#rmd answers

[rmd-writes]

hello rmd!! as i was rereading what like it's hard for the nth time, i just realized that they never said i love yous in real time (does that make sense???) or there was never a scene where they said their first i love yous because it was 12 mos later when it was on writing (which is perfect) so i wanted to ask if you have any ideas or scenarios or hcs in which they said if first??? like idk from your drafts or something?? obvs cannot get enough of this au!!!

hi nonnie! I saw this ask on the weekend, didn't have time to answer it and then forgot until just now - sorry!

I'm so glad you like this story, it really means so much to me that you've reread it at all, let alone more than once! 💖💖 What you said does make sense and when I was writing it, I wrestled with Alex and Henry not saying their first "I love you" on screen so to speak because I wanted to give them that moment, but I also needed to move the story forward!

I don't have drafts to share because I never actually wrote the scene but I have thought about it and I think that they would have both known that they were in love for some time before they actually say it.

A couple of months after the baseball game, Alex is in the middle of trial prep and working impossibly long hours (more so than usual). Henry hasn't seen him for over a week beyond Alex crawling into his bed at midnight and passing out with his chest pressed to Henry's back, then rolling out of bed again far too early in the morning to go to work. So, in a bid to actually see his boyfriend while he's awake, Henry stops by Alex's office one night with dinner.

Alex is running on more caffeine than is advisable (his usual intake is inadvisable, he's exceeded that. Brianna has refused to bring him more coffee so Alex has resorted to getting the junior staff to do it for him instead, to much disapproval from Bri). When Henry texts him to say he's downstairs with dinner at 8pm Alex realises that he hasn't eaten at all that day except for a shitty muffin that Bri stole from a conference room and just about forced down his throat at 2pm because she was sick of Alex being hangry. He races down to the lobby to see Henry and almost knocks him over because he hugs him so hard. He takes a second just to rest his head on Henry's shoulder and inhale his scent because he fucking misses his boyfriend.

Regretfully, Alex doesn't have time to sit and eat with Henry, if he's going to have any chance of making it home (no, he's not going to think about the fact that he just thought of Henry's apartment as 'home', it's just an expression, don't fucking mention it) while Henry is still awake.

"Fuck, I love you for this," Alex says, kissing Henry lightly on the lips before taking the take out container that Henry offers him and walking away.

He doesn't clock what he's said until he's halfway back to the elevator. He turns around slowly when it hits him and Henry is still standing there, smiling.

Alex walks back to Henry. "So, I said what I said," he says, almost defiantly.

"You did," Henry replies, amusement dancing in his eyes.

"And I fucking meant it." Alex takes a breath. "I love you."

Henry's smile lights up the lobby, hideous fluorescent lights be damned.

"I love you too."

They kiss for far longer and with more passion than is advisable in Alex's workplace but neither of them care.

"Go finish your work," Henry murmurs against Alex's lips.

(Alex makes it back to Henry's apartment at 10.30pm that evening. He tells Henry he loves him with his whole body, writing it into his skin with his words, the press of his lips and the cut of his teeth. Henry says it back over and over and over again, as he presses Alex into the mattress, with the featherlight touch of his fingers and the roll of his hips and his breath warm against Alex's neck as he speaks.)

don't estop me now series (aka rwrb lawyer au - I'm begging you to please read them in the order I've published them in for maximum enjoyment)

[welcometololaland]

Lola, emojis for you pls 🥑🦷🥐🐚

i haven't looked...and yet i feel that there is going to be an attack in here somewhere 👀

🥑 you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

idk, y'all live so far away. i think it would have to be @celeritas2997. she wouldn't like it, but she's going to have to live with it. plus, she'd visit me in prison when i inevitably couldn't deal with the guilt and turned myself in.

🦷 share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on?

if you don't mind travelling in the back of the plane (read: waiting for everyone to de-plane before you) and you're travelling with one other person, make sure you check the seating options at the rear of the aircraft when you select your seats. sometimes in bigger planes (A380s etc) there are options for two seats side by side right down the back. then you don't have to have a random sit with you and you can go to the bathroom guilt free 😌 this hack has made my life so much better on long-haul (read: 10 hour plus) flights.

🥐 name one internet reference that will always make you laugh? 

i have a 'iconic memes' folder on my phone and all of them make me lose my shit. i have a soft spot for those really stupid medieval memes.

