#everyone in heaven is basically nonbinary

[bugpov]

in a world dominated by men, we've grown up being taught that only solid evidence and what we can see is real and can be taken seriously. in a way, that is oppression against women cuz women are emotional and very intuitive we're taught to doubt it all cuz it can't be seen or proven what we feel. this is why we're failing as a species cuz we constantly hold ourselves back from believing something you intuitively know is true, you just can't prove it yet. it's like 2+2=4 but men are like hmmmmmmmmmm show ur work Woman, i don't believe u............. n it's like that's just absurd quit wasting time and just believe me

#snail sounds #also i use the word men and women very lightly #like tbh i dont think gentials or chromosomes determine ur gender . just ur sex and that's only relevant in a medical setting #it's more like energies that u have #like if u have a more masc presenting body but u sincerely feel that ur a woman #then yes you are a woman #cuz you have a stronger feminine energy in ur soul rather than a masc one #everyone has each energy but it's a spectrum #gender is a spectrum #i think #like tbh i feel like i have a pretty good balance of fem and masc energies #so i call myself nonbinary n she/they #like it's a combination rather than a separation of energies for me i think #it's different for everyone and it's good to explore that #this is why trans people are so valid in the expression of their identity #and if someone is feeling like they're not the gender they've been referred to as since childhood #it's cuz they're literally trans and there's no nonsense going on about it #gender norms are a bunch of hot garbage and they all need to be broken #everyone in heaven is basically nonbinary #there's a bible verse that even says all angels in heaven are nonbinary or something like that i dont even know #the point is that gender roles are a made up concept that we put way too much weight on and it is a waste of time to #make it so black and white #it's like black and white with gray in the middle #but in the center of that gray there is a rainbow #and that's my gender #my gender is a rainbow

[catholic-character-tournament]

Round 5 - Catholic Character Tournament

Propaganda below ⬇️

Sister Michael

She drives a DeLorean. She does judo on Fridays. She likes a good statue and despises the French. Her full nun name is Sister George Michael, after the guy from Wham!. She is the fiercest nun you’ll ever come across and, if you’re attending Lady Immaculate College, she’s the woman in charge. So whatever you do, if you’re feeling anxious or worried or just need a chat: don’t come crying to her.

joined the nunnery for the free accommodation?

she does love a good statue it has to be said

She is the headmistress of a catholic school <3

sister michael so reminds me of the nuns who taught me. they're tough and sometimes a little harsher than a woman who dedicated her life to god should be but they're also wonderful people. i had a nun teacher who was 60 years old and would do handstands. another nun (also in her 60s) told me god was nonbinary. another was really mean and made me cry. (so did the handstand nun.) while the catholic girls school is The Catholic Experience, the school wouldn't have been the same for me or the derry girls without at least one nun who seemed to have sprung up out of the ground fully formed, ageless.

Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler Propaganda:

good lord where do i start. in the animated series he converts logan to catholisism and then fucks off basically thats the main thing he did there. i think one time they tried to make him a demon to explain how he looked but everyone hated that. he sold his soul one time to help his friends out after he died. he and logan have a weird little gay thing. he was a priest one time but he was made a priest by a fake bishop from a religion that hates mutants iirc so he just wasnt a priest. like 3 people have written him in a way i like and one of those is my friend just talking about how they view him.

wow marvel loves making catholic characters dress/look like demons

Kurt is a mutant who was born to mystique who looks a LOT like a devil (technically is half one but that cannon truth isn’t real go back to bed), his mother dropped him off a cliff when he was born and he was picked up by a Romani group/circus (fuck old comics man) however he then narrowly escaped being sold to a freak show and found himself in a small German town. There he met a kind priest, who showed him God, and he quickly grew attached to the idea- However, it wasn’t long before people began labeling him a demon and soon the whole town was against him with pitchforks and fire. Cornered and injured, Kurt thought this might be the end for him- maybe he would see heaven so long after finding it- but he was then saved by Charles Xavier who invited him to the X-Men. AND ITS BEEN SO MANY YEARS AND HE HAS BEEN THROUGH SO MUCH THERE. SO MUCH. SO GOD DAMN MUCH. BUT THE MOST AAAA THING TO ME CONCERNING HIS FAITH HE WHEN HE LITERALLY DIED AND WENT TO HEAVEN BUT THEN BECAUSE OF DRAMA WITH HIS FATHER HAD TO BRING HIS FRIENDS IN WITH HIM FROM THE BEYOND. THEN WITH ALOT OF TROUBLE THEY FOUGHT HIS FATHER AND THE ONLY WAY KURT SAW TO STOP HIM WAS IN A MOVE THAT STRIPPED THEM BOTH OF THEIR SOULS AND PUT THEM BACK ON EARTH. SO KURT CANONICALLY HAS NOW LOST HIS ABILITY FOR ETERNAL PEACE, LOST HIS VERY SOUL, TO SAVE PEOPLE- AND ALSO TOLD NO ONE NOT EVEN HIS GAY LOVER WOLVERINE.

Nightcrawler is a mutant vigilante who looks like a classical demon. He can’t even go to church without people panicking and trying to exorcize him. Despite it all, he’s so full of faith and hope and compassion, and he wants to believe the best of everyone. Also, he’s bffs with an extremely angry Jewish sword lesbian. That has nothing to do with anything, but it’s important to me that you all know that.

What if you were a devout christian and literally looked like the devil? He nearly became the pope, which was a plot by some supervillains that also involved faking a rapture? There is nothing like comics I swear to god.

A catholic who is half demon I don’t think I can better explain a struggle than that. But his character is so relatable to people who feel unwelcome with their congregation because of something that is a part of them but still feeling a connection to the faith. Kurt actively engaged in his faith and shares how his faith helps him through all the things he has faced in life and how he found a home with those of the church who leave the judging to God.

so they made kurt a priest briefly before deciding to retcon it, resulting in nightcrawler actually being part of a plan by villains to promote him to pope then reveal to the world that the pope is a demon. wild.

I have a side blog and a tattoo about him and i really really want him to win

Wisecracking devil-appearing devout Catholic with the Best superpower (teleportation)? HECK YES

German Catholic circus acrobat who looks like a demon & can teleport through a hellish alternate dimension with a puff of sulfur. Character of all time.

hes catholic and his dad is the devil. what could be funnier than that. also hes my silly little guy.

Nightcrawler is the world’s most fun catholic priest. I first was introduced to this kindhearted teleporting acrobat while he saved a boat full of stowaway refugees from inter dimensional pirates with swashbuckling gusto!

#cct polls #tumblr tournament #tumblr bracket #tumblr polls #polls #kurt wagner #x men #nightcrawler #marvel #xmen #x men comics #marvel x men #r5 #the derry girls #derry girls #sister michael

[user-needs-new-hyperfixation]

Random ask, cause you have finished tgcf, what if the yuumori cast got into the tgcf universe? Who do you think fit into the cast? Like who do you think fit as xie lian, hua cheng, shi qingxuan, etc....

Sorry not sorry but Albert's feelings about William are the closest Yuumori comes to Hualian vibes RIP. Sherliam doesn't translate to Hualian, but AlWill could with a little tweaking.

That being said, Xie Lian just has such utter next level trauma that it makes the Moriartys' childhood look like a walk in the park. I don't think any character in Yuumori is really a close mirror of Xie Lian. William is a lot like Xie Lian was around the time of his first ascension and his first banishment and the famine in Yong'an, right at the point where he was determined to defy even heaven itself with the intent of saving the world.

But that's the thing. William's whole plan has an inherent immaturity to it. And Xie Lian was at that same point when he was a beloved god-child prince. But mountains of trauma and hundreds of years leave him outright cringing over his younger self. He's still kind, he still wants to help, and (though I have not actually read the final volume yet), presumably he (and love) DO save the day in the end. But he comes at it from a much more realistic pov in later years. So. Idk, give William immortality and maybe he'd grow up to be Xie Lian eventually. 😅 (this is only a Liam diss in the silliest lightest-hearted of ways. He's my precious babygirl.)

The problem with doing comparisons for the rest of the characters is that everyone abandons Xie Lian at one point or another, except Hua Cheng. William's followers are a lot more determined and dedicated. Moran could be Feng Xin, maybe, or Pei Ming? But I don't know, the rest gets too complicated.

Most importantly, however: Shi Qingxuan = James Bond. They're basically the same character, except the Wind Master seems to lean more nonbinary. But they've both got the same fun, clever, badass sidekick who provides comic relief thing. Fortunately, Yuumori is a kinder universe, and Bond will hopefully stay our happy boy. 😭

#moriarty the patriot #tgcf #yuukoku no moriarty #heaven official's blessing #heaven official's blessing spoilers #tgcf spoilers #asks

[bish-plz-haha]

SPOILERS AHEAD

I have many thoughts about GO(2) and I need to sort them all out (in no particular order) and I'm reading through tumblr and everything else and I got so many thoughts and theories I've seen that I absolutely love and I want to list them all (if I can find corresponding posts, I will link them—Sorry in advance for the amount of links in this post: read at your own will). So, without further ado:

There's a lot of theories out there about who Angel Crowley™️ might be but I think my money is on Lucifer. Perhaps Samael, maybe Raphael, but my heart says Lucifer. In a way, though, I kinda hope that we dont get his God Given name because, as a nonbinary/trans leaning person, it makes me happy that he chose a name for himself instead of living with his given name.

"Class-A surreptitious miracle." In which, its actually not surreptitious because, as much as they tried to make it the most fractional, insubstantial miracle, it was powerful enough to bring back the dead 25x over, and I think it definitely scared The Metatron (dick) enough to want to see to it personlly that they were separated- "a miracle only the mightiest of Archangels could have performed" Shax said (which also adds to the Lucifer theory to me tbh).

Crowley knows how evil heaven actually is. But he doesn't give Aziraphale this information. I think in fear of hurting his angel. But this lack of information is what also helped Zira make his decision to go back to heaven. Which also leads me into saying that for his overall character arc through s1 & s2, this ending makes a lot of sense for Zira. Especially because he doesnt have all the information that Crowley has. If Crowley had told him what he knows, I think it might've been a different outcome.

Beelzebub is like, "hey, if you can find my husband (which no one knows until that ending [I've been crying for years]), I'll give you anything you want; you can be a prince run Hell" and Crowley is like, "no thanks, I got my husband, his bookshop and my car and plants. I'm happy thanks." (Which is kinda a lie).

Also, the way everyone refers to Beez so easily as They. I am so delighted that a large piece of media makes they/them pronouns a normal thing and not something that's like, overly questioned/talked about. Its just... normal.

SAME WITH THE GAYS!

Also, the ability to put almost any character in GO on the aro/ace spec and it's probably canon (I personally believe Crowley and Aziraphale are romantic beings with/for each other, but they're both Ace.)

I absolutely am ecstatic that love is love and no one questions that Zira did a "miracle" to make two women fall in love; especially in a series based upon Christianity. I didnt grow up with a religion really, but I love it. I have family that say their Christian's and dont like me so much anymore as I'm gender nonconforming. (Whoops! Not sorry.)

Michael Sheen is king of subtly and micro-expressions and I have seen a post that is talking about it and I would love for it to be true: if you watch, just after Crowley pulls away from the kiss, something changes in Aziraphale's expression, just for a split second, and I would love for it to be them switching places (again) and for Crowley to be going to Heaven and raising a little hell. (Though I know its PROBABLY not true, this theory has so much on it.)

I love how good omens 2 shows us the destruction miscommunication can cause. I think this is why in this day and age, so many people are divorcing. And this show shows it beautifully. Crowley and Aziraphale both say things the other takes in the completely wrong way. But also. I'm gonna cry for years about this divorce (its sadder than when my parents split)

Ty Tennant really showed up to set, said "watch this", basically eyefucked Aziraphale/Michael Sheen, and showed his father how to be a proper gay. And I love it.

