#while Ganimard is all >:{ >:{

[kiaroscuro]

Continuing my trend of sorta-watercolor backgrounds, have a thief in his natural habitat. Like many birds, he is decked out in his most prized and shiny possessions and is trying to elicit the attention of a possible suitor, though the suitor appears to be unamused. Oh, the poor thief; maybe next time will work out better.

(otherwise known as: Ganimard isn't being paid nearly enough for all of the hairs he's loosing while chasing Lupin)

[queersouthasian]

Jack&Joker - U steal my heart!

One of the most popular Thai BL cps, Yinwar, are back with a heist themed BL after a long hiatus since Love mechanics.

*taps mic*

I refuse to spiral into insanity all by myself, so here is a thread of theories or rather poorly made assumptions regarding the characters and plot.

#1 Joker and Lupin

You know what Joker reminds me of, or rather who? Arséne Lupin.

Arséne Lupin AKA the 'Gentleman Burglar' is a French fictional book character,

There is a French live action drama on Netflix called 'Lupin' where a guy named Assane Diop, a long standing fan of the books, imitates Lupin to avenge his father's death.

Now, why am I mentioning Lupin out of nowhere? I remember binge watching the live action and wishing that one day we would have a BL with a similiar theme. The BL gods heard me lol. Joker, seems to be very similiar to Lupin/Assane. He is cocky, witty, bitchy, sassy and chaotically evil yet cares and loves beyond one may speculate.

And If Joker is our queer Lupin,

Tattoo is our Benjamin,

Benjamin used to replicate intricately made precious jewels/jwelery which helped Assane to rob the original and replace with the cloned item which looked indifferent to the human eye.

If that's that, if tattoo makes shit which gets used during heists, then maybe he was the one to create the gas which puts everyone to sleep. Literally anyone can argue that it could have been chloroform, something that's easy to access. BUT, considering the amount of 'chloroform' which flowed through the ventilators, people would have been dead. Atleast Anan. That shit results in muscle breakdown and can put people in coma.

And if we have the Assane, the benjamin, do we also have the Ganimard?

#2 Cards and Ganimard

Cards play an important role in the world of Joker, it's everywhere,

In his description

on the loan papers

It's his signature, of course.

But you know who else has a card related description?

Yes

Jack has what we call the "ace of spades"...

Now this is where this gets interesting,

If the joker is the 'harlequin' which symbolises chaos, unpredictability, wit and intelligence; who exactly what Joker is, The Lupin, then Jack is THE ace of spades, which symbolises intellectual power or spiritual growth BUT carry the reputation of being the 'Death Card' popularised during the Vietnam War. It's a die or domino with a single pip.

And If Jack is the 'ace', he can be the queer Ganimard,

This makes me think, either Jack will be the hindrance or guidance, maybe both.

It could be that, the only history Jack and Joker share is Jack getting conned by joker. IF joker did scam Jack on the 'superhuman project' which was assumbly his dream project yet Jack helps him, then he can be called inhumanely loyal and hopelessly in love.

"You are still kind and haven't changed"

And if Jack can cooperate with Joker so well (the whole fight scene against the guards), he would be the only one to know how Joker works or atleast have an idea. And If that's what it is, he would either directly join the heist by pretending to stop it and Joker, or he is actually going to do it 'cause, he is the "death card"

He is either with you, or against you.

The vibe till now seem very contrasting to Partners in Crime, while the later was more like a social commentry where two lovers rob the exploited, the rich. But this one is more like a cold witty thief who finds an extremely loyal admirer and falls for him BUT this could turn into a love story with betrayal. This show either is going to be chill, cool and quirky and little bit angsty OR extremely twisted and angsty. Let's see.

[cambrioleur]

LUPIN scenarios that have probably happened

Assane buying a dream journal online and filling it exclusively with names for potential alter egos and personas

Juliette going through Claire's Instagram account and leaving hate comments on all her photos via an army of alt accounts

Guédira smiling to himself and thinking "she's so hot" while watching Belkacem explode with rage because Assane got away again

Ben randomly slipping the fact that he often lies awake at night pondering his mortality into a conversation he's having with Assane about a 19th century diamond ring (Assane doesn't notice)

Keller sitting on the floor of his prison cell, hugging his knees to his chest and rocking back and forth, muttering "He got me. That fucking Assane Diop boomed me."

Guédira writing 10,000+ word self-insert Ganimard fanfiction (he has exactly one, very devoted, anonymous reader who turns out to be Assane)

Claire begging Raoul to open up to her about his mental health after she discovers thirty pages' worth of surreal, nihilistic memes printed out and taped inside his school workbook

[awestruck-atrophy]

yes explain immediately right now

okay, this is going to be a long one!

what is atrophy’s EDEN?

EDEN is less of a storyline than it is a universe for several gothic/Victorian characters to run around in. It’s a little like an AU, except it doesn’t strictly need to be defined as that bc all the characters involved are either original, used w/ permission, or in the public domain. it’s named as such because of a greenhouse of the roof of their little building, and because of the song From Eden by Hozier. there’s lots of Hozier influence in this.

it involves James (or ‘Jay’) Moriarty and their right hand man Sebastian Moran (both of whom you might know from the ACD Sherlock Holmes stories) assembling a team of criminals, dubbed “the EDEN project”, reverse league of extraordinary gentlemen style.

these criminals include:

ex-murderer and asylum escapee Edward Hyde, who was put into Bethlam after his trial for Henry Jekyll’s murder, where he failed to prove that he was, in fact, Dr. Jekyll himself.

perpetually suicidal and coincidentally unkillable Dorian Gray, who joins up because he has nothing better to do and promptly falls head over heels for the project’s coroner.

gentlemen thief and debonair master of disguise Arsène Lupin, who was only supposed to be in England long enough to rob the British Museum and stuck around because Moriarty had a better offer.

century-old force of nature and famed monster Adam Lucifer Frankenstein, who over the hundred-odd years he’s existed has rekindled a quiet (if distant) fascination with humanity.

depressed coroner Elijah Lijk, the world’s awkwardest man and master of uncomfortable staring, who is just here to get his paycheck pretty please.

& last but not least, freshly reanimated father of mad science and gothic lit’s own sopping wet cat Victor Frankenstein, who Adam brought back at Moriarty’s request (but mostly just to prove that he could.)

eden doesn’t have a specific time period— it’s actually built to house purposeful anachronisms (so while Arsène and Moran may have modern-day tactical equipment, Dorian still absolutely dresses like its both the 1880s and the 1920s simultaneously)

oh, also, versions of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Gabriel John Utterson, Henry Clerval, Ganimard, Lestrade, Henry Wotton, Basil Hallward, Mycroft Holmes, Sybil Vane, the whole Frankenstein family, and several others have existed or do exist in this universe.

playlists related to EDEN:

atrophy’s EDEN <- character songs playlist

Bethlam (EDEN) <- classical ambient playlist

the greenhouse (EDEN) <- music with words

[pixelateddork]

Please ramble. I want to know more about Arsene Lupin! Especially compared to the first major appearance of him in the lupin iii anime

OKAY SO,,

Arsene Lupin my absolute beloved. He's such a lil bastard and he's so much more like Lupin III than I would've thought. He's so entertaining, and despite being a lil bastard he is genuinely so cute and silly and a brat, and just the most dramatic man ever. I'm only 2 and a half novels into the series but I am just so in love with him.

