#it blows rwrb out of the water

[eon-become-instant]

I really wish Fellow Travelers (a show centred around a romance between two men who are both played by gay actors, with a production crew composed of primarily queer artists, based on a book written by a gay author and which gives much insight into the lives of queer people during key moments in queer history/politics) was getting a similar amount of buzz as Red, White and Royal Blue.

But nope, y'all are sleeping on this series so hard and it's a real shame.

#fellow travelers #red white and royal blue #rwrb #everyone was saying rwrb should have been a series #and yet everyone is ignoring FT #an actual queer series with queer leads played by queer actors and a b plot romance between queer black men #the acting is fucking incredible in this show guys #and the chemistry?? #it blows rwrb out of the water #and i thought rwrb had decent chemistry #but jonathan bailey and matt bomer are on a whole other level #anyway #watch fellow travelers #at LEAST try it #please

[zalrb]

As someone who read the RWRB book, I was disappointed in the film. Because yeah a lot of the book's sex scenes are vague and fade to black, but the film made everything between Henry and Alex really serious. Like, the whole Tack Room scene after the polo match? That was one of my favourite parts of the book! Because it's so lighthearted and fun, and not just jumping straight into the sex. Because Alex is still in his "love-hate" phase with Henry at that time and is like "You look so ridiculous in your polo uniform, and it makes me so mad that I'm attracted to you right now. I going to blow you right here, right now!" Like, that fun was just lost in the film. The love-hate thing they had going on was still a thing during the Polo Match, I don't know why they dulled it down. Because the book had it's serious moments, but it had the lighthearted moments to go along with it so it wasn't just "passionately serious" all the time.

Also, the underlying political plot made sense and I felt its presence lost in the film. It was very obvious that Casey was inspired by The West Wing, especially when they had Alex and Nora watch it in a hotel room in the first chapter. Stuff like the Turkies comes from The West Wing. And Richards (the Republican candidate) was an actual threat, that was looming in the background until the team had no choice but to take him seriously (a metaphor for SOMEONE, I'm sure)! Why they replaced him with the journalist ex-lover being the main bad guy I have no idea!

The movie had such a strong start, and by the time they got to Paris, with barely an acknowledgement of Richards (in the book he is a vile human being), and the lack of the whole excuse Henry and Alex had for meeting up in Europe was for political climate events, I was like "Okay... this is not the story. This is a very watered down adaptation that has taken a lot of the drama out." It feels like they chose to focus more on the romance than anything else, but they forget that this is a rivals to friends to lovers romance.

Like, I'm not going to say that the book is iconic literature or the best thing ever written (this was Casey's debut novel), it's easily one of my personal favourite romance books but I can understand that it might not be for everyone. But I found myself wanting a lot more from the movie, whereas I was very satisfied with the book when I finished it.

Yeah, even in the movie I could spot the TWW influences. I don't know, in my actual review/live blogging of my thoughts of the movie

I talk about it, but I think it's very clear that it's supposed to be fun and lighthearted but they don't have the chemistry necessary for it to work so it falls flat and becomes awkward and the dialogue was anyway. It tried too hard and I wonder if the serious moments are jumping out the most for you because the dude who plays Henry was carrying the movie on his back and he was good in the serious scenes, they're the only ones that appear somewhat genuine and it's all because of him.

And if you want to focus on the romance and not the what I would imagine to be political idealism of the books (particularly if the author was influenced by TWW) despite centring two political figures/figureheads then the least you could do is get scene partners with chemistry lmao.

[hms-chill]

prompt for rwrb! established relationship + hogwarts au where henry is a quidditch captain and alex is the commentator for the game :)

Hello! I’m so sorry this took ages, but I’m (hopefully) back to writing things! Life was hectic for a bit there!

Also, I’m really sorry, but I’m not totally comfortable writing a Hogwarts AU. I haven’t read the books, and I worry that I would unknowingly perpetuate Rowling’s problematic views. This isn’t to say there aren’t good Hogwarts AUs (there are, I’ve read them and they’re great!), only that I am unfortunately not the person to write them. So, instead, here’s a high school baseball AU that hopefully gets to the heart of what you were hoping for!

