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megpie71 · 5 years

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Why I don’t ship Clerith

(Because what the hell, I may as well get this out here before the fun and games start next year, and I have to fight off Clerith shippers with a bat)

I think I've worked out the problem I have with Cloud/Aerith shipping, as far as I'm concerned.

[Clarification: this is why I have trouble with it, and won't write it. I'm not saying other people can't, just that I do have issues with it, and therefore don't particularly like reading it, and I've sort of worked out why.]

Now, there are two predominant "schools" of people who ship Cloud with Aerith. One of those is what I'd call OT3/OT4 fandom, where firstly, the relationship is happening prior to the Nibelheim event, and generally there's at least Zack mixed in to the bundle (sometimes with the addition of Sephiroth, to make the OT4), and it's generally a bisexual threesome at least. And yeah, that one I find vaguely believable.

[Could all the anti-shippers who just leapt to their feet shrieking "paedophillia!" because Cloud is canonically somewhere between 14 and 16 in this 'ship, kindly sit the fuck back down again? Cloud Strife may only be 14 years old, but he is a functional adult in his society, taking on an adult role (member of the army of the One World Government). He would greatly resent any implication he is a "child", because he gave up being a "child" when he left Nibelheim to join the army. Also, in the OT3 version, Aerith is about 15 - 17 years old, Zack is between 16 and 18 years old. None of them are "adults" as we'd define it in Western Eurocentric cultures, but all of them are "adults" according to their own cultural system that they grew up in. As such, they think of themselves as being adults, they consider themselves to be adults, and given they're performing adult roles for at least two years by the time the Nibelheim event comes along, they're not going to step back into childhood again, either. If you're going to bitch about this, then start by bitching at the original writers working for Square Enix well before you start bitching at fanwriters, okay?

This is also leaving aside the cheerful fact that "adulthood" norms are generally socially and culturally determined. So, for example, my maternal grandmother became a functional "adult" at the age of 14, when she came out on a boat from England to Australia in order to find work (accompanied by her 16 year old sister); my mother became a functional "adult" at the age of 16, when she finished her third year of high school and started working; and I became a functional "adult" at the age of 18, when I reached the legal age to vote and drink, even though I didn't have a full-time job and I was still living with my parents at the time. My paternal grandfather joined the British army at the age of 12 (as a drummer boy, toward the end of World War 1). What counts as "adult" is culturally and socially determined, and never a fixed point of reference.]

I can find it very believable that Cloud would get involved in a relationship with two people who are roughly around his own age, and that it would be a Good Thing in his life at the time. He's going through puberty, he's behaving as an adult in his society, he would be doing adult things, including sex and possibly alcohol (although my head-canon is that Cloud is incredibly disappointed with Midgarian beer the first time he tries it, and refers to it as "sex in a canoe" ever after - fucking close to water. He grew up drinking applejack and brandywine as antifreeze since shortly after he could first toddle).

The other "school" of people who ship Cloud and Aerith tend to place the potential relationship during the canon time period of the original game, starting not long after Cloud rescues Aerith from the Turks in the church. Now, I have a lot of problems with that one.

Firstly, I doubt Aerith would really be interested in a relationship. It's made reasonably clear at the end of Crisis Core (and in "The Last Order" OVA) that Aerith knows when Zack was killed - she feels his spirit rejoin the Lifestream because she is who and what she is. So her first serious boyfriend has died, she knows he's died, and you can't kid me she wouldn't be grieving as a result. So I don't think Aerith is in the right emotional place to be starting a relationship.

As for Cloud... oh gods. No. Hell no. So much no.

Cloud is, at the point where he meets Aerith, a psychological mess beyond belief. He has been incredibly traumatised, first by multiple years of experimentation, then by prolonged mako poisoning, and then finally, just as he's starting to come out of that, by seeing his best (only?) friend destroyed in front of him by pretty much the whole damn Shinra army. Zack dies in his arms, and the best interpretation of what happens next is Cloud's mind, overwhelmed by the emotional and sensory overload of dealing with this (because he's not just waking up from mako poisoning, he's waking up from mako poisoning with Sephiroth-level SOLDIER enhancement, which means his sensory matrix has been boosted sight out of mind as well) basically shuts down completely on a conscious level, and wipes the memory, adding traumatic amnesia to the whole mix. When he re-awakens, he re-patterns himself on a combination of Zack's memory, what he remembers of Sephiroth, and what he thinks a First Class SOLDIER should be like.

Now, mix in that Cloud Strife is carrying around the Buster Sword the first time Aerith meets him, in the plaza in sector eight, just after Reactor One has exploded. Aerith knows what the Buster Sword is, she knows what it meant to Zack and she knew why it meant that. So seeing it on someone else's back is probably a very nasty reminder to her that Zack isn't coming back. She doesn't know why Cloud is wearing it, and I doubt in the shock of the moment (let's not forget: massive explosion about five to ten minutes previously, people running around the square like headless chickens the whole time, she's probably not really thinking all that clearly to begin with, and given Mako is also the Lifestream, she's probably felt a profound disturbance in the localised lifestream flows thanks to the destruction of the mako reactor, which may well have knocked her sideways as well!) she's really able to do much more than recognise it, feel the shock of the recognition, and move on to the next part of the interaction.

The second time Cloud and Aerith meet (and if you're familiar with Crisis Core canon, the second time someone drops through the roof of the Church down onto her flowerbed - if not, go look up who the first example was) she's a bit more capable of sustained thought past the shock. So she sees it's the same guy with the Buster Sword, and this time, she's determined he isn't going to vanish on her, because there's something hinky going on here. It gets even weirder for her when you consider Cloud is channelling a lot of Zack's mannerisms in order to be able to get through the encounter himself (I have a strong suspicion Cloud is dissociating continuously throughout at least the first five "days" of the game). So she "hires" this strange guy as her "bodyguard", gets him away from the Turks who appear to have turned up to collect him (and really, it's much more likely at first approximation that the Turks and troopers are there to collect Cloud, given the ambush President Shinra staged at Reactor Four), takes him home with her, and deliberately makes sure she's able to keep an eye on him by following him back to Sector Seven. Or at least, that's the plan.

