The Priceless

[Circle]

Hey there,

 

My name's Circle and this is my first story here on this site. It was written some two years ago when I was still struggling with my own sexuality. This story is the result of being recently influenced by great masterpieces of English literature, and drawing upon real life experiences. The story is finished, and is around 10k words long, told in two parts.

 

In essence it is a love story, about how far someone would go for someone they love. It's also about a teenager's attempt to better understand the world he's in.

 

Ladies and gentleman, here I bring you the happy story of The Priceless:

https://www.gayauthors.org/story/circle/thepriceless

 

 

Here you may leave comments, feedback, or discuss any parts of the story that is worth discussing.

 

This story means different thing to different people, so I'm looking forward to your views

[Andrew Q Gordon]

Ok since I 'requested' you start this topic, I figured I ought to be the first to comment.

 

I left you a short review on the story but here are some questions I had -

 

Danny is the narrator - and it is interesting how long we go before we know his name or even anything about him - at first I thought he was in love with David - but you dispelled that theory. Was he in love with Kipplin? Clearly he hero worshiped Kipplin, but was there more? I didn't get that sense, especially when he suggested he could try again - until he saw 99 Farming. [which was somewhat brilliant by the way - more in a second on that.] So at the end/beginning, is Danny questioning his own sexuality or just the mystery of love in general?

 

The whole metaphor you used with Farming was really quite good. And as I said the 99 Farming to symbolize Kipplin's giving up his desire was very well done - after his description of farming and his approach - the idea that he took it as far as he could take it showed us he was finished with this obsession/objective. Right?

 

Your portrayal of David and his interaction with his 'girlfriend' was telling - was that a bit of self reflection or just an attempt to minimize David as a character - clearly his whole - whatever, I don't like her that much but she is fun to have sex with so I'm gonna run with it - was a bit cynical, accurate perhaps but still cynical.

 

Last what was interesting to me was why would Danny think that David - a heterosexual male to all outward appearances, would be interested in Kipplin romantically just because Kipplin put all this effort into impressing David - or was he just hoping David would renew their friendship??

 

Okay enough - what's next from you??

 

Andy

[Circle]

Danny is indeed the narrator and the reason I withheld his name was the idea that we don't actually need to get to know a character by name - name isn't the first thing that identifies a person in my writing, and since the name itself doesn't mean anything important, it serves as just an extra piece of information which can be gradually built in. In other words, I want the reader to get to know the character first, to establish a connection to his mind, but in the same time not to leave my readers in the dark for too long. This is just one way to avoid giving too much information in the beginning of a story, I think.

 

 

 

Danny certainly give the impression of being in love with David, but he wasn't, really. Perhaps he was 'feeling' this for Kipplin, that ultimately he was forced from being neutral, or that the Danny who was reporting this event (Not the Danny who was in the scene, by the way) was trying to evoke in the reader some sort of sympathy for Kipplin. There are many ways this could be interpreted.

 

 

 

As for Danny's relationship with Kipplin, it could be summed up by these descriptions:

 

 

 

"From that day, Kipplin was my employer, legend and friend. I worshipped him, looked up to him."

 

 

 

"I do not enjoy writing, but I’m writing this out of duty, a fierce sense of obligation, or charity, as a finalact of kindness, so that others will know this is what happened, and this is the least I can do, if not the last, for Kipplin."

 

 

 

As for the sexual orientation of Danny, I shall leave that to my readers' imagination . The narrator Danny is aware that his orientation, or his own feelings, is irrelevant to the story. As he said, he really was just one of the culprits who had made this possible. What is relevant though, is Alex's feelings for David, and Danny is a witness to that. Our narrator admitted he'd never experienced love, or gave it much thought until that day. Or maybe what Danny has is simply a compassion for a good friend?

 

 

 

Level 99 in any skill is supposed to be celebrated, but in this respect it has turned to symbolise an end of a journey. That Alex had proven his worth and determination, and perseverance, to love. But as towards the end suggests, in the end, to everyone else, it was just game data that means nothing. His love was on there, quantified by numbers. It was there on the Hiscore, it means nothing. Danny the narrator is begging the reader to see something more.

 

Danny is, at best, an unreliable narrator, if not both unreliable and biased. After the event, he is completely on Alex's side, and had a very low opinion of David. His retelling of the story would be completely clouded by that, and this may be the cynicism you detected. He of course, can only comment on what he sees, which is that Alex had worked this much and Jenna didn't seem to work as much for David. Danny of course, don't really know what it means to be David, and he wouldn't know if there were moments of love he'd missed. Of course, if they do genuinely love each other, it would undermine Danny's argument dramatically.

 

 

 

The point I tried to raise was, what *is*love? Danny has seen two different interpretations of it, and yet, when living in a world where in some places homosexual love is looked down upon, giving this example could turn that argument around and say, no 'side' is more credible than the other.

 

 

 

Remember, when I wrote this over two years ago (And it's more difficult now for me to answer questions because I'd simply forgotten some of my intentions at the time ), I wrote this for a gaming forum where the majority is straight, American kids, and some with extraordinary narrow-minded views. The purpose of this story is to challenge that idea.

 

 

 

Mmm...Good question. Perhaps Danny didn't think David would really 'love' Kipplin, but just make up, you know? Danny saw Kipplin being so hurt and his life so messed up because he couldn't get this right with David, and they'd lost all contact, Danny feels it was in his place to fix this for him. According to Kipplin, David loved him, in the past. Maybe Danny thought David would have him back, after surely what must have been a genuine display of love?

 

 

 

And in the end, what is 'The Priceless'?

 

 

 

As for what's next from me, it will be something I'd written more recently, about four months ago. A bit longer than this, and has a bit more depth.