“You’re a Catch(er)”

“It’s a fine afternoon out on the baseball fields today, folks, sunny and hot but that’s just what we’d expect. And while the rest of us are trying to cool down, our varsity Trojan baseball team is warming up on the field. I’m Alex C-D, and I’ll be bringing you all the most important info during this game, along with my good pal Nora H. The district insisted she join me in the box today, since apparently, I need, quote unquote, ‘supervision’ to keep me from getting, quote unquote, ‘distracted’.”

“I’m here to keep him from spending too much time talking about his boyfriend,” Nora says, leaning into her mic and rolling her eyes. 

“Which is unfair, really, because I spend the perfect amount of time talking about everyone. It’s not my fault that a certain gorgeous, kind, talented, sexy catcher just so happens to be involved in every play. It’s not my fault that he spends so much time squatting, and we get a great view of his--”

Nora presses a button to take them off the air, and the radio broadcast goes to a commercial while music plays over the stands. Alex grins at her and leans back in his chair, stretching a bit and glancing out over the crowd. He’s just out of reach of the rolled up scorebook she’s trying to hit him with, and they both know it. 

It’s not a bad turnout today, despite the heat. Alex sees his sister, June, and Henry’s sister Bea in the crowd. He waves, but he’s looking past them and out to the field itself before he can really stop himself. Almost automatically, he finds himself looking for sandy hair, and he’s got a wink and a wave for his boyfriend. Henry waves back, rolling his eyes a bit as Alex grins. 

Their ad break ends, and Nora starts to read off different players’ stats. Alex keeps quite until she gets to Henry, and just before she moves on from him, Alex ads, “He’s also got the highest number of announcer boyfriends on the team, that’s right folks. Henry Fox, the most beautiful man alive, number four on the field but number one in my heart.”

Nora ignores him, but he knows how this goes. She’ll be professional and serious the first few innings, after which she’ll realize that there are times when baseball is, quite possibly, the most boring sport in existence. She’ll be down to his level of shenanigans by the fourth inning at the latest. 

The first inning is slow. Alex gets in a good “Who’s on First?” reference while Nora’s introducing the team, but it drags, and he can tell she’s getting just as bored as he is, even with her spreadsheets and scorecards to keep her company. So, when the they finally get their third out and while the visitors are warming up, Alex says, “Tell y’all what. We’re off to a bit of a slow start today; send us your best jokes. Tweet ‘em, message us on something, send carrier pigeons if you have one. We’ll read some on air between innings, and if anyone makes Nora spit out a mouthful of water I’ll buy you a candy bar or something. Now we’re up for the bottom of the first, score is 2-0 Lightning, but that’s just because our Trojans haven’t had a go yet. First up is Basil Watton, with a batting average that Nora’s about to tell you, because I just dropped math.” 

“It’s 0.28; I can read numbers. First pitch is a strike, and on the second, he’s connected! That’ll be a single for Watton, folks! Now we’ve got Dorian Hallward, with a batting average of 0.30.” 

“Just remember, folks, Henry Fox is up fifth, so stay tuned. And Pez is seventh, so you’ve got him to look forward to, too.” And so the game goes. Henry gets a double, knocking in two runs, and Alex nearly cheers over the next batter. Pez gets Henry in with a single, and they end the inning 2-4. 

Alex reads off a few baseball jokes that people have tweeted them between innings, making sure Nora’s got a mouthful of water before each one, but none make her spit before they go to a commercial or music break. In the next inning, they get to see Henry throw for an out at second, whipping the baseball over Pez and halfway across the field. Nora cuts the power to Alex’s mic, but he’s cheering so loudly he can still be heard faintly over hers.

Henry gets out his next at bat, but he gets someone in, and that’s enough for Alex. By the third inning, Nora is pretty clearly losing interest in being professional. When Alex slips her a note offering to get them popcorn at the next commercial break, she nods furiously as she reads batting averages. He gets them both bags of popcorn and some m&ms to mix in from the concession stand as soon as he can, and they spend the fourth inning stuffing popcorn and candy into their mouths while the other’s talking. By the end of the inning, they’re trying to catch each other with full mouths, making a game of it along with the baseball they’re reporting on. Still, Alex makes time to let everyone know that, when Henry takes the catcher’s mask off as the teams switch positions, his matted down hair looks very, very sexy.

