Irhaboggle Pride (2019) Spectrum

Magic

For the longest time, Lafontaine considered themself an academic, a champion of raw wit and intelligence. They were a scientist with a flawless GPA and plenty of complex experiments to back it up. They were smart, nerdy, studious, curious, inquisitive and every other word out there used to describe a brainiac such as themself. They loved to learn, study and explore! A true pioneer of the mind!

But for all of their science, knowledge, learning and observation, they also held a deep belief in magic. Ever since they'd first set foot into Silas, they'd felt an undeniable pull that this university was far more than what it seemed. This campus was no ordinary campus, it was riddled with all sorts of magic. Magic ran in Silas' very veins, through the grounds and in all the buildings. Lafontaine was sure of it!

But what a funny thing it was, a scientist who believed in magic. Oftentimes, people would expect Lafontaine to disavow the supernatural. Surely a person of science wouldn't actually believe in fairytales! But no, the way Lafontaine saw it, magic and science coexisted. They believed magic and science were intertwined, existing in parallel. They believed in both. But why not? Life existed beside death and love with hate, so why not magic and science? Besides, one of their best friends was a vampire! So their belief in magic wasn't unfounded.

But even if their belief had been unfounded, Lafontaine still liked the idea of magic and science coexisting harmoniously. They liked the idea of having both, but perhaps that was because they were an example of different things coexisting. As a nonbinary person, Lafontaine never fit into any one specific category or label. They'd never felt at home in any of the preexisting boxes that life had set out for them. They'd always been stuck in a strange limbo, told that it was impossible, so was it any surprise they were drawn to something as crazy as magic and science coexisting?

From a young age, Lafontaine knew that they were different, they just hadn't had the words to describe it. But there was always something "impossible" about them, born and raised female, but never quite feeling the part, but not really feeling like a guy either. It was a strange mixture, and they'd always felt like something outside of the binary entirely.

"Nonbinary, I am nonbinary!" Lafontaine murmured as they stared at themself in a mirror. Just like some magic word, it all became clear. Of course, gender was still confusing, and Lafontaine didn't know EVERYTHING, but that one simple word acted almost like an incantation that brought forth so many answers that finally made sense. They still didn't have a full picture, but at least they had a starting point.

It was slow going at first, and they went under a complete change of style, cutting their hair, renaming themself and changing their fashion, but every new change felt like one step closer to home, to the real Lafontaine. Like magic, things began to change for them, and they felt more at home than ever before. Did they compare it to Cinderella meeting her fairy godmother, a lost soul turning into the princess she'd always been on the inside? True, Lafontaine was not transitioning into a princess, but the process still felt like magic.

Of course, they studied the science side, too. They threw themself into books about dysphoria, hormones, surgery and being trans. They studied the biological, chemical, neurological, social, physiological, psychological, emotional and even cultural aspects of gender, sex and gender identity. So even in their transition, magic and science were hand in hand. Both pieces were needed to help bring forth the new, true Lafontaine.

But magic didn't just help their transition metaphorically. Because they'd started their transition at college, a part of their identity would always be tied to magic, through Silas. This magic school was what gave them the courage, and even the knowledge, to transition. Even though they'd spent most of high school considering it, they didn't really start until they reached Silas.

And more than that, Silas also gave them their first friends and supporters. People back home weren't always so accepting, hence why Lafontaine had waited until college to transition. Back at home, the people were never able to understand why someone would reject the simple, seemingly universal labels of girl and boy. How could someone disagree with what had been true since birth? How could someone be neither? But as Silas, people were very accepting of Lafontaine's new gender identity, and that felt like magic!

Every part and piece of Lafontaine was shaped by magic and science, both! They were a little bit of each. As such, was it any surprise that this young scientist would also believe deeply in magic? The world was far more complex than it seemed, so why try to assume magic was fake? Why spend so much time on arbitrary categorization? Life was always too vibrant and diverse to ever fit in manmade boxes. There was always more than met the eye, always more pieces than it seemed. Things could overlap, and lines could blur.

To Lafontaine, the only way to truly know and enjoy life was to accept the mystery and reject the seeming simplicity. See things through different eyes, tear down old binaries, that was how magic could truly come to life. And it could happen with the aid of science. The world was not just black and white, it was an entire spectrum! Magic and science were no more oppositional than male and female. They may have had their differences, yes, but it was wrong to consider them perfect, polar opposites. They worked much more in tandem then most people seemed to realize.

After all, how many times was old science considered magic? The ability to fly was long since considered a witchy attribute, but then the airplane came along. And mixing potions eventually became mixing chemicals and medicine! And bringing the dead back to life, even if science couldn't resurrect someone, there had been cases of people whose hearts and/or brains had stopped only to be revived later. And even smaller things like sleight of hand could be considered "magic" until the trick was explained (science).

The history of the world was nothing short of an endless back and forth between magic and science. It was always all about making the impossible possible. As times would change, hearts and minds followed suit. Magic became science, but magic still existed as an individual concept as well. And that individual was not always oppositional to science. Or at least, it didn't have to be. Not as far as Lafontaine was concerned.

After all, Lafontaine had watched Vampire Carmilla using science, history and logic to help save the day more than once. And what about the time Laura and Lafontaine had gotten lost in the library late at night? Well, they taped flamethrowers to pulse rifles and made the weird submit. They didn't deny the existence of the weird, they just figured out how to use science to keep it from eating them. And heck, the pulse rifle itself was supposed to have been nothing but a fictious concept, but with a little bit of magic and elbow grease, Lafontaine invented one!

Magic and science could work together, filling in each other's gaps and leading back and forth to the creation of new ideas that happened whenever those two forces collided. Lafontaine felt the same way about gender. Sure, the world could choose to simply look at it as male/female and call it a day. But that was boring and inaccurate, far too simple! In reality, again, gender was much more nuanced and diverse. A brief look at other histories and cultures would back that claim up. Nonbinary people had existed long before modern media was a thing.

So the question was not science vs magic (or boy vs girl). It was how to get the world to see that this binary was false. It wasn't going to be easy, but with science and magic both on their side, Lafontaine was sure that they could see it through! Someday, the world would be free of unnecessary and overly restrictive binaries, and that day would be the most magical of all!