#To be clear I don't even provide sex Ed

[skydoescrime]

i really really hated season 2 and specifically the season 2 finale for OFMD

the first few episodes were great. we got to see how ed was fully affected by stede's 'rejection' and how he was acting like a complete and total asshole and terrible person over it. very very cool i loved that, and i enjoyed the. izzy hands torture a bit more than a normal person would. seeing stede also grapple with his love for ed and his obliviousness juxtaposed with eds anger and angst was. phenomenal. i liked the pirate queen, cool new character. i did however not like how they offhandedly mentioned ivans death. I'm not sure if the actor dropped, but even then, he wasn't a big part of season 1, so why was he even. Written in the first place. on another note i do think some of the pairings made clear in the first 3 episodes with jim and. other cool pirate person was silly ig but also we. knew nothing about them??? there was no arc they were just introduced as a character, no defining traits just awesome pirate person and they expected us to be like. oh okay so they're together now and jim and olu's whole relationship which was built throughout all of season 1 is completely gone just cause we introduced new people and we wanna spice it up a bit. um lesbian murder couple was awesome. i do think the whole turning into a bird thing was a cool metaphor i DO think the rent free line was kind of crazy and just pure fan service. like i understand that its just a goofy pirate show but. come on they just stole that from the internet and snuck it in so we would be squealing about it. also! the red coat was just snuck in there for like one episode and it. did nothing. like it was just for one day. ig stede became more piraty after that but. nothing was cursed. they could have done so much more with it and it was kind of just placed down and then never touched on ever again. also there's the. ed apology that sucks which everyone is fine with even though he doesn't say I'm sorry? at all? and everyone is okay with him now? like. okay. i did LOVE the parallels between the you wear fine things well scenes. i also liked the boundaries set between them.

episode 6 and 7. everything goes to complete shit here. i liked ned lowe i think he was an awesome character i feel like it was the worst decision ever to just kill him off. i think the party scene is strange because ed is like. something is wrong and then he just goes along with everything and its never elaborated on ever again. the singing part is nice but. like the izzy arc feels so rushed considering how like 3 episodes ago bro was fully going through it. i do like him getting more integrated into the family though that's nice. stede killing someone was awesome. i do like the implication that ed is slowly backing away from his pirate life while his partner goes deeper into it, the juxtaposition between their morals in season 1 and this season are pretty cool. I DID NOT HOWEVER like how stede is just horny after his kill and they have sex even though! ed established boundaries. it feels super ooc for stede even if he's going through his "villain arc" or whatever he still wouldn't. do that and i don't like how its done just to show how stede has changed and is a bad person now when this is just stede acting out of character just so people know he's fucked up for killing someone and becoming more pirate like. i don't think his morals and affections towards ed can change that fast. i do think they could have done something with how izzy reacted to stede and eds relationship because. like there is no arc with that. he's completely in love with ed one day and the next he's totally fine with them fucking and dating like. what even was that confession then when it did basically nothing but just provide fan service. also later on when izzy just sits stede down and talks about ed is so. strange because sure izzy was super fucking traumatized after everything and shit but like. i don't think his character changed that much considering the fact that a few episodes prior he was still shitting on stede. like. it feels rushed just for the sake of having a heart to heart with stede and izzy. the explosion also feels rushed considering how we only saw zheng in like 3 episodes. and like how there was basically no set up for it. i feel like. there's a pattern with shit being rushed just to be rushed. like explosion in the same episode where stede completely becomes a brand new person in like 2 hours, ed leaves and izzy suddenly cares about stede. its kind of very obvious that they didn't get as many episodes as they wanted but i don't think that justifies the shit writing.

