#it's like i'm writing for an audience even in my own mind. can't finish anything because it's __ __ __ etc and my niche is too niche.

[non-un-topo]

At the crossroads between wondering if it's worth it to basically completely rewrite all my WIPs or just take a break from writing for the rest of the summer

[genericpuff]

The excessively passive voice when talking about Minthe being intended to have BPD is hilarious. "It was thought to have her written with BPD"? So weird

Honestly, once you start noticing this passive voice in how Rachel writes and talks, it's kind of hard to unsee.

Like, for starters, the BPD example. It's very non-committal, almost as if to sound like she never actually wrote her with BPD, it was just an 'idea' that she could neither confirm or deny as canon. But then you read the episode with the slap and-

It's- it's literally called "Splitting". It's about as subtle as a brick to the face. This entire episode showcases Minthe having an actual literal episode of splitting and it's plain as day to anyone who can read the title card and put two and two together. So for the wording to be so passive around her characterization... it wasn't "thought" to have her written with BPD, she was written with BPD.

Another example that sticks out in my mind of Rachel's passive writing is far later in Season 3, when Demeter reunites with Persephone and naturally expects her to come back home with her.

This line still fucking bothers me to this day. Besides the fact that it's just really poorly written dialogue, Persephone describes her being in love with Hades as if it's just some coincidental thing that happened to her that she can't avoid and not a deliberate choice she's making. "It would seem" my ass, Persephone is a coward for not being upfront and just talking to her mother like an adult by saying, "Mother, I love you, and I understand why you want me to come home, but I'm in love with Hades and want to stay in the Underworld with him." Instead the way it's worded is almost designed to absolve Persephone of any and all agency in her own decisions and active participation in her relationship with Hades by instead making it out to be just some circumstance that she can't get herself out of.

Again, this isn't quite as egregious as the aforementioned BPD scene, but it's still irritating because Rachel writes like this a lot throughout LO. And it's not just the dialogue either, entire decisions throughout the comic are flip-flopped and kept vague by Rachel so she can give herself plausible deniability over the narrative. I could come up with some of my own examples, but I think she managed to speak for herself just fine in the end-of-series Q&A that left both critics and fans of the series massively confused and disappointed:

LO is full of half-committed plotlines because Rachel herself can't commit to her own decisions. So the decisions she does make are left vague enough that hardcore fans are willing enough to fill in the blanks themselves, but anyone who asks her genuinely what her plan was, she just gives the same wordy "IDK it's up to your interpretation!" response. It's like she thinks people are asking her as just another reader who can only speculate, but she's literally the author, so why is she acting like her guess is as good as theirs?

Well, because that's how she wrote LO. That's how she's always written comics, with vague half-finished thoughts and just enough for readers to do the mental gymnastics of making sense of it all just to give her the credit for "smart writing" that she never actually did because she stopped paying attention after the first sentence. And that method of being vague for the sake of audience interpretation is fine for illustrations or anything that isn't trying to be a concise narrative, but LO did try to be that and it really shows how hard it failed in doing so when its own creator can't even come up with something slightly plausible to explain all the questions people had in the end. "There is some backstory there" but proceeds to not actually expand on said backstory. "I like to imply things without outright telling people", so do I, but the difference is that Rachel is using that as a crutch to not answer the questions she setup for her readers and then didn't resolve after five years. There's not wanting to spoon feed people the plot, and then there's literally refusing to explain your decisions when writing said plot, almost because you don't know any more than they do.

The entirety of LO is rooted in Rachel's passiveness, from her inability to answer questions concisely to every little plot point that was established and dropped throughout the comic's run. Writing a story is a series of decisions, deciding what to keep, deciding what not to keep, deciding what has to be changed, etc. and Rachel just... doesn't seem like someone who's ever been capable of making those decisions, especially when she's writing an actual long form story to the end and doesn't have the luxury of dropping it whenever it feels convenient for her like she did several times with The Doctor Pepper Show. Once she was actually held to a standard, once she was actually signed into a contract that expected her to make those decisions, she failed to and it culminated in one of the messiest conclusions to a story I've seen since Game of Thrones.

LO is kind of like Schrodinger's Cat - a plot point can be or not be whatever it needs to be so that Rachel can be either praised for smart writing she never did or absolved of bad writing that she did do. It's equally parts interesting and vague enough that whatever her readers give her credit for writing, she can give them a thumbs-up and go "you're totally right, champ!" and proceed to take all the credit of being a "good writer" from the efforts of her own audience who had to jump through a million hoops to make sense of her own messy writing.

But when she's put on the spot by those very same readers to answer for her own decisions, she can't.

Because she never made them.

Because there was never anything "deeper" going on, that's just what her style of "distraction writing" made you believe. The plot never lets you stop to think about what you just read long enough before zipping away to the next thing and distracting you with a new twist or a new character or a new plot point, and before you know it, you've gone weeks without reading about the last thing that was established you probably haven't even realized that those questions never got answered. Sometimes Rachel remembers to get back to those things and resolves them within a handful of panels, other times she forgets them entirely and just leaves them to rot in the hopes that no one ever calls her out on it. And when they do... she can just pull the get-out-of-jail-free "Welp, it's up to your interpretation!" card and get that credit all over again for being deep and insightful, meanwhile those who are rightfully dissatisfied with that answer are blanket-accused of "getting mad at Rachel for not writing the story they wanted".

To close out this ask that, per tradition, turned into an essay, I'd like to recall the famous words of fictional detective Benoit Blanc: "Look into the clear center of this glass onion... Miles Bron is an idiot!"

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for telling my wife her book isn't that good?

So me (27M) and my wife (27F) have been married for 5 years. In the entire time we've been married, she had put her professional advancement on hold and chooses to stay at an office job with little potential for career advancement because her true dream is to write and publish books and she says she won't have time to write and pursue that dream if she has to put all her energy into a career she doesn't care about. I think that's not a good attitude to have, because being able to make money from writing books and getting published is really difficult and depends a lot on luck and her career choices impact me because we're married. If she doesn't reach her earning potential then I will need to make up for it by earning more for the both of us. So I feel a lot of the burden in finances while she just gets to chase her dream.

She has been resentful of me for a while that I don't support her writing, but I do! I think she's a great writer and I'm very proud of her, and I tell lots of people that my wife is a writer when they ask what she does. The only thing is that she's always talking about her books and thinking about them and talking about them to her friends and writing partners. She claims to have ADHD and writing is her hyperfixation but she's never been officially diagnosed and hasn't ever tried medication or anything. She'll work on them when there are things to do, like the kitchen is a mess or it's dinner time. And before people get mad at me for expecting her to be a maid I cook and clean a lot too. I just want more participation from her because I get tired of doing everything and sometimes I just want to be taken care of, too. She cleans and cooks sometimes, though she always half-does things, but it just bothers me when I get home hungry from work and she's been home for 20 minutes or so and she hasn't started cooking and the house is a mess and she's just sitting at her laptop.

If I'm honest, I don't like reading. English isn't my first language which makes it harder, and she writes what she calls "young adult books" and they're plots about teengers that aren't very interesting to me. I tried to read her book and got about six chapters in, but it was just really hard for me to keep going so I never finished it. Honestly I don't really care about her books, and it bothers me that her books are ALWAYS on her mind. For example if we're intimate, sometimes her gaze goes distant and I can tell her mind is elsewhere and probably on her books, and when we finally get time together it's like she's not interested in the conversation until it touches on writing or her books. I don't usually talk to her about her books much though, so to be honest she doesn't talk that much to me about it, she'll text other people. But I can tell she always wishes I would talk to her about it. I just wish she could be interested in something that isn't her own writing, like me and our life together.

So this issue kept coming up with her saying I'm not supportive, and I decided to take it to heart. I wanted to support her as a writer and help her achieve her goal of publication. So I sat her down and told her that while she's a good writer and her finished book is good, it's not great, and she's telling a story about a girl who's experiencing poverty and death and mental illnesses, all of which she doesn't have experience with, and it shows. It's a good accomplishment, but probably won't be published so if she wants to be published, she should maybe start something else. Well, she blew up at me and started yelling at me that I have no room to say that because I'm not the intended audience and I never finished it anyway and that she knows more about publishing than I do and her friends and family that read it thought it was amazing. But first of all, she can't trust her family and friends because they'll just support her even if it's not what she needs to hear, and I should be the one who she can count on to tell her the truth. Besides, I'm in the finance industry and know much more about business than she does. She got angry and stormed away and refused to talk to me for the rest of the day.

I don't want to apologize, because I think she needed to hear it. But she was so mad and even talked about it to her therapist, so I'm wondering if I'm the asshole for saying that in the first place and if she's actually right and I'm not really supporting her.

What are these acronyms?

[darkfictionjude]

Hi Jude! Traumatized nonnie with the horror IF here (lol there's got to be a better way to introduce myself *facepalm*). Thank for responding to my other ask. It meant a lot! I'm still working on my horror IF, and I hope to get to the point to share it some day ^_^. I'm not there yet, but that's a goal I'm working towards. I'm not sure if that's actually something you wanted to know about or not, but you inspire me, and your words encouraged me - credit where it's due. I have a 2 part thing. 1. Love EC!! Can't wait to romance Dante, he's such a wonderfully twisted character - I barely know him and love him already! I really love dark romances, and your characters are amazing. I'm definitely in that Imre and Dante fan grouping lol. You have the patience of a saint for dealing with all the "cheating Dante" asks. Question - can we flirt with Dante while being tortured? What if our Luce is into pain? Is it spoiler? To me that just feels right up his ally from what I've seen discussed about him.

Are you going to release a few chapters of EC before switching works, or bouncing when you feel the urge? My curiosity is more about work flow than schedules - in my mind you might switch to keep things fresh for yourself and keep work flowing, or might get bored/tired of one setting and need a change of scenery so to speak.

2. This is a Twine ask - maybe? I have plenty of resources, but what I struggle to find is a simple template with good clear instructions (my tism brain struggles!). Is there a sugarcube template you might recommend?

If not - that's totally OK. I'm here as a fan first and foremost! If you do, that's awesome! I'm not looking for anything fancy - I want to keep things simple, but I like working on the art, and focusing on learning the meaty code things. If I can find a template I actually understand at least I could focus on the things I want to focus on - argh. The struggle is real lol.

