We have been dying to make this post for a long time. What we'll be covering includes the following:
Firstly - mistranslations and out-of-context verses.
Secondly - genderqueerness in the Bible.
Thirdly - Jewish cultural genders.
(Content warning for mentions of sexual assault and genital mutilation.)
1st Corinthians 6:9 - 6:10
1st Corinthians 6:9 - 6:10 is mistranslated.
"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."
"Effeminate" is a mistranslation of malakoi. Malakoi is a man who is weak or cowardly - not a man who is feminine. The mistranslation is based in misogyny, by turning "weak/cowardly" into a feminine trait.
"Homosexual" is a mistranslation of arsenokoitai. Arsenokoitai are men who assault other men - not just a gay man. Its absurd to mistranslate "gay rapist" into just "gay."
Leviticus 22
Leviticus 22 is out of context. Leviticus briefly mentions homosexuality, by stating βThou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind; it is abomination.β
However, the context of the original Hebrew text and the verses before this is very important. Before this verse, there was a discussion of incest and infidelity between men and women.
But none of these texts ever clarified if the laws also applied to male-on-male incest and infidelity. The addition of Leviticus 22 is not to condemn homosexuality, but to clarify that the previously listed laws also apply to gay incest and gay infidelity.
In full context, the verses go as following:
None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness. I am the LORD.
The nakedness of thy father, and the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father's nakedness.
The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or the daughter of thy mother, whether born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.
The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or of thy daughter's daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover; for theirs is thine own nakedness.
The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister: she is thy father's near kinswoman.
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister; for she is thy mother's near kinswoman.
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter-in-law: she is thy son' wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it is thy brother's nakedness.
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter; thou shalt not take her son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness: they are near kinswomen; it is lewdness.
And thou shalt not take a woman to her sister, to be a rival to her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her lifetime.
And thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is impure by her uncleanness.
And thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife, to defile thyself with her.
And thou shalt not give any of thy seed to set them apart to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind; it is abomination.β
Eunuchs
The Bible discusses Eunuchs in many different chapters. βEunuchβ was a term used to describe three things:
A man whose penis was removed, due to slavery or a desire for abstinence.Β
A person who was born with a male-appearance, but no penis; a type of male-appearing intersex person.
Or a person who removed their penis due to not identifying as a male; a transgender or altersex person, or an intersex person whose penis did not align with the rest of their experiences.
Each of these definitions can be seen in Mathew 19, Verse 12.
βFor there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.β
Further evidence that some eunuchs are non-binary can be seen in Isaiah 56, Verse 4-5.
βFor thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;
Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.β
Jewish cultural genders
In Jewish culture (which is where Jesus is from), there were eight recognized genders - Zachar, Nekevah, Aylonit Hamah, Aylonit Adam, Saris Hamah, Saris Adam, Androgynos, and Tumtum.
(Zuh-car) Zachar was the term for people who were born with male traits, and lived their life as a man. In modern terms, this is a cisgender man.
(Neck-eh-vuh) Nekevah were people who were born with female traits, and lived their life as a woman. This would be a cisgender woman.
(Eye-low-night Hah-maw) Aylonit Hamah were people who were born with female traits, but naturally developed male traits later in life. This describes people who were intersex, and had hormonal variations that caused male traits to develop.
(Eye-low-night Ah-dom) Aylonit Adam were people who were born with female traits, but developed male traits through human intervention. This describes trans-men or masculine non-binary people.
(Saw-riss Hah-maw) Saris Hamah were people who were born with male traits, but naturally developed female traits later in life. This describes people who were intersex, and had hormonal variations that caused female traits to develop.
(Saw-riss Ah-dom) Saris Adam were people who were born with female traits, but developed female traits through human intervention. This describes trans-women or feminine non-binary people.
(And-draw-joe-naws) Androgynos were people who were born with a mix of female and male traits. This described intersex people who had ambiguous genitals, or otherwise appeared to have a mix of genitals. Modern Jews also use it to include non-binary and altersex people with androgynous identities.
(Pronounced exactly how it's spelled) Tumtum were people who were born lacking sex traits. This described intersex people who were on the agenital spectrum - people whose genitals were small or obscured. Modern Jews also use it to include non-binary and altersex people with neutral identities.
actually can't stop thinking about how emotionally grounding it would be for riven to have a genuine friendship with flora. like, riven is someone who feels emotions very deeply, to the point he often struggles to manage them or understand what to do with them. as such, he tends to default to his primal instincts before turning to his conscious mind. flora, with her contrasting temperament, strikes me as someone who wouldn't try to fix him or pull him back. instead, she'd let him feel what he needs to feel, meet his impulse and intensity with intention and gentleness, and that balance could be exactly what he needs.
