W_L

There are Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes in a year, according to the old song, Seasons of Love. The passage of events passed faster than the montage from Rent, in either the movie or the play. I could have fallen apart after the revelation that Jack had left me with so much to do, so much to live up to. I didn’t fall apart or turn inward like some characters from the stories that Jack read to me. Jack and I were not people who allowed despair to break us; even if we h

Chapter 9 A year passes by really quickly, when you have to gain and consolidate power within a short window of time. The Duke of Somerset's death was a power vacuum that technically would not be filled for many years in the normal course of history. Remember, the medieval and early modern periods did not have the convenience of modern communications, nor information disbursement like dedicated journalists. If you were a modern person with knowledge of future events and the right background, even with Eli's anatomical makeup, taking over as a custodial noble wouldn't be impossible. Additionally, the geography I laid out works pretty well for Eli's needs. Somerset was largely agricultural with access to several water sources and would be a good launch point northward towards Gloucestershire and the future major seaport of Bristol. Southern Wales was one of the main sources of iron and coal during the industrial revolution, so it is ideal to bring those regions within your influence if not outright control. As a strategy RTS player would tell you, strategic resources need to be obtained and secured early on for future development, even if your civilization level isn't there yet. (Eli could rapidly industrialize, but he would need to keep under the radar and build infrastructure first) As for Devon/Devonshire, the area is south of Somerset and the land was secured by Edward Seymore with Berry Pomeroy Castle being obtained from another noble family. However, the region is traditionally poor in terms of agricultural production due to its rough soil composition and relies on its copper and tin mines. Without modern agricultural techniques and technologies, many peasant farmers did starve and mining output was seldom enough to keep people fed due to the fluctuation of mineral prices. As for the story of John Seymore and Caliban, it's fictional amalgamation of several famous stories during this era. Two people inspired me: 1. Gilles de Rais, a nobleman in France, active from 1432-1440, murdered over 140 children, becoming one of the most famous serial killers of the medieval world. 2. Gilles Garnier, a hermit in France hunter/farmer, active in 1572, who supposedly turned into a werewolf, then murdered, tortured, and cannibalized 14 children. Most known serial killers and cannibals were documented in continental Europe, but I wonder how many unknown and undocumented cases existed in England during this era as well. Another inspiration for the scenario came from the British Musical Sweeney Todd, the idea of killing innocent people for profit would fit the concept from the play. Instead of being butchered and ground 3-times to be part of Mrs. Lovett's meat pies after Sweeney Todd gives you the razor, these kids are literally used as farm animals, worked in the fields, and then slaughtered. I hope the medieval injustices of its treatment for those below you in social status as livestock could be emphasized here, just as the play looked at similar concepts in Industrial London of the 19th century with the power of elites corrupting justice. Also in the play, the poor were forced to consume each other due to low supply of meat; my point about offering the poor villagers their sons and daughters as food was a good reference. Consider it my homage to the play and English social commentary. I mentioned the famous Chinese Forensic book, "Cases of Injustices Rectified" by Song Ci, which was one of the first collected works on the subject of forensic examination and crime scene analysis. If you are a fan of CSI or NCIS, this book was the grandfather of the forensic sciences. By the end of this chapter, Eli has obtained territorial control over southwestern England and southern Wales across 4 modern counties. However, in terms of population, it was minor during this period compared to the rest of England and Europe. Remember the total number of casualties in Europe during the historical Wars of Religion during the hundred-year period this story covers reached close to 20 million with medieval weapons and early flintlock firearms. This week's law of power: 12th law of power according to Robert Greene "Use selective honesty and generosity to disarm your victim". The rule applies to all the peasants teens, who were lured in by false promises of a job and their villages with the wagon loads of cured meat. It's a gruesome example of this rule of power, but most con-men will offer you false promises and some rewards to lure you into a trap. Human trafficking in the modern world operate under this rule of power. It's very dangerous, but not unbeatable. Logic and skepticism are the two counterpoints to the "too good to be real" trick. ------------------- Notes: 1. Yes, Bristol did become the third most populated city in the UK during the Industrial revolution. I have ideas for that city's future development, compared to London setting that most historical fiction writers take. 2. Smokeless gunpowder is a 19th century invention, where nitrocellulose plays a key role in the process. It improves the power of smaller firearms, making them more lightweight firearms and allowing for less gunpowder. The revolving pistol is one of the byproducts in this revolutionary development, a weapon that auto-loads in succession. A longer rifle version of this design was created by Colt in 1850's but suffers from various issues that made it less used than the bolt rifles of the following generation. 3. Caliban was a character in William Shakespeare Play, The Tempest, he was said to be wild and animalistic. Also, he attempted to rape Prospero's daughter Miranda and never exhibited any remorse for his actions, only plotting to do harm to everyone. There are some interesting notes that his name may reference cannibals according to some scholars, so it made him a minor villain.

