heya. thanks for the kind words and thank you for taking the project seriously. You seem to have picked up on the gravity of a lot of the things that I wanted to share and make various points about within the story. a lot of people have wanted to see a movie or TV series on this thing and I think it would be fun, too; despite me probably being a very difficult person to work with in terms of casting, music, or even writing changes. lol
Now, on to your title suggestion...
[Spoilers Below]
The story title has been pretty well set from the start and was pretty purposeful and there's a lot of nods to various aspects of the story. I felt like a lot of LGBT media that I was exposed to had traditionally much more feminine or flamboyant examples as a lifestyle and that wasn't something that I could ever relate to personally. While I had some pretty severe closet tendencies, there were other traits and interests that were things I actually enjoyed that were not a projection of my own suppressed instincts. I didn't like the implication that for me to truly accept my sexuality, I was supposed to act like traditional depictions that I had seen in the media. I wanted to depict a lifestyle where the characters could have less stereotypical traits related to their sexuality and outwardly learn to express those in a healthy way and normalize that as a lifestyle option that was just as valid as any other lifestyle that truly captures who we are as individuals.
Hence, the use of the word "straight" in the title with question marks and exclamations. There's another point in the story that alludes to the title in which both Zack and Braden are referenced as literally being like the question mark and the exclamation point themselves. Another nod to the title is that the original game cover shows Braden instead Zack. This calls into question a large part of the story is just diving into where Braden falls on the spectrum. I think assuming that Braden is just a closet case is a very toxic way to view his character and the writing addresses that a few different times. Braden's sexuality, like a lot of people's preference, is way more complex than just being Straight or Gay and it's sorta left up to the reader ( I have my own head canon).
[End of Spoilers]
The word "straight" is also in red throughout the story. I did a public post on my Patreon page regarding why I did this that you can find here.
However, all that being said: I do appreciate your reference to the buckeye tree. it was a fun addition and was a personal way for me to sorta conceptualize how polarizing concepts can both be true within nature. Unfortunately, that scene, like much of this story was never planned and was written one chapter at a time. And while I always knew the ending of the story, I never knew anything that happened before it. I just knew where it stopped. Literally made that buckeye shit up right at the end of the story, lol :p