Thank you to everyone who has been reading Brutal! It's taken me a really long time to write this (and rewrite it and rewrite it...). I wanted to give a little background behind this story and why I wrote it.
Basically, Clareview is an exaggerated version of the town I grew up in: very conservative, religious, all that jazz. Mayford (the town where the club is located) is based on a town about an hour outside of where I lived, which is essentially the polar opposite of my hometown.
I never really fit in with anyone growing up. People didn't understand me, and I didn't understand them. I dealt with a lot of anxiety and depression throughout my childhood, a symptom of living somewhere that made me feel so isolated.
Then, when I went away to a large, liberal university, I met someone who would later become my best friend. He was gay, but he was also so much more than that. I remember wishing that I'd had a friend like him growing up, someone who was so unapologetically themself.
Our friend group would go to a local club that had pride nights to watch drag queens perform. Going away to college where I could meet people like him and people who understood me changed my life.
So, this story is my love letter to not only gay men, but to any LGBTQ+ people who grew up around those who didn't accept them for who they are. Just keep holding on. Because one day, someone will walk into your life and change it forever. â¤ï¸
Nova