#anyways this date contain all the elements which a detective movie have-

[sylvia-forest]

[CN] Shaw's Extrajudicial Hunting Heart Date

⚡Warning: This post contains detailed spoiler's for a Date which hasn't been released in EN yet!⚡

[This date was translated with the help of Google translate and by my lovely friend!]

✧[Section 1]✧

Steward: Sorry, no one can leave the villa until Mrs. Laburnum's family heirloom is found.

Suddenly a dissatisfied commotion arose within the feminine figure, a man took the lead and stood up.

Man: You want to detain us? Do you know who I am?

His subsequent words were forced back by the black muzzle of the gun in the butler's hand. The crowd let out a murmur, but the butler raised his jaw indifferently.

Steward: I know who you are, sir, but you also need to know whose territory this is.

The melodious music flowed in each other's eyes, and I pursed my lips and took a few quiet steps back, looking sideways out the window.

Sure enough, dozens of cars drove up from the mountain road not far away, and surrounded the villa layer by layer.

Villa, theft, undercurrent, treacherous situation…

For a moment, I almost thought I had stepped into some third-rate gang movie.

Flashback starts—

—a week ago.

MC: Ahhh I can't think of it— I am bored–

I lay on Shaw's bed and rolled around in boredom. Shaw stopped typing on the keyboard and raised his eyebrows.

Shaw: What, are you bored with me?

MC: Nah!

MC: I still have a script for a crime movie to write, obviously I listened to the criminal investigation lectures and found the material but I still feel that the immersion is not enough......

MC: It's hard to take a vacation now, and I'm still thinking about it.

Shaw: I understand, so you think your script is too bland, and you want the protagonist's story to be more exciting? MC: That's about right,.....

I just sighed halfway, when my vision was suddenly blocked by a letter that floated in.

Shaw: For you. MC: What's this?

Shaw: Good stuff to inspire you.

I opened the envelope and there was an invitation letter inside. Although the South Asian characters with curved strokes are illegible, I can still understand the Chinese attached below.

MC: Dear Ling Lin, I sincerely invite you to come to Danfei Mountain Villa to attend the birthday banquet of Mrs. Laburnum… MC: Wait a minute, who is Ling Lin? This Mrs. Laburnum, Who is it again?

Shaw: Ling Lin is my pseudonym. As for Mrs. Laburnum, you shouldn't care who she is, it doesn't matter. Shaw: I did an errand for this lady, and she was so pleased with my business skills that she's inviting me as a VIP. Shaw: Round-trip plane, pick-up, and drop-off at the manor, all-inclusive on the opposite side. Shaw: It's a pity that I happened to have something to do a few days ago, and I was thinking about how to push it off. Shaw: If you are willing to attend this banquet for me, then you are Ling Lin.

Shaw moved his finger holding the invitation letter to the side, and nodded as if pointing something, his upturned eyes were full of cunningness.

Shaw: Have a great time, and… make sure not to reveal anything.

—Flashback ends

_

MC: If I had known, I wouldn't have accepted Shaw's invitation. .... Is this what he meant by spiritualism? MC: Dropping me in a gang villa?

Angrily, I rubbed the little man with Shaw's face a hundred times in my heart. At this moment, the door of the banquet hall was pushed open.

The person who came was wearing a black suit, and the twilight fell on his eye-catching blue-purple hair, which was reflected in my stunned pupils.

?.? [In English]: Chief, your garden is cleaned up.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

✧[Section 2]✧

MC: Apart from not being able to leave the villa, am I free within the villa?

Shortly after the party was over, I immediately called for a waiter. The other party nodded respectfully to me after hearing the words.

Waiter: Certainly. Miss Ling Lin, you are our honored guest, and we will meet all your requirements. MC: Then I need a bodyguard because you guys scared me today.

I raised my head confidently, with a deliberately arrogant tone.

Waiter: Okay, let's arrange bodyguards for you... MC: No, I have a candidate. MC: It's the handsome young man who came to report to your steward this evening. Waiter: These… this list of people was found from outside, a little impolite, not aware of the rules, maybe we should… MC: Is it because they don't know the rules?

I let out a wow sound and slowly stroked the diamond ring on my finger.

MC: What I need... A bodyguard to calm me down. Waiter: …… !!Sorry, I didn't understand Miss's needs, I'm going to ask someone!

The waiter, red-faced, hurried away, and in a few moments came with the man I had asked for.

Waiter: Shaw, this is our honored guest, take good care of her and meet all her requirements, understand?

Shaw: …..

Shaw stood behind the waiter and glared at me, his voice coming through his teeth.

