Ok, time for my Hot Take in the Lupin fandom this morning.

I. Actually really like TWCFM series? And I feel like a lot of people who don’t sort of miss the point of it (Unless it’s trauma / squick based, in which case you’re absolutely valid!)

Warning ‘cuz this is long (1/16)

The whole series was about Fujiko, and how she perceives herself vs how the rest of the world perceives her. She IS incredibly capable and cunning, and just as dangerous as Lupin, and this series proves it. She was always doing her own thing until — (2/16)

Lupin "I'm-Going-To-Cause-Problems-On-Purpose" the III and his crew arrive, and everything just spirals into chaos.

However, I fee like one of the big driving points in the series was that Fujiko LETS people underestimate her, or think she was just a pretty face, and — (3/16)

Then use that to her /absolute advantage/ and leave them with nothing.

It’s why Episode 1 was VERY intriguing for me, because where Fujiko and Lupin finally meet, Fuji already knows Lup and what he's all about, but the moment she tries to seduce him with her typical — (4/16)

ploy of seduction, Lupin sees right through her and know why she's there, as well. Yet, when he calls her out on it, she STILL manages to get him to lower his guard enough with them tiddies, before managing to get him sent away and herself out of death row. She keeps — (5/16)

Subverting his expectations of what he knows and sees of her, which is why she’s so interesting to him — and why she’s such a fascinating character in this series.

She LETS people objectualize her, and that's what ultimately causes them to fall. Jigen does this in — (6/16)

In episode 2, basically calling her his bosses' side candy and being completely uninterested in her (because he's gay), only to end up doing what Ciccolina asked in the beginning when Fuji steals his Magnum.

Zenigata does this (weird as it is for him) in episode 4, by — (7/16)

Using her to bring Lupin in, not thinking very much of her, (P.s., the opera Tosca being performed was a REALLY ironic choice, check it out), only for her AND Lupin to escape from him.

Oscar does this for basically the entirety of the series to the point of degradation — (8/16)

And hatred, only she keeps managing to outmaneuver him at every turn.

I mean heck, even GOEMON objectifies her a bit in episode 3 and beyond, where their first meeting and following encounters with her has him conflicted and figuring out how to feel and about her. (9/16)

He KNOWS, theoretically, she IS very capable and intelligent (by virtue of seeing her in action), but actually trying to figure HER out im relationship to him is what makes him stumble.

The only person who can kind of side-step this whole confusion is Lupin, who knows — (10/16)

That she's just as adept and clever as he is, and keeps repeating that to Jigen -- Fujiko’s one of a kind, and keeps twisting around what he thinks of her, which is why he's so interested in who she is.

But even then, he falls into this trap once in a while; in fact — (11/16)

The whole POINT of his involvement in the plot and with Glaucus Pharmaceuticals was so that he could "steal" her -- again, using her like an object.

All this sort of accumulates into the main drama of /who is Fujiko Mine/, and her sense of identity, and thus, the final — (12/16)

Villain -- Aisha -- is both the parallel and the antithesis on Fujiko. She was treated as an experiment by the Lord Luis, used like a doll almost all her life — OBJECTIFIED — and has, in turn, inflicted the same idea onto other girls, Fujiko included.

And it’s because — (13/16)

Of this that, in the final episode, the moment of Fujiko revealing she had a past before Aisha's involvement in her life, is one of the THE BEST moments in this series. Because it solidifies what she (and by extension we, as an audience) already know: Fujiko isn't a — (14/16)

Construction of other people's ideas, nor is their characterization of breaking her down into either one or two traits accurate. She's herself, SHE made herself into what she is, and is dictated by no one, and remains fee to do what she wishes. (15/16)

So... yeah! TWCFM!

I won’t lie, it’s pretty serious and has some serious content warning, but if you ever want to know or see more of Fujiko being the Queen she is, definitely check it out!

(Sorry for the essay on your dash)