🐚 do you like or dislike surprises?

obvious from my anxious girl aesthetic but i HATE surprises. unless someone wants to organise a surprise birthday party for me because i hate organising things for my birthday (which is why i haven't had a birthday thing in like 15 years).

thanks rae!

[writer's ask game]

[firenati0n]

Chef Alex please Roop!

RAE HELLOOOO MY DEAR!! :) <3

eeeeeeeeee chef alex is an au of The Bear but a character study on alex and his motivations and neuroses and what happens when he comes back home to help run his family sandwich shop! i am so so excited it's going to be a lot to chew on for me and a whole new challenge!!!

the angst is family expectations / personal pressure related and it is so fun to explore bc carmy and alex are so similar and i think alex would really end up like carmy if he didn't have the right support system / people around him just based on how he pushes himself / seeks support and validation. it's so interesting to me bc alex and I are so so similar and i relate to carmy so much in so many ways too! can't wait to project heavily on my comfort characters lmfao

my two faves colliding yeehaw!

[SUMMARIZING MY WIPS BADLY ASK ME ANYTHING!]

[danieljradcliffe]

Christine hello!!! M, R, U please 💖

Hi friend!

M - Name a character that you’d like to have for a friend. Grace Ryder!

R - Which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom? This is so hard to choose just one omg. Ummm I really love Vic and Trevor from Station 19.

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites. 1) Alexis from Schitt's Creek - she has such a beautiful character growth journey. 2) Alex from RWRB - his chaotic bisexual awakening is something that can be so personal. 3) Peeta from THG - he is a sweet baby angel who has never done anything wrong in his entire life!!

[beautifulhigh]

hi Jen! a fun little game going around 💖

If you feel like it, answer with three random facts about yourself and send it to the last seven blogs in your notifs! anon or not, doesn’t matter, let’s get to know the person behind the blog

Rae, I hope you know that I suck at these because I feel like I have the most uninteresting life going. Like a random fact about me could be "I drink more Diet Coke than could ever be considered healthy"...

I started going to a Bootcamp-style fitness class with the intention of improving my fitness. Not only has that happened but we have discovered that I have a talent for weights. I can now lift 160kg. (352lbs for the weirdos who don't like metric)

I once went on national radio to talk about being asexual because I tuned in almost randomly and found it was the topic of conversation

My family chat text thread was set up predominently to share pictures of my (then) newborn nephew. Nearly 11 years later it is still called "Pictures of [CHILD]" and he is thrilled to have such a chat name. He's got his own number now and may be added into the group and no, we cannot change the name.

[reyesstrand]

Maddie! For nice ask week, and in honour of food fic I have three questions for you:

what is your favourite sweet food?

what is your favourite savoury food?

tell me about a memorable meal you've had please?

thank you rae!! <3 gonna go with the first thing that comes to mind otherwise i’ll truly sit here for hours ajdnsjd

- sweet: love a pastry/baked good. sometimes splurge on rough days at work for a cinnamon bun with my coffee and it’s a perfect little sweet treat.

- savoury: with it being autumn, i’ve been super into roasted vegetables. smokey and a little spicy. also potatoes in any form.

- memorable meal: i’m feeling nostalgic so! when i did my masters, it was a september-august program and in total there were nine of us and we truly became a united front. we all had the same classes and would be working with similar faculty members and we had a little room in our department that we made our little on-campus home; it’s where we had our breakdowns/therapy sessions/rants about classes/floor time/takeout before evening classes. in april, after everything was done class-wise and teaching assistant-wise, the department puts on a little “conference” of sorts for us to kind of give previews of what we’ll be researching in front of family, faculty, and previous and upcoming students. it’s a lot of pressure and anxiety (as the whole year was)but exciting, too, over seeing everyone’s work come together. that night, one of my friends has us over at his place and we drank and goofed around with the lights off and music blaring, and one of the girls just….starts making pasta and it’s 1:22am and we’re weepy and tipsy and a little high and everyone’s sharing their love for each other as we dive into this truly delicious meal. it isn’t anything fancy but it’s homemade and on the tail-end of a whirlwind of a year and just…SO good. i think as someone who felt isolated and lonely in countless high school/university friend groups and even now as school’s over and “adulthood” is here, i think back on it so fondly.

[lys-lilac]

[JP] One order of EICU Docs in winter outfits please?

