Alright, another character breakdown! Keep in mind that as long as this list is, this definitely is not all of the major players in the book. Because there are just sooooooo many characters, I’m choosing to highlight the ones I remember and care about the most (SPOILERS AHEAD for character deaths):
Xiao Fangxu: great dad, damn his death hurt me
Xiao Jiming: still cannot believe he guessed his brother had a crush based on his BLINKING PATTERNS LMAOOOOOO
Gu Jin: hope he got that girl he got ratted out about, cause after all this, he deserves the rest
Ding Tao: baby boy 🥺
Chen Yang: glad he got it together and stopped with the petty shit
Tantai Hu: there were a few moments I thought he was gonna fall from grace, but a true testament to the idea that honesty pays
Li Xiong: BABY 🥺🥺🥺
Qi Huilian (Grand Mentor Qi): did not realize how important he would become and when I did, did not realize that he’d be KILLED; honestly, a completely unexpected death for me
Ji Gang: man’s been through so much but STILL is dedicated to fathering all these orphaned sons. Best dad award right here
Fei Sheng: finally got a life and sense of self-worth, but at what cost?
Qiao Tianya: never thought being told you could be a monk could be considered a threat
Yao Wenyu: i hate the emotions he’s made me (and Qiao Tianya) feel, knowing he’s already come to terms with death and ain’t feeling the shit himself
Kong Ling: you worked so hard not to be the personal advisor of a conquerer just to end up the personal advisor of an emperor LOL
Yin Chang: genius af, funny as hell, how you a grown man afraid of baths??? His death hurt
Qi Zhuyin: BIG QUEER ENERGY
Hua Xiangyi (Third Missy/Hua the Third): surprise high femme queen sneak attack!
Lu Guangbai: reminds me of the pets from Homeward Bound, never doubted him for a second
Lei Jingzhe: he really had me there for a second; epic death
Hasen: alright, we get it! The bad guys have families too! They’re also human! Stop beating me with it—! (another painful death even as I knew it was inevitable)
Duo’erlan: ok coming in clutch at the last second to steal a spot as one of the most badass characters! Was praying HARD they didn’t kill her…
Xue Xiuzhuo: good longterm adversary, i wish him a very fuck you, asshole
Fengquan: massive security oversight: man worked under a man who plotted the emperor’s assassination, his “sister” assassinated the succeeding emperor, and y’all bring him back AGAIN to work under the third emperor??? But you’re surprised he’s the hidden assassin????
Ling Ting/Li Jianting: poor girl
Jiran: cute last minute baby addition!
Xiao Chiye: best soldier, best uncle, best brother, best son, best partner, best—
Shen Zechuan: nobody deserves the throne more than him, fucking fight me Xue Xiuzhou
Xiao Chiye x Shen Zechuan: fan-fucking-tastic power couple, round of applause for their resounding success and the fantastic sex!
Overall a great book if you love political intrigue mixed with a little bit of war action. Violence isn’t too gratuitous, and there are trigger warnings for the worst of it. The characters are characters, and there is never a dull moment in this book. I did find it weird, though, that everything was trigger warned for except the two moments of noncon and dubcon between the major couples, but that may have been a translator thing? Either way, I’d watch any drama adaptation of this.
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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.
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