Corruption is part of power, the more power accumulated in the hands of certain people, the situation gets worse. Selfish motivation was abundant among nobles.

But the Orange messiah is exempt right

“Teach Slaves to be subject to their masters in everything” (Titus 2:9, Bible) Wattenscheid was once the jewel city of the Hesse region and I was born into one of its many noble families. At the age of fourteen, I became Freiherr Johann Meier. The city's wealth and power began to grow when our regional lord Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, chose to renounce the Catholic faith and hold personal hegemony over the lands of Hesse. He called up his vassals to join him in an alliance called the Hans

Don't forget there are tie-in short stories to this series:

I thought these guys had a trademarked it: Don't know if Robocop 3 producers were literate about the cultural zeitgeist, but splatterpunks were an odd villain group in the third movie (The Cult of Cain was probably more over the top in the second one, so these guys seemed lame in comparison).

Hmm...No one is writing or reading gay Gothic Horror? I am surprised. The definition of Gothic Horror according to New York Public Library is: A lot of stories could fall into this genre.

It's a horror and body horror subgenre, so I get why it's the word of the day. Punk sensibilities are based on rebellion and pushing the limits of genres. I prefer psychological horror rather than visceral but body horror is popular for a reason.

I do not know how my tale began, but I know it ended on the battlefields of the Holy Roman Empire fighting for my Pope, for my God. I am not a knight, but I have slain many knights with the weapons provided by my faith. I am not a noble, but I have made many nobles bow before me to kiss the golden cross I was given. I am not a priest, but I have purified many churches by defenestrating false priests and acolytes, who betrayed the true faith. My name is Pietro di Fera, I was born near Mantua in A

This is a collection of short stories set in the universe Of Pride and Power. I will explore things I have mentioned in the main story that was set in an alternate England during the 16th century. This collection is not bound by geography or the social status of the nobles/elites in society. I will explore the European Wars of Religion in-depth in this alternate history, showcasing different viewpoints and ugliness within society.

Thank you

Thanks, I thought it was fun to introduce a little historical lore and some new mysteries. Thanks for reading Chris

Before we reached the fair folk’s Coven, there was a major commotion. We had entered the city of Bath, which was renowned for its natural hot springs since the Roman era. While public bathhouses were outlawed due to their implied connection with the plague, the hot spring would always be active. I was still a modern person with a desire to maintain a bit of cleanliness, especially after several days in the woods with traces of dirt, animal blood, sweat, and semen. The slight detour to a minor ci

Chapter 8 Well, there's a lot to unpack here. Why a hot spring trip, you might ask in the middle of a journey? Call it a nod to Japanese culture that inspired my story, but it is customary to have a nice relaxing bath before all the tension. For fans of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, either Anime or Manga, you know exactly what I mean as the main character would enjoy a relaxing soak after a fierce battle. It's a bit indulgent, but fun nonetheless. As to the heart of the story, we meet Oberon and Titania in this chapter. True to their characterization in Midsummer Nights' Dream and French myths around their demeanor, I wanted to mesh the concepts. Also, my universe/multi-verse is by nature somewhat rational and scientific up to a certain point, I wanted to add a steam-punk sort of feel to the fair folk. Their technology is approximately close to the late 19th century in terms of material knowledge, but I must caution that it has remained that way for over eight hundred years. Why has technology stagnated since the 8th century AD? For one thing, the facility may be a stronghold, but it cannot house a large population, so fair folk even those with special knowledge and abilities cannot all live there. Additionally, unlike Eli with his perfect memory recall, the others have to apply their ability on a single subject or object to gain modern information. Technological innovation is based around cooperative work between various fields of research and industries, if you cannot have a large enough base of talent, materials, and research space, then the best that could be achieved is maintenance. That was one reason why Medieval era saw relatively few improvements on Roman technologies up to the Renaissance period. The fair folk may have a lot of knowledge, but they were hindered by various limits. As for the reveal about their connection to Camelot, in 1542, an English poet named John Leland made an astonishing claim that the ruins and decaying fortress on top of Cadbury Hill was in fact Camelot. Situated just a few miles from the River of Cam, it was an unsubstantiated belief that has in modern times become a local among the inhabitants of Somerset County in England that their land was the home of King Arthur. As an avid Arthurian legend buff, I took the idea and added it into my story. Cadbury Hill is a limestone hill that overlooks a wide plain that once had settlements and ruins, so I imagined a civilization creating a bunker like fortress within the hill. As for the truth about Merlin, let's be honest, I've mentioned Eli's partner Jack enough to make him a background character in this story. He had a lot of influence on what's happening in the present time. History is organic and can be malleable with different changes in certain events or patterns of events. The mystery is why and how did Jack do all of this? If it were to bring back Eli, he could have had other ways of achieving it without so much work? There's also the other side currently installed at the head of the Catholic Church with their advanced military weapons, how did they come into play? A few answers and a lot more questions. This weeks law of power: 19th law of power according to Robert Greene "Infection: Avoid the unhappy and unlucky". This rule applies to several people in this story: the Seymore brothers would be two obvious choices as their games of manipulation for power ultimately led to their deaths, which in turn caused someone like Catherine Parr, Queen Dowager, who allied with them to lose all hope in any future and die. Additionally, there's the case of Lady Jane Grey and Guildford Dudley, two star-crossed teenage lovers with a horrible fate ahead of them. They're unlucky people who Eli knew could not be helpful for his goals. Is it cold that Eli avoids helping these two? From a romantic standpoint, yes, but from a realist standpoint, there was no other choice. It's a lesson on judging the appropriateness of help based on circumstance. ------------ Note: 1. Yes, the City of Bath is well known for their hot springs and during the time of Elizabeth I, it regained its former glory as a major English tourism spot, being one of the best spas in the area. 2. Cadbury Hill is located in Somerset county, was land formerly under the control of Edward Seymore, Duke of Somerset. The Arthurian legend from an English poet in 1542 cemented the idea in my mind to use it as a launch point. This area is in southwestern England, so it is far away from the center of power in London. 3. We learn a few new things about abilities: a. Only Eli can use memory recall on his own knowledge to continue various lines of thoughts with advanced knowledge (Consider it my version of "Uriel" skill from That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime") b. Eli can assess knowledge and historic information from our world, but he has certain limits when it comes to this parallel timeline. He cannot access information about Jack's time as Merlin, while Francis could.