Hosho

2. Kasumi

3. Takado

4. Ekuni

5. Kyogoku

6. Matsunaga

[rosedavid]

nice ask week 💖

what is something you're looking forward to this year?

(ps. I miss you! xo)

Hi I miss you too!! Hope you’re doing well!

I don’t think there’s anything in particular? I suppose I have some classes this semester I’m looking forward to! Otherwise, looking forward to continuing to work on my mental health and spending time with my friends and family and cat!

Thank you for this! Feel free to message me anytime 💕

[swearphil]

Hi Renee! It's nice ask week! You make such gorgeous gif sets - what's the one that your the proudest of making?

rae! thank you so much for sending this!

this is difficult to answer! and it makes me realize that I'm proud of gifs for different reasons, so I'm going to give a few answers. I hope that's okay!

when it comes to level of skill, I'm proud of this Nick/Charlie and Fearless (Taylor's Version) set that uses the cassette tape animation. this one took some time, not just because of the animation, but because of figuring out the lyrics and which scenes to choose that would work with the yellow color scheme I wanted to use. the second to last gif in this set gave me the hardest time with that, but I really like how the entire thing turned out!

when it comes to layout and scene selection, I'm really proud of how my Olivia Rodrigo GUTS set turned out. this is another one where planning was key. I knew I wanted to include all the songs and that I wanted to work with the music videos that we had from GUTS, which meant I was just working with vampire and bad idea, right? I'm still surprised I managed to pick 13 different moments from 2 videos that all make sense with the songs I paired them with. I also really like how I ended up alternating the coloring for this set! that was actually born out of me getting frustrated with the coloring for some scenes and not wanting to deal with it lol. so I made them black and white or purple instead.

when it comes to sets I just had fun making, this set for Alex to all american bitch is one I'm proud of! I got the idea for this one after Casey posted on insta stories that this song was for Alex. this set went through a few different iterations in my head, in particular when it came to how to split up the lyrics and how many gifs it would be in total. there were versions where it was 6 or 7 gifs but I ended up with 9 by splitting up "I"m a perfect all american bitch/with perfect all american lips/and perfect all american hips." I loved working with the bi colors and it was so satisfying when the overlays worked out! that's something I don't plan in advance. I just hope the scenes I want work out, and they did for the most part!

and I'll end with two of my most recent sets: the David/Patrick relationship dynamic set and my Dan and Phil Games set. I'm just generally proud of how they turned out, but as I was making them, I was also reminded of how much I love this show and this gaming channel, and I'm so happy I get to make gifs of them!

[designatedgrape]

fic guessing game time!!

David and Patrick stand in stunned silence for a moment, until David breaks it.

“Fuck.” He steps away from Patrick, shaking his hands out frantically. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

I'm giving you a live response right now, lol. I feel like they're at Rose Apothecary. Did one of them do something wrong? Maybe someone caught them... It feels like a "Night at Stevie's" lead-in, but I never actually wrote one of those. OH!! They get caught in the baseball fic! Checking my answer now...

Yes! It's You are the only, only, only. I totally misremembered who caught them, though. I kind of forgot about the critical role that character actually played in the fic. Wild how we forget.

Thank you for the ask!! ❤️❤️❤️

---

Send me a line from one of my fics and make me guess which one it is! Ask here.

[an-inspired-eternity]

35 and 40 for the ask game!!

this is the "takes that get me blocked" round so lets just knock em out

35. worse take you've ever seen

-if you take offense to mafuyu and tsukasa being compared to each other as narrative foils, not even someone saying they're the same (they aren't the same, but that's not my point), then you should not be in this fandom and also don't look at me ever again

-similarly if you view tsukasa as exclusively either comic relief or reduce him down to only his issues. please never talk about or write him ever 💖. also i swear to god if you even LOOK at wxs miku or saki i will blow you up

-SAY IT WITH ME KIDS RUI IS NOT INSANE RUI IS NOT A YANDERE HE IS A BOY WITH AUTISM WHO LIKES ROBOTS AND IF YOU VILLAINIZE HIM FOR BEING ECCENTRIC AND PASSIONATE YOU ARE BEING ABLEIST!!!!!! STOP THAT!!!!!!! HE LITERALLY HAD A DISSOCCIATIVE MELTDOWN OVER HURTING ONE OF HIS FRIENDS BY ACCIDENT HE'S NOT A MONSTER LEAVE HIM ALONE NOW I SWEAR TO G

-i don't think i should have to say this but some people apparently still need it spelled out in the year of our lord 2023 but mizuki is TRANS they are TRANS they arent a guy crossdressing or god forbid a trap they are TRANSFEM!!!!!!!!!!