Comparing him to Lupin I's first major appearance in the anime(that being Lupin Zero) to even just Arsene Lupin's first ever short story...

W o w.

It's like comparing Mamo to Cagliostro TBH.

Now I will ramble about this lil thief man. Careful, this is gonna be long. It will also include a bunch of stuff from the first novel, so keep that in mind if you don't want an spoilers! Would they be called spoilers? These novels are like a 100 years old...

First off, Lupin's first ever short story is this.

"The Arrest of Arsène Lupin"

Yes he gets arrested immediately. Yes it was absolutely his own fault. Despite being very smart he's also very stupid. It runs in the family I guess. Here's a small summary of the first ever story, it'll give you a good idea of his character :D

"Arsène Lupin is on your vessel, first cabin, blonde hair, wound right forearm, traveling alone under name of R—"

This is pretty much where the plot starts. Lupin send a telegram to the boat he's on saying his on the boat, and the rest of the story being about the passengers of the boat trying to find out who was actually Arsene Lupin(during this he's stealing stuff and messing with the passengers). All the while it's being told from Lupin's perspective as he's under a fake name(Bernard D'Andrezy). Oh, there's also a woman, Miss Nelly. She's with him the whole time, and Lupin has fallen in love with her. She'll become more important later.

Anyways, as soon as Lupin steps off the boat he immediately gets caught by Inspector Ganimard(the man assigned to catch Lupin, and who Lupin refers to as "the personal enemy of Arsene Lupin" while in disguise. I could ramble about him and Arsene for hours but this isn't about him--). And the reason he's caught isn't just because Ganimard recognized him instantly(By gazing into his eyes. This surprisingly comes back later.)...it's also because of the stupid telegram he sent.

I hesitated a moment. Then he hit me a sharp blow on the right arm, which caused me to utter a cry of pain. He had struck the wound, yet unhealed, referred to in the telegram.

The chapter ends with it being revealed that this was actually a story being told by Arsene to his friend(Who is basically Leblanc's self-insert), who writes down all the stories Arsene tells him, and is referred to as Arsene's historiographer later on(Yes, this means that the books are canon in-universe). The story ends with this dialogue from Arsene.

"Why,” said he, “why should I retain a definite form and feature? Why not avoid the danger of a personality that is ever the same? My actions will serve to identify me." Then he added, with a touch of pride: "So much the better if no one can ever say with absolute certainty: There is Arsène Lupin! The essential point is that the public may be able to refer to my work and say, without fear of mistake: Arsène Lupin did that!"

--- This first chapter is a really good introduction to Arsene's character(And from what I know, there's really only one exception to this but...I'll get into that another time), and the rest of the novel only gets better. He's such a fun character though out the entire thing. This things he does are just so insane sometimes and I love it. Some insane things include sending a calling card requesting the treasure he wants to some rich guy, and even he specifies the things NOT to send because he doesn't want them, ALL WHILE HE'S STILL IN PRISON. Or the time Ganimard came to visit him in prison, and Arsene was just :DD!!! and the proceeded to tell Ganimard his entire plan while Ganimard just sits and listens.

The time they planned a date(Same scene mentioned before BTW)--

"Arsène Lupin, you are not a bad fellow, after all." “Thank you,” said Lupin. “Ganimard, this is Friday. On Wednesday next, at four o'clock in the afternoon, I will smoke my cigar at your house in the rue Pergolese." "Arsène Lupin, I will expect you."

God, and the scene of him getting caught stealing stuff by the woman he fell in love with, and he just stares at her like a deer in headlights, before immediately promising to her that he'll return everything he just stole, only for the girl to still reject him later on(obviously) after everything is returned and he gets all depressed(or the other novel where a DIFFERENT girl he liked said she hated thieves and he started crying). Even just the little things he does are still so charming, like his paragraph long(sometimes even longer) monologues and rambles(Omg same) or his constant use of "My dear"(especially to Ganimard). Keep in mind though that all of this is all just the FIRST novel.

Okay okay, I'm getting ahead of myself. I don't wanna ramble toooo much more because this is already super long, and if I don't stop now I will go on forever. But as you can see, I'm absolutely obsessed with this lil thief man, he's such a lovable lil bastard and I adore him so so much. 💖🎩💎

[zingtastic]

ARSENE LUPIN P5 AU?????? FUCK YEAH!!!!!

(Holy shit I love this idea, I am in love a trillion times with it. Also basic gist of it pls (like is it based off of the novels in terms of story or is it p5 but old)?)

I’M GLAD YOU’RE EXCITED BECAUSE I AM TOO

I’m also very nervous because I’ve never made an au before and I’m kinda putting a weird spin on it. I am basing it mainly on the novels; time period, style, etc. But the novels only really concern Arsene and Ganimard. In order to add more characters, I looked to media similar to the stories and low and behold I found the Lupin III series (which I then binged and now adore but that’s besides the point).

The au follows Phantom Thief Ren Lupin, of course, with Detective Goro Akechi (I didn’t feel a reason to change Akechi’s name because he’s already named after a famous detective) hot on his tail. It takes place roughly in the late 1800s to early 1900s so I’m gonna throw an old fashioned twist on the p5 villains, which will be the people Ren’s stealing from. However, Ren will be the one carrying out the actual heists while his support… supports him in doing so, preventing the law from reaching him and all that.

Concerning his support: this was based HEAVILY on Lupin III’s gang. If you are unfamiliar with that franchise, a quick Google search should give you the gist of the group.

Ren obviously takes place of Lupin.

Ryuji takes the place of Jigen. I chose Ryuji because Jigen is Lupin’s right hand man—always there for support and to help get him outta trouble if he becomes overwhelmed. Bros lookin out for bros!

Yusuke takes the place of Goemon. In the show, Goemon represents the traditional Japanese thief—the same role that Yusuke plays in p5, relatively speaking. He’s the level-headed one with accidental humor, and if that isn’t Yusuke idk who is.

Then comes the idea of the fem fatale. I didn’t want this to be an all boys au because women are badass, duh. So I HAD to include my girl Ann in there somewhere, and I think she takes the place of Fujiko, in a way. She definitely won’t be used for sex appeal tho because women deserve respect and that’s a very “male gaze” idea so she’s there to be her girlboss self and show the boys how it’s done.

I’d like to include the rest of the Phantom Thieves down the line as other additions to Ren’s support group, but I’m gonna flesh out what I’ve got so far before I get too in over my head.

My favorite Arsene Lupin story is The Red Silk Scarf so I’m gonna play around with maybe doing a messy comic as a sort of intro to the greater story.

I am extremely excited to work on this but I do have a full-time job over the summer so most posting will probably happen on the weekends.

Anyway, sorry that was a little long but thank you for being interested and asking about it!! I hope it meets expectations :) <3

[dodger-chan]

Thoughts on L'Evasion d'Arsène Lupin part 2

se jouer du présidente - from context I assumed it meant "to own the room" or "to steal the show" at first, but as I read on and realized "president" is more in line with "judge" in this context, I think it's more "to toy with the judge."