Not to mention that Ty Tennant's Grandfather played his father, Job, while his father plays a "gay" demon "trying" to kill him.

"Our car" and "our bookshop".

I love how Nina and Maggie represent Crowley and Aziraphale. But it's not the way you think: it's so misleading. Nina at first glance is Crowley and Maggie is Aziraphale. But that is not true. Its actually the other way around. And here is a post explaining it more.

I'm loving that s1 we see Crowley as a nanny. And s2 brings us Crowley the shoemaker AND a midwife. Its... hilarious??

I love how Good Omens inserts the book, Good Omens, into series 2. Like, break the fourth wall why dont you?

Crowley hasn't fallen from grace as much as he wants people to believe. He lies, yes, but he does so much good. Barely does any "evil" on his own (that's all humans).

"I go along with hell/heaven as far as I can" is such a strong way to describe these two characters actions. Zira does what he thinks is morally right and Crowley just... does his thing. I think Aziraphale didnt want to though (as we see in the minisode of ep2) but after some thousand years, he became okay with it really. Or pretended to himself long enough to believe it himself. Crowley though doesnt give a fuck and doesn't really care if he really followed along in "Hell's plans".

That kiss is so devastating and full of desperation and everything on the side of it. It's also loving. But in the completely wrong way because its Crowley's last-ditch attempt to get Aziraphale to stay—to be with him. To be an Us.

Crackship! Crackship! Crackship! CRACKSHIP!!!!!

ANGEL WITH A WHEELCHAIR!! ANGEL. WITH. A. WHEELCHAIR. ANGEL WITH A WHEELCHAIR. ANGEL WITH A WHEELCHAIR!!!!!!!!!!

#ineffable husbands #ineffable idiots #good omens 2 spoilers #good omens spoilers #good omens s2e6 #good omens 2 #good omens #go2 spoilers #go2 #crowley x aziraphale #aziraphale and crowley #aziracrow #azicrow #azirowley #aziraphale #crowly x aziraphale #crowley #beezlebub #gabriel/jim #gabriel #ineffable bureaucracy #ineffable spouses #ineffable partners #nonbinary #gay pride #lesbian pride #nina x maggie #david tennant #michael sheen #mine

[mythicaldemigoddess-of-deltarune]

My Thoughts About If Earth Angels Had Ranks...And Some Other Stuff.

[Note: Reading This Is Optional...this will also talk a bit about Nonbinary, Transgender and Intersex as well. ]

yeah, not everyone has to agree with this but if Earth Angels did have some form of Ranks, it will be different depending on the half-human & half-angelic soul.

my ideas of the types of Ranks would be:

Earth Angel Princess

Earth Angel Prince

Earth Angel Mage

Earth Angel Knight

Earth Angel Healer

Earth Angel Oracle

Earth Angel Witch

Earth Angel Messenger

Earth Angel Duke

Earth Angel Overlord

Earth Angel Queen

Earth Angel King

and lastly, Earth Angel Newborn which is basically a newborn soul baby who is both physically and mentally a baby and will grow like most children over time even growing to until they reach their mature adult forms.

but once the New Earth Angel that was once a newborn soul reaches as certain age, their rank will change.

I'm not 100% sure if there are boy Earth Angels, even some who are Nonbinary-Boys who go by He/They pronouns.

but it could be possible there are some Earth Angels who have have been born in biological male bodies, and may identify as male.

it could be rare for some Earth Angels who are Male or Female to born into the wrong body that doesn't match their true gender identity.

like for some who are Nonbinary, even if being Transgender is separate but what I'm trying to say is that some who do feel Nonbinary but at the same time feel like they were born into the wrong body and feel like well the pronouns that seem to fit them would be He/They or She/They, it depends on them either being a Nonbinary-Guy or Nonbinary-Gal.

there can be different types of Nonbinary, and while some can still feel a bit more connected to the biological body they were born with even if in a different way, some might not and some could not only be a guy trapped in a girl body or a girl trapped in a boy body, they might also turn out to be Nonbinary as well, but that might only be a few who feel like that.

maybe some will get what I'm trying to say and I hope there is no misunderstandings.

I still suspect I might be one of the Intersex types, because of stuff that happen in my childhood before I became a teenager and at some point later on when I started to have that whole time of the month...it had got dangerous for me at some point, and well what I read about one of the signs of that Intersex type I believe that I am.

it just seem to fit from some stuff I went through.

I don't want to fully say that I am Intersex because some people might disagree, but the info I read before makes me believe I might very well be.

Stevonnie from Steven Universe is Nonbinary and goes by They/Them, and they are Intersex as well.

there are different types of Intersex and yeah ya can still be Biologically Male or Female but it's different for some even those who turn out to be Nonbinary, and there are different types of Nonbinary, not just ones who go by just They/Them.

there isn't just one type of Intersex, and with how some doctors and parents are, it's a good thing some don't notice right away because them trying to "fix" it and not bothering to get it through their heads that might cause more damage and possibly a identity crisis if what they pick, turns out to be incorrect.

if I am right about being Intersex, then I was one of the lucky ones not to be notice as such by the doctors, plus I think my Mom would have sense not to let them try to "fix" me...

Hell Knows No Fury Than The Wrath Of A Mother...

I know that isn't how that goes, but it works in this case.

plus if I was able to, and if my second cat wasn't taken to the vet on time or if those at the vet did anything wrong while trying to help her...

I would so do a Omnigeddon on the 5th Heaven and 5th Ring of Hell, freezing and making them snow and no Masculine would be safe from my sorrow and rage...

yeah as weird as it sounds, the thoughts I had if anything went wrong with my second cat, I would start Omnigeddon.

I know it isn't really possible, the whole Omnigeddon thing.

and I still rather my second cat have a very long life and live for many years to come.

it had hurt what happen with my first cat, and it be nice if they were given to me when they were a kitten like my second cat.

I know that any fluffy baby I get, they will end up being weird. XD

I know I had some form of bond with my first cat, plus the second cat I have seems to be like a more deeper bond, and it be nice it turns out my second cat is the reborn self of my first cat.

but seriously, if anything were to happen to them, like if they had went too soon before it was truly their time...

and if it were possible, I would freeze and have it snow in the 5th Heaven and The 5th Ring Of Hell...

I'm pretty sure there were a few times I went all Feral Earth Angel, well before figuring out that I am one...

like it being a mix of protectiveness in there half the time, not sure how many others went through as type of Feral Earth Angel Mode.

like if you have a cousin or sibling who is being picked on and you end up getting really mad and are about to head over there, but are held back from doing so by others who are family.

and not everyone has to believe it or agree with me on it, but there could be a deep reason why most humans end up being born in the wrong body, like even if someone who was born in a male or female body end up figuring out their gender identity doesn't match with them being really a gal or guy.

but the reasons could have to do with the imbalance, there could be only a few things we are discovering about it.

I still think that Hell wasn't always "Hell" and the Evil and Corruption that formed there could very well be from some form of miasma that was left unchecked along with their being a dangerous amount of Toxic-Masculine Energy.

what we know as Hell, may have been a Quarantine sector of The Earth Queendom, being a part of The Earthly Mother's domain.

which once again, may have had to go through Quarantine so the dangerous imbalance did not spread.

in one of the books I have that is by Nicholas Pearson.

the book "Stones Of The Goddess: Crystals For The Divine Feminine"

mentions about the dethroning of The Goddess, and it could be linked to some percent of the patriarchy being corrupted.

as weird it might be, I think there could be a type of Crystal that could allow to heal and purify souls before they are meant to reborn once again on Earth.

like picture a pure white glowing crystal that is like the Paradox Prism from Sonic Prime.

like souls are meant to go into the crystal and then come out, healed from the trauma that they may have suffered through in their past life and they can either choose to stay in the afterlife or be reborn once again.

as weird as a thought it might be, like some kind of Crystal that is white and large that it could be way bigger than a adult, even one who could be 6 or 7 feet tall.

like such a Crystal being in a type of rocky room, ya know like the room is round but is made out of rocks, like orange and having type of lava around it like a size of a small lake or fountain...

but it once having green grass, with flowers and the lava use to having water that surrounds the said Crystal.

this is just a theory, but what I am describing could turn out to be real......I mean possibly.

it also could also be possible that some souls are born into their human bodies well, placed into their human bodies before being fully born, too soon before their soul has a chance to fully figure out what they identify as, either it be Male, Female or Nonbinary.

so it wouldn't just be one type of imbalance that could be the reason why some percent end up being born in the wrong bio-gender body that don't match their soul's identity.

it can be different for different people, and it could be possible some souls could be Transgender but it could have to do with them reforming that has to do with the consciousness manifestation of light that is their bodies changing to the body that matches who they truly are at their hearts.

so Transgender can be different in the afterlife and celestial realm, because it wouldn't have the same type of pills or surgery.

anyway, there could be some Neutral Souls who could not only have the right balance of Masculine and Feminine energies, but could also have the Nonbinary Energy in there.

it could be possible I have both Nonbinary and Feminine Energy, even if some of the Masculine energy is suppose to be in there as well, but like the Masculine part will always be a part of humans, not just the males.

anyway the idea about the whole Earth Angel Ranks don't have to be taken seriously, but I think the whole Earth Angel Princess thing is already a rank because of that whole heritage I got...

I'm weird, so of course that "Earth Angel Princess" is going to pop into my head...

also I know that being Nonbinary and Intersex is separate, I mean I know I'm Aroaceflux and Fictoromantic and it could be possible I may have been Demiromantic but I'm not 100% sure.

I know I had bad luck with guys, even if some of them were online boyfriends, and any guy in real life I showed a bit of feelings for never truly returned the feelings...it might be thanks to my wearing my gem bracelets that I'm free from that, I can still get crushes of course but I have no interest in trying to get a boyfriend at this moment in time.

even if I did, they would need to respect my space and not touch me when I don't want to be touched or try to talk me into making-out when I may not feel like it....if I am okay with hand holding fine, even playing video games or watching a show or movie together...

but they are not allowed to put their arm around me unless I'm okay with it....

and hugging me from behind when I am not expecting it is REALLY not okay, cause they will likely startle me like a deer...

one of my family did that, and I was so surprised and not in a good way....but they know not to do that again, and I guess they are trying to make sure to remember how I don't like being touched at times...

with all that, and the whole weird thing that goes on with that Modern Radio, which lucky only happens once in a while...

it just reminds me a bit of Alastor from Hazbin Hotel.

I doubt he ever got seizures that were caused by the energies of both people and a place during childhood, so that can be one of the few differences.

I did explain about the weird stuff that happens when I point my fingers at the Modern Radio we have and then take it away, like at times the single will be better or not so much depending on what it will be.

I think it only happens once in a while, so that is pretty good.

I love sweets but even I can have days when I want something else besides sweets. Strawberries are one of my favorites, but there can be some strawberries that don't taste very good because their not as sweet...and it can have to do with the less love that is put into them.

so if a strawberry doesn't taste very good, it is because it has less love than the strawberries that are given the full love and care when being grown.

I'm not sure if I have much to say about the whole Earth Angel Ranks, but it could still be possible some percent of Earth Angels can end up being Nonbinary, some can be Intersex and some can be Transgender.

I still don't know many other Nonbinary Earth Angels, and well maybe there could be some who are Nonbinary besides me.

anyway not everyone has to agree about the whole imbalance thing that could be the cause of some humans being born into the wrong bio-gender body that might not match with their gender identity.

even if I can talk about my thoughts on the possibility, don't mean I will force others to agree. if some did agree, it would have to be of their own choice and free will.

#do not reblog without permission #mature audiences only #not for kids #earth angel #talking about feelings #my thoughts #transgender #intersex #nonbinary #march 2024

[felowtravler]

The beginning of my thoughts on the Christian argument for the legitimacy of nonbinary identities.