When itβs kissing practice for a role in a drama, and you ask your rival if the two of you can have someβ¦. private practice before go full acting mode in front of everyoneβ¦ and it goes how you expect.
(So I indulged myself in a not-wanna-be animation about Maya and Claudine from Revue Starlight. Honeslty, it was just a strip, and then I tried to put all the panels in a timeline and dfgfd this happened. I donβ know anything about animation Iβm sorry, I just wanted them to smooch. Really, if you want some good yuri vibe, you want to watch this anime)
It just broke my heart to see Claudine in so much denial when she realized Karen was the first one to beat Maya at something and not her.
Maya, the head of the 99th class; Maya, the genius prodigy; Maya, the Miss Perfect; Maya, the one star she thought shone the brightest; Maya, the person that made her realize how arrogant and cocky she was because being a child actress doesnβt mean youβre the best; Maya, the person that would always smile in amusement whenever she challenged her, but never in a condescending way; Maya, the person that always silently encouraged her to never stop trying to chase her spot at the top; Maya, the girl who became her partner whether in class or battle; Maya, the person who always gets the other lead role alongside her without a doubt; Maya, the person she declared to that sheβs the only one whoβs allowed to beat her; Maya, her r i v a l.
And Karen was the one to beat her. Karen, the girl who always came to school late, always content with a supporting role and barely shining like the others until a transfer student from London came along.
If she wasnβt the one who could finally push Maya off from her pedestal on the tower of the Top Star then what was the point? The entire time she strived to finally be able to outshine Maya, bitter at the thought of forever being number 2 and having the supporting role to Mayaβs talent. So when she saw Mayaβs jacket falling at the hands of somebody else, she was sure it was her fault that Maya, someone she equally hated and admired, lost.
It had to be her fault because her Maya couldnβt lose like that. Maya hasnβt lost anything because sheβs the only one who could defeat her. Because Maya couldnβt possibly lose to someone else.
And it was just so heartbreaking to know that Claudine was probably thinking: If Maya had been on her own without having me to drag her down, then she would have won.
Idk about yaβll but I think about this pic like a lot.
Itβs not the usual confident or fierce or passionate look Claudine always puts on whenever sheβs battling a revue or performing. Idk what made this revue in particular special, but I just canβt rub off that awful feeling of dread when I look at how un-Claudine it is.
Itβs not this:
Or this:
Or this either:
Itβs none of those brave and strong fronts she usually puts on to show that sheβs not, even for a moment, gonna back away from any challenge.Itβs not even the usual look of annoyance whenever sheβs facing Maya. But rather, she just press her lips to a thin line, and for half a second, I saw a flash of blankness in her eyes where her the fire in them dimmed a little.
Itβs like, the moment she realized sheβs battling against Maya for whatβs probably her first audition, thereβs just this flicker of acceptance in her face that didnβt quite sit well with me. Itβs like she knew, as she watched Maya a couple meters away from her, a proud smile on her face and her sword drawn, she justΒ knewΒ sheβs already going to lose this battle. And it made me wonderβ¦
We already know how Claudine acknowledges Maya is the Top Star right? But despite that, sheβs not going to stop until she beats her, right?Β
But this moment, that look of her readying herself before meeting her fate head-on, it made me wonder just how many times has Claudine told herself that one day, sheβll finally be able to best Maya? How many times has Claudine reassure herself once she realized Maya is once again the star of the show, that sheβd finally be able to get a taste of being at the top?
Itβs not like she doesnβt deserve it, Claudine works herself to the bone if it meant getting a little bit closer to Mayaβs level of excellence, but what if there are times where she feels like giving up? Maya wins, every single time, and how much more would it take before Claudine just accepts that maybe sheβd forever be second place and nothing else? Before EP 10, KuroMaya barely had any genuine moments aside from trying to one-up each other, so what if Claudine had those times of doubt that maybe she just shouldnβt care? Maybe there isnβt a place for her at all? Maybe Maya wouldnβt even care if she stopped?
Because that one look on her face, that face that seems like itβs already dreading whatβs to come, that brief look of vulnerability before slipping on a confident bravado again, made me wonder if Claudine would actually keep on chasing after Maya if Maya never looked back?
