#bookshop-cryptid

[dying-suffering-french-stalkers]

Hi Wendy! I'm looking to start reading Ursula K Le Guin's novels, especially the Hainish and Earthsea ones; but I'm unsure of where to start. The reading order seems on par with that of Discworld. Do you have recommendations, by any chance? And if you have recs for short stories too, I'm all ears! (I'm planning to read at least Omelas) Thank you! 🙏

Disclaimer that as much as I love Le Guin, I have actually...not read that much of her work yet 😔😅 I will tell you what I know, but I will also direct you to vaunted Le Guin Understander @aurpiment.

As far as I know, Earthsea has a fairly straightforward reading order, or at least the main books do: A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, Tehanu, Tales from Earthsea, and The Other Wind. Tales is itself a collection of short stories plus a bit of reference material. As far as I can tell, there are two more short stories outside of Tales: “The Daughter of Odren” and “Firelight.” Of all these, I'm afraid I've only read Wizard and Atuan; I really need to get back to this series.

I'm not sure that there really is a reading order for the Hainish Cycle, unless you really wanted to go in publication order. Of the Hainish works, thus far I've only read The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed, plus a handful of short stories (“Winter's King,” “Vaster than Empires and More Slow,” “The Day Before the Revolution,” and “Coming of Age in Karhide,” plus her “pronoun experiments” for TLHOD). I can heartily recommend all of these, though I would start with a book, not a short story, since many of the ones I listed are directly related to TLHOD and The Dispossessed. I do think you, specifically, might enjoy TLHOD.

Thank you for asking!! I really hope you enjoy her work, no matter where you start. Her writing sticks with me in a way that many others do not.

[temporary-dysphoria]

-chinhands- Can you tell us more about your thoughts on FuJigen? :3

-Ell

Oh boy, now you've done it - because BOY do I have THINGS TO SAY!

I need to preface this by saying obviously these are my own headcanons, and as such they're heavily influenced by my own experiences.

So to start with, I think that Fujiko and Jigen are such interesting parallels of each other, in more ways than one - the most standout way being their consistency to their roles. They each compliment Lupin in almost the same way (as a criminal partner who is equally as skilled), but on one hand you've got Fujiko who is consistently unfaithful, compared to Jigen who is consistently faithful.

Then we get into headcanon territory. I have a myriad of headcanons for the gang, although I will admit I'm more fond of the OT4 than any specific pairing. Jigen and Fujiko often get the short end of the stick there, which I think might be partly by design, and partly by just how the fandom hive mind works sometimes.

Sexuality Talk

Jigen is clearly gay-coded (at the very least) in canon - there was a twitter thread about this a while ago that went into detail about it. My own personal headcanon differs and this is influenced by personal experiences. My consistent headcanon is that Jigen is bisexual but he does lean towards men. My other headcanon that shows up every now and then is that he's bisexual, but lands on the aro/ace spectrum. I don't think Jigen trusts or loves easily, so anyone who wants to get in on that needs to stick around for uhhh (checks watch) 12 business years to get past the walls.

Now Fujiko, I'm pretty sure Fujiko might actually be bi in canon, but don't take that as fact. My headcanon is certainly bi. My headcanon for her in relationships is pretty much as she's written in How to Train Your Assassins actually. She uses her body as a weapon so much that it can blur lines between where subterfuge ends and real attraction begins. To deal with this, I think she'd be likely to set out boundaries early on and stick to them, if she's dealing with someone that she actually wants a relationship with (which is not often, but happens occasionally).

Relationship Talk

I don't think Fujiko and Jigen are friends to start with. At all. I think they start as begrudging co-workers, who eventually realise that the other is actually incredibly trustworthy IF the effort is put in.

I think for the longest time they don't move past that almost sibling-esque kind of bickering, and it might even take a large near-death scare to either remind them or show them that they do care about each other.

THEN, even if they do admit that they care about each other, I don't think their relationship is ever as visibly romantic as the relationship Fujiko could have with Lupin or even with Goemon. Because Jigen is just not that kind of person. For him, I think love is shown in small actions, not large grandiose displays.

I think there's a real possibility sometimes that Jigen and Fujiko end up in a relationship where sex is not important. That particularly is one of my favourite kinds of headcanon, because Fujiko is so sexualised, I find it personally very fulfilling when I can imagine her in a relationship where her partner loves her without that added layer of sexual attraction.

My second favourite headcanon is that they don't fuck much, but when they do it's *stellar*

Parting words

I fucking love FuJigen as a ship, both platonically and romantically. I think they are a chronically underappreciated pairing who actually have the potential to compliment each other really well if the work gets done to bridge the gap between them.

I love them as a single ship. I love them as a begrudging best friends ship. I love them shipped together within the OT4. This is a hill I am WILLING TO DIE ON.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to rant and rave about these blorbos <3 <3 <3

[benevolenterrancy]

a doodle for @bookshop-cryptid‘s lupin/discworld crossover au, because I adore werewolf!jigen, and because they would all be so completely insufferable if they knew who the watch’s werewolf was

angua’s going to end this man’s career

(tbf, they may not be able to use scent bombs with jigen around, but needing to follow these disgusting, stinky thieves is probably nearly as bad as far as angua is concerned...)

[nicomrade]

Please DO plague my motifs with Fujiko/Jigen friendship ramblings!