While these thoughts are original to me, I'm sure they're not unique. People say lots of things, especially on this website, but I'm not plagiarizing anyone's ideas.

The idea of binary systems/options seems to be a pretty Christian idea, with the juxtaposition of good and evil, God and Satan, and Jewish and Gentile. There are many other examples of this coming up, like Saved and Condenmed, Clean and Unclean, Heaven and Earth, Human and Divine.

However, the function of Christianity seems to be disruptive of established binaries (as established in the Christian Old Testament, not necessarily in all Jewish literature and thought. I am not well versed in Jewish theology, doctrine, or history, so I can't claim that Judaism is full of binaries or not. So, this is not an essay about how Judaism is anti-nonbinary identities. I can not make that claim and am certain that would be inaccurate anyway. I do know Judaism has a rich history of respecting diversity of thought.) In the Christian Old Testament, as was taught to me by the current American Christian church, whether they realozed this is what they were teaching or not, you see several binaries established (as listed above). The Old Testament is presented as this collection of literature speaking to the imperfectuon of humanity, how people can never be reconciled with God no matter how hard individuals or communities try. the New Testament is then presented as the Solution to the Problem of the Old Testament. It begins with Jesus: he comes and saves everyone. While no one knows how the cross works to earn human salvation, that's the general consensus of Christianity. Jesus died and was punished so that we humans dont have to be punished for our spiritual shortcomings.

The rest of the New Testament is made up of letters written to and between churches and leaders, mostly Paul (who lots of people have mixed feelings about, including myself) about what it means to follow Christ now that Jesus is gone (because after he came back to life he stuck around for a minute to prove he was back to his followers and then left. It's unknown if he went to heaven or just walks on the earth today as a human still. There are different theories but the general assumption in american christianity is that Jesus went to heaven to come back again one day). These letters are where we get the church as we kind of know it. The rules against women being leaders and the ones that may or may not be in support of slavery. Those super exciting ones. Anywho, within some of these...controversial letters, the different writers begin to explain some theories about Jesus, what his existence means, what to do now. Some of the messages are rather practical, which is great, but some are less so, directed towards specific congregations but are interpreted by the modern American churchas as meant for Every Church Ever. But, let's get back to the writings about christ and his believers in general, as explained in some earlier books (like Acts) and later letters.

In one instance, people wonder if they must follow Jewish tradition and restrictions. Basically, the answer is: you can if you want, but you can't hold other Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians to those same standards. Jesus' life and sacrifice means that what's been considered Unclean is not bad, it's only a choice you get to make based on preference and tradition if you want to uphold the Jewish laws (though there is debate about the extent of this argument; "obviously that doesn't apply to laws about sex and marriage and murder" but that's a whole different debate). The writers argue that Jesus came and destroyed the binary of Jewish/Gentile. No longer do Jewish Christ followers (ya know, the original followers were mostly Jewish. Christianity was originally a Jewish faith but has somehow since become its own antisemitic behemoth) have to keep themselves separate from nonJewish people. People who follow Jesus can gather together REGARDLESS of their ethnicity and cleanliness. While those differences might still exist, they don't matter. This is kind of the equivalent to being colorblind, "I don't see ethnicity." Thats not necessarily what the writers are arguing, but in this case it doesn't matter quite so much when it's written for Jewish believers (rather than to Gentile believers being told to just ignore the ethnicity of their community members). So, there's one MAJOR binary blown up.

I won't spend as much time explaining others, because they feel clear to me, but Jesus' whole thing was ruining existing boxes that people had. Unclean or clean? Doesn't matter. Man or woman? Doesn't matter. (In the sense of being gender blind rather than saying outright "gender doesn't matter/there are more options"). Divine or human? Jesus is fully BOTH. Individual or Community? Jesus is part of the Trinity, he's one person but also Three Beings. That's not a clean box (literally no one understands how the trinity works). Liberal or conservative? Jesus doesn't care what you think, it's about what you do. Jesus is RADICALLY ANTI-BINARY.

That's one of the functions of Jesus in the Bible. To destroy the binaries and boxes people hold tight. So, what would Jesus say about gender identities, especially when it comes to nonbinary folks? Probably something along the lines of, "it doesn't really matter (respectfully) what your identity is. What are DOING? How are you loving the people around you? How are you loving God? How are loving yourself?"

Jesus was never concerned with identity. Jesus was concerned with action. Anyone who says otherwise is ignorant at best and a liar at worst. Enbies, you're valid. It only matters what you're doing with your beautiful self. How you treat the people in your life. How you express your love. Jesus would probably lift yall up as examples of what he came to do, that boxes don't matter as much as the people we put them into. You're living manifestations of Jesus' rebellion.

You are valid. You are loved.

#nonbinary #enby #christian #hopefully less than harmful theology #because my ppl #yall are valid #gender queer christians #gender and faith #gender queer #writing #musings #christianity #identity in christianity is not the focus #while there are issues that need to be identified based on identity (like gender #queerness and race #among many other things #the concern is NEVER if your identity is “right” #theyre not focusing on the right thing if thats what theyre arguing about

[awesome-ramen-thief]

making a silly lil list of my stories (i dont use all of them, i just think of them when i dissociate) so that i don't forget abt them

Re: Revolution - my main story, posts the most about this, my first ever story that I am still working on and want to do something bigger with (main dream being that I make a video game of it)

444: Ghost Club - a bunch of college kids find a bunch of weird religious shit, old gods, toilets ghosts, and lovecraftian abominations. Main dude has a snake who is actually god (kinda sorta) and simps for the emo boy of the club, fucked up scooby doo basically

Undergrounds' Calling - enemies to lovers but make it hacker wars. I created the girl very simpable in my opinion, she can step on me. I am using my computer science knowledge for SOMETHING at least. Weird shit is happening the underground world, two hackers fight and sex it out to find out what the hell is going on.

By The Willow Tree - Fae finds a masc nonbinary and they just start falling in love idk what you want from me

Kitsune's Path - THIS IS VERY SELF INDULGENT THIS IS A YAKUZA OC FOUND FAMILY SHIT IDK WHAT TO SAY YOU WILL HEAR THIS STORYLINE AT MY GRAVE

The Day Magnus Barwick Died - lots of angst, lots of mind fuckery going on around here. It's a superhero story where magnus traumatizes everyone he has ever loved and then dies by his own sins. some gayness but mostly trauma and manipulation (physical and mental)

The Day Cade Homer Lived - different POV of last story above, taken from the POV of magnus' friend/love/ex/enemy/victim. A LOT OF ANGST, some hope then boom! more angst!

Re: Revolution : A Sister's Regret - Canon divergence of Re: Revolution (as name suggests), basically Charity goes fucking ape shit and goes mega protective mode on Luna that she does a lot of shit she isn't proud of. angst, trauma, and healing ensues (hopefully)

Moon's Gravity - Superhero AU of Re: Revolution, Luna starts becoming more popular as a hero and deals with the issue that comes with that. She learns a bit more about her co-workers (and her sister) and her father's death

A Dead God Can't Promise - nearly forgot about this one! man has a mid life crisis over his ex (??) dying and decides "ayo I'm gonna kill my way to heaven lol", angst ensues

[ineffable-endearments]

CW below for a discussion that relates to homophobia, transphobia, queerphobia, acephobia, and related subjects. no specific stories, the themes just generally appear. i hope i didn't screw up and will fix it if i did.

so i was thinking about what makes Aziraphale and Crowley resonate as a queer love story, not just a "forbidden romance" (a trope that can be painfully cishet when it wants to be, which is often).

and i mean, obviously. there are a LOT of things. a lot. but something that didn't occur to me before is their relationship to each other relative to their sides.

at first, one would assume that they aren't supposed to be talking at all. this is probably true on a surface level. like, it's probably considered uncool to be caught chatting with The Enemy.

however, we do see that it's kind of normal for angels and demons to talk with a degree of civility. they don't trust each other deeply, that much is really obvious (Beelzebub says as much to Michael), and they do probably plan to kill each other eventually. at least, i think they genuinely believe that's how it's going to play out.

but! the front entrance to Heaven is in the same building as the front entrance to Hell! Aziraphale and Crowley literally walk into the building side by side! i know it's a funny joke, but Heaven and Hell aren't framed as stupid enough, by the end of the series, for that to be pure incompetence.

Michael has been in contact with Ligur for who-knows-how-long, feeding him information and presumably being fed information in return. Gabriel is entirely capable of speaking amicably with Beelzebub once it looks like their Plan isn't going through. and, of course, the Sides easily collaborate to punish Aziraphale and Crowley.

it's obviously normal for angels and demons to have a civil relationship of some sort.

a number of references are also made to the ways that the Sides are ultimately the same. Beelzebub and Gabriel are operating out of the same rulebook, after all; they both think the War is "written," they just differ on who's bound to win. to them, the most important thing is not even to thwart the other side on Earth - it's to get to the part where they're at war. they will absolutely collaborate with each other to reach that goal. they consider themselves part of the same Plan. consider even Crowley's thoughts in the book about how demons have "an unpopular job" but are "essential" to the running of the universe. they may be culturally different, but they all know they belong to the same society.

therefore, merely talking together is probably not strictly forbidden for Aziraphale and Crowley. even being sort of friendly probably isn't strictly forbidden. again, uncool? yeah. deadly? i doubt it, to be honest. heck, to their bosses' faces, they could use it as an excuse to spy on each other whether any actual spying got done.

what's the real problem? the thing everyone's upset about? it's not just that don't kill each other on sight. the real problem is that they prioritized each other. they got too intimate. their desires for a life together challenged the status quo, and even though they weren't the ones who were finally responsible for stopping the war altogether (that was Adam), they were blamed and sadistically punished for trying to preserve their relationship and their lives here on Earth instead of "growing up" and fulfilling their predetermined roles in Heaven and Hell.

in real life, society punishes people for prioritizing friendships in a way that most people assume is to be reserved only for romantic and sexual relationships. Heaven and Hell punish people for prioritizing friendship in a way that most people assume is to be reserved only for the glory of their cause.

and irl, when people are romantic or sexual (viewed as too intimate) with someone who is considered the "wrong gender," we punish them again for that. cisheteropatriarchal culture tends to expect men in particular to be not too intimate with each other and fuels a total hiding of emotion between them, although goodness knows women get pitted against each other and are expected to choose men over each other, too. also, the status quo does not know how to handle nonbinary people at all; the status quo gets angry if you even try to acknowledge that they exist. but if there was a widely-popular etiquette structure established for enbies, i'd be willing to bet it would also be a weird rivalry thing.

like, each gender sort of gets treated as "we all think the same in this gender, which is why we get along, but we don't like each other too much, because that would be gay."

"we're all looking to keep the Great Plan in motion, but we don't like each other too much, because then we wouldn't be on opposite sides."

basically, Aziraphale and Crowley read as a queer love story because their affection for each other and the lives they've created together challenges the traditional roles their shared society forces on them. it's a happy queer love story because not only do they manage to choose that affection over the status quo, they succeed and go on to enjoy themselves.

i'm a little nervous about posting this rant, because it's kind of saying, i guess, that Crowley and Aziraphale's queer relationship is characterized by their challenges to the status quo, and i don't think by any means that has to be true of all queer people. i mean, people can be quietly non-cishet, never let anyone know, never tell a soul, and they'd still not be cishet. and also, isn't the point that someday we'd get to a point where nobody has to deal with bigotry or even disrespect?

but at the same time, it is kind of impossible to look at the history and not see significant struggles, including ones that appear in stories over and over. i can't tell you how many posts i've seen on this site alone about how queer love and queer survival are themselves acts of resistance. and IMO, that's what Crowley and Aziraphale have.