I really don't think Cloud would be an attractive partner for Aerith at that point - not with her grief still fresh in her mind, and with his uncanny behavioural resemblance to Zack. I think Cloud would be much more likely to creep her the fuck out, rather than turn her on sexually. And as for Cloud, my head-canon for him is he probably isn't even masturbating at this point in his life - his mind is basically about fifty-seven different types of trauma all shaken up into a constant waking nightmare. He might have a few wet dreams when the physical pressure gets too great, but he's not even thinking of himself as a sexual being at this point, and certainly not in a space where he'd be interested in an actual relationship. The flirting is mechanical (and probably comes across as same, too) and I really don't think he would have been physically capable of following through, so to speak. (Cloud, to my mind, won't be ready for a relationship until about two or three years down the line after the end of Advent Children, if then).

So no, I don't think it's possible for Cloud and Aerith to be involved in a relationship at that point. Not even if they'd been involved in one prior to the Nibelheim event. (Actually, in that particular case it would be even more traumatic for both of them - Aerith knows Cloud, but can't tell him because it would hurt him more than he can handle; he's constantly dissociating and suffering from traumatic amnesia, and he's only just got out of a state of complete catatonia - learning the truth in such a fashion would just knock him straight back there, and they need him upright and functioning. Plus it's physically safer for him if he learns the truth of the matter slowly - if he went catatonic... well, that could very well dump him right back into Hojo's hands again, since it's a fair bet Shinra owns the majority of the medical facilities in the world).

Then Sephiroth damn near manipulates Cloud into killing Aerith, and when that doesn't work, Sephiroth kills her himself, right in front of Cloud. If you tell me that wouldn't be the cue for a massive attack of the guilts on Cloud's part, I'm going to ask what the merry hells you're on, because I need my doctor to prescribe me some of that.

#ff7 #why I don't ship Clerith #why I don't ship Cloud with anyone in-game #have some psychological realism #have some socio-cultural realism too #Yeah I'm stirring the pot #I figure I'll get in early before the rush starts

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drown-in-lava-choke-on-rubies · 5 years

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Character Creation Tag

Man, I am late here, how long has this been, A MONTH??? Oh goodness. I’m sorry for not responding to this earlier. I’ve been pretty down in the dumps for some time now, and though I wanted to get involved in tag games, I couldn’t find the energy to do so.

I’m gonna try to catch up now that school’s off my back, so without further ado, let’s get to the questions. Tagged by the ever-lovely @mediocre-prose, thank you so much! This will be about Marybell Aker.

1. What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering? (Name, appearance, backstory, etc.)

Her love of cinema. I wanted a character to gush about movies through, so it was the first thing I thought of and the one I refuse to change about her.

2. Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind?

Nope. She was one of the first, so I had a blank canvas to work with.

3. How did you choose their name?

I have a list of names that I like in one of my notebooks, and Marybell was close to the top. It was either that or Beatrice, but I don’t think it suits her quite right.

4. In developing their backstory, what elements of the world they lived in played the most influential parts?

Well, Copperton is a pretty shitty place to live in; all the toxicity of conservative communities wrapped in elitism, with the extra punch of having many POC or LGBTQ+ who are stuck there either for work or lack thereof. The whole environment plays a big part in both the kids’ and the adults’ lives; and as an autistic aromantic girl, she was no exception.

Her parents might have been more liberal than she gives them credit for, but even they were pretty passive aggressive over her becoming the subject of church-gossip. And though some people stuck up for her, when their ass was on the line you wouldn’t see them try to help much. This all made her close herself off from everyone around her. Even after she resurfaced, she kept trying to suppress who she was, in hopes of being accepted.

5. Is there any significance behind their hair color?

Nope.

6. Is there any significance behind their eye color?

Na-ah.

7. Is there any significance behind their height?

She’s pretty average, so no.

8. What (if anything) do you relate to within their character/story?

Bell spends a good part of the story fighting off her anxiety and trying to maintain healthy friendships after spending a while in isolation, and as I’m currently crawling out of that dark pit myself, I think I’m writing what I wish I had the strength to do. I can relate to most of her struggles, but by the time the events of the book take place, she is much further down the road of recovery and they are much more toned down.

9. Are they based off of you in some way?

I’m a perfectionist who loves cinema and has an odd sleep schedule, but unlike her, I don’t rely on coffee. I power through my day through force of anxiety.

10. Did you know what the OC’s sexuality would be at the time of their creation?

No, I changed through a hundred different ones on the first day. She’s aromantic/bisexual right now, and I think it fits best with her overall story to keep it that way.

11. What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art: writing, drawing, edits, etc.)

Remember that perfectionism from a while ago? Well… art is off the table. And face-claims are going to kill me in my sleep, why do they have to be so HARD?

12. How past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all?

10 or so years before, since her backstory with some of the other characters goes pretty far behind.

13. If you had to narrow it down to 2 things you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?

a) Her relationships with other characters, since who you’re on good terms with is a pretty big deal in her world.

b) Her past, cause it shaped both who she is and how she views the world and others around her.

14. What is something about your OC that can make you laugh?

She’s a really awful dancer but still loves to dance to her favorite songs when she’s alone or in trusted company. I find it both cute and funny.

15. What is something about your OC that can make you cry?

Bell had spent a while isolated from her peers, looking at the connections other people made and thinking she’d never have something like that. Now that, after going through hell to overcome her fears, she has people around her who she can call friends; she is desperate to keep them, no matter what she has to do. And that’s something I think about a lot. How, when you’ve seen the sun, the prospect of the storm returning is suddenly much more frightening.

16. Is there some element you regret adding to your OC or their story?

She’s really secretive, and I don’t know if it’s just me, but when I write a secretive character I constantly feel like they are acting out of character? And then I have to remind myself how she’s always like this?

17. What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC?

She chews on her necklace when she’s stressed.

18. What is your favorite fact about your OC?

She has a pen pal that she’s very close with and feels like she can truly be herself with, and it just warms me up that she has a person who she trusts so much. But it also pains me, because I’ll have to set fire to that safety blanket sooner or later.

Tagging @i-rove-rock-n-roll, @drowsy-quill, @shamelesslypoetic, @queenie-dragon and @holotones. Feel free to ignore this if you’ve already done it or if you don’t feel like doing it. Have a lovely night/day!