Lupin is a magician, medical doctor, Jiu-Jitsu expert, and cyclist. Perhaps his real name is van Helsing? In all seriousness, this sounds like Lupin isn't one guy but a gang of experts.

Et il entra dans le détail des vols, escroqueries et faux reprochés à Lupin

thefts, scams, and false reproaches? Forgeries, I assume? It would be funnier if it was something extremely minor, but I think forgeries makes the most sense.

"Or" being used to mean "but" keeps throwing me off. False cognates are the worst.

Un silence. Et soudain, dans ce silence un éclat de rire retentit, mais un rire joyeux, heureux, le rire d’un enfant pris de fou rire, et qui ne peut pas s’empêcher de rire. Nettement, réellement, Ganimard sentit ses cheveux se hérisser sur le cuir soulevé de son crâne. Ce rire, ce rire infernal qu’il connaissait si bien !…

You know, I would really like to hear Lupin's laugh. I bet it's fantastic.

un blanc-bec - a white beak? from context, I'd guess someone who is inexperienced

« Du moment qu’Arsène Lupin crie sur les toits qu’il s’évadera, c’est qu’il a des raisons qui l’obligent à le crier. »

Lupin makes a good point. In the last story, Lupin explained that he'd announced his intention to commit a burglary because he needed the reaction to the announcement in order to pull it off. He used the same technique with his escape.

I admit, Leblanc had me fooled at first. When they brought the prisoner in, I assumed Lupin had pulled off a switch somehow, and that being moved from one cell to another after his first escape had been part of the plan. But, once we found out Baudru had been in Lupin's cell for two months without complaining I became suspicious. It strained credulity. The only person who wouldn't complain about being in Lupin's cell is Lupin himself.

Le système Bertillon - Alphonse Bertillon was a French policeman who categorized criminals by a number of measurements: head length, head breadth, length of middle finger, length of the left foot, and length of the cubit (middle finger to elbow). The idea being that while some measurements would be the same for different people, it was unlikely all the ones he took would be. He also standardized the mug shot. I suppose it worked better than nothing.

[iron-cutting-meteor-sword]

I’m endeavoring to do this thing where I sketch each of the Lupin gang with heavy inspiration from the actors and media that inspired and influenced their creation and design, which is easy (as in finding the resources) right up until you reach Lupin, who does have some clear inspiration from his original voice actor and James Bond, but also obviously is inspired by a lot of the Arsène Lupin adaptions up until that point, and there are A LOT OF THEM. And I can see a bit of Lupin’s design in a lot of the adaptions in movies, tv and even some illustrations! It’s very cool but very overwhelming lmao

[beingvv]

I originally posted this in response to Raffle's awesome post about Hakuba Saguru and literary references and since there are some renewed discussion (yay!) I thought I'd post it again under the main tags. It's very long so I've kept half of it under the cut:

I believe Hakuba is originally intended by Gosho to be the Sherlockian character, not least because of his way of dress but also his name: Saguru Hakuba (Sherlock Holmes). His British ancestry is clearly a nod to that, as is his family background (family member with high levels of power in government, just like Mycroft). Kudo Shinichi came later, and Gosho reused a lot of the elements in MK in DC too as he himself have said. But as Kudo says in the DC London chapter, he’s more of a Holmes apprentice than Holmes incarnate. His character setup doesn’t bear resemblance to Holmes in any way other than his obsession with Holmes and deduction skills. His personality, family background… even name, none of it fits the way Hakuba’s does. Hakuba is the only one without a childhood sweetheart among the Gosho Boys and generally being perceived as arrogant and smug, a maddening air of superiority, while in reality he is a gentleman and capable of great empathy (see MK’s nightmare chapter, and the difference in how Hakuba holds himself in DC’s Koshien). This is also more Sherlockian, whereas Kudo has loads of friends and his entire way of being outside of his deductions is just, not very Sherlockian at all (?)

It’s also worth keeping in mind that Hakuba was created opposite Kaito in MK, whereas KID was drafted into DC a nebulous while later when Gosho needed a rival for Kudo, and he legit said “hey don’t I have one already”. From namesake you can see that Shinichi’s original rival was supposed to be Heiji.

Having said all of this, I personally think Hakuba’s character is a combination of Sherlock Holmes with Isidore Beautrelet, from Lupins’s Hollow Needle. Because...

Isidore is the “young but gifted amateur detective, who is still in high school but who is poised to give Arsène Lupin a big headache” in that story, and in that story Lupin himself actually admits Isidore came the closest to defeating him – just as Hakuba came the closet to actually trapping KID (If not for Akako, Kaito would have been in a sticky spot). Here is the passage of quote by Lupin in Hollow Needle, addressing Isidore:

“It’s a question of a fact, a positive, indisputable fact; and that fact is this: in all the past ten years, I have not yet knocked up against an adversary of your capacity. With Ganimard and Holmlock Shears I played as if they were children. With you, I am obliged to defend myself, I will say more, to retreat. Yes, at this moment, you and I well know that I must look upon myself as worsted in the fight. Isidore Beautrelet has got the better of Arsène Lupin. My plans are upset. What I tried to leave in the dark you have brought into the full light of day. You annoy me, you stand in my way. ”

Holmlock Shears, obviously, is referring to Sherlock Holmes as the author could not use Holmes’ character without infringing upon copyright. And doesn’t the highlighted quote sound familiar? “Everything will come to light”, and in the Hakukai duet song Hakuba actually does say “One day I will bring you to the broad day light”. And Lupin admitting he has to retreat from Isidore whereas he plays with Holmes like children – Hakuba is the only detective whom Kaito does’t know what to do with – the famous Gosho “苦手” (not good at dealing with) comment.

And by the end of the Hollow Needle story (spoiler alert) Isidore was asked to shoot Lupin but he could not bring himself to do it. Lupin then snatches him and they run away together, calling him a friend, explaining excitedly about his future plans, etc… and Isidore thinks:

“By the way in which Lupin clutched his arm, Beautrelet felt that all resistance was useless. Besides, why resist? Had he not discovered and handed over the Hollow Needle? What did he care about the rest? Had he not the right to humor the irresistible sympathy with which, in spite of everything, this man inspired him? The feeling was so clear in him that he was half inclined to say to Lupin: “Look here, you’re running another, a more serious danger; Holmlock Shears is on your track.”

Doesn’t all of this sound familiar?

In this story, Holmes actually ends up being a villain (Lupin legit calls him that). Because of his impulsiveness and inability to accept defeat, Holmes exposed Lupin’s secret identity to his civilian girlfriend, and then proceeds to point a gun, and after scuffle where he is again losing, shoots at Lupin. Lupin’s girlfriend jumps in front of the bullet and sacrifices herself to save Lupin, and Lupin in his grief expresses intense hatred for Holmes and nearly strangles him (even though he doesn’t in the end).

