#sisters of the rwrb universe i love you

[philtatosbuck]

in theory i should be more sympathetic with catherine fox but in reality i do hate he a little bit for abandoning all three of her children in the face of their father's death

[rwrbficrecs]

The Keepers by foux_dogue (book-verse)

@dot524: This oneshot was full of so many big-sister feelings from June. This is an AU in which Alex is hospitalized in an accident. June realizes that Alex and Henry have been in a secret relationship for a while and tries to help the rest of her family understand while she grapples with this new reality. TBH I want more to this little universe but I loved what we got in this story!

Cracked Heart by @absoluteaudacitywrites (book-verse)

@na-dineee: This canon variation had me completely hooked! Alex's world is rocked by a quite publicly breakup with his childhood sweetheart, Liam. Things take a turn for the better when he forms an unexpected bond with Prince Henry. Alex is portrayed as soft and vulnerable, while Henry provides endless patience and support. He also helps Alex discover new facets of himself. I wholeheartedly recommend! Bonus: the shorter follow-ups are a treat, too.

(Not) A Cinderella Story by @welcometololaland (book-verse)

@na-dineee: One of my comfort reads! Alex is a JSD student at NYU Law, Prince Henry officially lives in NY and is unofficially out. Also, Alex hates the monarchy, eat the rich and all that. When the two meet at an event, Henry's curiosity is piqued when he receives back the NDA that Alex (and all guests) had to sign, marked up thoroughly in red. The story is very fast-paced, super funny, a lot smutty, also touching - it's everything! And Junora are the icing on the cake!

Cold Cases, Lost Causes by @tintagel-or-cockleshells (book-verse)

@suseagull04: In a nutshell, this fic is RWRB meets mystery novels, and it's amazing! The mystery, the romance and the angst all make this one of my new favorites!

i want to mark my skin (it is paper thin) by violetbaudelairequagmire (book-verse)

@na-dineee: In this charming one-shot, Alex is a tattoo artist, Henry is still a prince - and he wants a tattoo. After being to Alex's studio once, he wants one more. And maybe one more? - Of course, oblivious Alex doesn't get who his new regular is, but the sparks start flying instantly. Rated M but feels more like E to me, this sweet story is an absolute delight to devour.

we broke all the pieces (still wanna play the game) by @theprinceandagcd (book-verse)

@heysweetheart-writes: I absolutely loved this best friends to lovers fic having drunken sex because they're both dumb and in love your honor, in every universe. It's funny and sweet and hot. Please give it a read!

Rule Number Nine by @clottedcreamfudge (book-verse)

@suseagull04: TZP works collide in this The Kissing Booth AU! This fic really has it all- friends to lovers, all the feels, and a little bit of angst, and it's all done in the same fast pace as the book, especially the banter between both Alex and Henry and June and Henry, which is amazing!

l'échappatoire by @anincompletelist (book-verse)

@14carrotghoul: This time loop fic is an amazing exploration of grief and Henry's character. Sucks you right in, breaks your heart, and patches it together with beautiful prose as a cherry on top!

check out our past Monthly Faves here ❤️

[jefferson-starkid]

An incomplete list of things I loved about the RWRB movie

First and foremost he total of TWO (2) lil bicep kisses Henry gives Alex (my hearttt I will never shut up about this)

Their faces when Alex gets cake on Henry’s coat

That whole scene actually. Comedy gold

Zahra straight up attacking Alex with a pillow for being an idiot

Alex looking and acting like a 10 year old petulant child during the whole hospital closet scene lol

Heny’s little voice crack when he says “I didn’t say ‘get me out of here’ I said ‘I need to get out of here’ there is a difference” BABY

on that note you don't wanna know the amount of times I said 'oh baby' to Henry during this movie :(

The eyelashes thing making it in there even though it’s not henry who says it in the movie but idc because Taylor Zakhar Perez your eyelashes sir

Alex actually grabbing Henry’s hips at the party to show him how to dance WE LOVE A BOOK ACCURATE MOMENT

On that note GET LOW

And Henry saying ‘Did he say ‘sweat drops down my balls?’ I hollered I love that moment in the book

Henry’s lost puppy look when Alex kisses the girls

Nick Galitzine managing to perfectly portray Henry’s mannerisms in the first kiss scene ‘Henry’s whole face grimaces in frustration, his eyes casting skyward like they’re searching for help from an uncaring universe.’ Like he did that perfectly

Zahra being the iconic queen she is

“You’ve been wanting him to dick you down forever”

EVERYTHING ABOUT THE RED ROOM:

the Alexander Hamilton portrait good job movie

Alex being nervous and not knowing how to stand when waiting for Henry (ik in the book this detail was after the state dinner in his room, but idc I love that they at least kept it in this way)

SHUT UP STOP TALKING

Henry’s horrified little moment of realization when he sees Alex isn’t actually gonna yell at him for kissing him but he’s actually into this like Nick Galitzine your face sir!!! It’s so soft and sad and adorable arrgghhh

The detail of Alex hitching Henry’s tigh up around him like in the book

Amy’s ‘oh god!’ when she walks in on them

Henry immediately pretending to inspect the book case and Alex randomly playing with the flowers all ‘ACT NATURAL’ lol that made me cackle

Henry’s face as he leaves Alex’s room and lingers in the doorway a bit to just…stare at him UGH

The rich white people sex dungeon scene with the polo and alex just shamelessly thirsting after Henry lol

