#lupin iii: fall of kings

[misteria247]

I find it kinda funny how in a lot of the Lupin III animes, a lot of times Zenigata is often times played up for a comedic effect. Or that other policemen that work with Zenigata never really take him seriously because he's always getting screwed over by Lupin and his gang. So much so that it makes you forget that Zenigata is literally the best of the best in the world of law enforcement.

Pops has arrested several hundreds of criminals within his career and has influenced and helped a lot of people with his kind actions. He's also a master at Judo and can wreck someone's shit pretty quickly with zero effort. Not to mention that he's the only one who's able to keep up with Lupin, as well as predict what his next moves are and is the only one who's managed to arrest him several times throughout the entire series.

Adding onto this, other criminals who aren't Lupin or his friends always fall to the Inspector's skills. Cuz he's so damn good at his job that they're not a challenge him at all in the long run. Basically Zenigata is the king and he rarely ever loses, if at all.

Unless it's Lupin.

Like it's so easy to forget that beneath the usual emotional, kind and goofy Zenigata we all know and love, is actually a god damn powerhouse of a man who's a literal unstoppable hurricane. He's the ICPO's best detective they've ever had in their ranks.

It's why Zenigata is the only one that Lupin pays attention to and takes seriously as a rival. Cuz like Zenigata, Lupin's the best of the best. He's the world's greatest thief, an unstoppable force that leaves carnage in his wake. He's left several policemen and detectives and inspectors in the dust because they couldn't pin him down nor keep up with him. Lupin's literally ruined people's careers in the law enforcement department just by outsmarting them.

And then there's Pops.

Pops, the only cop who was able to keep up and keep in step with Lupin and his moves. Pops who's the only detective whose ever given Lupin an actual challenge in his usual heists. Who's the only one besides Lupin's partners, Jigen, Goemon and Fujiko, that's still able to take Lupin by surprise outwit him when he least expects it.

They're both masters at their crafts, the top class in their respective areas and careers. No one else is able to match them when it really comes down to their skills, talents and assets.

No one except for each other.

Like dude it's interesting to think about it, like if one of them were to quit or go missing or die the other would be incomplete. Because at the end of the day, the reasons why their jobs are worth it and makes them so enjoyable, is because they have the other there to heighten up the excitement. A rival that makes the experience of heists and adventures worth while. If one of them wasn't there, then it wouldn't be worth it.

[riddle-me-ri]

Hi is it possible to have Lupin III x male reader. For the scenario, the reader is seriously injured during a robbery and Lupin takes care of him. The reader is a little shorter than Lupin. (sorry for the spelling mistakes, English is not my native language.) Have a nice day

a/n: your spelling was fine! I understood your request perfectly! I'm not used to writing male readers (usually keep it gender neutral if not female) I just overthink it a lot, I think, but I hope it comes through in this fic for you! Hope you enjoy!

Word Count: 477

Lupin The Third x M!Reader - Nurse Lupin

“You couldn't be in better hands, handsome.” 

Lupin shot you a wink after setting you down on the couch. 

You two barely made it back to the temporary hideout the both of you occupied at time.

Unfortunately, during the chase you got shot in the shoulder, nothing lethal but it still hurt like hell, and you weren't exactly sure how to feel about having Lupin be your nurse but you lacked any other options…

You winced in pain as Lupin slowly tried to remove your shirt. 

“It's okay, it's okay…” Lupin reassures before he finally tossed the article of clothing to the side. 

Lupin had long since removed his trademark jacket and wore his plain dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up as he gathered supplies from the makeshift first aid kit he brought into the room. 

For all the times you thought of a down dressed Lupin…you least expected it to actually happen due to him having to patch you up. 

You tried to close your eyes and ignore the pain as Lupin began disinfecting the wound and picking out the bullet. 

“Well, at least it didn't go all the way through…” Lupin mumbled to himself as he pulled out the bullet. 

You gasped as the tiny weight in your shoulder was suddenly gone. 

“See? Feeling better already.” Lupin chuckled. 

You groaned. “That is up for debate…” 

Lupin clicked his tongue with a head shake as he proceeded to tend to your wound. 

Eventually some of the pain subsided and you actually found yourself falling asleep to the feeling of Lupin’s lanky but precise hands as he began cleaning and finally patching up the wound. 

“Looks like you get to live to steal with me another day, short stuff…” 

Lupin’s eyebrow rose when he didn’t hear a snarky remark come from you. He leaned closer to your face and heard your soft rhythmic breathing. 

Lupin chuckled. “Hey, who says you get to go to sleep on me? You still owe me for my services, you know?” 

When you still didn’t respond, Lupin just shook his head in faux disappointment before he got up from his knees. 

Lupin, as gently as he could to not wake you or cause you pain, picked you up bridal style and slowly began making his way to the bedroom. 

When he kicked the door open gently, he slowly settled you down on the king sized bed before draping a small blanket over you. 

Lupin couldn’t help but think how cute you were when he saw how far your feet were from the foot of the bed. You were so short and adorable he could squeeze you like a plushie…maybe once you feel better. 

He leaned in and pressed a small kiss to your temple.

“I guess we can postpone compensation for my services later..” Lupin mused quietly to a sleeping you. 

[the-backdoor-garden]

List of Cuttletavio AU ideas that become more weird and deranged as you keep reading:

Modern day AU were they're idols too

Modern day AU were they're normal people

Everyone's dads AU were they get married and take care of their deranged children aka all the agents and the idols and Octavio's army of child soldiers.

Role swap AU with Pearlina (not confuse with the previous ones, as there the idols remain unchanged. Here, I imagine the Squid Sisters design would change to reflect that Pearl is their grandma now)

Pokemon AU!

High school AU but you think Craig's a jock? NAH HE'S A CHEERLEADER and Octavio is a nerd.

Minecraft AU!

Role swap AU between them which makes Craig a prince and Octavio some sort of captain (Craig would be more like a western prince because you know)

Pop Team Epic AU!

Romeo and Juliet AU (how we interpret them is already very Romeo and Juliet so it really is just a change of setting and different ending)

Roblox AU.

Assassin AU were Craig has to infiltrate octoling forces to kill Octavio but ends up falling in love (inspired by AO3 fic called "Operation: Femboy" DON'T LET THE NAME FOOL YOU, IT'S REALLY GOOD)

Racist AU- wait that's just the og-

2000s emo AU. They met through MySpace and started flirting through Tumblr.

Arcade AU. You know how arcades let you put nicknames on your high score? Well Craig is really good at this arcade game but there's someone who keeps getting higher scores than his and so they start remotely beefing but never seeing each other because they go in at different hours, until one day he finds that someone playing on the arcade and it turns out is Octavio and it's basically enemies to lovers but they're enemies because of an arcade game.

Grafitti AU. The same as before except it's grafitti. Craig makes a grafitti, Octavio goes over it and rinse and repeat until one of them finally finds the other doing it.

Sailor Moon AU! Craig is Serena and Octavio is Darien because yeaaa!

ENA AU. Craig is an Ena and Octavio is like Moony but actually supportive when his boyfriend has a mental breakdown.

Chainsaw Man AU. Craig is Denji and Octavio is Makima.

Lupin III AU. Craig is Lupin, the white glove thief, and Octavio is Zenigata, the detective whose existence revolves on catching him.

Jojo part 2 AU. Craig is Joseph and Octavio is Caesar.

News reporters AU, were they're both serious news reporters and shit.

Drift king AU. Octavio is the drift king and Craig is a guy who wants to beat him, but also Octavio is the heir of the Yakuza and it all becomes Craig helping his lover escape by winning competitions and getting money to run away.

Skullgirls AU were Craig wants to keep the Squid Sisters away from the Skullheart however Octavio is attempting to get it to harness its power without making a wish. They also both fought against the Skullheart side by side on the past, but when the Canopy Kingdom went to war with the other kingdoms (one of them being Octavio's kingdom), they had a falling out

Technical support AU. Octavio fixes computers and Craigs keeps busting his because he's cute, even tho Ammoses can literally fix it for free but oh well let the bi be bi.

Kill Bill AU but Octavio is Bill. Craig is the bride of course.

Car dealer AU were Craig wants to sell a car to Octavio so he fucking resorts to fucking.

AU of my OCs-verse were basically they're both assasins for Albert Richter, CEO of the company that owns the country, who is also their lover so trio, and they're being chased by T and D for their crimes UNLESS they stop working for the guy. Octavio wants to keep working for him but Craig doesn't, so yeah (This is a very self indulgent AU that most of you won't get unless you're my boyfriend, love you my love muack muack)

Spongebob AU. Craig is Spongebob. Octavio is Squidward.

Company AU. Craig is Octavio's secretary who is the CEO of some corporation or some shit.

BODY PILLOW AU WERE CRAIG IS OCTAVIO'S BODY PILLOW AND-

Vtuber AU.

Omegaverse AU.

Big Bang Theory AU.

Fifty Shades of Gray AU.

JFK AU. Octavio is JFK. Craig is his wife.

Coffee Shop AU.

[regarding-stories]

Until it breaks: Suspension of disbelief has limits

Nothing deals damage to suspension of disbelief like cold hard facts. Because once the analytical part of your brain kicks in, it's all over. All the Fridge Logic will unravel, and frankly, the enjoyment drains out the watching or reading experience.

