in love. (Listen here)

“Don’t Stop Me Now” (193): A Queen song where Mercury sings to both a man and a woman; it’s a huge bop. (Listen here)

In-N-Out (194): A fast food restaurant/burger chain native to California and unavailable in other states.

Animal style (195): Animal style burgers are an In-N-Out staple; it includes the typical burger toppings, along with mustard fried into the patty, pickles, onions, and extra spread.

French-fries-dipped-in-milkshake (195): a truly god-tier American dessert tradition.

“O captain, my captain” (196): A reference both to the idea of a lacrosse team captain and to Whitman’s poem, “O Captain, My Captain” (as mentioned above, Whitman was a deeply gay American poet).

Burberry (200): A posh British brand of clothing known for its classy, traditional pieces.

Cats that caught the canaries (200): A cat that caught a canary is a person who looks smug or satisfied.

Mother hen (201): A “mom friend” or someone who will do everything they can to look out for people they care about, sometimes to the point of it being annoying.

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Chapter 1 // Chapter 6 // Chapter 8

#rwrb study guide #rwrb #red white and royal blue #alex claremont diaz #henry fox mountchristen windsor x alex claremont diaz #henry fox mountchristen windsor #bea fox mountchristen windsor #june claremont diaz #nora holleran #pez okonjo #English Major Brain™#English Major Brain™️#rwrb analysis #red white and royal blue analysis #rwarb #rwarb analysis #rwrb fic ref #rwrb reference

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