PARIS

“Who says ‘make love’ anymore? Are we like gonna listen to Lana Del Rey while we do it?” PLEASE

That sex scene was handled with so much care. It was so soft and sensual and they worked their asses off to show their connection and it paid off lemme tell u everyone say ‘thank you intimacy coordinator’

Like I could talk for 45 minutes about that hand shot alone

How small Henry looks lying on his side next to Alex afterwards

FIRST BICEP KISS everyone say thank you whoever wrote that in the script

Henry’s disorientated ‘sgoingon?’ when Zahra wakes them up lol just like the book

EVERYTHING ZAHRA SAYS after she finds Henry in the literal closet

You could feel the ‘Zahra does not appreciate being told to chill’ radiating off of her Sarah Shahi you absolute genius

Their faces when ‘oh and I told my sister!’ :D ‘Oh I didn’t know that!’ :D ‘Yeah she was really happy for us’ ‘I can’t wait to see her again she’s real-‘ “OKAY SHUT UP THE BOTH OF YOU” lol Zahra is going THROUGH it

‘Would it make any difference if I told you not to see him again?’ ‘No.’ he said that so fast I’m gonna cry

Zahra calling Henry Little Lord Fuckleroy

Ellen at least mentioning the powerpoint even though they didn’t show it

Ellen giving alex the Queer Talk™

On that note ‘the B isn’t silent’ making it in there is so important to me as a bi person

Alex reading One Last Stop

I am NOT singing karao-

Cut to henry singing karaoke

HE DID IT HE SANG DON’T STOP ME NOW and he’s all smiley and real and open and Alex noticing it and falling more in love by the second

On that note Taylor Zakhar Perez your face sir

The lake scene (SECOND BICEP KISS HOLLAA)

On the deck when Henry is slowly realizing what Alex is trying to say (aka ‘I love you) and nick’s face just goes so desperately soft as he starts to understand that this means he’ll have to leave Alex and then his face just slowly closes off like NICK GALITZINEs FACE ACTING don’t talk to meee

That little moment afterwards that Henry spends underwater with his hand on his heart just…ACHING. Ugh someone kill me

Henry is my absolute baby can you tell

David first appearing. A real ‘and everyone cheered’ moment even though the scene is heartbreaking

‘Do you love him?’ ‘What difference would it make if I did?’ and then that sad barely there smile *insert captain Holt ‘PAAAIIINNNNN’ gif here*

“I stormed a fucking castle to look you in the eye and tell you that I love you, knowing that you wouldn’t say it back. So no, Henry, in fact, this is costing me everything.” LORD

”I can love you and want you and still not want that life. I’m allowed, all right? And it doesn’t make me a liar. It makes me a man with some infinitesimal shred of self-preservation, and you don’t get to come here and call me a coward for it” is one of my favourite passages in the book and I am so fucking happy they kept it. Nick slayed that scene

In fact their acting in that whole sequence was amazing

“tell me to go” NOOOO I love that they kept it but it’s so sadddd

The fact that they actually filmed in the V&A

Henry mentioning dreaming of dancing there with a person he loved and Alex wasting zero time putting on a song (cry emoji)

Henry giving Alex his signet ring like in the book, but then them adding that Alex gives Henry his key in return I AM UNWELL

That little montage of cute intimate moments between A&H during Alex’ speech

YAYYYY they kept the Zahra and Shaan subplot

“Yeah I thought you might see it our way, I’ll hold” QUEEN ZAHRA

BABY

BABY

BABY

BABYYY

And then Henry’s little breathless ‘Alex?’ STOPPPP

I’m serious baby making it into the film had me WEAK I had to pause for a full 30 seconds to scream into my pillow

Running towards each other on the stairs :’)

PLAYING PIANO TOGETHER AAAAAA

“I’m white and upper class so my affection comes with strings” lol at least he's self aware

The hand holding during the meeting with he king

“I love you”  “I love you more “  “I think that’s up for debate”

Henry wearing the tie with the yellow roses of Texas :’)

In conclusion was the movie perfect? No! did I still love it? Yes!

[artknifeandglue]

kingsman x rwrb

for @caulfixld, who had the brilliant idea of combining two lovely movies into one crossover that I will now be thinking about until I die.

Eggsy’s probably met royalty a couple of times in his life, only one of which he actually remembers. The one he remembers is Tilde, who’s still a mate and sends him hilarious commentary on her life every now and then. There are a few others, several of which Eggsy only learns much later are royalty and two he recognises but doesn’t get much chance to talk to. Kind of difficult, really, what with the business of Merlin freeing everyone from Valentine’s bunker and accidentally relegating Eggsy to traffic marshal duty for a panicked crowd of celebrities, CEOs, and political leaders from all over the world. The universal gesture for that way is good enough for the most part, and he manages to delegate the task of shepherding the crowd to a few others while he takes up position at the edge of the prison block with Merlin’s voice in his ear detailing the number of cells cleared and the number of people still to go. It’s at least reassuring that the number is going down pretty quickly, even if every single person has to step over headless bodies and assorted muck on their way to the hangar where the rescue planes await.

It is precisely at this spot that Eggsy hears footsteps thundering down the corridor towards him, and his gun is already in his hand before he realises that the man sprinting towards him isn’t armed. More importantly, he realises, pointing a gun at this man might actually constitute treason, and so he hastily stows it away as Henry Fox Mountchristen-Windsor stumbles to a halt in front of him. “Your Highness.”

