W_L

Just starting to read these today

You are correct, technically those are terms from BDSM literature. As a very avid gay reader, I don't shy away from various content. Some books are actually made better due to adding aspects of that stuff, like some of Leta Blake's books. Light elements of this are part of mainstream gay literature. For example in omegaverse storylines, where male omegas are presented as female stand-ins, you will see some aspects during the heat. ---------------- @Ron Not sure if you're being fictitious or genuinely dislike the genre. However maybe your point is directed towards the general use of short-hands. As Page noted, DNF (did not finish) is used on sites like Goodreads and in local reading groups (there are a few in Massachusetts) to denote a novel or story that a reader just could not finish due to content. The author K.M Szpara after my attempts to read 2 of his books is just not my cup of tea, but I know plenty of queer people, who enjoy his writing. They find his social commentary on capitalism, sexual roles, and ownership/relationship dynamics intriguing. While those points may be true, I find his stories to be contrived beyond human understanding and cruel for only the purpose of adding conflict to the characters. There's too much shock and violence. His book Docile was nominated for a literary award, so it is mainstream gay literature and probably some folks on GA have enjoyed it. I know people like it, I just want to mention that I couldn't finish it and likely will not cover this author in my mainstream reviews. -------------

Yeah, teenagers can have rich vocabularies, but still, you shouldn't make them too mature and turn them into Gary Stu's Flawed characters are easier to relate and recognize. ----------- In terms of DNF, I don't know why I started reading First, Become Ashes by K.M Szpara as I DNF'd his other popular novel Docile. Yet, the queer reading group I'm a part of recommended this book, so I held back my reticence and started reading it. I don't understand why his writing is so popular because it feels like I am reading stuff from the Authoritarian section of Nifty circa the early 2000s. D/s, punishment, and TPE are fine concepts in that genre, but his characters are warped and inhuman with their responses, along with the contrivances he makes in the plot so they can hurt each other more. (He's made it to my list of modern popular LGBT authors, I just can't review). ---------- Anyway, I've finished up some BL manga and novels, Heaven Official's Blessing I'll need to wait until December to finish sadly, but I am caught up to present story of Sasaki and Miyano and Given, I have to give higher points to Sasaki and Miyano over Given due to the current storylines of both. Book wise, I'll be starting on Husband Material by Alexis Hall

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49759865-omega-s-trust The second book in this series establishes the lore of this universe, which is something any fantasy writer needs. In the Omegaverse, it’s rare to see worldbuilding and detailed conflict resolution, along with long arc stories like this. Aiden Bates and Jill Haven were still trying to find their way in this series, so I do feel like some things may not have worked as well as in book 1, probably due to overcompensation. However, the

And, in one more year, I can offer Gay Authors a special beverage 🍻 😛 Congrats GA and Admin team for two decades!

Thank you for reading, I am a fan of Robert Frost and that poem helped me conceive this simple, yet apparently very affective, story.

Wukong's observant ability at human and divine interaction is a prelude to his famous canonical ability to see through evil, what will be known as 火眼金睛 in Journey to the West, it's one of his greatest abilities. Yes he is and I am glad others seem to enjoy my take on him.

No problem

Thanks, I thought I would offer those annotations to give folks a bit of context and some interesting side-notes. My calligraphy is non-existent, though, but I am able to understand some words and can speak my dialect pretty well.

Chapter 6 I am doing a fair bit of world-building in this chapter. Taking pieces from various Chinese myths and concepts on Taoism and Buddhism to create a coherent concept. It's fair to say that the White Snake demon boy, Xu Xiwang, in my story is similar in some ways to Sasuke Uchiha from Naruto if you guys are trying to draw some parallels. In Chinese and Japanese stories, it's not uncommon to have characters like that with an all-consuming lust for vengeance. Can you really blame him though? He and his family have been hunted by Fahai for generations, while he has lived on scraps from outlying areas beyond the protection of Taoist gods. He's someone who fell through the cracks within the system, similar to disenfranchised LGBT and other minority peoples, who have historically been relegated to the fringes of society. As for his sexuality, he's not gay, bi, or straight. On the romance front, Yuanfen readings are real world thing It's a practice in China that is attributed to Buddhism and Taoism, based on astrology, occlumency, and various life cycle calculations. In terms of the reading, I used a simple compatibility reference for the Chinese zodiac, a monkey and snake under the Chinese zodiac would be completely incompatible with one another. One is an internal thinker, one is an external operator. If you know of people born under those 2 signs in a relationship, be wary and pray extra hard that they don't get into fights. Another aspect I introduced in this chapter is the nature of magic in my universe. While the novel Heaven Official's Blessing did introduce some concepts about magic and energy, it does flesh out the technical concepts as much as I am doing. To me, magic is a manipulation of matter and energy. If you were to apply this in a science fiction concept, it is essentially telekinesis on a molecular or even atomic scale. Shapeshifting, in this chapter's example, requires the person attempting to change their body to manipulate the molecules around them and apply it to their body. A snake can become a human or vice-versa by adding carbon from the earth and water, via Hydrogen-Oxygen from the air. Both of these items are also part of the Chinese 5-Element concept in Taoism. The magical arrays and spells that are used represent complex calculations on how best to manipulate matter/energy to reach certain ends. (As for the portals that the character traverse in both the novel and my story, my explanation is its an subatomic level manipulation, requiring quantum entanglement. Basically, it's a wormhole.) Sun Wukong's character is imperfect, he's showing a lot of growth in these early chapters, but also demonstrating a child's naivete. It will take time before he gains his famous self-confidence. His captivity has negatively impacted him, but he's slowly opening up. He is also developing a certain unorthodox view in the gods and the Buddha in general, which will play an important role in how he acts in the future. As for Buddhism and Taoism, I know I am introducing a can of worms here. However, it is true that Chinese Buddhism is a bit different than Indian Buddhism, along with how historically some pieces of Ancient Chinese Buddhism actually resembled modern-day conservative Evangelical Christianity. When you think about it, it's not too hard to imagine hardline religious adherents trying to convert people and calling certain abnormal behaviors sinful abominations. Elements in this area of the story were based on history as early Chinese Buddhism lacked any doctrinal limits or guidelines, so there were major issues with how practices should work. The historical journey to gain Sutras from India by the Chinese monk was in part spurred by these major problems with Buddhist ideology and inherent philosophical issues.

