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In the winter of 1570, as the issues of the rebellion and Thomas Radclyffe simmered, Henri de Lorraine, the new Duke of Guise, arrived at my royal court in Bristol. In my timeline, he would become one of the main claimants to the throne of France, alongside Henry Valois and Henry Bourbon. This civil war in my timeline was aptly named the War of the Three Henrys for its three combatants, though the name did little to capture the complex sides involved in the struggle. Henri de Lorraine was nomina

Sam Watson, the sporty twink

I was reading this article on The Guardian and thought I'd share it with folks on GA as it relates to writers and readers. https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/aug/06/my-weeks-of-reading-hornily-steamy-book-sales-have-doubled-and-i-soon-found-out-why I found this particular paragraph intriguing: The article writer Zoe Williams also mentioned a book I read recently, Sem by Cora Rose, which is m/m romantic fiction between a big viking-esque seemingly straight guy and an effeminate short gay school teacher. I don't have a size kink either like Zoe, at least I don't think I do as I've dated guys taller and shorter, but I thoroughly enjoyed the relationship and the escapism from the book, along with the previous title Whit in the series by Cora Rose. In reading romance, you can escape into the roles beyond what you are naturally. Also, I am not averse to stories with a lot of sex or sexual situations, there should be no shame in BDSM, leather/rubber/fur, or whatever in a story as long the individuals are consenting and non-coercive (unless it's a roleplay situation). I am a Millennial, and I do agree the characters don't need to be just like me to be related. To me, erotic fiction and romance nowadays are just a matter of how much the story works on the plot and character situations. If you can create a fun plot with good characters, then having them engage in random sex can be plausible and fine up to a level. At a point, romance can be very erotic. I wonder if these descriptions hold true for our writers and readers as well. Do our generations affect our outlook on what is erotica (to me purely sex with no situation/plot) or romance?

This is a nice story, almost ripped from the headlines. Carver seems to be a person driven by a need to shine, but his moment passes by like a shooting star, bright only in the memories of those who knew or loved him intimately. It's a story that could be a novel or fictional biopic, like James Dean with far more queer perspective. I feel like the story requires a lot more details to flesh out Carver, just like other famous personas.

Fascinating sci-fi story, I like extra-terrestrial storylines. It opens up the entire universe to you.

It feels like several subgenres of fantasy. Modern MMO gamers can see game fiction elements, adventure readers have creature intro like Goblins and their evolved forms Ogres, and isekai readers have the world system. This is more common on AO3 than GA, so it's cross-platform author.

In 1890, Tom Callahan meets a mysterious boy named Jerry on a train. However, instead of their expected journey, they embark on an epic quest neither boy expected.

I woke up late the next morning, curled up in bed with my young sons, Will and Jamie. Francis and Takechiyo did not join us, despite my invitation, vowing to rest only when the Russian phantom legion and rebels inside London were completely wiped out. This goal meant a long night of intelligence reports gathered by men like Thomas Tallis over the years, which had to be reconciled for hidden connections and subterfuge amongst noble houses. If any were suspected of disloyalty or collusion, they wo

When some people read Of Pride and Power and wonder, how is this libertarian? Sure, I have private ownership, organic industrial development, and individual choice, but you aren't allowing capitalistic enterprises from forming, i.e. corporations or generational wealth. That's a choice on my part as I don't think long-term, the concept is good for a free-market. Modern capitalism is an innate weak form of economic theory. As the world exists today, prices are rising, land and resources are becoming more scarce, and ultimately society is unable to deal with varying social issues created by unstable conditions, whether it's racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, ethnocentrism, religious intolerance, and so much more. At the heart of everything is flawed economics. Let's use a real simple example of this problem: An elder in a small town has spent his life working, building a business, and buying land and homes for himself and his family. He wishes to transfer this wealth and legacy to his children, so they can continue what he has built. Sounds good, it's a traditional dream of many people around the world. However, look on the flip side, due to the lack of business opportunities in the small town and housing due to this one family's accumulation of wealth, prices rise and development is stifled as the value of the "held property" isn't in the market. The laws of supply mean that prices will rise as a result of one person's traditional dream and everyone in that small town is far worse off for it. It can be applied to far bigger issues, replacing the elder with corporations or trusts, and extending legacy concepts with traditional ideals like race-based marriages, heteronormative dynamics, religious continuity, and so on. The heart of the issue with capitalism is the creation of these asset traps, but the common solution with individual taxation is usually insufficient or can cause harm by further weakening individual development as it creates a barrier to entry (more established sellers are big enough to absorb additional costs of managing taxes or hiring people to circumvent them). A better solution would be wholesale taxation based on the seller of goods and services alone, but that only treats the symptoms, not the disease of asset traps and legacy created issues. Ideally, a society needs to be built based on the merit of individuals at a given point in time. Wealth should not be transferrable beyond basic means. At the heart of it, you need a mechanism to enforce things, because people are selfish and will gravitate to hold property/lands. To create a society where individual contracts, individual choice, and individual merit actions can be rewarded properly, you need to fight this kind of capitalism that traps assets and ideas. A government is a tool for enforcement, not the reason for enforcement, a distinction between socialism and my idea. Though collective groups can exist like guilds in my story, they act as marketplaces for individuals, not as an individual onto themselves as modern corporations do. The goal is a society that runs based on individual competition, where each individual's drive is seeking the highest merit reward based on their contributions without regard to background. Of course, in my story, transhuman elements are needed to make sure that such a society and government doesn't stray off-course. Eli and Robert are literally living gods due to their abilities, along with a collection of specialized genetically engineered people serving as their administrators on various subjects.