Now, I picked this topic because of a recent Lupin III Part 6 episode I watched. Being one of the longest-running shows with endless material released over the course of decades, Lupin III has in general good writing. Or let's say it like this: Typically the authors nail the characters.

Yes, part 6 in general is a highly enjoyable show that can bank on the fact that our main characters - Lupin, Jigen, Fujiko, Goemon, and Zenigata - are well fleshed-out, recognizable characters that you are just gladly along for the ride with and the general fun factor of the show ensures that you merely experience the differing quality of episodes as minor ups and downs along the journey.

There are exceptions, though.

When it holds

Lupin III is basically revived as "parts," where each part could be considered a big season. I'm currently watching Part 4, and several episodes definitely have the quality of Fridge Logic - you might question things after the episode finishes, but you're basically okay with how things unfold while they still do.

One episode, hitting that slightly noir vibe, focuses on Inspector Zenigata, Lupin's eternal complement.

The show aired almost ten years ago, so forgive me for spoilers.

The basic plot of the episode "Until the Full Moon Wanes" revolves around every scoundrel in the world believing that the widow of a media mogul sits on a huge hidden fortune because her husband seeded the rumor before he died. The first climax of the episode seems to be convincing the world that this was indeed a lie - a cooperation between Lupin and Zenigata. In the denouement we learn that the fortune actually exists and the widow wanted potential thieves off her back, Lupin shows up to steal it and is finally thwarted by Zenigata.

The episode really revolves about human folly, with a media mogul rescuing a girl from sexual violence, taking her as his beloved wife, then completely scorning her when she cheats on him once - including marking her body. This theme of scorn beyond the grave and its somewhat noir vibe playing on human passion and the unreliability of love and character are enough to keep us entertained until we get our inevitable finale.

I'd say this one stretches suspension of disbelief but doesn't break it. Though it raises questions - even if she had a huge fortune hidden, wouldn't it be easier to own it, hire guards, and just enjoy it? Furthermore, how did Lupin and his gang intend to steal the fortune?It's gold. It weighs tons and tons. (And yes, it's enough gold to be considered the reserves of a country. Did the author not watch "Die Hard with a Vengeance"?) It's also stacked in the most stupid way possible to impress the audience. Once you start to think about it, the story unravels and falls apart. But I'd bet while it goes on with its (somewhat forced) twists and turns, you're willing to follow it.

When it breaks

There are, however, some episodes too stupid to live, and so far the unrivaled king of the trash heap is "The Jet-Black Diamond". I'll spoiler this one so you don't have to watch it.

So, some small wooden dolls are somehow supposed to lead to a treasure. But the story makes no sense, no matter which way you look at it.

The central theme behind the treasure hunt is supposedly a love story. A somehow Japanese woman in Brazil falls in love with a pirate who basically sacks her village but spares her. (Because seeing people die you spent your life with is conducive to romance. Maybe she had Stockholm Syndrome.) They know they have little time so they concoct a plan to hide some treasure and meet again. Which never happens because the pirate gets executed shortly after and she commits suicide.

This might make sense on the surface but just wait for the rest...

The clues they leave lead to a cashew tree with magical red glowing flowers that only blossoms every 75 years. The biological facts themselves are mindboggling - how does it benefit the damn tree to blossom only every 75 years? And how is it so exact over such a long period of time?? And why is everyone showing up at the right time to see it???

Breathe. Slow, deep breaths.

So this basically means they planned to meet again when they were around a hundred. Instead of, you know, like five years later.

Then... piracy in the Caribbean and around South America was a phenomenon largely limited to the 16th and 17th centuries, with stragglers hanging on until the 18th century. Steam vessels and larger national navies ended it for good in the 19th century. (To put it very roughly.) The episode itself can be assumed to be set in 2021 when Part 6 aired. So, are we to assume that old-fashioned piracy occurred in Brazil in the mid of the 20th century? The age of airplanes and nuclear bombs? (Piracy persists but is a rather local phenomenon in the world, relying on quick hit-and-run raids.)

What is the treasure, actually? Pepper. Some special pepper, that supposedly ended up making the village prosperous. This is probably an allusion to the times when pepper was still highly valuable, something which was maybe true up to the 17th century (as a little research shows).

What we really have here is an author shoe-horning a pirate story into Lupin III, and somehow trying to tie it to a love story and a living relative. (Instead of a long-lost pirate treasure.) But frankly, the whole thing fails over and over again. The finale is devoid of any logic. Even the dolls are somehow important because their patterns help identify the tree by its blossom patterns. The only tree blooming in that particular year, looking entirely magical and obvious BY ITSELF!!

(Also some young local thugs show up to gang up on the old lady and her company because everybody thinks about the ages old treasure all the time and so the arrival of a Japanese lady is clearly stirring up the area.)

To make the offense even worse, just when the story focuses on Fujiko being in the lead for quite a while, Lupin shows up as a drone projecting a hologram acting as Captain Exposition, stealing her thunder. They couldn't be arsed to write him in properly, but they couldn't leave him off-screen for five minutes or have somebody else have the spotlight. Wow, that was horrible writing altogether.

And here we have it - it qualifies as a story. It's tied together by a plot. Events happen, characters appear, and the same mixture of twists and turns and a lack of treasure at the end (for Lupin or Fujiko) appears, but it doesn't work. You could be forgiven for not knowing about the history of piracy, but the notion of a tree with such magical properties is not a twist to a story, it's a ridiculous device meant to introduce one twist too many to a poorly written story.

Because for some reason the author was so focused on thwarting the thieves so much he had to set up an entirely unbelievable gotcha even for Lupin standards. A show where people evade bullets near point blank range or where eating a steak can restore Lupin's blood loss within hours. It's actually quite the accomplishment!

[daemondaes]

name: che

height: 5'3-ish. close enough to average. i can reach the top shelf, and at the end of the day, that's what matters.

nickname / s: chebureki, chechival, cheeble, chevalier, jam.

nationality: californian. 😎

favourite fruit: peach. 🥹🙏 strawberry is second. grape is third.

favourite season: spring? the benefits of summer hours with less of the summer heat. fall is nicer for layering tho

favourite scents: gasoline, bread, vanilla, citrus, books.

favourite animals: baby hippos (only baby), small dogs (esp chihuahuas), cows.

tea, coffee, hot cocoa: green tea, or else coffee with milk and, if i've been good, a sprinkle of cocoa powder.

average hours of sleep: uh. probably like 4-5 if i have to be somewhere in the morning, 8-10 if i don't.

when my blog was created: this incarnation? my earliest post was apparently 23 may 2020, so we're coming up on that 4 year anniversary 😏 but the first standalone cherry blog was from 2016? the oldest muse on here to originate on tumblr (ciel) emerged in late 2011. the oldest oldest muse on here originated off-tumblr in like 2008/9 on gaiaonline (talking abt u, naux).

# of followers: i normally wouldn't answer this, but i will tell u now that it is 365 just because that's such a satisfying number? got a buddy here for every day of the year 😎 that's a lie tho bc the number is broken and doesn't really fluctuate no matter how many people i gain or lose LOL i'm pretty sure like 4/5 people on the list are inactive tho, so please help me make more friends

random fact: my bedroom is ridiculously girly, soft pinks and pale greys and whites with gold accents, loads of pillows and plushes and decorative doodads, but i myself dress almost entirely in black. it's a little like putting wednesday in enid's room. not quite sure what that says about me.

favourite food: the humble tuna sandwich. i'm counting lemonade as a food here, just so i can add it in. i like lemonade even more than i like tuna.

favourite t.v. shows: flcl, dead boy detectives, good omens, i love lucy, king of the hill, the simpsons, lupin iii.

favourite movie: my letterboxd top 4 are some like it hot (1959), ghostbusters (1984), mad max: fury road (2015), and back to the future (1985)...but if i could have a fifth, it would be austin powers (1997).

sexuality: i like girls a lot more than i like guys, but i'm too busy and too broke to even think about that 😤

pronouns : she/they/any? idc abt labels and boxes, but it's weird that u're talking about me when i'm not there /:

favourite book series: howard the duck 😏 did you think i'd really make it to the end of this without mentioning him? this is also my chance to plug fly by night by frances hardinge, and its sequel, fly trap (or twilight robbery in the UK). there's also the monster blood tattoo trilogy by d.m. cornish that i desperately wish i'd held on to because it's apparently out of print now! my blood boils every time i remember. it would be remiss if i didn't mention a series of unfortunate events, just because i do think it was very influential for me. i'm about to reread the saga of darren shan/cirque du freak for the first time since middle school, so wish me luck 😤

favourite video game/s: god, fuckin...idk, tetris? roblox??? i'm not a gamer at all. i can't play anything unless i'm playing with a friend. that's a lie, i played baldgate3. the only thing i play is the sims 4. i'm trash

favourite subject: [scuttles around on all fours, twitching and foaming at the mouth] school bad! school BAD! (my three passions are history and fashion and film, but i don't love the academic system. Cs get degrees, etc. my own degree was in creative writing, and now i'm trapped in retail hell, so be smarter than me, kids! except also i hear even stem is useless these days? society is crumbling so bad, i—)

guys or girls: i prefer drawing guy faces and girl bodies. idk what u're getting at here

last time I cried: last night, conveniently

what I should be doing: taking out the trash, cooking up curry, cleaning the bathroom, polishing my spanish and diving into mandarin, writing, drawing, job hunting. continuing my goal of watching 365 movies this year. sweeping up the feathers of my cockatiel, galileo, because it's Moltin' Time. the usual 🤷‍♀️

favourite fandoms: i actually don't participate in fandom LOL i just lurk. chat about stuff in discord—DMs, not servers. i have so much art and music in my head, but i don't have the mobile dexterity and stamina for it anymore. maybe one day...

tagged by: @hatchetsfield (thanks, pidge!) tagging: anyone who learned a thing about me from this

[imcutebutimdepressed]

Nancy’s Twin (Stranger Things Fanfic)

VOL 1 Chapter 1: The Start of It All

It took me 30 minutes to figure out a title for this chapter. This is gonna give me a headache to having to make sure everything is not an error or out of place.

