[text]

[majorlyugh]

do folks celebrate valentine's day here? is it too early to ask about this?

TOTES unrelated: anyone have gift suggestions that are thoughtful but also not creepy or weird?

Comments

[majorlyugh]

[Okay, awwww???? Major's a little honored and flabbergasted that D33 feels comfortable enough to ask him.]

i mean, i've never dated a guy? but i think that it's similar in that it depends on the individual, not ... some overlying stereotype about a gender. based on what my lgbt friends have said in the past, though, they don't seem to get as caught up in it. they ... have a far healthier kind of a relationship, most of the time.

but i think that, if two men were in a relationship together, one or both should ask the other about expectations and thoughts about specific holidays, especially ones that are centered around relationships.

[d33tached]

[Asking for a friend, Major.]

Yes, of course. I suppose that would make sense.

[Pause.]

What does "lgbt" mean?

[Bet you weren't expecting to have to explain being gay to a gay man today, were you, Major?]

[majorlyugh]

["A friend."]

oh, uhhh. i think the acronym is bigger these days, but it's usually shortened to lgbt. but it stands for lesbian (women who are into women), gay (men who are into men), bisexual (people who are into whomever, regardless of gender), and transgender (people who are assigned a gender at birth but identify differently)..... i think people also include qiaa? queer, intersex, asexual ... allies?

[d33tached]

Clearly, I would not know.

[What in the world could all of those other letters possibly mean? The first three are relatively self-explanatory, he supposes. He's definitely heard of being both "gay" and "straight" since arriving here, but prior to that, he really had no idea that there were words for such things. Men paired with women to mate. Men paired with men to...

[Well.]

You seem to know rather a lot about this.

I must admit, I don't quite understand the need to separate such concepts by name. [Just...fuck who you fuck and don't give him the details (that's what he does).]

[majorlyugh]

seattle is pretty liberal, as far as major cities go. i've got a number of friends who identify somewhere on the sexuality spectrum back home.

i think some of it comes from people, as a whole, needing to categorize stuff. i also think people find and like to identify based on similarities in personality, lifestyle, that kind of thing. they can find communities based on different things, and sexuality is one of them.

[d33tached]

Is such a thing really so diversified in this world?

[Surely there can't be that man straight people, D33 thinks.]

[majorlyugh]

what do you mean? like, are people really that different?

[d33tached]

I suppose so.

Truth be told, Major, romantic relationships were uncommon [Pronounced: forbidden.] in my home world, but even those that did appear to exist were not so varied.

[majorlyugh]

ahh, yeah. i mean, historically? they probably seemed really singular because anything that differed was illegal. but they def happened. there's lots of proof of that.

but i know that things were ... different for you, back home.

[d33tached]

[Incredibly so, he thinks. But he'd really rather not talk about that right now (even if he's the one who technically brought it up).]

At any rate, it matters little to me whom others choose to spend their time with.

I thank you for answering my question.

[majorlyugh]

hey man, i'd hope by now that you know you can ask me anything. i'm here for you, d33.

[d33tached]

[Major, you're doing that "friendship" thing again. It still serves to make D33 a little more than uncomfortable, but...He supposes the sentiment is...nice?

[This is awkward.]

As I've said, I thank you.

[And that should be...that.]

Have a pleasant rest of your day, Major.

[majorlyugh]

[LET HIM LOVE YOU, GOSH.]

thanks, bud! you, too! :)