Whether he’s breached any etiquette rules or not, Eggsy doesn’t know, but the prince doesn’t seem to care. “Have you seen my sister?” he asks, eyes wide and darting around the stragglers in the corridor. “I can’t find her anywhere!”

“Uh, yeah, she went that way—” He doesn’t get to finish the sentence. Henry has already taken off in the direction of the hangar, and Eggsy lowers his hand as Henry disappears around the corner.

“Remind me,” Merlin says into Eggsy’s ear, “to teach you how you’re supposed to greet dignitaries.”

“Shut it, Merlin. That was Prince Henry, though, wasn’t it? Like our Prince Henry?” A helpful little diagram pops up on the visual feed, and Eggsy rolls his eyes. “Okay, okay, I get it. Get off my back.”  

[onthewaytosomewhere]

Some Sentences Written on a Sunday

So it's not six or seven sentences but i think like 10 but it's from something RWRB I recently started working on between some non-fandom writing so we'll see how long it takes to get it done

------------

Later that day, Henry lay on his bed once again bemoaning the way the universe just wanted to fuck him over, when Pez interrupted him.

“Did you ever think that maybe the universe isn’t so much attempting to fuck you over as it’s telling you to get fucked, in the take that boy to bed and never let him leave way?”

Henry rolled over to look at the person who, other than his sister, Bea, was really his dearest friend and rolled his eyes in the most exaggerated fashion he could. “We have established multiple times the likelihood of this happening-“

“You mean you have denied over and over that you want it to happen so you don’t have to think about the possibility that it could. I’m not sure how many times that boy has to pull your pigtails before one or both of you realizes he really wants you to dick him down so hard he sees stars. Or him dick you down so that you can see stars, I’m not sure either of you would really be super partial to who does the dicking.” Pez had made this argument or some variation of it more times than either of them could remember.

“While I would love to join all of you who are delusional enough to think that Alex is into me, how do you really think he wouldn’t know. It’s not as if the fact that I have been half in love with him for longer than I care to think about is exactly subtle, hell most people have been able to clock it within under 10 minutes of us being in the same room. So just this one time can you just agree with me that the universe is working against me, especially if it keeps making me fall ever more for a man who if he is not straight - because let’s not forget he has never dated anyone not of the female persuasion – is the most oblivious person this side of the Atlantic.” Henry’s hands raked through his hair in frustration, he really needed to find a way to harness his frustration in a way that wouldn’t end up causing him to pre-maturely bald.

[spectres-fulcrum]

Wilhelm and Shinobu Takatsuki as weird emotionally validating mirrors

Other than Prince Henry of Wales and Alex, FSOTUS from RWRB (Which is duh cause he's probably distant cousins with Henry cause European royalty is like that) the other rich guy teen queer I need Wilhelm to meet is Shinobu Takatsuki from Junjou Romantica(Which is a problematic af series do not read it but despite everything the Terrorist pairing salvages the best love story because they communicate their fears and their love but when it's 2015 and you google gay animes that was the highest recced and not warned about and I feel like I just aged myself). Their stories are wildly differently but I feel like they'd validate each other's terrible and anxious teenage years and emotions and also... Living a mindless life and being expected to continue that but finding the one person that brings you to life and although you shouldn't, you need it.

And they both know what it's like to find it, and to have the cruelest twist of fate turn it into an anxious thing. But to fight for it.

I feel like Wilhelm would hear about Shinobu's quote that is summed up to 'I'm super smart and sporty without effort, from a rich family, have no ambition, I figured I could attend uni, get a job, and get married and live a mindless life but I found the one thing that brings me joy and that's you! Is that so bad!' And be like I'm in this picture and I don't like it. He REALLY doesn't like it.

(Also Shinobu bby, yes, it's "so bad" because A. You are 17 talking to your sister's 35yo EX husband he cannot give into you and B. You were 13/14 when you met him. 14. And you had accepted you would never truly feel anything in life and that is HEARTBREAKING. Like it's Japan so of course it never flagged anything but that quote always tugs on my heartstrings so badly. Because he had written off the idea of love. And once he fell he would cross any line for it. And he tried to shut. It. Off. )

And that's Wilhelm. A prince. Good universities. An acceptable dating pool of ladies. Nothing that made him feel anything. And then Simon. And he even says it. He almost wishes he never felt those emotions cause once he had it he couldn't live without them. And he's willing to consider throwing it all away to keep Simon.

And they both TRIED. Wilhelm tried to let Simon move on-he did. He kissed Felice hoping to feel anything. Shinobu transferred to a school in Australia. Isolating himself from his family, his friends, his language, his culture. We don't know much about those years but I imagine he ran but anxiety and depression followed(You will pry the headcanon of Shinobu's rich brat persona hiding his depression and manifesting as a desprete attempt to get the only thing he truly wants: The only person he will ever love out of my cold dead hands)

I imagine he was very alone. Because he remembered the guy he stole glances at in the library, the guy, out of the millions of people, saved him from being mugged. The guy, who, ended up being his sister's husband to be in a marriage of conveiance. And that was their first official meeting.

So anyone would tell him, he's Risako's husband. How could he be crushing on Risako's husband. But he was the nameless man in the library first. He was Shinobu's before he was Risako's. So he never tells anyone, he just runs.

And anytime Wilhelm cries out, he gets shut down, because he has responsibilies and has to mature and live up to Erik's impossibly high shadow and this isn't a punishment but he never asked for it. He never asked for any of it. He just wants to be a boy who loves a boy. Just like Shinobu wanted that nameless library man.