Shaw: I know. MC: Well, you're a good boy, so come on in and have a little chat.

I grinned as I pulled Shaw's tie and led him inside, closing the door with my foot in the process.

Shaw: Hey, what are you trying to do —woo

He stumbled under his feet and I accidentally pushed him onto the bed.

I looked down at Shaw condescendingly, and ground my teeth.

MC: Shouldn't I be asking you that? MC: You asked me to attend the banquet, then you became the guard, what games are you truly playing?

Shaw: Just…the fun game.

Shaw lazily lay back, stretching out his hands.

Shaw: Don't you think what happened today is very interesting, just to provide inspiration for your exhausted script? MC: ——Incredible the heck!

I was so angry that I rushed over to pinch his face, but he grabbed my wrist.

Shaw: Tsk tsk, you’re quite a firecracker, you can catch on instantly. MC: I'm not mad, it's because you didn't say anything… Shaw: Okay, okay, let me give you a little spoiler. Shaw: Didn't I say that Mrs. Laburnum is not important? It's because this birthday banquet itself is a cover, and the real purpose is that someone wants to conduct an underground antique trade. MC: I didn’t understand, they made their deals, why confiscate the guests…. Shaw: Because when the bad guys were clearing out, they realized they were missing one of their Golden Crowns.

Shaw: Although they suspected that some of you distinguished guests might have tampered with something, they didn't dare to say it directly. So, they had to come up with a made-up story to buy some time. Shaw: After all, even though they claimed they couldn't find the family heirloom and wouldn't let us leave, in reality, it's at most three days. If they don't release us by then, things could get much more complicated. MC: ……

I couldn't say the words "that's how it is", because my mind was still dizzy.

I looked at the confident and flamboyant face under me, and vaguely felt that what he "spoiled" was probably just the tip of the iceberg of the whole incident.

And he probably has more scripts than I imagined. I opened my mouth.

MC: So you haven't answered my original question - what exactly are you doing here? Shaw: Me?

Shaw chuckled. The palms clamping my wrists pulled me down, and I couldn't help but fall into his embrace. 

Shaw: I'm worried about Miss Ling Lin, so I'm here to be her bodyguard.

Hmph, who would believe it! Big liar!!

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

✧[Section 3]✧

Before I knew it, I had been detained here for two days. But early this morning, Shaw disappeared, and he didn't send me a message until just now.

Shaw's message: "If you want inspiration for the script, come to the garden's artificial mountain now. I'll broaden your horizons."

I hesitated for a while, but in the end, I couldn't hold back my curiosity, and while secretly spurning myself, I immediately walked towards the garden.

In the past two days, due to the impact of the theft incident, the manor has been followed by gang members.

There were far fewer guards in the garden, but they were not absent. I forced myself to walk past them calmly and finally stopped by the rockery.

MC: Where is he?

Shaw: Here, I have been waiting for you for a long time.

Shaw peeked out from behind the artificial fountain, gesturing towards me. I circled around and discovered there was a hidden door right in front of me.

He walked into the secret passage first, and I quickly followed, looking around curiously.

MC: How do you know there was a secret passage here?

Shaw: What's the point of being in the intelligence business if you can't find out this much information? Shaw: There are many secret paths in this garden, not just this one. Shaw: For decades, there has been no peace here, and Mrs. Laburnum has expanded her business so much. Just in case, she must keep a way out for herself.

Judging from Shaw's tone, he was quite familiar with the disputes in this area. Could it be that this was also part of the work of the intelligence dealers?

During the conversation, we have come to the side of the secret passage. After he scratched the password, he entered something, and the door opened.

This was indeed a dressing room for VIPs. Shaw pressed the button, and after the wardrobe was lowered, a shelf full of guns rose up.

MC: This is….

Shaw: Weapons room. Do some pre-war preparations and pick the best ones.

Shaw looked at the firearms with prudent eyes, as if he was appraising antiques.

MC: You... still know how to appreciate firearms? Shaw: Of course, I am professional.

Shaw squinted at me and sneered.

Shaw: Would you believe me if I told you I had military training in this area? MC: Really? Shaw: Wrong, all learned from online shooting games. You're so stupid to believe everything I say. MC: …..

At this time Shaw had finished picking, and took down a gun from the shelf. He sat sideways on the cabinet, rolled up his sleeves, and was about to open the magazine.

MC: You are hurt?

Only then did I notice that there was a long wound hidden under his sleeve.

Shaw: ... It might be that I accidentally scraped against something during the morning stroll, I guess. MC: A wound this long, how could it possibly have been scraped without noticing! I'll go look for a bandage, just wait a moment.

