#but by itself is just a reference to the silly actions of well-known criminal and ex-cia agent Vladimiro Montesinos

[pespo]

the RieganRecords

[stillebesat]

An Unexpected Role

DECEMBER DRABBLES DAY 4 Detective Conan: Kudo Shinichi, Kudo Yukiko Blurb: Despite his best attempts to leave the acting world behind so Shinichi can establish himself as a true detective, somehow his mother keeps reeling him back in. Fic Type: Actor!AU  Overall Fic Warnings: None 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Shinichi groaned flinging the script his mother had handed him onto the table. 

“Shin-chan.” She whined, lips pouting as she gathered the papers with far more reverence than the words on the pages probably deserved. “You’d be perfect!”

He rolled his eyes. “Just because I supposedly look similar to the guy doesn’t mean I’d be perfect for a role playing him, mother.” Nor could he imagine what the guys at Division One would say when they found out. They barely tolerated him poking his nose into their murder cases as it was and now--

“No, that’s the bonus!” The pout was gone in a flash, replaced with a gleeful smile, her eyes bright. “You’re perfect for it because I taught you everything you need to know to pull off all the disguises yourself!” 

Shinichi crossed his arms, turning his head away as she waved the script in front of his face. “No.” 

She huffed, sitting on the edge of the table. “Not just anyone can change their voice to mimic another’s you know. It takes skill and talent. And you have both.” 

And if Nakamori-keibu learned that, Shinichi could very easily end up as Number One on his list of Prime Suspects. No. No. No. 

He exhaled, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. “Mom. I’m a detective first. And you know that most directors don’t take kindly to me taking off at the first sign that a crime has been committed. It doesn’t end well.” Nor did murders happening while he was on set, but at least those weren’t as common...he was sure his mother had something to do with that. Even Death itself couldn’t refuse her her vision of her darling Shin-chan following in her famous acting footsteps. 

Her smile only grew more gleeful. 

Shinichi frowned, he knew that look far too well. “What?” What did she know that he didn’t? 

She laid the script on the table, pushing it to him. “This director wants you to investigate crime scenes.” 

Come again? He raised an eyebrow, ignoring how his heart jumped at the prospect. “He what?” Impossible. 

“He wants you to investigate crime scenes.” She repeated with a laugh.

He straightened. That was....different. Usually directors, if they were smart, made him sign a ‘I won’t go haring off to investigate crimes in the middle of shooting’ clause before agreeing to cast him. He leaned forward, brushing his fingertips on the top page. “What’s the catch?” There had to be one. No good director would be willing to let him--

His mother shrugged. “Well…they wouldn’t be murder crime scenes.” 

The spark of interest faded as quickly as it had appeared. 

Shinichi exhaled, narrowing his eyes. What was the point of going then? “Why would you--

“He wants you to attend the heists!” His mother interrupted, giving him her most pleading puppy dog eyes. “It’s not murders, Shin-chan, but the director insists that if you are to play the role of the famous KID, then you should attend his heists to get a feel for how he works, so that you can perfectly portray him.”

KID Heists? Shinichi rubbed his chin, again glancing at the script. That would be...different. He hadn’t worked with Division 2 before, though he was well aware of Nakamori’s antics from how Inspector Megure complained about the waste of department resources chasing after one thief. 

“If he wants this portrayal to be perfect, why doesn’t the director just ask KID to perform in his own movie? Even with my skills--” Shinichi shrugged. “I’m not going to be an exact copy of the guy.” He could learn just as easily how the thief’s mind worked from viewing footage from previous heists. It wasn’t like there weren’t multiple YouTube channels dedicated to his...work. 

“Silly.” She leaned over to mess with his hair. “KID’s a wanted criminal. It’s not like the police would let the director cast him in his movie.” 

He batted her hand away, making a face. A valid point. Except with how well KID was known to disguise himself...how hard would it be for the thief himself to infiltrate the set? After all, the Division Two hadn’t come even close to catching him yet. He doubted KID would let them do so while in the middle of filming. 

Shinichi shrugged, flattening his hair back down. “Even if that is true, what will the director do if I attend a heist and manage to capture his precious thief?” He raised his hands spreading them in front of his face. “I can already see the Headlines. Kudo Shinichi, set to play the lead role of KID the Phantom Thief in the movie Kaitou KID attended one of KID’s heists last evening and captured the very thief he will be portraying later this year. Fans are in an uproar.” He dropped his hands, shaking his head. “I’m a detective first mother, acting is just a hobby.” 

He ducked before she could whack him on the head with the script. “Never refer to acting as a hobby, Shin-chan!” She scolded. “You already have a well established career as an actor.”

“By complete accident.” Between his parents, with his dad constantly haring off to who knew where to avoid his editors, his mother had taken to bringing Shinichi along to her filming sessions when he was younger. So it wasn’t like he was unfamiliar with the whole industry. He’d grown up under the spotlights, amidst the sounds of ‘action’ and ‘cut!’, surrounded by the dust of makeup and prop building. Being on set was like being home most days. 