Holmes really isn’t portrayed in a positive light in Lupin’s books, but I’ll have to say that Shinichi is the only teen detective who’s ever fired a gun at KID – youthful arrogance, no doubt, but still dangerous. Conan also is far more physical with KID, always with the football even after KID gets away, and with his tranquilliser darts, etc. Hakuba, despite his outward arrogance, is far more subdued when his actual dealings with KID – he is essentially on Kaito’s side and he went from wanting to catch KID to not wanting KID to lose to another phantom thief quite quickly, and Hakuba & Kaito are sort of friends even though they might not acknowledge it, the same way Lupin & Isidore are. Also in Koshien, even at the height of Hakuba’s arrogance and pissing off Heiji, after his mistake was pointed out to him, Hakuba smiles and accepts defeat quite graciously and immediately caught on to Heiji’s deductions joins the train of thought in the right direction.

So yeah, I think Gosho’s literary imagery is a mix of all of the above, which is also prone to change as the series progresses  – and since DC is a very long series, the characters have changed a lot and with new elements from different media inspirations added in, but I guess that's a post for another day.

... I also wrote a bloody long part about Hakuba vs Shinichi's attitude towards KID and DC's KID vs MK's KID, but tumblr bugged out on me and nothing's saved so I gotta start from scratch again 😫 It's kind of off topic to this one though so I'll just leave this one here as is I guess 🤦‍♀️

[zorlok-if]

🌌 for everyone!

From this ask list.

🌌 MILKY WAY - what was the inspiration behind your oc? what was the first thing you decided about them?

This one's actually really interesting because, as I mentioned before (but a while ago), Zorlok is a character I played in a Monster of the Week campaign and this story/cast is inspired by that game. So, many of the characters did not start off as my OCs. Some are new and some are adopted (though I've changed them considerably). It's been an interesting process divorcing these characters from who they were before and reinventing them in my storytelling style.

Tommy: When I thought of the idea for Zorlok, Tommy came about simultaneously. Originally, his name was Timmy (so, the bottom left bit in this art by @mansymdraws nearly made me do a spit take the first time I saw it). The idea for Tommy came from me asking myself who a demon would least like to be stuck in a Faustian pact with and boom, Tommy was born. I think he's also inspired by TV/movie high schoolers like the kids in Stranger Things, It Chapter 1, etc.

Dev: Dev was one of the other two PCs in the original campaign. The main idea behind Dev has stayed pretty similar (a former criminal trying - not so successfully at times - to redeem xemself with an ex-friend detective nipping at xyr heels) but I've made a lot of changes to xyr backstory that were likely inspired by Dorian Gray, Fig Faeth, Arsene Lupin, Peter Pan, Jay Gatsby, etc. I also took a small element of the original character's story and altered it to work better within the context of this story (hint: the original Dev—who wasn't named Dev—didn't wear an eye patch). I also knew that the gender selectable Dev I was creating would use neopronouns when nonbinary and that xe would play with/ignore gender norms no matter xyr gender identity.

EJ: The other PC, EJ is probably the character I've made the fewest changes to. I think that I've turned down some of the original goofiness of EJ, who was a bumbling ball of anxiety before, and made them a somewhat more optimistic bookworm (though they are still in many ways a bumbling ball of anxiety). In the original campaign, EJ's player and I loved to play off the Odd Couple-esque dynamic between the two who were forced to constantly be around each other even though they didn't always get along. That's something I've kept. They also have a non-traditional relationship with gender (but, in all honesty, you can probably just copy and paste that into the description of every character I write).

Adam/Eve: One of the original NPCs, A/E—who was originally just Adam, a cis man—arose from a character choice associated with Dev's character, specifically this one:

Randomly, our GM (or Keeper in this system) named the detective Adam and I enjoyed playing off that since I was playing a demon. When I took over the character I wanted to continue playing with the Adam thing, but I wanted them to be a trans person who had adopted the name as a way to eschew their former faith and project the idea of them remaking themself and their body in their own image. They're also inspired by classic film noir detectives, Riz Gukgak from Dimension 20, and the idea of Sherlock/Ganimard (or someone who thinks they're Sherlock/Ganimard).

Lucía: Originally Anna, Lucía was just a member of a rival group we were pitted against. She was completely different in terms of personality, appearance, skillset, etc. Really, Lucía's pretty much an original character who occupies Anna's former spot. (She's also tied to ROs from a different IF that I've worked on which is set in the same universe). Lucía's also inspired by the women from Arcane, particularly Vi and Caitlyn. Her name is also inspired by Lucifer (as many of the characters' names are inspired by religious themes and/or are deeply symbolic) though she's only like him in that they've both fallen from a position of grace having sided with the enemy and... you know what, yeah, Lucí's actually got a few parallels to ole Luci.

Ciel: Ciel is the hybrid of an original NPC, Ethan—who was a hunter on the rival team with Anna—and the version of Zorlok that I played. (And yeah, the name wasn't intended to be so but might in some ways be a reference to Black Butler). Ciel's big thing is that they pride themself on being a mystery, so, I won't say anything else here. 😈

The Celestial: A completely original character. I can't say too much without getting into spoilers, but the Celestial emerged from my desire to have a character who knew Zorlok's past but couldn't share it with them. Who could provide some insight into infernals and celestials, but you also can never be sure if it's reliable info or not. I've suggested before that eir relationship with Z is similar to Aziraphale and Crowley's from Good Omens, and I think that's a really good comparison (but even though ey's meant to be a fallen angel figure, the Celestial's closest to Crowley in all honestly). Ey's mostly inspired by classic roguish tricksters like Loki, Anansi, etc. but also fall into the classic fallen angel archetype.

Danny: Danny was a character from the original game, though I can't tell you why they came about. I'd also just like to say that I didn't name Danny and they've always been a ghost, but, yeah they're perhaps a bit inspired by Danny Fenton (and I don't know if that was my GM's original plan but I like to think it was). I think I've drawn aspects of them from many different places, including Rick Blaine, Samwise Gamgee, Jorah Mormont, Indiana Jones, Victor Frankenstein, Edward Elric, etc.

Rose: Rose is one of the characters who's based on an NPC from the campaign, though he was originally named Chris Jeffries. Rose serves as a domestic, "normal" contrast to the fantastical absurdity of the rest of this story. I also knew I wanted an older RO who was a parent and Rose was perfect for that. Character-wise, I know that my GM based him on Andy Dwyer from Parks and Recreation and while I've tried to keep a bit of that spirit, Rose is a lot more complex now. He'd also fit into the game Dream Daddy while the rest of the cast is more Monster Prom.

Okay, I think I answered all these questions 😅 Let me know if I missed something or if you have any questions about this stuff!

[badlydrawnarsenelupin]

i'm struggling to send an ask through the blog interface, pop-ups aren't working maybe? for questions, 3 and 14

Questions for Muns of Canon Muses !

3. What is something that was never addressed at all in the canon material that you have independently developed for your muse?

While not completely unmentioned, I do have some very specific height hcs for some of the book characters based off of how they are described. Lupin himself has been very consistently described as a man of average height, so... hello google what is the average height of a french man in the 1900s → 165-170cm.

For reference,

Lupin III ranges from 167 to 179 cm

Kuroba Kaito/Kaitou KID is 174cm

Persona 5 Akiren/Joker is 175cm

I settled on ~170 cm as the default Arsène Lupin height just because it’s funny if the two most famous, Lupin-inspired lil phantom thief upstarts are just a smidge taller than the original Lupin.

