W_L

@drsawzall and @Al Norris, it's one reason why these various factions from our time can manipulate and control their populous so well. I view the various factions within Christianity to likely be all different from the original beliefs of Jesus. Though they may all claim fidelity with Christ, but different groups claims they are the chosen like the Seventh Day Adventist or Latter Day Saints for instance. At this point in history, people still believed in the divine rights of kings and nobles, the order of society has not seen the rise of the Enlightenment and its Scientific Revolution, and states were run by great noble "houses" with deep in-roads into Christian faith (Catholic/Protestant/Eastern Orthodox, it doesn't matter). Like Harry Turtledove before me, alt-history fiction is best when you have a dynamic point in history where things did tip over.

On the other hand, which version of Jesus do you follow? The "clean" version that Romans approved at Nicene or the "dirty" version that had many different believers, aka the gnostics, Cathars, and so on. The problem with Christianity whether it is Catholicism, a protestant denomination, or Eastern Orthodox, the very heart of the religion was "cleaned" to make it more acceptable for the vast majority of Roman pagans.

Remember, you don't need to have cores in everything to make them comparable to modern technology. For instance, the sky fortress created by the joint efforts of the Habsburg-Roman alliance is quite inefficient as a flying weapon platform. The reason why the sky fortress works is due to the sheer amount of power output a single core can generate. Essentially each core is equivalent to a hypothetical Dyson's Sphere in terms of energy, so even lower-grade material can create and sustain lift along with a primary weapon based on a conversion of applied EM energy to kinetic force. In this situation, they're not really using that much energy to generate "invisibility". Even with limitations on our tools, we have invisibility suits in existence right now. They're metamaterials should not be easily available, especially for a pre-industrial era like 16th century. However, remember the little note I gave in the short stories, the Russians were the last faction to consolidate their holdings from the future timeline. Why did they among the various powers delay? Also, the energy from the cloak is redirected to a "shield" that prevents air-based attacks, essentially "active electric armor" defense, something we already have in the modern world setting. The US and UK are using similar defense systems on tanks. One advanced aspect of Russian technology is material sciences. Resources are important, by delaying their world conquest goals, while securing materials for it is a long-term strategy, they created battlesuits equivalent to those they possessed in the future. Still inferior in terms of raw firepower, they reached parity on the battlefield. That is unless you are facing androids/mechanical combatants, like the mecha knights. I am hinting at a lot of future tech that the cores made possible. Unlike the Western charter, who have an abundance of cores, charging stations, and various weapons of mass destruction (beyond the sky fortress, the tsunami weapon that took out Zeeland in future Netherlands has been hinted), the Russians took longer to settle their domestic affairs and consolidate territories. It's connected with the materials currently present in Russia, which is the basis of several practical and theoretical energy storage technologies such as the rapidly developing electric car batteries in the last decade. Each faction has their own unique benefits and disadvantages in this scenario; otherwise, the western charter should have overrun their rivals and didn't need allies.

The cores operate as solid-state technology on a nano-level. They were discovered in the future of Robert and Eli's original timeline on the Moon, when Corporate and national interests were performing a gold rush for this unique resource. They can absorb ambient energy and active energy with no resistance, superconductivity, and hold energy within equivalent to a star's output. This type of technology is quite advanced and not human by origin, along with a complex interconnected AI.

True, but the view counts were low for the linked blog entries versus the stories and no one really comments so it's an extra readers didn't really like I guess. That ties into the encounter between Marc and Thomas Radclyffe in the interlude chapter. Thomas Radclyffe headed to Westminster on recommendation from his armed supporters in Parliament. I am just tying up the loose ends within the short stories to the main story The phantom legion within the city are being hunted by mecha knights and the forces outside the city will soon face incoming troops from various barracks and military installations. As for the Russian fleet off the coast of London, Francis Drake in his HMS Golden Hind, a "core" powered attack submarine in my story, along with Robert will take care of them. Remember what Robert can do with his ability to manipulate matter and energy within an area. If you guys want a short story on that battle, I'll write it in Res Publica Christiana. AoE attack incoming Thanks for the support Chris