now the season finale SUCKED. so ed comes back after like 2 seconds and they reunite like they didn't just have a massive argument. everyone escapes somehow and then its like. they dress up in costumes come up with a half assed plan and go into battle. and then fucking izzy gets shot and its. not even like. a scene where he's just getting shot its masked behind things so its super confusing if he got shot or not and then he just. dies. no fanfare he just dies and its super quick and unexpected and it feels like it was just done so that he could. yk have a semi redemption (even though no bonding other than the. boat drag celebration and the hoof gifting was shown on screen at all) where everyone loved him even after he was a pos for like all of season 1. he dies randomly not even in an epic battle he just gets fucking shot. and I've seen a lot of people compare this episode to the season finale of good omens season 2 and they are so fucking wrong for that because. there's so much set up with good omens season 2. like we all knew it was coming. of course someday aziraphale was going to leave. he was never as keen as crowley on saying fuck you to heaven and hell. and its so wonderfully set up because all of season 1 and 2 set up their. relationship dynamics. how they felt about their bosses and higherups. and it SUCKED because all of us were expecting it but it still hit hard as fuck because. it makes so much sense. there's no way around it. and instead in the season finale of ofmd season 2 they just kill off izzy just to make us feel bad and because he has no purpose anymore? he feels like a throwaway character when his character had just fully come to light. there's also the thing about his leg being used as his gravestone which i have heard was kind of insensitive because it was a part of his body prosthetic or not? and then right after he dies everyone is super duper happy and joyous like an insanely important character didn't just die and then they have the wedding and it feels horrible because you're reeling from a very important character death which wasn't neccisary and completely unexpected and confusing to a wedding and having ed and stede end up living together in a small island running an inn? and its like. how do you expect me to be happy when two seconds ago you just killed off a character completely rushed their death completely rushed another characters wedding and made a happy ending happen just because you were scared of season 3 not happening? like i would have rathered a more well thought out episode which ended on a cliffhanger than whatever rushed mess of garbage this was. this finale genuinely has made me not want a season 3 because. there's nothing left for me. the villain of the story is this stupid rich guy who hates pirates (wow no way) who has no flavour and is just annoying. the character who had a whole entire character arc who definitely was killed off for shock value is dead and the otp of the show is together forever.

[46ten]

Hi! Happy to see you back. I don't know if you're still answering to asks because I know it takes a lot of work and time, but if you do, can you talk about the Manhattan Well Murder trial of 1800 and whatever is known about Alexander working on that case?

Hello! And thank you!

There's lots of material covering the Weeks case - whole books, podcasts, and another podcast, and another (that has a transcript here with citations, written by Hayward etc. - if you're looking for just some quick details of Hamilton's cross-examinations of witnesses during the trial, see that doc). There's also a full copy of the transcript of the trial, which is what distinguishes it - it is the first murder trial in the U.S. for which we have a full transcript, not the first murder trial. (I wrote a super short summary about the murder trial for Ann (Nancy) Cary Randolph's stillborn baby, a few decades before she married Gouverneur Morris.)

I also recommend parts 1, 2, and 3 from Statutesandstories.com (more stuff from this blog coming up - I've linked to it in the past for new work on the constitutional convention).

To focus only on AH, a few things stand out:

1. Levi was the brother of Ezra Weeks, a NY builder who built the Grange - AH pays Ezra around $8500. As a carpenter, Levi very likely participated in his brother's business. Ezra was also a chief defense witness providing an alibi for Levi (potential conflict of interest - though Burr's was worse).

2. Colleagues (and descendants - JCH and Allan McLane H) of AH maintained he would not have taken the case if he did not believe beforehand in Weeks' innocence - that he would not have argued for a case where he believed the defendant to be guilty (or the principle to be incorrect). He was such a moral man, and all that.

3. AH and Burr (and Brockholst Livingston, the other defense attorney) laid out their defense in an op-ed to the NY Post before the trial even started.

4. AH waived delivering closing arguments, as the facts/evidence were so clear on Weeks' innocence.

5. Part of the defense was to argue that Elma Sands was "promiscuous" and melancholy and depressed - therefore suicidal. Nice insight into AH's way of thinking - premarital sex as a very short slide to even worse behavior.

6. According to Allan McLane Hamilton (so who knows if it's true), Elma's cousin, Catherine Rings, famously cursed all the members of the trial who did not get her sister justice, stating they would not die natural deaths or something. Judge Lansing, who pretty much instructed the jury to acquit, disappeared in 1829. And we all know what happened to AH and Burr. Livingston killed a man in a duel in 1799.

[I don't think Levi Weeks murdered Elma Sands, if anyone is curious!]