GOD ok so... SO MANY thoughts about both of them cause i love to analyze my fave characters and theyre my 2 very special thieves..

i think that ok so the very very base assumption is that well, fujiko is Hot you know? shes the woman called fujiko mine and shes the platonic ideal of female beauty etc etc and she uses that to have power over people when she feels like it. WITH the exception of jigen who isnt into women so she could start flirting with him he wouldnt care as seen in twcfm and such- the joke goes "lupin says fujiko has every man eating in the palm of her hand, jigen says then im not a man" with him she cant give in to that manipulative side of her personality (which i clap for on screen but objectively it isnt the healthiest way to interact w people)

AAND this goes both ways, jigen has... well he has a loyalty problem its why goodbye partner exists- "what if jigen betrayed the gang?" IS an interesting question cause its so outside of his usual behavior. but with fujiko who only looks out for herself, hes not kept down by his idea of what he should do for her. because shed betray him in a heartbeat he gets to truly do whatever the hell he wants to. so sometimes he watches her back and sometimes he watches her drown and he gets to do that BECAUSE shes fujiko and she doesnt expect any different from him BECAUSE hes jigen. they free each other of their less healthy impulses because of who they are fundamentally and i think thats really neat and allows them to interact w each other in a way they rarely get to interact w people

so basically the jigen/fujiko friendship is NECESSARY. its everything!! like that scene goes "i dont get what lupin sees in you" / "i dont get what you see in lupin" ! theyre opposites but also the same* ! they are dare i say mirrors (*i dont have space to talk about how theyre the same so just trust me on this one)

also that scene of them talkin on the balcony reminded me of my HC that fujiko jigen and rebecca go on secret heists together sometime. because rebecca is only in it for the Thrill she doesnt ask for a share so whatever they steal they get to split 50/50 between jigen n fujiko AND they get to not have the cops after them cause lupin isnt along with them. its like a nice little break :) i just like picturing them in one of fujikos bright red cars from part 2

IN CONCLUSION:

[lilyclawthorne]

Antonio for the character ask meme!

Since there’s no numbers I’m just gonna assume I should be doing all the ones not related to OCs then!

1- Favourites thing(s) about this character?

He’s an incredibly perceptive kid, and an absolute sweetheart. He’s well aware of how the rest of his family treats Mirabel, well aware of what it could mean if he received no gift, and even then he’s still thinking about her and how he wishes things were more fair for her. And then at the end he shows her the same support when she approaches the door that she gave him.

2- What song(s) remind you of this character?

Can I take a cop out on this one, and just say the Encanto soundtrack? Takes me awhile before I find songs to associate with characters 🙃 I’ll specifically choose All Of You though because I can’t get over how adorable he is when he says “we made this one for you.”

3- Do you like this character?

Yeah, ofc!! What’s not to like about him??

4- Would you write about this character?

Maybe. Wouldn’t be opposed to it if any ideas struck me for him.

5- What do you not like about this character?

Literally can’t think of anything unlikeable about him??

6- Favourite thing this character has said?

When he hands Bruno the stuffed jaguar and says “For the nerves.”

7- What do you like most about this character?

Just how caring he is!! He’s got such a big heart for a little five year old.

8- Do you think this character is underrated or overrated?

I don’t think he’s either! He’s definitely not overrated at least.

9- What’s your favourite headcanon(s) for this character?

He and Mirabel are so close not just because they lived together, but because she actively played a part in helping Pepa take care of him as a baby/toddler.

10- Who do you like to ship with this character? (If you do of course) Is it another character from the cast or is it an OC?

He’s baby no shipping.

11- Who do you not like to ship with this character?

Ι’m not shipping him with anyone for reasons above.

12- Have you read any fics about this character? (if it’s not an OC)? Can you recommend anything good?

I don’t believe I’ve read any Antonio-centric fics, sorry!

14- What outfit would you really like to see this character wear? Or what’s your favourite outfit of theirs?

Put this boy in an animal onesie he deserves it.

15- Favourite line of theirs?

This is like the same question as “favorite thing they’ve said” for 6.

16- What do you think would improve this character? Like, character-arc wise?

I’d love to see more interactions between him and the rest of the warm colors family. That’d be cool!

17- Have you ever had a crush on this character…?

No he’s baby that’d be weird.

18- What’s something you associate this character with? E.g. a certain colour, object or scenery?

Animals like jaguars and capybaras, jungle scenery, orange cause he’s warm colors family.

19- What would the show/book/movie be like if this character wasn’t present? (if it’s not an OC)

Probably very different actually!! I think his ceremony was a catalyst for the rest of the movie, it brought up all of Mirabel’s feelings and negative self-worth, which is probably why the first tile fell, and made her figure out was wrong in the first place. Without him, there wouldn’t have been a ceremony, and perhaps she’d be pushing down those feelings still, wouldn’t have learned how her sisters felt, and probably would’ve kept being pushed to the side for longer, but eventually she probably would’ve stood up for herself, just not during the time frame of the movie, and the cracks probably just keep growing slowly until whenever that happens.

21- Wild card! Talk about anything to do with this character! Anything at all!

I was gonna talk about how the heck did he manage to get over that giant gap Mirabel and Bruno went over/fell into, but then I realized he probably just jumped the gap on his Jaguar.

[elsewhereuniversity]

In French, we don't say "My name is" but "I call myself". What difference would that make in an encounter with the fair folk? Is what I call myself necessarily my name?

Whether or not a name is true is wholly dependent on whether you consider it’s truest meaning to be You. That said, ‘I call myself’ or ‘I am called’ is a much more honest way to give a chosen name. It also serves to politely inform the other party that you are aware of the stakes involved, without actually accusing them of nefarious intent.

[eclipsedthief]

Jigen: ”Would ya just leave the guy alone already?”

[whosayscrimedoesntpay]

Hey Dan, you should dye your hair too! You'd look great! :D

Not a chance.