And they both go crazy in love. Wilhelm announced to the world that that was him in the video without any warning the palace. Shinobu, upon his sister's divorce, suddenly transferred home to pursue her now ex husband. Wilhelm can still step down.

I can see them laughing and looking back at being teenagers in love with that recklessness of being 16 and 17, going "Did we actually do that? And that actually worked?" And it did. (I mean-we don't know about Wilmon but we know Wilmon will end up together). But also talking about anxiety and trying to move on and failing and breaking down in bedrooms that weren't home but was more of a home that their parent's home.

I can't wait to see Wilhelm and Simon as happy as Shinobu and Miyagi are in current manga.

I just need Shinobu and Wilhelm to be weird mirrors but validating mirrors in isolating times. Idk if I can get timelines to work or reasons why a Swedish prince would meet the son of a Japanese professor(although I always liked the idea that Shinobu's maternal grandmother was European, thus the blonde hair. I always went French but could go old money Swedish...?)

[welcometololaland]

Five things I never get tired of writing

Rules: List five things you never get tired of writing. It can be tropes, themes, characters, phrases, whatever brings you joy. Then tag five people!

Thank you @strandnreyes @paper-storm and @beautifulhigh for the tags ❤️ I loved your thoughts on these.

1. anything that is so silly it borders on too much - see: the emails in Luck of the Draw, Maureen in the Tennis AU, Hunter and the appropriate workplace relations seminar in Speak for Yourself, Janet in The Ring-In. I love writing dumb, idiotic situations for the sole purpose of making people laugh. My new AU is basically 100% this and I'm so keen to return to my roots (I've already started it).

2. dialogue. lots of it. characters sorting out their feelings through meaningful conversations (or just AGCD being an oblivious bisexual disaster).

3. changing my entire plotlines to avoid writing Henry in all rwrb fic (scary). creating truly unhinged OCs (particularly with friends).

4. TK Strand in every universe working through his feelings. TK is such a beautifully layered character and I love his development in Lone Star. AGCD might be my comfort character, but there's so much you can do with TK and I'm weak for him.

5. platonic relationships. One of my favourite dynamics of all time to write was June and Alex in Speak for Yourself! Getting into that loving brother and sister vibe was such a highlight (see also: June and Nora teasing Alex at every opportunity in SFY). I want to write more Judd & TK, Marjan & literally everyone, Carlos & Paul, Pez & Henry, Bea & Henry (unsure how without writing henry but stay tuned). Ofc my romantic pairings have my heart but there's something about building the non-romantic relationship dynamics that adds so much to a fic imo.

I'm sorry if y'all have been tagged but I wanna hear it from @sarcasticslothy @noxsoulmate @clottedcreamfudge @tailoredshirt @stutteringpeach

[littlekingbergara]

2, 15 and 19 for the book asks?

2. top 5 books of all time?

answered in more detail here!

red white and royal blue by casey mcquiston, aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe by benjamin alire sáenz, the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid, they can't kill us until they kill us by hanif abdurraqib, assata: an autobiography by assata shakur.

15. recommend and review a book.

everyone is tired of me talking about rwrb but. when i find a better book i'll stop! i Love this book i read it for comfort and i think about it when i'm sad like it genuinely is so comforting and nice.

if somehow you don't know it's about the son of the first woman president of the united states (alex) falling in love with the prince of england (henry) while they're supposed to be pretending to be friends in order to avoid an International Incident. and it's an election year so alex's mom, The President, is under extreme pressure to Not have an International Incident. enemies to lovers if that's your vibe.

the writing is beautiful. the emails they send to each other are so sweet (and... well a little spicy tbh 🥵) and you can feel ALL of the emotions and it's so VISUAL in a way that's not like. overly descriptive. u know in a way that's annoying? yeah it's not that.

and all of the relationships between the characters are so well done too it's not Only focused on alex and henry. you can feel the love between alex and his sister june and their best friend nora, you know the dynamic of alex's family and of henry's family, so it feels fully fleshed out. i know i'm just describing like. good writing. but i really don't think it's lacking in Anything.

19. most disliked popular books?

this one's kinda hard because if i don't think i'll like something i just don't read it... like why waste my time on a bad book.

i didn't like every day by david levithan. i remember it was pretty popular when i was in high school and i tried to read it but just couldn't vibe with the writing style i think. do i even have to say harry potter? i'm sure it's for some people but it was never for me.

i'd say the hunger games series but i think if i gave it another try without the influence of the movies or the insane hype literally everywhere i look i think i'd like it.

send me book asks!

[hms-chill]

Hii! I see you've read RWRB (which means you obviously have impeccable taste) and was wondering if you could recommend any more LGBTQ+ books? Thank you!!

OH MY GOD I HAVE SO MANY!! It really depends on what genre you’re interested in and what you like; I’ll sort of try to break it down that way (and not just rec every gay book I’ve ever read lmao)

General fiction:

 Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz is about two Mexican boys growing up in El Paso in the late 1980s and the writing style is absolutely incredible. It was the first Gay Book(tm) I remember and I spent months of 2012-2013 trying to find a copy and it was 100% worth it.

Simon Vs. the Homo Sapien Agenda by Becky Albertalli. We know it, we love it, I wanted to include it anyway.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee is a historical fiction (leaning on fantasy) romp about a boy in the 18th century going on his grand tour with the best friend he’s in love with; the sequel stars his aro/ace sister. Bi lead, Black gay love interest, and a sequel about the importance of girl friendships.