As an aside, although I don't check the feed/suggestions consistently, I do check my activity/messages/inboxes fairly regularly. Their are some inquiries I have ignored - like a request to write a report about Theodosia Burr - but ask a question specific enough, and I'll usually try to find at least a reference/source.

[antiquery]

certainly not the first person to observe this but reading about the recent ed legislation passed in Florida is just...these are completely fake problems! the idea that LGBT identities are being pushed on kids is just comically incorrect— or it would be comical, if it wasn't deadly

like...idk, I was a bit anxious about that article that came out of Missouri last spring, where someone who'd worked in a gender care clinic claimed to be blowing the whistle about unethical practices— but then it came out that she was an ex-employee vindictive about being fired (and quite transphobic herself), and it became clear it was not a legitimate or serious set of concerns being raised

it's just so deeply ridiculous, and I have a very difficult time understanding where it comes from. the concerns about unfairness in sports, on the margins (e.g. maybe you should have to be on HRT to play the competitive sport associated with your gender), as well as being cautious about permanent medical interventions before you're a legal adult— that stuff's all relatively reasonable

(though I'm personally of the opinion that it ought to be left between a family and their doctor(s), since the consent concern is entirely about the child and their adult self & the decision doesn't affect anyone else. and obviously with sports the welfare of the transgender kids has to also factor into the equation, as well as the welfare of their cis peers: it would be horribly cruel to categorically ban a group of kids from participating in sports, even if they have a leg up on their peers for reasons outside of their control (& this advantage happens on the individual level all the time, e.g. michael phelps). so it's entirely possible that the correct call is to try to minimize the advantage as much as possible, given that the alternative is either bar trans kids from school sports entirely (horrible idea) or force them to play on sports teams that correspond to their birth sex (also a horrible idea).)

so like, steelmanning, that's about where I come down: the rightest-wing position I can imagine reasonably taking is "you can't pursue permanent medical intervention until you're 18 or you have consent from your parents and a doctor, and you have to be on HRT to play sports"— & even then that's got some obvious problems (e.g. what about kids who want to play sports but don't have parental consent for medical intervention, seems like they're getting a pretty raw deal. besides, puberty blockers seem like an unalloyed good, but do those count as permanent medical intervention?)

but this stuff about forcibly outing kids to their parents, making it outright illegal to provide care, preventing kids from identifying a particular way when the worst that'll happen is that they'll realize they were actually cis the whole time and go back to identifying with whatever sex they were assigned at birth? it's nothing but destructive for the kids themselves, and it makes me furious that these people say they're doing it "for the children." you're sacrificing these children's lives on the altar of your politics, and I hope to God that you actually think you're doing the right thing for these kids— because if you don't, and your rationale is that the welfare of children (at least, these children) is an acceptable price to pay to win whatever victory you're seeking, I genuinely don't know how to reach you

[thetigerisariver]

Csa cw

I don't want to reopen this shitty discourse but re: those shitty posts about fandom and "fake csa allegations"

I just hate how it makes me feel so dirty. Because they really set up this dychotomy of like you either avoid everyone under 18 or you talk to minors about porn and sex and fucking. And like I fucking hate that I instantly "oh no sometimes I work teens and I'm friends with some teens does this mean I'm a predator like these people?" because my brain is garbage. But also I think it is deliberate, like these people talk in a way that's profoundly manipulative and aggressive towards people who maybe are vulnerable, which igs includes me even if I don't want to think about it and anyway my trauma is secondary to tertiary.

[fluidityandgiggles]

Sleep Is For The Weak - Chapter 7

Previous Chapters: Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 5, Last Chapter

Writing Masterlist - for previous chapters not otherwise linked, Read on AO3

Notes (I guess): I decided to post this earlier than usual, both in honor of fanfic writer appreciation day and because I finished writing this one yesterday, and I was going to schedule it, and just not worry about anything... and then there was a power shortage and as I’m was writing this, on Tuesday, I had to rely on my phone to provide me with wifi. God bless... (Well, I have wifi now, don’t I?)