[akisata-moved]

a little bit of divine worldbuilding 🕊️

hi everyone! i said i would make a post about my angel worldbuilding and the lore surrounding it, so here we are. let's get into this!

(as a forewarning: this got really long really fast. sorry lol)

i. at the beginning of the universe: what's the deal with god, heaven, and hell?

you know... this guy. ...or, guys? i use they pronouns for god, not because they're nonbinary rep or anything but because the classic collection uses they pronouns for god because they are literally plural. so, multiple guys.

a. the universe's first inhabitants 🌟

we can't have angels (or anything, really) without god. so... what is god?

to put it simply, "god" is a small collective of beings that hail from a primordial race of creatures called aeons. contrary to popular belief, "god" did not create the universe as a whole.

that being said, they WERE the first beings to exist in the universe; gifted with near-immortality and the power of creation, they were essentially burdened the cosmic purpose of bringing the universe to life. think of them as... like, demiurges, really. despite being the first beings in the universe, they didn't really start popping up until ~370,000 years into the universe existing.

(whether or not there is a "supreme" being above them isn't something i've given TOO much thought to. my working idea is that the universe is quite literally a supreme being in itself.)

so, our "god" is not the only ones of their kind. there isn't a large amount of them, but considering the size of the universe and how it's ever-expanding... there's enough of them to go around, you know.

as the early stages of the universe progress, they start to become aware of the existence of each other. it's difficult to be what is essentially a god and be unaware of the presences that surround you.

the attitudes that they held towards each other varied from aeon to aeon. some of them worked in tandem, others remained solitary. some of them competed with others, and others dedicated themselves to watching over their corner of the universe and making it a home.

there weren't many "overstepped boundaries" in the infinitely expanding stretch of space they had at their disposal. in the early stages of the universe, there was no need for that kind of thing. they all mostly stayed in their own lanes.

during the early epochs, they mostly just spent their time experimenting, growing and changing, and learning the ins and outs of their little cosmic playground.

due to the nature and scope of their abilities, and their immortality, they were mostly aware that their exploits were relatively infinitesimal. they had a very acute awareness that every planet and galaxy they created would eventually crumble.

similarly to their attitudes towards each other, the attitudes they held towards their creations varied. some liked to stay disconnected, and hopped from creation to creation, moving on as soon as they finished working on their little project. others were more involved.

in regards to their abilities, they aren't omnipotent. in fact i wouldn't even really call them omnificent. if there was a way to describe what they were able to do, it would be... transmute? the universe provided all the materials for creation, and so it was their job to use their divine power to... make something with it, really. they can't create something out of absolutely nothing. there has to be something for them to make stuff.

they also don't really have any kind of set moral compass. so none of them are inherently evil, good, bad, whatever.

of course, given the fact that they mostly reside in space (we'll get to what exactly "heaven" is in a little), they aren't necessarily bound to one physical shape or form. we love shapeshifters.

b. the devilman "god", and the prison of light 🕯️

the devilman "god" is a trio of aeons who bonded over a certainty and awareness of what they wanted from the universe. they strove to create something perfect— something beautiful. better than every other creation out there. other aeons' work was... sloppy, imperfect, and quite ugly.

as stated before, the aeons aren't necessarily physical beings. that makes it really easy for them to fuse with each other, as they aren't really bound to any kind of physics or laws governing their consciousnesses and bodies.

"so are they a hivemind" not necessarily? they're all just... fused together. the pros of fusing together like that means that one single entity now has the power of three aeons, which lets them do a lot more than if they were all separate, and on a larger scale. god is a throuple

they probably aren't the only aeon group to do this, honestly.

fun note: the devilman "god" never refers to themselves as another aeon. they always refer to themselves as a "god", and it's mainly just because they think they're better than the rest of the aeons lol. i'll be referring to them as god from here on out just because it's easier.

so, then what? god decides that they need a place for themselves. a pocket of space only for them (+ eventually, the angels). they needed a home base of sorts, a place that represented their vision as they imagined it. and so, they created heaven.

so what even is heaven? it's essentially a sub-universe, or a pocket of the universe that god hid away just for themselves.... and for the angels, which were created afterwards.

once again, i doubt heaven is the only realm of its kind. i doubt that god is the only aeon who had the idea for a "home base" of sorts.

heaven started out as a home just for god, but as angelic society grew, it eventually turned into a whole kingdom. that being said, god still has a palace Just For Them at the very top layer of it!

people don't go to heaven. nope. that doesn't happen. mainly because it's not an "afterlife".

after god created heaven and the angels, heaven because a home for all of them. heaven was created to be perfect (in the eyes of its creator), or as close to perfect as god could manage while also having a species with (sort of) free will residing within it.

heaven is almost like a hidden galaxy, except a LOTTT smaller.

heaven is mostly made up of clouds and solid energy. there are actually five layers of heaven; one for each sphere of the angelic choir, one for the Archangels, and one for god.

that isn't to say that the angels are confined to one layer. they can freely travel about, it's just that they'll usually spend time in the layer dedicated to their sphere, unless they're stationed to work elsewhere.

the need for more and more angels became more important as time went on. god became more... power hungry, and they fell harder into the belief that they alone were the ones worthy of the universe. they eventually gained a very hostile attitude towards other aeons and cosmic societies. this wasn't unheard of, really, but considering how most of them stayed in their own lanes, having god be all... aggressive was a little bit of a shock. needless to say, this resulted in the formation of enemies... and other forms of cosmic politics.

heaven and angelic culture has a lot of emphasis on architecture! ...although, not in a way you would expect. the best way i can explain it is that it's very... suess-like.

lots of staircases, lots of columns, lots of... that kind of thing...

while we're on the topic of sub-universes, we can talk a little about hell, too.

hell was actually created by the universe itself, not by the aeons or god or anything. it has always existed, and is sort of a universal collection all life and souls. sorta like the universe's garbage can for all dead things.

it’s less of an eternal resting place and more of an intermediary location you go while the universe works to basically recycle your soul and convert it back to its original state.

ii. what is an angel?: a little on angelic society

a. the angelic choir at a glance📜

angelic society as a whole is referred to as the angelic choir.

the main thing about angelic society is that it's split into different spheres based on how much power an angel has/the specific task they were made to do.

why do angels exist in the first place? they were made to be servants of god, and basically do everything that they do... for them. so, deliver messages, be soldiers, do tasks and chores and watch over the things god makes... all that kind of thing.

angels have free will, but were created with an ingrained sense of duty that usually outweighs said free will. or perhaps it influences their free will. hard to tell. that being said, most angels will not do anything if it directly contradicts their purpose.

also, angels are not inherently “good” aligned. like I said, they have free will, which means they have choices. angels can be shitty people! whether or not an angel “falls” has nothing to do with what their character is like, and everything to do with whether or not they are defiant to God.

not a lot of angels do defy god, either. an angel being kicked out of heaven is pretty rare.

anyways, back to the angelic choir... there are three spheres of angel, each with three types of angel in them. the highest ranking angels are the first order of the first sphere, and the lowest ranking are the third order of the third sphere. yeah.

in the first sphere you have the seraphim, cherubim, and thrones. the first sphere angels are the only angels that tend directly to god.

the second sphere is made up of the dominations, the virtues, and the powers.

the third sphere consists of the principalities, the arches, and the angels (generic term).

Archangels are above the first sphere in rank. they're the most powerful angels, and there aren't very many of them.

b. archangels and the angels of the first sphere🔥

Archangels, as stated before, are the most powerful angels and the ones with the most important duties. they're mostly angelic supervisors that manage angels with different specialties. who are the archangels? before lucifer's fall, there were eight different archangels.

jophiel (archangel of wisdom and inspiration), chamuel (archangel of divine justice), gabriel (archangel of revalation), raphael (archangel of healing), uriel (archangel of truth and light), zadkiel (archangel of healing), and, of course, michael (archangel of strength and courage) and lucifer (archangel of love and empathy).

the first sphere angels are the angels that are closest to god, and the only ones that can interact where with them directly. they're the least... replaceable angels, except for the archangels. that's why they don't really leave heaven.

the seraphim are the bodyguards of the throne, and those who directly guard and protect both god's palace and the different layers of heaven itself. they're stationed just about everywhere on the fifth layer of heaven, and then scattered about in the other layers just to keep an eye on everything. they're also stationed at the entrances and exits.

they're busy a LOT of the time. they take their jobs very seriously.

the seraphim are the angels that interact the most with god. the cherubim and the thrones do, too, but not as frequently.

the tradition when interacting with god is to cover their faces and bodies with their wings when interacting directly with them. it's a sort of humbling thing, to show that they regard themselves as lesser than them. just out of respect.

the cherubim are the celestial recordkeepers of heaven, and the ones that really hold the knowledge of god and heaven.

they're known for their wisdom, and they keep records of everything that happens in their part of the universe. nothing goes undocumented, really. heaven's historians are also cherubim.

along with keeping records of events, they also keep track of all of the angels that are created, and those that come in and out of heaven. and those who go out and dont come back. yeah.

jophiel is the archangel who supervises the cherubim.

the thrones are some of the most intellectual angels and have wonderful minds. they serve as both teachers, guides, and counselors for the lower ranks of the angels.

they're the ones in charge of receiving orders from god and dishing out duties to the lower ranks (dominations, mostly) and explaining them. celestial teachers, really. they're very engaged with the rest of angelic society, and are always willing to offer an explanation or a helping hand to other angels.

they're also the head order that deals with cosmic laws and making sure everything that god makes works the way it's supposed to. god doesn't really have time to keep everything in check themselves, so it's up to the thrones and the virtues to make sure their creation... functions like it should.

lucifer was supposed to the archangelic supervisor of the thrones...? but, uh... that didn't exactly.... uh.... work out....

after lucifer was cast out, jophiel was put in charge of both the thrones and the cherubim. it's a lot of work for one angel, really, but she doesn't mind.

c. angels of the second and third spheres☄️

the first order of the second sphere is the dominations. think of these guys as... well, management.

they're in charge of managing the angelic kingdoms, and of regulating the second sphere angels in lower orders.

they help keep everyone organized. there's a lot of things to keep track of.

the dominions get their orders from the thrones (who receive orders from god), and pass along orders to the principalities in the third sphere along with the virtues and powers. it's just a big chain.

zadkiel is the archangel in charge of the dominations rank. he also deals with some of the stuff that the principalities handles, but mostly sticks to dominations.

the second order of the second sphere is the virtues. if seraphim are the guards and watchers of heaven itself, then the virtues are the watchers of the universe (well, god's part of the universe, anyways).

they watch over everything god creates, from planets, galaxies, luminaries, and other celestial bodies to make sure the cosmos are in order. and that nothing is going wrong.

they work closely with certain thrones angels for this reason.

it's actually very important to make sure shit isn't going wrong. especially considering how their god's... hostile attitude... attracts some not so friendly faces.

uriel is the archangel in charge of the virtues, and because of the close ties between the virtues and the thrones, he quickly became good friends with lucifer.

the powers are the third order of the third sphere, and they make up the angelic army.

can basically be split into two groups— soldiers and healers. the soldiers were originally led by chamuel, but the job was pretty much taken over by michael once he showed up, and chamuel instead switched gears to deal more with strategizing after that. raphael supervises those more geared towards healing.

running an army is hard work, turns out. there's a lot that goes into it.

the third sphere is the most populous sphere; they're like worker bees. they're very easy to replace, and are very expendable.

third sphere angels actually leave heaven a lot. they deal with intergalactic relationships.

in the first sphere, the principalities are the main managers of the lower-ranking arches and angels. they're very similar to the dominations in that regard, and they actually get their orders from them. like i said before... it's a big chain.

they're the ones that are stuck dealing the most with cosmic politics.

arches are celestial envoys, while your everyday angels work as messengers, running back and forth between heaven and other places in space. angel postal service!

the angels and arches are also assigned most of the mundane tasks not given to any higher ranks.

usually the angels go out in groups, because there's safety in numbers, and space is REALLY big. at least one arch will accompany an angel group, and on occasion, a principality will come too, depending on how important things are.

that being said, there have been many, many instances where angels don't come back. sometimes they get lost. this happens more often than it should.

gabriel is the head messenger archangel. he's the postmaster. angel. guy.

d. okay i'll bite. what are angels made of. aka, angel physiology 🌠

angels are special. lol.

they're made of photon energy (in the case of most angels) and thermal energy (in the case of seraphim).