I’m on page four of Gail Wilhelm’s Torchlight to Valhalla but I love the writing style and the fact that it’s a lesbian book from 1938 that apparently ends happily almost made me cry so there’s that.

anything by Virginia Woolf, but especially Orlando, which is a love letter to her girlfriend.

Soft Place to Fall by Ba Tortuga is a fun gay cowboy romance; it’s dumb and sappy and predictable and fantastic.

Sci-Fi / Fantasy

THIS IS WHERE I THRIVE this is my wheelhouse so sorry if I get carried away lol

anything by Sarah Gailey. Their Upright Women Wanted is about queer librarian spies in a futuristic wild west. The American Hippo series (River of Teeth and Taste of Marrow) is about queer hippo wranglers in an alternate 19th century. Magic for Liars is a murder mystery set in a magic school, perfect if you’re trying to ditch She Who Must Not Be Named but still want your fun magic school itch scratched.

Nottingham by Anna Burke is a lesbian retelling of Robin Hood; I’m still working through it but I’m pretty sure all the merry men are queer women and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas is absolutely fantastic; it’s got an entirely Latinx cast with a trans lead and a ghost love interest; 15/10 almost made me cry.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo has that casual queer rep that I absolutely adore. Like yeah sometimes you need a book about Being Queer but sometimes you also need a heist where the badass gunslinger casually goes “oh yeah not just girls” and steals a tank, you know?

This is very I’m A Child Of The Late 90s/ Early 2000s but Tamora Pierce was huge for me growing up. She clearly stuffed as many queer characters into her world as publishers would let her, and recently she’s confirmed fan theories about even more queerness (ace/aro characters, trans readings, etc) in her work.

Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness was published in 1969 and treats gender as a fluid thing; I haven’t read it yet but it’s on my bedside table and I’m very excited to get to it.

Poetry

all of it straight people don’t get poems

Badger Clark was a gay cowboy poet; I love his stuff so much. “The Westerner” made me absolutely feral and “Others” gutted me.

Wilfred Owen is best known for his work about WWI, but “Maundy Thursday” and “How Do I Love Thee” are absolutely incredible.

Whitman wrote poems about being gay and was one of the more iconic queer voices of the 19th century, at least in literary circles.

Byron was an icon and also incredibly queer.

Sappho is the iconic one; Anne Carson’s translation of her work (If Not, Winter) is fantastic and the one I’d personally recommend.

Classics

If you’re down to read between the lines do I have some books for you

Stoker was gay (and wrote thirsty letters to Whitman), and no one can convince me that Dracula is a straight book. Arthur and Quincey were dating thank you for coming to my TEDx talk.

The Iliad is long and complex but also Achilles and Patroclus wanted their ashes mixed when they died (fellas...)

anything by Wilde but especially A Portrait of Dorian Gray.

Les Miserables has a character who “admired, loved, and venerated” another man, and who “took great care not to believe in anything” but said other man (fellas...). There’s also an entire page about how the lead has never felt any form of love other than familial (fellas... is it aro to spend a whole page talking about how you’ve never loved anyone).

I haven’t read Moby Dick but I know there’s like three pages about how much the narrator loves his crewmate (fellas...)

Nonfiction

A lot of people are scared of nonfic but I’m gonna let you in on a secret: you don’t have to read the whole book. Pick and choose chapters that interest you, put it down for a year, whatever. Nonfic’ll be there for you.

Portrait of a Marriage by Nigel Nicolson is a look into his parents’ open relationship and his mother’s relationship with Virginia Woolf; it’s a gorgeous exploration of the various ways that love and marriage can be flexible and it changed how I look at relationships.

A Queer History of the United States by Michael Bronski is a good intro to queer history.

We Are Everywhere by Matthew Riemer and Leighton Brown is a great look at the Stonewall Era and the time after especially, and it’s full of incredible pictures. They also run @/lgbt_history on insta and 10/10 for that.

Love and Resistance: Out of the Closet and Into the Stonewall Era by Jason Baumann is fantastic too; it’s got pictures and short descriptions of what’s happening in them. Maybe not a first place, but if you know the general scope of the queer rights movement it’s a fantastic thing (or if you don’t and you’re ready to google lmao).

My Dear Boy or anything else by Rictor Norton is incredible. My Dear Boy is a collection of gay love letters; he’s also got books on queer culture in 18th century London and queering the Gothic. You can find a lot of his stuff online here and My Dear Boy specifically here.

If you want more/ something more specific, don’t hesitate!! I work in a library and I’m always finding new gay stuff and I love it.

[henry-fox-mountchristen-windsor]

so you read Red White and Royal Blue and want to know what to read next:

I am a big reader. So when I read rwrb and fell in love I was struggling with reading anything else afterward because of how i fucking love every single moment of that book. I'm assuming y’all have the same feelings or are interested in getting into more books (or both!) so (tldr) here are some books!

So you have fallen in love with royalty:

The Captive Prince series by cs pacat! Um fair warning it seems like total pwp, but I promise it is so much more! It’s a really great queer political drama.

The Royal We by Heather Cox and Jessica Morgan! This is another royal rom-com with a relationship that is based on Kate Middleton and William. Casey read it and it inspired rwrb.