Anyways I've rambled long enough, as always thank you for the wonderful writing you share, and the time you give your audience. You are very much appreciated!!

1. I think perhaps you can even get sexual with Dante in the torture session haha

Rn I’m writing OYHS and then I’m going back to wwc for 3 chapters and I have time at the end of the year I’ll aim to release chapter 2 of EC. It’s due to wanting to finish wwc season 1 in 2026

2. So many of the sugarcube templates I really like haven’t been updated for the newest version of twine. I would suggest since you’re a beginner to just use the regular old built in template just customize it to your hearts content since it will give you the tools you need to understand how css works. When you get into more coding then I would say take a chance on either updating the non-updated templates or creating your own

Thank you for the ramble much appreciated 🧡

[autumn-foxfire]

Episode 9, 10 and 11

Ah, Chikage describing her first meeting with Toichi as romantic and then you see what actually happens and for most people you'd view it as the opposite of romantic. In fact, creepy and weird would be better considering that "romantic kiss" was one taken without her consent.

Kaito really knows how to use police incompetence to his best ability lmao. "It's the inspectors daughter so it's okay," Kaito has turned into her before <.<

Gosho's villains: KID is working with the girl he likes.

Gosho's characters: I will never tell her my identity.

Gosho's fans: Please let her know.

I love how completely uninterested Kaito is in Aoko. I'm supposed to believe he likes her when all he thinks about her when she's trying to show off a cute hairpin she has is "Damn, another layer to my next disguise as her."

True love~

Kaito: I'll join you-

Akako: Sorry, I'm taking her on the date.

And Kaito has to ruin Akako's date <.< Women can't have anything in this series.

Situations like this could be interesting if characters would learn from the scenarios. The villain has jumped to the wrong conclusion due to Kaito being too flippant with who he disguises as and has put the person he cares about most in danger.

Chikage should have cut off the man's hand. Women aren't allowed to do anything in this series.

Don't you love the obvious treatment of men and women? Chikage as to do all intricate moves to dodge the lazers, bending her body and showing the audience her body as she does. Toichi just walks through them.

And here's the big romantic moment.

"Let's shut up the complaining woman with a kiss." Ah, men, they think a woman's hell is romantic.

He even just assumes Chikage wants to retire and says he'll take over her job <.< Of course the woman is okay with giving up everything and becoming a man's housewife as that's how all women in his series are wrote.

Oh, so this episode also does the Ryouma's treasure heist.

Gosho is also very unoriginal with writing romance:

"My main characters will want to copy their parent's romance! Isn't it so cute!"

Us: Please for the love of god be original.

At least Kaito has the decency to not steal a kiss without consent <.<

Kaito you forgot about it because you don't want it, let's be real babe.

Kaito deserves to be a lot more angry with his parents that they didn't warn him about the danger he could be in. But no, that's not allowed. Even as he's dumped with cleaning up the REST of Chikage's messes.

I think these are some of the more tragic moments of Magic Kaito, where Kaito is shown to be a kid who doesn't know what to do and seeks the one person who should have been there for him. talking to thin air and the records a father left to manipulate him...

Aoko, maybe that's why you don't punch people, because they won't always dodge.

THE CONE!

He's so cute in this art style.

I wonder why they put this episode here though. Seems a bit out of order.

Sonoko looks good in this anime style. Ran looks terrible but she often does due to the horn.

Kaito smiling as he calls Shinichi a brat because he's actually happy to see him.

Kaito stop staring at your future husband like that. We get it, you love him. But you make it so obvious.

If you don't know the plot of Detective Conan, you would be so goddamn confused why Jii is so concerned about the appearance of a little kid LMAO

HE SAID THE LINE.

Kaito hearing Nakamori say something smart: You didn't say that did you.

Kaito: I'll guess I'll also give you a hint considering my husband already did.

Shinichi just casually finishing Kaito's own thoughts like one does. I saw a post recently about how Shinichi doesn't know Kaito's mind as well as a certain detective in Kaito's series and I'm sorry but you're very wrong. He knows Kaito so well, he knew what he was thinking in that moment.

Not only does Shinichi figure it out, he goes along with it too. He doesn't even tell the police what is going on beyond a warning and a hint.

And doing what Shinichi does, he goes to confront KID alone as he is never serious about actually trying to capture him.

Shinichi is just flirting with his husband showing off how good you are at being sneaky too.

And of course he had to flirt back.

...the fatphobia isn't cute.

[fandomfluffandfuck]

I've always had a thought of Pornstar au with Stucky but I never have enough time to write one, mainly bcs the words won't come out and i fucking hate myself sooooooo

I'll just punch my idea here for you bcs so suddenly, I can't stop thinking of Pornstar!Seb HAHAHAHA but I'll stick with my original idea of STUCKY instead of Evanstan although I do love those two idiots AHJSSJJE

Right uhm, anyways, this prompt started off with well, porn, obviously bcs I'm a budding artist who wants to practice nsfw stuff (ehem😌😌) and the first place I went to for pose references were Porn sites

I was hit with sudden inspiration out of nowhere when I got reminded that Steve was a fucking artist SJIDHEIJEUR my mind is then consumed by the idea of one Steve Rogers, scrolling through a porn site looking for pose references when he stumbles into a single account

It's nothing special to be honest but what catches his eye is the full sleeve tattoo on the stars left arm. Curious, Steve checks the account out and discovers Winter_Soldier who's got quite the following. Steve is immediately enthralled at the sight of the man and his silky brown hair, the only thing visible about his face being his bright steel blue eyes. Winter is thicc, chest big enough you could fuck a dick between it and a pair of thighs Steve's sure enough could crush a water melonn NGHHHH don't even get Steve started with his dick, a pretty thing thats anything but little

Bucky might like to bottom but he could fuck if he wants, those sessions where he'd bring another pornstar over for a joint video and he'd practically fuck them to the mattress. Steve salivates at the thought of getting bedded by Bucky, brain just gone at the idea of having Bucky spread on his bed for him to take or of Bucky between his legs, ready to fuck him stupid

He's so adventurous too, his videos containing multiple angles of him fucking his thick ass onto an equally thick dildo, voice slightly muffled from behind the mask but still loud enough that Steve could pick up his mewling ramblings. Winter has a seductive voice that melts to a whine whenever he's got something in him and What's supposed to be Steve looking for pose references and practicing his anatomy's ends up with him furiously jerking off to this gorgeous man

Steve has never seen someone so enticing before, the way Winters body would curve and bend, slick hole making way for the thick dildos he liked to shove in. He fucks and liked to talk, his god given voice rumbly as he spoke to his audiences, taking requests or just simply dirty talking GOOD LORD AJDHWJRHRJJEEJ Steve can't take his eyes off the monitor and his hand off his dick, eyes always coming back to the intricate robot like design of Winters left arm

Somehow, Steve manages to finish his practice but not before he nearly bled himself dry with how much he jerked off. His sketch book suddenly filled with a brown haired masked pornstar. Some hour later, he stumbles out of his room and into the shared kitchen of the dorm he's renting. He nearly trips when he finds his roommate James cooking some dinner

He's been rooming with James for nearly a year now but they're not really close (yet). In Steve's opinion, he's too pretty for his own good and Steve can never talk straight or properly whenever James is the one he's conversing with. James is very sweet though (he told Steve he could call him Bucky bcs that's what his friends call him), voice soft and always drowning in the oversized hoodie he favours. He's not small by any means, with a wider set of shoulder than Steve but he's definitely shorter by a couple of inches.

Steve's always ogling at Bucky whenever he could and he always thinks that his hair is pretty but a detail catches Steve's eyes with how he tied his hair in a messy bun as he cooked. It looked similar with... Steve freezes on the spot, staring at Bucky like an idiot. There's no way right?? It must be just a coincidence!!

Instinctively, Steve's gaze falls onto Bucky's left arm, covered with the long sleeves of his hoodie. Steve has never seen Bucky with his clothing off or just a simple sleeveless outfit and Winter did have a few tattoos, the most prominent one was the full sleeve on his left arm... Steve shakes himself. His roommate can't be the pornstar he's suddenly addicted to, that's just rude to assume

When Bucky calls him to share the dinner, steel blue eyes curved in a somewhat familiar smile, Steve's throat dries and he doesn't know if he hates or loves the possibility of his absurd idea

In the end though, it's not him who makes the official discovery. Instead, it's Bucky who makes the reveal when he finds one of Steve's sketchbook laying around, filled with sketches and practice of a familiar brown haired star in different positions and angles

Steve's all bashful at being caught with his 18+ content and Bucky practically drills his new obsession out of him with a glint in his eyes. When Steve confesses the fact that he's been having fantasies about Winter and woke up every morning with a boner, religiously coming to check Winters account for updates or live sessions, Bucky practically grins like the cat who got the cream, the shy facade giving away to Steve's dirtiest dream

"So you like my voice huh?" Bucky murmurs where he's coiled like a snake on the couch, his eyes going lidded as his voice dropped a few octaves. Steve is frozen at the other end of the couch, surprise and something else shimmering in his guts

"Tell me, Steve.. Do you keep coming back to my account because I provide you with good practice material or is it because I turn you on?" Bucky practically purred, uncoiling and starting to crawl his way to Steve. Considering that their couch isn't that big and neither of them are small, Steve suddenly has his dreams on his lap

"I just needed practice," he weakly says and Bucky's lips curve into a smirk that would follow Steve to his dreams, face finally full with his bright eyes. Ever so slowly, Bucky leans until he's got his lips straight to Steve's ear, squirming on his laps and arms around his neck

"I could give you a live modelling session," he whispers, breath hot against Steve's flushed skin. He shivers and Bucky's next words makes his hand come up to Bucky's waist to squeeze tightly.

"And if you want a live demonstration with yourself included.. well, I can give you that too."

AHAHAHAH I don't know what to do with this prompt but plssss it's been haunting me (HAH), anyways, tis just a tease but they basically fuck (obviously 🙄🙄) and we can have the dynamic of Bucky happily expanding Steves sexual experiences and Steve happily allowing Bucky to expand his sexual experiences SKWJJEJEJE

-🫠🫠

related to this

I feel that, words are hard, but don't downplay what you have because what you have FUCKS!!