#tag game

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yangingaround · 7 years

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What could RT be thinking putting BMBLB there while they just put two songs earlier for Blake and monkey-boy? Also, making Blake blush at monkey-boy's antics and having him as a date in the school dance and all that winking-flirting shiz. And now they're trying to push through with BB? Are they doing it for the views and for milking out from fans? That's just not cool. Building up BS and teasing BB now...unless you could prove me wrong here...?

okay, this got long

well, to counter your first point, they didn’t put two songs earlier for Blake and Sun

Not Fall In Love With You wasn’t written for the show, it was a song Jeff wrote back in his boy band days that he just wanted to use (and the scene it’s used in you can barely hear it anyway), it’s a very, very generic, one-sided love song - i mean look at the lyrics of it and try to think of any time they would work for Blake/Sun; hell, try and make sense of it in the context of Sun’s character, he’s not exactly the type to say “You’re my PYT/My cherie amour”

Like Morning Follows Night, from what we’ve heard of it, while it’s about the two of them, isn’t a love song. it’s clearly following the same argument they had throughout volume 4, Blake haunted and chased by her past and Sun refusing to leave her alone and being dismissive of her past and her want for space. we’ve had about half the song so far and the word love isn’t even used once (it also contains the line ‘i won’t endanger one more friend’)

by comparison, the 30 seconds we’ve got so far of BMBLB makes it undeniably a love song and undeniably about Blake and Yang because they are the only Bumblebee actually mentioned in the show

Blake blushed at all of one antic, and that’s when he was pointing her out in front of a huge crowd - mild embarrassment and flattery are a reasonable explanation for that

date for the school dance? Blake specifically said she was technically going with him - because they were arriving together and she was throwing him a bone because he’d asked her before - but her first dance, with Yang, was spoken for

and the winking-flirting stuff was all one-sided on Sun’s part - but don’t forget, Yang has winked at and made flirty comments to Blake in the past too

there is very little build-up to Blake/Sun, it’s incredibly shallow (because Sun is an incredibly shallow character with the bare rudiments of a personality, minimal backstory and no motivations beyond ‘gravitate around Blake’), Sun spends most of their shared screen-time annoying her (and rightfully so because he keeps making fun of her and not respecting her space or privacy) and Blake’s made a point in the past that she wants to be seen for who she is, not what. Sun’s reasons for liking Blake are as follows, “she’s a Faunus, she’s pretty, she’s a good fighter” - these are all what reasons, and the one (1) comment he has made about her personality has been this: “Where’s Blake, she still being all Blakey?” - he frames her then bad temper, brought on by her issues and the sheer exhaustion caused by it, as a problem inherent to her personality, and something he clearly doesn’t like and doesn’t want to deal with, as he asks this in an expectant tone like he thinks someone on her team should have dealt with it already

Yang meanwhile clearly understands Blake on a level no other character is shown to, which is why she was the one to get through to her at her lowest point, and her compliments towards Blake once they get to know each other are about who Blake is - “I love it when you’re feisty!” “You’re never one to back down from a challenge”

Blake is also always serious when interacting with Sun, we don’tsee her silly side, where she joins in on the fun like we do when she’s around Yang - Sun’s goofing around tends to piss Blake off more, because it’s usually inappropriate to the moment and/or at someone elses expense

Blake and Yang have had numerous moments across the series, in each others company - they care deeply about one another and their narratives are now wholly intertwined by what Adam, Blake’s ex who Yang has numerous parallels (but ultimately contrasts) with, did to them. a scene that deliberately used the word ‘love’ when Adam was threatening Blake just before Yang appeared (and Yang was the one to run to Blake when she heard Blake was fighting the White Fang, Sun, meanwhile, was right there and didn’t react, so…), and is framed very much as ‘old flame vs new flame’. that the scenes are using similar story tools as the ones used with Pyrrha/Jaune (a trend across volumes 2 and 3, nearly every Pyrrha/Jaune scene happens close to a Blake/Yang scene or scenes - with parallels and similar themes in these scenes. for example, in Burning the Candle, the Blake/Yang scene has Yangopening up to Blake about her past and being supportive and encouraging of Blake, and then making a lighthearted, open offer of a dance at the end. these are paralleled in Pyrrha opening up about how lonely her fame has made her at the dance, Pyrrha offering support and encouragement to Jaune during their training session and when he’s about to go ask Weiss to the dance again, and then Jaune making the lighthearted joke about wearing a dress. both lighthearted joke promises are also kept - Blake takes Yang up on the offer of a dance, she didn’t have to, arriving at the dance would’ve been enough, but they danced, likewise, Jaune kept his word and put on a dress because Pyrrha didn’t get a date, and Pyrrha says that he didn’t have to) which absolutely had a canon basis

when Yang talks about what they lost in the battle of Beacon, it’s very clear that Blake leaving without explanation hit her the worst. when Blake brings up her team at the end of volume 4, she explicitly says she loves them more than she ever thought she could love anyone (and ‘anyone’ would include Sun there), and there’s hesitation and her voice cracks when she mentions Yang - her feelings there are clearly more complex than with the rest of her team

for what could be considered ‘build up’ for Blake/Sun, there is far more for Blake/Yang, and on top of that, Yang does not annoy Blake - Blake being around Yang also immediately marked a change in her character, she ‘brightened up’ and joined in the silliness of Yang and Ruby within 24 hours of their team being official, Yang breaks through to Blake in Burning the Candle when she’s in a very dark place (Gray Haddock, head of RT animation, voice of Roman and was a producer on the show, even said in the commentary for that episode that Yang is light and Blake is in shadows, and Yang lights up Blake’s darkness - which fits her name as Yang means ‘light’ or ‘sun’)

little sidenote - but they do have that perfect little yin-yang thing going on, Yang is light, Blake is darkness (Yang has blonde hair and purple eyes, Blake has black hair and yellow eyes), Yang has that sunny disposition but she hides a lot of hurt, Blake is dark and brooding but has a lighter, sillier side. the two also have symbols that resemble flames. they’re complementary, they have contrasts and similarities and they clicked from the moment Blake chose Yang as her partner in the forest. Blake and Sun don’t have that, because his name means ‘monkey’, his theming is that he’s a monkey (it’s even his symbol), and that’s it

and i don’t know if you’ve been paying attention to the cast and crew but, Blake/Yang comes up a lot with them - Arryn and Barb, their actresses, have always vocally supported the ship (and once on her youtube channel before she closed it, Arryn was asked if she preferred Adam or Sun as a romantic option for Blake and refused to pick because she doesn’t like either of them and she’s said before that Blake/Yang is the only one that makes sense to her), Gray Haddock when on the Fan Service podcast has said that it’s one of his favourite ships in all of media. there’s a t-shirt for the ship, there are numerous teases to it in Chibi (by comparison, Blake has interacted with Sun all of once in that show, and there was one gag where she mistook Jaune for Sun while being very disinterested in him), the advertising for Chibi season 2 had this, and in general, whenever ships for the show come up, Blake/Yang is almost always mentioned alongside Ren/Nora and Pyrrha/Jaune. by comparison, Blake/Sun rarely, if ever, comes up