As for the other book characters...

Beautrelet (described as “very tall” by another full-grown man while Lupin was described as “middle height” by a woman) → at least taller than Lupin so 171-175cm

Béchoux (“Pale-faced, he was tall, skinny...”) → again, at least taller than Lupin so ~175-180cm

Blonde Lady/Clotilde (”a tall, thin woman”) →  ~175cm

Ganimard (”little old man” “little man”) probably shorter than Lupin so ~160cm

Josephine (one of her predecessor/mother/or maybe it was her all along was described as ”tall, slender and beautiful”) →  probably ~175cm

Sholmes (”tall, smooth-shaven”) also based off of canon Holmes who is at least ~185cm

Point is, there’s a lot of tall people here, Lupin is surrounded by people taller than him. Source: Me. I declare it’s true.

14. What is your ideal AU for your muse?

I do have a particular AU that I think a lot about but this post is getting long and this is a duplicate question so! Here’s a shorter idea/concept:

AU where Barnett (Lupin) + Béchoux + Beautrelet end up working together, also known as the 🅱️etectives!AU. What will they do, where will they go? On to a crime scene of course!

In which only one of them is an actual, authorized detective who has to nervously cover for his two parasites. Meanwhile, the two aforementioned parasites skedaddle off in the background, doing nosy detective things, detective-ing their way into places they don’t belong, as totally legitimate detectives should.

[maxwell-grant]

May I please ask what your preferred dynamic between Holmes & Lupin would be? (From what I can tell, the term 'frenemies' might have been invented for these two - if any two characters in fiction WOULD spend all their time trying to one-up each other it's these two, if only their diverse other commitments, challenges & interests left them the free time to do so: I'm also morally certain a sadly-hypothetical Holmes/Lupin team is one of the few things that could bring down Fantomas for Good).

I think "frenemies" is what ultimately works best for these two specifically, because there's a certain untouchability to icons as big as these two that limits the potential stories you can tell with them (although yes, definitely on board with the two having what it takes to bring down Fantomas, although probably not as cleanly and easily as they might expect).

The original Leblanc stories involving this premise are very much centered around one-upmanship, even embracing a theme of national rivalry of England vs France. They acknowledge Holmes's talents but without the awe, with a somewhat aged Holmes with mundane imperfections easily exploited by the daring young thief, someone deserving of his legend but who doesn't quite live up to it. Obviously Lupin's gotta have the upperhand, not just because it's his author writing it, but because the whole point of Lupin's creation was to be the new hotness, the counterpart to both the stuffy old Great Detectives as well as the aristocratic master burglars, and really, what kind of rising superstar would he be if he couldn't put one over the other guy? If he's gonna live up to his claim of being the greatest criminal ever, he's gotta be able to humble the greatest detective at least a little.

The treatment of Watson (Wilson) is tasteless and it's frankly a bit saddening to see that even back then writers were still shitting on Watson far too much, but on the whole I think Leblanc was a lot fairer to Holmes than he could have been (certainly other writers from this time period who added Holmes to their stories were not as fair), he makes it very clear Holmes is not just another Ganimard out of his depth and is very much as close to an equal Lupin's ever had. I think the description used to cap off their final meeting is very much on point:

"You see, monsieur, whatever we may do, we will never be on the same side. You are on one side of the fence; I am on the other. We can exchange greetings, shake hands, converse a moment, but the fence is always there.

You will remain Herlock Sholmes, detective, and I, Arsène Lupin, gentleman-burglar. And Herlock Sholmes will ever obey, more or less spontaneously, with more or less propriety, his instinct as a detective, which is to pursue the burglar and run him down, if possible.

And Arsène Lupin, in obedience to his burglarious instinct, will always be occupied in avoiding the reach of the detective, and making sport of the detective, if he can do it. And, this time, he can do it" - Arsene Lupin vs Herlock Sholmes

The consistent outcome is that Holmes "wins" the material battle while Lupin gets away with the spiritual or karmic victory. The first story, Holmes has Lupin figured out from a glance, robbing him of his greatest asset, and Lupin even tells Holmes under a guise that he has no greater admirer than himself. Holmes choses not to arrest Lupin, and instead solves the mystery as quickly as Lupin would. But he is also, well, inferior. His "commonplace appearence" dissappoints the guests and detectives at the crime scene, he doesn't resemble their expectations, he is gruff, ungracious, arrogant and all-business, an Englishman all the way, and Lupin one-ups him by returning to him his stolen watch, and Holmes is not a good sport about it.

The whole "Herlock Sholmes" name change, although it was out of legal obligation, almost reads like a cheeky courtesy of Leblanc, like he's giving Holmes enough of a courtesy in sparing him the embarassment of being the loser. And the following adventures stay consistent: Sholmes is smart, as smart as Lupin, and he's a gentleman. But he isn't as smart as he thinks he is, and he isn't as much of a gentleman as Lupin. He resorts to unsporting tactics like intimidating Lupin's lover and involving the police in their conflict, and in the end, he's solved the crime, but "sown the seeds of discord" in a family Lupin was protecting, becoming the villain for a change, a role reversion Lupin openly laughs at. Holmes wins the "loot", he wins the material battle, but Lupin has the last laugh, and despite being a self-proclaimed villain, Lupin gets the moral victory.

It's a quite unflattering view of Holmes and one perhaps not suited for a crossover outside of the specific context of Holmes being the old and stuffy intruder in an Arsene Lupin story. Then again, every great hero needs a lesson in humility every now and then.

There's a particularly interesting variant of this dynamic to be found within China's own takes on Sherlock Holmes and Arsene Lupin.

Sherlock Holmes was quite the breakout hit for Chinese audiences at the time of his release, revered as an alternative to Judge Bao and the court-case novels. It's estimated that from 1903 to 1909, detective fiction constituted over almost 50% percent of all Western translated fiction, and with Holmes followed others like Nick Carter and Charlie Chan, and then Arsene Lupin, and soon their own local versions. The most famous and popular of which was Huo Sang, created by Cheng Xiaoqing, who was one of the main translators for Conan Doyle's stories. Cheng Xiaoqing even wrote his own take on Sherlock Holmes vs Arsene Lupin called "The Diamond Necklace", intending on correcting Leblanc's take, although interestingly, he unintentionally recreates the exact outcome by giving Holmes an unsporting attitude, where he "wins" only because Lupin lets him, and Lupin gets away again with the moral high ground. He would fare off much better in correcting Holmes with his own character, Huo Sang.

Huo Sang has a lot of similarities to Holmes, even with his own Watson counterpart, but was also designed to represent a few more traditional Chinese values. He is a science teacher with no addictions who belittles the wealthy class and fights for the poor, and he is praised for humility, one story even making a point to criticize Holmes for arrogance. He is a very Westernized character, with suits and guns and cigarettes galore, but the books were very dictatic and the author marketed them as "disguised textbooks for science", playing up on a newfound social reverence to scientific methods and self-improvement and national rejuvenation.

