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I just discovered the delight of a London Fog- a tea latte Winter is almost over, so I'm not in the mood for hot chocolate, but coffee is not my beverage of choice during weekends. Regular black tea seemed too plain, and going home to make my own milk tea would be an additional hassle. Thus, I discovered this interesting western equivalent to my usual Hong Kong Chinese staple milk tea at a new cafe near my home. It's a neat change of pace, and the steamed milk with sweet vanilla flavor is great on a cool spring or autumn evening. Folks who like HK milk tea should give it a shot. This made me ponder what other people's favorite beverages might be of the moment, so I wanted to share.

And Shameless I like the American version more, but the British version was very grounded and nuanced Yes, I am Gallavich fan, I was glad to see Mikey and Ian end up as a dysfunctional-functional gay couple with some criminal behavior.

Don't worry sweetie, some boys like cider and other boys like apple juice Btw, going to see Pillion at Kendall Square (Cambridge, MA) later, the trailer and story hooked me. Love the concept of a gay sub personal journey and discovery.

The plot seems like a change of pace with a different kind of gay main character into the BDSM "sub"-culture. Thanks for the rec! I've read Nora Phoenix and Susan Hawke MM novels. They're big on BDSM stories, along with various other kinds of dynamics beyond just Dom/sub, which is getting more mainstream in recent decades. More exotic couple exist like the Daddy/little dynamic which I haven't seen many films tackle (a shame really, since the psychological need for someone to regress into a child-like persona, while trusting in their partner to help them during an episode is sweet care rather than sexually charged in other versions of a Daddy role for a gay couple.)

To the End was one of my rare entries into poetry, which came about after the Boston Marathon bombing of 2013. It's short and visceral, like the bombing that was still fresh in my memory when I wrote the poem. Not many readers remember I wrote it, and I am glad some folks are circling back to it.

Watching a 2024 miniseries, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, it's not bad. I saw it was co-created by Ryan Murphy and directed by LGBT legend Gus van Sant, so I gave it a try. Set in 1960-80s New York, powerful socialite women, scandal, and a very messy gay author with a lot of inner demons. Truman Capote is a gay icon and one of the best cross-genre writers, but he had a lot of issues as a human being.

My two cents on the shift from Brokeback Mountain to Heated Rivalry is that they both represented or represent transgressive fiction. Once upon a time, homosexuality was taboo and even illicit in the western world (remember the days of Sodomy laws), but things have changed over time. First, our very existence stopped being demonized, then legally, the activity that defines us stopped be criminalized, and finally, for those lucky enough to find a good partner, our committments to one another became equal to others legally. Gay fiction is no longer the same kind of transgressive fiction in the same way as they were 50 years ago. It's gone from forbidden subject to unknown curiosity. I agree with @Krista , I wish there was more everyday struggles gay fiction in the spotlight. I think that's what is needed now, like gay dads going through the process of surrogacy or adoption versus straight counterparts, gay professionals bringing boyfriend/partner to events, or other modern issues. For instance, the odds of a scammer stealing money or lying about international laws while trying to go through the surrogacy process is incredibly high in our community, but no one seems to highlight this in fiction. Or, the notorious "Catfishers" who lead people on with promises of romance online, while extracting personal information to steal identity or cause other types of harm. There's a lot to explore in everyday conflicts and struggles if some LGBTq+ producer or scriptwriter is willing to explore.

Side note: I just learned recently that Jaden Yuki from Yu-Gi-Oh GX anime was likely written to be queer or gay in the original Japanese, but the English version censored all the homoerotic subtext and conversations. My teenage years were cheated!

Outside of Taiwan, Nepal, and Thailand, there's no gay marriage in South Korea or Japan. I have gotten more into Taiwanese Danmei, the Chinese version of BL, but it's pretty cultural-centric stories when they don't do high school stories. The good thing with this versus traditional BL is that the Gong/shou pairing no longer feel like Seme/uke from Japanese BL or Top/Bottoms from mm western romances. The authors develop characters a bit more and give their characters independent drives, which I highly appreciate.

Yeah, Psycho-jealous love rival/team mate, but in the end, Gronk smashed him Hulk-Loki style real good, "puny TE" (Yes, 2010s were a different time, don't judge my fanfic interests ) If you want a one sentence to describe my NFL fanfics: They are overly dramatic with soap opera-like NFL players and deep love-hate relationships, either they'll throw you across a field out of pique jealousy or up against a wall to claim their prize in the heat of male passion. That's why I am not posting those stories, it's really trashy. Though some of the story arcs were fun like Aaron Rodger's "mean girls" Regina persona and Devante Adams leaving their abusive relationship. It was a Big Gay NFL fanfic.

I haven't heard from Blue and JWolf in years, but @TetRefine been skulking around, on-and-off I miss talking to a lot of our old friends too, like @CassieQ, @Andrew Q Gordon, and @intune. Been more than 13 years since we met up in DC. ---------- Anyway, yeah, I have a rich collection of Football (American Football) fanfics. @Krista Gronk and Brady to me as a slash/fanfic pair was the bossy smaller top, sweetheart muscular big bottom. Might not be original, but it appeals to some of us who like that kind of pairing.

Lol, Well on the topic of sports ball and gay romance, I am never sharing my Tom Brady-Gronk erotic fanfics with anyone, they'll die with me and never see the light of day 😛 Anyway, what other mm romance do folks think will get the TV/movie treatment?

Oo, you like Gaymers (Big social subgroup in the community, been to a few meetups, some really nice guys. Not all are nerdy types, but everyone seemed to have an opinion on Mass Effect and Fallout) Like you, I do think it would be cool if there were more media and stories that featured gamers, streamers, and modern social groups with gay main characters.

One of the many tropey things that became far too common in gay (and mm romance) literature is the outing scene, which has changed over time from social death to "oh, so you're gay, bleh". I appreciate @chris191070 and @BendtedWreath for writing what is becoming more common than what was common. Same-sex attractions and relations are far more normalized among the younger generation than it was during our youths in the US 20 years ago. There are still pockets of intolerance and many slurs, but it's a lot less dangerous to be openly gay than it was in the past. However, I do agree with you on Trans issues. One can argue Trans rights have been bifurcated from gay rights in the last 10 years, but that's a longer discussion and requires a lot more depth to explore separately. ---- Anyway, none of this detracts from Raven's crush 💖

We should write a GA cookbook together