Though if his mother hadn’t continued in her career, or if his dad had decided to take him along in his escapades instead, Shinichi would never have considered acting in the first place.  No, for as long as he could remember, he’d always wanted to be a detective. 

“Please, Shin-chan.” His mother pleaded, bottom lip trembling as she widened her eyes. “For me?” 

He hated when she did that. If he said no again she’d be inconsolable for a week. Shinichi exhaled, pulling the script back towards him. 

He should trust her. His mother did have a knack for getting him roles that he could play well. It was just...this was a leading role. Something he’d never imagined ever getting with how fervently he’d gone after solving any and all crimes that crossed his path.

“The Division One is gonna to love this.” He muttered. A Teenage Detective playing the famous Phantom Thief. He was going to be the laughing stock of the entire force. 

But it was either that or face his Mother’s disappointment at passing up such a high profile part. 

He looked up, holding up a finger. “One heist.” He said simply. “Let me see how he works in person, and then I’ll decide if I’m ‘right’ for this role.” 

His mother squealed, pulling him into a rib crushing hug. “OH, SHIN-CHAN! You’ll be just as great as KID I know it!” 

Shinichi made a face, stiff in her arms. He really hoped not. He’d much rather be known as the Detective who caught KID rather than the guy who played the criminal in a movie. 

[bizarre-dollhouse]

My Top 10 Favourite Anime (And Why You Should Watch Them)

This is normally something I would put on my main blog, but I wanted to celebrate a follower milestone and also I know this will reach a significantly wider audience on this blog.

Consider this both a list of recommendations and a *get to know me* thing, I guess.

Honourable Mentions:

Bakemonogatari: A really stylized show about a semi vampire helping people with their supernatural afflictions born from emotional issues. The subsequent seasons get a little questionable, but this is definitely a standalone story with great dialogue and visuals. (15 eps)

Shiki: Creepy story about a small town infested with vampires. Really brutal and sick, but it has fascinating themes. The pacing is a bit slow and it has a kind of bad scene towards the end, but the show is 100% worth it. (24 eps)

Cardcaptor Sakura: Because this is mostly aimed at younger viewers, I would only really recommend this show for either magical girl fans, or people who watched the extremely altered dub as a kid. That being said, its a cute, fun show about magic with a likeable cast and surprisingly creative and original ideas, especially towards the latter half. (70 eps)

Jojos Bizarre Adventure 4: Diamond is Unbreakable: Full disclosure, I have not seen the first 3 jojo series, but its not necessary to enjoy this show. This is a super creative and really fun series about superpowered badasses in a strange city fighting each other and trying to solve a murder mystery in the background. Weird, but in the best way. (39 eps)

Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus: This should be higher on the list, but in truth I would recommend the manga way over the show. But, if you want to watch a supernatural horror/comedy without reading a 138+ chapter manga, OR you were a fan of the original Black Butler seasons and want to see something way better, give this a watch. (10 eps)

*drumroll*

10. Trigun

So Trigun takes place is this old west, yet mysterious science fiction-y world where, through a bunch of complicated scenarios, a pacifist is the most wanted criminal known to man. Due to his status as a “natural disaster,” two insurance workers are tasked with reining him in to save their business. It’s an incredibly charming series, and the protagonist is really likeable. It’s extremely creative, funny, and emotional near the end. I do have some problems with the ending because it almost seems like the final conflict just...solves itself, but that’s a nitpick. The first episode is basically a short film, so give that a watch and see how you feel. (26 eps)

9. Paranoia Agent

This was directed by the late and great Satoshi Kon and has his usual themes about the blurring between fiction, dreams, and reality. It’s about a string of mysterious assaults committed by a kid with a baseball bat, and how these assaults seem to solve the problems of the victims. It’s very arthouse and has a twist that makes me ball my eyes out even though it’s not sad it’s just...odd and overwhelming. It drags a bit near the middle, but if you like kind of surreal stuff that’s also just really good, you have to watch this show. (13 eps)

8. Baby Steps

The amazing thing about this show is that its premise is specifically designed to make me hate it. It’s about a nerdy teenager who starts to play a sport for the sole sake of getting fit and having a more well rounded life style, and also he has a crush on this really popular girl. That sounds fucking awful, but the main character is actually really likeable (he reminds me a lot of Deku from BNHA) and I swear to fucking god every time I thought this show was going to do something awful and cliched with its romantic comedy plot, it doesn’t. The beauty and the geek trope is still there, but all of the bullshit that comes with it is omitted in a way I feel was kind of self-aware. The sports aspect is really good too: it’s well paced and there’s lots of tension even though the show as a whole is really upbeat and pleasant. I had a blast watching it, and if you can make it past the fact that is has god awful animation, give it a watch.

