Post by PaulR5 on Apr 28, 2015 23:49:42 GMT -5
This story is under-appreciated, in my opinion. There are several reasons the story is better than a casual, quick reading might suggest, and I will give a few after giving the link to the story:
www.dabeagle.com/stories/collaborative/Sanitaria/rainbow.html
A) Establishes that Alec's car of the several earlier stories (before the story of Lucien and Cowboy Up) is a rusting out Nissan Sentra
B) We meet Daniel Boone Brownstone (Dan Brownstone)
C) The story deals with very pronounced loneliness AND alone-ness (These are not always the same)
D) The addresses, to some extent, the fact that many gay persons (and actually, quite a few straight or bi persons) don't always find a forever or even a long term relationship, or if they do, it may be quite a bit later in life.
E) Rainbow's End shows that younger gays and older gays can often help and give emotional support to one another across generations.
F) The story introduces Ted Kutsenko, Doug's brother, and notes that he has a goatee. Additional description includes:
...He was a good looker, windblown blonde hair, about 5' 10” going by the measuring tape on the door frame and about 170 pounds... He looked in his wallet and pulled out his bank card and handed it to me. I ran the card and printed his receipt to have him sign. He leaned on the counter and signed the slip. Hmm, a lefty.... I looked at the receipt. Theodore Kutsenko.
G) It is established that Ted has sympathy for his nephew, Alec, and what Alec went through in the first story, Sanitaria Springs.
H) Last thing I will list, and it's not even quite halfway through the story yet! Alec is supportive of both Dan and Ted, even though Alec is of a younger generation than the other two.
This is a good story. Not as gut-wrenching as some of the recent ones, but the effect of Alec on Dan Brownstone is summarized by Dan as follows while he talks to Ted---
“It's hard to change things that are what you've done for many years. It’s difficult to see good in yourself when all you’ve done has been to self-loathe every day. There were days when I’d had enough of this world and just wanted to be done. The last couple years have been better since Alec started coming to the store.” My breathing quickened as I spoke of this. I remembered when he’d started coming in. He’d almost looked scared of me. It hadn’t taken long to fix that. We’d both learned to trust....
“He was quick with the wisecracks but said nothing that stung. It took several of his ever-increasing visits but he let it slip eventually that he was gay. That let me tell him my secret and what I'm after. I also told him that he was safe with me as someone to talk with when things got rough. After that it was better.” I licked my lips and kept rubbing my hands together, another nervous tic.
“We both now had someone to talk with; even though we were a generation apart, the feelings don't change. He helped me calm down and see life as more than a struggle. He didn't really change but he's still a wiseass.” I was glad it was dark out because I felt like a mess. A nervous, jittery mess....
I won't reveal the rest, and I've left out a lot. However, a story doesn't have to be continual angst and peril to make an impact on a person who has sometimes been lonely and depressed. I can hardly wait to eventually see the effect that Lucien has on his new uncles.... Even though they don't run in Lucian and Robin's circles, and least not normally, he must surely, at this point, know who Ted and Dan are.
www.dabeagle.com/stories/collaborative/Sanitaria/rainbow.html
A) Establishes that Alec's car of the several earlier stories (before the story of Lucien and Cowboy Up) is a rusting out Nissan Sentra
B) We meet Daniel Boone Brownstone (Dan Brownstone)
C) The story deals with very pronounced loneliness AND alone-ness (These are not always the same)
D) The addresses, to some extent, the fact that many gay persons (and actually, quite a few straight or bi persons) don't always find a forever or even a long term relationship, or if they do, it may be quite a bit later in life.
E) Rainbow's End shows that younger gays and older gays can often help and give emotional support to one another across generations.
F) The story introduces Ted Kutsenko, Doug's brother, and notes that he has a goatee. Additional description includes:
...He was a good looker, windblown blonde hair, about 5' 10” going by the measuring tape on the door frame and about 170 pounds... He looked in his wallet and pulled out his bank card and handed it to me. I ran the card and printed his receipt to have him sign. He leaned on the counter and signed the slip. Hmm, a lefty.... I looked at the receipt. Theodore Kutsenko.
G) It is established that Ted has sympathy for his nephew, Alec, and what Alec went through in the first story, Sanitaria Springs.
H) Last thing I will list, and it's not even quite halfway through the story yet! Alec is supportive of both Dan and Ted, even though Alec is of a younger generation than the other two.
This is a good story. Not as gut-wrenching as some of the recent ones, but the effect of Alec on Dan Brownstone is summarized by Dan as follows while he talks to Ted---
“It's hard to change things that are what you've done for many years. It’s difficult to see good in yourself when all you’ve done has been to self-loathe every day. There were days when I’d had enough of this world and just wanted to be done. The last couple years have been better since Alec started coming to the store.” My breathing quickened as I spoke of this. I remembered when he’d started coming in. He’d almost looked scared of me. It hadn’t taken long to fix that. We’d both learned to trust....
“He was quick with the wisecracks but said nothing that stung. It took several of his ever-increasing visits but he let it slip eventually that he was gay. That let me tell him my secret and what I'm after. I also told him that he was safe with me as someone to talk with when things got rough. After that it was better.” I licked my lips and kept rubbing my hands together, another nervous tic.
“We both now had someone to talk with; even though we were a generation apart, the feelings don't change. He helped me calm down and see life as more than a struggle. He didn't really change but he's still a wiseass.” I was glad it was dark out because I felt like a mess. A nervous, jittery mess....
I won't reveal the rest, and I've left out a lot. However, a story doesn't have to be continual angst and peril to make an impact on a person who has sometimes been lonely and depressed. I can hardly wait to eventually see the effect that Lucien has on his new uncles.... Even though they don't run in Lucian and Robin's circles, and least not normally, he must surely, at this point, know who Ted and Dan are.
Now I'm stuck with it, Lug!Oh well, I killed it off recently and gave him a VW.