War is not new to humanity, let alone civil war. One of the earliest settlements on Earth in Mesopotamia, known as the City of Ur, was destroyed by invasions and internal strife. Its inhabitants were slowly integrated into various neighbors. Their literature became more hierarchal with relationships, most apparent with pederastic lovers in stories replacing equal homoerotic partnerships like Gilgamesh and Enkidu. I hoped to prevent such a dramatic destruction of social and cultural ideals throug

He was a hero, It would have been a massacre if the original plan occurred at Jamie's birthday party later in the day with a full complement of the invisible legionaries (the name of the unit is called the Phantom Legion, which will be revealed later) rather than everyone being spread across London on various mundane tasks. Though Gard and Marc would be there, they couldn't protect Robert and Eli along with everyone else. An old battlefield strategy concerning counter infiltration tactics is to spread your forces away from the centers of power, while maintaining active coordination and control. As long as your leadership isn't in one of the centers and cohesion is maintained, you can effectively reverse the infiltration, surround your foes, and eliminate them.

In this era of chaos, death is inevitable for everyone. My father claimed that the Gods abandoned us, when Nippon’s people abandoned Shogun Ashikaga for the usurper Hosokawa clan, bringing about the Sengoku Jidai. Our lands in Mikawa province bordered the cunning Oda Clan of Owari province in the west and the powerful Imagawa clan of Suruga province in the east. When I was five years old, I was abducted by the Oda clan. Before my abduction, my father Hirotada Matsudeira had arranged for me to be

A tote bag, a few stickers, a T-shirt, condoms and lube, and a thermos from CapitalOne. Not a bad haul from Pride this year.

Make that 20 donations, I didn't know there was a gofundme page

One more interlude, then I'm back to the main story

Interesting, can I have a loan alongside my pride flag if I visit Interesting, I know we had discussed holding it in October after Covid restrictions got lifted, but it went back to June a year later. While June may be Pride Month, it's not set in stone. I know some guys would have a ball if it was Halloween. Beyond Drag, you can have all the old leather guys, the bears, otters, wolves, and unicorns dressed as their type, and the furries (Oh the adorable Zoomers) 😛 being out and proud. (In terms of timing: To be fair, the old Boston Pride org and the current one are two different orgs, so the date going back to June might have been a matter of trying to carry the torch.)

Hey Guys, Gals, and NBs I'll be running (mostly walking) the Road of Rainbow 5K in Boston this Saturday June 8th, it's a separate charitable event from the Pride Parade/festival and I thought it would be good to do something beneficial and help my own health at the same time. I'll probably drop by the festival grounds near city hall, where the parade passes after the run/walk. https://runsignup.com/Race/Events/MA/Boston/BostonTheaterCompanysRoadofRainbows I wonder what other people in your neck of the woods do for Pride Month? Do you guys go to festivals, parades or have fun events, like a charity run?

Odd dual definition and etymology, I guess context must be applied to its use.

Eighteen years of training and service to the Duke of Somerset, who became our sovereign, Aelfric Elias Tudor have led me to my current life. Nearing the third decade in my life, I have no regrets about my choice to follow Lord Eli after the foiled robbery attempt, I made. During my visits to the Palace, I would regale the young princes with the tale among many others I have picked up over the years out at sea. Of course, many of these visits after the war for the throne were marked with restles

Thanks Everyone, I took the idea of rising tension with the nobility and land reforms from what happens in history a century later. During the reign of Charles, James' son, the nobility and monarchy had a severe falling out that would result in a series of civil wars and ultimately the first time in history a King was executed by Parliamentary forces (The French Revolution was not the first time in history people actually performed "Off with their heads" ). Aristocracy, through a noble title or generational wealth, is a dangerous concept. While it is praised as the first step to Democratic institutions as these forces won many of the civil wars in European history, their actions also led to unrest and destabilized nations, which allowed other powers to swoop in and gain lands/influence. Eli's move to reduce their power is going speed up the problems that Charles would face in the 17th century, but it's a necessity, when you want to speedily industrialize your nation. As an Otaku, Eli uses a model of reform similar to the Meiji period of Japan, but the Japanese attempt also resulted in a civil war (Watch Last Samurai for some cinematic reference to the Boshin Wars). It's a dangerous attempt, but if successful, it will allow England, (eventually the Britainnia Imperium) as a whole to advance hundreds of years in industrial output within decades. In comparison to the "Core" reliant technologies and resource networks from colonies with the continental and international powers, it's going to narrow gaps fast.