The stories deal heavily with corruption of the police force and institutions. In the earlier stories he outright calls police detectives useless rice buckets only good for solving petty thefts and preying on those that can't defend themselves, and while they become less sinister in later stories, Huo Sang's relation with law enforcement is much more frayed than Holmes's own. He uses dirty police tactics of his own and sometimes takes the law into his own hands, thinking the law cannot possibly achieve justice on it's own. His biggest loyalty is to his country and he values his reputation above all else. He values justice more than the law, like Holmes. But like Holmes, he still prefers to work inside the law and within Chinese traditions.

"Bao Lang, you scholar, you're too idealistic. Don't you realize how weak the law is in modern society? Privilege and power, favors and money - the law has all these deadly enemies

"We investigate half to slake our thirst for knowledge, half out of duty to serve and uphold justice. In the realm of justice, we are never constrained by the wooden and unfeeling law. For in this society, which is gradually tending to surrender its core to material things, the spirit of the rule of law cannot be put into general practice, and the weak and ordinary people are aggrieved, more often than not unable to enjoy the protection of the law.

Lu Ping, as you'd expect from a counterpart to Lupin, was much different. In fact, right in his very first story, he was already pitted against Huo Sang and outsmarting him, in a story called "Wooden Puppet Play". The character is inspired by an already existing tradition within Chinese literature of the "chivalrous thief", shapeshifting masters of deception and martial arts, and considered admirable and benevolent opposite to the corrupt government officials they outwit.

His stories are more whimsical, energized, more varied, less dedicated to strict science. He whistles while committing crimes, is identifiable by a red tie and wooden puppets he uses to signal his goons on what outfit he's gonna be wearing, and even cracks asides to the reader. In many aspects Lu Ping is influenced by hard-boiled Western detective stories, and naturally, he has a much more contemptious view of the law than Huo Sang

Well then, was he willing, in his capacity as thief, to represent the sanctity of the law and catch the murderer? Yes, he would be quite happy to round up that murderer. But he wasn't at all willing to boost the reputation of the law. He'd always felt that the law was only something like an amulet that certain smart guys had fabricated to get them out of embarassing situations.

Such an amulet migh be good for scaring away idiots, but it oculdn't threaten the violent, crafty and arrogant evil ones. Not only could it not scare them away, a lot of them hid right behind it to work their evil tricks!

Conflicts between these two are not just rooted in one-upsmanship or the patriotic conflict between the two, but instead in two differing approaches to justice, their influence on fellow Chinese writers to step outside tradition, and the respective ways they address issues in society. Additionally, it's not just a conflict between Great Detective vs Gentleman Villain, but the Holmesian Detective and the Hardboiled Detective. And, naturally, when the two met, a pattern reocurred again.

Writing a Lu Ping tale in his usual manner, Sun Liaohong deprives the detective of the advantage he typically enjoys at the hand of Cheng Xiaoqing or any other follower of Conan Doyle - narration by the detective's coadjutor.

It is Huo Sang who slinks around like a thief, alarming hotel service personnel. He becomes rattled, and even so is vain and arrogant. He is a bit too positivist about searching for clues, and he spends a remarkable amount of time just relaxing and waiting for something to happen.

The figure of "wooden puppets" turns wicked when the author uses the term to refer to Huo Sang, Bao Lang, and the police. Satirizing the genre as a play in which the author woodenly manipulates his character. But Lu Ping as puppet is a genius, moving from one identity to another, whereas Huo Sang is a dumbbell - wooden indeed, bourgeois, ridiculed.

A gentleman's agreement occurs only at the end. Huo Sang has the formal victory. He frees Lu Ping in order to get the paining, but the exhibition is held a day late and it now bears Lu Ping's seal.

In wartime, peace talks, diplomacy and gentlemen's agreements are just smoke screens, the stuff of puppetry. Both Huo Sang and Lu Ping surround themselves with lies to reach their final accomodation. Perhaps they are both puppets - Chinese Justice, the Fiction: Law and Literature in Modern China, by Jeffrey C. Kinkley

Both characters were canned in 1949 when the CCP banned detective fiction, and it was replaced with anti-spy literature about how the party police would expose counterrevolutionary conspiracies. They never got to have a rematch, and to my understanding there were a couple of films made afterwards about them, Huo Sang had a very recent one in 2019, but never another meeting.

I guess the takeaway here time and time again is that, credit to Holmes and all, but:

[jabbers-wild-world]

// so what's Arsene's story?

Ask Me About Arsene | Always Accepting!

;; -gasp- Oh, boy, am I excited you asked this!! Strap in my friend, because you are in for a ride!

—

So. Arsene is kind of an oc of mine, kind of not. He is Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Thief. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the classic French literature by that title or not?? Anyway, I am currently writing my own, semi-steampunk, version of the Arsene Lupin tales. And my Arsene is rather unique compared to other versions of Monsieur Lupin there have been before. Examples being ‘Lupin the Third’, or Arsene Lupin in Code:Realize, or Joker’s initial persona Arsene in Persona 5. Now, that’s the basis for all of it. But you asked for his story, and here goes.

—

Monsieur Arsene Maurice Julien Henri Lupin is a one-of-a-kind, unique young Frenchman born in the countryside just outside Avignon, and he has had a fairly rough childhood for a variety of reasons, leading him to turn to crime as an outlet, a lifestyle, and a call for attention. But he is not an aggressive criminal. He is a phantom thief, robbing art galleries and stealing prized jewels, and also capturing hearts (-eyebrow waggle-) all across France. But he does not steal from the poor and he has never threatened someone’s life. As well, while he may steal priceless paintings and other works of art from the galleries, he has occasionally been known to return them. Or.. he seems to, at least. There are some rumors that he is replacing the real pieces with fakes. If he steals money, he redistributes it among those who need it more than who he took it from. Somewhat of a French Robin Hood, if you will.

However, that being said, Arsene is completely unlike anyone else in all of France, and as far as he knows, in all the world. Because Arsene isn’t human. He is a breed of demon called ‘daemonium dominus arbitera’, or ‘demon lord of judgement’. He is unaware of his species name or anything regarding it, though. But he is well aware of his being a demon, and honestly he flaunts it. He’s proud of what he is.

(Again, the art is not mine. I commissioned this one.)

Now. Fast forward to the current times in which the story takes place. Arsene is a young, wild twenty-four-year-old demon living now in Paris, the year is 1684. The story begins on a train traveling across France at night, heading to Paris. Arsene is on board this train, though he is concealing himself among the normal folks. He takes a seat across from a young man barely two years his junior, a young British fellow by the name of Theodore Bennett. Theodore, or Teddy as his sister Margaret calls him, is currently on his way to Paris to start a new life as an inventor, and he’s traveling earlier than Margaret (or Maggie) to get a feel of the city and its possible dangers before his sister joins him. Arsene strikes up conversation with him, all while not revealing any personal details of his own. He is a curious fellow after all.

However, their conversation is cut short as the train comes to a halt, with no scheduled stops or stations in sight. Enter Inspector Hercule Ganimard, a thirty-five-year-old man bent on putting Arsene behind bars to take responsibility for his crimes. He has come aboard in search of Arsene, and the demon thief in question makes the decision to conceal himself just a bit further and feign sleep. But Ganimard isn’t fooled and quickly reveals Arsene for who he is, leading to a rather dramatic standoff aboard the train before Arsene manages to escape into the night, leaving Teddy now to continue his trip with Ganimard for company instead.

