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arkham-ayden · 7 months

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I'm following a prompt list for October! You can read it above on ao3 or below the cut here!

• Pairing: Ben/Mal

• Prompt: Carving pumpkins

• Word count: 1906

• No additional warnings

“Mal! Over here!” Ben called from across the way.

The courtyard was adorned with bright decorations; spiderwebs, comically sized ghosts and bats, garland strung up from every available surface and then there were long tables with an array of giant oranges on them.

She’d never seen oranges that big, hells, they weren’t even mouldy! She walked over, meeting Ben halfway and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“What is all this? On the Isle, Hallows’ Eve was just everyone getting drunk at Facilier’s place.”

“We like to do a big school event, and I had a feeling you guys wouldn’t have had the more festive things, so I set you up with something that everyone does here.”

He gestured to the oranges, now close up, Mal could see knives and spoons set around them.

“Eating oranges like an insane person?”

“No,” he laughed. “These are pumpkins, you carve them, make fun patterns, and then you put a candle in them to make them glow at night.”

She cast a look down the table, Evie was pulling a mass out of the pumpkin, not looking all too thrilled. Carlos was using a tiny knife to carve circles above a triangle, where Jay was taking the biggest knife and making a large almost circle at the top.

"Ben, this is sweet but I don’t get it. What purpose does this serve?”

“It doesn’t have to serve any kind of purpose. Back in the day it had some special meaning to it, but now we just do it for fun.”

Seeing her raised eyebrows he continued.

“I know, it’s probably really weird, but it’s your first holiday here in Auradon. We, I wanted to do something nice for you. Come on, give it a try.”

Mal shot Ben an amused but reluctant smile, taking a small carving knife. She made a lazy circle on the top of her pumpkin, not piercing hard enough to pop it out like Jay had done moments earlier. She fought with the knife for a few moments before realising it was stuck. Her shoulders slumped inwards as she tried to pull it out, to no avail. She tugged and tugged, eventually dislodging the blade, catching herself on the upswing. She cried out, more from shock than pain. Ben whipped his head around from his own pumpkin. Mal had instinctively sucked on the wound to staunch the blood flow.

“Hey, let me show you, okay?”

It was more of a question than a statement, but Mal raised her hands and went to step away before Ben pulled her to his side. She stiffened but it seemed like Ben hadn’t noticed. He picked up the biggest knife on the table and handed it to her. She blinked in shock, this had to be some kind of test, right? No sane person would hand a villain a weapon willingly. He pressed it into her palm, taking the handle in his own just above where her hand clasped it.

Together, they plunged the knife in, it was a pillowy sound rather than the cracking sound she expected to hear. They pulled it as close to them as one swipe would take, before taking the knife out and repeating the process until the cuts met.

“That’s not a circle,” she almost giggled.

“Nope, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Here’s the gross part.”

He lifted the closed shape by a thick stem, pulling with some difficulty. When it came up, there were stringy memmbranes connected to the innards, seeds mingled in the mess.

Mal raised a hand to her nose, an unfamiliar scent permeating the air. It was earthy, with almost a hint of sweetness to it. Not an artificial sweet either, it was subtle and succinct.

“And then,” Ben rolled up his sleeve as he spoke. “The equally gross, yet fun part.”

He stuck his hand deep into the cavern, a squelching sound making Mal cringe. Up came thick clumps of the membrane seed mix plastered to his fingers. He smirked, nose wrinkling as he held it close to Mal’s face. Her hands darted up to protect herself from the foul smelling goop. He put the mixture into a bowl just off to the side. There was a small tendril left on his thumb, taking the chance to wipe it on his girlfriend’s nose.

“Ew! Gross, Ben, seriously gross.”

“Gods, the look on your face, if looks could kill.” He laughed heartily.

“Right now, I wish they could.”

He took a moment to breathe and compose himself.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist. My mom always used to do it to me and I never saw the appeal. But that look made it all worth it.”

“Yeah, yeah. What next?”

He handed back the smaller knife she attempted to use.

“You can make a design on this side. You cut all the way through and pop the pieces out, or you can cut the skin off to make it glow less.”

“What kind of design?”

“Anything you want! I’m pretty sure Evie said she wanted to make some kind of crown, Carlos is doing some kind of face, and Jay,” he snickered. “Well, I’m pretty sure Jay’s just having fun with the knives. Don’t worry, we’ve got Lonnie watching him to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself or anyone else.”

“I can make anything on this?”

“Yeah of course, just nothing Fairy Godmother wouldn’t approve of. I’m gonna work on mine some more, there’s a contest for best dressed pumpkin and I’m trying to outdo Jane this year. You’d think she’d get some kind of restriction considering who her mom is.”

He shook his head and turned back to his own craftsmanship. Anything, huh? Mal considered some of the art she’d made on the Isle before deciding this was far too small of a canvas to recreate anything. But it seemed just big enough for something new she’d wanted to try. She started to work, making larger cuts here and smaller shavings of the skin there. After a good ten minutes, she was almost done, roughly estimating she was five or so minutes away from completion.