Itβs just what Aiba-san said, that acting as Kuro who had these feelings for Maya, to know that Maya is actually looking back at her, it must have been a shock.
Iβm not saying that Claudineβs gonna give up easily, no she definitely wouldnβt, but Kuroβs not stupid to not know Maya is just that fucking good.Β
So imagine a scenario, where Maya never acknowledged Claudineβs efforts, where Maya never looked back at her, where Maya never said what she said in EP 10.
How long do you think is it gonna take, before that face of acceptance becomes a permanent and Claudine finally gives up?
i really love how mayaβs symbol is a bird. we see it specifically being a swan in certain situationsβwhich i also love since apparently swans are among the largest flying birds. pair that fact with how maya literally descended on her swan from the ceiling of the underground stage.Β swans are also a huge symbol for aphrodite/venusβwhoβs statue we see constantly in this episodeβin association to maya. her being represented as this goddessΒ is so fitting since she is deemed to be the ideal stage girl. i mean, mayaβs verse in hokori to ogori while the staircase of birds and greek columns escalate translates to βa goddess calls from her throne up in the heavensβ.
but back to her symbol in general being a bird. i again want to stress that itβs fitting because birds can fly really high, just as how mayaβs being top star is untouchable. i like that revue starlight took that flight metaphor βcause oftentimes when women in stories are represented as a bird, itβs usually about them being a caged. mayaβs is the complete opposite, of course. sheβs out there, soaring as high as ever. and thatβs kind of refreshing in terms of writing.Β though thinking about it now, she might actually be ~theoretically~ caged with her flying so high. i mean, no one can reach her, so sheβs lonely up there, yknow?
i also noticed that the wings on the birds we see in her room are resting, but the ones during her revue are wide open, almost indicating that theyβre ready for flight. i even want to go as far as saying the huge bow she wears are like wings too. and that hair flip (? not really a hair flip but yknow what i mean) she does after her face fills with determination, as she was staring at claudine in the class photo, is almost an indication of her activating flight.Β
also, did anybody else get phoenix vibes when this happened? i had that thought because of the fire. now that could very much represent her passion for the stage, and how it keeps being reborn again and again every time she performs. maya, despite making the bar high, still strives on improving herself after all.Β
EDIT: oh guess what? mayaβs rapier has a bird. i love small details like this.
Following here are spoilers of stuffs that happened in Starry Horizon on day 1 and 2
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First curious thing I noticed is they introduced themselves more or else with their old lines? At least for Mahiru it was the whole "i love the stage but i love you more", but then Nana quotes el dorado so idk
Kaoruko leans her head on Junna's lap. Futaba starts crying bc thats normally her role and Nana very openly threatens to murder Kaoruko (I understood it as "Kaoruko-chan~ Can I cut you for a bit..?" and I feel like its a reference to her AbsolutelyNotThreatening line on the Revue Starlight El Dorado official character page, but need confirmation on this)
Nana also makes a big deal on the fact that she never got to use Junna as a lap pillow yet
Acte Zero section
Karemahi:
It felt weird hearing them call each other Aijou-san/Tsuyuzaki-san
Karen asked Mahiru to pinch her cheek to make sure this isn't a dream and Mahiru got very confused, but then she pinched her anyway and a bit too hard and apologized like "Oh no i'm so sorry!! I'm still not used to Tokyo customs....."