I just thought that after all the angst of the last two chapters you’d appreciate a bit of sweetness, and where this chapter started almost as harshly as the last two, it’s just. So sweet. And fluffy. And I feel so happy that I managed to do such a thing. Well... that and prove to the world that I’m a massive nerd. (If you really want to know, some of Emile’s rants in this chapters are based on actual answers I gave in my finals. And those of you who know me well enough know that I studied theatre in high school...)

Thanks and credits go to @broadwaytheanimatedseries for the initial idea (and for being there to listen and talk about ideas with when we hang out, which happens a lot more lately actually), to @whatwashernameagain the absolute angel for Keep Him Safe and for being incredibly awesome (and for the German translation of one of my favorite quotes ever), to @anony-phangirl and @asleepybisexual for their usual contributions that shall never go un-thank-ed and uncredited, and a special one to @winglessnymph who is the person and inspiration behind a good chunk of Emile’s background and who, after showing them a screenshot of this chapter, just said “my old high school can burn, but yes at least Emile survived”.

Tag list (sort of): @bunny222, @ab-artist, @secretlyanxiouspersona, @your-username-is-unavailable, @virgilcrofters, @why-things-go-boom, @ilovemygaydad, @violetblossem

Trigger warning: period appropriate transphobia (the early 00s were not exactly trans-friendly). This chapter in particular also has mentions of alcohol and drug use.

—————

"But I want you to come!"

"Leah, sweetie, I can't come. I'm going to Emile's. But I'll see you sooner than you think, okay?"

"Okay… but it's not going to be fun. Rachel is two and she's boring and I don't like Mom."

Leah called every day after school. Remy could've been in a class, or at a group meeting, or taking a shower, and she would call every day after school. It was somewhat adorable.

But now was no time to deal with adorable.

"Emile, my darling, my precious, my sweet sweet love," Remy declared at the beginning of their morning sols 20 class last Monday, "can I come over for thanksgiving?"

"Didn't you say you have to see your mom?" Emile whispered over his cup of tea, struggling to get comfortable. The weather got extremely cold lately, and at thirty-six degrees at eight in the morning, not even the four layers and giant thermos full of tea could keep Emile warm enough to survive morning classes.

India literally asked him if he's not supposed to be used to such temperatures, which earned her a lecture on hypersensitivity and illness caused by stress.

"But it's Linda! Emile, babe, sweetheart, darling, dollface—"

"Don't call me bubbeleh and I'll consider it."

"It'll be worth it. I promise—"

"I need to ask my mom, and my sister is coming to pick me up because I'm kinda scared of flights, and Minnesota is kind of far away."

"Alright. I don't mind."

He really hoped Nathalie would agree.

"I don't want to be here alone," Leah half-whined.

"I know, babe, but it won't be long. Trust me."

He let her talk about school for a good while more, at least until he could hear Linda screaming at her to stop holding the line. It was horrifying. He didn't remember her doing it much.

Then again, she was barely home anyway.

The call disconnected rather quickly, right on time for his appointment at the psych clinic. The grad student who claimed Remy as his personal project was supervised today by the head of the department, as part of his research, which meant Remy had to be on his best behavior.

It also meant he'd get misgendered. Which was a thing said student, whose thesis was on gender dysphoria and gender identity (same subject as his big project for AP psychology back at Bronx Science, really), made sure to not do.

This was going to be fun.

——

"You went to the Bronx High School of Science, right?"

"Yeah? Gurl, why you asking me? I told you that already."

"A 4.0 GPA, went to a gifted program in Columbia—"

"Why are you asking me questions you already know the answer to?"

"Dr. Freeman wanted to hear those for himself," Remy heard the guy - Michael, his name is Michael, stop calling him "the guy" - mutter to himself as he typed away on his laptop.

"What makes you think that you're a boy, Miss Harris?" The doctor asked, pushing his glasses up. What a prick…

"Well, considering how I was quite literally diagnosed with gender identity disorder by a licensed psychiatrist, I don't think I am. I know I am."

"And yet, you've enrolled into Harvard under the name Rebecca. Is there any explanation as to why?" Freeman looked directly at Remy. "You're an intelligent young person, and enrolling under your preferred—"

"I didn't know I could do it, and now I have, like, no idea how to change it in administration."

