Graeme

How long can David keep fooling himself? He's a human being. I'd say he's quite capable of doing so for a very long time...

No, they don't. This story is actually set in and around Yarra Glen, which is just to the north of Lilydale, the setting for my Lilydale Leopards football stories. I like the area Neil and Liam from the other story live in Ringwood East, which is west of Lilydale.

If you're confused, think about how David must be feeling! He doesn't understand why people are reacting the way they are. He thinks things are so obvious that he shouldn't need to explain them. Indeed, they're so obvious (to him) that he can't explain them.

David 'not getting it' is pretty much the key to the whole story.

It's generally accepted that the most homophobic age group is the 14-18 year old males. David's right in the middle of that age range. I believe that that's changing, and teenagers today are a lot more accepting than they used to be, but this story is set in the early 2000s while there was still a lot of change in society attitudes to homosexuality.

This is the first story I ever wrote, so the start was a little clichéd and a bit hard to get through. Thanks for persevering You'll find things start to take a different direction from the next chapter

I had ideas of what would happen the following year, but nothing gelled enough for me to make a story out of it. I'm still reserving the right to do so, though, so I'm not going to say what those ideas were

That's right. Personally, I didn't think it was that scary which is why I generally don't attempt to write horror stories, but then I like Dave He's a fun character (or characters...)

Very, very well done I thought it was odd to have a first person narrative where the narrator is killed, but you handled it brilliantly. Very impressive

Why do I get the feeling that that isn't the last we've seen of Steven? Oh, well...onto the next chapter to find out if I'm right (I'm hoping I'm wrong).

Beautiful. Just beautiful

I agree with Joann and WriterJT -- Hector and Justice both have masks on and playing a role that they've assigned themselves. It's only a matter of time before one or both of those masks cracks.

While I understand his reasoning, I'm not happy with Justice in this chapter. He's playing people. He might have his reasons, he might even be justified, but it's not the action of a nice person to play with people like that. Having said that, I'll admit that I'm intrigued by his interaction with Matt. If Matt is going out with Hector, and Justice wants to be with Hector, then he's either amazingly tolerant or he's got a mental disconnect between the two items. I would've expected some sort of jealousy, but there's no sign of it at all. Unusual,but somehow very real. Well done!

Coming in late, but it's a great start to the story! I like the way you incorporated the flashbacks at appropriate times so the reader learnt the history of the characters' interactions without an info dump. Very well done!

There's one line in the following song that always brings me to tears: "Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon" -- the highs and lows of humanity put side-by-side. Another song that also always brings me to tears -- I can just remember the event. I was eleven-years-old: That song was written, recorded, and published within a few weeks of the disaster. All proceeds went to the Cyclone Tracey disaster fund. It was a Number one hit in Australia.

I think it all gets down to "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". For those who go to a gym, I think there's a bias toward beauty being strongly related to physical fitness and body shape. For those who go to bars/nightclubs, I think there's a similar initial bias because to attract attention they need to stand out. Afterwards, though, and in other settings, additional factors (like personality) can come into play, but they usually require having made contact first. In a bar/nightclub that initial contact is based on appearance. In other settings, it can a wide variety of factors (such as a shared interest in reading gay fiction at GA )

To be honest, I didn't know Todd would become such a vital character, either. I knew in broad terms what was going to happen, but as to which character(s) stepped up to the plate to do the job, that was a surprise to me, too As for Peter, he knows that Dave has psychological problems. He doesn't know the details, but he realises that even knowing that is something that needs to be kept private.

Thank you! I try not to include too much football in the story, especially since it won't be easily understood by a lot of readers, but I intend to continue to drop in details of the games from time to time. As for Neil, I'll just say that I like complex characters.

I haven't read this thread until now, but since I'm about to disappear for dinner to celebrate my 24th wedding anniversary, I thought I should say something.... In the general case, no, I don't think I would want to use this process. As many people have said, being gay is part of who I am. In my particular case, though, yes, I would use it. Why? Very simply, I'm married to a wonderful woman who I put through hell 10 years ago when I came out to her. In my own way, I love her and I definitely respect her. I would take this process to become straight for her. If I was single, no, but I'm not single. She (unknowingly) sacrificed a lot by becoming married to a gay guy, and then (knowingly) sacrificed more by staying with me when I came out to her. That deserves a sacrifice on my side, and if I could become straight for her, I would. Not for anyone else...just her.

Neil was quietly excited. He had done his best to be professional with Jim throughout the day, but now that it was Friday night, he felt he could relax. Oliver had picked him up from the store at five and had taken him back to the Bronson Avenue home Oliver shared with Todd and Paul. There, Neil had left his bag containing toiletries and clothes in Todd’s room. At Oliver’s suggestion, he had changed into a more casual set of clothing while waiting for Todd to arrive. The four headed off to the

While I agree with your reasoning (and, keeping this relevant to the thread, it's also probably true with gyms), I have to point out that in many places bars and clubs are their own culture. I remember speaking to a gay guy in Sydney who avoids the heart of the gay district because the culture there isn't something he likes. His comment was that things were very shallow there. He prefers to be part of an out gay couple in the suburbs where the culture is different. For gay bar and club culture, I would agree with your statement. For gyms, I think it's probably true, too. For the wider community, I think it's not as strong.

Thank you! Neil and Liam are looking for different things from Jim, so it's not surprising that they have different attitudes. Liam's is more the norm, but having unrealistic expectations (like Neil's) isn't exactly uncommon.

Thank you. I had a lot of fun writing that banter between the four at the restaurant. And, yes, Karen is good for Ty As for your last question, I think that's a possible maybe....

“Give me a break! Enough with this garbage. Move onto something that’s newsworthy!” Phillip Rosewood pounded a fist into the padded arm of the lounge chair. “Yeah, yeah. We know already. The fucking poofs can’t stand the heat and need to be protected. Finish up and fucking tell me something interesting!” Neil split his attention between his father’s rant and the television-news report on the agreement to wipe out homophobia in Australia’s major professional sports. The first made him cautious.

Communication It's easier today with the ability to use the Internet for video chats (eg. Skype), but it all gets down to being able to continue to share your lives with each other. Just don't expect too much -- each of you will develop new friendships while the other one is away, and that's normal. Don't resent the fact that the other person is finding new friends, because that will poison what you have. Stay in touch with each other by whatever means you have available to you, and share. That's about all I can suggest.