Ben had finished on his, he was holding it like someone would a baby, it was a near perfect recreation of his castle’s shield emblem, there were a few shaky lines here and there, but it looked almost identical to the shields adorning lampposts. He turned to show it to Mal, hastily covering her own work.

"What’d you think?”

“It looks great.”

“What about you? How’s it coming along?”

“It’s not done yet. No peeking.”

He raised a single hand, firmly holding his creation with the other.

“Okay, okay, I’m handing mine in. Judging starts in 10 so if you want to get it in, keep an eye on the time.”

“Gotcha.”

He started to walk off, Mal going back to her own work. She stepped back for a moment to look at it in its entirety, suddenly doubting her skills. What if it looked nothing alike? It looked good to her, but the standards in this place seemed to be so much higher than the Isle, where any effort was a cut above the rest. She bit her lip, did she even want to submit it? After not much time, she realised she had to submit her work. None of the rest of her family were planning to, Jay was still playing with the knives much to the dismay of Lonnie, and Carlos, who’s pumpkin he’d accidentally disfigured with his antics, and Evie had abandoned hers in favour of the punch bowl and trying to flirt with Chad, asking about his castle most likely.

She had to put it in for judging to at least prove to the rest of them that they could do good, they could be recognised as more than villains if only for a few seconds. She finished the final touches and handed her pumpkin to Fairy Godmother, offering it sheepishly.

When she arrived back at her table, Ben was already waiting for her, two glasses in hand.

“I got us a drink, did you hand yours in?”

“Yeah, I did. Thanks.”

She took the glass with a small smile, still not used to the kind gestures Ben offered, despite how consistent they were.

“Fairy Godmother’s going over them now, we should head up to the front to see who wins.”

She nodded, taking one of Ben’s hands in hers. He was always so warm where her hands felt more like ice than flesh, a downside of being part draconic due to her mother’s spells. She relied on outer sources for her heat, unable to make her own without the sun.

“Mal, you’re shivering, are you okay?”

“Mm? Oh, my body can’t make its own warmth. I’m okay, just a little chilly.”

Ben took his jacket off and placed it around Mal’s shoulders and pulled her closer to him. Nestling her head in the crook of Ben’s neck, she immediately felt warmer. Not just her skin, but it was like her insides were being warmed up. It was a weird feeling, chalking it up to the inadvertent curse. They stayed like that for a few minutes before the dark haired woman took the stage, three pumpkins with designs facing her.

“Welcome Auradon Prep students, to our annual best dressed pumpkin contest. As you may all know, I’m quite good with a gourd,” She laughed at her own joke, Ben quickly explaining it.

“Without further adieu, I’d like to present our winners of this year. In third place,” she spun around the leftmost pumpkin. “King Benjamin and the royal crest.”

There was scattered applause, most too busy indulging in sweets or conversations to pay much attention.

“In second place is Jane with her beautiful silhouette of a pumpkin carriage.”

Again, scattered applause, though a bit louder. Presumably, it was from Jane’s friends, finally focusing in.

“And finally, in first place we have,” she trilled, trailing off slightly.

Mal was crossing her fingers and felt a surge of warmth flow through her as Ben embraced her in a hug to try and warm her up some more.

“Mal from the Isle with her portrait of King Ben.”

As the pumpkin was spun around, there were audible gasps from the small crowd, some people pausing their conversations to take a look at the art. Her art. Ben pulled away from the hug briefly, mouth slightly agape as he looked in awe. Fairy Godmother beckoned Mal on stage, with a small push from Ben, she went up.

“As winner of this year’s contest, it is my honour to give you this token of $25 and an opening to our art programme here at Auradon Prep.”

It was Mal’s turn to be shocked, mouth agape.

Cheers from her friends erupted and cut the harsh silence.

“Go Mal!”

“How’d she do that with these things?”

“That’s my girl!”

Slowly, applause came from the small crowd, becoming louder and louder. Ben pulled her down from the stage and swept her into a kiss, dipping her down.

“Did you seriously make me a pumpkin? That’s the cutest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”

She caressed his cheek, kissing back and smiling under it.

“You really made me look good for a gourd.” He parroted the cheesy joke. She tilted her head playfully, tipping Ben’s crown to one side.

“You always look good.”

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endusviolence · 2 months

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Rowling isn't denying holocaust. She just pointed out that burning of transgender health books is a lie as that form of cosmetic surgery didn't exist. But of course you knew that already, didn't you?

I was thinking I'd probably see one of you! You're wrong :) Let's review the history a bit, shall we?