Also, I love that. Sometimes you gotta go to the source for references 👀 I get it. That is SUCH a great idea, though! I fuck with that so hard! Artist!Steve looking for inspiration and stumbling onto pornstar Bucky... 😮‍💨😮‍💨

And pornstar Bucky, who's thick with INK?

Kill me. Oh, wait, you already have!

Jesusss.

He's a switch, too? I'm salivating. The mask?? The whimpering? I'm being murdered! 😫 WOOF he does sound so damn enticing. Fuck.

THE PLOT THICKENS!

Roommates??

I do not have words. Brain scrambled. Useless. I am fucking obsessed with the idea of Steve going from avid consumer of Bucky's pornography to being a part of it. Living his fantasy. Actually.

Yes!! I would love to see this written because imagine all the shit they could get into! All the kinks they could explore (especially exhibitionism, getting off to being watched). All the toys that I'm sure Bucky has. Expanding on how it comes out, too, would be so good. Draw it out. Build it up. Does Steve catch him shooting porn when he's supposed to be out? Is it not confirmed like that? When does Steve see him without long-sleeves on for the first time? Is it in private? Is it in public, and he has to act normal? Does Bucky make Steve stutter through it and ask himself if he does porn, by chance, or does Bucky easily handle it, grinning and nonchalantly confirming it? Plus, building up to Steve's first time on camera would be killer. His nerves and excitement and then his embarrassment when he gets on camera and he's so revved up that he cums so fast.

God.

You could go so many ways!

Either way, written or not, this AU is going to live rent-free in my head because 🤌🏻yes🤌🏻

Imagine all the "roommate walked in on me" fantasy porn they could shoot 😮‍💨😮‍💨

[s4pphic-sh3nan1gans]

hi! the bokris yapping never ends, so i'm here again 🥰 what types of stories about bokris do you enjoy the most? maybe some fave tropes or dynamic or kinks or plot points you enjoy reading about (the "creative differences" for example lmao or smth like that)? maybe you'd like to read something about them but it's not been written by anyone yet?

OOOOOO these are interesting questions!!!

I have to think about this for a minute lowkey 😭 honestly I'll read pretty much anything bokris-related, and I'm sure I must have read about 95% of the bokris fics on ao3. but as for my absolute favourite tropes, this is what I can come up with:

any variation of first kiss/getting together/confession of feelings - maybe I'm a bit basic for this one but I'm a sucker for reading about how they go from casual flirting to serious flirting to falling in love, and how the lines are blurred in between.

friends to lovers - again, basic 😅 but I never get tired of reading about them slowly falling for each other over the years.

enemies to lovers - now this one works perfectly when paired with the distortion saga or the creative differences saga. the drama, the conflicting feelings... AAAAA!!! I eat that shit UP!

mutual pining/miscommunication/idiots in love - this is an absolutely lethal combo but I kinda love it for bokris. both of them being extremely dense and not realising that the other has feelings for them fits them perfectly. it makes me want to bonk their silly little heads together.

teasing - in every sense of what this means, either sexually or non-sexually. and it's pretty versatile too: Bojan could be teasing Kris because he wants to see him flustered or to get a rise out of him, or Kris could be teasing Bojan because he's been far too cocky lately and could do with being taken down a few notches 🤭 basically, I like to read about them bickering or being a little mean to each other and using it as their flirting.

okayyyyy, and now some of my favourite kinks to read for them 😇 I have to say I'm a top!Kris bottom!Bojan truther, but only because that seems to be what fits most of my own personal headcanons 😭 I do enjoy reading all dom/sub variations between them so I'm definitely speaking broadly here for all of these:

praise kink - works for either of them, although you can't tell me that Bojan, golden retriever personified, doesn't have one of the biggest praise kinks in the world.

hair-pulling - all I'll say is that I'm sure there's many uses for Kris growing his hair out... (wow, I sure am doing a good job of "speaking broadly" about these 😭)

choking - I mean... we've all seen that video, right?

exhibitionism - sometimes, they can't keep their hands off each other, even in their rehearsal space. and I'm sure they wouldn't mind a small audience........

restraints - idk man I just think it's hot 😭 and it works pretty well with their dynamic.

and finally!!! the thing I'd really love to see more of is genderbent bokris as lesbians. there are a few fics (and, um... I confess I was writing one myself, which I am determined to finish at some point because I made a promise to myself 😭) but honestly? there should be more. they would be so hot as lesbians 🥰

so, there we are! I definitely rambled too much here (I can't help myself 😅) but I hope I answered your questions, anon! <3 there's loads more stuff too that I've probably forgotten, but these are the main things that I thought of straight away :)

[forever-fixating]

WIP Wednesday

I was tagged by @onthewaytosomewhere. This week I'm sharing a one-shot I've been working on. I was possessed by the demon that is Nicholas Galitzine who bombarded my poor fangirl heart with both Mary & George and The Idea of You trailer. I haven't been the same since, and I refuse to admit just how many times I've listened to that fucking song. (Spoiler alert: it's a lot.)

Anywho, I was inspired by that kiss in the trailer (Anne, Nick, I am just a simple bisexual person. You can't just DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT and expect me to have a normal response!!!) and the wonderful story Clean Slate by smc_27 on AO3 and of course, my fandom bestie @priincebutt The Story of Us to add my own popstar age-gap AU into the mix. I hope you enjoy this nonsense as much as I enjoy writing it. Should be ready soon. Toodles!

The band joined them twenty minutes later, and Alex announced, “I am starving. Are you ladies hungry?”

Henry stood as the girls giggled and nodded. They followed behind as the group headed outside to a large black SUV. The girls joined June and Nora in the middle section, and Alex grinned, “Guess you’re stuck in the back with me, Uncle Henry.”

Henry rolled his eyes as Cash opened the door for them. “Henry is fine, thanks.”

“Yes, he is.”

Henry’s heart skipped several beats as he climbed inside the SUV. Was this man hitting on him? He suddenly felt flushed and tugged off Pez’s jacket, trying to calm his racing heart and mind. He scooted against the other door for some distance, only for Alex to move to the center of the seat, their knees grazing each other. Henry, grasping for any semblance of control, called out, “Seat belts, girls!”

June and Nora turned to look at him, and June said, “They’re all buckled up. My mom drilled that into me and Alex’s brains growing up.”

“You two look cozy,” Nora said with a smirk.

Henry gave a nervous chuckle and said, “I’m just happy to be somewhere quieter. I don’t know how you all do it night after night.”

“I thrive on it,” Alex replied, leaning back into the plush leather seats. He looked at Henry through eyelashes that didn’t seem real outside of fiction. “Doesn’t matter if it’s ten people or ten thousand…being surrounded by a sea of people all there to see you. It’s out of this world.”

Henry relaxed into his seat as they pulled away from the stadium, Alex’s cologne filling his senses. It was spice, leather, and a hint of something floral—pure intoxication. The girls chattered in front, and Alex asked, turning his body toward Henry, “So what do you do when you’re not busy being the best uncle ever?”

Henry shrugged, looking down at his hands holding the leather jacket. “My life is quite dull. I volunteer at a youth shelter, help my best mate at his art gallery, and write.”

“Oh? Anything I’ve read?”

Henry hesitated. It wasn’t that he was embarrassed by his work. He had it on good authority that, past the smutty allure, his fans genuinely connected with the characters of his books. But the subject matter was decidedly graphic and not something he wanted to discuss around his twelve-year-old nieces. Finally looking at Alex again, he said dismissively, “Probably not. I write for myself and a small but passionate audience.”

Alex was undeterred. “Try me. I read constantly, especially when I’m on tour. If anything, it will give me something new.”

“Fine,” Henry replied, rolling his eyes. “My most popular series is probably Dark Olympus. As a queer teen, I was obsessed with Greek mythology and-”

“Wait,” Alex said suddenly, his eyes widening, “you’re George St. James?”

It was Henry’s turn to be surprised. “Wait, are you seriously saying you read that series?”

“Dude, I’ve read everything you’ve ever written, even the straight stuff! The Beast was part of my bisexual awakening!” Alex exclaimed. He leaned forward, smacking the back of the seat, and said, “Nora, June! This guy is George St. James.”

The two women spun around, June saying, “No way! Oh my God, I just finished rereading Blood on the Tide from your Crimson Sails series. I’m obsessed! Please tell me you’re working on another book soon because I need it like yesterday.”

“Seriously,” Nora seconded, her curls bouncing as she nodded. “We’ll give you whatever you want if you give us advanced copies.”

Henry must be in a coma, and this was some bizarre dream his drug-addled mind conjured before his siblings pulled the plug. How else could he be sitting in an SUV with one of the most popular bands in the country, who are apparently fans of his books? Penelope and Grace turned their heads as well, Grace giggling, “Are you talking about Uncle Henry’s smutty books? Our mum says we aren’t allowed to read them.”

“With good reason,” Henry said sternly, looking at his bemused nieces. He returned his attention to the trio and said, baffled, “I’ll get with my agent? God, this is so bizarre. I can’t believe you’ve read my books.”

“It’s all Alé’s fault,” Nora said, winking at the singer. “When he finds something he likes, his little ADHD brain latches onto it and falls down an obsession rabbit hole.”

“Shut up, Nora,” Alex said through clenched teeth. The calm and confident veneer from earlier was shattered, and Henry marveled at how alarmingly human Alex was then. But, to Henry’s immense frustration, that made him all the more charming and attractive. He needed to get a grip. This was nothing. It wasn’t ever going to be anything. This was just three very kind young popstars sharing a meal with two fans and their awkward-as-dog’s-bullocks uncle, and that was it.

Again: Nicholas Galitzine, this is all your fault.

Cover Art because I'm a nerd and enjoy having art for my stories on here:

[pippin-katz]

Post Red, White, & Royal Blue Viewing Thoughts

Okay, I have now watched this film from start to finish four times since it dropped, and I think I'm ready to share my thoughts. This is a lot of thoughts, so if you click "keep reading", be prepared to read.