The culmination of hope, then utter despair. It's no longer a truth in our era, but once upon a time, gay-themed stories were mostly like this, tragic, hopeless, and doomed starcrossed due to society and environment. The author understands the classics of our community, I hope he/she/they continues to explore and expand in their writing.

Fun and charming little christmas story, so glad someone did a Christmas story in July.

Feels like a Law and Order episode, mixed with subtle nods to various characters and their personalities. Dick Wolf would be proud, it's a nice read

A good story with surreal elements and very real issues that will hit you as you realize the true subject matter.

I can see splashes of Don Quixote and a beautiful story about a man struggling with mental illness, while his lover struggles with this reality. It's a great tale with a bit of hope alongside despair.

So much plot going on, weird imaginative characters, and an individual journey through the surreal. You need to be ready for an adventure, but it's a nice read.

Thanks for the thought, I was reading some reviews and it sounded like a romantic comedy setup, but more dark and authoritarian in nature based on its subject matter. Historical drama is interesting, especially lesser known things, no one ever mentions the Franco regime of Spain nowadays. As a student of history, the film's period was an era of unbridled economic development for Spain, which was known as the "Spanish Miracle" (just like Japanese Miracle on the other end of the world), but behind economic liberalism that saw wealth and prestige, there was a conservative cultural undercurrent from Franco's ideological social conservative views. The entire thing crashed in the 1970s towards the end of Franco's regime.

Not your standard aimless teen story on GA, some interesting soul searching and a good message about finding "love" rather than conforming or having anxieties over expectations, people can change and grow to what they want. That's ultimately the principle behind this story. "Finding home" is just as important is "Finding family"

Being Gay isn't what makes us happy, being with someone you love is. Glad Blue understands that fundamental concept

Charming story of "best friends", who may become more, and a pet-sitting gig with some adorable kittens. There's a lot to like about this simple story, wrapped in an easily read package

This has everything in one story: Best friends, love, drama, and kittens.

A short light-hearted modern fantasy story about a singer and his bodyguard. This is a fun offbeat story with things that are common and fantastical. Fans of Urban fantasy will see familiar elements.

Fun and engaging, all the various kins and the talk of enchantment with a contemporary background is nice modern fantasy.

Has anyone seen the netflix miniseries "Someone Has to Die"? It's set in the 1950s Fascist Spain under Franco-Regime with a gay relationships and desires hidden among the wealthy elites.

I know it's a lot to work through, but it's necessary for the narrative after the events in London. Don't forget the northern rebellion is still happening at the same time, so the issues from Continental Europe hasn't gone away. Isolation is not an option and the reason for the Russian intervention won't be known for a while. Eli and the Royal Court knew that they had to act fast. Historically, Anglo-Japanese alliance was a fascinating concept that very few people talk about. During the mid-20th century, Japanese nationalists didn't want to acknowledge that the UK played a pivotal role in its rise as a regional power, while the UK didn't want to acknowledge its part in fostering a militarist nation. In addition to fighting Russia, it was also used to counter France and above all else, the United States. We may think UK and US has a "special relationship" nowadays due to Churchill-Roosevelt WWII anecdotes, but the facts were during most of its history the British Empire was prepared to go to war with US again, especially due to competing aims in the Pacific. Japan also was forced into a trade treaty by the US navy, when Commodore Perry's Black Fleet entered Tokyo, so they had existential reasons to ally with British Empire. I was setting up this separate narrative piece for a while now, when I introduced Takechiyo. As for Hohenzollern of Prussia, it's a complex double-edged sword for students of German history. Austria and Prussia have been natural rivals and open enemies for centuries, especially during this period in history. Prussia was also an enemy of the Eastern European alliances of Poland, Lithuania, and predecessor states of Russia. They also played a role in the Catholic-Protestant wars of religion, breaking with the Catholic Church and European Hegemony of that era. We know from hindsight that Prussia is the forefather of Germany, which comes with it a lot of baggage. Britain relationship with Prussia is equally mixed between nominal friendship and rivalry due to competing ideals. I am laying down a lot of backdrop for the final arc of this novel

Jamie and I were escorted by Gard to the bunker where Takechiyo and Will were relocated, along with most of my royal court, after the attack on Whitehall Palace. It was close to midnight and Jamie had fallen asleep in my arms during the steady descent of the hot air balloon. When we entered the secure location, Nicolas Bacon and William Cecil greeted me along with Takechiyo and Will. Will’s lunge to hug me woke up Jamie. Both boys embraced, having not seen each other since breakfast. Will c