ENJOY. Let me know if there's errors or punctuation errors.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

November 6, 1983, Hawkins, Indiana.

Years past since the Jaws movie for Mickey, and not once has she past the opportunity to watch more horror movies. During those years, she would give her Dad a chance to watch horror movies as long as she takes her the times he goes during when he's done from work. Of course he said no that she's too young to watch them, but a little deal was made with a 8 year old girl and her 37 year old Dad.

"Daddy if you let me watch the horror movies that you go to with me having all the snacks I want, I won't tell mom you went to see Jaws." Mickey keeping the professional stance with her notebook hugged to her chest.

"How do I know she'll believe you honey?" Ted was just ready to leave the house.

"I can recite the entire movie to her step by step."

"Ok I can take you, but no snacks."

"Did I mention that I know you're the one that took Mom's 20$ that she was gonna use for our candy bags on Christmas to buy yourself a 10 pack of beer?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's how the deal started. Every certain days, Ted would use his breaks during his work to pick up Mickey from school and go see movies.

Movies like Deep Red, Race with the Devil, Rocky horror picture show, legend of the werewolf, terror of Frankenstein, Jaws 2, don't hang up, and assault! Jack the Ripper.

Her favorites started listing like crazy.

Carrie, King Kong, The clown Murders, Halloween (she's really into Micheal Myers), Alien, Tourist Trap (It did scare her a little), Dracula, Friday the 13th, The shining, Evil Dead, Poltergeist, and Creep-show.

Of course she still watched other movies like Rocky, Freak Friday, Star Wars, The rescuers, Pete's Dragon, Cinderella, Grease , Lord of the rings, Battle star Galactica, Star Trek, Muppet Movie, Lupin III, Indiana Jones, Annie, The dark crystal and Pop eye.

You can say she found ways to watch movies almost every day. She would save up her money from the amount of toy cars she sells to kids in her school including secretly selling money worth of candies from Halloween to buy herself movie tapes to rewatch.

Until the years gone by and she just stopped the deal with her Dad. Ted didn't know why, but she just acted quiet for almost a whole year. He didn't make it a big deal and decided to just let it be.

Mickey stopped having physical touches with her family after she was 10. No hugs, no shoulder pats, no surprises, no grabbing her face to kiss it. No touching.

On her 11th birthday, Ted gave her a cassette tape player that she can hear music in. Of course Nancy just wanted new dolls and dresses, but all Mickey wanted was the opposite. She would never want to wear a dress again.

Now 8 years of complete hell was coming and going for Mickey. In her room listening to The Poppy Family as she reads a spider man comic while laying on her bed wearing a graffiti t shirt.

"I can't help crying"

Honestly, Mickey can relate to that one sentence.

"You are my whole , babe"

"My heart and soul, babe"

Distracted from the song, she just tosses the comic to the floor and keeps listening to the song instead. Even at the age of 16, she's curious to how people find such a perfect partner. After watching The Goodbye Girl, Mickey never really sees herself falling in love with a man. Of course she got a huge crush on certain guys from movies, but in an actual relationship, hell no.

After everything that's happened in those 8 years, Mickey would never in her life settle with the boys in Hawkins.

A slight open of her door snaps her back to reality. She removes her headphones and lifts her self up to see it's Dustin, one of her brother's friends.

"You need something Dustin?"

"Actually I wanted to ask if you wanted this last slice of pizza? It's sausage and pepperoni." He says with his adorable childlike smile.

Mickey gets off her head and walks to him. Looking down at the pizza, it's pretty good to eat, so she takes it and thanks him.

"For this free pizza, I shall honor you one of the great trades of them all good sir."

Dustin is already excited.

"What would that trade shall be, oh Lady of the Village Halla?"

Mickey goes to a box under her bed, takes something out of it, and gives it to him.

"8 dollars in cash." She said with a smile.

"Holy shit!! You serious?!"

"It's also a thank you for buying me some big league gum and skittles. Spend wisely my freind."

He smiles and starts to leave, while she goes to eat the pizza, which is pretty good for a free slice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"There's something wrong with your sister."

Mike looks at Dustin with confusion. When it comes to having two sisters, it's a little hard to know which one any person is talking about depending how you describe them. Mickey and Nancy always have something wrong with them, but simple things.

Like when Dustin asked what's wrong with Mickey of why she allows her brother and his friends hug her but not anyone else, or the time when he asked what's wrong with Nancy with why her and Mickey don't get along. 

"What are you taking about?" Mike asked.

"Nancy has a stick up her butt."

Now he knows which sister he's talking about.

Lucas adds, " Yeah. It's because she's been dating that douchebag, Steve Harrington." While preparing to ride his bike back home.

"She's turning into a real jerk Mike." Dustin getting on his bike.

"She's always been a real jerk." Mike clarifies.

Dustin disagrees. "She used to be cool. Remember when she dressed up as an elf for our Elder Tree campaign."

"That was four years ago!!"

"Just sayin!!" Before he could leave, he turns to Mike.

"If there was a chance I can date your sister, can I date her?"

Mike raises his brow with a "wtf" look.

"Which one?"

"Obviously the badass one. Mickey."

"Oh my god no Dustin, I mean she is a badass but I'm not allowing you to date her."

"She likes me!!"

"As a brother, and you're too young for her plus it's a Hell no!!"

"4 years Mike!! 4 years!!"

"You can't blame him Mike." Lucas says with a side smile.

"Bye!!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Nancy don't even lie about stealing my damn lip balm, either give it back or I'm taking one of your pants as my own."

Nancy holds Barbara on the phone again and looks at her with an impatient look on her face.

"Why do even have one? You hate makeup."

Mickey raises her brow.

"For your information, the lip balm keeps my hot blood lips from drying like a mummy while makeup is just an enhancement for certain girls to wear to impress their target."

"Their target?"

"Yeah. Boys, boys with bikes, boys with cool cars, boys with CuTe hair, boys that are nice, and boys who you just feel In LoVe."

Mickey mocking the words "cute" and "love".

"Is this about me dating Steve? He's nice and is really cute, and his hair is cute too. Sounds like someone is just jealous that I have a boyfriend."

Mickey just laughs.

"HAH!! First of all I was just telling you to give me back my lip balm, and second of all, I don't see any reason to be jealous over a guy that probably doesn't even use actual hairspray for his hair."

She looks around for the lip balm until she sees it on a table close to the door. As she grabs it, she looks back to Nancy.

"Does Mom and Dad even know you have a boyfriend?"

Nancy eyes widen a bit, which means to Mickey that it's a no. Why is she not surprised? Nancy tries to counter a comeback.

"Do they even know you have a monster truck without their knowledge?" She smiles.

"I'm making money out of that badass truck, thank you so much for reminding me." As she leaves, she hears Nancy mutter "druggie" before she continues on the phone with her freind. As Mickey closes the door, she mutters "Princess" before she opens her door and closes it to lay back down on her bed.

It is getting late so she'll have to sleep. That means she'll have to wish graduation comes quick. She changes into a simple oversize Christine movie shirt and heads to bed.

"Please just for once let tomorrow be okay." She whispers before closing her eyes. The entire room only lighten by a nightlight of a candle that makes the whole room smell like roses.

Let tomorrow be okay? If only Mickey Wheeler knew.

I gotta practice on Computer for putting Wattpad works of mine to Tumblr. The plan is to use Ao3 and Tumblr when I finish anything for Wattpad. Wish me luck!!!

[thiefbracket]

SUBMISSIONS HAVE BEEN COUNTED

Thanks again for everyone's submissions! some of you were very passionate and it was great to learn about all these characters, I received 92 characters over 119 submissions and from that there was only 4 that I couldn't justify as thieves so apologies to those who didn't get in, with some from me and friends we have a final roster of 96. And so without further ado here are your competitors!