Total Word Count: 6,579

Part One: First Impressions

After the first watch, I didn't really know how to feel. I finished it not feeling very satisfied.

After the second watch, it clicked.

I adore it. It is a beautiful movie full of hope and love and it is definitely one of my favorite movies now.

I realized that I had watched it wrong. I was enjoying myself watching the film, but my mind was far too focused on thinking about what would and wouldn't be in the movie to truly watch it for the movie it is. This movie is not the book. It's not trying to be. It is a separate entity with its own unique take on the story. It is an adaptation, not a recitation, as Matthew Lopez put it.

If you watch it focusing on the book and wanting it to be a perfect copy, you will be disappointed. However, that's part of the point. It is not trying to recite the book.

Part Two: Film VS Book Format

In order for a perfect, 100% accurate recitation of the book to film to even be possible, a series would have to be made. Red, White, & Royal Blue is not a very long book, but it is truly stuffed to the brim with content. Casey did not have to worry about a budget or time constraints when they wrote it. That meant they could write lots of scenes with the side characters, and whole side plots without a problem.

That is simply not possible to do in a single movie. That is not what the format of a film is made for.

That's why sequels and series exists. That's why the television format exists. Multiple plot lines can be explored at once and you have more time in total, however the trade off is the audience dynamic changes and the risk that brings.

A series needs to have a strong concept in order to for it to successfully hold its audience and keep it watching through to the conclusion of the plots. It's bit different now due to streaming, but with series, if your audience does not remain interested and active, you may not get to even finish telling your story. All that time spent on the side plots and great scenes is wasted because you never even got to follow through with the main plot, let alone those.

A movie is made and then it's done. They can't unmake it. That story is always going to be told from start to finish in that movie, however it tells it.

With the way the industry works nowadays, getting anything more unique than the expected blockbuster movies to be made is difficult. The corporate side of the film industry has practically made it impossible to make anything that doesn't already belong to a franchise. I have not seen a trailer for a romance centered film in what feels like years.

This is a romcom, which have already been struggling, but also a QUEER romcom. It's incredible that the movie was made at all when you think about Hollywood and its absurd views.

We've already seen that Red, White, & Royal Blue got an R rating in the US despite not really showing anything actually explicit. Matthew Lopez even voiced that he believes if it had been a straight couple, it would've been PG-13. I believe it 100% would've been PG-13 if it was a straight couple.

To anyone who might be wondering why the rating matters, the maturity rating of a movie can heavily impact its audience and marketing. Obviously, an R rating steers away any preteens and parents with kids, but it also puts a preconceived notion of the movie's contents into the heads of anyone who sees the trailer.

When you see that R, you expect either heavily graphic sexual content, extreme violence, or vulgar language, sometimes all three depending on the movie. There are lots of adults who are fine with the idea of a bit of sexual content in their media, like a scene that implies it but cuts away or shows the bare minimum of the actions for the viewer to get the idea. But I think a lot people draw the line at something graphic enough to get an R rating, like Fifty Shades of Grey for example. They're going to the theater to watch a romance film, not a pornography film.

Red, White, & Royal Blue already has to fight for its audience by being a queer romance, and getting an R rating adds an extra hurdle that impacts what kind of audience will even consider their movie.

All that being said, it would've been unbelievably difficult for Matthew and the rest of the production team to secure a series rather than a movie.

Part Three: Adapting Your Point of View

In the case of this adaptation, it is not meant to be the book. After I realized this, rewatching the movie as the movie fixed my reaction.

It recontextualized the movie for me. I stopped sitting there like, "oh he didn't say this line" or "damn they cut that scene" for the entire thing. I approached it as a separate entity, so they didn't "change" the story, so to speak; I completely pushed the book aside and focused on the movie.

Lots of things are different in the movie world, but instead of focusing on them being different from the book, approaching it is as the standard of the movie allowed me to appreciate it. Some examples:

So Henry's last name is different; not to them! To them that's always been his name!

So June got removed; not to them! To them Alex was always an only child!

So Luna got removed; not to them! They don't know who that is because he never existed in their world!

The book still exists the way it has always existed. It is not changing, and not going anywhere. It's world will always be there within those pages. The movie exists someplace else, in its own world. What makes it an adaptation rather than an original story is the common denominator of the main characters and their relationship. Everything else is secondary.

Part Four: Cuts

To expand on that last statement, everything other than Alex and Henry's relationship is secondary. Their story, their scenes, their dynamic comes first before anything else. They are more important than June, than Nora, than Pez, than Luna, than anyone else. Their dynamic is more important than the campaign, the divorce, than the sexuality crisis, than Nora, Pez, and June's polycule, than the Powder Princess, than anything else.

Alex and Henry's relationship is the most important thing.

It's not a story focused on Alex learning his bisexual identity. That's a side plot.

It's not a story focused on Nora and Pez (and June in the book) hooking up. That's a side plot.

It's not a story focused on Beatrice's past with cocaine. That's a side plot.

It's not a story focused on Luna's role in exposing Richards. That's a side plot.

People need to understand what a side plot's role in a story is. It pulls away from the main story to discuss something different, but relevant. They're good for development, filler, or connecting dots between major events, but without them, the primary plot should be able to stand alone.

Red, White, & Royal Blue's plot stands alone. The plot of the first son of the president of the United States falling in love with a prince from Britain is an independent storyline.

With Alex and Henry, they're rivals-to-friends-to-lovers, so there is so much to say and show with so little time. It's not like two best friends realizing they're in love; their bond has been on screen the entire time already, it just changes into something more. It's not like a meet-cute where they go on one date and fall madly in love in minutes. Alex and Henry have to dislike each other, then build an understanding that they can like each other, then further that understanding into loving each other.

That takes time! Think about how many pages of emails are in the book! Those are there to show the reader the progress being made between them, and there's a lot of them, probably canonically more than the ones we get to read. A movie can't spend half its runtime narrating emails, it does not have time for that.

Believe me, someone adapting a piece of media that they love, as much as Matthew has said he loves the book, does not take pleasure in removing things. You find interviews he has done where he's talked about it, and admitted to having to be very ruthless when it came to cutting things. We know that the original cut was three hours long! He did not set out to hurt your feelings by removing and changing things.

Part Five: Miguel & The Waterloo Letters

Aside from the obvious removals, I think the biggest change in the movie is presence of Miguel. I've seen a lot of people already unsure or hateful of his character, though he did not bother me that much because I see what he's there for.

Miguel is a combination of Liam's character and Luna's/Richards' plot line.

Liam is obviously in the book as part of Alex's realization that he's not straight. He's the "I've played around with the idea" character. They have that phone call about their past "relationship" and he's done. Other than that, he's a cameo role that shows up like two times.

Miguel flirts with Alex and he gets a bit embarrassed/flustered because we learn that they had a make-out session while naked in a hot tub. Alex does not flirt back with Miguel; if anything, he ignores the insinuations that he's clearly making. He actively refuses to acknowledge their hook up when talking to him. He's not looking for a relationship with him, despite being aware that Miguel definitely wants to hook up with him. This is a symptom and storytelling method of giving off the impression that he's not really sure about his sexuality. He's not in complete denial, but clearly not super confident in himself to even acknowledge Miguel's attempts at flirting with him. It can be swept under the rug or brushed off. He only acknowledges Miguel's attempts to hook up again after he's slept with Henry, after he's become more comfortable and confident in his bisexuality.

Miguel is also a substitute for the Richards plot line, specifically the exposing Alex part. He's not the same as Luna by any means, but he was someone Alex was friendly with that turned around and stabbed him in the back, which is what he believes Luna to have done for most of the book. Miguel is clearly the one who got ahold of the emails and leaked them, filling in for the role Richards' campaign has. He's the one who has his team stalk Alex to expose him. Again, Miguel is not Richards by any means. He does not actively stalk Alex, but he fills in the role of the person behind the leak for nefarious reasons. Richards wants to expose him to win the election. Miguel wants to expose him for his journalism and because he feels personally slighted by him. It's not the same, but it works. They're both self-serving reasons for why the emails got leaked.

Part Six: Keeping It Light

I've definitely seen some people upset that the leak wasn't played as big of a deal as it was in the book. I think this change is tied to the role of Miguel filling in for Richards, and I believe it's intentionally not as intense as the book.

They have made it clear that the movie's goal is lift people's spirits, to give them hope and courage for the future, to make them feel seen, and bring joy.

The side plot of Ellen's competitor legitimately stalking her son and setting him up is fucking horrible to say in the least. That part of the book is the heaviest of the despair and public humiliation that hits them.

While it's important to the plot that the emails get leaked, I think Matthew made a point of skipping around it a little because it would've brought the entire tone of the movie down to a truly depressing state. It's heartbreaking to read, and probably would've been absolutely devastating to watch, and while there's angst, Alex and Henry's story is meant to be a happy one, an inspiring one. They would not have had the time to properly engage with that level of angst and then get out of it without the viewer getting whiplash.

I think that's probably also why the conversation with the king was far shorter than the conversation with the queen in the book. With the goal being to make people happy, spending too long on the seriously negative parts of the narrative would have been problematic and counterproductive. Like I said in part two of this essay, Casey had all the time in the world to set that up and drop that bomb on the reader, and then all the time in the world to get Alex and Henry to climb out of the hole they'd fallen into.

The movie doesn't remove all the angst and heartbreak, but it does its best not to pull the viewer out of the fantasy. When something on screen hits too close to reality, when it's not supposed to, it can ruin the movie experience.

I just watched Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade the other day, and legitimately had myself yanked painfully back into reality with the Nazi scenes, specifically the book burning one. That movie takes place in the past, the idea being that things aren't like that anymore, but with the way things have been going in America, and specifically in the state of Florida, where I live, it was too much. It used to be ridiculous to watch historical fiction where Nazi's hung swastikas everywhere and burned books, but now I see pictures of modern day swastikas being worn and flown and it crushed me. I couldn't enjoy the rest of the movie, despite it obviously being a piece of action/historical fiction about the Holy Grail, not actually about WWII.

I think it's also why they removed the Luna and Richards plotline, because an older Republican politician using their position to take advantage of young girls and boys is very, very dark. It's too close to what we hear coming out of the news every day.

