[Altimexis] Scout's Honor by Altimexis

[Graeme]

Scout's Honor by Altimexis

 

Lyle is excited about the prospects of a state basketball championship and the near certainty of college scouts offereing a scholarship, until he and Carrie are outed.

 

 

:nuke: :nuke: Spoilers Below!!! :nuke: :nuke:

[Nephylim]

I have to admit that I have no interest whatever in basketball. I did find the game description distracting but I am sure that if someone reads it who knows what you are talking about it will be fascinating. The story as a whole however was very interesting and I certainly enjoyed that. I thought the ending was particularly good... very inspirational.

[sat8997]

Another fine installment to your Naptown Tales. I like these very much.

[Tiger]

I agree with Sharon. It's very true that sports tend to have a lot of homophobia, and I really liked Lyle's attitude. He was in it to win it, and he wasn't about to let anything take him away from his dreams.

[Cia]

Lyle was dedicated to many things in this story. His ideal of who he was and who he wanted to be, what he wanted from life, both personally, academically and professionally. Not to mention, Carrie/Cam. I love the fact that they were facing a huge amount of adversity and phobia but they rose above. If he had not had that commitment to be himself to others, namely by being honest about being gay to his coaches, team and friends the support that he was given might not have been there. There really is something to be said for knowing who you are and being that person as much as you can. Great story!!!

 

 

[Sam Fowler]

Now that I'm back working full time I'm trying to read a story each night.

I don't care for any sport, because having a heart condition, I've never been able to play them, but your story was wonderful. I'm truely glad that in todays world young people are so much more accepting of gays than in my youth.

Your story reminded me of "The Front Runner" by Patricia Nell Warren, except that your's had a happy ending rather than a tragic one.

I'm glad to see the progress in our acceptance in the world, and I hope it continues. I'd love to see same sex marriage legal in all fifty states in the U.S. in my lifetime. Even though I may not be able to be among the people sharing this right, I truely want to see it happen for future generations.

[Altimexis]

Thanks very much for all your comments. I'm glad people liked the story. To be honest, I'm not at all a sports enthusiast myself. In fact, my father was such an avid sports fan that he literally couldn't even talk to anyone when he was watching a game. As much as I loved him and as wonderful a father as he was, his sports obsession completely turned me off of all athletics. I could care less about the Superbowl etc.

 

It's kind of ironic that I've written three stories revolving around sports, and a substantial portion of a fourth is on the way. Wishful Linking and Fagball are about football, Scouts' Honor is about basketball, and a sizable chunk of one of the chapters in the 7-part Naptown Tales Finale,

[D and B]

Scouts'Honor was excellent. Though I don't know baskeball as a game at all well, the mode of portraying Lyle as a standout player by throwing in undefined terminology was not obtrusive, and it was again a story of character development and "the good guys winning against bigotry" that is Altimexus' forte. I was a trifle disappointed in the last two stories -- they were good writing, to be sure, but seemed almost like interior chapters in a multichapter story rather than short stories with a common setting and shared characters, the thing that makes Naptown Tales stand out. This one worked where they did not, or not anywhere near as well.

[amBIguoustwo]

Excellent story. Thanks for sharing your writing.

[Altimexis]

Scouts'Honor was excellent. Though I don't know baskeball as a game at all well, the mode of portraying Lyle as a standout player by throwing in undefined terminology was not obtrusive, and it was again a story of character development and "the good guys winning against bigotry" that is Altimexus' forte. I was a trifle disappointed in the last two stories -- they were good writing, to be sure, but seemed almost like interior chapters in a multichapter story rather than short stories with a common setting and shared characters, the thing that makes Naptown Tales stand out. This one worked where they did not, or not anywhere near as well.

 

Thanks for being honest about my other stories. You're right about A New Beginning - it was written largely to tie up loose ends and so it tends to stand less on its own than the other stories in the series. That story got very mixed reviews and I did end up making a few changes based on the comments I received, but the plot had a disturbing element that probably seemed out of place to most readers compared to my other Naptown Tales. My stories tend to write themselves - once I create the characters, the direction the story takes is determined largely by the choices I think they would make, which often takes a story in an unanticipated direction.