Raphael/ Phantom R: Rhythm thief and the Emperors Treasure

Daroach: Kirby Squeak Squad

Bilbo Baggins: The Hobbit

The Hamburglar: McDonalds Cinematic Universe

Ron DeLite/Mask☆DeMasque: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations

Kaitou Kid: Detective Conan

Swiper: Dora the Explorer

Chilli Pepper Cookie: Cookie Run

Carmen Sandiego: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego

Vriska Serket: Homestuck

Sly Cooper: Sly Cooper

Garrett: Thief

The Phantom Thieves: Persona 5

Ms. Mows: Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door

Ms. Fortune: SKullgirls

Scipio Fortunato (Piscio): The Thief Lord

Therion: Octopath Traveller

Roguefort Cookie: Cookie Run

Kaz Brekker: Shadow and Bones/ Six of Crows

Catwoman: Batman

Gru: Despicable Me

Jeets Shimis: Dungeons & Dragons Online

Parker: Leverage

Artemis Fowl: Artemis Fowl

Nött the Brave/Veth Brenatto: Critical Role

The Beagle Boys: Ducktales

Rosé: Drawtectives

Dorapin: Doraemon

Wario: Super Mario Bros

Magalor: Kirby's Return to Dreamland

Loba Andrade: Apex Legends

Nami: One Piece

“Thief King” Bakura: Yu-Gi-Oh!

Sal Leon: Mask of Shadows

The Collector: Hollow Knight

Astotheles: Bug Fables

Gaius: Fire Emblem Awakening

Burglar: The Sims 

Kokichi Oma: Danganronpa V3 Killing Harmony

Lifty and Shifty: Happy Tree Friends

Long John Silver: Black Sails

The Brickster: Lego Island

Some Sneaky Sim: The Sims

Danny Ocean: Ocean’s 11

Indiana Jones: Indiana Jones

Magpie: Real Life

Dean Domino: Fall out New Vegas

Cassian Andor: rogue one

Luke Castellan: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Popple: Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga

Mulch Diggums: Artemis Fowl

RJ Racoon: Over The Hedge

Beni Gabor: The Mummy

Sonny Wortzik: Dog Day Afternoon

A.J. Raffles: A.J. Raffles Short Stories

Team Rocket: Pokémon

Locke Cole: Final Fantasy 6

Yuffie Kisaragi: Final Fantasy 7

Edmund "Ned" Kelly Fuckin' Danger Discretion Aloysius Superstar Butterfly Nimbly Ninja Pacifist Black Diamond Friendly Trustworthy Pissed Off [Redacted] Vamoose Su-Sussudio Middle Name Chicane Jr.: Taz Amnesty

The Beachcomber: Cultist Simulator

Erin: Thief

Delilah Bard: Shades of Magic Series

Herbert Percival Bear, Esquire: Club Penguin

Arsène Lupin: Arsène Lupin

Rouge The Bat: Sonic The Hedgehog

Grovyle: PMD Explorers of Time/Darknes/Sky

Camicazi: How to Train Your Dragon Books

Mick Rory/ Heatwave: The Flash/DC Legends of Tomorrow

Hermes: Greek Mythology

Zidane Tribal: Final Fantasy IX

Duster: Mother 3

Glendale: Centaurworld

Ada Wong: Resident Evil

Nickit: Pokemon Sword and Shield

Purrloin: Pokemon Black and White

Gokaigers: Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger

Zox Goldtsuiker / Twokaiser: Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger

Kitty Softpaws: Puss in Boots

Deep Cut: Splatoon 3

Meenah Peixes: Homestuck

D.J. Octavio: Splatoon

Ratbeard: Pirate 101

Gen AKA Eugenides: The Queen's Thief

Lupinrangers (and Noel): Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger

Chester "Snake" Turley AKA Snake Jailbird AKA Albert Knickerbocker Aloysius Snake AKA Professor Jailbird AKA Detention Bird: The Simpsons

Cain: the Binding of Isaac

Robin hood: English Mythology

Erik: Dragon quest 11

The Artful Dodger: Oliver Twist

Kamen Rider Lupin: Kamen Rider Drive

Lupin III: Lupin The Third

Pumpkin and Honey Bunny: Pulp Fiction

Niles: Fire Emblem Fates

Daiki Kaito/ Kamen rider Diend: Kamen Rider Decade

Doug Judy (The Pontiac Bandit): Brooklyn 99

Prometheus: Greek Mythology

Seeding will begin tomorrow and the first part of round 1 will hopefully be posted in the next few days. Thanks again for all your patience!

[canmom]

Animation Night 165: New Gods

嘿朋友动画的晚上正在上映电影！

One day I'll make a new friend who speaks Chinese and I can ask to come up with a different intro for donghua-related posts ;p

Long time Animation Night viewers might remember Animation Night 102 a little over a year ago, in which we watched a film called 新神榜：哪吒重生 (New Gods: Nezha Reborn) - not to be confused with other recent Nezha-related films like Ne Zha.

And it was pretty sick. Essentially you've got a CGI film set in a kind of FF7-like dieselpunk world in which various mythological figures now run crime syndicates or ride cool motorbikes. The film followed someone who turns out to be the reincarnation of Nezha - where Nezha's old enemy, the East Sea Dragon King, is also reincarnated as a kind of mafia kingpin who doesn't know to leave well enough alone, and picks a fight, hoping to stop the new Nezha fully incarnating.

As CG films go, there's not a lot to compare it to - except perhaps Lupin III: The First, which also has the kind of smooth, slightly stylised figures and fancy effects. It was a bunch of fun, lots of twists and turns, guys who look like Sun Wukong but aren't (...maybe?), betrayals, and of course plenty of slickly choreographed fantastical martial arts.

Well, sure enough, Nezha was the first in a series! The second film in the series, New Gods: Yang Jian came out last year...

This one focuses on another character from the Investiture of the Gods, Erlang Shen (二郎神), who's got a bunch of other names, notably Yang Jian (楊戩), which is the name he takes in Investiture of the Gods. I definitely needed to read up on this guy, so here's a primer: Erlang Shen's a god, nephew to the Jade Emperor, and a rather righteous one, associated with traits like purity, decency, and slaying monsters. Physically, his major trait is the truth-seeing third eye in the middle of his forehead; he also likes to carry a three-pointed spear, and his signature technique is '72 eartly transformations', i.e. turning into pretty much anything.

In Investiture, he shows up as a discple of the immortal Yuding Zhenren (玉鼎真人) during Chapter 40, in which Jiang Ziya battles the four 'Diablo Brothers' Mo Lihong, Mo Liqing, Mo Lihai and Mo Lishou, essentially a bunch of evil wizards who are causing havoc. Now, bear with me here. Mo Lishou has a powerful flying mink (or maybe an elephant). Yang Jian deliberately lets himself get eaten, and then when Lishou sends the mink out to attack, he transforms inside its stomach, popping it from the inside as it's about to fight Jiang Ziya.

Then, Yang Jian transforms himself into the mink, and uses this disguise to get close to the brothers and steal a magic umbrella from Mo Lihong, giving Jiang Ziya the chance to win the battle. Pure TTRPG player strategems here honestly. Love it.

He also shows up in Journey to the West, in which he's sent to try and deal with the Sun Wukong problem. They have a classic transformation battle, which Yang Jian eventually wins by seeing through Sun Wukong's clever disguise as a temple, and teaming up with Laozi (yeah¸ the Tao Te Ching guy) to capture him.

All in all, Yang Jian is not a god to be trifled with.

However, the main story about Erlang Shen/Yang Jian is none of these, but a folktale called The Magic Lotus Lantern, in which he plays the role of antagonist.

The Magic Lotus Lantern tells of the goddess Huayue Sanniang, who falls in love with a mortal scholar called Lui Yanchang. Her older brother Erlang Shen, here a god, does not approve, to the point that he's willing to fight her about it. However, Huayue Sanniang wins the fight using her magic lotus lantern, and marries Liu Yanchang. Together they have a child called Chen Xiang. With me so far?

Unfortunately, Erlang Shen isn't about to take this whole thing lying down. After seven years, he tracks them down by the light of that same lantern, and briefly abducts Chen Xiang, before stealing the lantern and sealing Sanniang under a mountain (Mount Hua).

Nine years later, Chen Xiang - now 16 - learns what happened to his mum. He goes on a journey running into a number of mythological figures, including Sun Wukong, who teaches him martial arts. Indeed, Sun Wukong is like you know what kid you're pretty strong, I'll make you a big old axe to get your mum out of that mountain. At the end of it all, Chen Xiang goes and battles his uncle, and loses... but at the last minute he gets a special lotus lantern powerup, which gives him the chance to win the battle and free his mum from the mountain.

Incidentally, if you will permit a tangent (that is at least animation relevant lmao) - this story was adapted to animation in 1999 as 宝莲灯 (Lotus Lantern), and in fact that's quite a notable film in itself. To briefly tell the story again, from the 50s onwards, the vast majority of animation in China happened under the roof of Shanghai Animation Film Studio. However, during the Cultural Revolution, most of the major animators at SAFS such as Te Wei were cast as reactionaries sent to the countryside to do hard labour, practicing drawing only in secret. Chinese animation entered a period where the only permitted form was propaganda films in a narrowly defined realist style.

Following the end of the Cultural Revolution, many of these animators returned to the studio, making celebrated films like 哪吒闹海 Nezha Conquers the Dragon King (1979) as well as all sorts of short films celebrating an end to their ordeal and railing against artistic censorship. However, the studio's output - and Chinese animation in general - declined in the ensuing decades, with Chinese studios mostly doing outsourcing work and younger audiences turning to anime and western animation. So far so familiar.