"Biologically speaking, Mr. Harris, the concept of sex is very non-binary." The older man's gravelly voice seemed to chill even Michael, still taking notes. Suddenly he didn't seem so evil.

"First of all," Dr. Freeman said, "in sexual species, you can have female be XX and males just be X. For example, in insects. Female birds are ZW and males are ZZ, for reptiles it's temperature differences that female or male make. In some flatworms it's a penis fencing competition. Some fish like clownfish and parrotfish can have females become males because there are no males left, and the New Mexico whiptail lizards are a female-only species who reproduce asexually. Some species, like cuttlefish, have males act like females in order to get close to the females. And fungi have thousands of sexes. And that's not even getting close to humanity."

The doctor cleared his throat and took a sip of his coffee. "You can be male because you were born female but have a 5 alpha-reductase deficiency, and so you develop a penis in puberty. You can be female because you were born with XY chromosomes but you're insensitive to androgens, or because your Y is missing the SRY gene, both of which would result in developing a female figure. You can be male because you were born with two XX chromosomes but one of them does have the SRY gene. You can be male by having two X chromosomes and one Y, or a female by having only one X chromosome. And you can be male or female by being born in the wrong body for your brain.

"As I said, there is no such thing as two biological sexes only. So I'll ask you this again. Why would you enroll as a female named Rebecca if you know that you are neither?"

Remy had no idea how to respond. The professor looked at him, straight at him, and Michael kept typing away…

"...I told you, I had no idea I could do that."

"I'll write you a note to give to Vivian in administration. She'll take care of everything, you just need to provide her with a name."

"It's Remy—"

"I hope you understand that this isn't legal, it's only official. I don't have a doctorate in psychology just to explain what's the difference between the two to my students."

Remy nodded nervously, swallowing air. "Yes sir."

——

"Your suite is so much more comfortable than mine," Emile wiggled on the couch, petting his bunny, as Remy was making him a cup of tea. "You can… clearly see Leah was here."

"The marks on the wall? Yeah… she brought her scooter with her and wouldn't stop running into the wall with it."

Emile giggled - how much cuter could this boy get? - and scratched Mycroft's head a bit. "I asked my mom and, yeah, my grandparents and my uncle and his family are coming over, so it wouldn't be that much of an issue if you came over, but…"

"But?"

"We're having thanksgiving at my grandparents' on my dad's side. So it might be a bit of an issue. I'm sorry…"

"Don't be. It's okay, we didn't plan for this or whatever. I'll watch over Leah and you take care around your family, okay?"

"Okay. Have fun with her. She'll really need it."

"I know and I'm willing to suffer for that."

The kettle started whistling. Remy filled the mug with the boiling water and took it to Emile.

Just yesterday Emile screamed "I waited five minutes and the weather didn't change, get your shit together, Boston" at the sky when it started to snow. It wasn't even that much, Remy had seen bigger storms and he was sure that Emile did too - he was from Minnesota, after all - but it was still somewhat funny. After asking, Emile explained that in Minnesota, and basically all around the Midwest, "if you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes".

Remy didn't think he meant it literally. He probably didn't.

"How's India doing?"

"Midterms."

"Cool."

Emile was muttering something to himself in a language Remy didn't understand. He let Mycroft go and the bunny just sat there, on the couch, looking happy enough.

"Hey Remy, what's the Hebrew word for thanksgiving?"

"...I'm a Christian from New Jersey. Why are you asking me?"

"I don't… I don't know. My parents are expecting me to call my cousins before thanksgiving and they don't know English or Dutch yet… not that I know that much Dutch either, but… wait, you're from New Jersey? I thought you're from Manhattan."

"Only since I was five."

"Oh. Cool."

Remy moves the bunny and sat down next to Emile, who leaned against his side and put his head on his shoulder. His hair was incredibly soft, Remy was never quite able to stop running his fingers through it, and the whole situation just… made Remy feel like everything was going to be okay. Just… don't move from this spot, where the his adorable, tiny friend was cuddling up to him and muttering to himself in a different language, and everything will be alright.