Her Royal Highness. A YA novel set at a Scottish boarding school. Another great queer love story with some quality modern royalty.

Some other bi-disasters:

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. Another YA book. Kinda like if drarry was canon but also totally different. I’d also recommending reading fangirl, very different book but one of my favorites!

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee. Don’t let the summary of this book fool you. This is one of my all-time favorites. Ahhh so complex, just so good. Also, there is a sequel starring felicity who is the main character's sister!

Other great LGBTQ books:

Check, Please! By Ngozi. A webcomic so it’s free online too. I am obsessed and the fandom is pretty lively. Also hockey. H O C K E Y

Heartstopper by Alice Osmond. Once again another webcomic so free online. It’s so cute BUT also goes pretty deep into some topics, also has a coming out story too.

Bloom by Kevin Panetta. This book gave me so many emotions. Also, it’s a graphic novel

I wish you all the best by Mason Deaver. Casey and Mason are friends which is super cool too. This book focuses on a non-binary teen and their coming out story. It was so emotional and pretty draining but such an amazing read.

Tell Me How You Really Feel by Aminah Mae Safi. The most recent book I read, it’s a story about culture, film, and it’s good and gay.

There Goes Sunday School by Alexander C. Eberhart. I read this a year ago but I had a really hard time getting over it. Man, it was so good and it really deserves more love.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. This book is a total classic and a must-read in YA. SUPER WELL WRITTEN.

Politics:

Not going to Lie, I haven’t read that many political books. But I can recommend a couple of tv shows!

The West Wing. This is one of my favorites if not my legit favorite tv show. It is so good and it just makes you fall in love with the White House. Also, June’s name was inspired by CJ Cregg who is the press secretary.

Parks and Rec. You maybe like what the heck is this doing here but man this show is legit.

Books from others!

We contain multitudes by Sarah Henstra

All books by Becky Albertali (I’ve read love Simon but no others)

A few other people gave me some book recs and I can’t find them :( so sorry y’all. Feel free to add on anything that you feel like i missed. I’ll will def be adding stuff on as I remember more.

[itwouldbeajoytobringyoutea]

Zukka RWRB AU

Alright y’all, it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. (This means literally only @firebenderlesbian and @beemami.) While watching ATLA for the first time not long after reading Red, White, and Royal Blue — I want to say, oh — six times, I had a galaxy-brain moment and thus, this AU was born.

Basic character breakdown...

Zuko = Henry

Sokka = Alex

Katara = June

Suki = Nora

Toph = Bea

Aang = Pez

Azula = Philip (lol)

Ozai = Queen Mary

Ursa = Arthur

Hakoda = Ellen

The real shit...

Zuko is the crown prince of the Fire Nation, and has grown up around his shitty father, Fire Lord Ozai, his younger sister, Azula, his best friend / fellow royal person, Toph, and his other best friend / random diplomatic tie, Aang. (How does the Avatar becomes friends with Zuko? Why isn’t he killed by the Fire Nation? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )  He’s known he’s gay forever, but his father and sister have tacitly kept him in the closet. 

Sokka, big-shot-but-not-technically-royal of the Southern Water Tribe has two friends: his sister, and his ex-girlfriend. (Do not ask me Sokka and Suki met!) 

Zuko and Sokka meet when they’re, like, 18 at some diplomacy thing. Zuko instantly falls in love, while Sokka instantly fall in hate (because Zuko says something petty and Sokka is a dramatic bitch). Cue three-ish years of one-sided pining and one-sided hatred. 

Then there’s a Big Thing hosted by the Fire Nation (Azula’s wedding?? Who would marry Azula, though, let’s be real.) that Sokka, Katara, and Suki all attend. Bullshit ensues, Sokka accidentally causes a scene, and Hakoda is pissed. So, he sends Sokka back to the Fire Nation to patch up appearances with Zuko / the Fire Nation / Ozai (whomst we do not yet know is a Motherfucker™). They spend some time together and actually talk, and Sokka realizes that Zuko isn’t, you know, a stuck-up product of inbreeding who probably jerks off to photos of himself. (Woof.)  Zuko suffers the whole time because like Sokka is hot? And funny? And smart? And talking to him??? Of course, Zuko is desperately awkward.

Once Sokka goes back to the Southern Water Tribe, they start writing to each other to keep up the ruse (nothing incriminating in these letters, oh no, not yet). 

After months of long-distance flirting, Zuko visits the Southern Water Tribe for an Event and kisses Sokka before fleeing and ghosting him.

Cue Sokka’s bi panic. He always thought he was straight? Like he loved being with Suki? But Zuko? Kissed him? Basically this super bi-acting character has his bi-awakening to the surprise of absolutely no one. Suki is there to tell him he’s fucking bi guide him through it all. “Still waters, deep dicking.” is obviously still a line.

Zuko comes back to the Southern Water Tribe for an Event, Sokka confronts him, they make out, they bang it out, etc. 

Zuko and Sokka start sending letters (coded this time) and meeting up to make out, etc. Sokka is desperately trying to not catch feelings without realizing he is desperately trying to not catch feelings.

Somewhere in all this, Zuko tells Sokka about his whole family’s deal — Ozai being an abusive, awful person, Azula trying to meet Ozai’s expectations and becoming shitty in the process, his mom dying, etc. Sokka wants to kill Ozai with his bare hands.  

Katara confronts Sokka about fucking the crown prince of the Fire Nation, which means that now Katara, Suki, Aang, and Toph know. (Who are Cash, Amy, and Shaan in this AU, you ask? No fucking clue.) 