(lucifer is an Archangel, so he is... as stated above, made of photons.)

as stated before, god can't create something out of nothing. the energy needed to create angels actually is specific to the energy emitted from dying stars. every angel comes from the death of a star.

so, this means a couple of things. first of all, as angels are created, not born, they don't actually have a functional reproductive system. because they weren't created with the intention of reproduction. the genitalia is decorative essentially tbh. also, every angel looks like this. it's definitely not a reproductive thing. it's entirely aesthetic.

"romance" is essentially nonexistent in angel culture. uh, they all see each other as some kind of equivalent of siblings, considering they were all made directly by the same creator. they all refer to god as their parents, and so they all see each other as siblings.

(that being said, it's not like they're incapable of love or anything. ryosatanlucifer retains his feelings for akira even after he turns back into an angel, so it's not like he can't feel love or anything like that. i mean, that should be obvious, but i felt the need to specify anyways)

the second thing this: angels lack all forms of physical sensation. their bodies are... kind of numb to all sense of touch, taste, smell, etc. they are, in some circumstances, intangible. what does that mean? well...

sorry for having so much stuff from go nagai world.... we never got to see satan in the actual ovas </3

they can float through stuff sometimes. their tangibility (on earth) is actually up to them. so, for example, if they wanted to, they could float through a door. or they could open a door by turning the doorknob. though, they wouldn't be able to experience the sensation of actually touching the doorknob.

anywho. there are actual a few variations of angelic appearance depending on what rank of angel they are! i have... erm... drawn a few examples of some of the angels, but not a whole lot? ahh.... there they are anyways. some of the descriptions are a little outdated bc i've changed into since then but YEAH!!

Archangels, at the very top of the angelic choir, are beautiful with 12 large snow-white wings— two on the head, two from the shoulderblades, two on the middle back, two on the lower back, on on each arm and one on each ankle. they’re all nearly identical- though, most of the angels within each order looks nearly identical. they’re identical in the way that cats of the same coat color and breed are identical. michael and lucifer are actually identical, though, because they’re like real life twins, and are born from the same star. yeah!

seraphim are made from condensed thermal energy rather than light energy. they’re super hot. Lol. they have 10 wings (head, shoulders, lower back, arms, and ankles) unlike the Archangel’s 12. They’re warmer in color scheme than the Archangels, which are usually a sort of yellow-white color? they glow. seraphim are more red-orange because they’re… heat. They also have the ability to manifest flames out of their body, though it’s kind of just for show considering how it can't really do anything.

the cherubim are covered in eyes. or, their wings are covered in eyes- they have 8 of them! wings, I mean (head, shoulders, lower back, and ankles). they have way more than eight eyes. Also, they can open eyes up on their bodies when they get really stressed or angry! it’s a fun neat cherubim trait. all the cherubim are so tired. let them go home please.

the thrones are the third order in the first sphere of the Angelic choir, and these are our ringy-boys. they're the angels with the most emphasis on halos- they can make them spin really fast and manifest more rings around them whenever they feel strongly or honestly just when they want to. they’re usually surrounded by them, just as a sort of status thing. they typically serve as messenger angels (delivering orders to the second sphere) and bodyguards for the cherubim. they have 6 pairs of wings (head, shoulders, and lower back).

from there on out appearance is mostly dictated by sphere— second sphere angels (dominations, virtues, and powers) have two sets of wings (on the head and the shoulders), while first sphere angels (principalities, arches, and angels) have only one set of wings on their shoulders, and look pretty similar to the standard depiction of angels.

e. some more about angel culture in general

i just wanted to share some more fun little details about angel culture, because there IS stuff beyond work for these guys lol

society is really easy to be sustained when there's no need for "hard labor", and when everyone is created with a sense of purpose. and the fact that they don't really need to eat or anything.

since there isn't much of a need for extra work outside of everyone's Assigned Jobs, when there is free time, it's mostly dedicated to the arts. there's actually a LOT of focus on art in angelic culture!

though, it's a lot less... genuine? than "human art". the idea of "perfection" is heavily exalted in angelic society, mainly because that's what god wishes for, and god is the One Real Authority in their society. a lot of angelic art tries to reflect this idea of perfect beauty that they've had drilled into their heads from the beginning of their existence.

of course, perfection is unachievable for the angels. so sad.

art that depicts any kind of "flaw" is entirely unheard of. angels are the ultimate perfectionists.

since none of the angels actually LOOK at god (the archangels and first spheres cover their eyes with their wings when they come in direct contact with them), a lot of art is actually of god. it's always sort of a contest to see how perfectly and beautiful they can depict god. it's a form of worship, really.

they do have a written language. but "novels" aren't really a thing. they aren't super big on fiction. what's the point of that?

instead, they use written language to keep historical accounts, archive events, and write PSALMS. so so many psalms. they really love to write music dedicated to praising their god.

"music" in quotes, because it's... not exactly comparable to human music. it's angel music, guys. cmon.

they also like writing poetry a lot.

because of the way they worship perfection in art/writing, things end up feeling a little bit... sterile? yeah.

obviously, since they are in space, they don't use any kind of timescale similar to days/hours/weeks/etc. there's a sort of "day" equivalent in which things are a lot... brighter? but that's really it.

angels don't age, either. they have no concept of age.

they do have another consistent method of keeping time, though, and it's based on how long it takes for angels (third rank of the third sphere) to be created. lower rank angels are really being produced at a constant rate, to make up for losses, so it's easy to divide time this way. the time it takes to make one angel = one angelic "day".

they don't really have any equivalent of years, instead naming longer periods of time (ages) after whatever archangel was created last. so, the age of gabriel, or the age of uriel.

when michael and lucifer were made At the same Time, the cherubim got into a lot of arguments over who to name the age after. it wasn't like there was any way to choose between the two.

so they just decided on both eventually. lol. they called it the age of lucifer and michael.

after lucifer well, a new Age started. so the age of lucifer and michael and the age of michael are two separate time periods.

michael is sooooooooooooo cocky about that, too. what a bitch.

anyways, like stated before, the idea of perfection is super important to angels. to them, god represents the ULTIMATE perfection.

and on that same note, talking bad about god, and going against god's will, is a very big NO!!!!!!. they REALLY do not do that.

.......okay!!!!!!!! whew!

that was a LOT, but if you read all the way through... mwah! thank you so much for listening to my thoughts!!!! i might make a separate post about lucifer's history/his relationships with the other angels/his fall later on. but for now.... here's just some basic stuff about angels and how they work!!! yeah!!!!!

#devilman #hi i made this post because i ... erm... saw some other posts that just horrified me today<3 #how is everyone else doing. #me pulling info from three different word docs i have up rn #tbh... i dont expect anyone to read this. this more of a personal post for myself #LONG POST BTWWW #angel stuff #<- new TAG

[musclesandhammering]

First off: idc what some random blog who won't even show their face has to say; you're an awesome person, and everything you've been saying about Cas and queer identities has been 100% factual, non-offensive, considerate, and important. Anons can say some pretty shitty things. At this point they're not even listening to what you have to say, and are probably just skimming for keywords they can use to turn against you, but that's a reflection on their character, not yours, otherwise they wouldn't have anon on. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions and interpretations, but if that anon wanted to have an actual conversation about it, they wouldn't use the anon feature as a tool to do it. You don't deserve any hate, ever.

Second, to give you something more positive to think about if you want (no pressure to answer any time soon or even at all): How did you first start headcanoning that Joshua raised Cas when they (Cas) were a fledgling? Was there anything specific that sparked the hc, or anything that resonated with you enough to maintain the hc long-term? What kind of relationship do you think those two had? What do you think would happen if Cas and Joshua met up again post-finale?

💞🖤💜🤍💛💞

First of all, that’s like the sweetest ask ever Oh My gOD. <3<3<3 Ily and your blog is perfect and it’s so meaningful to get this from you!!! I also had to physically go to your blog to figure out who you are cause it’s been awhile since you sent this ask and you changed your name lmao. (“heaven ecologist” is like. Perfect for you, btw.) And sorry it took so long to respond! I’ve been on and off tumblr for awhile now so I haven’t been answering the longer asks/comments cause I didn’t wanna just give a half-assed response, you know?

And, yeah, that anon was definitely reaching. I never wanna just dismiss someone when it comes to something like that, though, considering I’m not nonbinary. I think it’s really annoying when minority people tell someone something they say is offensive and then the person who isn’t a member of said minority brushes it off and tries to argue that it’s not. Like. Anytime somebody complains about a post I try to have a conversation with them about what exactly was problematic about it. But yeah, that wasn’t working with this person lol. I blocked them (which I didn’t even know you could do with an anon, cause I’m a troglodyte apparently) so it’s resolved now. :)

Ok. About Cas and Joshua.

So I don’t have this as a concrete headcanon, just something I tend to gravitate towards a lot of the time. The thing is, I don’t actually think Joshua spent much time with Cas, just that he was initially supposed to. I have this whole intricate hc about how angels are “raised” (I’ve spent way too much time thinking about this lol), but basically I think Joshua was Cas’s guardian in the beginning, and he spent maybe the human equivalent (not that it’s really comparable but whatevs) of like his baby and toddler years with him, but then Cas was taken away to be in Naomi’s program, and she placed him with Anna. So.. like. Anna was actually the one to raise him (along with Naomi) but Joshua was the one who was meant to. If that makes sense.

And idk how I first started thinking about that really. I think it probably had something to do with the fact that Cas instantly recognised and seemed to completely and totally trust him in season 5, while at the same time not showing any sign of having had a close personal relationship with him at all.. like he knew he could trust him but at the same time he didn’t really know him. And then in season 12/13/14/whatever it was lmao, when Joshua was mentioned as coming out of retirement to try to help fix heaven, Cas was obviously relieved. Idk.

And, compared to the other two angels that Cas had the most parent/child-seeming relationships with (Anna and Naomi), Joshua seemed like the one with the least baggage. Cas obviously loved and respected Anna, but in a much more deferential way, almost like how you’d act around a teacher or coach you were close to. And he treated Naomi like his drill sargent (understandable). So it seems kinda logical that he got to know those two a bit later in life when he was already in the process of being militarised, so to speak.

That’s just a loose hc, though. His og guardian could’ve also been somebody like Gabriel or Michael or even Zachariah or something. I just think Joshua fits the best.

And I think Cas was just so desperate to have a relationship with any angel at all by the end of the series that he’d be as ecstatic to see Joshua as he would any of the rest of them. He was so lonely and so starved for the affection of his own kind that I don’t think it would’ve mattered a whole lot who it was, it would just be a lot of “brother, I’m so glad to see you! I can’t believe you’re here! I missed you!”