In 1992, the studio started to reorganise itself along Western lines, collaborating with a company called Prrfect Animation from San Francisco. [This information comes from an article in Animation World Network, which is incredibly light on details. I can't find any other mention of Prrfect Animation outside of its connection with SAFS.] The studio would soon become part of the new Shanghai Film Group Corporation.

And in the middle of that period comes this movie - a kind of turning point for donghua. You can a restoration on Youtube, albeit unsubbed. Visually it's definitely got traces of the Cultural Revolution-era style, narratively it hews fairly close to the Mouse's formula complete with songs; indeed, allegedly this movie beat them at their own game in 1999.

Anyway, we're not watching this movie tonight - vibeswise it would be a weird combo, and it's going to take a little work to find suitable subs and mux them in, but put a pin in this, we might just come back to it.

So what about this film? In this world, Yang Jian is now living a quiet life as a bounty hunter. Here's the official English-language plot summary, which is very brief:

Twelve years after imprisoning his sister underneath a mountain, Erlang Shen, a god known for his all-seeing third eye, now works as a bounty hunter. A woman hires him and his crew to prevent his nephew, Chenxiang, from obtaining a magical lotus lantern that holds great power.

Beyond that? I can tell you that at some point he wears a fedora. Look, it's in that gif right there. Yeah, I'm flying a little blind on this one ^^'

As things turned out, I didn't end up seeing this at Annecy, since it clashed with Rintarō's new short film... but fortunately, it is now available in the usual places. So the plan tonight is pretty simple: we will be watching both New Gods films, first a reprise of Nezha and then the new Yang Jian.

Also! We're actually on time! I'm gonna go live a lot earlier than we've managed lately, namely 8pm UK time, which is about 3 hours from this post (if you're in the States, that will be midday Pacific time, 3pm Eastern time). The place is, as ever, twitch.tv/canmom. Hope to see you there~

[worm-death]

Good and Bad Anime Backstory Integration

I'm writing this blog post to discuss in length something I'm really passionate about: making good, relatable characters. And through the many anime I've seen, it's done both good and bad. And so I wanted to write this to give my take on the subject. Fair warning: I will be spoiling certain anime series. I will warn again when I am about to spoil something (Demon Slayer Season 1, Hell's Paradise Season 1, One Piece, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Lupin III Part 6, Galaxy Express 999, The Wind Rises). These are also just my opinions. I'm not demanding you to write stories like this; simply my thoughts on the matter.

This is by far my least favorite way to tell a character's origin story. Right as they're dying, or even if it's the last time we see them on screen. Why? Because you don't have any time to let that sink in. I will tell you, nothing is worse than watching a character die just to have the wade to white and the BOOM flashback, no thank you. This is mainly in regard to villain characters.

Demon Slayer was a constant notorious example of this, and my main conflict with the entire franchise. It made every villain a complete sob story. And that's not even necessarily a bad thing, but it's the execution that is faulted every time. (No explicit spoilers since I can't remember Jack about that show, but season 1 spoilers, I guess. Skip this next paragraph if you wish to avoid any).

An episode starts out introducing our new demonic villain. Simple enough. And it's pretty straightforward: evil person does evil things. And it remains that way until Tanjiro has the final fight with the episode's villain, cutting off their head and whatnot. And as we see them fall back in slow motion, blood gushing everywhere. The origin story jumpscares me.

Why should I feel bad for a character who has only been presented as evil with little to no redeeming qualities? There was never a pre-established reason for me to feel bad for this character. They have only been presented as a bad person I should want dead.

I want to put this into perspective in the real world. There are plenty of deplorable people out there, the real-life villains. And aside from those few individuals born into this world truly evil. The majority of the time, there was a significant event in that person's life that brought them to the point of committing heinous crimes. And what does the public do when they find out these people are put on death row or sentenced to life? We are happy. We are glad that this evil person is gone (the sane ones of us, anyway). So, I see fictional villains the same way. "Oh good, the hero killed the villain! Wait, now I have to feel bad for them?? Uh..."

What it boils down to is the inability to form connections. The human mind does not work like: villain (I hate them) -> backstory (THEY WERE AN ORPHAN?!?!?) -> villain (OMG I LOVE YOU!! you were just misunderstood....) No.

When I say this is my least favorite form of backstory delivery, I have seen more of them fail than succeed. But that is definitely not the case for all stories. In fact, there are some simply amazing stories. I will be spoiling One Piece twice here (Dressrosa and Wano, please skip the next paragraph).

I think the smarter thing to do when creating a backstory like this is not to make it a sob story. In episode 1062 of One Piece, Zoro fights King, someone we practically knew nothing about, and gets his backstory revealed. It was great. And it's the tone that makes it great. It is an info drop, not a sob story. Simply informing the audience on how King and Kaido met. In turn, the information from that flashback also plays into Kaido as a character and adds more depth to him. There are practical things to take away from the flashback, even if the central character is no longer going to be relevant.

If you can make a backstory practical and give them a takeaway, then it's worthwhile. Something other shows fail to do. We may see a character's connection to another relevant character, but that's it, just a connection and doesn't actually say anything about them.

Again, back to Demon Slayer. All the demons were turned by Muzan Kibutsuji. We see how they met, and aside from literally turning the character into a demon, that is it. Each interaction doesn't give us a hint into Muzan's mind. He's simply there to serve the plot device.

With One Piece (yes, more spoilers), even though the central focus is on King, we get a bit of inside into Kaido. Although portrayed as a completely standoffish, cold monster, here we see a caring side of him. He lends a hand to someone who needs help. We aren't meant to feel bad for these characters in this flashback. We are simply having information being established. I call it a footnote in the middle of the fight because it is additional information not strictly required but adds further information.

Can an emotional backstory before death be done right? Yes! It's hard to pull off; again, I will use One Piece, Dressrosa, this time as an example. (Skip next paragraph)

Senor Pink is meant to be seen as obscene, pervy, and not a good guy. There's no reason to believe he isn't all of that until they reveal his backstory, as he's losing his fight against Franky. It clearly explains why he dresses like a baby to this day. It is genuinely tragic, even though I hated this guy mere minutes ago. Why can this strike a chord with me while other shows can't? Okay, sure, there is bias because One Piece is already awesome, but there are others! I may have hated Senor Pink until then because he presented himself as a horrible person. BUT I knew who he was. I understood what he did on a surface level, and that is crucial to establishing an origin story. I felt bad because it was relatable and tragic and explained why he acted the way he did. It left me thinking and reflecting. It gave me something to chew on.

This is still risky territory to deal with. You have to put a lot of faith in yourself as a writer that you can engage an audience with your characters without them having any idea who they are. Sometimes it's done well, and sometimes it's done poorly. And unfortunately, I see it done poorly a lot. It's definitely more of a mixed bag than final-moment backstories. I've seen more cases of it done well considerably, but it definitely doesn't mean it can't be screwed up. I will now spoil Hell's Paradise Season 1 (skip the two next paragraphs).

As characters start arriving in Paradise, they give some of them character introductions (or, as I like to call it, padding). Of those are characters named Tenza and Nurugai. In their introductory episode, or at least the first time we spend time alone with them, we are given both their backstories. Nurugai's village is completely destroyed, and she is blamed for it. Tenza was a child who never received love from anyone growing up and did whatever he could to survive, learning to kill people. Then, he's adopted and trained to become a swordsman. Learning to have respect and have someone to look up to and want to achieve goals for. Except, I don't care.

I think the trope of the characters' villages being burned down is overdone. The troubled child turned hoodlum trope is overdone. I couldn't care less about these characters because I've seen it 100 times before. There needs to be something that can engage me and allow me to feel bad for these characters. Tenza is a boring character through and through. I don't care how many times they show me his flashback. He's overdone. He fights valiantly and finds purpose in himself, fighting the monsters he faces to protect someone else. Then he dies, so it's like, ok, cool. Even if I liked his backstory (because, let's be honest, there's heavy bias because I did NOT like Hell's Paradise in the slightest), it didn't have any time to simmer with the audience. HI, CHARACTER YOU DON'T KNOW -> DEPRESSING BACKSTORY -> YOU LOVE HIM NOW -> HE'S FREAKING DEAD. Stop it. Don't do that.

Watching that episode felt like a waste of time. Why did I have to sit there and learn about this character's backstory, expecting they would be a bigger deal, just for the end of the episode to punch me in the face and laugh at me for how I just spent my past 20 minutes ingesting information that will not matter.

I'm happy to say I have more examples of how this can be done well. All of which cover different moods. The key to making a good introductory backstory is to have all the events surrounding the character be intriguing. We should be engaged and curious about the situation at hand, not just the character.