The Super Six all go out somewhere (maybe in the Earth Nation?) for a night of drinking and debauchery!!! Zuko absolutely does some sexy karaoke. 

(Maybe there’s some drama with Water Tribe politics? IDK, this AU is pretty light on the political part of RWRB.)

Sokka tells his dad about his relationship with Zuko, and Hakoda is happy for him but does nearly herniate himself.

More sexy times, more sexy coded letters.

Zuko visits the Southern Water Tribe, meets Hakoda, and hangs with Katara and Suki. Sokka realizes he’s in love, but Zuko runs away before he can tell him. :(

After being ghosted, Sokka follows Zuko back to the Fire Nation, where he declares his love. “I fucking love you, okay? You don’t make it fucking easy. But I’m in love with you.” still stands. 

Zuko takes Sokka to his favorite place in the Fire Nation (What is this? No idea!), info dumps about his passions, and Sokka falls even more in love with him.

Some level of Zuko and Sokka’s relationship is leaked, leading to Katara to imply that she’s the one dating Zuko. It helps, but it sucks. 

Not long later, their whole relationship is revealed, as their decoded letters show. They both freak the fuck out, but Hakoda supports Sokka and his relationship. Suki figures out that Ozai is the one that decoded and leaked the letters, because he wants to publicly shame/discredit Zuko.

Team Water Tribe heads to the Fire Nation in order to get a meeting with Ozai. Ozai’s plan backfires, because it turns out the world shows overwhelming love and support for Zuko and Sokka. Some kind of hand-waving happens where Aang strips Ozai of his power (and/or kills him, I want Ozai dead) and Azula abdicates (perhaps because she realizes she’s real fucked up and wants nothing to do with the Fire Nation for the rest of her life), so Zuko is now the Fire Lord!

While all this was happening, Katara and Aang start dating, and Suki and Toph either become BFFs or start dating, whatever you prefer.

Zuko and Sokka because the power couple of the Four Nations and everything is good and gay in the world!!!

There’s another version of this AU that aligns much more closely with RWRB, but I love the world building on the Avatar universe so I decided to do it this way instead. 

***

Edit: Y’all, @llamora is writing this AU and I’m helping! She’s posted the first chapter already here. Please read, kudos, comment, and subscribe!

[all-drarry-to-me]

Could you do a queer literatur recommendation post with your experience so far? I would love that! All the best, Emi P.s. I recommend comicwise: Heartstopper (print+tumblr), Always human, Aerial magic (webtoon)

Thank you for the recommendations! I love “Heartstopper” and will definitely check out the others. (:

And yes — I would LOVE to! I feel like most of the ones I've read have been fairly mainstream (and many have come from Tumblr recommendations), but I hope there's a few on my list you haven't heard of:

1. “How to Be a Normal Person” by TJ Klune: This is the first book I read that related to asexuality and it really helped to change my perspective on my own identity. It shows a healthy, beautiful, thriving ace relationship and just healed my heart a little. I fell in love with the setting and with the characters, then the story is so sweet, and honest, and I couldn’t help but fall in love with that, too. It’s focused on two men in the little town of Abby, Oregon  — with an incredible side cast featuring an all-female biker gang trio (maybe sisters, maybe lesbians in a poly relationship), a ferret named after a president and a lot of weed. It’s focused on Gus and his attempt to woo Casey and it’s HILARIOUS. The sequel (”How to Be a Movie Star”) is almost as good — it follows one of the side characters, who’s also ace (but in a different way, showing the spectrum of asexuality). That one features California hipsters, strong male friendships and a mention or two of monster porn. It makes sense in the book, I swear.

2. The Captive Prince trilogy by C.S. Pacat: I fell HARD into this fandom. I binge read the books during a long weekend and was immediately obsessed. The plot is intricate and compelling, and I could write pages about my love for the characters. (Literal pages; I’m not joking.) There’s politics and corruption, betrayal and love; I’ve read all three multiple times now. Do be warned — the books get heavy; there’s war, sexual assault and a host of other things that could potentially be triggering. High-key recommend, but do be cognizant of the subject matter before choosing them. And perhaps don’t read them in public, like I made the mistake of doing.

3. “Radio Silence” by Alice Oseman: A hint of mystery, a relatable struggle of college applications — this book revolves around a podcast inspired by “Welcome to Night Vale” and is a really unique read. It’s been a while since I read it, but I remember really connecting with the characters. Oseman is active here on Tumblr, and as Anon mentioned, does a lovely comic called “Heartstopper.”

4. “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” by Benjamin Alire Sáenz: This one, too, I read in a weekend. It’s as much a queer love story as a coming-of-age novel, focused on two boys in their late teens as they struggle with their identity — in this case, both their sexuality and their race (both are Mexican-American). The story is heart-breaking and beautiful and I absolutely loved it.

5. “Red, White and Royal Blue” by Casey McQuiston: A co-worker of mine read this and told me it was “basically just porn” and that’s NOT at all what it is! It’s so much more than smut, and so much more than a love story. I finished this one like a week ago and I’m still in awe of all the things McQuiston made me feel. By having a female president and a scandal revolving around an email server, it brought back all the feelings I had post-2016 U.S. election. That hurt. More than I thought it would. But it’s also about living life for you and the main character’s bisexuality crisis is one of the most relatable things I’ve ever read. I swear I don’t cry easily — but I definitely cried a few times reading this one.

