Alex/Minami

I expected something terrifying, but ended up having my heart torn and put back together again.

An Arabian sand boa (Eryx jayakari) in Ha'il, Saudi Arabia

Meet the artist!

Been a while since I made one of these🙂‍↕️ I think my last one was like. 2021 or 22. you know. a while. And besides, I'm relatively new to Tumblr so I figured an updated MTA would be a good idea

“I inherited it from my grandfather.”

“So, it was stolen?”

Up until this point, Lupin has been proud and confident when he gets into Laetitia’s apartment to find more information on the diary. He’s got no problems poking around her belongs, fiddling with them, and making himself completely at home and being a general nuisance. He looks through her thesis, which gets her defensive and reminds us what he is – a thief (”I see~ So that’s what your interest is?” “That’s right. I’m not like you.”, and the way he doesn’t even fight that comment).

The man’s in his element – confident and relaxed, being evasive and yet surprisingly straightforward (”You’re after the same treasure I am.”).

Then he pulls out half of the key, which makes Laetitia ask about it. His body language here is amazing – the way he looks over to her (with the same wide-eyed look a dog has when you ask what’s in their mouth), down at the key-half, and stands up straight with a slanted smile, because oh, this is something she wants, isn’t that interesting? He’s proud of this, that this is his inheritance from his grandfather, said to be the world’s greatest thief. His shoulders are back and his eyes are lidded like a cat’s. He’s waiting for the surprise, for the awe that comes from the mention of his grandfather.

“So, it was stolen?”

And that facade of suave confidence sinks like a stone. His eyes flutter and blink wide, his eyebrows pinch together, his mouth opens into an almost frown, his weight slightly shifts away. He’s put on the actual backfoot for the first time in this whole encounter with her, and seems almost… flustered? Betrayed? At the very least shocked. He didn’t expect this question, this accusation aimed at him and his grandfather. He looks genuinely hurt, which is… not something we often see with Lupin.

Then that shock gives way to indignation. He squares his shoulders, his eyebrows rise and his eyes go wide, his mouth goes into a thin-line. This man is about to throw hands with this woman he’s only had a face to face conversation with for maybe a total of seven minutes, all because she insulted him / his grandfather as a thief.

That then gives way to defensiveness, and surprisingly? Aggression. Lupin can be a taunting lil’ jerk of a stringbean, but when it comes to actual confrontation, he’s not forwardly aggro about it. Here, though, he gets in Laetita’s face, teeth showing, brows pointed down and glaring eyes, with a gritted “That’s a very serious accusation.” He immediately throws the question back at her, asking where she got her key-half from, to the point where Laetitia backs off. Notice he doesn’t actually answer her question, he just reflects it back at her. To me, that’s telling.

Lupin’s grandfather is such a prominent, driving force in his stories and motivations for thievery, and this movie makes that a strong theme. He’s proud of his legacy and who he hails from, and the movie makes it a habit to remind us that Lupin is what he is – a professional thief. When Laetitia confronts him with that idea, that he stole what was given to him by someone he values so highly (because that’s what he does, right?), that confident mask he wears crumples like wet paper and his immediate response isn’t some witty quip or shrug off, it’s anger and accusations.

Cindy’s Leafwing Butterfly (Fountainea nessus), family Nymphalidae, Colombia