In the fifth inning, with two outs on the board, Henry steals home for a run that could put them in the lead. His helmet is knocked off as he slides, and Alex leads the crowd in holding their breath as the umpire dusts off the plate, trying to make sure Henry’s touched it. There’s a tense moment, then the umpire’s arms are out to his side, and Alex is cheering over his announcement of “Safe!”. Henry pops up and jogs to get his helmet, blowing a kiss to the press box as he does. Alex makes a sound that is not entirely human as Nora unplugs his mic for the rest of the inning. It’s probably for the best. 

The other team pulls ahead in the sixth, but not by too much. Alex is back by the end of the inning to lead everyone in the classic baseball seventh inning stretch. It’s a tradition he’s brought to school games, and even some of  the team warming up get into it, fitting toe touches and hamstring stretches in between warm up throws. As Henry walks out to squat behind the plate, he does a toe touch. The view from the press box is stunning. 

Alex keeps it together. Mostly. 

Despite their stretching, the seventh inning isn’t great. The other team pulls ahead again, and it drags, a series of foul balls and single hits making an already painful inning worse. Alex tries reading jokes to keep people entertained, but Nora doesn’t laugh hard enough to spit, and the crowd is losing energy. When the teams swap, Alex plays the most exciting song they have while Nora crunches numbers. 

“We can definitely come back, it’s just... the bottom of the lineup’s got to start performing for us.”

Alex nods, glad their mics are off. The break ends, and they’re in the bottom of the seventh, starting near the bottom of their lineup. These hitters are the ones who struggle a bit, who are better for their defence than their offence. The first baseman and shortstop are the seventh and eighth positions, and third base is ninth. But to Alex’s surprise, they all make it on base. It’s with the bases loaded that Basil Watton hits a double, knocking two in and making sure everyone knows they’re still fighting for a win. 

The home team takes the lead in the bottom of the eighth, and they go into the ninth with a one point lead, cautiously hopeful. If they can hold this lead and get three outs, they won’t play the bottom of the ninth, and they’ll have won the game. 

The first out comes from a ball hit straight to Pez, who passes it to first. The runner never stood a chance. 

The bases are loaded when it happens. Two strikes, and Pez pitches. The batter connects just a second too late, just a fraction too low. The ball flies straight up, and the batter takes off running. Henry’s helmet is off, and Alex breaks his trance to lean toward the microphone. 

“And it’s up-- this could be out number two folks, Fox has his helmet off, he’s going for it, we can see his sexy tired concentrating face, and he’s caught it! that’s out number two! And the runner on third is trying to steal. He looked back, but the second base runner is there; he’s got to go. He’s sliding, but Henry’s got his glove down. All eyes on the umpire, and... He is OUT! Ladies and gents, both and neither, that is out number three! That’s game, folks! Whoooo!”

“Stay tuned next for our team interviews, but for now, enjoy this last word from our sponsors.” Nora takes them to a commercial break, and Alex is out the door with their portable mic, running to the field to give Henry a massive hug. They’ll get pizza with the team now, and then Henry will be all his. They’ll get to celebrate an amazing game, and he’ll get to spend time with the star of the show.

Notes:

I’m so sorry this took ages! Life, fam. 

Anyway, some notes on positions:

Henry as catcher, because they’re relatively easy to overlook, but they’re super important to the team and actually call the shots from behind the plate. This seemed like something Henry would really enjoy, since he’s pretty cognitive and a good leader, but he doesn’t love the spotlight.

Pez as pitcher, because he does love the spotlight. The book mentioned that he sort of absorbs attention, which felt right for a pitcher. 

Nora as a scorekeeper, because stats! Our gal loves stats; baseball is perfect for her. It’s like... all stats. 

#rwrb #rwrb fic #red white and royal blue #red white and royal blue fic #henry fox mountchristen windsor x alex claremont diaz #alex claremont diaz #henry fox mountchristen windsor #high school au #red white and royal au #rwrb au