I can also see this being the reason they decided to keep Ellen and Oscar together in this version. The book has the time to go into how their divorce both negatively and positively effected their family dynamic.

I saw someone complaining that Oscar talking about his and Ellen's relationship being a risk didn't work because they were still together, and the conversation in the book is to make Alex realize that it's worth it even if it doesn't work.

Yes, that's the point in the book. That is not the goal in the movie.

Again, they wanted this to be a fantasy romance that uplifted everyone. Approaching that decision with the more pessimistic idea that they probably wouldn't work paints a different mood than the hope his parents being together gives Alex for him and Henry. These are two entirely different approaches! It's intentional!

If Red, White, & Royal Blue had done more with those parts of the book, it very likely would have pulled the viewer out of the immersion and remind them of the depressing realities of real life, which is not the goal.

Part Seven: Intimacy

I was absolutely blown away by the intimate scenes in this movie. I'm demisexual, on the the ace-spectrum, and I am not personally a fan of sexual content in film. This is mostly because it's usually poorly executed, unnecessary, or over-the-top. It pops up in places it doesn't need to be, and makes me roll my eyes or get pissed off.

Part of this frustration undoubtedly comes from my bias as part of the queer community, and I'm willing to admit that. I've developed a slight bitterness towards most portrayals of straight couples in media from it being shoved down my throat my entire life.

It was new for me to see intimate scenes with a queer couple, or rather a gay couple specifically. I have encountered lesbian sex scenes, like in Wynonna Earp. However, I had never seen two men together. I think the reason for this difference is fairly obvious, as it's been widely known for some time that lesbians are very often fetishized by straight men, who are unfortunately the majority of higherups in Hollywood. It is far more likely to have a straight executive sign off on a lesbian sex scene than a gay one, because to them, women together is "fun", while men together is considered "uncomfortable".

This is not to say that gay men aren't fetishized, because they unfortunately are too, but only to point out the disproportionate amount of lesbian intimacy vs gay intimacy in film.

The point being that I had never seen two men be intimate with each other on screen. I was nervous going in because of my issues with most sex scenes, but there was something magical about how they handled them in this movie.

Like I said, I hate when sex scenes are tossed in for no reason, but in the case of Alex and Henry, it is a core part of their relationship and its development. It was the first time I watched a sex scene start without going "here we go with the sex" with a sigh. Their sexual dynamic is part of their dynamic as a whole, that is a key element in becoming closer and understanding each other more.

The thing is, I say all that knowing that there is still a lot of "gays being horny" moments in the book, some of which making it into the movie. What was wonderfully done about that though was that the fast and aggressive encounters were limited. They didn't show any further than making out and the motion of taking off pants. All of those horny moments were handled perfectly to provide the right amount of comedy and yes, sexiness, without shoving it down our throat (pun not intended).

I personally don't need to see a guy giving another guy a blowjob in a romantic comedy film! Ace-spectrum or not, if I wanted to see that, I'd go to a porn website like everyone else. Romance and pornography are not the same thing! Having them go far enough for the viewer to know what they were doing without showing it was perfect.

That brings me to the sex scene. Yes, the work of art that is their first time in Paris.

I said before that a lot of sex scenes make me annoyed or roll my eyes, because most of them are just thrown in for the sake of playing to their audience. In this case, this scene was not for the audience.

I've seen several people say this, and I have to agree, that watching that scene feels like you're intruding on something very personal and it is the truest example of intimacy I've ever seen. It's the most graphic scene in the film, yet it does not show the graphic parts, if that makes sense. Yes, they're naked, and you know what they're doing, but they don't film them in a way that made me uncomfortable, aside from feeling a bit bashful because, I mean, have you watched the scene?

There's no showing of their genitals or private areas at all. It's almost entirely focused on their faces, and the few cuts to their bodies only include Henry's hand on Alex's back and shoulder, in his hair, and the two of them holding hands. This is because they're not just "having sex", but as Henry put it "making love". Yes, that's a bit of an old fashioned way to put it, but it makes far more sense than simply saying it's a sex scene.

It's not just "two characters have sex whoo!". They're not crazily fucking like porn stars. They're clearly going slow and cherishing each other. It's almost impossible to put into words how intimate the scene feels and how not like a sex scene it feels despite being one. There's only some soft instrumental as the background as well, not some pornographic moaning and whatnot that you might find in other movies or shows.

This is all coming from a demisexual who has no interest in sex and gets genuinely annoyed with how often it comes up in film. That is how different this scene was. Their intimacy coordinator, Robbie Taylor Hunt, deserves a huge bonus.

Part Eight: Taylor & Nicholas

I mentioned this in a post before the movie came out, but I'll gladly say it again now that I've seen it. I've never seen a couple on film convince me so entirely that they were two real people in love, and not just fictional characters. It's astonishing to me, and I cannot put the feeling into words. I've seen couples in real life that look less in love than they do.

Both of them deserve awards for their performances in this film. Their chemistry on screen together is indescribable. They are amazing in every way. Both of them nailed their characterizations and nailed their dynamic together.

I had never seen either of them before this, and I can say that I desperately hope they are given the opportunity to be in another project together after this. I've been reading the interviews that were conducted prior to the strike and my respect for the two of them is immeasurable. They are both incredible actors and they did not take the responsibility of the representation lightly, and you can tell. You can tell through how electrifying the two of them are in every scene they share and in their individual moments of standing up for themselves.

Alex's speech about the queer community was beautifully written, but Taylor's execution is what drove it home. The energy he put into Alex on a whole truly brought him to life. Nicholas is one of the most expressive actors I've ever seen. His facial expressions spoke so much with no words in the way Henry has to because he's not allowed to share his thoughts.

I have so much respect and admiration for them, and I hope that even though they can't say much at the moment, they can at least see the impact they've had after just the first day of it being available.

Part Nine: Queer Identity

"The conformity of the closet cannot be answered with the forced conformity in coming out of it." - Alex Claremont-Diaz

I have never heard such a beautiful sentence regarding coming out. It could not be more perfect, especially considering how people immediately started assuming that Taylor and Nicholas are straight men playing queer roles.

As far as I know of, neither of them have publicly discussed their identities, and they do not have to. That does not give anyone the right to assume they're straight. If they are, I see that only as another testament of their skill and talent as actors. If they aren't, then they aren't and maybe they used their own personal experiences as part of their performances. Either way, they don't have to tell us. They have a right not to.

Nicholas obviously did a fucking phenomenal job with Henry and was amazing in portraying how that lifestyle can effect someone like him. He was truly heartbreaking to watch in his sad scenes.

The multiple lines where Alex discusses being bisexual are fantastic. The B is not silent! Having his bisexuality continuously reenforced to the audience was a great call, and they did it without being obvious about it. It's not like he's saying it every five minutes, but he doesn't just say "I like both" and never mention it again. He specifically uses the label bisexual when speaking to Henry and telling his mom. It's important for people to hear that word and be unable to ignore it.

Even though Alex had less of a crisis about being bisexual than in the book, there was still an arc to his confidence in his label. You can feel the uncertainty early on through Taylor's performance. Alex pretends to be suave and confident, but as soon as he goes to tell Henry his label, it takes him a second to say it. Then in Paris before their first time, he admits he's never had sex with another man before, and is clearly nervous. Taylor nailed those moments where Alex's confidence cracks. And you can see Alex become more comfortable with the label as the movie continues. When his mother asks, he's laughing and simply says "I'm bi" without any preamble, unlike when he needed a minute to breathe before saying it to Henry.

Speaking of his mother, although they didn't have the time to do the PowerPoint presentation, they still made sure to have Ellen not just be accepting, but supportive too. She doesn't just say "okay, that's cool", but takes it seriously as a part of her son's life. As embarrassing as it is to have your mom talk sex with you, it shows how she was immediately prepared to help him feel safe and healthy while being in a relationship with a man. She did not tiptoe around it or shy away from it. That is not just acceptance, that is support. That is important.

This movie is important in so many ways. It is honestly still hard to believe it exists.

Part Ten: Pacing

The film moves fast, but this is because the book also moves fast, but the film has way less time to get the same point across. I may be in the minority, but after I disconnected the book from the movie, I didn't feel like it was rushed.

Here's the thing, a lot of movies have a nasty habit of being stuffed with filler. There's so much unnecessary stuff that's put into films to pad the runtime, make it longer. Most people don't really think about it, but it's actually super common, and annoying for those who notice.

Red, White, & Royal Blue does not move too fast. It simply does not waste time.

The minimum runtime to be considered a feature length film in the US is 60+ minutes, but a lot of movies nowadays try to get closer to 120+ minutes, which is a big difference. Consider the original Avengers film, 143 minutes, which is a lot, and then we got Avengers: Endgame which was 183 minutes.

For some perspective, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers released to theaters with a 179 minute-long runtime, but the extended edition runtime is 235 minutes. The Lord of the Rings films are notorious for their extended versions and the fact that they are extraordinarily long. Almost everyone who watches the extended edition trilogy spreads it out over several days, if not a week because it is too much to watch in one sitting unless you have the entire day free.

These massive numbers come from the fact that they have a lot to show, most of which is vital to the plot. Too many movies now add unnecessary content to make their runtime longer.

There is not a single scene in Red, White, & Royal Blue is meaningless. Even the fun montage scenes like those at the lake house are there to communicate the development of their relationship, and how far they've come.

While we can see their love showing up early on, obviously they lead with friends-with-benefits relationship that makes for most of their physically shared time being sex centered. The lake house shows them genuinely enjoying being around each other outside of that context, like reading together on a hammock or Henry doing drunk karaoke. Their small conversations are picked carefully to showcase their banter, then their growing connection.

The story is about them, and therefore, there's no point in taking a winding sidetrack to go into the details of Alex's college classes or the campaign progress. That's all great for the book, but in the movie, they don't need to do that, and the decision not to was the right one. It only would've taken the focus off of them.

They have a lot to do with just them. There's no reason to drag their feet around, so they don't! There's no point in spending fifteen-twenty minutes to show something they can accomplish in five. There's no point in dragging out the passage of time.

The fast pace only doesn't work if their progression as a couple isn't believable, and we've already established that their progress as a couple is perfectly balanced.

