#there's no way jigen hates fujiko come on

[zantetsuken-blues]

never forget

Y'all ever notice that Fujiko receives a disproportionate amount of hate in the fandom? I'm sure it's something we've all seen, especially if you're a fan of her, but I don't really see it discussed.

I'm bringing it up now because for the past couple of months, I keep running into new fans that are very vocal about disliking her. And while I understand that everyone has their preferences, the reasons they give for why they hate her bother me the most:

"She's a bitch, she's so awful to the poor guys and especially to Lupin."

"She's a slut. She's constantly using her body to get what she wants."

"She betrays the gang so much it's annoying how she always does the same thing."

"It's the writers' fault for making her so unlikable."

While I partially understand one of these points, some of these other ones confuse me.

Fujiko is a character that looks out for herself. She goes into every heist with the thought of "what can I get out of this?" And despite this, she's been shown many times to care about all of the gang. Yes, even in part 2 where folks usually base their hatred of her off of. This is because she is a multifaceted character that isn't just driven by a single motivation.

"But Jigen and Goemon hate her!"

Do they? Because while they do get mad at her shenanigans, we also see them going out of their way to protect her and comfort her. Hell, Fujigoe is a common canon occurrence! Do you really think Goemon would be dating her if he didn't like her? Or that Jigen would be pushing her out of the way of bullets or shielding her with his body if he didn't care about her? Being mad or annoyed with someone's actions aren't the same as hatred. No one ever points out how they get mad at Lupin, and I'd argue that happens more often!

And on the point of her being a slut...where? I'm genuinely confused with this one. Fujiko does use her beauty and charms both to manipulate rich men into giving her treasure and to get out of dangerous situations. That's kind of the point of her being a femme fatale. But how often does she sleep with the people she manipulates? Most instances I can think of, she knocks them out when she gets that far. In fact, I would argue she doesn't seem to be that interested in having sex at all. Do they count her flirting as being slutty? If so, c'mon. And even if she did sleep with her targets, why would this be a bad thing? Are women characters not allowed to have sex? And again, how come Lupin doesn't get the third degree for HIS sluttiness. In fact, I see people joke about it and celebrate it if anything.

On the point of her betraying gang, yeah it is very one-note and does get old. You know what else is very one-note? Literally the actions of every other character in the show. I don't see people complaining about Zenigata chasing the gang getting old. Or about Lupin flirting with every woman he sees. Or about Jigen and Goemon using the same weapons in the same way to get out of every situation. Y'know, maybe this is just a repetitive show! And tbh, the writing lately has been shaken up. The modern series doesn't really have Fujiko betray the gang much anymore. She's either off doing her own thing or she's working with the gang as a member of the team. A lot of people complain about parts 4-6, but I think this is one of the elements it does right.

And finally, on the note of "poor Lupin", I think this one pisses me off the most lol. The fuck y'all mean "poor Lupin"?? I think fans either forget or don't realize that Lupin is a pretty smart guy. He knows Fujiko is most likely going to betray him if he does something for her, the bastard LIKES IT. This is foreplay for both of them. In case you haven't noticed yet, both of them are kind of freaks lol. There's a reason that most of the time, Jigen and Goemon are mad at HIM. Lupin is not a poor sweet baby that needs protection from Fujiko. He specifically loves the chase, the constant push and pull of their relationship. She's an exciting challenge for him, he's a stable home for her.

While I agree that Fujiko has not always been written great in the past, and I'm sure a lot of that was due to misogyny, I think fans need to reevaluate why they criticize her more harshly than the rest of the gang. There's a lot of things she's done that the fandom deems unforgivable, yet the boys have done some of the same stuff without so much as a slap on the wrist. Lupin constantly puts them all in unnecessary danger. Jigen has made some really unsavory comments about women. Goemon has betrayed the gang more than once. And I don't see nearly enough discussion about how Lupin really used to push himself on Fujiko, to the point of it being uncomfortable sometimes. Like damn I'd sell his ass out too😬.

I think it all boils down to Fujiko being a woman. And as a woman, she has to work harder to please the fans. If she's too nice, then she doesn't really have a personality or a reason for anyone to like her. If she's too selfish, she's a mean bitch and everyone should hate her. What if people saw her as a character first? Because no she's not a good person, but neither are the rest of the gang. Their morals are all on a sliding scale of what works best for the plot. But damn she's a great character. She stands out on her own and really makes you remember her. She's so much more than "the girl" character, and I'm so grateful for that. I hope more fans come to this conclusion too.

[catchyhuh]

What are your thoughts on the rest of the gang’s knowledge/experience with Jigen’s fear of ghosts, and likewise for Lupin’s fear of octopi?

I. GOT MORE INTO THIS THAN I EXPECTED i also looked around a bit to see if i could find fujiko, goemon and zeni’s little… unserious fears, but i couldn’t remember anything/my gigantic lupin screenshots and note-taking docs were no help in finding stuff those three were creeped out by. if anybody has any info on how to ruin these three’s days, please share

SO!

IRRATIONAL /NOT THAT BIG A DEAL FEARS

lupin: not fucking big on octopi

probably got it from some absolute nothingburger childhood event where he went to the beach and one got a bit too close to him and he internalized that rather than all of the other fucking insane shit that was going around him throughout that time

jigen is probably the one who fixates on it the most because it’s. really not that serious. it’s not like this is some kind of trauma trigger, he’s just icked out by the suction cup thingies. ergo jigen is always the first to shove an octopus at lupin just to laugh at him when he makes a face and goes “CUT THAT SHIT OUT”

fujiko doesn’t really think about it much, and honestly didn’t realize it was a thing since it never came up in day to day life until they went to scope out an aquarium for some jewels in the mosaic mural or whatever and he just grimaced like a cat about to throw up when he saw the giant 10 foot tall red octopus on the wall hovering over him. and she’s just seeing him wince at the wall and all she can think is “oh my god does he think the rubies are fake. is he about to tell me this is all for nothing” while lupin is thinking “jesus christ. i love her i love my fujicakes i have to do this i love her i lo

goemon is the least affected by it, since he’s usually busy doing his own thing in instances where it would come up. he’s off doing whatever the hell he wants on the beach, he’s waiting outside on the roof at the aquarium, he’s letting jigen handle the main dish while he prepares the sides. even if he did witness firsthand lupin going “EW EW EW GET IT AWAY” like a child seeing a centipede for the first time he’d probably dismiss it as “oh, he really hates that watery, slimy texture on his skin. i wouldn’t want that either, really.” and then just. gently bats it away. doesn’t think anything of it in the slightest

did zenigata INITIALLY know he was afraid of them. no. he didn’t mean to actually freak him out while he was throwing an actual fucking octopus on him to catch him that one time, it just made sense to get a grabby animal to help him. well. grab. however when he DID FIND OUT, he spent a whole week setting up petty and random ways to throw octopi into his thwarting plans. it’d be a lot easier to catch someone if they were so caught off guard by something they hate they totally forgot to check around their surroundings. unfortunately for pops this is probably the reason why lupin’s not AS creeped out by them as he used to be. son of a bitch accidentally used exposure therapy on him like fear factor or something. oopsie!

side note this is making me realize i wrote that entire splatoon post without once considering the fact that lupin fucking hates like half the environment there. double oopsie

jigen: not fucking big on ghosts. or nuclear radiation but that’s not the point

i can understand why a guy emotionally haunted by all of the people he’s needlessly killed in his life would also be afraid of those same people like. ACTUALLY haunting him. plus it’d be funny if he went his entire childhood not that bothered by the idea of ghosts only to get steadily more freaked out by the idea as he got older

in a more nonspecific sense he just does not like having shit jumping out at him and ghosts seem to be the most common proponent of that so by association FUCK GHOSTS

lupin, to balance the scale here, is the worst. accidentally forgetting to mention a movie has to do with ghosts, bringing him into an old warehouse to steal something and certainly not because it has old creepy halloween props in it, hell, he even keeps extra white sheets on hand juuust in case. more than anything this just annoys the shit out of jigen and makes him reconsider his entire life that led up to the point of his lifetime partner in more ways than one actually resorting to going “ooOOoOOOOoo” at 3 a.m. to push his buttons.

fujiko is delighted by the fact, but restrains herself here. unlike the above example, she knows the most effective scare is one that comes out of the blue, after spending so long feeling calm. she’ll be sitting at the table in the morning reading an article on her phone, gasping really loudly and going “‘mansion at (address just up the street from their hideout) declared officially haunted 45 years after human remains were found in the basement’?! how creepy! i don’t know how you guys can stand sleeping a few houses away from that” and yes, this tactic ALSO annoys him, but is still effective, because they keep staying in these crumbling, old buildings in old towns and if he tries to look it up later there’s a 50/50 chance that article or a similar one is actually real

goemon… has a bit more fun with this than you’d expect. primarily because jigen doesn’t think he’s very aware of the fact, and… goemon’s default halloween outfit is always a pale, sunken-eyed, donned in white ghost. it doesn’t SCARE jigen so much as unsettle him in a childish way that he can suppress a bit, but the real gag here is that jigen honest to god doesn’t think goemon’s doing this on purpose. oh, jigen.

zenigata probably only found out because someone just outright told him, he thought about it for a minute and went, “i guess that makes sense,” and nothing ever came out of the fact. if the two were in a situation where they could just josh around and everything i could see him ribbing at him for it just because. well when you think about it on a surface level it is kind of funny for a man as scary as jigen to be spooked out by a widdle ghost. but outside of that, it’s not really something he could use to his advantage or for his own personal amusement, so he doesn’t make a real big deal out of it usually

[kazimakuwabara]

Monkies And The Weasel

Summary: The game comes to an end. But the Weasel is triumphant in his end. (Meant to be Whump, but it just hurts!) Lupin the third fanfiction

Words: about 1k.