so this ‘teasing’ doesn’t come out of nowhere with no buildup when they’ve been talking about it for years, but this is almost always dismissed as just ‘trolling the fans’. but RT don’t have a history of ‘trolling the fans’ with their scripted content - at least not in such a malicious way (because doing this just to pull the rug out would be queerbaiting at this point). but consider the opposite, consider that they might be trolling the fans in a different way and have heterobaited Blake/Sun. if you’re willing to believe they would tease Blake/Yang so hard just to “troll the fans” you have to be willing to believe they would do the same with Blake/Sun

from the beginning, RT have been talking about including LGBT characters in the show, that the LGBT characters are here already and as the show goes on and these characters discover more about themselves, this will come to light. doing this, representing not only a big chunk of their fanbase, but also their openly LGBT employees, cast and crew would be fantastic. last year in their other shows they had LGBT characters, Day 5 had Ally, one of the protagonists and driving force of half the plot, who was a lesbian. RvB14 had a two part story with two lesbians in leadership roles and another story which revealed that Epsilon-Church (one of the core characters of the entire franchise) is bisexual - representation matters and while they’ve dropped the ball before, they’re aware of it and they’re trying to take strides (even if those strides should be larger)

so i highly doubt it’d be for ‘views and milking it’ especially as the fanbase is already there and ready for it, and at this point, backing out would be queerbaiting and cause a veritable shitstorm, which they’re going to be keenly aware of

what we’ve heard from BMBLB is that it’s a love song from the perspective of one half of the ship. we’ve seen these before in Boop and Dream Come True, and those came into their own in later volumes, so in including BMBLB on the volume 4 soundtrack, they’re suggesting that, well, not only is Yang definitely LGBT, but that the ship will be coming in and developing romantically over the next couple volumes

#yangalysis #Anonymous

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angryacegiant · 7 years

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Fight me you Twat waffle

Alright you little fuckers, sit down and shut up. I’m gonna prove to your sorry ass that the bible is pro-LBGT+. And there is nothing you fuckers can do about it. So, you, being the little shit you are, may be all like but what about Leviticus 18:22 “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.” It clearly states that homosexuality is a sin!!

So, the verse you’re ever so incorrectly quoting comes from Leviticus (AKA “Levitical Law”), it was part of the life guidelines God laid down for the Israelites through Moses on Mount Sinai after their exodus from slavery in Egypt. We call it “Levitical” because Moses was descendant from Levi, one of the twelve original tribes of Israel and sons of Jacob. The Levites were held responsible for religious duty of the nation of Israel, so the term “Leviticus” as well as “Levitical Law” flows from the recognition of the Levites as the main holders of religious law among the nation/peoples of Israel.

Now, we’ve all heard the arguments from people about which Levitical Laws our modern, twenty-first century Christians adhere themselves to. Most of them are cherry picked for convenience and ease of use. We love to quote Levitical Law against homosexuals, but we seem to forget our reading comprehension when that same law turns to the clothes we should wear and the foods we should eat. What’s more, Levitical Law wasn’t MADE for you, a modern day Christian. It was a covenant law between God and a people who followed him for everyday use and is included in the canonical Hebrew text for reference and context. And that’s really what we need here, isn’t it? Context.

Oh, DO let us open the can of worms about biblical contextualism. Because while you may not think it’s important, it really is. The fact of the matter is that contextualism and contextual reading of biblical text becomes crucial, especially for what we refer to as the Old Testament. Because we no longer live in a tribe mentality and because we no longer live under the social and political laws and landscapes of Ancient Israel and its surrounding and neighbor areas, we absolutely must take this into context before we just throw it out blindly.

Property rights. “Mike”, you say, “What does Leviticus 18:22 have to do with property rights?” And to you I say “Everything”. Because this passage is specifically dealing with and addressing women and men as they pertain to property. Or didn’t you know, that women were considered property in Ancient Israel? They were. They were absolutely considered property to be bought, sold, and betrothed. A man in these ancient tribes was considered a property holder. And a woman was property. She was property belonging to her father upon her birth and transferred to her husband, but not upon what we see as “marriage”. Because in Ancient Israel, “marriage” was not a ceremony and a paper signing, “marriage” was sex. And the transference of property rights from father to husband for a young female was found through sex.

So, what God is saying in these passages is that the divine transference of the covenant of marriage and the ownership (yes, ownership) of a woman comes through the consummation of that relationship. What he is saying is that two men in equal standing lying with one another cannot equally own one another and therefore, it creates disputes and dissatisfaction. Because at this time, sex was the catalyst of property transference. If two men of equal standing lay together, who owns whom?

And the thing is. We do not live there anymore. We do not live with those mentalities. We are not the social and political tribes of Ancient Israel and we do not have their functioning. Two men of equal standing in society in the twenty first century can have sex without implications of ownership. Two women in the twenty first century can have sex without implications of ownership. Your thinking lacks not only context on a historical scale, but also a progressive scale in which you fail to see the passage of time and sociopolitical interactions from a tribe mentality to something more evolved. To continue this line of thought let’s talk about Levitical law in relation to other books of the bible. Moreover, Levitical law was OVERTURNED in Paul’s letters to the Romans! Paul stated that those of Gentile faith are not required to follow Jewish law. That is why we, as Christians, are allowed to eat pork, that’s why we can shave, that’s why we can get divorced, because we are not subject to Jewish law!

Born this way!

Some Christians confidently assert that God did not create homosexual people “that way.” This is important because they realize if God did create gays “that way,” rejecting them would be tantamount to rejecting God’s work in creation. In pressing their “creation order” argument, some Christians are fond of saying, “God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!” To bolster their position, they often cite Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:4-5, where he responds to a question about whether divorce is permissible:

“Jesus answered, ‘Have you not read that the One who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh”? Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.’ ”

From these words, some Christians draw the conclusion that heterosexuality is the creation norm and, thus, heterosexual marriage is the only legitimate way for people to form romantic relationships. Ironically, Jesus’ own words in this very same passage refute these conclusions.

As the dialogue continues, Jesus’ disciples are disturbed by his strict teaching on divorce. The disciples say that if divorce is not a ready option, perhaps it would be best for a man not to marry a woman. Jesus responds:

“Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.” (Matthew 19:11-12)

Also in Ephesians 1:4 it states “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world”. This is a clear passage that in short means God specifically created LGBT people that way. Along with that, another passage that supports this claim is Psalm 139:14 – “I praise you, nor I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”

Here Jesus identifies three classes of men who should not marry women. Taking his categories in reverse order, first, there are those who have made themselves “eunuchs” for the kingdom of heaven, i.e., those who foreswear marriage to better serve God. Second, he mentions those who have been “made eunuchs by others,” an apparent reference to castrated males. But Jesus mentions a third category — eunuchs who were born that way. Some might argue that Jesus was referring to males born without testicles, but this would be extremely rare. Moreover, this interpretation ignores how the term “born eunuchs” was used in other literature of the time.