Thanks so so much for this!! Once again, I love your blog and I loved this question and I love your thoughtful ass metas!! Please keep it up <3

#ask #answered #spn angels #cas meta #spn

[paradox-time]

Quick update. I'm two years late but I really don't care about shit like that. Right now I can only think about the six episode masterpiece that came out in 2019, Good Omens (Good Omens is about heaven and hell tying to start the apocalypse. One angel named Aziraphale and one demon named Crowley have been best friends for six thousand years and aren't so on board with the end of the world plan. Basically two beings with the dynamic of an old married couple who have been meeting up in secret to hang out for the entirety of human history trying to save the world.). All the space in my brain is currently taken up by this wonderful show and anyone who sees this gets to know that. Good day to you all, and know that I wholeheartedly recommend everyone binge the show with so much nonbinary representation it's insane. Like 80% of the characters were genderless non-human entities. One of the four horsemen of the apocalypse used they/them pronouns! For fucks sake this was supposed to be short but I got carried away again. I'm gonna stop now but just know I'm restraining myself and could go on for much longer but it's 11 at night and I have to be up early. More Good Omens posts will surely be in the near future. So probably in like a week or something. I don't know, I don't have a great grasp on the concept of time. This was really hard to type because the O on my keyboard is missing and I had to copy paste every O from an old google doc in which I use the letter O. Go watch Good Omens, I promise it's better than every other show based on christian mythology.

#good omens #aziraphale #crowley #enby #i can't tag #good nonbinary representation

[thesassenachswiftie]

Chapter 2: “You Need To Calm Down)

Read on AO3

Summary:

Chapter 2 is here! It's time for Claire and Jamie's first fight but that also it's time for their first make-up sex. This is my first time writing Smut but @statell assures me I did a good job. If that's really not your thing (I mean you are reading OL fanfic so it probably is), it's all the big paragraph near the end and the two dialogue paragraphs after you can easily skip to the last 3 dialogue paragraphs without losing the plot. Big thanks to everyone following along on this journey and all the kudos and comments on the last chapter.

This chapter is not only inspired by "You Need to Calm Down" but also by "The Reckoning" any quotes borrowed from either of these works belong to their respective author whom I am indebted to and admire greatly.

Notes:

First of all, I’m on Twitter now @sassenachswifty.

Second of all, There was a short lived comment on AO3 about Jo's pronouns on my last chapter. I genuinely think the commenter realized their mistake and deleted it before I had a chance to respond--which is fine and good, heaven knows I've made mistakes with pronouns and felt weird and caught of guard about them and all of that. Basically they were saying the they/them pronons were not grammatically correct and were distracting to the reader. I get that, I totally do, it feels uncomfortable because we were never taught about the singular they in school and it looks/sounds weird if you're not used to it. However, the sigular they has been recognized by APA, MLA and I believe Chicago style and is, therefore grammatically correct. It's something I'm getting used to as a writer and it's something we can try to get used to as readers as we move forward into a more progressive society. Our grandkids are going to make fun of us someday for struggling with pronouns. I just wanted to say it's ok to struggle, it's not ok to dismiss (which I genuinely believe the commenter was not doing). Jo came to me as a nonbinary character, and while it is a good exercise in pronoun usage for me as an author, that is not their primary function in the story, they are there to be Claire’s friend first and foremost. They/them are Jo's pronouns and I cannot and will not call them anything else because that would be disrespectful to them. My only other option would be to use "Jo" in every instance where he/she/her/him would come up which would be annoying, repetative and frankly, bad writing. Thank you for coming to my TED talk, now on with the show!

Chapter 2: “You Need To Calm Down”

Claire awoke in Jamie’s bed early on Saturday morning.  It was graduation day, but she was definitely not walking the stage.  Still laying on her side, she picked up her phone off the nightstand and began mindlessly scrolling Facebook, stopping at a collection of photos from an end of semester happy hour the night before.  Frank was there as well as several of their mutual friends.  Were they still friends? Probably not anymore, who knows if they ever were.  Claire tapped from the photos posted by Gillian to the tag that took her to Frank’s profile.  She scrolled down his feed to see if there were any new updates. Other than the pictures, it was the same barely cryptic statuses that were clearly throwing shade her way to anyone that knew.  In a tweet? That’s a cop-out. Taking shots at me like it's Patrón, she mused to herself, recalling the pictures from the night before. Claire began swiping through Frank’s photos going back further and further.  Her and Frank in front of the house with the “sold” sign in the yard.  A candid picture she took of Frank in a coffee shop one day.  Brilliant, smiling faces of them and their friends all dressed up at their New Year’s Eve party--many of the people pictured in the photos from last night. Frank proudly standing with his arm around her, Claire beaming and angling her hand just so a few days after they got engaged.  Claire was so engrossed in these images she didn’t realize Jamie had awoken behind her.  He leaned over to plant a kiss on that spot just behind her ear, pausing when he saw what she was looking at, “Damn Sassenach, it’s seven AM for Chrissakes” he hissed.

Claire’s face flushed immediately. She had been caught.  She didn’t even know why she was doing what she was doing, but she felt ashamed, defensive, embarrassed, and justified all at once.  She swiped out of her Facebook app instantly but it was too late.  He had seen and the damage had been done. She couldn’t speak, she didn’t have any good excuses, and she definitely couldn’t turn to look at Jamie. She set the phone back down on the nightstand and burrowed her curly head under the pillow trying to avoid his gaze.  She couldn’t see his face, but she knew Jamie was watching her intently waiting for an explanation.

“Hey, are you ok? I dinna mean to snap at ye Claire, It’s just early and I dinna expect to see ye looking at pictures of your ex after what I thought was such a satisfying night. Am I not good enough for ye Claire?”  His tone started gentle and caring, but his veins were pulsing with jealous rage and his voice got more angry and frantic as he continued.  “Look at me, Claire!”

Claire didn’t like being told what to do, especially not with the newfound feminist energy Jo had ignited in her.  She hoisted herself out from her cocoon, and sprang up to face him. “I don’t have to do what you tell me to. You need, to calm down, you’re being too loud!”

 He made a distinctly Scottish noise--“Hmpph. That’s not what ye said last night Sassenach” he growled.  He couldn’t help flirting with her even in his anger. She looked so bonny, bare-breasted with her curls splayed every which way, the fire of her anger alight in her whisky eyes--frightening and sexy at the same time.

Claire wasn’t amused by his quip, or by the tone of voice in which he said it, “you need to just stop, like can you just not? I don’t like it one bit!”

“Not what, Claire? Not want ye only for myself? Not feel jealous seeing pictures of that rat bastard with his smug grin and his arm around ye to be the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning? You do belong to me, whether ye like it or not. Why are you mad? I’m the only one allowed to be mad, Claire! Yer mine, damn ye Claire! Mine, and I wilna share ye, with a man or a memory or anything whatsoever”

Her glass face broke before his eyes as he raised his voice louder.  Her anger had turned to something fragile, something Jamie was afraid he would break.  Even still, she spoke softly, but confidently, “I don’t belong to you or anyone, I’m my own person. You need to just take several seats” She glanced away from him, trying to keep her composure.  

Controlling his urge to scream, he replied “I know that, that’s not what I meant.  I ain’t trying to mess with who you are or your self expression, I mean that I am yours just as much as you are mine”

Damn, he’s good, thought Claire as she met his gaze again.  His passion, even when directed towards anger, was still sexy.

“Claire, I see you over there on the internet all the time, this isn’t the first time you’ve done this is it?”

She nodded in agreement, embarrassed, but somehow she felt safe admitting it to Jamie.  She was beginning to realize just how much he truly cared about her.  As strange as it seemed, through this small fight, their relationship was moving from simply mutual, passionate attraction to something deeper.  It might have been there all along beyond the urges of the flesh, but she was just now truly seeing it.  It was exciting and terrifying all at the same time.

“Listen, I’ve learned a lesson that stressing and obsessing about somebody else is no fun.” Jamie disclosed, trying to restore the peace. “He’s not worth your time if he let a girl like you go on the drop of a hat like that.” This made Claire wince internally, hoping he didn’t see, there was more to it than that.  He didn’t seem to notice and continued, “What we have is like sunshine, but you act like you would rather be in the dark.”  He reached for her arm, caressing it gently.

“You’ve figured me out.  You’re right, I don’t know why I keep checking on him. I guess I’m hoping I’ll find out something horrible has happened to him; but I promise, only you have me.”

“I mean to have you Claire, I am your master and you are mine. It seems I cannot possess your soul without losing my own.”  Both of Jamie’s hands were on Claire’s arms now, gripping her more firmly now. They were drawing closer to each other, the passion of their anger still surging in their veins. “I want you Claire, I want you so much I can scarcely breathe. Will you have me?”

“Yes.”

Their lips met with a fervour unlike any they had experienced before, hands caressing everywhere. Claire moaned into Jamie’s mouth as his hand cupped her breast, stroking her nipple vigorously with his palm.  His lips moved to her neck, that spot behind her ear that made her giggle and squeak.  He was ravenous, consuming her flesh with his lips, making his way down to her other breast, sucking her nipple as he ran his tongue around it, willing all sorts of noises to emit from her mouth.  She was straddling him, grinding against him, feeling his wanting against her in just the right spot. She thrust her hands into his boxer briefs, tugging at his hips to bring them even closer.  He responded in kind, slipping his hands into the lace waistband her cotton panties and grabbing that arse he loved so much.  He moved one hand around to her front and started stroking her most sensitive area and slipped a finger inside her.  “Oh, Jamie” she moaned as she began to ease his waistband down.  She allowed herself to let him go for a moment, releasing him to remove his underwear, as she did the same.  As soon as they were fully exposed to one another, she was on top of him again.  She moved herself up and down his length, feeling him rub against her, igniting a euphoric sensation in her core. When neither of them could take it anymore he slipped inside her, and she took him in to the hilt, riding him almost violently.  All the anger and shame she had felt moments ago had transformed into a primal lust unleashed on him. He responded in kind, kissing her vigorously across breasts, neck and shoulders until she shoved him back on the bed to gain a better angle.  Pushing her hand to his chest for leverage, she rode him harder than she’d ever ridden anyone before--not even the vibrator she used to experiment with in college. She could see he was close, his face contorting as he resisted the urge to finish before her.

“Sassenach, you’ll be the death of me” he groaned.

“Just a little more, Jamie” she panted, just before crying out, “Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh”. Seeing her satisfied, he allowed himself to finish as well.  Claire gently detached from him and collapsed beside him, breathless, resting on his chest, hair sprawled across him.

“Oh Sassenach, ye keep that up and I’m liable to pick fights with you more often” he sighed.

“You better watch out before you start something you can’t finish” she quipped in response.  

Jamie simply made a Scottish noise in reply, staring at the ceiling stroking her hair, wondering if he had, in fact, done just that.

End Note:

I try to slip in as many lyrics from each song as possible and make it still "work", occasionally changing tenses or adding/subtracting words to make them work. Claire's orgasm moans are the "oh oh's" in the chorus of YNTCD and I'm simultaneously proud of myself and ashamed.

#lover #outlander fanfic #outlander fic #jamie x claire #claire beauchamp #jamie fraser #modern au #inspired by taylor swift #you need to calm down #smut

[rotationalsymmetry]

Uggggghhhh.

So I’m reading a thing that sounds to me half right and half very, very wrong.

Thing is, like... both specific labels are essential and liberating and help us recognize when the community as a whole is letting down specific subgroups, and also there’s a phenomenon going on where people are acting like labels are more discreet and non-overlapping than they actually are...but I don’t think that’s actually coming from the people with weird labels so much as the people with the letters near the start of the acronym.

Like, trans rights were being grossly ignored by mainstream LGBT organizations in the 2000’s, at a time when there was much less going on on the microlabels and sub-identities front. So, trans people more closely identifying with gay people and having a fuzzy line between gender and sexual orientation doesn’t actually mean everyone’s rights are going to get taken care of. Trans issues are taking the center stage that same sex marriage had back then because trans people have been fighting hard for trans rights, as trans people.

The cis L, G, and B’s love forgetting about the T’s given half a change. Not all, but enough to be a problem. The L’s and G’s love forgetting about the B’s (or talking about us like we’re all either basically gay or basically straight) (not all, but enough to be a problem) and that didn’t start with the invention of the term “bisexual”, the term “bisexual” was coined in response to that phenomenon.