In history, the peace of the 1560s was also a lull in Elizabeth I reign. This peace allowed for several plots and issues to arise due to the significant reforms that occurred. One of the underlying problems in international policy during this era was a belief in "temporary peace" and "eventual triumph for the side of God". Catholic and Protestants were gearing up for an eventual showdown that will happen across the continent in a few decades (Historical Spoiler: The Protestants won Then they fell into War against each other ). Essentially, the period is the first cold war in European history.

God as my witness, I am doing the correct thing. I deserve far better than what the unholy scion of King Henry had dealt me. The former King Henry and his son, King Edward through both regents Seymore and Dudley, gave me titles and rich lands. The former Queen Mary made me a supreme commander of her forces in Ireland with over a hundred thousand Irish slaves at the height of my abilities. In exchange, I was the kingdom’s greatest sword, eliminating all their enemies. Then came the abomination, E

Aye, most stories would allow the good guys to get a nice speech in or something, but a lot of the time partial messages are all you have. The bad guys aren't stupid, there were a lot of chances and holes in Harry's harrowing decision and attempt to warn. As the national emergency broadcasting system was not a top secret project, it was a matter of time to realize why someone fitting the crown prince's description would enter the White Tower, relay it to awaiting enemy forces, and enact countermeasures. While Cloaking/Invisibility is a powerful technology, it isn't perfect

When I was five years old, my omega father once told me about several fictional worlds living under a system, an artificial order of the world based on rules and rankings defined from the beginning of time. Humans, animals, and resources were predetermined; even though, sentient actions or interactions were not fixed. In his prior life, these applied ideas formed elaborate fictional stories and games called RPGs. While all of these things may seem childish on their surface, despite the fact that

3 Chatpers away from the event

There was a line from Souma Kazuya in Realist Hero Who Rebuilt The Kingdom, that went like this, “Seen from the past, the future is always a series of coincidences. Seen from the future, the past always looks like it was inevitable. Then what of the present? For that... we just have to trust in our own choices”. Ultimately, Robert and I trusted in our choices up to the point when coincidences became certainties and plots were inevitable. We had prepared for a northern uprising just as history ha