Gay people in the bible

From our days in Sunday school, many of us are familiar with the Gospel story where Jesus healed the servant of a Roman centurion. This story is recorded in Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10. In Matthew, we are told that the centurion came to Jesus to plead for the healing of his servant. Jesus said he was willing to come to the centurion’s house, but the centurion said there was no need for Jesus to do so — he believed that if Jesus simply spoke the word, his servant would be healed. Marveling at the man’s faith, Jesus pronounced the servant healed. Luke tells a similar story.

The same Hebrew word that is used in Genesis 2:24 to describe how Adam felt about Eve (and how spouses are supposed to feel toward each other) is used in Ruth 1:14 to describe how Ruth felt about Naomi. Her feelings are celebrated, not condemned.

And throughout Christian history, Ruth’s vow to Naomi has been used to illustrate the nature of the marriage covenant. These words are often read at Christian wedding ceremonies and used in sermons to illustrate the ideal love that spouses should have for one another. The fact that these words were originally spoken by one woman to another tells us a lot about how God feels about same-gender relationships.

In the entire Bible, there are only two books named after women. One is Esther, which tells the story of a Jewish woman who becomes Queen of Persia and saves her people from destruction by “coming out” as Jewish to her husband, the king. The other is Ruth, which tells the story of two women who love and support one another through difficult times. Both books contain powerful messages for gay, lesbian, and bisexual people, but it is the story of Ruth that addresses the question we raised in chapter one: Can two people of the same sex live in committed, loving relationship with the blessing of God?

In the ancient world, eunuchs were widely associated with homosexuality. Here a self-avowed eunuch is welcomed in to the early church without any concerns about his sexual orientation. He was welcomed on the same basis as other people – his faith in Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 56:3-5, which promises eunuchs who keep God’s commandments that someday they will receive a house, a monument, and a name within God’s walls. Perhaps, like gay, lesbian, and bisexual Christians today, he had gone to his religious leaders pointing to the Scriptures which affirmed him, hoping he might somehow be accepted. But instead, he had been clobbered once again with Deuteronomy 23:1. A eunuch “may not enter the assembly of God’s people!” And so he had taken his precious scroll of Isaiah and begun his journey home, reading about another of God’s children who had been despised, rejected, and cut off.

It was at this point Philip, guided by the Holy Spirit, happened along and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The Ethiopian eunuch, still seeking a religious authority figure, answered “How can I unless someone guides me?” (8:31) So, Philip started with this Scripture and “proclaimed to him the good news of Jesus.” (8:35) Then they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is some water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” Philip’s answer should be astonishing to anyone who still holds a prejudice against gay, lesbian, and bisexual believers.

Philip responded, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”

Philip did not say, “Let’s talk about Deuteronomy 23:1.” He also did not say, “I realize since you’re a eunuch that you may desire men; can you promise me you’ll never have a sexual relationship with a man?” Instead, operating under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” We have no way of knowing whether the Ethiopian eunuch was in fact gay. But we do know he was part of a class of people commonly associated with homosexuality and that this fact was completely irrelevant to whether he could become a Christian.

On the premise of the LGBT community lets also talk about transgender people and the bible. More specifically how God couldn’t give two flying fucks about it. I bring into evidence Galatians 3:28 “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” As you can see, God literally does not care what you or anyone else identifies as.

History

Now its time to talk about the virgin mother, I.e. historical context. The word ‘virgin’ did not originally mean a woman whose vagina was untouched by any penis, but a free woman, one not betrothed, not bound to, not possessed by any man. It meant a female who is sexually and hence socially her own person. But if you so insist that you take to modern day patriarchal version than fine with me. By your own standards Jesus had two fathers and a surrogate mother, which never had sex with either of them.

History lesson: late 13c., "bundle of twigs bound up," also fagald, faggald, from Old French fagot "bundle of sticks" (13c.), of uncertain origin, probably from Italian fagotto "bundle of sticks," diminutive of Vulgar Latin *facus, from Latin fascis "bundle of wood" (see fasces).

"Male homosexual," 1914, American English slang, probably from earlier contemptuous term for "woman" (1590s), especially an old and unpleasant one, in reference to faggot (n.1) "bundle of sticks," as something awkward that has to be carried (compare baggage "worthless woman," 1590s). It may also be reinforced by Yiddish faygele "homosexual" (n.), literally "little bird." It also may have roots in British public school slang noun fag "a junior who does certain duties for a senior" (1785), with suggestions of "catamite," from fag (v.). This also spun off a verb (see fag (v.2).

Burning sometimes was a punishment meted out to homosexuals in Christian Europe (on the suggestion of the Biblical fate of Sodom and Gomorrah), but in England, where parliament had made homosexuality a capital offense in 1533, hanging was the method prescribed. Use of faggot in connection with public executions had long been obscure English historical trivia by the time the word began to be used for "male homosexual" in 20th century American slang, whereas the contemptuous slang word for "woman" (in common with the other possible sources or influences listed here) was in active use early 20c., by D.H. Lawrence and James Joyce, among others.

So in short a faggot is a bundle of sticks that is set on fire that is now a slur for a homosexual male. Yet isn’t it funny that Moses came across a burning bush (sticks on fire) and saw God in them. Isn’t it funny how faggots and God can look the same sometimes?

Let’s talk about that slut Paul:

Now it’s time to slut shame St Paul. It seems that Paul was disgusted with certain aspects of sex in Greco-Roman society. He was at times a bigot and a prude - he even admits as much when discussing whether women's hair should be covered. He at no time discusses equal relationships between people of the same sex. It is possible that if he had known about them he would still have disliked them; after all Paul seems to condemn prostitutes, but given that we know most ancient prostitutes, whatever their social opprobrium, were forced, usually sold in fact, into prostitution, it does not speak well of Paul, that he condemned these poor abused people: Jesus never did!

So, stop fucking using my religion as an excuse to be a bigoted asshole you little self-righteous fucker.

#wrote this out of spite #fite me #christianity #lgbt+#square up #meet me in the pits #essay

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arkhamarchitecture · 7 years

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bc @tanoraqui asked me for my de Rolo family headcanons. Fair warning that the version of Frederick that primarily exists in my head was formulated based on random joking comments Taliesin has made, Grifting’s version of him from Stuck On You, and a fic or two from @infanttreenotebook. Though not an outright bad parent, he probably wouldn’t have deserved any #1 dad mugs.

