W_L

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.

I don't quaff as much anymore Perhaps, it's for the best, I get very philosophical when I am inebriated.

Thx guys, I do enjoy playing with the concept. Like I said, isekai inspired me, so I wanted to make relationships with complex roles, Eli is not your typical dom/dominatrix,

After the ambush in Benington, our group of six journeyed for five days on foot, traveling at night and making camp in the day in secluded caves and underbrush. We had gathered several daggers, swords, and axes from Thomas Denny’s men, which helped throughout our journey. Peter gathered wood, Pippen gathered grass and reeds for bedding, and Prudence gathered berries and nuts. Puck inspected their treasures for poisonous vegetation. Francis went hunting for rabbits and birds. That left me wi

Chapter 7 Well, the explosive sex scene at the end of the chapter hopefully will be enjoyable for some folks, who have written to me about the need to explore Eli's innate Dom qualities. 😛 Those books I referenced are actually not bad reference material, slightly dated, but not bad introduction. The story of Siproites is an actual incomplete Greek myth about a boy being turned into a girl. The later storytellers and interpreters during the Roman era considered it a punishment to lose one's manliness and that interpretation has stuck. However, in the mindset of this story, I had a different thought about the concept of the missing Greek myth. What if Siproites weren't punished for liking the female body and in fact wanted to join the female-only hunters of Artemis? Wouldn't that change the entire concept of the sex change story from punishment to one of transgender acceptance? Not sure if it can ever be proven one way or another, but in my universe, the original story was meant to give kids an option to choose their gender identity. As for introducing a Dom/sub dynamic, Francis is a guy who has devoted his life to "the last shall be the first" prophecy that involves Eli. To him Eli is literally the goal of all his motivations and desires. Plus to add insult to injury, he received glimpses of historical Sir Francis Walsingham, who was devoted (and possibly depending on the source) in love with Elizabeth. The most important thing for a natural sub is "devotion to serve", which Francis has in spades. If the BDSM crew think I am off the mark, feel free to comment. This week's law of power is 19th Law of Power "Know who you are dealing with". This is simple, Eli and the other characters are getting to know each other, especially Francis. Relationship dynamics can be affected by knowledge. ------------ Notes: 1. The myth of Siproites was referenced by the Roman Antoninus Liberalis in a collection of incomplete Greek myths used for educational lessons in the 1st century AD. Many people use his incomplete version of the story as justification that a sex change from boy to girl. 2. Joyce Denny is the mother of Francis Walsingham, she lived from 1507 to 1560. She was married twice first to William Walsingham until 1534 when he died. Then married again to John Cary, until 1551 when he died. She had 7 children combined and many grandchildren in our history.

I am glad you enjoyed it

Reality is filled with madness, who is to say there's not another avatar in the multiverse like Jules, who was driven mad and continues to play with his toys to this day

The old saying never put down your weapon in the middle of a fight is quite astute, but Jules fell into the Horny teen horror trope, thinking with your dick while under the influence of an ancient artifact is dangerous