And I haven’t encountered anyone doing a damn thing for asexuals or intersex people off of the internet.

Sub-labels underneath the LGBTQ+ umbrella largely get coined by and for people whose needs are ignored when those labels don’t exist. It’s not a case of, for instance, lesbians (not all lesbians) specifically talking like bisexual women should butt out because bisexuals started using that term. We were getting kicked out of our own communities first, we were told that getting into new relationships with men meant leaving communities we’d been building up for years and decades first. (Along with, very emphatically, trans women.)

Anyways: you don’t need to figure out exactly what type of queer you are — whether you’re gay or bisexual, whether you’re bi or pan heaven help us, whether you’re binary trans or nonbinary trans, whether you’re genderqueer or nonbinary or gender nonconforming, what specific type of nonbinary you are, what specific a-spec sub-identity you are, whether you’re queer at all. Unless you want to and it helps you. You can just vibe. You can vibe with people who identify as something that you know that you’re not, and you should. And the places we overlap are more important than our differences. But also, ffs, it’s annoying and rude when people who don’t see any value in picking up a sub-label for themselves assume it’s not valuable for anyone else either. Let people be. Talk about your own experience already.

If we didn’t have a lot of the newer labels, if it was still all just “gay”, you wouldn’t even see me as gay and I wouldn’t see me as gay either. I’d just be some girl who was bad at being a girl but had to do it anyways, a girl who knew that she liked boys so of course that meant she wasn’t a lesbian.

I’m part of the community because we have sub-identities, because you can be queer without being gay.

(I get that this might seem in contradiction to what I just posted about Stone Butch Blues? But I’m pretty sure women like that, who were “straight” or actually straight but found the community anyways, were a rare exception and that it’s a lot easier to find the community now. Even though it’s still kind of challenging for gender non-conforming people who aren’t queer in any other ways because that’s not normally a spelled-out part of the acronym, and it’s not normally a spelled-out part of “trans” even though it is under the trans umbrella.)

#commenting on without reblogging #discourse #lgbtq+ discourse #exclusion #gatekeeping #terfs #intracommunity discourse #intracommunity shit #by the way that means if you’re not lgbtq+ don’t reblog #queer #gnc #long post

[carrigerpigeon]

On THE ENFORCER ENIGMA

Okay, y’all.

We need to talk about The Enforcer Enigma because I have many, many problems with it.

I’ve been sitting on my feelings for this book for a month or so, after I got my ARC of it and I read it. It’s been hard to decide what I was going to say, how I was going to approach this. Like I’ve said before, my relationship with Gail exists in a liminal space between fan and friend, and is even more complicated than that.

I’ve decided, as both a fan AND friend, that I can’t ignore the problems in this book.

Which is where this post comes from.

When I first I heard it was dealing with the Selkie mob I was excited, because I loved how ridiculous they were in the short story and I think the concept is gloriously ludicrous. But this book overall felt very contrived, very basic, and very tone deaf in a racist way. The gay boys felt objectified and cookie cutter, and the racist treatment of Judd made me very, very upset.

I’m going to get to my issues with the treatment of Judd, as best as I can as a white person with a lot to learn, but I want to start with something I am able to speak better on, and that’s the gay characters in this book.

So let’s get into it. Spoilers, obviously, and lots of talk about systematic racism and homophobia, antiblackness, stereotypes, etc.

(Also, Gail, since you follow me on this blog and I know you’ll probably see this—READ THE WHOLE THING. Think about it. And then if you’d like to talk about it, you know how to contact me.)

This is going behind a cut, not because of the content but because it’s almost 6 pages long.

The Gay Boys

Okay. Look.

I love a catty, fabulous gay boy as much as the next queer. They have a space and a place in our community. But not EVERY gay man is like this IRL. Meanwhile, in SAS, it feels like every gay male character (or close to) in this series is a waspy, catty, faaaabulous gay. Isaac, Marvin, Max, Trick, even to some extent Alec and Bryan…they’re just all the exhausting waspy, catty, fabulous gay boy that we see exhibited heavily on Drag Race and other mainstream platforms.

And like. I get it. Colin is repressed and gay and wants to be a fabulous twink. That’s fine. But it just felt like he was slipping into the stereotype all the other gay male characters inhabit in these books, and that’s really, really exhausting.

Also, I am from the East Coast, where according to my West Coast friends we apparently grow gay boys differently. I can’t say with any accuracy how much of this is true. BUT MOST OF THESE GAY BOYS ARE FROM THE EAST COAST. They lived in Boston before moving to California. So why are they like this?

It feeds into this larger trend I’ve seen in Gail’s word with fabulous, savage gay boys—from Akeldama and all his drones, to Biffy, and even Lyall. Seen over the spread, it’s harder to sweep it away as just a “modern storyline” thing or a “California storyline” thing. It’s a trend, one which I find very uncomfortable as a queer person.

There is a place and space for Queer people to take back the tropes and stereotypes that have been used against us and write them our own way. But what I’ve seen as a longtime reader isn’t that. What I seem is lazy stereotyping and an overarching stereotype and characterization that feed into the larger the ways I feel gay men are objectified by female authors (no matter how queer the author is).

Many more people have covered this topic better than I, but it explains why I’ve felt so uneasy about this series from the get go. The sex and the relationships in these books don’t feel real—it feels objectifying. There’s lots of talk about big and strong sexy, muscle-y men but very little else. And while there is something to say about having a partner who thinks you’re sexy—that’s important, and I want everyone to have that…. this isn’t that.

These are muscle-y, strong, sassy gay men for cis white women to coo over on Facebook and feel good about. But to me, a real life nonbinary queer person, I feel uneasy and frankly uncomfortable with the objectification of them.

And since we’re talking about queer representation, after having a decent wlw spread in the Parasolverse there are two WLW (specifically lesbians) in SAS (Trickle and Pepper) and they (a) barely get any screen time and (b) feel stereotypical to me. And they are side characters, so I get it, but seriously?

And also while we’re on queer representation, there’s Mana, aka Manifest Destiny. Mana is the drag queen and arguable trans woman* who started off alright BUT was named after the colonization and violent taking of Native and Indigenous people’s lands and wrapped up in patriotism. Gail has said she made a mistake, that she meant her name to be Mana From Heaven, and that this would be addressed in the upcoming book (aka The Enforcer Engima).

It was not.

There is talk, from what I understand, this issue will be addresses in the upcoming short story about Mana and Lovejoy. But there are several throwaway lines about Mana in this book, her work in LA and her becoming a drag queen superstar (I guess akin to RuPaul?). So why wasn’t her name change discussed or even mentioned there?

[*Sidebar: Mana has been quoted as saying, “I suppose I should be transgender, under modern parlance. But I like drag queen. It suits me. I like the fabric roughness of drag, and the royalty of queen. It's a nice change to have the luxury of choosing one's own semantics, if not one's own situation." But whenever she appears, it seems she’s always in face/wearing false eyelashes/wearing women’s clothing.

I’m not going to police Mana’s trans experience because gender is a spectrum, and I as someone under the trans umbrella know that. But it feels…weird and off to me.]

Regardless of my sidebar, the name she was supposed to have, Manna from Heaven is…also sort of problematic? If I understand the reference correctly, it refers to the Biblical story of the food that God miraculously provided to the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness. It means as a phrase the coming of unexpected benefit or assistance, especially when that benefit/assistance comes at the time when it is needed most. Which is what Mana is for the pack—she lets them live in her apartment in Book 1, she swoops in to save the day in Book 2. But it feels…very white and more than a little gross to name a character with Chinese and Japanese ancestry after something from the Bible.

And then there’s Judd.

Oh, Judd.

I really wanted to like Judd. The premise of his character was interesting, a Black, Pre-Saturation werewolf shifter, and I liked his cameos in the other books. But then we got a book about him, and it all fell apart.

Judd is a gay Black character, pre-Saturation, meaning he’s old as hell (from the Parasolverse time). He is objectified like the other gay boys, and there’s a lot of talk about how hard and strong his muscles and how sexy he is. He’s depicted on the cover this way.

And that’s…fine I guess, but gay Black men frequently have their bodies objectified as Black and muscley and strong. He’s also a pack Enforcer, so he’s depicted as not very smart and very violent. All of those are racist stereotypes that Black men deal with constantly, and they are racist stereotypes and tropes that are constantly hurled at Black men by the system and by society.

Additionly, Judd, the only Black member of the pack, is the only werewolf in the series to carry a gun.

A Black man. Is the only member. To carry a gun.

Yeah.

It gets worse.

There is mention of Judd’s backstory—very heavy inferences to Phineas/Soap (whose problematic naming convention and descriptors have been talked about especially by jhenne-bean ) being his mentor until he gets kicked out of Sidheag’s pack—but it falls very flat. I understand not wanting to write too much history of a Black character as a white writer, especially after tenuously connecting that history to the traditionally published series you’re Not Connected SAS To Not At All….

But.

Judd is over 150 years old.

He lived through some of America and Canada's worst racial discrimination, discrimination which would have affected him and his habitus and the way he moves through the world. He’s a gay Black man, and his gayness and his Blackness does not appear to affect how he interacts with the world at all. The police are called at the beginning and he’s OKAY ABOUT IT? AS A BLACK MAN? He basically says, “Thank God, the cops are here.”

You had a BLACK MALE CHARACTER SAY THAT when we’ve had a nationwide conversation since 2013, a conversation that has been reignited in the past three months?

Like????

And I was willing—perhaps whitely and naively—to give Gail the benefit of the doubt with Soap/Phineas. E&E was written in 2011, before Black Lives Matter was founded, before we began to have this nationwide reckoning with how Black and brown folks are treated systematically and especially by police violence. These conversations were definitely being had in 2011, but they were seen as fringe discussions and not necessarily part of the mainstream narrative as it is today.

However. It’s not 2011. It’s 2020.

It’s been 7 years since BLM was founded, and there have been countless discussions happening about racism and systematic issues in publishing and with white writers writing Black characters since that point.

Soap/Phineas has been mentioned or has cameo’d in The Custard Protocol and in Meat Cute. There’s been no conversation about his name or the way he has been described  And both he and Judd fall into the Caring-POC-Partner trope which has been discussed very heavily in romance circles and in ways I am not necessarily equipped to discuss in this post. But I will link to this post for everyone to read: https://medium.com/@ashiamonetb/queer-love-interests-of-color-and-the-white-gaze-8928b7b5e6ad

It’s 2020. These conversations have been being had, quite fervently, for many years, so there’s absolutely no excuse with how Judd is approached or treated in this book.

And here’s the CRUX of all this.

This book isn’t even really about Judd.

It’s about Colin.

Even though Judd is on the cover of the book, in all of his objectified Black body goodness, the plot of the story is about Colin. It’s very much entrenched in Colin’s issues with his family and his identity. Judd is there to take care of Colin and ~guide~ him and ~teach~ him things. To protect him. To be sexy to him.

See the medium article above. See the conversation about objectification above.

So if this book is SO MUCH ABOUT COLIN, why is Judd on the cover?

Why is Judd naked and glistening and Black on the cover of the story about the trials and tribulations of a white twink?

…Do I really have to say it? Maybe I do. It’s racist.

It might not be intended that way, but it is.

And look. There were parts of this book that I found enjoyable. I am still a fan of Gail’s wit and the way she writes. I’m a sucker for the found family trope, which all of these books have, and I really like Trick and Marvin. I’ve been where Colin is. I’ve fucked around with my gender presentation and been scared to out and fabulous or be perceived a certain way because I present a certain way.

But I’m really frustrated and frankly ANGRY with the racist stereotypes and gay stereotypes present in this book. It doesn’t feel like this was sensitivity read at all, by anyone. The book feels like a culmination of racist and homophobic trends that make me feel that Gail hasn’t been paying attention or listening to the cultural reckoning happening nationwide or in publishing.