Chapter 30 A closer look at the young preteen Crown Prince Harry Tudor in my story, who is one of those kids that you probably would see tearing apart motors, wires, and circuit boards to create motors. I've met a few kids like him in my life, they are highly solution-driven and look at the world as a puzzle that can be solved. Also, sexuality isn't at the top of their thought process, so I imagine Harry as being asexual. Asexual awakening is an interesting concept, unlike straight, gay, or bi/pan guys getting hardons for opposite, same sex, or both, the realization that nothing sexual interests you is seldom described like I did with Harry. Sadly, Harry's solution-driven mindset would lead to his early death due to the bigger plot elements built over the last ten chapters. The internal attack has begun. The problems probably began many chapters ago, like cancer within the kingdom over the decade. I started my chapter by quoting a realist hero because at the heart of my story is realism, despite the sci-fi and fantasy elements. I had mentioned that Queen Mary's spread a lot of nationalistic ideas promoting English supremacy against minority Welsh, Cornish, and especially Irish. Though she is dead, the repercussions of promoting such ideas have lasting power just as we in the modern world are confronting issues that people dealt with nearly a century ago. Dissident movements grow from those who don't like status quo, they also are prime targets for foreign agents to use against the current government. People will think I am just talking about the current problems between Russia and US or China and US. However, numerous historical examples can be drawn from US assistance in the overthrow of the South Vietnam's government with anti-Communist dissidents, Russian involvement in overthrowing Czechslovakian government, and China's action in Hong Kong recently. It's a common trick to use factions to topple governments. In my story, nationalism is just a facade for greed. The nobles haven't received any corrupt bargains or good lands from Eli in the last decade of reign. Those who served under the old system established from the Lancastrian and Tudor eras are pissed with their lack of financial gains. Worse, the religious elements within the realm are quite divided despite the new laws that Eli had created. As I mentioned in my prior chapters there's a major religious issue with the Anglican church, which is dominated by Protestant nobles. Of course, you already can tell from the mention of the Baltic sea that it is the Russian faction acting behind the scenes. This is the introduction of another major faction in the alternate timeline with advanced technologies as you can tell from their communication jamming, espionage, assassination, and "invisibility" devices (Think cloaking device). I mentioned a few characters in this chapter as well, who play important roles in Elizabethan history like Henry Cary (Elizabeth's Lord Chamberlain), Nicholas Bacon (the Lord Chancellor), and his son the famous Francis Bacon (Chancellor for James I and father of the Scientific Revolution in our history). There are a lot of plot points I am playing with in this chapter. This week's law of Power is the 18th law, "Do not build a fortress to protect yourself, isolation is dangerous", Eli made the mistake in trusting various established mechanism and traditional practices to secure the royal family and peace in English society. An industrial revolution in history also disrupted the ancient order of things as well, creating major social reforms and unrest. Even if you pay people well, greed cannot be removed. References: 1. Callbacks were made to the Battle of Heath Woods with John Cary, the teenage soldier who was a fan of ale. He's technically a fictionalized version of the historic son of Mary Boleyn and William Cary; though, she was rumored to have an affair with William Stafford. 2. Francis Bacon is an interesting character, even though he's just a kid right now. He became a major figure in scientific history and it is rumored that he and William Shakespeare were close (Will is 5 at the moment and Francis Bacon is 8, just in case people were wondering. If I pursue that route, it's age-appropriate, though Anne Hathaway is going to show up. If I go down that route, maybe we can finally understand Shakespeare's final words on why she was only "Second-best bedmate with furniture" ) 3. Harry's death is going to be explored in a side story, I am not sure if I should make it an interlude or a short story. I also want to explore how each side-character sees the uprising in London and its consequences across the kingdom. Eli/Jamie/John are at Parliament, Francis/Takeychiyo/Will/Francis Bacon/others are Whitehall Palace, Harry was at White Tower, Robert is at Port of London near the River Thames' Estuary with Puck/Edward/Ambrose/their child, Frances Howard is in Cornwall, and the triplets are with the bulk of the Royal Army in the north. There are 4-5 short stories at least surrounding this major plot point.

For folks wondering, if there was ever such a story. Sadly a discontinued story inspired this request. I was reading up until January 2024. The Dragon without a System by Mike Sythias I hope the author continues this interesting fantasy series It's hard to find good gay male characters and fantasy world-building like this. It's one or the other usually. Even on GA, most writers don't go in this direction for fantasy, which is quite a shame. It's a story that I think some fans of gay fantasy might enjoy as well.

https://www.businessinsider.com/time-travel-possible-changing-past-isnt-physics-says-2020-9#:~:text=A 2020 study offered a,you couldn't change history. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6382/aba4bc I mentioned this weeks ago in my story about time travel, using the principle known as the Novikov's self-consistency principle, but I thought it might be a good idea to discuss and explore this topic with other writers and readers. For my story, I wanted to use a realistic concept around time travel being possible, but results from history cannot be changed. This kind of concept is based on the nature that the universe as a system recalibrates itself around results. You cannot exist without the results matching the causes. If the theory and math hold true, the underlying idea around "Free Will" is kind of moot, except for minor variations. It opens up a lot of deeper questions around natural law, the limitations on chaotic elements, and human philosophies that invest heavily on absolute free will. Does that mean destiny and fate are real? Are we just a Thanos snap of a finger away from "inevitability"? It's an interesting thing to consider for human beings.