6. “The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller: Like Captive Prince and RWRB, this is another one I saw raved about on Tumblr — and potentially unpopular opinion here, but it didn’t quite do it for me. It’s still going on the recommendation list because I know so many other people who list this book among their favorites, but it didn’t hit me in the same way. The Greek mythology is definitely interesting and Miller’s an obviously talented writer, but I had a hard time getting into it. Still, worth checking out and deciding for yourself!

7. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky: If you haven’t read it, then read it. This isn’t one that initially comes to mind when thinking about queer literature — for some reason, it exists in a separate space in my brain — but one of the main characters (played by Ezra Miller in the movie version) is gay and there’s a whole conflict about being gay and coming out, which I think is even more well-done in the book. It’s been one of my favorites for YEARS, though this one does have some heavy themes, too, many of which are more of a focus in the book than the queer character and his experiences. High-key recommend this one, too — don’t let the fact that it’s last on the list fool you for a second.

There you have it: Those are my top ones thus far, but I’ll keep y’all updated if anyone’s interested! I just ordered the Foxhole Court trilogy and have a few others on my to-read list . . .

[spaceskam]

Let’s play a game!

Since plague times are here and I’m not working, it seems like a good time to sit down and write a lot! But the thing about that is I have a lot of unfinished works that range from 2 sentences to 3 pages that I would really like to finish and I have nowhere to start. So, let’s play a game! 

I made a list of all of my drafts and their plots and you guys can help me choose where to start! It’s like a prompt list but very specifically tailored to my own bullshit lol So you can just send me an ask that’s like “draft #__” of which you want to see most aaand it’ll make my life easier! 

1. Maria confronting Alex to try and figure out what Michael isn’t telling her

2. Michael gets sick and alien biology makes his surrounding temperature alter to his body temperature 

3. Alex goes to meet his mother for the first time since he was a kid and discovers he has a little sister that his mother had with another man and never told them about.

4. Michael shaves his legs. That’s it. That’s the fic.

5. Alex gets a tiny puppy and Michael is obsessed

6. Teen Michael comes out to Isobel and Max by just openly stating how hot Alex is

7. Alex pressures Michael and Kyle into being friends and now they’re so close that Alex continuously wakes up to Kyle coming into their bed to talk about his girl problems

8. Michael is sick and Alex is babying him by feeding him and Michael is *heart eyes*

9. AU where Alex grew up going to Caulfield and he falls in love with Michael with a giant wall of glass between them

10. Michael seeing that other people are making Alex smile and he doesn’t know how to feel

11. Michael and Alex get so domestic and in such a rut that they have bad sex and Alex is shook

12. Lost Decade, Alex gets Michael a present for his birthday

13. Teenage Michael gets restless at the group home, sneaks out to go the park in the middle of the night and meet broody, emo Alex

14. Michael admitting he likes the casual bits of life with Alex in it

15. Liz and Maria find a very depressed Michael and smother him in hugs

16. Liz and Michael discussing how they’ve started to feel numb 

17. In my Moirai universe, Maria forces Michael and Alex to learn how to do Felicity’s hair

18. Michael is being a piece of shit, so Liz ties him to a chair and forces him to talk about his feelings

19. A follow up to this fic 

20. After years of not speaking, Alex and Michael go to spread Jesse’s ashes together

21. Flirting Art Thieves, same universe as this 

22. Rooftop lunch à la High School Musical 3

23. Liz and Max cuddling

24. It Only Takes a Taste universe: Alex forces him to watch Star Wars

25. Alex is an alien hunter and seduces Michael to capture him but turns out he actually likes him oops

26. Alex secludes himself in the woods because he dislikes people and finds a wounded werewolf who he gives shelter

27. Michael is the prince of Antar, Alex is the prince of Earth, and they’ve been secretly hooking up whenever they can (sci-fi RWRB)

28. Michael gets a little aggressive when he talks and Alex flinches

29. Michael gets shot

30. Fix-it of 1x05 (i know this sounds like i started it a year ago. I did not. I saw a giftset and started it approximately 2 weeks ago.)

31. Alex dies while investigating a different prison and Michael loses it

32. Michael sees Alex with another guy and has no idea how to handle it 

33. Michael has to get married on Antar and he asks Alex to be his best man. You know, like an asshole

34. Alex is dying and refuses to talk to anyone because he’d rather them die thinking he hates them than let them try to save him

35. touch me (just try it) universe: Alex decides to make his move and invites Michael over

36. Michael wakes Alex up to ask if he still likes him

37. Michael asks Alex on a date but Alex doesn’t realize it’s a date and brings Kyle

38. Alex gets extremely overwhelmed by the chaos in Michael’s head

39. Lost Decade, Michael decorates the airstream for Christmas even though it’s July because he doesn’t like not spending Christmas with Alex

40. Michael has his bisexual awakening a little earlier because he accidentally kisses Alex on the cheek 

41. Alex does Michael’s makeup

42. Alex goes to the UFO museum for the first time since it reopened

43. Michael and Kyle having sleepovers throughout their teenage years

44. Michael gets “possessed” by a past version of himself

45. Isobel goes to Alex for advice about Maria

46. Maria is the big spoon, Michael is the little spoon

47. The Manes hunt aliens to signify them becoming a man. Alex’s target is Michael.

This… is not a complete list. But these are things I think I can finish 😂 So, please! Tell me what you want to see!