Also this is stupid long. I blame Frederick and Johanna for having seven goddamn kids.

Frederick and Johanna:

Frederick was an only child, which is incredibly rare among nobility and risky as hell (attempts were made at other kids but they fell through and Frederick’s parents weren’t in love at all so they didn’t spend a ton of time uhhh, trying). His parents strongly impressed upon him that his duty to his city was the most important thing in his life.

Frederick met Johanna when she saved his life while he was traveling for an important business meeting in Westruun. Johanna was not a noble in any way but she was singlehandedly responsible for saving him and returning him to Whitestone. They fell in love in the two-three weeks it took to get him back home and Frederick’s parents were so grateful for her saving him that they didn’t kick up too much fuss about him marrying a “peasant.”

Frederick and Johanna were much more enthusiastically in love than Frederick’s parents were - hence having seven children. That said, Frederick was not accustomed to having a large family and struggled to evenly divide his attention between his rulership of the city, his wife, and his children.

Due to Frederick’s own childhood, he strongly believed in usefulness being more important than interest. Which is to say, if something wasn’t apparently useful to him or Whitestone at large, he discarded it as unimportant. Unfortunately, many of his children held interests that were not “useful.”

Johanna was much better than her husband about being equally attentive of all of her children but she also didn’t participate a whole lot in terms of leadership. Johanna ran the treasury and also organized the guards (in terms of hiring and rotations).

Unbeknownst to Johanna, Captain of the Guard Kerrion Stonefell did not appreciate what he saw as her interfering with his job.

Julius:

Oldest son Julius de Rolo received the bulk of his father’s attention. If Julius had been an only child, he probably would have developed serious anxiety from the weight of Frederick’s expectations. Fortunately, Julius had so many younger siblings (all of whom were deeply frustrated at the lack of attention they received from Frederick) that instead Julius became the Dad Friend for all of his siblings.

In the last few years before the Briarwoods, Frederick and Julius had started to butt heads more often than not as Julius became increasingly frustrated with Frederick trying to control his children’s lives without consulting them on what they actually wanted.

Julius wanted to be a paladin of the Temple of Pelor but swearing himself to a temple or church as either a paladin or a cleric would mean placing his loyalties to them ahead of his family. It would mean abdicating his position as heir and as such, he was never formally inducted as a paladin, though he did receive training as such.

Frederick probably would have allowed Julius to abdicate if Julius had fought about it (it wasn’t like he didn’t have plenty of options for heirs), but Julius conceded without much argument when he realized he’d be passing the burden of responsibility onto his unprepared siblings.

Vesper:

Vesper was very much her mother’s daughter and once got in trouble for headbutting a boy twice her size because he said something mean about Ludwig. She broke her own nose doing it, so Johanna set about teaching her better methods of fighting back.

Vesper was whip smart and extremely talented in the art of insulting someone in such a way that they didn’t realize they’d been insulted until 5 minutes later. She could run rings around any diplomat sent to Whitestone by the time she was 12.

Vesper was bisexual but with a strong preference for women. The first time Vesper ever truly fought with her father was when she found out he had organized a betrothal for her to a nobleman in Emon. Frederick, to his credit, had not been aware that Vesper preferred women and rescinded the betrothal when he found out, but Vesper pointed out that she had never hid that from him, he just hadn’t been paying attention.

Percy:

I strongly subscribe to @infanttreenotebook‘s idea that Percy’s manic-depressive mood swings first began manifesting as a teenager and his father did not cope well with them. When Percy was on and in full manic swing, Percy got along wonderfully with his father, happy to show him ideas and projects and things he had taught himself - but also perfectly happy to be left alone to work on those things when his father’s attention was elsewhere.

But every time Percy crashed, Frederick became concerned, not understanding why Percy’s work would abruptly grind to a halt. Unfortunately Frederick’s concern mostly manifested as him wanting Percy to go into a more stable (useful) field of work than tinkering. Shockingly, being told that his pursuits and interests were pointless and he should give them up did not improve Percy’s depressive moods.

Percy, at the time, had seen Anders as more of a father figure than his actual father. I don’t think I have to say much more about that.

Ludwig:

Ludwig, compared to his older siblings, was a bit on the dim side. He was far from stupid, but he lacked the brilliance that all three of his older siblings possessed.

Nicknamed “Lutz” when he was young, Percy gave him a lute one year for his birthday as a joke, but Ludwig was immediately fascinated with it. Ludwig couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket but with Anders’ direction, he became an accomplished musician.

To several other siblings frustration, Frederick was actually quite impressed with Ludwig’s musical talents despite all expectations that he would consider it a useless pursuit. He and Johanna acquired a piano for Ludwig on his birthday the next year. His siblings quickly got over their frustration when they realized that Ludwig was only too happy to play whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, or provide accompaniment as they sang.

Ludwig lacked much in the way of ambition and would have been perfectly happy to marry whoever his father wanted him to marry, have a handful of kids, and spend the rest of his life idly composing music.

Oliver and Whitney:

If you had asked anyone outside the family, Oliver and Whitney got along like cats in a bag. They were a pair of rough and tumble boys (Whitney had not been assumed to be male at birth, but he made himself very clear as he grew up) who fought constantly, whether that was with snide commentary or actual fist fights in the garden. Any suggestions that they not hang out with one another if they disliked their twin so much were met with blank looks.

Gods forbid if you insulted one of them or one of their siblings because Oliver and Whitney would both ruin your entire life at the drop of a hat if they thought you deserved it. Both of them held grudges like no ones business and took offense at the smallest of slights. The two of them were the initiators of the great de Rolo prank war that lasted years and only ended when Johanna put her foot down after a prank pulled on Percy in his workshop ended with him being inadvertently set on fire.

The burns weren’t too bad and Julius healed him up, it was fine.

Both twins were ladies men and competed for the attention of any and every girl they met, though they had a habit of getting so competitive about it that they forgot the girl entirely to focus on besting the other.

To the chagrin of the rest of the family, Oliver and Whitney were the only two de Rolos with any serious magical talent. Julius could heal a bit and Ludwig’s music was enchanting, but the twins were almost aggressively magical and they rebuffed any and all attempts by their father to learn to control it.