Was inspired by the prompt "If only we could hold on"

***

It was a game, even when someone got hurt, even when someone died. It was all a gag of laughs. They were a barrel of monkeys running around in circles, chasing the weasel, and being chased by the weasel. They ran, and ran, laughing, smiling, and taking swipes at the soft spots on the back of each other's heads. It was so fun, so fun, so dizzying and fun!

All around the mulberry bush, the monkeys chased the weasel.

And at the Pop, they’d switch places and the weasel chased the monkeys.

Pop!

Switch.

Pop!

Switch.

Again, and again, and again, and again, until-

BANG.

The gunshot echoed too loudly, and the air shifted. Lupin stopped laughing, his foot stuck in the rung of a ladder. Jigen and Goemon had a hold of his arms, pearls, and diamonds hanging off their necks like a stream of dazzling stars. Fujiko was in the pilot’s seat of the helicopter, the passenger seat filled with bags of money and her share of gems. A tiara with a golden veil glittered in her hair.

Her golden honey color, and the strands of dazzling twinkles dripping from his two closest friends became grizzly and grotesque at the sound of that gunshot, and a short cut-off cough.

Air being punched out of a lung. Lupin turned, knowing before he saw, that the weasel had been caught. His eyes landed on Koichi Zenigata, his hated rival, his beloved friend, the hound, his pops, his paramour, his shadow, his noose, his lock and key. Zenigata’s hand was caught, still reaching for Lupin, his expression still fierce and determined as he reached for him. But it was changing. The fun was falling away. At the pocket of his coat, there was a small smoking little hole. It bubbled, and a small stream of blood trickled out like a fountain taking the color from Zenigata’s face. The angry, the cunning, the obsessive glint that always lit the Inspector’s face with a light that matched Lupin’s greed, coyness, and insanity, drained. Gray entered his brown cheeks like a creeping cold frosting the earth, and he looked down at the blood spilling from him. He was so surprised to see his life blood blooming on his chest. He looked back up at Lupin, and together their eyes darted behind him. The snipers that had joined Zenigata’s swat team had lined up their lights on Lupin, and in haste, in miscalculation, and without care, someone had fired.

Everyone was caught in that breath, frozen in that moment of when a bullet struck wrong. The sickening change where the friendly ‘Pop,’ had become a bang.

Yata was waving his hands at his swat team, running towards the snipers, his voice lost in the whirring of the blades of the helicopter. Red little lights danced back onto Zenigata, and a few lights managed to touch Lupin’s skin, but Zenigata would be lost if the snipers fired, and missed another hit. 

‘Missed? No, they didn’t miss. They could have accounted for the wind, for the pressure shifts, even for the damn chopper. And if they couldn’t, they shouldn’t have taken the shot. That's what a sniper does. They were told to fire. Even if Zenigata was in the way. Even if Zenigata would get hurt or die… someone from above probably thought all the better for it too,’ Lupin’s accursed, clever, terrible mind whirled, supplying an explanation in seconds. He didn't want it. He hadn't wanted it. Koichi Zenigata, for all his loveable ways, and moments of struggle… was no fool. Their eyes met, and Lupin knew that Zenigata knew…

This was an end to the game.

Zenigata, as always, wasn’t going to be satisfied unless he got in one more jab. His hand pressed to Lupin’s back, and he pushed, using the momentum of his own body’s collapse to propel Lupin forward into Jigen and Goemon’s arms. “Eyes forward, Lupin,” Zenigata rasped. "Get him out..." Yata was screaming. The copter blades were whirring.

Red lights danced.

And Pop, pop, pop… BANG, went the weasel. Time became real again as Lupin fell into Goemon and Jigen’s arms, and they hauled him into the helicopter, not wasting Zenigata’s final gift. “Don’t look, Lup, Goddammit, don’t look!” Jigen howled, his hands like claws on the back of Lupin’s head. He hadn’t even realized he had been fighting the rescue. Pop, pop, pop, went the guns…

“Lupin! Lupin! Lupin!” Goemon cried, his voice struck with the horror of the moment, his hands on Lupin’s face, trying to get Lupin to look at him. He could not see it, could not hear the final moment, but Lupin still somehow knew Zenigata’s body was getting riddled with holes. That even as the man went down laughing, pleased that he had released his prey so the carrion birds would not peck at it, he was getting shot up simply because some ugly boys wanted to destroy something beautiful. And Lupin’s beautiful inspector, with his always tired eyes, his over large hands, and his thread-bare cut was getting cut down.

“Oh my God! Those bastards!” Fujiko screamed, shaking her head like she wanted to throw a tantrum. She screamed, hateful and ugly, but she was beautiful as always as she cried.

“Lupin!” Someone screamed, and Lupin felt his hands clawing at his own hair as he wished he could just see the moment Pops slid to the ground. He didn’t care how bloody it was, but he wanted to say goodbye… he wanted that last moment with Zenigata. He could still feel Zenigata’s hand on the back of his shoulder, he could still feel that push that had shoved him into his friends’ waiting arms.

The weasel chased the monkeys. Pop. The monkeys chased the weasel. Pop. The weasel chased the monkeys. Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

They would never play again.

[fizzingwizard]

My favorite things ever created for Lupin III were Mine Fujiko's Lie, and The Woman Called Mine Fujiko

Not because I don't love the fun, energetic, quirky vibe of the classic series. Not because I prefer Fujiko to the boys (though I do adore her).

For me, The Woman Called Mine Fujiko resurrected not just Fujiko, but every female character written by a man who assumed he knew what makes women tick - or didn't care whether he knew, and just wanted to write her that way.

In the classic series, Fujiko's both a strong, dangerous woman who regularly betrays Lupin, yet she's also a helpless damsel in distress who needs Lupin to save her. How much she is of either depends on the writer and the story. Her saving grace is that, even back then, there was already more than just a sense that Lupin enjoyed getting outmaneuvered by her. They were the kind of perfect rivals who make the fan girls drool when it's two men, and start to see secret romantic longing in every look. Lupin and Fujiko really were rivals in love, but instead of making them more interesting, it hurt them. It made Lupin seem stupid, and it made Fujiko seem cold, heartless, selfish, and arrogant. What's more, because the story always favored Lupin and the boys' POV, we rarely ever got a glimpse of what Fujiko thought or felt - so fans were free to attribute to her whatever motivations they wanted. And fans, when it comes to beautiful, treacherous women, aren't very open-minded, let alone forgiving.

So The Woman Called Mine Fujiko was desperately needed. It somehow managed to pull Fujiko out of the grip of the male gaze without turning her into some kind of angel. It subverted the whole "she turned out like this because she was damaged as a child," by making us think that's what happened to her and then making it all a lie. She's still a criminal. She still betrays and uses people and is less spiritual and more practical about taking life than the romantics Jigen and Goemon (and often Lupin) are. And the underlying message was, it really doesn't matter what made Fujiko. She's a woman, and she's free to do what she wants. Even if it's bad. If we admire Lupin, we really have no business hating Fujiko. (Specific episodes can make most anyone hate her, but that should be chalked up to bad writing and low respect for characterization. This is, after all, fiction.) And, we learn, Lupin isn't in love with Fujiko just because she's beautiful and dangerous. He's also in love with her because he loves freedom, and freedom is Mine Fujiko.

In Mine Fujiko's Lie, we once again get this amazing, nuanced Fujiko who subverts tropes as neatly as she high kicks in heels. Her antagonist is a warped version of herself, a master manipulator who doesn't realize how he's manipulated by others, whose freedom comes with his first taste of desire - and which ultimately leads to his destruction. Nothing ventured, nothing gained - or lost. In her usual style, Fujiko defeats him by seducing and betraying him. While the art avoids the gore of Jigen's and Goemon's episodes, the eroticism highlights Fujiko's body's softness and vulnerability in a way that makes her seem desperate but determined as she uses psychological manipulation to win over sheer male power. Thematically, yeah, she's still talking about love and sex. But there's something existential about the way she talks, something deep that digs into the human psyche.