That's my take on the pacing, that it's not rushed. I prefer them just going, not wasting any time. That's the other part that makes the cuts not bother me.

As much as I love so many scenes that didn't make it, they didn't need to be there for the story to progress as it needed to. Trying to cram more in would've only made it hard to keep up with. That would've made it rushed. The way it is is fine.

Part Eleven: Texts VS Emails

I saw some complaints that they didn't continue the way they did the text messages with the way they did the emails, and I have to say, I disagree that they should've.

The texts are conversational and work really well to have pop up graphics and edits, but those emails are letters. They are a lot more serious, and using purely voiceover is far less distracting. You can focus purely on what they're saying and the inflection of their voices. It also gave them a chance to show the progress of time through Alex's campaign work.

Most of their emails are exchanged over a period of time where nothing particularly interesting is happening. They are the interesting thing. Alex is busy with college and Henry's just doing his royal duties. That doesn't make for the most entertaining action on screen.

Alex's devotion to Texas in the book is his binder. It works really well in the book because we can hear Alex's thoughts, considering there's not much actually said about the binder. He has that confrontation with that guy in the White House, but the binder is his private, secret project. Hearing his thoughts and feelings directly works better than how it would've played out if they did the same thing in the movie. It would've been some shots of him with it, foreshadowing and hinting at it, but its true importance would've been lost on those who haven't read the book.

Instead, they were direct about it. He tries to get his strategy implemented from the beginning, while in the book, it's a secret plan that he doesn't intend to share yet. Instead of the argument with that coworker, he has the argument with his mother, which hits the beats of his desires for Texas. He wants to go out there and make them feel heard and reach out to the younger population, and that's exactly what he tells his mother in that argument.

Having him working on the campaign during that stretch of time between Paris and the lake house accomplished what all those thoughts and emails and Luna's role did in establishing what politics means to Alex, what Texas means to Alex.

Being able to watch him working while hearing him and Henry write to each other through the emails was a perfect blending of two parts of the book.

And again, their phrasing in the emails is very different from the texts. The pop-ups would've felt a bit odd. In the texts where they do that, they're bantering back and forth, sending the articles, and sharing interests, but in those emails, Alex is talking about the pressure he's under to succeed and Henry is talking about how inspiring he is. It's better to keep the audience focused in on them rather than the fun graphics and whatnot.

Part Twelve: Alex's Speech

I've been seeing some people upset about the changes to Alex's speech, and I have to say that I feel like they're overreacting. What he said in the movie was so, so important, and for the people who are freaking out like "he wouldn't confirm their relationship without talking to Henry first", do you not realize that people can have an unspoken understanding?

We don't get the same conversations, but Henry is obviously scared about going public, but he never gives off the impression that he doesn't want to, or that he wants to lie about it. There's also the undeniable fact that they had conversations we did not get to see, book based or not.

You think they didn't say anything else to each other the rest of the night after the V&A visit? You think we got all the emails they shared over the year they were seeing each other?

This is one of those moments where I'm like, "get over yourself" to those people. Who do you think knows Henry better? You, or the actual character he's in a relationship with?

Part Thirteen: Important Messages

Another thing I've been seeing driving me up the wall is people complaining about some of the messages from the book not being in the movie, and again, I have to say, do you not understand what an adaptation is?

The message of this movie is the primary message of the book. That love should not have to be justified to others.

That's essentially what Henry says to the king near the end. He directly questions him about maintaining a traditional royal image, and puts the king in the position of having to admit his discriminatory views. The king had been skirting around it, saying things like "your love is genuine" and whatnot, but still forcing them to lie and hide, which Henry puts his foot down to. He doesn't let him get away with dancing around it.

Henry's line of being who he is and not who they want him to be is powerful and potent. He refuses to keep justifying who he is. Philip refers to their love as a mad infatuation, and Henry shuts him down. He and Alex are in love with each other, and he is not going to pretend otherwise even though he's scared.

That is the core message, that love is love, and love wins.

The other messages are still in the book. They haven't gone anywhere. They simply did not fit into the movie format, but that does not mean they're not going to be heard. The opening credits tells you right off the bat that this is based on a novel, and those who enjoy the movie are likely to go read it afterwards if they hadn't previously.

Trying to cram too many themes and messages into one movie can destroy the impact of all of them. Sometimes it's better to focus on nailing one major theme and making sure that it hits powerfully than bouncing all over the place in an attempt say as much as possible. Messages that are alluded to or mentioned, but never followed through on harm the movie more than their inclusion helps it. It makes them feel hollow, like they're just there to be like "see? we're talking about this important stuff, give us credit".

I feel like people deep down know that, that if they had tried to fit everything they would've disliked it for a whole different reason, but they're still so determined to be cynical and negative that they can't acknowledge what the film did say.

Part Fourteen: Final Thoughts & Cake

Congratulations if you've read this far! I did not expect this essay to be as long as it was, but everything I wanted to say needed more explanation, which led to more branch offs, and that's why I ended up sectioning it.

I can safely say that I absolutely adore this movie. I am going to be watching it on loop for the next couple days since I have the house to myself for the weekend.

This movie is definitely its own entity. It is unique from the book, and should not be judged by how "accurate" it is. It's a different telling of the story, and a fantastic one. It deserves to be appreciated, and gushed about.

If anyone tries to bring you down with their negativity towards this film, ignore them. I don't mean people who are politely providing valid criticism. I mean those people who have been basing their opinions entirely on how the movie compares to the book, and deciding that any changes made automatically makes it inferior. The people who are ignoring all of the fantastic aspects of the movie because they're so wrapped up in their own head.

I'm finishing this off with that reminder, that the movie is not trying to be the book. Please keep that in your mind when you watch it. For those who may have felt a similar feeling of unsatisfaction after watching it for the first time, rewatching with this as your focus may allow you to find what you were missing from the experience before.

To put it into a simple metaphor, Red, White, & Royal Blue is a cake. Yes, I'm aware of the irony, but it works very well here.

Let's say that the base story of Red, White, & Royal Blue is a chocolate cake.

The book can be a chocolate cake, with buttercream between the layers, pink icing, and sprinkles. The movie can be a chocolate cake with chocolate mousse between the layers, blue icing, and flowers.

They are both chocolate cakes. They are the same and different at the same time. Most people are going to have a preference, but that does not mean you can't enjoy both.

You have two chocolate cakes! It's a win-win!

And to the people who are simply trashing this movie, I'd like to stop and ask you something. How is it that the original author, and creator of these characters and story, approves and loves this adaptation, but you can't?

I'm an author myself, and I'm fiercely protective over my characters and ideas, and immediately get my claws out when someone suggests a major change I disagree with or a false interpretation of it.

Casey themselves has said basically the same thing I did at the start of this when I explained that the movie exists separately to the book, and they love it. If the original creator loves it, sorry, but I really don't give a damn what you have to say about its "accuracy".

To everyone else, remember to try and not let people's negativity influence you too much. If you love the movie, you don't need to justify it. You're allowed to.

Thank you for reading this. Seriously, fucking congrats if you made it this far. I'm expecting this to get like no notes and still spent an entire day writing this lmfao

Update: If you enjoyed this essay & would like to support me, you can give me a tip on my Ko-Fi! ☺️

[authoralexharvey]

INTERVIEW WITH A WRITEBLR — @breath-of-eternity

Who You Are:

Emily || She/her

I'm a writer, mostly of fantasy, but I dabble in other genres.

What You Write:

What genres do you write in? What age ranges do you write for?

Fantasy and sci-fi. Young adult, new adult, and adult.

What genre would you write in for the rest of your life, if you could? What about that genre appeals to you?

Fantasy, because I like making a world that's completely different from this one.

What genre/s will you not write unless you HAVE to? What about that genre turns you off?

Romance. Maybe it's because I'm aromantic, but it just always seems so silly and I don't get it.

Who is your target audience? Do you think anyone outside of that would get anything out of your works?

Anyone who enjoys reading about a world completely different from the one we live in is my target audience. I'd like to think others would enjoy it, but I'm not good at guessing what people want.

What kind of themes do you tend to focus on? What kinds of tropes? What about them appeals to you?

I like to focus on rebuilding after the MC has lost, maybe everything, how friendships can save you when nothing else can, the strength of having people on your side, and the struggle to do what is right when a more powerful force is against you.

What themes or tropes can you not stand? What about them turn you off?

Love at first sight has always bothered me. I always thought love was something built up over time, and that's what makes it strong and great, and I hate it when two people become instantly obsessed with each other and begin ignoring everyone else in their lives, and it's worse when the people don't mind and think it's a good thing.

What are you currently working on? How long have you been working on it?

I'm working on several different projects. One, a fantasy, I've been working on for about a year, the other, a post-apocalyptic survival story, about half that.

Why do you write? What keeps you writing?

I love losing myself in other worlds. I just feel compelled to keep exploring them.

How long have you been writing? What do you think first drew you to it?

I guess it's been about twenty years, though I dabbled with a few short stories before that, never quite finishing them. Even back then I just loved the idea of making my own world.

Where do you get your inspiration from? Is that how you got your inspiration for your current project? If not, where did the inspiration come from?

From various things. Television shows, comics, video games, and with a sprinkling from dreams. My fantasy novel I think was a dream (can't quite remember), but also something I came up with while half-asleep after waking up. The post-apocalyptic was definitely a dream, that I then began to plot out while I went for a walk.

What work of yours are you most proud of? Why?

I don't know. I don't think I'm more proud of one than any other.

Have you published anything? Do you want to?

No. I'd definitely like to, but I've never been able to garner any interest.

What part of the publishing process most appeals to you? What part least appeals to you?

Just being able to have my story out there. I want others to read, and hopefully enjoy, what I write.

What part of the writing process most appeals to you? What part is least appealing?

I love creating stories and having characters go through things and figuring out how. What I dislike is writing descriptions. I'm just terrible at it!

Do you have a writing process? Do you have an ideal setup? Do you write in pure chaos? Talk about your process a bit.

It depends. It's kind of different each time I start something new. Sometimes I have to have music playing in the background, other times a show, and others complete silence. I don't like being interrupted by other people, though. That's just distracting, and it can take me a bit to refocus on the world I'm creating. A place where I won't be bothered and can switch between various tasks is my ideal setup.