Once Teddy arrives in Paris, Arsene is already there to greet him at his new home. Odd, since Teddy did never mention an address for his new residence. But from this point on, Arsene has taken a liking to Teddy and often ropes him into all kinds of trouble and shenanigans. So for the beginning, the story is rather light-hearted. But soon even stranger things start happening in Paris. Fierce black monsters stalking the city streets at night, women going missing, odd messages and cryptic warnings, a particularly unusual butcher.. and Arsene’s darker past will come to light as well.

It’s a wild adventure with Arsene, Teddy, Maggie, and Ganimard on the streets of Paris, full of mystery, intrigue, life, and romance.. in The Mysterious Cases of Arsene Lupin!

[fanfiction-artist-prototype]

Tagged by @redoaktreehill !

Thanks for the tag, now onto the questions:

How many works do you have on AO3?

Sixty-two!

44 = BNHA

6 = Persona 5

5= Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

2 = Danny Phantom (but one of those is a crossover with Justice League and John Constantine)

2 = Miraculous Ladybug (but one of those is a crossover with Batman)

3 = The Batman, Constantine and Justice League crossovers

1 = Assassination Classroom (a crossover with BNHA)

1 = Sk8 the Infinity

1 = Fire Emblem: Three Houses

What's your total AO3 word count?

876408 words!

What are your top 5 fics by Kudos?

1) The old Bait and Switch (10,019 kudos)

2) #NewestWayne is trending folks (5663 kudos)

3) (The original) A fraudulent claim to immortality (4442 kudos)

4) Rooks and Bishops don't get to choose their moves (3941 kudos)

5) Blood Stains The Skin Red (3620 kudos)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I respond to most comments! Though most of the ones I reply to are ones where I can actively engage with the commentary, like if someone asks a question or suggests something I could edit.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

Uh... give me like half an hour to scour for fics that AREN'T pure angst....

Okay so it's either 'Care to be my Ganimard?' Or 'Rival Soup' which are both crack slightly shippy Persona 5 fics about Akeshu's dynamic! Could also be 'You're telling Me A Shrimp Fried This Rice!?' Or 'Iida isn't the boss of you' which are my only crack BNHA fics but Fried Rice is a more happy emotions after sadness kind of ending rather than like fully happy and Iida isn't the boss is incomplete so-

Pretty much everything else is either currently unfinished, abandoned, being rewritten or you know... without what you would typically call a happy ending so these two are really my only options, you wouldn't think I don't like reading angst.

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Now that's a loaded question.

We've got Izuku dies in this one where it does what it says on the tin which was a sleep deprived 'ha but what if' rewrite of Kamino fic, Nomu 2.0 which (as described by a commentor) has Of Mice and Men vibes. Disrupted Celebrations is another contender because Izuku goes through every stage of grief and then gets to go through survivors guilt AND imposter syndrome before ultimately not having a good time!

For P5 it's probably Where Justice Goes To Die which is a 2/2 fic with a twist and any 2/2 fic HAS to be angsty and bittersweet or it's just not a 2/2 fic you know?

It's hard though because a lot of what I write is angst...

Do you write crossovers?

Yep! All the time, some of my favourite fics I've written are crossovers but that's mainly bc they're my little passion projects? Like I write most of my fics bc my brain refuses to shut up but my crossover fics always end up with like 40 page gdocs before they're even written because they're my babies.

Also when I still wrote on wattpad my first like major serious fic was an OHSHC/AssClass fic so it's in my writing blood you know?

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

A couple of times

I don't tend to write ships as a main focus but my only ship fic has gotten a bit of hate, mainly by one commentor who didn't like the ship or the characterisation (even though I used both a Character X salt tag and claimed it would be slightly OCC-ish to start with) and who didn't seem to like reading tags properly. I couldn't actually write for that fic for a while because everytime I clicked on it to update I just... kept looking at those comments and feeling like rubbish but then some random reader just started arguing back for me and I kind of realised that people will always dislike things but you're writing for yourself and the added ppl who will read your work despite its flaws because they've also exhausted every other fic under the pairing tag!

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I'd like to be able to write smut, if only so that I could convince myself I'm not practically victorian in my inability to not be instantly red in the face with the concept of smut. However since its a running joke between myself and my friends that every fic I write is already smut I'd never live it down if I actually wrote any.

There was a brief escapade though into the world of writing smut, but I doubt anyone that follows me on tumblr ever actually read my stuff on A03 at the time the fic in question actually existed, and if you know which deleted fic I'm talking about no you don't.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Like 5 times on Wattpad? Can't remember which ones since I've blocked out most of my Wattpad content but I remember being really upset about it.

And an entire first chapter from my only ship fic on AO3! The account got reported pretty quickly since there's a limited number of fics for the ship so you can notice pretty quick if somethings a repost.

And tagging....

@adorable-deku & @aobawilliams !

[aion-rsa]

Netflix’s Lupin: The Evolution of Lupin vs. Ganimard

https://ift.tt/2ToNPSY

This piece contains spoilers for Netflix’s Lupin Part 2.

Netflix’s Lupin ended Part 1 on the ultimate fannish moment, with Officer Youssef Guedira (Soufiane Guerrab) addressing Assane Diop (Omar Sy) as “Arsène Lupin?”—and then picked up Part 2 with Assane responding in turn, identifying his new ally Guedira as “Ganimard,” the name of Lupin’s archnemesis. Throughout the latter five episodes of George Kay’s (Killing Eve) French crime drama, the gentleman thief and the police officer replicate their literary heroes’ dynamic—shifting between rivals on opposite sides of the law to something approaching friendship—while evolving the relationship beyond Maurice Leblanc’s original characters.

“Who could baffle the schemes of Arsène Lupin better than Ganimard, the patient and astute detective?” Leblanc writes early on in Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar. Wherever the gentleman thief is mentioned, his law-abiding archrival quickly follows, hot on the metaphorical trail. Like the best cat-and-mouse pairs, these two spend so long chasing one another that they become intimately familiar with one another’s methods and even modes of thinking, yet still have their blind spots. For instance, Ganimard doesn’t allow himself to be distracted by a false murder charge, knowing that Lupin doesn’t kill, but he manages to let the thief get away in a later adventure because it never occurs to him that Lupin would escape prison and then return.

While Lupin has remarked that Ganimard doesn’t quite possess the deductive wits of himself nor of his guest-star rival Sherlock Holmes (a.k.a. Herlock Sholmes), he nonetheless respects Ganimard’s sheer tenacity and commitment to chasing him. Of course, that doesn’t stop him from escaping Ganimard’s custody every chance he gets. Despite all this, they become something close to friends as Leblanc’s adventures go on, with Lupin sometimes entrusting cases to Ganimard (as in “The Red Silk Scarf”) and the two finding some common ground.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Interestingly, Monkey Punch’s Lupin III anime seems to have split the Ganimard persona into three distinct characters. The namesake is Ganimard III, the same age as Lupin III, and burdened with several generations of Ganimard family guilt and embarrassment over letting the Lupins consistently outwit them. Though Ganimard III only appears in Lupin the 3rd Part 1, he and Lupin III replicate their grandfathers’ dynamic of wily thief and bumbling inspector as concerns a French Fair exhibit of Arséne Lupin’s prized possessions. Ganimard III, who operates on logic and science, thinks he has laid the perfect trap for his contemporary, only for Lupin III to employ some retro tricks and crafty disguises to make history repeat itself as Ganimard III returns to France in shame.