If they had survived, they might have grown up to be intensely powerful wild magic sorcerers but Anders made sure the pair of them were killed quickly to prevent surprises. Despite being a mere 15 during the coup and high priority targets, the twins were responsible the deaths of quite a few attacking guards before they went down, spitting and hissing curses to the end.

Cassandra:

Cassandra, oh Cassandra. Johanna’s favorite child (no matter what Percy said), Cassandra had her mother’s wild heart and the desperate urge to explore everything. Cassandra knew every secret passageway in the entire castle, including a few that weren’t marked on any map or blueprint to ever exist.

Cassandra was a sneak from a very young age and would often appear abruptly in someone’s field of vision from seemingly out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly. Her parents and oldest siblings at first suspected that she was using magic like the twins, but Cassandra eventually confessed to Julius that she was simply very good at not drawing attention to herself.

Cassandra was an easily excited child who wanted to travel around the world one day and it seemed likely that she’d get the chance. She was, after all, the youngest of seven and was unlikely to ever have any serious responsibilities to her family or her city.

I should emphasize that Cassandra wanted to travel and see the world but had no plans to be an adventurer. She had no desire to get into fights and only took up swordplay at her mother’s insistence that she be capable of defending herself. Cassandra took little interest in it Sylas decided it would be amusing to train her.

holy shit ya’ll this post about a bunch of dead motherfuckers that we will literally never meet in canon broke 1500 words, what the heckles

#my crit role stuff #critical role #the de rolo family

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agameforgoodchristians · 7 years

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Wide and Narrow Gates (Matthew 7:13-14) [Guest Card Talk]

Wide and Narrow Gates (Matthew 7:13-14) [A Guest Card Talk by Ariane Wolfe*]

This Canon Card comes directly from Matthew 7:13-14:

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it.

For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Upon a first or even second reading, this seems to contain an eschatological perspective: live a “good” life on the harder, narrow path of righteousness, and you’ll go to Heaven; lead a “bad” life on the easier, wide path of doing-whatever-seems-fun-at-the-time, and you’ll go to Hell. Many preachers will take this passage as an opportunity to expound on exactly that, ranting about the necessity to stay away from the “sin” of various indulgences in order to avoid eternal damnation. I don’t subscribe to a literal heaven-and-hell theology, and I think that looking at this passage through that lens is myopic. It also misses the point.

When I read this card I hear a guideline and see a lens through which to evaluate what I’m doing with my life, in a broad, whole picture view, or within a given, specific situation. It helps me make better decisions, informed by my choice to adhere to Jesus’ teachings to the best of my ability. I don’t do this out of a fear of Hell or destruction, but out of love for life – others’ as well as my own.

Following the first tumultuous 100 days of the new presidency, it feels to many of us over here on the progressive “Christian Left” like we’ve been a bit pummeled and bruised, watching the new leaders of our country push and shove their way through the widest possible gate, following an easy road paved with plush titles and financial gain, while many concerned citizens stand on either side of the entry to a narrow gate holding it open, waving arms vigorously in the air and calling out, “wait, look, it’s over HERE!” Frankly, it’s been exhausting. The thing is, from my vantage point in the glass bubble that is life in the San Francisco Bay Area, that smaller gate looked rather wide to me and I thought for sure it would become the road more travelled. Perhaps in my naiveté, I’d thought it already was. But there goes the blustering Noisy-Gong-and-Clanging-Cymbal-of-State (to borrow from 1 Corinthians if I might) that is our current government, parading through wide gates and onto smooth roads with floats, balloons and fanfare; and I’m left asking myself, “how could that be?,” “when did this happen?,” and – more importantly – “what do we do now?” How did things get this out of hand and dangerous? For, make no mistake, people are suffering, and as “Good Christians” we have an obligation to do something.

“The Baptismal Covenant” used by the Episcopal Church states that all Christians are called to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving my neighbor as myself… to strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.” I listen to NPR in the mornings, watch the nightly news and see posts all over the ‘net, each day bringing a new “evil done on our behalf” as one form of the corporate Confession of Sin phrases it (Enriching Our Worship), and it makes me think we have so very far to go yet.

But we can’t give up.

There is a narrow gate built of Love and Justice, Compassion and Grace. It is a gate that Jesus bid us to seek, leading to a life we can live into here and now, “on earth as it is in heaven.” Here and now, not in some far off utopia-after-death.

I imagine the gate to the garden at Gethsemane must have been something like this: out of the way, isolated, and hard to find if you don’t know where to look. But even in the midst of great upheaval one may find peace there. Despite the anguish Jesus must have felt at the betrayal of his followers, the knowledge of the death he knew was coming, and the realization that at the last, he was alone, Christ sought this garden as a quiet, nurturing place to gather his thoughts and to offer even his fears and doubts to God.

We are told to do this as well, to enter through the narrow gate into a quiet place; to meditate and pray there listening for that “still, small voice” that is our guide. But we were also bid to act, from love and through compassion.

God, ever-present and always speaking to us, urges us to actively love our neighbors as ourselves: our Muslim neighbors, our Syrian neighbors, our Black neighbors, our Mexican neighbors, our undocumented neighbors; our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer neighbors; our homeless neighbors, our incarcerated neighbors; and yes, our White neighbors, our angry neighbors and our racist neighbors, too. The list goes on ad infinitum, because all people on this beautiful and fragile earth are “our neighbors,” and we have been bidden to love them as we love ourselves.

Maybe the abundant, unconditional, universally-reaching Christ-like love called agape can win where hatred, partisanship, contention and fear have failed.

Maybe it needs to take the form of petitions and protests, and standing up for those we see being bullied.

Maybe we can express it through the safely indirect practice of writing letters to congress, or a ministry of simple presence such as bringing leftovers or blankets to a homeless encampment.

Maybe it calls for a more forceful response, such as standing guard while someone prays, stepping in to protect someone when you witness violence, sitting up with someone who is frightened or anxious or has suffered a loss.

Maybe it needs to be in our deepest, most heartfelt prayers to the One in whom we “live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28) - whatever flavor, color or texture that One may be.

We live in troubled times, equal to anything the Bible has to offer. The cruelties we read of in Scripture surround us today: willful injustice, racially-based hatred, socioeconomic inequality, greed, lust for power, and the corruption that seizing it brings; posturing, bullying, fighting; lying, cheating, stealing, murder. But with eyes that have been opened we can walk either path, choose either gate we will.

Let’s bring this deep compassion, and all that we’re able to do for each other, to the narrow gate. Let’s put it up as a signpost and a guide, a welcome and an offer to walk beside, stand with and succor all people.

And let’s mean it.