Since many backstories try to be tragic, I'll start with the first episode of Galaxy Express 999. We are given some world-building and then introduced to our titular character, Tetsuro. Immediately, we are already captivated by the world in which these characters live. We are now just following the life of one individual. I will forever praise Leiji Matsumoto for this and his ability to attach you to characters you've just met. There's something that comes off as just so human there's an immediate connection to be found. When we watch Tetsuro and his mother struggle through the cold, barren snow, you can feel the love they have for each other and their desperation for a better life. We understand their struggles. When Tetsuro's mom is killed, we feel bad for him. We don't even know him yet, but it's just the reality that this poor 10-year-old boy just lost his mom, and now he was to brave this harsh, cruel world alone, a world where humans are treated like dirt. This backstory sets up the motivation for his entire character as well. It's perfectly executed, and we can perfectly understand why he wants to get a robotic body to make up for the time his parents didn't get to live for.

The way Leiji Matsumoto executes backstories can be seen in practically every episode of Galaxy Express. In every episode, Tetsuro and Maetel travel to a new planet and encounter someone new and the life they struggle with. A part of the beauty in the message with Galaxy Express is no matter where you go or how distant you feel from other people, there's an inherent connection between us all. It's illustrated so well in this show that even though half the characters aren't even human, we understand their pain. Some characters don't even have backstories, all we see is the oppressive world they live in and feel immediate sympathy. This could be me being a major Leiji Matsumoto simp, but I think that there is so much care and consideration poured into that story. The difference between Demon Slayer and Galaxy Express is one says, "I want you to feel bad for this character," and the latter says, "I want to create something that's human."

Now, there are two other examples of good introductory backgrounds I want to bring up because they both show how this can be done to completely different genres.

I would first like to mention the start of Cowboy Bebop. At the start of the first episode, we are given a greyscaled noir-esque opening. The only sound is a singular music box as we see guns firing, a red rose, and a grenade, and then BANG, the opening starts. For anyone who's seen Bebop, you know very well that the intro sequence shows how Spike faked his death to escape the syndicate. It's something to be appreciated in retrospect, but this is gripping for newcomers watching the show for the first time. It's whiplash, this quiet scene, and then the loud booming intro. When I watched this show for the first time, I was excited. "Whoa, this is gonna be a wild ride," I thought. You want to find out what the backstory was about, however, and the pieces are put into place over the course of the show. The thing I love about Bebop is it's made to be rewatched. We understand the true meaning behind that first scene only by re-watching it. It's gripping with action, even if we have no idea who any of the characters shown were. That's not the point of introducing the characters. It's just meant for you to be curious.

As a final example, I want to talk about the first scene in The Wind Rises. The film starts out showing Jirou's childhood, but this is just a small part of the movie. The movie has a fantastic way of engaging us with the character. The first scene is Jirou's dream of flying a plane across the countryside of Japan until he's shot down. We don't know anything about this guy, but we can tell he loves flying, and it's done in an exciting way where we want to see more. His childhood is meant to show us where he is now, and you already have a great idea of who he is before we even reach the present day. It's done in such an engaging way, especially when he first dreams about Giovanni Battista. A kid so deeply rooted in this passion for planes, you want to see his story unfold.

And finally, my favorite way to integrate a backstory. It is in the middle of a show's runtime or after we've already established a character. I think that this is the perfect way to show a backstory because you've already gotten to understand and like the character, and you still have plenty of time before the show ends or the character dies for that backstory to truly feel like a part of the character that they carry with them and so when the show does end, or the character dies, the gravity of their whole story is felt that much more. However, there still is a way to mess that all up.

One glance at my profile, and it's obvious I really like Lupin, but any sane fan will tell you Part 6 was not it. It suffered from a lot of problems, both technical and in the show itself. It's obvious that the whole thing got thrown together quickly, and that goes for our main antagonist, Lupin's "mom." Hearing Lupin mention his mom was just a "nuh uh, no, we are not doing this." Did it have the potential to be presented in an interesting way? Yes, but that's not what happened.

For those not well-versed in the Lupin universe, there is basically no canon outside of the very, very few established things. Lupin's grandpa and dad were both master thieves; Goemon is the 13th descendant of Goemon Ishikawa, and Inspector Zenigata is the descendant of Heiji Zenigata. That is literally it. Characters' pasts are changed constantly, and even within the same show. Really, a "canon" event is only canon for that singular episode. I preface Part 6 with this because, obviously, bringing up a new character that is a massive part of Lupin is a big deal.

As it turns out, this character, Tomoe, was not actually Lupin's mom but his mother figure who helped train him to be the thief he is today. She was the one secretly pulling the strings behind every episode. That's why all these girls started appearing in Lupin's life. Ok? So yeah, you suck? Tomoe's character is confusing at best, but it is such a slap in the face to anyone invested in the show. That is why I use it as a perfect way to NOT integrate a backstory into a pre-established character, because the way part 6 was handled feels like fan fiction.

To compare, Lupin Zero which came out just a year after Part 6, was a 6-part series solely created to show the origin story of Lupin and Jigen. In that series, it includes Lupin I and Lupin II. These are characters we've only heard talked about, so seeing them was very exciting. Their existence and influence on Lupin are believable and add to his character because this flashback doesn't come out of nowhere. "Oh we've heard of these guys, and now we finally get to see them!!" See that's how to do that right. Not just "Haiii guys~~ So I have a mom now~!!☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆ She is also evil now and you have to believe this is extremely important!!!"

In summary, characters like Tomoe feel like someone inserted their OC and we had to sit there for 24 episodes and actually believe that she was someone we should care about. (This is why I don't read fanfics with OC's). If you're going to throw in a backstory, make sure it doesn't come out of literally nowhere.

There are two different types of middle backstories, one is leaving hints and only getting glimpses into the past, and the other is dumping the whole thing. And both can be done really well.

My favorite example of just leaving little hints, is Evangelion. Practically all the characters follow this type of progression where we're giving a lot of hints where we're meant to put the pieces together. One I want to give special applause to is Asuka. Until the episode where her backstory is revealed, we don't really know much. Like Bebop, Evangelion is a show that demands rewatch in order to understand where everything fits into place. Initially watching Evangelion, Asuka comes off as annoying and narcissistic, and she is, but through her backstory, we find out why she acted the way she did throughout the series. The clues were all there, we just didn't fully understand until we got the main reveal.

As a kid, the one person she ever cared about was her mother, and the only thing she truly felt accomplished in, becoming an EVA pilot, she was never able to tell her mom before she hanged herself right in front of her daughter. This is why she comes off as so high and mighty because she needs to reassure herself that she is because she never had anyone that mattered to her, tell her that.

The way we perceive her actions is now understood because of her past. We needed this story to take place in the middle because we needed to form an opinion on Asuka and pick up on her character traits so that her backstory would explain all of that. The final two episodes speak a lot about her past and why she's like this, without this prior knowledge, we would not understand why she is such a troubled character and after we are allowed to see her express herself, why she is feeling insecure.

One final example. Luffy's backstory is almost as iconic as the character himself. Something I like that the anime does is put his backstory 4 episodes into the show, a change made from the manga, where it's the first chapter. I think that allowing us to spend 3 episodes with Luffy and getting to know his character so his backstory has all the more impact. I instantly fell in love with Luffy's character, so seeing him be so different as a kid and the emotional connection he has to Shanks, has all the more impact to me. I now understand why that hat is so important to Luffy. The little bit of context to Luffy's character before getting to know his past I think creates a deeper connection than starting out with it (I am not dissing the manga at all, I just prefer the anime in this one instance).

I think I've been able to explain my thoughts on how each type of backstory integration can be handled, and again I would like to reiterate, that this is all my opinion. This is something I find very important to me still, so I wanted to share the ways in which they are executed properly and improperly in all different forms. This part of a show is a make-it-or-break-it for me, so I think it's good to have high standards for how to execute a backstory properly. I hope whether you agree or disagree with me, you at least found this interesting. If you do have your own opinions I would like to hear them.

[i-mustache-your-opinion]

Meet The Competitors

Preliminaries have officially ended! Combining the winning characters from the preliminaries with the characters who received 3+ nominations during the submission period, we have officially finalized our 128 competitors. It will take some time to get the brackets and Round 1 polls together, so in the meantime here is the complete list of competitors for those who are curious.