And the reframing of Fujiko's skill as psychology rather than seduction is only part of what's modern and liberating. The other is her relationship with the little boy (whose name I can't recall atm :P). We're primed to think (or dread) that Fujiko is about to tap into her latent maternal instincts. She's a woman, so of course she won't be able to resist a motherless child! And, as un-Fujiko-like as that would be, the alternative - her stealing the boy's only chance at a healthy life along with stranding him as an orphan - was too distasteful to hope for. The story string us along, making us think it'll be one, it'll be the other... and then, in the end, she's neither drawn into motherly sentiment, nor does she turn out to be utterly irredeemably (the usual fate of women who don't perform femininity in an acceptable way). She gets what she wants and the boy gets what he needs. He probably won't have stellar memories of her - and she's still far, far from an angel. But she's worked the job the way that she wants to work it, with resourcefulness and independence. Unlike her helpless charge, or her helpless antagonist. It's telling that this is the only movie of the three in this series which results in a direct kill (of the main antagonist, I mean). If there's anything Fujiko can't stand, it's helplessness. She's going to survive. She doesn't wax romantic about what it means to be a warrior. Someone came for her, she gave as good as she got - that's Fujiko. And yet, though she can't afford to be weak, she isn't so hard that she can't fall asleep on Lupin's shoulder.

I needed both of these stories to love Lupin III. Without them, I don't think I'd be able to look at it as anything more than a boy's fantasy. Fujiko's gotten some better development and overall treatment in some of the more recent anime series - but I will say that I was really disappointed in her in season six, because I felt she was rewritten to be more like ScarJo's Black Widow than anyone who could function as Lupin's rival and lover at once.

rabbit trail: The bit in Goemon's Blood Spray, where Fujiko walks off because Goemon's self-punishment is too ridiculous to watch, and Jigen and Lupin are all "This is how men are," about it, gets a mixed reaction from me. On the one hand, I tend to feel like Fujiko, that as confused yet determined as Goemon was, him killing himself through training is just wasteful. As is his friends letting him, because that's what he wants and he's got a warrior's spirit and yadda yadda. But on the other, my real issue is claiming this is a gender difference. It's glorifying the warrior philosophy yet again, when in the real world strong, war-hardened men run from battle every day, not because they aren't real warriors, but because they have sense. Live to die another day. (Which, incidentally, is what happens for Goemon, because he survives the training.) IMO Fujiko left because she's practical. Goemon did what he did because he's spiritual. Jigen didn't understand him, but went along with him anyway, because Jigen is emotional. And Lupin did understand him and deliberately didn't get in his way because he's a mix of little bits of all the other characters.

[nicomrade]

for the character ask game: miss fujiko!! 💃

one aspect about them i love I LOVE uhm everything about her. i like that shes like neutral to kids in both part 2 & fujikos lie like she doesnt like kids but shes not EVIL to them. i like that they made her not maternal but without making it like Evil and Bad shes just a woman .... oh actually i adore that in 1$ money wars they make her a stock gambler as in she buys & sells stocks but is fucking AWFUL at it and loses ALL HER MONEY in it like twice or 3 times in the movie. it just keeps happening. yes shes a businesswoman but whats MORE businesslike that losing all ur money in stocks LMFAO. perfectly in character

one aspect i wish more people understood about them i wishhh people understood everything about her more like 1. that she is equally part of the gang as goemon and that 2. she is a thief out of BOREDOM like lupin is. yes fujiko ALSO cares about treasures & money but that is to fill the void in her life... like #materialgirl. hows that so hard to understand that shes deeply unhappy and seeks fun (through heists and through hoarding Fun Expensive Stuff and through fake marriage schemes and through her flings with lupin and so on) COME ON!!! shes not money-hungry as in she wants to hoard and be a billionaire she just likes seeking it out cuz its fun AND SHES A GAMBLER re: the stocks thing but also re: her poker card motif re: the cicciolina episode and so on and so forth. shes at her heart a gambling addict, too. thrillseeker!!!!

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have about this character uhm headcanons wise i simply cannot see her as anything but a rich kid who was cut off from the family fortune for whatever reason like fujiko to me has a very instinctual understanding of moneys worth and moneys power. as if shed grown up seeing her father wield it as a weapon. but for whatever reason (because an older brother herited the family fortune or ties were cut with her personally, or whatever else) she lost access to that money and had to get it on her own and OF COURSE shed get it through crime cause 1. better money to be made 2. faster this way + shed know about fraud from her dad doing it 3. ITS MORE FUN.. also fujiko mine is a fake name/new identity she named herself that. whether shes cis or trans she named herself that. and fujiko coming from money but not getting to use it pairs nicely with lupin being an heir like he too grew up with money but he always had access to it (and was taught how to steal anything he might want too) so money is worthless to him. its just funny paper he steals sometime. fujiko was cut off from it so shell take anything she can get

one character i love seeing them interact with FUJIKO AND JIGEN FRIENDSHIP IS EVERYTHING TO MEEEE they are best friends who hate each other. this is kinda hellish to me specifically to navigate in fandom cuz on one hand u get people who dont understand anything and think jigen & fujiko genuinely wish the other was dead (... presumably in some ultra-monogamous way to hog lupin ig? lmfao) and on the other hand u get people who ship them and think they have sex n its like ok i think theres some threesomes in there but uhm. just the two of em no that is untrue that never happened. sorry. i also love any fujiko & goemon interactions and uhm basically fujiko interacting with anyone ever cuz shes my everything but i think jigen fujiko friendship is my most special thing to see cuz its kinda rare...

one character i wish they would interact with/interact with more what if rebecca and fujiko interacted more i swear to god they would have so much to talk about UGH the writing on rebecca really dropped past the halfway point of part 4 and ill forever be frustrated by this..... FUJIKO WAS DRESSED LIKE REBECCAS EX LIKE HELLOOOOO they are dating.

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have that involve them and one other character i think fujiko & jigen go to casinos together sometime. sometime its coincidence and they just end up at the same poker tournament and sometime its on purpose and its teaming up to cheat at mahjong. do u understand my vision.. they are gambler buddies. also this is where id put my fujilup heacanons if i remembered any of them i just think they are in fucked up love <3 non traditional relationships WIN

[noodleswithsoba-blog]

How Lupin and the Gang Love You! (And Pops, too!) GN Reader!

CWs: None really, just some mentions of smoking and a little bit of kidnapping mentions, nothing too bad. This is more fluff than anything else. Enjoy!

Lupin.

Oho boy, Lupin's a tricky man with a lot of tricky ways to show he cares. From the small things to the big things. Every day is a new adventure for him and his beloved.

Although sometimes he might get you hurt, that's part of the job but he always, ALWAYS hates it. He always feels as though he messed up, but sometimes it happens when things are outside his control.

Not to say our boy's a control freak, oh no. If Fujiko is anything to go by, he loves ladies with fire in their bellies. And men too. He likes getting under his partner's skin, likes poking at them and prodding but knows exactly when to scale back.

If you're taken by any of his myriad of foes, you know he's got fifty different ways of getting you back. Sixty with time, and seventy if you're already in a bad way.

Lupin loves you, but in a really tricky way. He shows it like his emotions, on his sleeve. Also come on, he'd totally be a silly gentleman!

"Hey! I stole this for ya, here you go!"

The Most Expensive Thing He Could Think Of.

Jigen.

Oh Jigen, our resident gunslinger. How gruff and tough you were. How surly too. Well, it wasn't easy to get him to fall in love. He always seemed several feet away. Always too far.

But he started showing it in small ways. His coat on your shoulders, maybe a drink or food if he knew you'd be hungry or thirsty. Jigen doesn't show his heart often.

Which made Lupin and Goemon act like it was Armageddon when Jigen ended up yapping about it. Jigen, cool as a cucumber, Jigen: Legendary Misogynist, Jigen the gunslinger?!

Maybe it was the fact someone creepy was chatting you up and he didn't like it. So he shot the glass out of his hand and sent him yelping off.

With a slight smirk, Jigen'd grab you and bring you back with the others. His arm gently around you for as long as you'd let him. He's very hands off in public but in sticky situations with the law or private time he's very focused on saving your skin next to his comrades.

Smoking might be a small thing to give up to him, but alcohol? No thanks.

"You ever see anyone look cool with a cola?"

Goemon.

Traditional to a fault, Goemon was very upfront and clear about his feelings, although he always flusters if you get him by surprise. He makes everything clear, lays everything out on the table and tells you flat out what he wants.

Zantetsken and him are never too far away because nothing will ever harm you as long as he lives. Even if you decide to break up with him. He keeps his distance, but is always quick to defend you.

His blithe nature and straightforwardness might lead to some flawed moments but he's got a good heart and he's a loyal guy. As is Bushido and who he is as a person.

He's sort of hard to read as a person emotionally, but he soon lets his guard down, and well... he's extremely easy to get bothered by steamier activities.

The other two kind of made fun of him a little but soon accepted the fact that he has a lover.

"That's enough..." (Clearly blushing.) "You're messing with my concentration."

Fujiko Mine.