And yes, there is a lot of “don’t idolize authors” talk, but here’s the thing.

Gail isn’t some anonymous author to me, someone I can just cancel and be done with.

Gail is a mentor to me. We’ve hung out at multiple cons, shot the shit about publishing, and talked about queer shit together with. We aren’t close, but she’s a friend (liminal space, etc). She gets a Christmas card from me every year, she asks after my partner when we chat. We’ve been in each other’s orbits for TEN YEARS.

I have this entire sideblog dedicated to her books, for fucks sake.

So when I read shit like this, it makes me upset. This book is a pile of microaggressions that stacked into a macroagression. It’s insensitive, definitely hurtful, and feels exceptionally tone deaf (AT BEST) to have written and released this book.

She has people in her inner circle who could have caught this if we’d been allowed to read it before hand, if we’d been a part of the beta process. But we weren’t. And it shows.

Gail, this is a message directly for you: You talk a lot about supporting people. You reblog lots of #ownvoices work and have been plugging a lot of #ownvoices fiction. I know (or at least hope) you’re a good person.

SO WHAT HAPPENED?

Why is this book such a disaster?

Have you been listening at all?

And I get it, we all have things to learn and things to unlearn. As white ally, and as a member of the queer community, as someone in your inner circle and as a friend (liminal space!), I get it.

I’m also saying this isn’t ok.

This book that you’ve written is not okay. Not even a little bit.

Here’s the thing: you can fix it (or you can try). It’s gonna be hard and require difficult conversations and actions, but you can.

If you want to know more, if you want to talk: you know how to contact me. I’ll give you my number. We can email, Skype, Zoom, text, call, whatever. I know I’m not the only member of the Pigeons that feels this way. You have people here to help.

As for everyone else:

As might be apparent I have…a lot of feelings right now. I’ve loved these books for so long, made a friend (liminal space!) with the author through social media. Genevieve Lefoux, and Sidheag, and Aggie, and lots of other characters mean a lot to me. Gail’s books have helped me through hard times and hard places, and she’s influenced a lot of whom I am as a writer.

But right now having this blog, dedicated to all these books with this massive subthread of racism and stereotypes, feels…not great.

And I don’t know if I can continue to support Gail and continue to be a fan (and a friend) if she keeps up with this.

[heavensdog]

Do you have like a glossary about the characters? Who they are and what they are? Appearance and powers. that kind of thing?

Not really! Though it might be fun to do profiles, since I’ve caved and decided on canon designs for everyone haha . . . . 

I’ll do a quick break down for everyone, though this might contain mild spoilers! These are all the named characters so far, excluding Emi’s parents.

Iriel Lovelace -- Iriel Lovelace is the mascot character; they used to be a rabbit, but after the Agent of Heaven moved out, they took on a human form in order to help with day to day life and also provide some emotional stability . . . but this unfortunately also left them vulnerable to human emotions and they caught some bad feels. They have a combat form they aren’t supposed to use, and they find out in act two that they also have a mysterious past they known nothing of. It’s a bit of an adjustment. Pink hair, silver eyes, tall and given to wearing bulky, somber clothing.

Lapis du Obsidienne -- Lapis is an elf, basically; they were the bastard child of the head of the most prestigious family in their society, who gained an elevated position once their dad’s first wife died and he was able to marry their mother officially; this resulted in them feeling incredibly isolated, which Phantom du Mirage used to manipulate them into unsealing her, before wiping out Lapis’s entire civilization and putting them in a coma for a few millennium. Lapis’s powers are a bit vague for the time being, but they’re able to bring out people’s dark sides and turn them into literal monsters, and Phantom du Mirage uses Lapis’s powers in order to provide extra power to the other “generals” in her army (Flint, Delta and Harper). Scrawny, with tawny skin and freckles, dark hair and light blue eyes.

Aconite Rosewood -- A normal human who is super into the occult and horror movies and stuff. They grew up in a small town, which made being openly gay kind of awkward, but it was mostly okay. Phantome du Mirage attacked their home town, seeking to recruit them, so Aconite summoned a demon . . . and got Phantome du Mirage, who provided them with some of Lapis’s powers and the ability to transform, but not the ability to purify people’s hearts. When Delta helped them put two and two together, they tried summoning a different demon and got Abaddon. They specialize in sealing and binding energy, but are also handy with some other forms of magic, and they transform by letting Abaddon possess them. Average height, but seems mega tall compared to Abaddon, with (dyed) pink hair and brown eyes that look red in the right light. Very 1920s aesthetic, and also half Chinese, though they were adopted by a white family.

Abaddon Knight -- Abaddon was formed by branching off of Apollo; if we were to put it in human-centric terms, they’re basically like Apollo’s kid and also Apollo’s reincarnation? But like, once removed or so (So Apollo became Apollyon and Apollyon became Abaddon.) They have some bad history with Iriel that they don’t want to talk about because it’s kind of complicated, and they’re in a relationship with Rosewood, as well as Rosewood’s teacher in the ~dark arts~. Their relationship with Rosewood mimics Iriel and the Agent of Heaven’s relationship, which . . .they’re painfully aware of. Tiny (4′11″-5′2″) with white hair and red eyes and as many frills as they can physically put on their body. Also, while they’re gendermatched to the player on the surface, they’re genderfluid, and as their relationship with Rosewood becomes less fraught, they start becoming more fluid about their presentation as well. (Rosewood is Big Gay and doesn’t feel attraction for the opposite gender at all, so Abaddon is afraid of being rejected if they’re more ambiguous about their presentation; Rosewood knows they’re genderfluid but doesn’t wanna pressure them to open up faster than they’re ready to, and with everything going on they just have a high tension relationship at the beginning of the story.)

E. Nymbostratus -- Emilio/Emilia, or Emi for short (and nonbinary); their from a rich family,  though their family situation is very, very complicated and they’re not on good terms with anyone except their mom, who died about a year before the start of the story. Iriel recruits them to replace the Agent of Heaven, and they take to it like a fish to water -- they have the same power set as the MC, but don’t have the same kind of instinctive control, and aren’t quite as strong. Still very powerful. They have brown hair that they used to bleach blond, and they used to have brown eyes, but becoming an Agent of Heaven turned their eyes blue, which is part of the reason they stop bleaching their hair. They tend to have a very chic and trendy style and are the tallest member of the group. They’re mixed latinx/white, and Harper Reed is their half brother.

Flint Burst -- An older brother figure to Lapis, Delta and possibly the MC; Flint is a himbo lol. He’s buff; red hair, piercings, sort of punk/greaser aesthetic; his power set is themed around fireworks, and he’s the most likely to get his hands dirty without relying on corrupting people’s hearts. Deceased.

Harper Reed -- A scheming, cold hearted sort; he’s Emi’s older half brother through their father, who was a mafioso before Harper killed him. Harper stands out among du Mirage’s Generals because his family was horrendous enough that he honestly sees wiping them out as a good thing, while the other three are like “holy shit what just happened” about it. He’s really happy to meet Emi, but it’s complicated because they’re obviously on opposite sides of the battlefield and also Harper has some bad self esteem issues lol. He does a lot of mind control stuff -- his music is hypnotic and he uses that to his advantage, so even without Lapis’s magic he tends to use people as puppets when he fights. Blond hair, blue eyes, dresses like he’s rich.

Delta Rush -- The Softboi Baby of du Mirage’s Generals. Deceased.

Coco Darling -- The Agent of Heaven’s ex-friend from high school. A tomboy who’s best friend fell in love with her childhood crush.

Vanille au Lait -- The Agent of Heaven’s ex-friend from high school. A girly girl who ended up dating her best friend’s childhood crush. Did she know? I’m not sure.

Kara Malls -- A guy with an unfortunate name who was childhood friends with Coco before middle school made their different social statuses very apparent. Ended up dating Vanille au Lait, but might have still had feelings for Coco Darling.

Phantome du Mirage -- The big bad. All I’m gonna say is that she has a cool fucking office.

#cast of characters masterlist #i'm probably not gonna get too much writing done today orz #but i'll get back on track tomorrow i promise #Anonymous #spoiler #general spoilers i forgot to tag this

[ao3feed-ineffablehusbandz]

The Time Before

by M4R4N14MH

The Apocalypse is not long over and Aziraphale is looking forward to a life free of Heaven and Hell and, most importantly, full of a certain Anthony J. Crowley. That is, until reality attempts to set in again. Now Angels and Demons are being murdered, Heaven and Hell are in disarray, and Aziraphale reunites with a friend older than God Herself. Alpha Centauri has never looked so welcoming, in Crowley’s opinion.

Words: 2718, Chapters: 1/30, Language: English

Fandoms: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, Good Omens (TV)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi

Characters: Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley (Good Omens), Gabriel (Good Omens), Beelzebub (Good Omens), Michael (Good Omens), Dagon (Good Omens), Hastur (Good Omens), Ligur (Good Omens), Anathema Device, Newton Pulsifer, Adam Young (Good Omens), Brian (Good Omens), Pepper (Good Omens), Pepper's Sister (Good Omens), Wensleydale (Good Omens), Disposable Demon (Good Omens), Demons (Good Omens), Angels (Good Omens), Many OC characters - Character, The Delivery Man (Good Omens), Metatron (Good Omens), Satan | Lucifer (Good Omens), God (Good Omens), various humans, The Them (Good Omens)

Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens), Anathema Device/Newton Pulsifer, Crowley & Anathema Device, Beelzebub/Gabriel (Good Omens), Dagon/Michael (Good Omens), Beelzebub & Dagon (Good Omens), Dagon & Hastur & Ligur (Good Omens), Hastur/Ligur (Good Omens), Dagon & Hastur & Ligur & OC angel (Good Omens), Aziraphale & Crowley & Adam Young (Good Omens), Beelzebub & Crowley (Good Omens), Aziraphale & Crowley & Lilith (Good Omens)

Additional Tags: The Second Apocalypse (Good Omens), Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), Ineffable Idiots (Good Omens), The Ineffable Plan (Good Omens), Ineffable Bureaucracy (Good Omens), Aziraphale Loves Crowley (Good Omens), Aziraphale Loves Crowley's Eyes (Good Omens), Crowley Loves Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley Loves the Bentley (Good Omens), and hates that it has a mind of its own, Crowley Loves Kids (Good Omens), Anxious Aziraphale (Good Omens), which isn't new really, Anxious Crowley (Good Omens), Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Heavy Angst, Heaven & Hell, Torture, Implied/Referenced Torture, basically Hell is involved, people have been hurt, but there is fluff!, Fluff and Humor, Possession, Demonic Possession, well not really demonic, sort of demonic?, Sibling Bonding, Explosions, n'shit, Hell Trauma, Satan is an arse, The Metatron is also an arse, Written by a devout atheist, who loves these celestial idiots, God peaces out, Bad Parenting, The Fall (Good Omens), Is a thing that happened, Crowley has Trauma from the Fall (Good Omens), actually everyone does, Everyone Needs A Hug, They/Them Pronouns for Beelzebub (Good Omens), Nonbinary Beelzebub (Good Omens), Beelzebub in Tartan, A Wedding(TM), Love is a thing, Anathema Device Ships Aziraphale/Crowley, Celestial magic Freeform, fucking around with the physical planes of Heaven and Hell, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Anathema is a witch, She does Witchy Things(TM), Beelzebub has a Sweet Tooth, Magic Rituals, Jasmine Cottage (Good Omens), blows up, Michael has anger issues, Hastur and Ligur do cute couple things, And make Crowley uncomfortable

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/26251690

#ao3feed ineffablehusbandz #ineffable husbands #good omens #aziraphale #crowley #anthonyjcrowl