The weapon room was well equipped, I quickly found the medicine box, and dug out bandages and potions from it.

MC: Hand.

Shaw obediently handed me his arm, his eyelashes were lowered the whole time, and his brows would twitch suddenly only when the cotton swab passed across the wound.

When I wrapped the thin ribbon for him, he suddenly raised his head.

Shaw: Would you like to be closer to the "stage"? MC: What do you mean? Shaw: Take you to experience something more exciting. MC: ….. Shaw.

I rolled up his sleeve for him before looking at him seriously.

MC: I don't have to ask you what your role is in this, but you can't use me to perfect your "script". Shaw: …..

Shaw opened his mouth as if he was a little surprised that I would say this, then he smiled, did not reply to my words immediately, but took the magazine from the rack.

He casually held the bullets in his mouth, first cleaned the parts with pine oil, and then loaded the bullets neatly one by one.

The black glove caressed the cold gun barrel familiarly, and the hard weapon was like a docile plaything in his hands.

I've seen this kind of expression in antique shops and on the stage, but at this moment, appearing in the bloody weapon room added a touch of charm to his eyebrows and eyes.

My heartbeat inexplicably became a little faster, Shaw seemed to feel me holding my breath, and suddenly raised his gaze.

With a twist of his wrist, the long gun barrel provoked my jaw, which was frivolous and dangerous.

Shaw: Miss, do you want to think about it again? Shaw: I'll be your bodyguard.

—

Under the night, a car slowly drove away from the mountain villa, and stopped beside an inconspicuous forest after lingering on the road for a few laps.

I was taken out of the car by Shaw, and we arrived in front of a warehouse under the guidance of several men in black.

Man in black: Go in.

The chained gate opened with a bang, and the light from inside made me close my eyes, and when I opened them again, I found a familiar person - the steward of the villa.

There were several packed packages around him, and the men in black with guns all around seemed to be protecting these packages rather than protecting him.

The steward stared at me sullenly at this moment, then turned to look at Shaw, and asked something in the local language.

Shaw raised the corner of his mouth and pressed my shoulder.

Shaw: Yes, I've looked into that. Shaw: Among all the guests, only "Ling Lin" was fake, because the real Ling Lin should be a man.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

✧[Section 4]✧

I took a deep breath and looked at everyone in panic.

MC: I...I'm really Ling Lin!

Shaw: Is that so? But according to the information I found, this Ling Lin is not only a man, but also possesses a lightning Evol. Shaw: Last time he relied on this trick to help Mrs. Laburnum solve a big problem... Boss, you are someone close to Mrs., do you have any impression? Steward: I did hear the woman talk about it on the phone. Shaw: Isn't that enough?

Shaw clamped my neck with one hand and held my wrist with the other, leaning against the side of my neck with a dangerous smile.

Shaw: Ms. Ling Lin, show us your lightning Evol.

This guy is a real showman!

I slandered him fiercely in my heart, but the expression on my face became more and more broken. After a few murmurs, I lowered my head helplessly.

Click.

All of a sudden, several guns around the steward were aimed at me, and Shaw quickly waved his hands when he saw this.

Shaw: Hey, hey, don't be so eager to see blood, boss, how unlucky. Shaw: It seems that this counterfeit chick maybe someone who played a trick. Before I find out the relationship between her and the "Golden Crown", my suggestion is not to touch her. Steward: Find out? Where is the time for an investigation now?

The butler raised his voice, his face flushed with anger.

Steward: Tonight, the goods in my hand must be sold! Shaw: So you mean, don't check the whereabouts of the golden crown, and trade directly? Steward: Nonsense, do you know that the transaction has already been targeted by that woman and the police, if you don’t let go, we’re all over! Shaw: This is against the rules. The boss on my side asked for all the goods on the list. Steward: What do you mean?

Shaw maintained the posture of "holding" me, and raised a wanton smile towards the opposite side, and the other hand was filled with electric current.

Shaw: I mean... how dare you do bad things under Mrs. Laburnum's nose?

Click — everyone did not react to the moment, the brightly lit warehouse suddenly went dark.

Steward: —Backup power! Where's the backup! When the light turns on, kill them both!

Chaos exploded in this small space, and when the lights were turned on again, everyone froze on the spot.

Shaw: Just now your old man said, who do you want to kill?

Dozens of pitch-black gun barrels were pointed directly at Shaw and me, but we only had one gun on Shaw's side, but no one dared to attack us.

I was half squatting beside Shaw, holding a blue and white vase in one hand, with an ancient painting at my feet, and looking at the crowd with a smile on my face.