Fujiko was an enigma. She could never be figured out. But something about her just drew you to her like magnetism. Of course Lupin too, so it led to some shenanigans which she took advantage of...

Until it came to a softer time. A lull in the chases when you finally got a look at the woman under the mystery. And well... she spoils you. Absolutely showers you with things she stole or gifts aplenty. Mostly because that's how she shows her affection.

Also she totally lets you hitch a ride on her motorcycles. She likes feeling your arms around her waist. Not that she feels safe, more like she knows you're safe.

It's a whirlwind for her. A total storm of passion and feelings and all that. But one she lets consume her. Because why not indulge?

The confession came at a random time, maybe in a deathtrap with Lupin and the others when she's like...

"Before we all die horribly, I have one thing to say..." she didn't move her head so of course this next bit is just another one of her distractions.

While Lupin was preening, she grabbed your hand and yanked you out of there, taking up her motorbike and saying a quick sorry to Lupin, you two got out of there.

When she felt your arms around her, she knew she stole the greatest treasure of all... You.

If anyone takes you, she gets uncharacteristically serious and she stops at nothing to get you back. She even scares Lupin and the gang because of it.

"Money's no object, silly! As long as you help me with a little heist or two~!"

Inspector Koichi Zenigata.

This man. This man is a dork. Grade A trying to act cool around you because he's a big bad inspector but he honestly likes the fact you can PROBABLY outplay him at things he doesn't know.

That only makes him want to learn more and use more methods to get better. He's always willing to learn, but it's more fun when it's not for his job.

Sometimes when you do things he likes. He lets you have the best victories because he likes seeing you so happy. Although his chase comes first, when he started catching feelings he almost couldn't believe it.

He's supposed to be catching Lupin, not feelings! Ah well, maybe the shock would get Lupin to sit still for a second. But yeah, get used to a very enthusiastic Koichi Zenigata grabbing your hand to lead you on the chase and impress you.

Which Lupin completely plays into. Using the desire to outplay him... but this time the loss really got to him. He didn't just lose Lupin AGAIN, but he lost him in front of you.

He turns away, tearing up but he refuses to let you see him cry. He's tough, he's a man's man, he shouldn't cry. But then... he realizes he has you and all of interpol, he's still in the game.

And he'll always be until Lupin finally gets caught. With you by his side.

Yeah, there's no way you're going to be taken. Pops is way too good at catching other criminals, just not Lupin. But if you're taken by Lupin... he gets WAY TOO GOOD.

Even if it's not his department or part of his ranking, he forces Interpol to track you and Lupin down. There's a fire in Inspector Koichi Zenigata and he's not letting up.

Not for a second.

"When we catch Lupin, I'm gonna treat you to the best vacation ever! God, I need one too... Huh? Buh?! LUUUUUPIIIIINNNNN! YOU GIVE 'EM BACK RIGHT NOWWW!"

[kmcosplays]

lupin headcannons before the adhd forgets about them:

sexuality hc:

pan and polyamorous lupin (he is already poly in cannon soo)

gay jigen (he gives me the vibe of a guy who finds out later in life)

aro/ace goemon

fujiko is an ally (to me I feel like she likes women aestheticly but not romantically. like she knows being gay isn't a choice because she would have chosen it if she could)

gay pops but he has a hard time expressing it (bc he's from an older generation you know the rest)

Zenigata mainly gives me gay vibes because he so seems like the kind of guy to say he's married to his job when he's really just afraid of the truth (think of that older gay dude from tlou he gives me pops vibes. im not a huge fan of thosegames don't come for me)

lupin knows about pops but keeps it to himself out of respect (don't out people y'all)

jigen learns he's gay by drunk kissing guys ( I mean lupin) and being like "oh shit I liked that. but why..." the having this long crisis moment of "have I actually liked those women back or was I trying to fit in"

the lupin gang will gender you correctly as they steal all your stuff

"no we're stealing HER treasure" type shit okay

just regular hc:

fujiko has all those fun hairstyles because of either wigs or extention

lupin was clueless to this tell he saw her take either a wig off or extensions out

it was an entire "they were fake"... "of course they were fake" moment when he saw her regular hair underneath

goemon was shown overwatch and is a huge hanzo fanboy (not so much genji because he relates more to hanzo but he does respect the use of his sword )

jigen tried to get into video games but he doesn’t like that fps aren't "realistic enough" aka he's an old man who's bad at games

lupin however will sit and game for hours

fujiko can and will kick his ass at any game. she's way better than him at most games.

they saw lupin owns a dating sim and were all like 🤨 *vine boom sound effect*

lupin Googles himself on a weekly basis

jigen argues with people on Twitter

lupin watches edits/thirst traps ect. of himself DAILY

goemon learned what shipping is and saw he's involved in some ships and decided the internet isn't for him

fujiko has "70 alternative accounts" and will cyberbully you from all of them if you leave hate on one of the 80 times a day she posts

[sideshow-cellophane-blog]

Every question about Lupin Gang (+ Zeni) 🥺

BOI YEAH LETS GO Are you the same Lupin anon I've seen a few times? I love you haha! Most of these are inspired by canon tickles, but I added what I think would make sense!

1. Who has the cutest tickle laugh?

They ALL do. Buuuuut Goemon's is rarest, Lupin's is most contagious, Jigen has this higher-pitched tickle giggle that nobody expects out of him, Fujiko DESERVES to be tickled most because she's a lil shit so it's satisfying, and all four of them will tickle Zenigata just to get him to lighten up. Or cheer up. His tickle laugh is so cute.

2. What are their tickle spots?

Lupin - canonically everywhere? His neck and ears, hips, ribs, death spot is tummy. He can't take being tickled but he enjoys dishing it out. He has a canon tickle laugh that is bouncy and boyish

Jigen - Ribs, neck, thighs, hip bones where the thighs and waist meet. He has this sweet high-pitched giggle that just sounds happy.

Goemon - the back of his thighs is death spot, but also feet and generally legs. He's still learning how to laugh and be tickled so it's all over the place. He's prone to soft tickles most.

Fujiko - her entire body as seen in episode 1 lmao. The worst is her torso, namely ribs and sides. I also see her knees being a spot?

Zenigata - ARMPITS and upper ribs!! Those tickle scenes with him are exclusively pit tiggles!! Lupin KNOWS and TARGETS them EVERY. TIME. And you get him giggling immediately over his entire freaking coat and shirt, imagine how bad feathers on skin would feel??? I also see him having a very ticklish chin, hips, and sides.

3. Who is ticklish in unusual places and where would that be?

Lupin's ears, neck, and collar bone. Zenigata has made him laugh by just breathing on the areas.

Jigen's chin and, I'm gonna say, the sides of his knee pits.

Goemon's odd spots, like right beneath his butt.

Fujiko is SUPER ticklish on the tops of her feet

Zenigata has ticklish shoulder blades

4. Who gets cheer-up tickles?

Zenigata, usually when the gang is right in front of him and he can't legally arrest anyone.

ALSO Lupin when he's moody (Fujiko related sad boy hours) and his boys decide that they need that smile back. He will also annoy his partners on purpose or sprawl in very open positions when in a lee mood. Sometimes he'll do a sneak attack to start tickle fights just to get attention, not even just from his boys.

Goemon after The Blood Spray of Goemon Ishikawa :( Sometimes when he sees Jigen and Lupin having their tickle fights he sits in a corner and is too shy to join or ask them to attack him too. He makes it obvious though by bringing his knees to his chest and pouting staring, and after the first few times he did this they caught on that it's his way of asking. Eventually he learns to flop on top of one of them and can be a ruthless ler.

Jigen, when he's feeling edgy and touch-starved, will sometimes ask for belly rubs or something else hinting he wants tickles. Like, "MAN my tooth hurts. Help me take my mind off it huh? Rub my belly or something." Or, "Hey I cooked and cleaned tonight! Least you can do is give me a footrub or something." Or, "You let Fujiko get away with the treasure again?! Well tickle my ribs Lupin, you're all tied up with that woman!" Or, "Hey, I had a rough night. Now I'm gonna lay in your lap and you're gonna tickle me silly help me smile." On it goes.

5. Do either of them try to hide their ticklishness?

It's apparently common knowledge that Lupin is ticklish amongst his enemies, but he can't stand being tortured by villains who won't stop when he's past his limits.

I'd say Goemon hides it the best he can. Only his partners know and they're gonna keep him to themselves!

Fujiko hates being taken advantage of when it comes to tickling so she keeps her targets at arms length to avoid any mishaps. Like a girl boss, she'd rather kill someone than be tied and tortured by an evil old perverted man again.

Zenigata actually doesn't mind being tickled, so long as it isn't in front of his precinct or coworkers. It's hard and humiliating to explain how Lupin knew where to tickle him to get away, not so much that he's ticklish.

I can see Jigen denying it until he sees that the other person is in a ler mood. He can only deny for so long...

