[Altimexis] Wishful Linking by Altimexis

[Graeme]

Wishful Linking by Altimexis

The past comes to life as two boys, linked through their 22nd century implants, dream of a brutal gay bashing. But is the past really the past, or was it the future that was just a dream? If find their way back, might they then save what little is left of gay culture?

 

 

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

[Graeme]

The opening of this story really set the scene with it's precise details. Even though I don't know a lot about American football, I found the description of the initial game fascinating.

 

Then we get into the story proper, where we find that Gary is amongst the last generation of gays. Future technology allowing parents to choose that their children will be straight has doomed the homosexual community to being an even smaller fraction than they are now.

 

The first exchange between Gary and Brian was priceless. I have to admit that I wouldn't mind downloading a copy of 'Gaydar' myself, though I suspect it's not commercially available yet. Maybe in another fifty years....

 

One of the things I noticed was Gary's inconsistency between what he told his dad and what he did. He asked the question in the narration about "why do parents feel they have to stick their noses into our non-existent sex lives?" He had just told his dad that he'll wait until he knows it's right. Later that same day he's having sex with his new boyfriend, starting with what sounded like an intriguing version of cyber sex.

 

Then we get the shock change to the present day. Needless to say, Gary is confused.

 

I found the coach in the 2008 scene an interesting character. He opens up with some blatantly homophobic remarks, but later on we find that he knows about the relationship between the two guys and actively supports them in front of the rest of the team. Was his earlier behaviour an act, or did he divorce in his mind the words and the thoughts? Did he see what he was saying as homophobic, or just standard insults that have no meaning?

 

Thanks, Altimexis. It was thoroughly enjoyable tale.

[J_Ross]

It was sweet. I agree with Graeme, I loved the beginning football scene, it was really interesting. I wondered, at first, about all of the exact measurements...why they were all so precise, but I really liked the scene after the implants were mentioned. I love that idea and I love how the implants changed the way the game is played. I liked the differences between this game and the game in 2008, it was all really intriguing. The boys are love, obviously, *cuddles Gary* but I really loved comparing the two different times. So much had changed between 2008 and...what was it...definitely after 2086, right? *shrug* I thought it was interesting that, even though people are much more tolerant later, gays are almost nonexistant with the heterosexual drugs being administered. It was an interesting idea and one that made me think, especially after the drugs that would do the opposite were mentioned. I don't agree with either one, but it did make me think.

 

And the dream...the 2008 scene with Chris, or rather, waking up from the dream and finding out more about what happened...it was really touching.

Anyway, I liked it. A lot. All of the little details and the thought that must have gone into writing it...it was amazing, imo. Kudos.

 

I found the coach in the 2008 scene an interesting character. He opens up with some blatantly homophobic remarks, but later on we find that he knows about the relationship between the two guys and actively supports them in front of the rest of the team. Was his earlier behaviour an act, or did he divorce in his mind the words and the thoughts? Did he see what he was saying as homophobic, or just standard insults that have no meaning?

Lol, I thought it was just standard 'sports talk'. I've heard quite a few people that weren't homophobic at all talk like that during sports.

[Graeme]

Lol, I thought it was just standard 'sports talk'. I've heard quite a few people that weren't homophobic at all talk like that during sports.

But aren't those comments what we normally consider to be homophobic? They were certainly intended to be insulting -- I agree that that is 'standard sports talk', but does that make it acceptable?

 

I'm not giving my own personal opinion on the matter, but I'm interested in how others perceive this.

[J_Ross]

But aren't those comments what we normally consider to be homophobic? They were certainly intended to be insulting -- I agree that that is 'standard sports talk', but does that make it acceptable?

 

I'm not giving my own personal opinion on the matter, but I'm interested in how others perceive this.

I'm not sure I'm going to say this right, but I'll do my best. *sigh* I'm not at all an articulate person... Apologies in advance, I'm almost positive this won't make a lick of sense...

 

Acceptible? No, I don't agree with the use of the words. I just don't think he meant anything by it. I mean, obviously, he wanted to insult the other team, but it didn't have anything to do with their sexuality.