MC: I'm a delicate girl, and if my hand shook when the gun went off, and I accidentally shattered this national treasure porcelain vase; MC: Or if blood splattered onto this ancient painting at my feet, it wouldn't look very good, would it? Steward: ……

The butler's complexion was already so ugly that it couldn't get any more ugly, and the voice was squeezed out from between his teeth.

Steward: Who the hell are you guys? Cops? Shaw: Cops? Hahaha how is it possible!

The broken golden eyes were full of arrogance and cunningness, he pulled the trigger.

boom—

Everyone was startled by his sudden empty gun, and when their gaze returned, they noticed that Shaw had something new in his hand. 

It was the locator.

Shaw: I'm wanted by the cops...just a normal bad guy who works for money.

The warning bell rang throughout the stretch of mountains, and the steward was in danger, and was escorted to the other side by several burly men.

—

A woman in a suit came over to us after counting the antiques in the warehouse and saying something to her communicator.

Woman: Mr. Ling Lin, madam is thanking you and your partner. Woman: But Madame has a question. Why didn't you follow her plan? Shaw: Because I don't like to be on schedule. I didn't listen to you when we cooperated last time, didn't we get things done as usual? Shaw: By the way, is it possible to pay now?

Woman: …..

The woman was shocked by Shaw's straightforwardness, she exchanged a few words with the communicator in a foreign language and then nodded.

Woman: Mrs. said that the wrongly packaged golden crown will be repackaged and given to you.  Woman: She also said... "Mr. Ling, at your age, you have such vision and skill, maybe she can give you a wider world."

Shaw: Sorry, I'm just a college student tormented by a dissertation project and have no interest in your career.

The person being explored by Shaw’s Tai Chi was hit back, and they smiled with a sense of understanding, choosing not to say much more, then turned around, and left. 

[T/N]: In this context, "Tai Chi" likely refers to a martial arts technique or action that Shaw used to counter or respond to the other person's investigation or exploration. It could be symbolic of a skillful and effective defense or response.

I folded my arms and raised my chin at him.

MC: Can you tell me the whole story now?

Shaw: Okay, but there's really not much to say about it.

Shaw: Mrs. Laburnum has already detached from the responsibility, but her subordinates always have people with suspicious moves, therefore she found me to help, checking out who is being so restless. Shaw: She gave me an invitation letter because she wanted me to act as a guest and mix in with them, but I feel that this position was too slow for collecting information, so I might as well send you. MC: Then you became the middleman in the transaction between the two parties? Shaw: Pretty much. Shaw: It's in my nature to have it both ways. MC: By the way, that so-called golden crown...in the end, How did you lose it? Shaw: What do you say?

He winked at me. I immediately reacted.

MC: ——You stole it?!

Shaw: What do you mean, "steal"? It's not nice. Shaw: I snuck into the manor with the antique inventory and found it in one of the least guarded areas, so I hid it. Shaw: If I hadn't delayed them this long, how could we have caught them? MC: ……

Although everything Shaw said made sense, it just made people want to grind their teeth.

Shaw: Why this face? Oh, I forgot to compliment you, you are upset, right? Shaw: All in all, we worked well together this time, and your acting— was sloppy, but you did manage to fool the other side. MC: Tsk, Thank you for the compliment. Shaw: So you have participated in such an immersive game, do you think it was exciting enough, do you have any inspiration? MC: Yes, and I'm going to give you a part in my play.

Shaw: What role... Ugh!

Angrily, I stood on tiptoe, vented my anger, and hit Shaw with my forehead.

Seeing him clutch his chin in astonishment, I couldn't help laughing.

MC: A big bad guy who takes his girlfriend on an adventure!

—

🔫 Call

[entamewitchlulu]

so i did a reading challenge this year and i wanna talk about what i read

transcription under the cut

i did Popsugar 2019 and wanna talk about what i read:  Book Reccs and Anti-Reccs 

1.) Becoming a Movie in 2019: Umbrella Academy (vol 1) by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba

4/5. A fascinating take on superpowers, dysfunctional families, and the apocalypse. Can get pretty gory, confusing here and there and you have to pay close attention to panels for lore, but overall an entertaining romp.

2.) Makes you Feel Nostalgic: Circles in the Stream by Rachel Roberts

4/5. Middle grade novel about the magic of music, belief, and of course, friendship. Definitely written for kids, and has some unfortunately clumsy Native rep, but overall an absolute joy to dive into once again.

3.) Written by a Musician: Umbrella Academy (vol 2) by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba

4/5. Ramps up the confusion to ridiculous degrees with some absolutely bonkers, unexplained arcs, but still fun to watch this dysfunctional family do its dysfunctional thing.