6. Who takes advantage of the other one getting their arms stuck while taking off their shirt?

Lupin and Fujiko are lil shits and do it to anyone they can. Including each other. It gets competitive. Jigen gets the worst of it from shrunken jackets because Goemon doesn't wear tight clothing unless it's a disguise.

(But when Goemon gets stuck in a disguise Jigen and Lupin do take advantage to fluster him.)

Zenigata may get caught in a coat and Lupin goes absolutely apeshit bananas in excitement the first time he gets the opportunity to take advantage

7. How did they discover each other's ticklishness?

HOO BOY. I like to think Lupin started most of it.

Jigen and Lupin discovered each other first. Lupin was a little too handsy and Jigen probably reacted. That or Jigen discovered that poking Lupin's sides got him to clam up in the middle of a sentence and thought (still thinks) it was cute. Whoever started it doesn't matter, because they started to tease each other a lot in private. It's a form of love language just for them.

Fujiko definitely tickled Lupin in retaliation to his perverted attacks, back when he was a huge green-jacketed gremlin. I like to think she spread the rumor that he was ticklish to his enemies after that just to get a rise out of him, but it backfires on her in episode 1 when she's tied down to the machine meant for her boy toy. Lupin holds a grudge against her for this despite the immediate karma she got. He's been through some rough times because of her.

The more Goemon hung around the boys, the more he was exposed to their tickle fights and other forms of affection. He was dragged into one unwillingly and didn't exactly say stop at any point, soooooo they continued!

Zenigata has been tickled by Lupin. So often. He tickled Lupin accidentally while doing a body search (not for the first time) and the thief started to giggle and just admitted it tickled. Next time they saw each other he couldn't WAIT to see if his arresting officer was ticklish too (like any straight criminal) and got Zeni into a ticklish predicament. It was downhill from there. They're both really sensitive and occasionally a super charged, competitive tickle fight breaks out when he's trying to arrest Lupin

8. Who can't take tickle bites/raspberries?

Lupin, despite the fact he loves to dish them out. Jigen also can't take tickle bites on his neck, and if you build up anticipation for it Goemon can't either.

Fujiko will hate you forever if you mönch on the soft spot on tummy. Something about them is a childish weakness.

Zenigata secretly loves raspberries. He can give mean ones too, but something inside him just melts

9. Who has to be tickle forced out of bed in the morning?

Jigen. Same when he's dozing on the couch with his hat over his face so he literally can't see Lupin's eyes glowing like Sans'

Depending on the night she had, I'd also say Fujiko. I can see her liking to sleep in late and be a night owl til like 6am for jobs or socializing in general (ride or die on this headcanon)

10. Who initiates tickle fights?

LUPIN 99.99% OF THE TIME IT'S CANON HE DOES IT TO LIKE EVERYONE like the gay criminal he is. No straight man tickles his arresting officer on multiple occasions.

Jigen may accidentally start them too. If he and Lupin start bickering he is sometimes the first to poke the other to lighten the mood. He tickled Zenigata to escape in an actual episode. Pretty sure he made that tickle machine for that old man in another episode (the Nazi one from Part 2). He's as bad as Lupin, just quieter about it.

Zenigata would never. Too childish, no matter how touch starved he may be from spending a lot of nights alone. But an accidental poke or swipe when searching one of the gang? "Stop squirming. I'm checking for strapped gadgets." He says as the accidental pokes and swipes feel more calculated than not. If he happens to breathe on someone's ear or has to squeeze the hips, because that's where Lupin's body disguise ends, it's all official business only! "I'm not tickling you, I'm scratching to see if it's skin or plastic this time!" There are cameras and eyes watching when he chases them most of the time. Maybe if there weren't, he would he more honest about his ticklish body searches.

11. Who gives up in tickle fights?

Lupin and Zenigata lose most of the time. Lol. Lupin gets overwhelmed very easily by it and Zenigata is just too ticklish to handle it for very long

Jigen and Fujiko are the champs of their tickle fights. Jigen is a massive lee and Fujiko knows their tickle spots from experience, so she's 85% ler

Goemon is 50/50 depending on whether or not they're ALL ganging up on him, but he is usually prideful and refuses to give up when it's just Jigen and Lupin. Plus, he miiiiight be fond of softer tickles like belly rubs. Not that you'd ever hear it out loud.

12. Who is in danger of getting hurt when attacking the other?

Usually anyone who tickles Goemon one on one haha! His reflexes are dangerous.

Jigen will also threaten to shoot someone if they don't stop when he says stop

Zenigata could actually shoot someone if they tickle him in the middle of a chase. Especially if it's a serious offense, like terrorist-level. It would never happen, but if Zeni is angry enough and on the hunt, tickling is very inappropriate.

Lupin just squirms and jerks around if he isn't restrained, so his attackers could get a kick to the gut or punch in the face if they're not careful

Fujiko is deadlier after she is tickled. If it is an enemy taking advantage of her she either robs or kills them, or both.

13. Who always provokes the other into tickling them and how?

Had to edit this one in, sorry! I answered some of them up there but:

Lupin and Jigen provoke the other the most often. They're so close, and it's a fun way to get some energy out. Jigen will usually use word play to hint that he's in a lee mood ("Wanna help me with some endurance training?") while Lupin will annoy the heck out of Jigen and leave certain areas exposed on his body. He'll splay himself across Jigen or Goemon's laps like a cat. If he sees Fujiko going to tickle a foot, he lets her. He has a tickle machine somewhere. He says it all without saying anything.

They're usually so touchy with each other that once it spreads to Goemon, he doesn't have to ask for tickles at all. He gets flustered and red in the face and doesn't leave if they start, and that's all they need.

Hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you have any ideas of your own, the tickle part of the fandom is too small for how much we get in a great anime!

[dandunn]

Fic author interview tagged by @vampirenaomi

1 How many works do you have on AO3?

42

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

728,089

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Fic that annoys me so much I disabled comments (go find it yourself lmao), Marked for Death, Tiger by the Tail, What's coming through is Alive, The Sea is Getting Rough Again

my one piece fics all have way more kudos than my recent stuff basically

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

i do sometimes, im usually tired from writing and editing so sometimes ill just say thanks lol

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

i wrote a fic anonymously which is horrendously dark and doesnt have a happy ending but I think most other fics i write at least have a bittersweet or happy ending hdfgb

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

uhhhhhh i dunno man I like the ending of the fic i wrote where goemon threatens to cut one of jigen's exes' dicks off and then they go hang out by the pool. that was fun :)

7. Do you write crossovers?

not really, I've had a few ideas for them but they're hard to write and wouldnt have worked out

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

not... really? i got a really weird backhanded compliment where someone talked at length about a ship i dont like (the fic wasnt about that couple) then said the first chapter was alright apart from being painfully slow (thanks) and then accused me of virtue signalling because of the difficult topics i handled in the fic.

It was really, really strange like I genuinely think they were trying to pay me a compliment but they were incredibly shit at it lol

And then in another fic I turned off comments because a minor started bitching at me about the porn I wrote not being sexy enough and when I told them to go away they harassed me for a little while. That was fun.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yeas. I prefer it when smut is incorporated into the story because I kind of need the emotional stakes to be high enough otherwise I kind of lose interest. Smut without feelings is just kinda boring to me. Of course I have some exceptions but those are rare nowadays.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes, though it's on wattpad apparently so I have no idea if the person doing it credited me because I dont use that site lol.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

yeah and I dont recommend it. we only wrote like 2 chapters of it but i no longer speak to the co-author and the whole thing ended up feeling a bit disjointed and weird.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Uhh I have a couple, zoro/luffy, ace/sanji, jigen/lupin and jigen/goemon

zolu probably wins here because i have not so far written a 200k fic about anyone else lol

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

*gestures weakly at literally everything in my google docs*

I forgot how to write sorry

15. What are your writing strengths?

*tv static noise*

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

i cant speak english

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I don't know whether its bad or just handled badly by a lot of writers but I don't like it. Speaking as someone whos been learning japanese for the past 2+ years I hate it when I come across a word and have to either look it up myself or scroll to the bottom of the fic for any footnotes there are to explain it. Gonna use myself as an example for how I go about this kind of thing:

Fujiko tries to smile at his robotic, overly formal speech patterns, when really it's a little off-putting. She hasn't heard anyone use the word sessha, 'my humble self', for themselves outside of a period drama.

each to their own but i prefer putting in a small aside like this rather than shoving in foreign words and expecting for the reader to go and break the flow of the writing by looking it up for themselves.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

id say pokemon mystery dungeon but the first fic i wrote i instantly deleted after getting one negative comment, i think one piece is more where i cut my teeth

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

i dont really know? ive gotten into a couple of new things recently but they havent triggered my "oh i gotta write something" reaction

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

i dunno man i dont like my work very much right now heres an image if u read all of this

[dukeswonderousmenagerie]

what would happen if lupin died in the zombie au

Oh! Hi random anon, thanks for sending this! im assuming your asking what would jigen do when lupin dies or in general so I’ll just discuss what Jigen would do. . .since lupins basically his second half and loosing him would be a killer. Basically the way I look at it is he would try to hold on.