7. Higurashi: When They Cry

Yet another great show with absolute garbage animation. Anyways, this show is about a group of teenagers in a small town who are unknowingly trapped in a time loop. In each loop there’s a bunch of new mysteries, as well as some extremely brutal murders and tortures experienced my the main cast. I’ve seen a number of Western shows (Orphan Black, BBC Sherlock, Lost, Supernatural, etc.) fall apart because the writers want a really clever and intricate mystery to play out, but they don’t want to actually put the time into crafting one, so it’s just a bunch of cliffhangers with no answers or pay off. THIS SHOW SUCCEEDS AT WHAT ALL OF THOSE OTHER SHOWS FAIL AT. While not all of the answers are great (the second season isn’t as good) the original author somehow made the world’s most ludicrously complicated mystery story work, with a lot of it relying on the audience to put all of the pieces together even when the characters can’t. Its very clever in doing that: it makes its audience feel smart. It also has themes that don’t really show up in other horror stories, even though they’re incredibly relevant to fear and violence. Great show, go watch it. (50 eps)

6. Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

Everyone knows about this show, everyone says it’s great, and everyone’s right. If you’ve been living under a rock for ten years: the show is about two brothers who break an alchemy taboo, which destroys their bodies, They’re on the hunt for something to restore them to normal and along the way they meet like 8990354578579 characters with interesting stories. It’s tightly written and really gripping. It’s fun, but also really dramatic and emotional when it needs to be. My only problems with it are that the ending is reaaaallllly convoluted, and there’s a minor plot point earlier on that gets weirdly dropped, but everyone kinda forgets about those things because the show’s so good. Also the brotherly bond makes me cry. (64 eps)

5. FLCL

I honestly don’t even know where to start with this show because it has the unique property of being the only show I have ever seen that I have literally no problems with. Not even nitpicks. There is nothing wrong with this show; it’s perfect. The only reason it’s not number 1 is because some other shows have more ideas or more fleshed out characters. So this arthouse spastic comedy is about a boy who is disappointed with all of the adults in his life, then some chick hits him in the face with a guitar and giant robots from a secret facility start coming out of his head. It’s fucking wild and has like 30 different aesthetics and I love all of them. It’s the best looking show I’ve ever seen and one of the best directed. It feels like someone read a really weird poem and turned it into a 6 episode show. It’s funny, it’s emotional, it’s cartoony, it’s beautiful, it’s raunchy, it’s poetic, it’s silly, it’s creative, and it’s got strong themes. The wtf visuals, the nonsensical plot, and the amazing soundtrack make an aesthetic experience more than anything. (6 eps)

4. Princess Tutu

I already made a post about this show and why it’s good, which you can check out here, but the gist is it’s a meta fairytale about a duck that turns into a girl to help a storybook prince find his emotions. I used to love stories that were “twists on fairytales” or whatever, but after watching this show I realized that the genre is pretty derivative. This show is so amazing it honestly made me reevaluate an entire genre and come to the conclusion that this is the only member of that genre worth watching. It’s truly creative and well crafted with fantastic characters. (26 eps)

3. Hunter x Hunter (2011)

This show is basically a bunch of creative ideas, unique set pieces, and interesting characters stacked on top of each other in a trench coat disguised as a narrative. It’s about a perky shonen protagonist and a child assassin becoming friends while also trying to become hunters (a position involving vast wealth and adventure). It’s in a modern fantasy setting so literally anything can happen. In one arc they have to play life-or-death dodgeball against robots, and another is an insanely epic tale about the intense evil that people are capable of (feat. a 25 episode climax). I can’t even talk about all of the themes or ideas because there are just too many. Because of it’s wild, sprawling story, it has a lot of ass pulls and retcons, but in the grand scheme of things they don’t really matter. It’s long, but super easy to watch in huge chunks. (148 eps)

2. Neon Genesis Evangelion and The End of Evangelion

The most efficient way to describe this show is to say that it’s the most interesting show ever made. It’s about an apocalyptic future in which emotionally disturbed teenagers must pilot giant bio-machines to fight monsters which are referred to as angels. It’s got deep characters, a creative story, and is probably the most well directed show I’ve ever seen. The ending infamously fell apart due to production problems, so there’s a movie called The End of Evangelion to conclude the story. It’s a very disturbing arthouse movie, so watch out for that, but the show as a whole is moooosssstly more straightforward and fascinating, This is an absolute must watch. (26 eps and 1 movie)

1. Baccano!

Baccano! takes place in 1930s New York, and is about thieves, gangsters, criminals, terrorists, alchemists, and immortals interacting in this nonlinear comedy/action thrill ride. I felt like I was on a rollercoaster while watching this show. It’s the perfect blend of action, comedy, romance, drama, horror, and creative storytelling. It’s fantastic to rewatch since the first episodes barely make any sense without context (but are still an absolute joy to watch). It’s got great characters and it’s a great story. Go watch it. And then watch it again. (13 eps and 3 OVAs)

That’s it for this list! Check out my MAL page for more recommendations if you’re interested and have a great night!