Karen got very excited at the idea of having a roommate since she has always been an only child so she told Mahiru to call her big sis, but then Mahiru took her Hokkaido dialect and ordered Karen around like "this is bad" "you have to do this" "when's your birthday" and then when Mahiru revealed that she has a lot of little siblings (I think that's what she said?), Karen apologizes
While Mahiru was too deep into her role she accidentally called Karen by her first name, which I found surprising personally bc I would have expected that Karen was the one who did that first
Karen made Mahiru start cleaning their room and she started writing a letter to Hikari to tell abt her first day at Seisho dorms and the fact that she has a roommate now
(During happy in our room) As expected Mahiru panics when she realizes Karen is just staring at her when she asks "who do you think about when you say 'i love you'?" then quickly corrects herself
Overall super cute
Futakao:
They're in Kyoto, I'm not sure what most of the convo is in details, but Kaoruko brings out the application form for Seisho, telling Futaba about how great it will be that they will both be enrolled there and become stars together through a long monologue, while Futaba stares puzzled at the envelope with worry
Futaba then asks "Wait did you even send the application form..?", Kaoruko says no
Said day was the deadline
Futaba immitates Kaoruko on how she imagines Kaoruko felt thinking about applying for Seisho and flexing it to others
Kaoruko freaks out at the idea of becoming Futaba's underclassmen bc she didn't send out her application and begs Futaba for help
Kaoruko did not know how to sign with her name
Futaba helps to get signatures from the teachers and Kaoruko goes to her parents
Other thing I liked is that they put the lyrics on the screen in different styles depending on the song atmosphere, so karemahi's song had bouncy fun texts, while futakao had something more traditional
In between scene:
The flashback sections were more of telling each other how they met (while they eat)
(About de karemahi bit):
Maya gets mad at Claudine for stealing her potato
Both burns themselves
Karen definitely completely gave up on "Junjun" and just calls her "Junna" casually, also gave up on the "Banana" and honorifics for Nana
Nana and Junna met at the nearby park
Now going on with explaining how Junnana and Mayakuro met
Junnana:
Nana goes to a park near Seisho in the evening on a cold day, the illustration on the screen showed the playground Hikari and Karen made their promise at but I think they just didn't want to bother making a new picture. But I think it's interesting if they also first met at the same place, and that would definitely feed my hikaren/junnana parallels ideas
Upon arriving there, Nana finds Junna practicing quotes
They both notice each other and awkwardly greet each other while recognizing that they're both applicants for Seisho
Junna comes from Nagasaki, Nana comes from Toyama
Nana asks what Junna was doing and Junna explains then expresses that she's scared of what awaits her, comparing herself to others and about her lack of experience
Nana sympathizes bc she feels the same, explaining how she was alone in her club in middle school
Looking at them so excited to know they aren't the only ones feeling like that makes me laugh a bit when you just have flashbacks to the revue of hunting
They seem so awkward but so excited to talk to each other its really cute
Nana asks for Junna's name, who refuses to tell her, bc it's still too early and the entrance ceremony will be in spring "so let's save that for then"
Hello muse absolute banger
The way they sang it and danced made the og song even more "spicy", their meeting was really way more calm and sincere at the beginning
Mayakuro:
Maya is alone in the locker room and makes sure everyone left already
She rants about a certain thing but I have no clue what it's about, then screams in frustration (like she did in the OVA), continues to rant and finishes her rant with "to Saijou Claudine..."
She hears someone walk in and at first got confused but then she hears angry french screaming and guesses its Claudine, but she didn't notice her yet
I'm so sorry even as a french person I genuinely have no clue what she said...
Maya speaks too loudly when she realizes who's behind the wall(?) that separates them so Claudine finally notices and asks who it is
Maya panics and says she's a janitor
Claudine gets embarrassed and says "Oh, uh...um thank you for your hard work and um sorry"
Maya asks what's wrong, and Claudine starts explaining something complex, but Maya understands and starts spilling out all her knowledge about that musical before ending with "oh it's uh that...right?" to not sound suspicious, Claudine is taken aback
Claudine continues to rant in frustration, and Maya sympathizes, and they understand each other
Claudine gets suspicious like "Wait how do you know all that..? It's like you were here during the audition too..?", Maya panics again then says "Ooh it's uuh...because cleaning is kind of similar..!", Claudine doesnt catch the lie
Claudine then confesses that she doesn't want to lose to a certain someone she describes as her rival
Claudine thanks the "janitor" for the conversation and for helping her feel better
Unfinished song starts during Maya's monologue which i didn't understand much of
Ngl the song is so high pitched it must have been hard to sing live
The way they looked at each other at the end after calling out each other's name has to be studied
After scene:
Claudine: WAIT A SECOND THAT JANITOR WAS YOU???
Maya: oops
Claudine gets mad at Maya, Mahiru offers her more to eat and Claudine gladly accepts
Not sure what they're talking about here but Junna gets frustrated then calls for more to eat too
TLDR for Acte Zero
Concert section:
Songs list were as follow:
Hoshi no Dialogue
Happy in our room
Our Old Tale
Hello Muse
Unfinished Song
Butai Shoujo Kokoroe Makuai (with a transition to the upbeat version)
Starlight Theater
LIFE IS LIKE A VOYAGE
Star Darling (Day 1) / Star Diamond (Day 2)
Discovery!