For his sake. . .for lupins he would try.

But when Lupin dies he’s numb, but not numb enough to not sunk to the ground, clutching the body of the only one of a few that meant anything to him. But there’s no weeping when he dies, no grand professions, no nothing. 

Because he’s numb. And he’s numb for a while and being numb actually helps a little, because it masks the pain for a little bit.

He doesn’t moved on, but he has learned to cope with tragedies like this before and that would have to do. And it does for a while; he copes, he continues for a while, routine becomes a friend, it helps, keeps his mind off of 

(~~joining him~~)

Except the day finally comes, where he decides coping doesn’t work anymore. He would simply fade into obscurity, he decides. He’s good at leaving without a trace, no one would know where he’d go.

The QZ was in good hands and the rest of the City. . .well it would just have to deal. 

He knows his nephew will resent him. . . 

He knows his sister will hate him. . .

but he’s failed her enough to the point he believes it’s worth it anyways. . .he’s done nothing but fail. . .

Goemon would probably move on, he already distances himself from the group, and Fujiko. . .well. . .he doesn’t know about her. Too much bad blood tells him that she would rejoice over his death, probably dance on his grave if she could. . .and maybe if he had one.

But no one realizes at first that he slips away, that he packed up the best he could, bringing with him rations and ammo and no personal effects, he debates on even taking his hat with him, and his magnum hangs coldly against his back to the point it feels. . .almost unrecognizable.

No one finds him, no one knows where he went. No one knows what truly happens to him, whether or not he drifted into the winds and moved on under a new name like he’s done so many many times before. Or if he does die out there under the sun, either by his own hand or going down fighting cause they know his fight is stronger then his flight.

All anyone hopes for, is that no matter where he is, he’s happy. . .

god they just hope he’s happy

[peaterookie]

Lupin III Chapter 54 Review

hiii its time again

today's chapter cover is someone carrying a tied-up lupin in a suitcase.. someone with a hat… and has noticeable beard chin… and has a lanky figure….. and smokOH MY GOD IT'S JIGEN!!!

why is jigen so shady?? why did he kidnap lupin??? FIND OUT RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!

once again, lupin is back to being a shady no-good businessman this will probably end after chapter 55 dont worry im kinda getting tired of this too yknow i never thought the whole thing with lupin following orders pretending to be a white collar worker was a good thing anyway because hes gonna fuck things up anyway doing it like 3 times gets a bit old!

this time he's meeting up with a man with a really big forehead and another fujiko

and they're kinda trying to kill each other for some reason they talk for like one second and then big forehead dude leaves, leaving a mysterious assassin to take care of lupin and drives off! weird!

the mysterious assassin reveals that its none other than jigen daisuke! lupin is super shocked! but i think most manga readers saw this coming- i mean he didn't treat jigen any good in the first place…

still, lupin manages to escape the whole ordeal rather unscathed, and comes back to the company that he got hired under

the boss reveals why lupin and the big forehead guy was up against each other apparently the big forehead guy is the president of a rival company, and his devious ass decided to steal the blueprints from them to pass the invention as his own!!

in this panel above lupin saids that they could just steal them back, but the boss saids that they already produced the thingy in the blueprint already sucks to suck

oh yeah the big forehead guy is named kajino but im gonna ignore that because the nickname i gave is way funnier

THEN JIGEN COMES BACK then lupi- oh damn. that's.. rather unfortunate.

big forehead dude scolds jigen for fucking it up and he kinda leaves saying he can still kill lupin then he winks look at that smile :)

ok then now big forehead guy with his stupid big forehead reveals that the product in question is an underwater cabin!! thats kinda cool do we have that in real life now? ill look it up after finishing this

a bunch of reporters swarm him asking questions about the cabin two reporters says that they've heard rumors that he stole the cabin idea from a rival company then fujiko (the woman RIGHT at the beginning of the chapter) accuses one of the reporters as lupin- which she was quite right about! then the second reporter than reveals himself as zenigata, and he arrests lupin. (i wonder why he doesn't arrest the big forehead guy though, manga zeni literally works on a whole different wavelength than anime zeni tbh)

then another revelation! one after another

jigen pops out of nowhere once again and reveals that hes the one that tipped lupin's plans off to Big Forehand Man and lupins like oh my god i hate you jigen im gonna get a new friend

i cant why are both of them smiling what if this is all an inside joke they find it funny jigen keeps betraying him out of nowhere but ok whatever lupin escapes again the usual

then we timeskip!

Big Forehead Guy and fujiko stalk a guy from rival company and they see him entering an underground vault to do more research so they decide to follow him, steal his ideas, and kill him with…

..huh? sure monkey punch! ill go with it

they enter the vault then they had to take their clothes off to prevent being detected with sensors

Big Forehead Man sees two vaults- one for male and one for female and advises fujiko to part ways and investigate both sides on their own

and then… HUH

OH HELL NAW LUPIN'S GONNA FUCK HER-

[zenigatakeibu]

⚖️ FOR ONCE ZENIGATA ISN'T IN the mood to argue. Not yet. He’s exhausted, sore, still struggling to regain his bearings. And Lupin's voice... They weren't words so much as they were sounds, vague and shapeless. Focus eludes him. He feels sick. Frustrated. ❝ Tch! Jus' gimme the damn drink, dorobou. ❞

It's just like you to turn tail and run.

Hands crack the whiskey open with practiced ease, all the while questions continue to press at the back of his mind-- the sort he's sure Lupin isn't in any rush to answer, like Why the hell did you bother saving me in the first place? Of course they've been through this little song and dance before, not that it's any fun to remember all the times he's taken a bullet for Lupin, or Jigen, or Fujiko.

❝ .. I have no way of getting 'n contact with my force, you know. I don't have my walkie, radio, or phone. ❞ It's a piss-poor excuse and he knows it. He bets Lupin does too. But deep down he doesn't want to leave. Now why is that? What is it that he's expecting? What is he looking for? A chance to snoop, maybe, but that's an even worse excuse than the first.

The thought goes down with another flood of alcohol, quick and easy. When the game falls apart, so do they...

He supposes Lupin hates this just as much as he does.

❝ .. Leave, then, like you always do. I can take care of myself. ❞ It comes out like a challenge. An affront-- a misguided one at that, as if the whiskey has already gone straight to his head. ❝ Maybe I'll get lucky, and the guys who shot me'll come back t' finish the job. ❞

                     ❝ Oh, suuuure. Of course the people huntin' us down would've stopped the car chase and waited for you to shift yourself outta the road. They might've wanted us riddled with bullet holes, but runnin' over a cop? Now that's a step too far! ❞

See, this- This is exactly why Lupin needs that silence. When he's like this, restless and frustrated by another heist gone awry, it doesn't take much to provoke him into anger. Zenigata bites; he bites back. That's how their game goes. Whatever rules he'd initially set out now lay misshapen and stained with both their blood, no longer set in stone but rather half-dried clay.

                     ❝ Give it a rest, old man. You'd be dead if it weren't for us. ❞

The stitching thread is wound slowly around his fingers, pulled taut as he prepares to--

Prepares to what? Prepares to what? Prepares to rip, to tear, to worsen the injury and prove himself no better than the people he was just talking about? He can be cruel, God knows he can, but is he really cruel enough to kick a man when he's down and trapped in a moment of vulnerability Lupin had forced him into? Zenigata's right, he'd never asked to be helped.

Long fingers hold the thread taut for a beat too long, the unspoken threat hanging heavy over both their heads, before he finally lets out a long, slow breath like a kettle releasing steam. His grip loosens incrementally as he does so, slackening until he has enough leverage to tie the end in a neat final knot. The stitches are finished.

The needle is dropped carelessly to the floor as he straightens up, kicked off to one side to sit with the rest of the used supplies. There's a couple bottles of good whiskey he'd stashed away in one of these cupboards, the expensive Scotch he usually reserved for Jigen, and it's just the kind of hard-hitter tonight demands. He retrieves one at random and returns, tapping the unopened bottle against the inspector's shoulder in invitation.