His hair smelled like jasmine and seawater. And Remy was torn between admitting to himself just how much he liked it, and wondering if Chris would be jealous.

"You went on a date, right?" Emile raised his head, his hair tickling Remy. "I just…"

"Yeah, I did." And it was a bit better than Halloween. Chris was… way more interesting when not in parties, apparently. For one, he did not talk about his crush on Harrison Ford, and he did talk quite a bit but at least it was about law school and not Indiana Jones. It was… it was great.

"Huh… that's nice." And then, "a friend once asked me on a date. I had to say no."

"Why? Was something so wrong that—"

"No… I like that guy, but… he's the same guy who always paid me to bake weed brownies for him and his friends, and that's not very appropriate, right?"

He had to do a double take. "Weed brownies?!"

"Yeah… my school was the druggie school, you know?"

"No… I didn't know."

"Yeah… it's not like my parents couldn't afford to send me where my sister went, but they were worried about how the stress would affect me so I went to a public school. And… at least I only ever sneaked vodka in water bottles and baked weed brownies, I never, like… held someone's hair out of their face in the bathroom or had to keep someone from killing themselves, which now that I say it out loud just sounds so bad and I totally would've done it if I had to but—"

"Emile, babe, you're making me worry. Like, really."

"Sorry… I never ate weed brownies, though. I'm sensitive to weed."

This… this was the thing that baffled Remy about Emile. This… tiny, pure, angelic thing, with the soft hair that always smelled like jasmine and seawater and the bright, sparkling eyes. His soft little friend whose sunny disposition never faltered, not even in the darkest of times, and whose dedication and determination shone through everything he did.

Emile Picani, the sweetest human Remy ever met, was used to sneaking vodka into school and baking weed brownies.

Fuck.

"How do you even find out that you're sensitive to weed if you don't, like, smoke weed or whatever?"

"You have to decarboxylate the weed to activate it, which basically means heating it up, and the smell gives me migraines, so… that's how I found out."

Yeah, because that's so much better.

"But I mean, good riddance. Can we watch Mulan? I want to do something…"

"Aren't you reading that Sartre thing?"

"No Exit? I already finished it." Emile sipped on his tea. "I don't… get it? I can see why Estelle and Garcin will never achieve an epiphany, but Ines came in already aware that she's amoral… can't she just… leave Hell?"

Gilliam gave the class an optional assignment, to read and analyze No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre. It wasn't even going to go into their final grade, but he did say that it might be very important to the next semester when they study Freud ("and how he almost ruined the entire field of psychology, more or less"), so Remy chose to leave it for Christmas break. Or maybe not even read it.

"It's something like sixty pages, it's shorter than Hedda Gabler or The Cherry Orchard… it's an easy—"

"Question one, what the fuck is Hedda Gabler, and question two, what cherry orchard?"

Emile's eyes lit up and he almost jumped in his seat, spilling some of his tea on his lap and causing Mycroft to hop a bit farther. "Did you ever do theatre?"

And off on a rant he went, explaining every little nuance and allegory in both the plays ("so like, back in Ibsen's time, realistic theatre was meant to portray real life and keep the three unities, so Hedda shooting herself off-stage is meant to shock the audience as well as preserve the unity of place, which is pretty much…", "you know, the reason it's called Hedda Gabler despite Hedda being married to Jorgen Tesman is to show that Hedda sees herself as the daughter of General Gabler first and the wife of Jorgen Tesman second", "the cherry orchard is never really in scene ever, so it's kind of like a fantasy, or trying to hold onto a thing that isn't there anymore, like the Russian aristocrat's status, so when middle-class Lopakhin buys the orchard and orders to start cutting it before the others even left is like an even bigger sign that the aristocracy has fallen and there is no place left for it in the modern Russian society, in the face of the upcoming bourgeoisie and their budding materialism").

It was worse than Leah talking about betta fish. Well… no it wasn't, but he couldn't bring himself to shut Emile up… he was too cute to be told to shut up.

"So I just… I don't get it. Ines should be able to pick herself up and walk out the door, so why isn't she doing it?"

Emile was out of tea by the time Remy caught him looking at him with questioning eyes and realized he'd completely zoned out.