In this case, what we're talking about is the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, or in English, The Institute of Sexology. This Institute was founded and headed by a gay Jewish sexologist named Magnus Hirschfeld. It was founded in July of 1919 as the first sexology research clinic in the world, and was run as a private, non-profit clinic. Hirschfeld and the researchers who worked there would give out consultations, medical advice, and even treatments for free to their poorer clientele, as well as give thousands of lectures and build a unique library full of books on gender, sexuality, and eroticism. Of course, being a gay man, Hirschfeld focused a lot on the gay community and proving that homosexuality was natural and could not be "cured".

Hirschfeld was unique in his time because he believed that nobody's gender was either one or the other. Rather, he contended that everyone is a mixture of both male and female, with every individual having their own unique mix of traits.

This leads into the Institute's work with transgender patients. Hirschfeld was actually the one to coin the term "transsexual" in 1923, though this word didn't become popular phrasing until 30 years later when Harry Benjamin began expanding his research (I'll just be shortening it to trans for this brief overview.) For the Institute, their revolutionary work with gay men eventually began to attract other members of the LGBTA+, including of course trans people.

Contrary to what Anon says, sex reassignment surgery was first tested in 1912. It'd already being used on humans throughout Europe during the 1920's by the time a doctor at the Institute named Ludwig Levy-Lenz began performing it on patients in 1931. Hirschfeld was at first opposed, but he came around quickly because it lowered the rate of suicide among their trans patients. Not only was reassignment performed at the Institute, but both facial feminization and facial masculization surgery were also done.

The Institute employed some of these patients, gave them therapy to help with other issues, even gave some of the mentioned surgeries for free to this who could not afford it! They spoke out on their behalf to the public, even getting Berlin police to help them create "transvestite passes" to allow people to dress however they wanted without the threat of being arrested. They worked together to fight the law, including trying to strike down Paragraph 175, which made it illegal to be homosexual. The picture below is from their holiday party, Magnus Hirschfeld being the gentleman on the right with the fabulous mustache. Many of the other people in this photo are transgender.

[Image ID: A black and white photo of a group of people. Some are smiling at the camera, others have serious expressions. Either way, they all seem to be happy. On the right side, an older gentleman in glasses- Magnus Hirschfeld- is sitting. He has short hair and a bushy mustache. He is resting one hand on the shoulder of the person in front of him. His other hand is being held by a person to his left. Another person to his right is holding his shoulder.]

There was always push back against the Institute, especially from conservatives who saw all of this as a bad thing. But conservatism can't stop progress without destroying it. They weren't willing to go that far for a good while. It all ended in March of 1933, when a new Chancellor was elected. The Nazis did not like homosexuals for several reasons. Chief among them, we break the boundaries of "normal" society. Shortly after the election, on May 6th, the book burnings began. The Jewish, gay, and obviously liberal Magnus Hirschfeld and his library of boundary-breaking literature was one of the very first targets. Thankfully, Hirschfeld was spared by virtue of being in Paris at the time (he would die in 1935, before the Nazis were able to invade France). His library wasn't so lucky.

This famous picture of the book burnings was taken after the Institute of Sexology had been raided. That's their books. Literature on so much about sexuality, eroticism, and gender, yes including their new work on trans people. This is the trans community's Alexandria. We're incredibly lucky that enough of it survived for Harry Benjamin and everyone who came after him was able to build on the Institute's work.

[Image ID: A black and white photo of the May Nazi book burning of the Institute of Sexology's library. A soldier, back facing the camera, is throwing a stack of books into the fire. In the background of the right side, a crowd is watching.]

As the Holocaust went on, the homosexuals of Germany became a targeted group. This did include transgender people, no matter what you say. To deny this reality is Holocaust denial. JK Rowling and everyone else who tries to pretend like this isn't reality is participating in that evil. You're agreeing with the Nazis.

But of course, you knew that already, didn't you?

Edit: Added image IDs. I apologize to those using screen readers for forgetting them. Please reblog this version instead.

#transgender #trans history #transsexual #transphobia #Magnus Hirschfeld #holocaust #holocaust denial #book burning #j.k. rowling #jk rowling #just in case you missed what i mean by all this: go fuck yourself anon :)#trans people have always existed #and we will always exist #if you really wanna pick a fight with me over well-documented history then you better bring in some sources to back your shit #queer history #queer #lgbt+#lgbta+#lgbt #lgbt history #edit: i finally got around to those damn image IDs. i am so very sorry for totally forgetting that's my bimbo moment of the month #also real quick i thought about adding an image of the actual building but the only one i can find has a Nazi parade in front of it #it was taken the day of the book burning raid and honestly if i were to include it then i'd add it to the first few paragraphs #and i think the story's better told when you uphold the hope Magnus Hirschfeld and all the researchers he worked with had #also keeps being brought up: yes Hirschfeld was a eugenicist. it was a popular belief set that was only discredited after WW2 #Hirschfeld died in 1935. he literally didn't live long enough to see science turn against those beliefs and practices #considering how he changed his mind on transitions i like to think he would've changed his mind on eugenics too if he'd lived

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