Your Thoughts on Writeblr:

How long have you been a writeblr? What inspired you to join the community?

Less than a year, though I've been on Tumblr longer. I saw someone else who was a writeblr and decided to join in with my work.

Shout out some of your favorite writeblrs. How did you find them and what made you want to follow them?

I don't like picking favorites. That probably seems like a copout, but I've always followed anyone who writes in a genre I like or whose writing I like. I go into tags sometimes, or I pick people others have reblogged.

What is your favorite part about writeblr?

Reading other people's work.

What do you think writeblr could improve on? How do you think we can go about doing so?

More reblogs, I suppose. I'm not really sure how to get more. If I knew, I'd get more of my own!

How do you contribute to the writeblr community? Do you think you could be doing more?

I always try to reblog other's work, and if I have the time, leave some feedback, even if it's only a few words.

What kinds of posts do you most like to interact with?

Stories people post.

What kind of posts do you most like to make?

Stories I've posted.

Finally, anywhere else online we may be able to find you?

My website is here: https://awakeningkoe.wordpress.com/

[posthumousvigor]

You know, I think its kind of cool how plot holes and bad writing encourage creativity in an audience. When I was a kid, I thought that the reason Anakin personally late-term aborted all them kids was because he wanted to ensure they were killed quickly and as painlessly as possible. I thought it was some sort of twisted compassion meant to show how his character had become corrupt yet still fundamentally the same. In trying to understand why something without sufficient explanation was happening, I gave the story new depth and meaning. Not like I'm a genius or anything, just an audience member taking part in creation.

I talked to my dad recently about the star war and he was surprised about the whole Force Jesus thing because this whole time he thought it was Palpatine's ~evil machinations~ or whatever. For over 20 years this man thought my boy Sheev abducted shmi and artificially knocked her up little green alien style as an experiment to create the most powerful force user. Which is kind of convoluted but I like it better than Jesus Christ Superstar laser sword edition full color vhs 50% off at walmart. Here's another person building their own art in their mind based on filling a hole (lol) left by the original media.

I mean, it happens in fandom all the time. Idk how many arguments I've seen where one or both people are duking it out based on... something that never happened. But in their beautiful mind palace it happened. And that would be such a wonderful phenomenon if they could only stop whipping out slurs every time they start to lose the argument. Keep on fighting those cuck windmills buddy I'm sure it'll work at some point

I'd still prefer a well written story, obviously, but I just love how people can't help but be creative, even if its 1999 and they're just in the car on the way home from the movies trying to work out what all that midichlorians shit was about. The collaborative process of creation can't stop, even if everyone held hands and agreed to never tag anything as #meta again. Art is never finished.

Anyway remember when everybody was foaming at the mouth over Jar Jar Binks was a Sith Lord theories? Good times

[chordsykat]

Do you have tips on writing strong and even powerful characters who are OCs? I am new to Metalocalypse and I want to write some stories but I don't know how to make a character feel like they're not too overpowered and they fit naturally in the story. How do you do it?

Gosh, Anon, I wanted to point you to an answer I did for this question a few years ago, but... it's been a few years and Tumblr's search function is... Tumblr's search function. So let me just go around again with this one..!

Let's start with the obvious: Metalocalypse is a wonderful opportunity to write a bunch of stuff that's utterly ridiculous and you should not be afraid to do it. People who tell you "you can't have crazy/supernatural/magic powers" in this universe are clearly watching a different show than the rest of us. Go nuts. It's fine.

So, typically my response to this question is the standard one you'd get if you just googled "how do I make a character not feel overpowering" - which is, anything is possible if you write it believably enough. And that is a big part of it, but lately I've looked into the nuances of this just a litte further than I have in the past, and can add a bit more to this wisdom.

Especially. ESPECIALLY-especially, if you're introducing a character into an already-established world, pay close attention to one thing: How are the established characters relating to the type of character that your OC is.

This goes beyond them being powerful, too. Maybe they're normal and pretty vanilla. Maybe they're a bad guy. Maybe they're a bi-monthly curated box of snacks -- hell, I dunno! But whatever they are, your goal in that introductory story should be to not just showcase who this character is - but in order to endear the audience to them, you must make the canon cast believably respond to the type of character they are, preferably in the most interesting way possible. That's it. That's your biggest job as the writer when it comes to making... well... any kind of character introduction, I'd suppose. Another way of saying this would be, don't come out of the gate giving them a gold star in the form of plot-armor and intrigue because this is their story. I'm not saying it isn't their story, but give the audience some credit and make your characters earn their spot as central cast members. Remember: no matter the writer's skill level, readers are always stingier with their gold stars.

Consider Nathan Explosion meeting a random fan who he invites back to Mordhaus, for no reason, versus Nathan Explosion meets a guy who can shoot lightning bolts out of his ass, and he invites him home because in his mind he's already got about fifty new ideas for drinking games with this dude. Both are perfectly viable stories, but if I'm honest, the second one sounds more believable, despite the superpowers, does it not? In the first one, it's less so not because the person is a normie - but because there's literally no reason for Nathan to drag them home excepting the fact that the character exists.

The trick to making characters likable lies in the audience's trust that you're going to handle the characters they already know, in a consistent and in-character way. That's it. You earn it with them, there, and I guarantee they'll eventually stop riding on the shoulders of the canon cast and start willingly hopping onto your OCs' as time goes on.

So once you have this conflict planned out (and make no mistake -- meeting someone new for the first time is often one of the biggest conflicts in any "new kid in town" story), you just gotta make sure your character is consistent with who they are -- both in abilities and limitations. The usual "don't warp the world around them" rules apply. I trust you know how to keep your own character in-character, so the rest is just assuring everyone else is also going to be acting appropriately. That's it.

Anyway, hope this helps as an answer, Anon. And I hope you share your stories with us when you finish them! Best of luck - you can do it! :D

[hunnterr0]

Hello!!! Thanks for tagging me, @meliae-cinis 🤍 Your always keeping me on my toes it seems. Xoxo.

🎱 Total stats:

User Subscriptions: 14

Kudos: 692

Comment Threads: 58

Bookmarks: 175

Subscriptions: 103

Word Count: 236,608

Hits: 14,465

🍓 Back in 2020 I discovered wattpad while I was newly getting into LEGO Ninjago, and so things went on from there. I started with simple reading to writing my own work over there.

🌵 https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1NeELYrxr2fBVK3g0bTqOz?si=3mdmGBZtRg-laBm-6psHtA&pi=2rYzSqy-TOuD-

It might sound crazy but I love listening to this playlist while writing. It's like white noise to me.

🕯️personally a 4, it takes up too much time and effort :'( but as a writer you know it must be done over and over again until everything falls into tinniest perfect bits and pieces.

🛼 (🎭⛓️⛓️‍💥🪦🔪)

🥤 Definitely the legendary fic: "I was screaming your name through the radio." It's a classic, and any skk enjoyer will love it, guaranteed.

💌 None☺️

🌻 @meliae-cinis my lovely..🤍

🐇 As a fanfic writer I use already existing characters, but definitely for the future I hope to create and use my own.

🧃 Personal lore? Hmm .. not today 😉

🎲 I have to be in the writing mood. It's a force to be reckoned with.

🍄 Dazai fell first, head cannon.

🧸 Criticise my work to me, good or bad idc. 🥹

🪐 I like to think my writing career is doing really good, even tho it's very simple and closed off. I'll also say friendships are doing very well, and my other close relationships. So that's good :3

📚 Been writing a lot of plot ideas in notes. I don't wanna spoil anything for anyone, so I won't be revealing anything today~

🍬 No bottom chuuya.. there, I've said it. BE ANGRY.

🔪 Prolly illnesses and various wounds, but it's not too weird.

🦷 I'm full of wisdom 🧙‍♀️... So listen up: don't date. 🥰

❄️ My dream plot for a fic... I'm pretty open minded to seeing some new plots in newer fics, but you can't beat the originals like enemies to lovers trope, or some good ol' angst. Oh, let's not forget the overdrawn slowburn. Ah yes, suffering is the key element to a good read.

🌿 Honestly the only way I deal with writers block is by re-reading my fic, or generally attempting to get back into the fandom. Re-read the book, re-watch the series/ movies, etc. If it's really not getting you back into it, try writing for a different fandom, something your brain is currently stuck in.

🥐 That on: "in the beninging" 😭😭

🏜️ Readers being super into it and making their own assumptions and theories. I'm not that big on popularity yet but any type of enthusiasm from the audience is so refreshing and joyful.

🍦 I wouldn't necessarily say I hate a character, more like I find uninteresting or underwritten for the plot. But in my case let's see... From BSD, I'd say my 'least favourites ' currently would be Tanizaki and Higuchi. They have good potential to be in the plot of the story but they're just standing out like side characters to me... I like Tanuzaki's ability, and I like Higuchi's stubbornness to succeed and prove her worth. Definitely worth of character building.

🥝 I wouldn't say I lie a lot, but I do lie to get around some things in certain situations. Not that I'm too proud of such.

🦋 How badly I wanna finish my latest chapter 😭.

🦴 Any shows/movies I watch always influence me in certain ways, so yeah, I'd say I apply just enough influence from media into my writing.

🍅 I would call myself out on laziness. Especially when it comes to editing the chapters, I usually skip right through it. There's always some mistakes or corrections I want to fix, but I get too deep into it and after some time of altering it I lose interest in writing all together.

🐚 I love surprises. Most things take me by surprise, it's not that hard to get by me if you're sneaky enough.

☁️ Hunter is a gender neutral name I chose way back in 2020 and went on with it. On AO3 I added an iconic 0 to it, and so the username was created. I believe when the username is simple and easy to remember it's a boost to people remembering you and your work.

🌸 Not really an indoor pet, but my family and I take care of a stray cat that we named Garfield. He's practically part of the fam now.

🎨 https://pin.it/K0OvVtAYr love the purity of it. Their relationship is always so.. how can I say it? They keep their respectable distance from one another, in an emotional way.

🧩 SHORT CHAPTERS. Am I the only one who instantly gets an ick from those? Maybe it's got something to do with the fact I write long chapters myself 😭.