4.) You Think Should be Turned into a movie: All That Glitters by Rachel Roberts

4/5. Continuation of Circles in the Stream, but with more unicorns, more rainbows, and more fae, which makes it automatically even better than the first.

5.) With At Least 1 Mil. Ratings on Goodreads: 1984 by George Orwell   

1/5. I understand why it's important and all but wasn't prepared for some of the more graphic scenes and the overall hopelessness of the message.  Would not recommend or read again.

6.) W/ a Plant in the title or cover: The secret of Dreadwillow carse by Brian farrey

5/5. A fantasy world where everyone is always happy, save for one girl and the princess, who set out to solve the mystery of their kingdom. Poignant and great for kids and adults.

7.) Reread of a favorite: Cry of the Wolf by Rachel Roberts

4/5. Yet another installment in the Avalon: Web of Magic series, which clearly I am obsessed with.  Please just read them.

8.) About a Hobby: Welcome to the Writer's Life by Paulette Perhach

5/5. A welcome kick in the pants, chock full of great advice told without condescension, and full of hope and inspiration for writers both new and old.

9.) Meant to read in 2018: The Poet x by Elizabeth Acevedo  

4/5. Absolutely beautiful coming of age novel told in verse.  Do yourself a favor and listen to the audiobook version.

10.) w/ "pop," "sugar," or "challenge" in the title: Black Sugar by Miguel Bonnefoy

2/5. I think maybe I just don't understand this genre.  Or maybe the translation was weird. I was confused.  

11.) w/ An Item of Clothing or Accessory on the cover: Our dreams at Dusk by Yuhki Kamatani

4/5. It had a lot more slurs/homophobia than I was prepared for, but otherwise is a very touching, relatable collection of queer characters living in a heteronormative world.

12.) Inspired by Mythology or Folklore: Ravenous by MarcyKate Connolly

3/5. A girl goes on an impossible quest to save her brother from a child-eating witch. Really wanted to like it more because I loved the first one, Monstrous, but it dragged a little.

13.) Published Posthumously: The Islands of Chaldea by Diana Wynne Jones

3/5. I adore Diana Wynne Jones, but this one was missing some of the magic of her other books. Not sure if it was because it had to be finished by someone else, or if I just grew out of her stories.

14.) Set in Space: Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

4/5. Powerfully written story of a girl straddling tradition and innovation, who wields power through mathematical magic, surviving on a spaceship alone with a dangerous alien occupation after everyone else has been killed.

15.) By 2 Female Authors: Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

2/5. Ostensibly a story about a revenge pact in a small island town, but leaves far too many dangling threads to attempt alluring you to the sequel.

16.) W/ A Title containing "salty," "bitter," "Sweet," or "Spicy": The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith  

3/5. It's okay but I literally just never know what anyone means at any time. Are they being reticent on purpose or do i just not understand communication

17.) Set in scandinavia: Vinland Saga by Makoto Yukimura

2/5. Technically and historically accurate and well made, but the story itself is not my cup of tea.  Very gory.

18.) Takes Place in a Single Day: Long WAy Down by Jason Reynolds

4/5. A boy goes to avenge his murdered brother, but ghostly passengers join him on the elevator ride down. Stunning and powerful character-driven analysis.

19.) Debut Novel: Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

4/5. Charming and then surprisingly heart-breaking comic about Nimona, a shapeshifter who wants to become a villain's minion. Really love the villain/hero dynamic going on in the background, along with the dysfunctional found family.

20.) Published in 2019: The Book of Pride by Mason Funk  

4/5. A collection of interviews with the movers, shakers, and pioneers of the queer and LGBTQ+ community.  An absolutely essential work for community members and allies alike.

21.) Featuring an extinct/imaginary creature: Phoebe and her Unicorn by Dana Simpson

4/5. Incredibly charming, Calvin and Hobbes-esque collection of comics featuring the adventures of Phoebe and her unicorn best friend.

22.) Recced by a celebrity you admire: The Emerald Circus by Jane Yolen

2/5. Recced by my fave author Brandon Sanderson. An unfortunately disappointing anthology proving that any story can be made uninteresting by telling the wrong section of it.

23.) With "Love" in the Title: Book Love by Debbie Tung

4/5. One of those relatable webcomics, only this one I felt super hard almost the entire time.  Books are awesome and libraries rule.

24.) Featuring an amateur detective: Nancy Drew: Palace of Wisdom by Kelly Thompson

4/5. REALLY love this modern take on Nancy Drew, coming back home to her roots to solve a brand new mystery. Diverse cast and lovely artwork, though definitely more adult.