* Ariane Wolfe is a congregant and lay minister at All Souls Episcopal Parish in Berkeley, CA. She holds a Certificate of Theological Studies from Church Divinity School of the Pacific, an MSBA from Trinity College and University, and is an aspirant to the Order of Deacons in the Episcopal Diocese of California. Her blog can be found at http://shinythoughtsblog.blogspot.com/

#Matthew 7:13-14 #Wide and narrow gates #Watch where you step #Love #Holiness

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grantairelibere · 7 years

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Modern Amis (and co.) Coming-Out Headcanons

(I don’t even remember how the subject came up but @beatlemaniacinthetardis and I were taking about the Amis getting together at someone’s house and telling each other stories from when they came out of the closet. We stayed up way too late last night coming up with these so we felt the need to share)

Bahorel comes out to his family when he goes downstairs in the rainbowest of rainbow shirts, announces that he’s going to Pride, and just sort of stares at each of them until they understand.

Courfeyrac realizes he’s gay in his preteen years and it takes him like a year to work up the courage to come out to his friends (Enjolras and Combeferre) and family (mom and dad). When he tells them they all just go “sweetie, we know”. Enjolras and Combeferre bake him a confetti cake that says CONGRATS in edible glitter. Courfeyrac cries.

Feuilly doesn’t really have anyone to come out to, since he has no living relations and he went straight into a job at a young age. He kind of...forgets to, to be honest, so he’s not out to his co-workers. They only find out when Bahorel comes to get him from work one day and he kisses Feuilly hello.

Like in canon, Cosette grows up into a pretty girl who loves attention. She’s very meticulous about the way she looks and is like nice when she notices guys checking her out. One day, though, a pretty girl smiles at her and does the checking-out thing and Cosette is like oh no when she feels her heart do the THING. She tells papa later that evening, and he’s amazing and supportive because, well, he’s Jean Valjean. He joins her marching in the Pride parade the following summer.

Enjolras’ coming out doesn’t go so well. He’s pretty much known he likes boys since forever ago, but only tells his parents at the end of high school. His parents are cold and arrange a Nice Girl for him to marry at the age of 25 or whatever. Enjolras fights with them on it, but when they continue to stand firm he decides they don’t deserve to be in his life anyway. He moves in with Combeferre, who he came out to years ago.

Joly and Bossuet, who have basically known each other since birth, come out to each other before anyone else. They then make a pact to come out to their friends and family on the same day. Bossuet’s parents don’t take it so well--his dad is pissed, and his mom tries to push him to go back to church. His friends, too, say “yeah that’s cool” but he can tell every time he says something that even approaches the subject of his sexuality that they’re weird about it. Joly’s, on the other hand, went well. His friends start teasing him like “yeah man I bet you thought you had appendicitis the first time you saw a guy you liked” and stuff, but they’re cool with it. Joly’s family ends up pretty much adopting Bossuet, too. Bossuet’s parents come knocking for him one day and Joly’s four younger siblings work together to slam the door in their face. (Bonus: since those two have a hivemind, they tell each other about being poly the same day.)

The subject of their combined affections, Musichetta, was a total badass about her coming out. She told her parents straight up that she was poly/pan. They were not sold on the idea, but she told them to accept her as she was or she’d leave without a second thought. It takes them a while to get used to the idea, but Chetta answers whatever questions they have. They grow to understand her, and come to love Joly and Bossuet once the three of them start dating.

Jehan has a hard time with it all. They WANT to come out, to family and friends alike, but they want to understand themselves before they try and explain it to anyone else. They tell this to the Amis who are all just like...you don’t have to ever figure it out. It’s alright. No matter who you are or what you do or who you love, we’ll be here to support you. Jehan cries really hard because they’ve been so confused for so long and their found family is saying that it’s okay to be unsure forever because who needs a title anyway? The greatest of group hugs happens that day, Jehan smiling in the centre of it. (Bonus: shortly after that, Jehan asks the Amis to start saying “they/them”. Grantaire buys a ton of neutral-looking clothes with gross flower print that he knows Jehan will LOVE. Enjolras falls in love with R a lil bit more since he knows he doesn't have all that much money but he spent a bunch of it for Jehan to be happy and comfortable anyway).

Combeferre comes out to all his friends shortly after he meets them, but he never comes out to his family at all. He knows they’re homophobic, and a) he doesn’t like to start fights, and b) he decides that they don’t deserve to know. In an act of silent rebellion, he secretly gets a part-time job as a sales guy at a boot shop for drag queens. Courfeyrac’s the shop’s #1 customer. (Kinky Boots AU someone back me up here)

While Marius is almost entirely on the straight side, but every so often he’ll meet a man who sets his little Pontmercy heart aflutter. Courf is one of those guys and when they end up roommates Marius kind of...”aksdjasgkdhdh Lord save my poor bisexual soul”. But then he meets Cosette. He doesn’t tell her for ages because he’s terrified of what she’ll think, but eventually he works up the courage. She laughs because hey she’s bi too!! From that point on, they point out attractive people of various genders to each other while they’re on dates. (Bonus: one day, Marius and his grandfather get into an argument about politics over dinner. In a moment of passion, Marius stands and yells “LONG LIVE NAPOLEON! ALSO, I SOMETIMES LIKE BOYS!” His grandfather faints into his chair.)

Eponine never really had friends, so she has no frame of reference for what romantic attraction feels like. When she meets Marius, she figures instantly that what she’s feeling is romantic love. Shortly after, she meets Cosette and feels the same way. Now she’s confused. And then she meets the rest of the Amis and feels the same way about ALL of them. It’s very strange to have a crush on everyone, she thinks. With Grantaire and Jehan’s help, she comes to understand that what she’s feeling is, in fact, platonic love. And god, is she relieved to know. The only family members she tells about being aro/ace are Gavroche and Azelma. Azelma is like “I think that might be me too” and Gav is like “sweet, more lovely ladies for me”.

FINALLY, Grantaire. He’s never really given a shit about what gender his lovers were, and never given a shit about who knows about it. He doesn’t know or care whether or not his parents know. But oh, god, then he meets Enjolras, and can no longer imagine loving anyone else of any gender. When the Amis share their coming out stories, he just snorts and says ‘does it count if you’re only attracted to one person?’ and he accidentally stares at Enj as he says it and the Amis collectively suck in a breath because if they didn’t know who he was talking about before, they certainly do now. (Bonus: Everyone braces themselves when Enj stands up and goes to R, thinking Enj is going to try and start shit, but they start applauding when instead Enjolras grabs Grantaire’s face and kisses the life out of him).

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