Day 156

[from Murder by Pixels]

As soon as Sapphire heard the news, her eyes lit up like fireworks. Hurriedly snatching up her phone, she selected Jesse's name from her contact list and put it to her ear, impatiently waiting for her to pick up.

When Jesse finally did answer, it sounded as though they had just woken up. "Hello?"

"Jesse! Jesse!" Sapphire's voice was filled with an uncharacteristic excitement, her Irish accent blossoming forth as it always did when she got emotional. "Have you heard the news?!"

"No, what is it?" asked Jesse. "I haven't heard you this excited since…" There was a brief pause, as Jesse began to realize what Sapphire was talking about. "Wait, don't tell me-"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Sapphire. "The Supreme Court just ruled! Gay marriage is legal in all fifty states!"

There was a stunned silence on the other side of the phone as Jesse took in the news. When they spoke again, they were still noticeably tired, but also unmistakeably happy. "It's about time," they said. "It's not gonna solve all our problems, but it's a big step, that's for sure."

"I know!" said Sapphire. "First my country of ancestry, and now my country of birth… oh, I'm so happy, Jesse! I'm so happy I could cry!"

"Need a shoulder to cry on?" asked Jesse. "If my dad finds out about the ruling, then I might wanna get out of the house for a while anyway."

Sapphire nodded. "Sure," she said. "Come right over. We could celebrate with an Orange is the New Black marathon or something."

"I thought you'd prefer Steven Universe," Jesse remarked.

"Oh yeah, good idea," said Sapphire. "We'll watch that instead, then."

"I'll be right over," said Jesse. "I'll call you back when I'm outside, okay?"

Sapphire nodded. "Okay," she said. "See you soon."

"See you," said Jesse, before hanging up.

Sapphire put down the phone and leaned back in her chair, staring up at the ceiling. It was certainly true that this wasn't going to end discrimination - there would certainly be plenty of people resenting the decision - but in terms of equal rights, it was a massive step forward. I'm glad I lived to see this day, thought Sapphire.

***

[from Project Nero]

Summer was relaxing and watching TV when her phone suddenly vibrated on the table in front of her, heralding a text message. Picking it up, she unlocked it and saw that Melody had sent her the following message: "WE DID IT! Gay marriage now legal in Vale :D #LoveWins"

Summer smiled, and quickly fired off a reply: "Nice. So, fancy getting married next weekend? I'm free if you are~ xxx" When Melody did not respond, Summer realized she'd gone a bit too far and quickly fired off another: "Relax, I was just joking. I know you don't go that way. Still, that's pretty great news, huh?"

Summer could almost hear the little sigh of relief coming from Melody, as the girl finally responded. "I thought you were joking :3c", she replied. "But yeah, it's fantastic news. Everyone I know is happy to hear it."

"I'm sure they are," Summer replied. "I'm happy to hear it as well. It's about damn time."

"It really is ^_^" Melody texted back.

***

[from Aishiteru! Hikikomori-san]

"Hey, Yuuichi, you hear?"

"Hear what?" asked Yuuichi.

"United States legalize gay marriage," said Ilana. "Gay people can get married there now."

"Yeah, I heard about that hours ago," said Yuuichi. "It's all over Chirper and Nicebook."

"Oh," said Ilana. "I wonder if Katarina hear about news, wherever she is… I sure she be happy to hear it."

"Not really," said Yuuichi. "Not when it's still illegal in her own country. Hell, it's still illegal here."

"It is?" asked Ilana, surprised. "Why?"

"I dunno," said Yuuichi, shrugging his shoulders. "Guess this country's still a bit old-fashioned, in some ways."

"Maybe," said Ilana. "Is better than Russia, though, in many ways."

"Sure is," said Yuuichi. "Who knows, maybe we'll be next."

"Maybe," said Ilana.

***

[from Striker Man]

"Gay marriage is legal in America? Hah, took them long enough," said Striker Man. "We've had that here in Britain for years."

"You're the fifth person in this post to say that it's "taken them long enough"," said The Genius. "I think the writer has made his point clear by now, hasn't he?"

"Yeah, but I think what he wants is to show just how much the decision means to the LGBT community," said Striker Man.

"We're not lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, though," said The Genius. "We're stick figures, we have no concept of sexuality."

"Doesn't that make us asexual, which still comes under LGBT?" asked Striker Man.

This threw The Genius for a loop. "...you know, I can't argue with that," she said.

"Can I marry this pickle jar now, then?" asked Stuporwoman excitedly, holding up a jar of pickles.

"No, Stuporwoman," said Striker Man, "you can't marry a jar of pickles."

"Why not?" asked Stuporwoman.

"Because a jar of pickles is an inanimate object, and you can't marry inanimate objects," said Striker Man.

"Why not?" asked Stuporwoman.

"Because... uhh... damn, this is harder than I thought," said Striker Man.

Luckily, The Genius picked up the slack. "You cannot marry an inanimate object," she said, "because an inanimate object cannot love you back. Would you not want a partner that can love you back?"

"It does love me back!" said Stuporwoman. "It loves me back with flavour!"

"How can someone so stupid make such valid points?!" remarked Striker Man.

"I think the same about you sometimes," said The Genius.

"Disclaimer: the author does not condone, nor promote, the idea of marriage between humans and inanimate objects," said Striker Man. "In fact, I don't even know why he brought this whole discussion up, to be honest." Stuporwoman represents the crazies who think same-sex marriage is a slippery slope, and that next you'll be able to marry your dog, or your brother, or a helicopter, or an ice cream cone. "Ah, I see."

"...so can I-" You can't marry a pickle jar, Stuporwoman, end of story. "Awww." You can marry someone who likes pickles, and eat pickles together with them, though. "Ooh, that sounds even better! Okay, I'll do that then!" Good for you.