I love this so much! I'm constantly blown away by the incredible talent that exists in this fandom. This is so gorgeous!

When I was younger, I would dream of taking somebody I loved here. And he'd love it as much as I did. And we'd dance right here amidst all these statues. Just a daft pubescent fantasy.

As I go to reblog this, it hit me... I'm reblogging something I wasn't sure we would ever get. A video interview dedicated to the two of them talking about RWRB.

Also these gifs are beautiful.

"[The cake scene] was a whole day of filming." "Nah, dude, it was two days." "Was it two days?" "We were at that location for two days." [x]

If trilogy... could that mean... 1st comes Love, 2nd Comes marriage, 3rd comes a baby in a baby carriage / pram?

All right, all right, I'll get my thoughts out of the heteronormative gutter.

Or... maybe it isn't a gutter, but like... fucking winning.

Damn domestic First Prince thoughts won't leave me in peace.

Love this so much!

WE ARE SO BACK WE ARE SO BACK

It's Real, We Won, We Did This!

Casey, with their cake that has the '2' and their sublime joy, is so fantastic to see. Being an author makes me so happy for other authors living their wildest dreams like this.

via Casey's Instagram post

I was just trying to describe to myself how I'm feeling with more than basic words so that I can learn to articulate my emotions better. It's something I'm not great at because of years of writing my feelings directly into characters who get to deal with them, which may not always be so healthy after all.

My brain tried to equate this to Nov.5th, but I immediately put the breaks on that. Because it's nowhere near the same, though it did make me reflect on the differences.

Another RWRB movie brings about tangible joy without vindication and foolishness as one of my follow-up emotions. I may not have waited 12 years for a beautiful speech that turned out to be just a crumb that would entice me to continue to want to starve for the rest of my life once I saw what else was on the serving platter, but I did wait.

In a way, I waited longer for the first movie and the announcement of this one than I did for November's rain that came too little too late to satiate. This triumph validates and acknowledges that these stories must be told and that it wasn't a shock-value fluke that drew people into the film. It was so much more than that, or there wouldn't be a second one.

We get to have this. Again. We get to have this beautiful story about queers winning! They get to overcome tragedy, circumstances, and fear. They get to be strong, powerful, and outspoken and have a happy ending! We get to have that. We get to have our voices heard and ourselves seen through this. And WE did this one! We made this happen, ya'll. We channeled our powerful voices and were seen and heard. Now, we're going to get to have another movie that shows Alex & Henry, queers in love, being unapologetically queer. I can't believe that we have arrived at a time in cinema/storytelling that this is what we are taking for ourselves. It's been a long, long fight.

I'm so grateful for this fandom, for Casey, Matthew, and everyone who had anything to do with the book and the 1st movie and fought to tell a story that deeply resonates with us.

We won!

Is anyone else just sitting around thinking of all the possibilities of what the sequel will be, but in a deeper way now that we know? Obviously, I think of post-movie all the time, I'm constantly writing or looking to read one version or another of it. They're my favorite RWRB genre of fics. But now, just thinking of it is overwhelming in the best way. This just doesn't feel real. I can't believe that all of us who kept the faith correctly guessed that this is when we would find out, even though it seemed to be a bit of a dream-case scenario. I'm also lost in the idea that we will get so much of Henry and Alex as a couple. Like, that's going to be a thing we'll have. I am still crying about this. For real, I keep getting choked up. Watching this movie at least once a day ever since it first aired, and I'm also realizing as I type that, that one day, I'll have another one to watch, too. Queue the tears again, I can't remember where I was going with that viewing statement now. OMG!

The Sequel Announcement

via Matthew's insta

I'm actually crying with happiness right now.

Probably not gonna survive waiting for the actual panel, which we had better get to see.

Reposting this to add how absolutely Alex's fingers are the hero of this story. Not kidding. He speaks volumes with the tiniest movements of his fingers, he writes to Henry with his fingers, he touches Henry with his fingers and he grips Henry with his fingers, he comforts with them, draws with them, and he loves with them. I think about how Royals aren't to be touched, and how touch starved Henry had to be for something more than Pez/Bea hugs, as wonderful as I'm sure they were. To be known by a touch like Alex's, to know that those touches are for him, just Henry, not for a prince with an NDA (if Movie Henry did that after boarding school), or from women paid to play as a love interest, which had to hurt him. But then he has Alex's fingers touching him, truly discovering another man's body for the first time by touching him. It makes me sob.

Fingers Friday - Paris Week Day 6

The acting that Taylor does here with his hands, particularly the movement of his fingers, it's glorious. He is an amazing actor and he has captured Alex Claremont-Diaz with the same perfect love that Henry captured Alex's heart. Every time I watch this scene, I watch, his posture, how he moves his hands, and the twitching of his fingers. And let's talk about Alex, how fucking relatable (at least to me) his nervousness is, but how he can also be this open, even if it's scary, he goes all in.

RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE (2023) dir. Matthew Lopez

More with his hands, his fingers, and how eventually as he gets out what needs to be said, and Henry's understanding smile is there for him, his fingers unclench and he relaxes, even if he's embarrassed. Henry gets a lot of credit for being brave (I give it to him all the damn time), but this is a lot for Alex. Not only was he just told that he will only get to have Henry momentarily, but then he's being asked to "make love" and he can joke all he wants about it, he is clearly aware that Henry is serious about it, that Henry chose those words and he knows that the positions, what he is outwardly curious and nervous about, is second to the emotions of what "making love" will mean. Alex hasn't ever made love before, he says as much with his reaction, and though he jokes, he never uses a different term, it never becomes anything less, and this reaction he has, the way he moves his fingers around, it's all that intense emotion trying to find a way out as he tries to find a way to say what he means.

Uneasy Lies the Head: Chapter 8

Rating: Explicit Chapters: 8/15

Fandom: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston, Red White & Royal Blue (2023) Rating: Explicit Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox, Shaan/Zahra, Nora/Pez, Martha/Philip Characters: Alex Claremont-Diaz, Henry Fox (and all his movie verse names), and Characters Who Appeared in the Movie (maybe some who didn't). Post Movie: Red White & Royal Blue (2023), Anal Sex, Oral Sex, Kinky sex, Happy Sex, Lots of Sex, A whole lot of Plot, hurt with lots of comfort and support, Angst, Indomitable love, Discussions of Homophobia, Emotional fallout from being outed, detailed discussions of cancer, Discussions of Death, Grief, book and movie combined where possible, Discussions of Depression, References to Drug Use, Post-Movie, Post book-ish, Movie verse, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Post-Canon Summary: After the election, Henry and Alex retreat from the public eye as much as they’re allowed while they deal with the emotional consequences of their forced outing. Amidst the challenges they face because of the Crown’s lackluster public response of support, they try to make plans for the future they want to have while obligations and unexpected events get in the way. They must be one another’s most significant support. At the same time, they navigate through the following years of their lives with new friendships, the stress of familial relationships, and all the changes on the horizon.

Chapter 8

Make You Feel My Love

So here is what I've been doing since I've not had the time / will to write. I meant to post it for the 8th Moviemonthiversary but got distracted. I hope you enjoy.

Happy Birthday Alex Claremont-Diaz

Happy Birthday to my soul character. ACD!

A.K.A. "He is." Alex taught me so much about loving myself just the way I am. Alex is a comfort and friend to me on a daily basis since the first moments I read about his story. There's never been a character to me who feels like they were written to help me navigate through life, quite like ACD and to have him on screen representing me, and so many other people is a dream come true. In a life filled with me always being told or believing that I'm "too much", after finding Alex, I gained a newer understanding of myself and how important it is that I find power from the "too much" and how I can redefine that myself and use it as a stregth and something to be proud of.

Happy Birthday, Alexander Gabriel Claremont-Diaz. My dear Alex who has shown me freedom isn't just a length of rope, but that it's a rope attached to our chests pulling us toward the people who we can be courageous enough to love and find freedom with. To Alex, who helped Henry find his stregth and who had his arms open wide to comfort and love him the way he desperately needed. To Alex, who gave two of the most beautiful speeches I have ever read/heard, that were life changing and are words that I think about daily. I love you, Alex. You are brave, kind and so true to yourself. And I know you're spending your day being loved on by Henry, and by having some fun with your friends too, just like this.

Sometimes, I think about every detail of this 39 seconds for 39 minutes. And then watch it and do it all over again. The way Alex sounds when he says, "Baby", the way Henry stutters out his surprise/relieved "Alex", how Henry's face goes through so many expressions from the moment he takes that phone to the moment he settles in Alex’s arms. I am so amazed at how much of their relationship was coveyed in this 39 seconds of screen time. Countless chapters of them being so strongly in love were somehow beautifully expressed in these short moments. I love them. I love Red, White & Royal Blue and I feel like I can never get enough of it. I will always feel more each time I read or watch it. I will notice things differently and deeper. I'm so glad that Henry and Alex had someone to open their arms and run to, that of all the people on the planet, they got to meet and be the love of one another’s lives.

Sometimes I'm amazed that this exists. And grateful Matthew waited until he found the right Alex in Taylor, for Nick's Henry, because I cannot imagine we would have anything close to this without them.

How I hope he's spending some of his birthday.

Happy Birthday Henry Pt 3

(tumblr making me make 3 separate posts and my gifs aren't that big of files?)

You won, Henry! You won it all!

Happy Birthday Henry pt 2

No daft fantasies on your bday, Henry!