 

We all know that the none of the words actually mean 'gay', they're just used to make people that are feel weak, or less than, or sissy-like. I actually liked that he used the words in reference to the other team, knowing that he had two gay boys on his team. For me, it made him seem LESS homophobic. He doesn't think his boys are less than, he thinks a team of boys that (for all he knows) are all straight are 'weaker' (fairies) than his boys, two of which he KNOWS are gay. He knows he has two gay boys on his team and he calls the OTHER team fairies?

 

Like, being a 'fairy' has nothing to do with being gay. I like that.

 

I also like that he didn't hesitate to use them. He wasn't careful for the sake of the two boys on his team, almost like he really doesn't think the words apply to them at all, but I could be reading into it a little to much.

[David McLeod]

I saw the precision of the numbers as metaphors for the intractable certainty of the "religious right." Look beyond the words and figures: measuring distances to only two decimal places? Think Zeno's paradox, and realize what ca-ca both the measurements (and the certainty of the right) are.

[Altimexis]

Precision measurements, the paradox of name calling by a coach who accepts that he has gay team members. And what about a Vatican that recognizes gay marriage, welcomes women as priests and lets priests marry. I guess that means they accept gay priests, too. The contrasts between the early 22nd century and the early 21st century certainly are stark, at least as I've portrayed them in this story! So which was the dream and which was the reality? I've written it from the standpoint of the future, but it could have just as easily been the other way around - in fact, in a sense it really was, wasn't it? After all, the future really is my dream, isn't it?

 

The precision measurements are a bit of a ruse - there's no way measurements can be that accurate when it comes to a football on a field, so the significance is really their lack of significance. All of that technology and the fancy implants can generate numbers, but what do they really mean. That was the real point of including all those decimal places - I wanted to show what technology could do in the 23rd century, and yet show how truly meaningless it really was.

 

The name calling was meant to draw attention to the stark differences between the two centuries. Such name calling is still commonplace in the Midwest and South, even today. It shouldn't be, but it is. Probably many other places, too. I'm not a jock by any means, so I can't speak from personal experience, but I've heard enough from people who do have personal experience to believe this sort of thing still continues. I'll gladly remove the words if someone can tell me that I'm wrong.

 

Thanks for all your comments and feedback. I started writing this story over a year ago when the idea came to me while watching a Star Trek DVD. I thought to myself, 'we won't be fighting the Borg . . . we will be the Borg.' The anthology gave me a reason to finish the story, and it was in response to it that I wrote the second part.

 

I never got a chance to be a direct part of gay culture, but these stories are now giving me a chance to make a contribution. It's up to us to make sure that society never is given the opportunity to decide what constitutes normal.

[wildone]

I really enjoyed this story, as I kind of looked at it the same way you mentioned Altimexis, is it a dream of the past, or a dream of the future. Either way it made me think.

 

As far as the coach and his comments, this might be an interesting forum topic. I recently was with my fourteen year old goddaughter, and the going lingo is "That's gay", "Your gay", "Don't be so gay". I finally asked her why she said it so much, and her initial reply was that it was how everybody talked. So I pressed her a bit more, and she said that it is just a word, it doesn't mean anything when you say it, same as saying stupid or dumb. When I asked her if that means all gay people are stupid or dumb, she told me that I had taken all the fun out of saying it . I let it drop after that.

 

Playing sports when I was younger and still some semi competitive sports, I have to admit that the language is still used regularly. I think maybe back when I was a teen, opposing players or even team mates using it kind of was a mental attack. Nobody wanted to be labeled as a fag, even if you were one. As the years continued on, I think most people use the term without even thinking about it. It doesn't intimidate me or others once you are past the teen years.

 

Is it wrong, I'd say yes. It is no more appropriate than using racial slurs in the 60's and 70's when they were probably just considered part of the language. Does it bother me personally, probably not. I guess you have to look at the intent of the words, are they meant to be hateful or derogatory? I think in most cases it's not the case.

 

Anyways, enough from me.

 

Thanks for the story , and if you happen to get together with a great computer programmer and happen to write a 'gaydar' program, just let me in on the IPO .

 

Steve

[C James]

The first thing that caught my eye was the mention of the temperature.. to the hundredth of a degree! That was a very clever way to gradually introduce the reader to the implants. I loved it.

 

Thanks, Altimexis, for a very unique and enjoyable glimpse at a possible future. It certainly raises many issues.