"Maybe… societal pressure?"

"Maybe… but it still makes no sense. She's in one room with two incredibly selfish people… can I boil some more water?" Remy nodded and Emile practically jumped out of his lap. The cold immediately hit Remy with a wave of disappointment. He wanted to hold Emile just a bit longer...

"Then again," Emile kept ranting, "this is the play that coined the term ‘Hell is other people'. L'enfer, c'est les autres. De hel zijn de anderen. Hagehenom hu hazulat."

"How many languages was that…?"

"Four." Remy choked. "I don't speak Dutch or Hebrew very well, I told you that. I only know the basics because of my family. But I do know this saying in five languages. I think... My oma and opa really like saying it. But I don't remember how to say it in German."

This boy was impossible.

"No, no, I do remember it. Die Hölle, das sind die anderen."

And Remy absolutely loved him. (A bushel and a peck.)

"And I only know how to say it in German because my neighbors are German. So like… I really only speak two languages."

"That's still way more than me, babe."

"Well, enough about me! I want to hear more about your date! How awesome was it?"

Oh, it was great. Chris didn't talk only about himself, he was actually interested in listening to Remy talk about his interests, they had a lovely dinner and went to see a slightly better than okay movie (he was not going to tell Emile that The Ring gave him nightmares for three days after watching it though), and he kissed him when they got back to Harvard. Nothing big, everything was nice, and they were going on a date again in early December. Nothing could be better.

Except the voice in his head, calling him a liar.

"That sounds very nice," Emile muttered as he plopped back down next to Remy and put his cup of tea on the table. "I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun. The Two Towers and Chicago are supposed to come out in December. And I promised my sister I'll go to see both of them with her."

A comfortable silence settled in. Remy tried to focus on anything but how nice it was to cuddle Emile, especially today that all his suitemates had other obligations. It was almost time to leave for thanksgiving - those who left for thanksgiving anyway - and… it meant he wouldn't see Emile for a week.

He didn't think he was a fan of the idea.

"Can we please watch Mulan? I haven't seen it in forever!"

Remy had to oblige.

——

"Hello?" The tiny voice that came through the phone made Remy so happy, and he had no idea why. "Who's that?"

"Leah, aren't you supposed to be doing your homework?"

"Remy oh oh oh Remy I have so many things to tell you so yesterday I went to the park and I found a shiny rock and—"

"Leah, I called to tell you and Linda that I'm coming over for thanksgiving." The high-pitched scream almost ruptured his eardrum. "But you have to be on your best behavior, okay? I know it's a very hard thing to do, babe, but it's for Linda."

"Okay! I can behave very good!"

"I know you can, sweets. I just need you to promise me that you will."

"I promise that I will! Pinky promise! When you get here it'll be a pinky promise, okay?"

All that was left was to hope that thanksgiving won't be such a disaster.

If it was, though, Remy would start considering smuggling Leah with him to Cambridge.

[strawberry-milktea]

There are plenty of gay people who don't get married and don't have sex. Therefore, no sin is being committed. Not to mention the fact that the Bible has been translated, and in the original Bible, there is no word for homosexuality. It actually says "male prostitution". So even if a gay couple did get married or have sex, it may not even be a sin. (Keep in mind that I am a Christian as well, and have heavily studied the subject because I am also a panromantic asexual).