25.) About a family: Amulet by Kabu Kibuishi

4/5. Excellent, top tier graphic novel about a sister and brother who have to go rescue their mother with a mysterious magic stone. LOVE that the mom gets to be involved in the adventure for once.

26.) by an author from asia, Africa, or s. America: Girls' Last tour by Tsukumizu

4/5. Somehow both light-hearted and melancholy. Two girls travel about an empty, post-apocalyptic world, and muse about life and their next meal.

27.) w/ a Zodiac or astrology term in title: Drawing down the moon by margot adler

3/5. A good starting place for anyone interested in the Neo Pagan movement, but didn't really give me what I was personally looking for.

28.) you see someone reading in a tv show or movie: The Promised NEverland by Kaiu Shirai

4/5. I don't watch TV or movies where people read books so i think reading an adaptation of a TV series after watching the series counts. Anyway it was good but beware racist caricatures

29.) A retelling of a classic: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Rey Terciero

5/5. We can stop the Little Women reboots and retellings now, this is the only one we need. In fact, we can toss out the original too, this is the only one necessary.

30.) w/ a question in the title: So I'm a spider, so what? by Asahiro Kakashi

4/5. Cute art despite the subject matter, and a surprisingly enthralling take on the isekai genre. Love the doubling down on the video game skills.

31.) Set in a college or university campus: Moonstruck (vol 2) by Grace Ellis

2/5. An incredibly cute, beautiful, and fascinating world of modern magic and creatures, but unfortunately falls apart at the plot and pacing.

32.) About someone with a superpower: Moonstruck (vol 1) by Grace Ellis

4/5. Though nearly as messy plot-wise as its sequel, the first volume is overwhelmingly charming in a way that overpowers the more confusing plot elements.

33.) told from multiple povs: The Long way to a Small, Angry Planet by becky Chambers

4/5. Told almost in a serial format, like watching a miniseries, a group of found-family spaceship crew members make the long journey to their biggest job ever.

34.) Includes a wedding: We Set the dark on fire by Tehlor kay mejia

4/5. Timely and poignant, a girl tumbles into both love and resistance after becoming one of two wives to one of the most powerful men in the country.

35.) by an author w/ alliterative name: The only harmless great Thing by brooke bolander

3/5. Much deeper than I can currently comprehend.  Beautifully written, but difficult to parse.

36.) A ghost story: Her body and other parties by Carmen Maria Machado

4/5.  It counts because one of the stories in it has ghosts. A sometimes difficult collection of surrealist, feminist, queer short stories.

37.) W/ a 2 word title: Good omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

4/5. Charming, touching, and comical, probably the best take on the apocalypse to date. Also excellent ruminations on religion and purpose.

38.) based on a true story: The faithful Spy by John Hendrix

4/5. Brilliantly crafted graphic biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and his assistance in fighting back against Nazi Germany.

39.) Revolving around a puzzle or game: the Crossover by Kwame alexander

4/5. The verse didn't always hit right with me, but the story is a sweet, melancholy one about family, loss, and moving on.

40.) previous popsugar prompt (animal in title): The last unicorn by peter s. Beagle

5/5. Absolutely one of my all-time favorite books, it manages to perfectly combine anachronism and comedy with lyricism, melancholy, and ethereal beauty.

41.) Cli-fi: Tokyo Mew Mew by Mia ikumi and Reiko Yoshida

4/5. Shut up it counts

42.) Choose-your-own-adventure: My Lady's choosing by Kitty curran

3/5. Cute in concept, a bit underwhelming in execution. Honestly, just play an otome.

43.) "Own Voices": Home by Nnedi Okorafor

3/5. The storytelling style was definitely not my style; while the first book was slow, too, it felt more purposeful. I found my attention wandering during this installment.

44.) During the season it's set in: Pumpkinheads by rainbow rowell

3/5. Cute art, but precious little substance.  The concept simply wasn't for me in the first place.

45.) LITRPG: My next life as a villainess: All routes lead to doom! by Hidaka nami

5/5. An absolute insta-fave! Charming art, endearing characters, an incredible premise, and so much sweet wholesome fluff it'll give you cavities.

46.) No chapters: The field guide to dumb birds of north america by matt kracht

3/5. It started out super strong, but the joke started to wear thin at a little past the halfway point.

47.) 2 books with the same title: Unfollow by Megan Phelps-Roger

4/5. A brave and enduring personal story of growing up in and eventually leaving the Westboro Baptist Church. Really called to me to act with grace and kindness even more in the future.