Mustache Girl (A Hat in Time)

Count Olaf (A Series of Unfortunate Events)

Damon Gant (Ace Attorney)

The Judge (Ace Attorney)

Marvin Grossberg (Ace Attorney)

Ice King (Adventure Time)

Magnus Burnsides (The Adventure Zone: Balance Arc)

Gordito Delgado (The Adventures of Dr. McNinja)

Captain Archibald Haddock (The Adventures of Tintin)

Hercule Poirot (Agatha Christie's Poirot)

Brewster (Animal Crossing)

Heimerdinger (Arcane: League of Legends)

Iroh (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Lawrence Betelgeuse Shoggoth (Beetlejuice: The Musical)

Bob Belcher (Bob's Burgers)

Tim Lockwood (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs)

Jet Black (Cowboy Bebop)

Watari (Death Note)

Senshi (Delicious in Dungeon)

Harry Du Bois (Disco Elysium)

The Master (Doctor Who)

Sebastian (Doki Doki Precure)

Cranky Kong (Donkey Kong)

Captain Villads (The Dragon Prince)

The Lorax (Dr. Seuss)

Ramuh (Final Fantasy)

Cervantes (Fire Emblem: Awakening)

Alex Louis Armstrong (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Maes Hughes (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Kintoleski (Futari wa Precure Splash Star)

Kratos (God of War)

Lan Qiren (Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation)

Old Man McGucket (Gravity Falls)

Stan Pines (Gravity Falls)

Gordon Freeman (Half-Life)

Mumbo Jumbo (Hermitcraft)

The King of Town (Homestar Runner)

Seneca Crane (The Hunger Games)

Isaac Netero (Hunter x Hunter)

Gyro Zeppeli (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure)

The King of All Cosmos (Katamari)

Solomon David (Kill Six Billion Demons)

Chourou (Kira Kira Precure a la Mode)

Ganondorf (The Legend of Zelda)

Daruk (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)

King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)

King Harkinian (The Legend of Zelda CD-i)

Morshu (The Legend of Zelda CD-i)

Yosemite Sam (Looney Tunes)

Gandalf (Lord of the Rings)

Gimli (Lord of the Rings)

Treebeard (Lord of the Rings)

Daisuke Jigen (Lupin III)

Tim Wright (Marbel Hornets)

Broque Monsieur (Mario & Luigi)

Mr. Sinister (Marvel)

Odin Borson (Marvel)

The Bowler Hat Guy (Meet the Robinsons)

William Murderface (Metalocalypse)

Rich Uncle Pennybags (Monopoly)

Danjuro "Gentle Criminal" Tobita (My Hero Academia)

Shouta "Eraserhead" Aizawa (My Hero Academia)

Yamada "Present Mic" Hizashi (My Hero Academia)

Master Wu (Ninjago)

Maestro (Once Upon a Time...)

Dracule Mihawk (One Piece)

Edward "Whitebeard" Newgate (One Piece)

Franky (One Piece)

Gan Fall (One Piece)

Gol D. Roger (One Piece)

Jinbe (One Piece)

Kaido (One Piece)

Killer (One Piece)

Marshall "Blackbeard" D. Teach (One Piece)

Rob Lucci (One Piece)

Sanji (One Piece)

Trafalgar D. Water Law (One Piece)

Usopp (One Piece)

Zeff (One Piece)

Darius Deamonne (The Owl House)

Dell Clawthorne (The Owl House)

Paul Blart (Paul Blart: Mall Cop)

Davy Jones (Pirates of the Caribbean)

Entei (Pokémon)

Kricketune (Pokémon)

Probopass (Pokémon)

Raikou (Pokémon)

Samurott (Pokémon)

Sealeo (Pokémon)

Stoutland (Pokémon)

Drayden (Pokémon: Black & White)

Captain Kamado (Pokémon Legends: Arceus)

Warden Ingo (Pokémon Legends: Arceus)

Count Dracula (Popular Culture)

Santa Claus (Popular Culture)

Inigo Montoya (The Princess Bride)

Julius Pringles (Pringles)

Agent Wyoming (Red vs Blue)

James Ironwood (RWBY)

Remus Sanders (Sanders Sides)

Norville "Shaggy" Rogers (Scooby Doo)

Sea Hawk (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

Ned Flanders (The Simpsons)

Master Eon (Skylanders)

Papa Smurf (The Smurfs)

Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik (Sonic the Hedgehog)

Kamaji (Spirited Away)

SpongeBob SquarePants (The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie)

Henry Henderson (Spy x Family)

Will Riker (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Mirrorverse Spock (Star Trek: The Original Series)

Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars)

Hades (Supergiant Games' Hades)

King Bob-omb (Super Mario)

Luigi (Super Mario)

Mario (Super Mario)

Toadsworth (Super Mario)

Waluigi (Super Mario)

Wario (Super Mario)

R.J. MacReady (The Thing)

Ricky LaFleur (Trailer Park Boys)

Minimus Ambus (Transformers)

Asgore Dreemurr (Undertale)

Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe (Voltron: Legendary Defender)

Jimmy T (WarioWare)

Nigel Thornberry (The Wild Thornberrys)

Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher)

Professor Crumbs (Wizards of Waverly Place)

[fruiteggsaladit]

Oh dang Lupin III Albatross wings of death MAY HAVE inspired YYH volume 18 cover art where Yusuke Kuwabara are on mini-airplanes? Cool

The Lupin episode aired way back in 1980 so the timeline does match up for it to have served as inspiration, Togashi has commented in the past that he's been inspired by Ghibli movies and Miyazaki in particular(?), both MCs are smiling kinda nervously.

Togashi's facial expressions for characters are hard for me to interpret I realise; initially I saw Yusuke's smile as something excited bc Kuwabara's expression is so stressed-out-looking; they're foils of each other, and so it felt right to assume that Yusuke is purely excited in this image.

Next to consider though is the content of the volume this image belongs to: How They Spent Their Year, and the beginning of the King's Tournament and its lead-up. Yusuke chose a tournament bc that's what he's most comfotable with participating in, and feels like the simplest solution to avoiding outright war. Combining this context with what may have been its inspiration, Yusuke's grin now feels a little tense, like smiling from nervousness.

The way his body is posed, it looks like his elbows would be jagging into his stomach. It doesn't appear as if his forearms are resting on a console (granted, we're given no information about that and so this is pure speculation, but it feels like most aircrafts don't encourage its pilots to rest their arms anywhere, keeping the arms free and hands on the steering wheel. Easier to WRENCH oneself away in case one needs a sudden turn? This rings true of any vehicle I think...)

He is sitting like he's driving a bumper car! He and Kuwabara, actually. The association meaning he intends to drive into another pilot? Or is he excited to be soaring in the sky at all?

Which is a lot more intentional on Yusuke's part than Lupin's! In the episode, Lupin uses the aircraft to crash through the guns on the bigger aircraft, damaging it so it belatedly and comically loses most of its wingspan. Having turned upward, it stalls and begins to descend, to everyone's mild anxiety. It finally crashes through, conveniently trough a pre-made hole there through which we spot Fujiko, biting her fingers as she watches the aircraft fall down on top of her. They do all survive, having fallen into a comical pile of limbs and bodies.

In that shot, Lupin isn't so much grinning as much as I assumed at first, and more like gritting his teeth with stress - as they fall, the wheel is torn off its console, Lupin having tried to the very last second to somehow miraculously getting it to fly again. Before this though, his expression had been in a triumphant smile, having taken out the guns.

It's hard to figure out expressions sometimes! I think I wanted to end on the note that it was interesting to be thinking about Yusuke's grin in this image from the perspective of a playful grin, to being an anxious stress-smile. Depends on how the viewer wants to interpret Yusuke! A badass who never feels any fear whatsoever and says "fuck you" to authority bc they have no power over him, or someone who passes very well for that kind of figure and is misinterpreted as much a battle-obsessed badass both in-universe and by consumers.

[dukeswonderousmenagerie]

Art by @cardiac-rhythmic (thank you friendo your still the very best) Where the Blood keeps Running

. . .The rest of the night all runs together in a blur. He opens his eyes to a quiet sunrise peeking around the curtains. The smell of blood is gone, and when he goes to take a leak, the blood splattered sink is clean, and it smells like cleaning detergent. His hands are a trembling mass of dark red pain on the ends of his arms. Goemon’s asleep, propped up against the bed, hair crazy, he smells like detergent. 

Jigen walks up towards the bed. His face is blank as he stares at Goemon’s sleeping form. He’s slightly propped up by the headboard, arms across his chest, head tilted toward where Jigen stood, breath even and spaced out. Jigen stands there, and without a second thought he creeps his fingers a little closer tentatively. The pain from the movement washes over and through him. He clenches his jaw and shuts his eyes and swallows the noise he wants to make, and when he opens his eyes again, Goemon is still dead to the world and Jigen has one of his bandaged hand as close to his head as he can get. The tips of his fingers that aren't bandaged, barely touching his head, gently touch at Goemon’s hair.

Goemon doesn’t flinch, he doesn’t move. But Jigen stands there and stares as the tips of his fingers idly dance along the loose strands, as if trying to make sure that Goemon was real, and here. He stands there, staring at Goemon and then he looks out the window to the rising sun as it bathes the room in a now dark pinkish hue as it rises up over the skyline. And as he stares, Jigen thinks.

Later he would go down to the hospital. Later he would go down and see Lupin, and then he would decide his next move. He knew Goemon would not bring up what happened last night unless prompted too. But for now, Jigen would bury that situation and his current feelings for the time being. The night before in the bathroom would be a distant memory until everything got settled. But for now. . .

But for now he would stay focused. With Lupin out of commission there were things that needed to be done- their entire operation would have to be at a stand still for now until Lupin’s condition either improved or. . .

or . . .

Jigen pushed that thought from his head for a moment, and tried to think instead of what Lupin told him to do if anything ever happened to him. “Crisis management”, as Lupin put it. Step one was simple, make sure all assets were safe. With Lupin down for the count, Jigen didn’t want to take any chances of anyone else coming out of the woodwork to stake claim on anything that hadn’t been sold or given back to museums or the proper people. Which meant everything had to be shut down before the ���Cultured Vulture’s” as Lupin liked to call them started circling. Which meant Jigen had to make a few calls.