Encore:
Madobe no Highlight
Star Divine
Polestar
Watashitachi wa mou butai no ue
Draft meddley section:
Day 1 :
wi(l)d-screen baroque (covered by Futaba)
(Teru aura farming queen)
Wagamama Highway (covered by Junna and Mikoto (Romana))
(Mikoto did not look at Junna at the beginning so she was completely confused)
Hanasaka Uta (covered by Mayakuro)
I don't remember if this was the one where Satohina almost got the duet but she got so scared of Mahoai/Mayakuro fans she was super relieved she didnt end up getting it
The Gates Shall Open to Those Who Believe (covered by Karen, Mahiru, Nana and Kaoruko)
First song from the Arcana Arcadia story, just surprised Kaoruko sang it along bc she's already in the original
Star Girl, Girl on Moon (covered by Maya and Akira)
Sixth song from the Arcana Arcadia story, this is the first time these two got to sing together according to them, they realized it only later on
Life persists (covered by Futaba and Fumi)
Second song from the Arcana Arcadia story, Reocchi hasn't worn Fumi's uniform in 6 years, also surprised Futaba sang here bc she's in the og too, also it was kind of funny this point on to just hear the other school members midway
Fancy You (covered by Junnana)
The Junanna fans were so fed oh my god, at the end Nana just tentatively made small jumps to the side towards Junna, then Junna opened her arms for a hug and when they did the whole crowd screamed, it was really cute though so very understandable
Eternity Is Dying and Living (covered by Karen, Mahiru, Claudine and Koharu)
Fifth song from the Arcana Arcadia story, from what I understood, Aiai was the one who made the choregraphy so everyone called her teacher at the end, at the super EDM part of the song the rest of kukugumi joined in to dance along
Day 2 :
Gyoshite Gyoshaza (covered by Karen, Mahiru, Maya and Futaba)
Always love the slight lyrics adjustments depending on who sings (Junna in the og vs Claudine in Starry Session vs Maya in Starry Horizon), also at the slight instrumental part before the end where Mahiru just calls out to Karen when she did not need to
MEDAL SUZDAL PANIC (covered by Nana and Shizuha)
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
I dont have much more to say, it would have been dope if I heard them sing the threatening part but it's understandable that they didn't include it
If There Is No Sin, That Is a Sin (covered by Claudine and Akira)
Third song from the Arcana Arcadia story, go Akira go sing your ex's song
It does sound like a hard song to sing though, props to them
Kimi mo Watashi mo Alice (covered by Mahiru and Nana!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
I was getting ready to go out around this time and when the previous song finished I was just saying "is it Koi no Makyuu? Alice? No it could be something else, what is i-" and when the first few notes started to play I literally jumped
They were so CUTE, that's my fav Frontier song from the beginning too so it made me so happy
Haruki very especially looked so happy to sing it (im so sorry I have way more stuffs to say here, can you tell i like nanamahi)
Ittosei no Procyon (covered by Kaoruko, Stella and Junna)
I really found it cute that they put Stella in Mahiru's role here as the "senpai" while Kaoruko and Junna looked super supportive like mentors
Jounetsu no Mezameru Toki (covered by Karen, Claudine and Koharu)
I don't have much to say here but just now I noticed that we now have the MaHiKaren cycle complete bc each of them sang the first part of the song
Rose Poems (covered by Futakao)
Futakao doing the dance part of the song with everyone cheering, then posing to the public for more cheers, then ending with Kaoruko in Futaba's arms for the loudest cheers, they knew what they were doing
Koi no Makyuu (covered by Maya and Junna)
Maho didn't even try to be in character when she arrived on the stage, she just waved at everyone like a child waving to their mom like "MOM MOM I DID IT"
She was sooo happy all long i'm so glad she finally achieved her dream, including the part where they do baseball
Everyone joined with the Karemahi + suzudaru cutouts and the baseball bats, then when they started singing again Ayasa and Aiai started playing with the bats themselves
Conclusion
Loved it soo much I love Revue Starlight
I'm still waiting for them to perform My Cheer Girl, and I thought they'd sing PRIDE but in a way I'm glad they didn't bc I would have cried + it would feel like this is the last live
They announced on day 1 the news related to the El Dorado musical that will take place in May 2026 with the following roles:
Junna as Salvatore
Mahiru as Alejandro
Karen as Isabel
Futaba as Miguel
Claudine as Christopher Columbus
Nana as Luigi and Giovanni
Kaoruko as Carmen
Maya as Pablo
Yakumo as Lord Cavallero
Judy as Zulfikar
They will also wear the original outfits as well I'm so excited