48.) 2 books with the same title: unfollow by rob williams and michael dowling

1/5. How many times do you think we can make Battle Royale again before someone notices

49.) That has inspired a common phrase or idiom: THe Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

4/5. Definitely good and deserves it's praise as something that pretty much revolutionized and created an entire demographic of literature.

50.) Set in an abbey, cloister, Monastery, convent, or vicarage: Murder at the vicarage by agatha christie

3/5. I just cannot. physically keep up with all of these characters or find the energy to read between the lines.

ok that's all i got, what did y'all read and like this year?  (oh god it’s gonna be 2020)

[secretgamergirl]

A Random Roundup of Surprisingly Positive Trans Portrayals

Over the last half a year or so, I’ve run across a number of bits of media I’ve come across which blindsided me with trans characters that rang pretty true. Every time, I was tempted to sit down and write a proper review, but other things were going on, so I’m just going to sit down and bite the bullet with a collection of relatively quick takes.

So let’s start off with Swiss Army Man. It’s an indie film, but it caught on a bit with wider audiences thanks to, well, the titular character being the magical farting corpse of Daniel Radcliffe. Odds are you’ve at least heard of it, but at least no one I’ve talked to about it had any idea there was anything trans-related in there, so you might be thinking I’m reading into it. Quite the opposite. The main character is, with absolutely no ambiguity about it, a closeted trans woman, and the entire plot of the movie is directly about her coming to terms with that, learning to accept herself, and stop worrying about everyone judging her so she can transition already (which she’s heavily implied to do just after the credits roll. A lot of this is subtext, but plenty of it is just plain text. I mean, halfway through the movie she starts dressing as a particular woman she sees as a rolemodel and getting lost in very girly fantasies, and these are specifically presented as her only really happy memories in a later life-flashing-before-her-eyes sort of scene. I’d really recommend watching the whole thing yourself, since hey, it’s a funny uplifting heartfelt movie (if requiring a trigger warning on suicidal imagery) but here’s someone else’s spoiler filled, inconsistently gendering explanation of a good chunk of the trans imagery.

Somehow though, all this gets lost on a huge chunk of the audience. Including most professional reviewers, even ones for LGBTQIA-focused media outlets. I read one shortly after watching it which stubbornly insisted it was trying to convey that the main character was a gay man through a bizarre metaphor that didn’t work. I’m tempted to call that one willful ignorance, but it IS to be fair one of those movies that plays around with an unreliable narrator and an odd mix of grounded reality, obvious fantasy, and supernatural elements that are hard to fit in either of those boxes. As someone who takes in a lot of that sort of thing, my personal takeaway is that while the main character is just imagining the corpse talking as an imaginary friend to cope with her suicidal loneliness, it does seem to be, within the observable reality of the movie, a legitimately magical corpse full of hyper-compressed Gyo gas. And a metaphor about shame. The main character being trans though is completely unambiguous and clear through every possible prism.

I do find it interesting though that on the commentary track, the pair of writer-directors responsible for it fail to directly refer to the main character’s womanhood, mostly just talking about her loneliness, and how relatable it is. So, blatant as the nature of the movie is, this may be a case of closeted trans women creating a story about a closeted trans woman without even realizing it.

Next we have a Korean film I stumbled across on Netflix with the unfortunate title of Man on High Heels, which I have to assume is trying to riff on Man on Fire or something similar. It’s about a tough martial arts action figure sort of cop who ignores procedure and beats confessions out of crime lords, who’s even more respected in the underworld for being such a stone cold badass than by the police force who has a pretty easy job accordingly. Who is, again, a closeted trans woman. This one I went into expecting to cringe a bit at a weird exploitation action comedy, but it plays the premise completely straight. When the movie starts, she’s been walking that knife edge for a while of starting HRT, buying a new wardrobe, and practicing with makeup, while still very much in the closet, and the main thrust of the drama is her trying to scrape up enough cash for The Surgery while trying to preserve her tough macho action legacy, and generally fumbling, with fellow cops thinking she has a drug problem and mobster fans thinking she’s gone crooked. Lot of emotional gut-punches too with flashbacks, falling out, and not exactly a happy ending. It doesn’t have the same inner monologue as Swiss Army Man, but it still feels fairly authentic in terms of the emotional turmoil she’s going through. And of course it gets some basic facts about medical transition wrong. Still, not what I expected.

Turning to TV, somehow I ended up marathoning through the entirety of Sons of Anarchy on a whim. Now, I cannot actually recommend that anyone ever watch Sons of Anarchy. Frankly it’s a poorly written show which spends more time than not completely rudderless, constantly forces people to act completely out of character to spur on new plot arcs, and stumbles hard every time it tries to say anything about women, race, politics, or morality.