40. a hot take?

i don't think revival my dream is a bad event and especially i don't think it was anywhere near bad enough to have warranted en cancelling the whole thing, and it makes me genuinely enraged that they just locked the entire story from the en playerbase when it's such an important part of rui's character arc? literally the worst part of the event hand to god is the girls' costumes and i really hate to have to be the one to say this but THEY ARE BASED ON PRINCESS MONONOKE. THEY'RE BASED ON PRINCESS MONONOKE!!!! EMU EVEN HAS THE WOLF IN HER TRAINED!!!!!!

like. there's ONE episode in the entire event that has some seriously questionable dialogue and. you know what they could've done instead of cancel the whole thing?

🗣CHANGE THE FUCKING DIALOGUE TO NOT BE OFFENSIVE🗣

[rmd-writes]

https://twitter.com/strandsreyes/status/1660046983304826886?s=61

Carlos is holding TKs hand like that because he wants to see his ring 🥹🥹

well this is an emotional attack on a Sunday morning 🥹🥹🥹

the tweet

[welcometololaland]

hello beloved 💖

19, 27 and 30 please

my dearly beloved!!!!

19. the most interesting topic you've researched for a fix?

card counting! and how casinos have tried to get around it (see: down for the count). also, there's a movie called '21' which was super helpful at visualising this - it has kevin spacey in it (gives me the creeps) but is otherwise very good!

27. favourite part of the writing process?

either the scheming phase, most often with YOU or the part where I'm super motivated and inspired and the keys are flying 😭

30. share a fic you're especially proud of?

alta is my best work from a technical perspective (in my view), and I'm very proud of the storytelling and character development in it 💜

thanks rae!

writer asks

(me trying to show you all my love)

[firenati0n]

nice ask week 💖

what is something you're looking forward to this year?

hi rae!!!

I'm looking forward to flying back across the pond and graduating in 2 weeks afjslfjlasdf roop will finally have her master's degree and be free of this hell.

also looking forward to more seasons of The Bear. my beloveds.

and then it's time to look for PhD programs rip

[hippolotamus]

🎀give yourself a compliment about your own writing

Hi, friend! Just dove in for the tough love one there, didn't you? 😅Seriously though, If I had to compliment my writing I would say that it's continued to improve. I've gotten better with dialogue tags and being more intentional with the words I use. From a 'Creator' perspective, I feel like I do well with getting inside a character's head to convey how they're emotions, thoughts, etc.

send a writing ask

[beautifulhigh]

17 and 18 for the fic writer asks pls 💖

17. What’s the most memorable comment or review you’ve received on one of your fics?

There was a comment on the small roar of a mind trying to clear itself which is the highest praise one could ever get: "I CANT BELIEVE YOU WROTE A FIC THAT SO PERFECTLY TAILORED TO MY NEEDS AND IT WAS ALSO SO GOOD IT COULD BE A PUBLISHED PIECE OF LITERATURE I????"

Shit like this is GOLD for a writer.

Also pretty much every comment on Life, believe, is not a dream, so dark as sages say but someone commented they cancelled a meeting so they could finish reading it and I kinda like that I had that impact!

18. Are there any fics or authors that have been particularly influential or inspiring to you?

I will forever bang this drum and play the broken record, but writers like you and @welcometololaland and @iboatedhere and @strandnreyes have such a way of crafting your stories that I honestly pay attention and take notes and see if I can pull that into my writing.

What is it they say about writers stealing stuff?

I know I can craft a story, I know I can plan an arc and layer in hints and teases and things that will come back around later on. Love me some foreshadowing and the big reveal at the end. (Like all the hints were there as to who [REDACTED] actually was in the latest fic: people had their suspicions but I don't know if anyone pulled together all the pieces before the reveal. But it was all there, promise.)

But what I want to do is be able to craft a narrative the way that you and the others do. The kind of narrative that reaches into your very soul and does not let go. It's why I think about Begged and Borrowed Time, and Love Game on the regular. It's why I envy you that you put a whole story and arc around what could easily be PWP otherwise. (Yes, you put the P in there.)

Also I'd love to be able to write humour the way that you and @goodways do. That is an absolute gift and not one I am able to master.

Ask me stuff about writing fics