I never said a homosexual person who doesn’t act on homosexuality is guilty of sin. Please don’t put words in my mouth or make assumptions. If a person is homosexual but does not engage in homosexual relationships and does not give into lustful thoughts and/or masturbation as a result of homosexual desires, you’re right, no sin has been committed. Just like a heterosexual person who struggles with lust isn’t committing sin if they fight against lustful thoughts and don’t engage in premarital sex. Just like a person who struggles with desires to commit theft isn’t committing a sin if they resist stealing. Just like a person who struggles with the urge to gossip isn’t sinning if they resist gossiping. Having a temptation or tendency for a particular sin doesn’t mean you’ve committed a sin - choosing to act on those desires and engage in sinful behavior is a sin.You saying you’ve “heavily studied” the subject doesn’t prove anything if your sources are not based in truth. My impression is your studying comes from biased sources that have the agenda of contorting the Word for the purpose of redefining sin and claiming homosexuality isn’t a sin (because in my experience, the claims you’re making here always come from those who want to approve of homosexuality as Christians instead of accepting the Word’s truth on this topic).These claims you’re making are not anything I haven’t heard before. The claims you’re making are dangerous as well, as you’re trying to contort the Word to redefine sin as you want it to be defined instead of how He defined it. The translations of the Word are loyal to the original texts/manuscripts. In your argument here, people try to dissect and redefine what Paul said, claiming he was referring to “male prostitution” instead of homosexuality. I see no evidence to suggest this notion and even if it did translate to this (which it doesn’t - I will get into it later in this response), there’s not just one verse Christians refer to in the Bible when they state that homosexuality is defined by Him as a sin. There are multiple areas of the Bible - both in the Old and New Testaments - that refer to homosexuality as a sin. Are you going to go with the claim that all these passages are talking about “male prostitutes” instead of what it’s actually referring to? Or are you going to choose to act like these passages do not exist?The reason “homosexual” didn’t literally appear in the original texts and appears in later English translations is because the word “homosexual” didn’t exist yet. See the following:

“In English the word homosexual was first used in 1892 in the English translation of Krafft-Ebing’s “Psychopathia sexualis”(x)

A word that didn’t exist in the English language until 1892 clearly wouldn’t be have a direct equivalent word in Greek original Biblical texts/manuscripts that are from long before 1892. Nor would it be present in English translations of the Bible prior to the creation/use of that word. That’s why there isn’t the exact word “homosexual” literally in the original texts. But that doesn’t mean that the meaning of that word isn't being directly discussed and referred to in scripture. It doesn't mean that the action of homosexual relations isn’t being described and referred to in the verses that address homosexuality. Just because the word itself didn’t exist yet isn’t an argument to dismiss the Word’s clear stance on homosexuality. 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10 refer directly to homosexuality being a sin. The word “homosexual” is used in one of these verses, the other uses “men who have sex with men” (also depends on the translation, but you’re either going to see homosexual or men who have sex with men - different word(s), same meaning). In both verses, the original Greek word to refer to homosexual is ἀρσενοκοίτης or arsenokoites. If you go to Greek dictionaries, you will find the following:

ἀρσενοκοίτης arsenokoítēs; gen. arsenokoítou, masc. noun, from ársēn (730), a male, and koítē (2845), a bed. A man who lies in bed with another male, a homosexual (1　Cor. 6:9; 1　Tim. 1:10 [cf. Lev. 18:22; Rom. 1:27]). Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary : New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.

You can see various other definitions provided in this article discussing this very topic. They provide very thorough commentary about this topic, which may be useful for you to read if you’re interested. Let’s also look at other sources for meanings of this Greek word:

ἀρσενοκοίτης: From ἄρσην (ársēn, “male”) and κοι-, o-grade stem of κεῖμαι (keîmai, “lie”), +‎ -της (-tēs, masculine agentive suffix), thus “a male who lies with males.” (x)

ἀρσενοκοίτης, ἀρσενοκοιτου, ὁ (ἄρσην a male; κοίτη a bed), one who lies with a male as with a female, a sodomite: 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:10. (Anthol. 9, 686, 5; ecclesiastical writings.) (x)

ἀρσενοκοίτης, ου, ὁ, Noun, Masculine  a male engaging in same-gender sexual activity; a sodomite, pederast.From: Public Domain Greek-English lexicon by John Jeffrey Dodson (2010) (x)

It’s clear that the Word is referring to homosexuality in these verses. The original Greek proves this. These verses prove that homosexual relations are deemed by Him as sinful and since He defined that marriage is between a man and a woman, this is further confirmation that both homosexual marriage and intercourse are against His will. Whichever sources you got your information from are clearly biased and are not basing their claims in the Word. Rather, it seems their agenda is to excuse something He defined as a sin instead of acknowledging what the Word actually says. It’s a serious offense in His eyes to remove from or add to the Word in any way. I would strongly advise you to avoid this kind of false teaching and follow what the Word truly says.