Some time in the 5th season, a random filler episode has the core cast hiring a trans prostitute to stage explicit photos with someone they’ve knocked out in order to blackmail him, resulting in a very forced exploitative scene. It certainly doesn’t help that the trans woman in question is named Venus, and played by Walter Goggins (not that I approve of cis men playing any of the characters I’m listing here, but Goggins is the most overtly masculine actor in the mix, and playing the only character on this list who is out as trans and well past first transitioning). That episode left a particularly bad taste in my mouth, and I’m curious if there was some backlash to it at the time, because in the next season, Venus returns, as a minor recurring character who gets fleshed out and made significantly more sympathetic. She gets a tragic and cliched backstory full of sexual abuse of course, but she’s at least in the running for the single most morally centered character in the series, gets a lot of sympathetic dialog, and sticking up for her in various ways becomes a way to signify someone is, for the time being at least, on the path of righteousness.

What really amazes me though is the last season. The entire final season of Sons of Anarchy is frankly a train wreck. Season 6 ends with the incredibly pointless and poorly motivated murders of its most sympathetic major characters (including the main audience surrogate) to stir up conflict, and as a result season 7 is just a ridiculous exercise in body stacking. Almost every character ends up either dead or at a complete loss of what to do with themselves, and there are really only two characters who can be said to really get a happy ending. Tig, one of the more consistent characters, who can largely be described as the Designated Weirdo in the core cast, ends up spending the last season dating Venus, and their last scene implies that him falling in love with her breaks him of his weird self-destructive performative freakiness, and they get to live happily ever after. Everything else about the final season, and really the show at large, I rolled my eyes at, but hey, pleasant surprise there!

Meanwhile, turning to Japanese children’s television from a few years back, there’s Kamen Rider W. Like every Kamen Rider series, it’s a self-contained superhero show with lots of quirkiness and rubber-suit action sequences. The main gimmick the W alludes to is that the hero of this particular show is really two people. When it’s time to throw on the suit and jump into action, one of the two protagonists passes out, the other getting a split consciousness (and then of course late in the series when they get their ultimate powerup, they full on merge into a single body instead). One of these characters is Shotaro, a dorky wannabe hard boiled detective. The other is something of a mysterious MacGuffin character named Phillip, who has quite a lot going on, but most significantly for this article’s purposes, this is Phillip:

Broadcasting standards in Japan are a bit further behind the times than they are in America, so you can’t ever full on come out and state that a character is gay or trans. The best you can manage is to just barely provide plausible deniability while implying the ever loving hell out of it. And so we have Phillip, who is about as blatantly not-a-man as you can really get away with, visually. Whether the idea is to subtley portray a trans woman, or to portray the only non-binary human character I can recall ever seeing in anything is a tough call, but the hair clips and some variation on this non-quite-a-dress are present on Phillip in every single episode other than the one where a contrived sting has Phillip throwing on a dress and a wig to really pull of a Lovely Magician’s Assistant look... and trying to find a screenshot of that by searching for “Kamen Rider Phillip Dress” just gave me a variation on the standard Phillip Outfit on a female manikin at a cosplay shop.

Anyway, Phillip is great. Aside from being Very Clearly Trans, Phillip Very Clearly Has Autism (sensitively and realistically portrayed), but neither of these is ever commented on by anyone in the show. Instead, everyone is constantly talking about how Phillip is so unambiguously the more powerful, intelligent, and competent of the two, and constantly suggesting Shotaro is dead weight. It’s fantastic. Oh and the two are also as unambiguously in a romantic relationship with each other as broadcasting standards will allow. There is blatant queer-baiting between male leads in every Kamen Rider show, but I mean, they have a love theme, their ultimate weapon/armor is rainbow themed, and the lyrics to the show’s opening are all about the ultimate union of body and soul between two partners.

Incidentally, Kamen Rider Wizard from 2 years later does make a more overt effort of trans representation with a minor character, but fairs far worse with it, and the following year’s Kamen Rider Gaim has... this character, but I’m trying to focus on surprisingly good representation, and neither of them exactly qualify.

Finally, the tragically obscure 7th Dragon III Code VFD for the 3DS, along with making literally the entire cast of NPCs and PCs explicitly bisexual features as a prominent NPC a game designer/time machine designer who shortly before the game begins switched over to being called Julietta and dressing like this:

I haven’t found the time to finish it, but misgendering localization aside, yeah this is totally in keeping with my general composite image of my fellow trans game devs, and she’s great so far.