Melon Ganimard, who may or may not be Ganimard III’s sister, seems to present more of a challenge to Lupin III in a future anime installment, with her ability to suss out his disguises and her penchant for throwing handcuffs at him. Yet despite her own canniness in disguising herself as a bombshell to try and fool him, Lupin III tells her that “he never forgets a woman” and traps her in her own family heirloom handcuffs.

Ultimately, neither Ganimard has the staying power of Lupin III’s best foil: Inspector Kōichi Zenigata from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, who joins Interpol in an effort to catch the gentleman thief in the act. Alternating between goofy and serious depending on the adaptation, Zenigata’s most consistent character trait is his obsession with tracking Lupin down. The fact that they have similar enough builds makes for plenty of opportunities not just for Lupin to impersonate Zenigata (which helps fool the Ganimards) but for Zenigata to turn that trick around on him as well.

Read more

TV

From Lupin III to Inspector Gadget: Examining the Heirs of Arsène Lupin

By Natalie Zutter

Countless close calls contribute to Zenigata’s hotheadedness, as Lupin manages to evade him each time. But even the inspector’s more impulsive moves are backed by legitimately sharp instincts and the keenness to anticipate Lupin’s moves—prompting the thief to point out that it’s a shame that Zenigata is a cop. In Hayao Miyazaki’s The Castle of Cagliostro, the two even form a pact (albeit temporarily) in order to escape the titular castle’s deadly catacombs. What started as a professional rivalry, with more than one occasion forcing them to save each other’s necks, has transformed into real respect and genuine affection.

“Chapter 6” of Lupin Part 2 initially subverts this modern Lupin/Ganimard relationship by having Guedira lie about his identity; at first he lets Assane believe that he is merely a good samaritan helping to rescue the captured Raoul (Etan Simon) from Pellegrini’s man Léonard (Adama Niane). But even by the end of that first episode, Assane reveals that he’s easily figured out who Guedira is, and—perhaps in a throwback to the anime’s Ganimard descendants—zip-ties him to their stolen car as he goes after Léonard alone. When he says, “You’re Ganimard,” it’s a compliment! Only Guedira figured out who Assane’s crimes were in homage to, because of their shared fandom for the Arsène Lupin canon. But the fact remains that Assane doesn’t work with cops.

That choice proves potentially devastating by the end of “Chapter 6,” the final scene which makes Assane and the viewers believe that Raoul has perished in the burning car. If the gentleman thief, so used to relying on only himself in the middle of a heist, had brought an ally, then his son might have survived.

Thankfully, that bleak read is quickly reversed by one of the series’ signature flashbacks to what happened to Guedira after Assane left him: He managed to get out in time to rescue Raoul from the car before Léonard set it on fire. Yet having Raoul as bait puts them back on opposite sides of the law, as Guedira’s colleagues use the boy to try and arrest the thief. Unfortunately, that plus the Pellegrinis’ scheming ultimately leads to Assane being framed for the murder of Léonard—something that everyone believes, even potentially Guedira, who seems to have a genuine loss of faith with regard to Assane upholding the gentleman thief’s morals. Not even finally unearthing Assane’s headquarters, with its Lupin Easter eggs of a top hat and the eponymous “Jewish lamp” from one of the stories, is enough to comfort Guedira’s disillusionment with his favorite book series.

And here represents the turning point for Lupin the series. Just as Assane Diop’s Lupin is a subversion of the archetypal character by engaging with the racism of him not “looking” like people would expect of a gentleman thief, Guedira-as-Ganimard’s pivotal moment is when he dares to question the police department and the letter of the law itself. “Lupin doesn’t kill,” he keeps insisting to Lieutenant Belkacem (Shirine Boutella) and especially Dumont (Vincent Garanger), but they have lost any faith in his Diop-as-Lupin theory. He is alone in his convictions.

So Guedira is perfectly primed for one of the series’ best moments, when Assane addresses him as “Ganimard” via Internet comments. This engagement in a fannish space, this brief foray into online role-playing, carries all the joy of a shared joke and all the weight of a missing puzzle piece—leading him to the proof of Dumont’s corruption and the permission to seek out Lupin at his final confrontation with Pellegrini in “Chapter 10.”

For his part, Guerrab believes that Guedira and Assane’s relationship transcends fandom by the end of Lupin Part 2. “Although in Part 1 Guedira and Assane are connected through their passion for Arsène Lupin,” he says in the Netflix press notes, “in Part 2 they get to know each other and almost forget about their shared passion—they are human beings, first and foremost. You get the feeling that even if one of them is a burglar and the other is a police officer, they could be the best of friends.”

Anime creator Monkey Punch has said that the only way he envisions ending the Lupin III story would be to have Lupin and Inspector Zenigata conclude their story as equals: whether that means both failing or both winning—or both simply getting too old for this cat-and-mouse game—they would end on the same terms. While Assane Diop and Officer Guedira are both too young to give up their intense dynamic anytime soon—and there’s no telling what’s in store for Netflix’s Lupin Part 3—it’s a comforting thought that these two might someday face the same endgame.

Lupin Part 2 is available now on Netflix.

The post Netflix’s Lupin: The Evolution of Lupin vs. Ganimard appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3wiBnCx

[creativenicocorner]

Rating: Mature

Chapter 13  Left Handed Kisses / Le Quattro Stagioni: l’Estate / Le Temps des Cerises (Reprise)

Summary:

"Her charming profile was lost in the crowd, came into view again, and disappeared. It was over - over for good and all. For a moment I stood rooted to the deck, sad and at the same time, pervaded with a sweet tender emotion. Then, to Ganimard's great astonishment, I sighed: "Pity, after all, that I am a rogue!" " 

         - The Arrest of Arsène Lupin, by Maurice Leblanc

Chapter 14 Julia 

Summary:

"BUT, VERILY, IT BE THE NATURE OF DREAMS TO END! "

- The Wind Fish, Legend of Zelda; Link's Awakening

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First I'd like to give a grand big marvelous thank you to my excellent Beta reader Meg13!! Neither of us ever experienced having and or working as a beta, and I'd say "You rocked it!!" - honestly I don't know if this chapter would have been possible without her continued support and encouragement! Thank you thank you thank you!! 💖

And now a quick word and a soft reminder:

Dear Reader, This chapter is going to be a marathon more than a sprint. It's okay to take your time - I certainly had to at some points when writing it. (But then I don't have the stomach for angst as much as I used to) So this is my gentle way of saying It's okay to take emotional breaks, goodness knows I did while writing this chapter. Hopefully I was able to spread and sprinkle about just enough moments of humor so it won't be all too unbearable. Have fun!!

This chapter has been brought to you by the word comeuppance, and readers like you 💖 ∠( ᐛ 」∠)_