What is it about charming, yet scruffy, bow-and-arrow-toting guys and sword-bearing monarchs with perfectly chiseled torsos? History’s legends have never been hotter or more desirable than the current interpretations of Robin Hood and King Henry VIII by Jonas Armstrong and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, respectively.

Both of these actors bring new and innovative depth to their characters. Jonas Armstrong portrays a Robin Hood that you instantly fall in love with. Just the kind of good boy you want to bring home to meet your mom. I wasn’t sure I was going to like the new BBC series ‘Robin Hood’ for all of its action and adventure, but only after a few minutes of being seduced by the charm and wit Armstrong brings to the character, I was hooked. Robin, forget women, forget Maid Marian! I am available!

Jonathan Rhys-Meyers’ King Henry, on the other hand, is the bad boy you definitely don’t want to bring home to mom, in fact you want to keep him far away from her! Who knew eating a pomegranate could be so sexually charged? I’m sure Martha Stewart never imagined it when she was preparing pomegranates for holiday cooking. Which leads me to why we would WANT to bring Henry home… to uhm… cook with. I was never overly fond of Jonathan, but I’ve changed my tune as I’ve seen his finely honed craft and charisma shine in his portrayal of Henry in Showtime’s ‘The Tudors.’

These two guys have made me look back on childhood loves with an entirely new set of eyes. I would shoot bow arrows with friends and being the nerdy kid I was, I loved Elizabethan lute music (all Renaissance music in general). Where were these guys 18 years ago for a closeted gay boy’s fantasies to run wild with?