W_L

Beef Lamb or Lobster

Strawberry Jam Streudel or Pop-Tarts

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.

Don't get too stuck in villain-mode, it can be dangerous. I think both @Krista and me are just stuck in writing characters who aren't evil incarnate, but have good intentions at least to begin with. The hardest thing to write in my view is an anti-villain, someone who with a bit more luck and plot armor could have been a hero in another story. My original concept for a story was modelled after Breaking Bad, which had many people who are somewhat decent morally at the start, but ethically, they go down the path to hell due to selfish reasons even if it seems their actions were selfless at the start. And sometimes, anti-villains are actually heroes in the story, looks at Godfather part I, Michael Corleone was a WWII veteran, honest, and decent human being until his environenment and the "family business" made it impossible for him to be a decent person. He became a mass murderer and villain that has become iconic in American pop culture. Real evil isn't psychopaths or sociopaths who lack empathy for their cruel acts, but the regular person who due to a twist of fate and circumstance are forced to do cruel acts and not show an ounce of mercy in order to survive in human society. To me, the most engaging villain and anti-villain is someone who is normal until they can no longer be normal.

Some genres may be things you like and enjoy, but you personally cannot write as an author. For me, I learned last summer, I can't do anti-villain driven crime genre justice. Sure I can write generic stuff about drug dealers, corrupt cops, and so on, and characters turning dark, but it's not the same kind of story caliber I am aiming for. To be fair, a lot of authors can't write Breaking Bad-type stories. Many people love the series, but it's uncommon to write anti-villains that readers will genuinely love. Creating an LGBTq+ character like Walter White would be a great monument to whoever can achieve it first.

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!

Next Generation, Will Wheaton is an OG preteen crush Lightsabers or phasers

Nope, Never have I ever grounded pork to make sausage

Nope, my artwork looks like the scribbles of a six-year old Never have I ever wanted to color in a coloring book (I mean it's just put in front of you as a kid, but did anyone ever ask if you wanted to color it?)