But the step prior to step one was more important at the moment. That step included worrying about his boss first. So later, he would go down to the hospital and see Lupin, and if Lupin was awake, and coherent enough, he would ask him what he’d want him to do. Lupin had originally told him years back that if anything ever happened to him, that Jigen would be put in charge of everything and everyone. And while Jigen couldn’t help but feel his heart ache at how much trust Lupin put in him, even if he didn’t feel like he deserved it now, Jigen still felt weird calling the shots by himself without Lupin around. 

But as he stood and looked at Goemon’s sleeping form, he remembered the one thing that he had seared in the back of his mind after Lupin had told him.

Keep them safe- Goemon and Fujiko.

Back then he thought it was dumb: Goemon was a strong man who obviously didn’t need protection, and while he couldn’t stand her, Jigen had to admit Fujiko was a resourceful enough woman to keep anyone on their toes.

But after what had happened. . .Jigen now understood. And with the people who nearly took out Lupin still out there, what were the odds of them attempting to finish the job?

The thought of them coming back. Coming to finish the job, and maybe even take out the rest of them, set Jigen’s teeth on edge.

So as he stood there, looking at Goemon and thinking about everything, he made a promise to himself. One that made his trigger finger itch despite the pain in his hand, and his eyes turn cold as they watched the dawn rise. One promise that he had no intentions of breaking.

He would keep them safe.

No matter what.

[radiant-absolute-radiance]

My favourite character trope is just a character that’s actually kind of an opponent to the main character/s but is forcibly becoming a part of their squad and is also the first one the main characters ask for help if anything happens

[fablefan]

Lupin III -- Nutcracker AU

I am once again back on my AU bullsh/t and return with something festive for the holiday season (of which I’m sort of speed-running the description of)

This is something of an amalgamation of a lot of different versions of the story + some others, but most prominently the Barbie Nutcracker version because it is one of THE BEST and I will FIGHT people on this

So Lupin is the role of Clara in this AU, currently living with his family and cousin Albert and uncle Gaston in their manor in France. On Christmas Eve, his grandfather, Lupin I, arrives and comes bearing gifts, with Lup’s being a particularly special one: a nutcracker doll, with colorful robes and a strange-looking sword, said to protect him when Lup needs him most. Lupin doesn’t quite believe that, but it’s still a wonderful piece of craftsmanship and a lovely gift, so he keeps it close to his chest.

Midnight falls over the household, and while everyone’s in bed, Lupin, having passed out on his living room couch, is soon left dealing with a very small problem: an army of tiny ice soldiers appearing from a mouse-hole in the wall, and leading them is the North King, a man with a magic scepter and supposedly the darkest heart of them all.

Fortunately, Lupin I’s promise was right, and Lupin’s nutcracker doll -- Goemon -- awakens just in time to fend them off from his charge, and, in the ensuing fight, Lupin ends up getting shrunk in the process by the North King -- Jigen -- and his magic scepter, and is reduced to the size of a toy.

As the battle rages on, and seeing the crowd of soldiers starting to overwhelm his dear doll, Lupin ends up helping Goe fight... by smacking Jigen in the face with his shoe.

Jigen does eventually end up falling back when Goemon proves too much for him, but swears that what happened isn’t over. Lupin, scrambling down from where he made his mad dash up the Christmas tree, gets to meet his savior, as Goe explains how he’s currently in his service as a protector and guardian, on the order of his grandfather.

He also needs Lupin’s help — the North King has taken over the Land of Sweets, and even went behind the Snow Queen, to whom he had sworn loyalty to, and struck her down, stealing her magic scepter and her army. His heart, after having done so, was supposedly frozen solid, rendering him incapable of love or emotion. Even worse, the Sugar Plum Princess (Fujiko) is currently held hostage in his castle, and who knows what sort of horrendous torture he’s doing to her --

(Fujiko, up in her cell, throwing dried sugarplums at a scowling, ice-pack-holding Jigen: Can you at least bring up a coloring book or something, I’m bored to DEATH up here —) So Lup follows Goe into the Land of Sweets in an attempt to avenge his fallen masters and reclaim his kingdom, encounters a few new faces along the way, and maybe learns that there’s more to this frozen king that meets the eye.

[animefeminist]

Chatty AF 154: 2021 Fall Wrap-Up

Dee, Vrai, and Peter look back on the Fall 2021 season!

Episode Information

Date Recorded: January 9th, 2022 Hosts: Dee, Vrai, and Peter

Episode Breakdown

0:00:00 Intros Neutral Zone 0:02:31 takt op.Destiny 0:06:11 SAKUGAN 0:09:12 MUTEKING THE DANCING HERO  0:15:21 Lupin III Part 6 0:17:28 Irina the Vampire Cosmonaut 0:22:35 The Faraway Paladin 0:25:37 Banished from the Hero’s Party It’s Complicated 0:25:47 Taisho Otome Fairy Tale 0:27:37 The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window 0:28:27 Komi Can’t Communicate 0:32:25 Blue Period Feminist Potential 0:33:09 Ranking of Kings 0:39:37 The Heike Story Sequels and Carryovers 0:46:30 Let’s Make a Mug Too 2 0:48:19 The Great Jahy Will Not be Defeated! 0:49:16 Restaurant to Another World 2 0:50:03 The aquatope on white sand 0:56:41 86 EIGHTY-SIX 0:59:24 Outro

[carriagelamp]

The tops books I read over the 2020 – you know, what I could fit in between the entire world collectively losing its mind and a literal plague being unleashed on us.

This is ridiculously late, but my new year was just too busy to get this done and fight with tumblr over uploading x.x so here it finally is. I won’t go into detail about them, because I did that in my various monthly reviews, but (with the exception of Crave which was unspeakably bad but made the list because it was strangely iconic for my summer this year) this assortment of novels, novellas, comics, and manga were all fantastic reads that I would recommend people check out!

The list in a not-picture form:

A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood by Fred Rogers – a collection of illustrated poems from Mister Rogers

Belle Révolte by Linsey Miller – most recent queer novel by one of my favourite authors, about magic and science and war and medicine

Behind The Scenes by Bisco Hatori – a manga series by the creator of Ouran Highschool Host Club, a great coming-of-age story about a students in the theatre prop department

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor – a scifi novella about the first of the Himba people to leave for space after being accepted into the most prestige university in the galaxy

The Bromelaid Trilogy by Terry Pratchett – a series about a dying race of nomes who discover there’s more of them than they thought and more to the world than they imagined

Crave by Tracy Wolff – worst paranormal romance book I’ve ever read, derivative of, somehow, everything, do not fucking bother

The Deep by Rivers Solomon – a novella about a race of deep sea mermaids and how they cope with the traumatic history of their people

Doll Bones by Holly Black – a story about a group of kids as they struggle with growing beyond playing make believe and a ghost that may or may not be haunting them

Flawed Dogs by Berkeley Breathed – a story about dogs and how they survive in against the human standards of perfection and beauty, both hilarious and traumatically brutal

FRNCK by Olivier Bocquet & Brice Cossu – a French graphic novel series about a boy who accidentally falls back into prehistory and is adopted, somewhat reluctantly or at least with great confusion, by a family of cavemen

Ghost Hunters Adventure Club and the Secret of the Grand Chateau by Dr Cecil H. H. Mills – a Hardy Boys satire written by the Game Grumps which was probably the funniest book I read all year, I would highly recommend it even as someone with zero interest in the Game Grumps.

Gregor the Overland by Suzanne Collins – Gregor discovers a hidden world under New York populated by giant animals and strange humans that are determined to draw him into their political turmoil

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson – I feel like I read this ten years ago. The novel that the Netflix series was loosely based on, a very cool horror with fascinating themes built into the subtext

Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens by Tanya Boteju – a Canadian slice-of-life novel about a young queer teen falling into the LGBT scene for the first time and figuring out friendship, love, and who she is

The Last Book On The Left by Marcus Parks, Henry Zebrowski, and Ben Kissel. True crime stories with a comedic twist, adapted from their podcast The Last Podcast On The Left.

Lupin III: World’s Most Wanted #3 by Monkey Punch – anyone on this blog knows I fell hard for Lupin this year. A goofy series about a world class thief and his team.

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline – probably the best book of the year for me. A post-apocolypse story based around the horror of residential schools, climate change, and illness

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyers – look I loved the Twilight series too much as a teen when it was first coming out not to have gone head over heels for this. Unabashedly loved it.

No Fixed Address by Susin Nielsen – a Canadian novel about child poverty and homelessness, more light-hearted and hopeful than it sounds

The One And Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate – a gorilla that’s spent his entire life placidly living in a tiny mall exhibit meets a new friend and suddenly has something bigger to live for and protect

Our Dreams At Dusk by Shimanami Tasogare – one of the best queer manga series I’ve ever read, super artsy and focuses on the different complicated experiences by a number of different characters

River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey – alternative history novella about a gay gunslinger and his team of hippo-cowboys in Louisana as they go on the biggest heist of their careers - so worth the read, this was tons of queer fun

Sanity & Tallulah by Molly Brooks – a graphic novel about the hijinks two young children (and aspiring mad scientists) can get up to on their space station home

The Witcher: The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski – can you believe The Witcher came out this year? Anyway, the novels were fucking amazing, some of the best high fantasy I’ve read in years