When night fell on the Xie clan retinue on the road to Jiankang, there were many whispered conversations about their lord. Only the closest attendant to Lady Liu had known that the real Xie An was dead and their illustrious ancestor, the immortal god Xie Lian, had taken his place, so there were various rumors. Some spoke of misgivings, demon magic, and even the unnatural physical ability of Xie Yan, Sun Wukong’s current identity. Chief among the rumormongers were the Xie Clan chamberlain, who fe

Reviving Kiss It was the same boy in my dreams since I was in middle school. I was sixteen at that point, so it was at least four years of the same thing. Every time, I tried to approach the boy in the dreams, he saw my boner and laughed at me. Every time, I fled, then tried to kill myself to escape his incessant laughter. He wouldn’t stop laughing or teasing me, taunting me with innuendoes and my innermost desires. Sadly, my dreams are just reflections of my reality, because this boy exist

Instead of coded context or hidden homoerotic themes, it's looking like we're about to get full LGBT vampires as main characters based on Anne Rice's famous novel. Is anyone joining me in watching this series? Personally as a book reader and lover of the 1990's film, I have no problem with changing the timeline to the early 20th century or the racial background of Louis, New Orleans is rife with Creole traditions that mix African and European customs along with bloodlines (unlike Tolkien, the narrative tradition lends itself to this change, if the writers are up to the challenge). On related news: I've debated reviewing Anne Rice's 1976 novel for a while. I know the queer theme is coded and it's not explicit that these guys are actually lovers in the original books (though Rice herself did admit it in 2012). To me, she was the forerunner of making Vampire fiction fun after being dead for so long. Without her, there would be no Twilight, nor any Vampire Diaries, or the countless stories here on GA that drew upon Rice's fantasy concepts.

You might see something for this Prompt later today

Thanks for the comparison

My grandmother was a British subject, one of the ethnic Chinese families that migrated to British Burma (now Myanmar) in the 19th century for business ventures. She and Queen Elizabeth were born in the same year, now sadly it seems that they have both passed in the same year. My grandmother passed in February 8th 2022, the Queen on September 8th 2022. To her, the Queen was an abstract ideal, someone with authority and a role model that other women could look up to within traditional male-dominated societies. This strength carried my grandmother through the Myanmar ethnic purges of the 1950's and, when they were forced to leave, China during the cultural revolution. Queen Elizabeth II was a force to behold in her time, a monarch who reigned at the end of the British Empire and saw the transformation of the UK through several crises both internal and external. RIP Queen Liz 🙇‍♂️

Thank you and the team for making this anthology possible for all of us writers to showcase our various stories!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56293845-playing-the-palace Oy Vey! What happens when you mix some of the plots from Casey McQuiston’s award-winning Red, White, and Royal Blue with a 21st-century situational comedy, involving a gay Jewish New Yorker that feels like a rebranded Fran Drescher? I went into this book with high hopes based on the premise, since I loved McQuiston’s original concept and I was in the mood for a royal comedy this summer to break some of my manga and anime refres

Thanks @lomax61, maybe you and I can collaborate again on another prject someday like we did with your earlier story I am starting to get a little deeper into the fantasy genre.

Hey @CassieQ, it's been a while since we chatted (probably since we met in DC with Q). Sorry to hear about the writer's block and other stuff. For me, I've gotten into writing a bit more recently. Over the last year, I've realized reading more mainstream gay fiction books and writing reviews about them is helping me get the writing juices flowing. Not sure if that will help you, but I could suggest a few interesting new books that might get your imagination brewing.

I've finished off the entire first batch of stories yesterday @Valkyrie It's a good selection and start to this anthology, I am surprised by the positive reactions to my story and am grateful for all the readers and reviewers.

Thank you, hopefully, the image that people see can be changed like an off-color sweater

Thank you, I was sort of worried it was too abstract as social commentary goes, but seems like most people responded well to the concepts I put forward.

Thanks for reading @wizard Sometimes just finding love and that special someone is worth more than never having it, even if it didn't last forever due to circumstance

I'm glad you appreciated all the emotional resonance and the charm of the special love these boys shared.