                     ❝ Have your men pick you up when you're ready. This place is a bust, anyway; we'll be gone before they can get their asses in the squad cars. ❞

[catchyhuh]

What sort of hobbies or interests do you imagine the Gang having (outside thievery or arresting said thieves)? And do they influence the way they go about their usual antics, or are they mostly Unrelated to everything else in their lives? :0c

oohhooohoho this is a good one because i have a small handful of actual canonical hobbies/interests that come up occasionally and then i have the ones that solely exist in my mind palace. at least until tms decides to let a random little shrimp from america take the reins on their most longrunning successful franchise anyway,

lupin:

i can’t remember if i mentioned lupin loves puzzles. wait yes i did in the video game list SORRY I’M ALREADY HAVING TROUBLE REMEMBERING WHAT I HAVE AND HAVEN’T GONE OFF ABOUT but yes in canon lupin LOVES puzzles. less like, jigsaw puzzles, more like shapey puzzles. but hell man if you can get him to sit still long enough he might like a jigsaw one just to pass the time

i think he likes cooking. him, jigen and goemon all seem to really Get it. so count this under all of them, they just love yummy food and occasionally the process of making it too

he likes to draw :) somebody has to be behind all the slightly different variants of his little mascot guy. SOMEBODY has to redraw bank floor plans so they can plan out each tiny step of the heist. somebody has to scribble over his own wanted posters to put funny little devil horns on the image CMON now!!

jigen:

only jigen could be in a fucking arcade theater complex and pull out a fucking crossword puzzle. why is this dude honestly trying to speedrun being a grouchy old man before he even turns 40. i mean no hate, no hate to crossword puzzles, they are cool but i’m more of a wordsearch guy. BUT THERE’S OTHER STUFF TO DO JIGEN!! at least he’s not going for sudoku though

very random but i think he might like sewing in a passive sense. with how particular he is about his hat and really ANY clothes on his person, he probably just picked up a needle one day to fix a tear and then was like Huh. this isn't too bad actually. kinda repetitive and calming. and then the others found out and tried to get him to fix all their stuff too SO HALF PLEASANT AND HALF NOT SO PLEASANT

fujiko:

you may think i’m insane but fujiko must genuinely have some sort of fondness for computers and technology. more than she lets on at least, because. how DO you know how to fly every type of aircraft. how DO you know how to crack into almost any computer firewall? how do you know how to isolate a computer virus as it’s ALREADY corrupted HALF OF THE SYSTEM?? this goes beyond job necessity to me she must really have some hidden underlying passion for this stuff

i think it’d be cute if she took up some kinda journaling. i mean god knows she’s not writing about her FEELINGS in that little leather notebook, and she doesn’t really have the time to commit to like, scrapbook shit (even if she had the time, she’s not sentimental like that) but something simple like “this is a list of m&m variants in order of how disgusting to not disgusting they taste to me <3” with little candy stickers and gel pen hearts drawn in. the next page has a bloodstain on it and the only thing written is “dw about that lol”

goemon:

okay i KNOW i’ve pushed the Arts Enjoyer goe agenda before but i recently saw that part 3 production art again of him chilling with the pottery wheel so i must state, once again, goemon LOVES sculpting shit in all forms. chip away at some rock, throw zantetsuken at a block of wood, actually invest in some clay for fucking once, whatever he uses, he’ll make something pretty good. and even if it wasn’t good it’s still a fun hobby for him. keeps his hands loose but precise

oh my god you know what he would love. dominoes. you know when people make those like crazy long domino strings that form a pattern when they’ve all fallen. if anybody here could have the precision and strangely placed patience to do shit like that it’s definitely this guy

zenigata:

going through this list easily and eagerly typing up little funfacts about things i do know they like outside of their. “jobs” and then slowly realizing as i get to zenigata that i... cannot think of anything he. uh. does for fun. damn. he DOES talk about movies a lil bit from time to time, and knowing his mixture of a freakish eye for detail and also missing the most obvious things ever i bet hearing him talk about a movie is twice as fun as actually watching it. i would pay HUNDREDS to hear him try to explain what he thinks of space odyssey to me

it would be-- i have no reasoning for this but it would be so cute and hilarious if he did like. tiny magic tricks. you know? like card appearing out of thin air, coin behind your ear type shit. tiny stuff he figured out on his brief off time. we know lupin can do little stuff like that too but it'd just be hilarious if zenigata, completely unawarely and unintentionally for once, ended up being better than him at some inconsequential shit like making a pair of keys disappear

and i guess in light of recent discoveries they all like golf. apparently. well. no one is perfect

[the-golden-ghost]

54 for Jigen and Fujiko?

Okay just to preface - I don’t know if you intended this as a shipping thing but I didn’t write it as one, mostly cause I don’t know how these two would work as anything other than platonic frenemies at this point. So that’s how I wrote them. I hope that’s okay and that you still like it!

~

54. “They’re gone.”

Fujiko awoke at 1:36 am with a sharp gasp. Mercifully, whatever nightmare she’d been having that pulled her from sleep vanished instantly, leaving her shaking and unnerved, but free from haunting thoughts. She looked around the room. She wasn’t in danger, she knew. This was their safe house, and her pistol was loaded on her nightstand, and the quiet static of the radio in the next room told her that Jigen was awake, on guard.

Which wasn’t surprising, since Lupin and Goemon had apparently vanished two days ago without any word on where they were headed. And Jigen, for all his skills in battle and robbery, wasn’t all that good at tracking. Especially not a master thief and a highly trained samurai. So he’d been staying put, waiting for them to call him in for backup.

“They’re gone,” he’d said when Fujiko showed up on the doorstep. “So don’t bother.”

She’d come in anyway, and stayed. She didn’t want to be alone right now. She would have preferred if Lupin were there, and Goemon. But even Jigen’s company would do in a pinch, even if he spent his time mostly ignoring her. She could tell he was concerned about Lupin and Goemon, even if he acted nonchalant. His constant hovering by the radio as he went about his day was evident enough.

And now it was late at night, and he was still hovering. She went into his room, which she ordinarily wouldn’t have done, but tonight... she just wanted company, and her boys weren’t here. Jigen was wholly Lupin’s man, not hers. But he was familiar, and steady if nothing else.

“Why are you still up?” he asked when she came in. He was lying on the bed, fully dressed, smoking and listening to the radio play nothing but static. No transmission. It was raining outside, and the drops were hitting the pane, mixing with the white noise from the speaker.

“Bad dreams. How about you?” She came to sit down next to him on the bed, which, surprisingly, he allowed.

“Couldn’t sleep.”

“You really have no idea where they are?”

“None,” he replied. “Doesn’t matter, though. They’re assholes for ditching me here but they’ll turn up. They always do.”

“I’m worried about them,” Fujiko admitted.

“Yeah, well, don’t be. Like I said, they’ll turn up. Probably in a heap of trouble, and I’ll have to go bail them out, but it’ll happen.” He was quiet for a while. “You’re not having nightmares about them, though, huh.”

Fujiko didn’t answer. She hadn’t decided yet who to tell, if anyone. If she’d had a choice in the matter she probably would have picked Goemon. He wasn’t exactly the compassionate sort, but he was a good listener. Lupin had a hard time listening and taking things seriously, and Jigen... Jigen could be harsh. But Jigen was also here, and the other two weren’t.

“Can I ask you a question?” she asked at last, deciding to test the waters.

“I have a feeling you’re going to no matter what,” Jigen replied. “Fire away.”

“Have you ever killed a child?”

There was another pause, longer this time. Fujiko could tell she’d caught him off guard, and was beginning to wonder if he’d answer at all when he finally spoke. “That’s... one hell of a question, huh. We’re really getting into it tonight.” When he continued, his voice sounded weary. “I don’t hurt kids. Back in my old job, even then, if someone offered me payment for something like that... no.” He shook his head. “You have to be one hell of a sick bastard to go there. Call me soft, or stupid, but I couldn’t. But the thing is... even if I’ve never done anything like that knowingly, it’s not like I can check ID on everybody I’ve ever traded shots with. I know sometimes kids get into this kind of life. I wish they wouldn’t, but it’s the way it is, and if a sixteen year old steps into my line of fire I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between him and a young man.”

“So... maybe.”

“Yeah,” he said softly. “I dunno. I try not to think about it.”

Fujiko didn’t answer. She just drew her legs up closer to her chest and stared hard out the window, like it would reveal something more than raindrops.

“What happened, Fujiko?”

She shook her head. “You don’t want to know.”

“You’re probably right. But I don’t think you’d have stuck around all day and come in here at this time of night unless you had something to say. Look... if you hurt someone... if it’s a kid or some shit like that, then...” he sighed. “I’m not going to throw you out, okay? I won’t even tell you what you should have done because I don’t know the answer. Hell, I wasn’t there.”

“No, it’s not that,” Fujiko said. “I met a girl... just a little thing.” Now that she was started, she had to continue. “She said she was twenty but I think she was only sixteen or seventeen. She was trying to rob me,” she smiled, remembering. “It was... cute. I mean she really had no idea who I was, but her technique was so bad, she wouldn’t have gotten a cent from a blind old lady.”

Jigen snorted, amused.

“So... I took her home with me. Gave her a hot meal and a place to sleep, and taught her a few things about basic pickpocketing. She didn’t have any home which is what I expected.”

“A runaway?”

“Yeah, the usual story. Her home life was bad, so she thought she could make it better on the streets. She was sleeping out until I found her. She was tough, and smart, just... confused and inexperienced. I gave her some money and some help to get her started and told her she could come to me if she ever needed anything else.” Fujiko went silent, and Jigen glanced over at her.

“So... what happened, then? You didn’t keep your promise?”