Writers Truth & Dare Ask Game

🎱 ⇢ post your AO3 total stats  🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction?  🌵 ⇢ share the link to a playlist you love 🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that? 🛼 ⇢ describe your latest wip with five emojis 🥑 ⇢ you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help? 🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love 💌 ⇢ how many unread emails do you have right now?  🌻 ⇢ tag someone you appreciate but don't talk to on a regular basis 🐇 ⇢ do you prefer writing original characters, reader inserts, or a mix of both?  🧃 ⇢ share some personal lore you never posted about before 🎲 ⇢ what stops you from writing more in your free time?  🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings 🧸 ⇢ what's the fastest way to become your mutual? 🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now 📚 ⇢ what's the last thing you wrote down in your notes app?  🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character 🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project? 🦷 ⇢ share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on ❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best? 🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity 🥐 ⇢ name one internet reference that will always make you laugh  🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work? 🍦 ⇢ name three good things about a character you hate 🥝 ⇢ do you lie a lot? what's the most recent lie you told? 🦋 ⇢ share something that has been on your heart and mind lately  🦴 ⇢ is there a piece of media that inspires your writing?  🍅 ⇢ give yourself some constructive criticism on your own writing 🐚 ⇢ do you like or dislike surprises? 🪲 ⇢ add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here ☁️ ⇢ what made you choose your username? 🐝 ⇢ tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them 🌸 ⇢ do you have any pets? if you do, post some pictures of them 🎨 ⇢ link your favourite piece of fanart and explain why you like it 🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

[anothermariamorales]

always hear about artists of various media talking about the odd rituals, routines, and habits they adopt to encourage their odd little minds to be even odder and gift them ideas that could only come from them for the sake of their art. always think I think I'm glad I'm not good enough at anything to feel the need to do this kind of thing.

now I pinch my nose and try to breathe when I wake up, when I see a tabby cat, when my phone is frustrating to operate.

I feel awake and alive for the first time in at least a decade. but verifying helps.

(Techniques associated with intentionally lucid dreaming encourage me to question things more deeply, ask what-ifs, and stop shutting down ideas because I assume they're impossible)

A few months ago, I started setting a timer for ten minutes when I can, when I feel frustrated or stressed. I don't try to meditate or clear my thoughts or focus or control my breathing. the only rule is that I have to endure the boredom. ten minutes without music or scrolling or podcasts to drown out my own thoughts. and I hated it. I hate being bored so aggressively that my brain refused to let me endure it and learned a long forgotten skill from my youth--entertaining myself in waiting rooms, on car rides, the moments after exams while I waited for my classmates to finish. I got my imagination back.

Overall, relying less on productivity hacks, on maximizing efficiency, or making the most of my time is what was necessary to reclaim my sense of wonder that has helped me come up with ideas for stories to explore. About two years ago I got an idea for a story and I was so excited because I've wanted to write for a long time and could never come up with a single story idea that I was excited about enough. Since I've started prioritizing time to do nothing but let ideas marinate, I've had to start tracking my ideas in a database because I'm excited about so many and don't want to forget them while others find me.

it's not a revolutionary idea. of course you need to think on ideas to find what about them makes them worth exploring. but in an era of shrinking attention spans and expanding competition for them, it kind of is revolutionary to deny anyone but yourself the precious time you have.

I started listening to CDs again. it encourages me to sit down and experience the album without access to infinite songs, playlists, and artists to reduce the urgency of what's immediately in front of me. I started sitting and really listening again. music became something relegated to background filler, texture for anything else I was doing, most likely multitasking. but now I sit with a portable CD player and wired headphones, which makes me not want to move around so much. yesterday I just sat in the sun and listening to Brighten the Corners.

I closed my eyes and the sun illuminated the inside of my eyelids in beautiful patterns. I realized if I moved my eyes around while they were still closed, those patterns changed a lot. I sat there moving my eyes to the beat of the music, observing the patterns like a Windows Media Player visualization. I lost myself in them, thinking of the songs and finding shapes that reflected them until I was almost dreaming.

I'm prone to sleep paralysis and recently learned that whatever it is that causes my sleep patterns to be a little bit Not Right also makes me prone to memorable dreams, vivid dreams, and lucid dreams. I honestly believe my greatest gift is whatever awful thing keeps me from sleeping normally (yes, I've had sleep studies done, no I don't have an answer). I dream like no one else I know. I have vicarious dreams, where I assume the identity and life of some unknown entity. I have cinematic dreams, where I'm not even a participant, but an audience member making comments about the production, the soundtrack, the camera movements of my dreams. People say you can't read in dreams, you can't tell time in dreams, you can't see faces in dreams, you can't tell dream characters you know it's a dream. I can. I can do math, look into people's eyes, and have an accurate awareness of life history and relative time. And man are some of these dreams incredible stories and experiences. I really can't wait to start sharing them with you all.

[bun-z-bakery]

ˏˋ*⁀➷ 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝐵𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝐹𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤˚°

Now he’s thinkin’ ’bout me every night, oh. Is it that sweet? I guess so. Say you can’t sleep, baby, I know.That’s that me espresso. - Sabrina Carpenter

Please be aware of my rules and guidelines for this blog before you follow/interact. Not following rules will get you blocked! So please be respectful. I can't keep up with who follows me so please remember this blog is 18+.

‧ .˚₊ 𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑻𝑬𝑵𝑻

This is a writing blog that will contain my work and reblogs of others' works! I also do reblog whatever I'm interested in too but it's mostly a writing blog.

My blog is mostly sfw but some of my writings contain suggestive content. I personally don't write nsfw stories however I might reblog something in that criteria so please be aware of that.

Some of my writing might be dark/triggering so please keep that in mind! I try my best to add content warnings but sometimes it slips my mind.

I do try to write for all readers (masc, fem, GN) however by default my works tend to be GN!readers.

I only write for fandoms listed here. Please note I don't write for every character so the character will be specified.

‧ .˚₊ 𝑫𝑶 𝑵𝑶𝑻 𝑰𝑵𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑨𝑪𝑻 𝑰𝑭

You're a minor. Just because my blog is tame for the most part doesn't mean it's kid friendly. I also don't feel comfortable talking to anyone younger than me online.

You're a canon purist. I understand we all have our comfort characters, I'm autistic so I completely understand but everyone has their headcanons and silly little quirks they want to give characters. If you can't see your favorite character in written in a certain way then I'm sorry this blog isn't for you.

You're anti/hateful/negative. I'm aware my blog won't be for everyone and that's ok! You aren't my target audience and all I ask is you keep scrolling.

‧ .˚₊ 𝑹𝑼𝑳𝑬𝑺

MDNI. As I already mentioned if you're a minor please don't interact. If you're a new or ageless blog please add an indicator or age on your blog. It may seem silly but helps out alot of other users on the site know who to interact with or avoid.

Tagging. You can tag me! If there's something you'd like to show me and can't DM me for some reason feel free to tag me! I also enjoy being tagged in tag games too! All I ask if you don't spam tag!

My work is my own. do not: steal, copy, repost, reupload, modify, or claim any of my works as your own, regardless of credit given. And absolutely do not use my works for AI training and other related purposes. Alot of the people on here write to share their ideas with their fandoms so please respect mine and others' work!

Be polite! Please be polite when sending asks or commenting and don't bring up triggering/controversial or political topics.

Don't be shy! I love interacting with others be it asks, anonies, anything! Talk to me about your day, cute crafts you've made, art I love meeting new people so don't be shy, I love talking to others!

Sharing. I know some people don't like having their work reblogged but feel free to reblog my work if you like! It helps out alot since the algorithm is non existent.

Requests and time. You're welcome to send requests when they're open! Please note even though I love writing your requests not everything will be my taste so I apologize if I don't write yours, I do hope you find someone who will! Also the time I finish your request my vary. I have other projects I'm working on when I'm not on here and life does get in the way sometimes.

Once again, I only write for fandoms listed here. Please note I don't write for every character so the character will be specified.

[rain-fluff]

Journal Two

It only took me a few days to finish but Hana Yori Dango has inserted itself into a small part of my brain and heart and has encompassed my entire attention span; fully fleshing out into a brand new hyperfixation that I never thought could possibly develop before I started my binge.

Is this show the greatest masterpiece that has ever existed in our current plane of existence? Not really. Is it a good portrayal of romance involving healthy and communicative relationships? Absolutely not. But it's the type of dumpster fire I simply can't look away from because the dramatics and emotional declarations of love professed by the characters are written so expressively entertaining that you can't help to wonder of what comes next. It's a great show to shut your brain off when you're in it just for the drama.

Besides that, there's something about the art style that's so charming that I wish is still practiced with today. Not to discredit newer ones because there are unique ones that stand out visually like Demon Slayer or Spy x Family but it doesn't quite capture the same flare you'd see in old 90's anime. Or I could just be bias entirely and have rose tinted goggles with anything that's from the 90's or 2000's that I never realize I have on 24/7 so to each their own really.

While I do appreciate the way the characters having better growth and development in the manga, I do feel that the anime had smoother delivery when conveying the overall plot. There were quite a few arcs and characters that I was shocked to learn was completely omitted in the anime. However, it's also not surprising considering even in the official manga; it doesn't really effect the core story asides for maybe developing rooms for the main characters to interact and grow.

The ending of the anime itself was also much more satisfying in comparison to the manga in my opinion but still gives the audience a satisfaction of having the main couple only loving and trusting each other from the last few chapters and beyond. Overall, this is definitely a series I wouldn't mind rewatching over and over again (surprise I already am) and will cherish alongside many other favourites.

In other news, my family had gathered for my brother's 31st birthday this weekend at a nice Italian restaurant we used to frequent. I think it has been at least a year since I've last went so imagine my surprise when my mother told me she frequents there for lunch every other week with her friends. It was an enjoyable dinner nonetheless, the margherita pizza will always be my favourite menu item and the tiramisu was a delightful palette cleanser later on.

The more I keep writing, the more I wonder if I can maintain a readers attention with my journaling. I'm a natural introvert who prefers my own company most times and often stay at home. I don't particularly have strong commitments to my hobbies either so I worry how much content I can truly provide as the semester goes on. I need to start digging deep with my hobbies again.

-rain