Nope, the train left the station long ago I'm just quirky and different. -------------- For my current Gay Book, I am reading Bite Me! (You know I like it) by Fae Quin Gay vampire meets grumpy goth vegan twink with a history of abuse and enough angst to run a teen soap for a decade It's kind of fun and sexy

Well, I nearly got picked for MTV's "Next" as one of the dates (As hetero nerdy/dorky date for some random girl into the type) in high school, when it was cutting edge back in 2005. From my experience, the stuff you see is mostly fake. It would be best if you had personality quirks, excess attributes, and an uncommon "it" factor. Got called back for 3rd round but got cut. I got a few calls from TV producers, who saw my audition tape, I just ignored them. Never had an interest in reality TV due to my passing experience with it. -------------- As for Gay relationships on TV shows, I need to binge Elite at some point, while Netflix's recent series The House of Usher paid lip service to LGBT relationships, most of them were toxic and deadly, except the gay District Attorney with a healthy marriage, kids, and grandkids (Heteronormative = safety and immunity from temptation). I was disappointed in season 2 of Netflix Special, I wished Ryan had found love, I understand the need for disabled gay guys to have independence and self-actualization, but it felt incomplete based on the story elements of him seeking love and companionship as someone with unique circumstances. (being gay and disabled, I identified with his plight in season 1 and wanted to follow his journey into season 2 for that reason)

I do enjoy Cosmic Horror and Existential Horror. The greatest fear that you can instill in humans isn't death, it's the meaningless and endless life outside your own control. Death would be a mercy to people forced to live like that.

Thanks Chris for reading, glad you like it. Testify! Sing it! Praise it! Scream it to the masses! Oral sex for all!

Krista have you tried illustrations, I spent a weekend playing to create some AI art for battle in chapter 12, it was fun. I don't know how readers will react as I saved them on my blog future dated entry for extra content, but it's another way of using AI images

Set during the events of Omen II, I wanted to offer an alternate reality for Damian Thorn and his cousin, Mark Thorn. This is not a horror story despite the subject matter.

Damian Thorn faced his cousin, Mark Thorn, who had forced him to admit the truth to him. Mark had overheard Dr. Charles Warren, the museum curator, and learned the truth that Damian Thorn was the antichrist, the child of the devil. However, Damian did not kill Mark outright, because he had developed feelings for him over their years of shared experiences in the military academy and other boarding schools. He knew Mark shared the same feelings for him and offered the mortal boy a chance to join h

Just an FYI, I began playing with AI prompted covers as well. That's how I created my current cover for "Of Pride and Power" Here's 4 covers that were honorable mentions, if readers prefer these over the one I have as cover, I'm open minded:

I use prompts as a way to experiment with ideas and concepts, they're fun and intriguing ideas that can help jump-start imaginations. Of course, I don't write every prompt; one of the cardinal things that I've learned is that inspiration and your motivation need to go hand in hand, if you are not inspired by something, forcing it will just hurt your writing.