“Sometimes I keep my promises, Jigen,” Fujiko replied quietly. “But I never got a chance with her. She was shot dead two days later. The police found her in an alley, and whoever did it...” her voice cut off. “They wanted to kill her. It wasn’t just a robbery. I could have understood a robbery. They broke her arm first so she couldn’t fight back before they -” she broke off, unable to say more over the painful tightness of her throat. The rain and lights on the window blurred into a haze of yellow as tears began to slide down her face. “Why would they do that? I don’t understand how people can...”

Jigen took a deep breath and turned towards her. “It happens all the time, every day. You can’t... you can’t let yourself break over every random street kid you come across, you know? It’ll kill you.” His words were blunt, but his expression was one of genuine sorrow. Sympathy, even.

“Not all of them. Just one.”

“One’s all it takes,” Jigen said.

Fujiko ignored him, not caring in that moment if it shattered her - if there was no one else in the world to grieve for that dead child she’d known for less than six hours... dammit, she’d do it. Someone had to. The world could be cruel enough to kill children, it couldn’t be cruel enough to let them die unmourned. She sobbed for that girl until she had no more tears left to give, and then she was quiet, breathing shakily.

Jigen gave her shoulder a quick squeeze. “You’re okay?” he asked.

She nodded. She wasn’t, really, but she was better than she was before.

“All right. I’m sorry about her...” he broke off, uncomfortable. “I’ve known people who do things like that. But I’ll never understand it either.”

“Maybe there’s nothing to understand.”

Jigen nodded, reached over and switched the radio off. “Hell, let the two of ‘em figure it out on their own. I’m going to sleep. You’re sure you’re all right?”

“I am.” Fujiko got up off the bed. She thought maybe she’d take a walk. The rain might feel good.

“Okay. You know where to find me if you need me.”

“Goodnight, Jigen.” Outside, the rain still fell.

[savegalkissy]

Backstories are always an interesting thing to think about, even if there’s no certainty to them

Fujiko and Jigen seem like they both became thieves/criminals out of necessity, to protect themselves. Jigen is definitely a bit more solidly defined there, largely agreed to have worked for the mob, and seemingly lived a more downtrodden life before finding Lupin. But both of them and their self serving ways show me people who pulled themselves out of dangerous situations by becoming dangerous and shut off to the world and their own selves

Fujiko mean while, with a less defined backstory, nonetheless often feels emotionally damaged. She’s got commitment issues, and hides any genuine emotion behind layers of glitter and gold. I think her love of the actual items of wealth in question over the boys general love of the thrill speak to a character who desires a security in wealth she didn’t have before. They recognize they’re in a rat race where falling back into a bad place is painfully easy. It’s why they can hate each other (and understand each other painfully well when they’re friends).

Goemon and Lupin however come from legacies. This latest part in particular, at least confirming Lupin was quite wealthy as a child. I don’t know a lot of Goemon’s legacy, but a quick Wikipedia search (feel free to correct me) shows his namesake was a ninja and thief who stole from the rich to give to the poor, or at least that’s how his myth has been remembered. Both of them thus come from this concept of honorable thieves.

But in a series about freedom, that is very interesting to me. Goemon and Lupin are, because they want to and are dedicated to their legacies, antithetical to the premise of freedom. They’re trapped in trying to fill the shoes of their ancestors, trying to become the conceptual ideal (thief and samurai) and managing all that and their own, human needs. And often times, friction in the group between them I feel comes from this.

Jigen’s relationship with Goemon for instance, is often comedically awkward or deeply understanding. Goemon is definitely the most honorable of the four, often times very kind to the actual people around them. For someone who sees their jobs, their whole lives- as a self serving means to survival? It has to be weird to Jigen. But that kindness often extends to Jigen in a respect, and Jigen gives the energy he is given.

For Fujiko, she sees an easy mark on someone like Goemon, who cares for people in the way the rest often lack (and someone kind and caring, though she never admits it to his face). She sees emotions as tools, weaknesses. And while she’s been getting better about them in the latest part, her commitment issues are a testament to that. When she realizes she has a “weakness” like caring for someone, it’s wrong and she hates it.

Lupin meanwhile, isn’t exactly honorable, cause that was his grandfather. He’s selfish, but in a way that can be selfless in the right circumstances (and sometimes the impulse to be a good person wins out no matter what). While he wasn’t suffering for anything as a child, his need for attention, affection, and dramatics say he’s someone who had (of course) a lot of expectations on him, but not attention.

In part 5, the gang get called his possessions. To Goemon, that feels humiliating, as he sees people as not things to be owned. But for Lupin, this isn’t inaccurate. People are important assets, especially for someone running a crime syndicate. So from a frank impersonal side, he has probably been trained to see them like that. But as well, what are Lupin’s friends, but his greatest treasures? We see time and time again that Lupin tends not to fair well by himself- and he isn’t ever in top form until he’s got everyone around him. Lupin had wealth; but not human connection. And unlike the two who scorn it cause of their past experiences, he and Goemon desire it from their isolation.

Interestingly tho, Fujiko and Lupin share in this sort of view of people, where they are things to be used for their schemes or to get what they want. Lupin is able to (somewhat) see he can’t treat his friends like this without reason, but Fujiko struggles with the distinction. Meanwhile, Jigen’s lack of care for others is specifically, cause like Goemon, he cares about people. But when he cares, he cares fully and completely with his whole being, and hurts terribly when things go wrong.

[zenni-gotcha]

Ello! Love your writing!

Was wondering if I could have the gang with a Poetic s/o, as in they speak like they came out of the Victorian Era. Going as far to describe things in intricate detail whenever they can, going along with the phrase "When they speak, instead of words it's flowers coming out of their mouth" Or just simply a very talkative s/o

Just wondering how they'd feel about it, I'd think it would be cute having said s/o describe the members in their own fond way. 🌺 Thank you!

[Hi there! So sorry for the late reply]

Lupin

Here’s the thing, he’ll try his best to keep up

But that attention span of his just can’t

It’s one of those things where he can focus on something for a long time

As long as it’s only one thing, or little things that all clearly relate to each other like when he’s on a job

The problem here is that there are so many words that you use that he doesn’t know, that he gets dizzy

You might have to remember to reword somethings if he doesn’t seem to be catching on to what you are saying

You could best describe him as, “A beautifully focused man, as long as it is something that is easily focused on.”

He might try to argue the description, but only in a playful way as he knows that it’s true

Jigen

He might be able to keep up a bit more than Lupin does

Bit that still doesn’t mean that he won’t complain about it

According to some sources he was raise in the crime family in the Bronx

So, while he might have a certain taste for fancy things, words aren’t one of them

You say what you’re saying in as few words as possible

He actually won’t mind it if the sentence isn’t too flowery, but the minute you start to wax poetic his patience goes out the window

Don’t get him wrong, it’s not that he doesn’t like you personally, just wishes you were a bit more to the point

That being said, if you speak poetry when he’s drunk? He’ll have done a complete 180º

Because of this he hates that you can accurately describe him as, “A blunt force weapon with the heart of a bouquet.”

Knows deep down that he has at least a bit of a soft spot for softer things, but will die before he verbally admits it

Goemon

He loves it

If the two of you are resting, the breeze blowing gently, while you talk about whatever as poetically as possible?

That’s pure happiness right there

He himself has a taste for the poetic, though he might not show it through speech

There will never be a time where he doesn’t understand you either

Out of the gang, he’s actually the one that paid the most attention in his studies when he was younger

Sure, most of them were on swordplay, but you still have to know fancy words to know the history and legends for the swords, right?

Loves that you describe him as, “As fierce as his sword, but elegant and gentle as a sweet haiku.”

He sees what you did there and he appreciates it

Fujiko

After Goemon, she is the most excited for your poetry/poetic speaking

She could just sit there and listen to you talk for hours

Would also be the one to find actual poetry interesting and not just poetic speaking

She might have a time or two that she might have to ask you what a word means, but knows most of them

Will absolutely melt if you describe her along the lines of, “A goddess who’s beauty and wisdom were not dimmed in the slightest when she took on human form.”

Make sure that you mean it though, and that you’re sure to compliment her smarts as well as her beauty

She’s gotten too many people saying such things to pretend that they saw her that way, that it sort of throws her off when she meets someone who means every word of it and isn’t trying to use her for something

Zenigata

Like Lupin, he’ll get dizzy

But, unlike Lupin he’s not going to be a good about pretending that he knows what’s going on

You’ll just be talking and then see that he’s just sort of glazed over

He likes the way that it sounds though, even if he doesn’t understand you

Like Fujiko he could listen to you for hours, but more so he likes that tone of your voice rather than what you’re saying

He will put effort into learning new words though, during the rare off times he has at the office, little bits at a time right before he goes to bed, when someone else is driving them somewhere, any time that he can fit it in

Let’s you describe him with things like, “As fierce as a hell hound, as protective as a guard dog, and as sweet as a puppy.”

He at least knows what that means

Doesn’t tend to mind other ways you describe him either, because even though he might not know what you’re saying specifically, he knows you wouldn’t say anything hurtful about him