The Lupin-Rohan connection

 

I first found out about the French Rohans through reading about Lucy Hay, who inspired Milady de Winter (who in turn inspired Lupin III's Fujiko Mine). The Rohans are an aristocratic family with estates across France, palaces in Austria and Czechia, and an arch in Malta. They were close to French royalty for generations.

 I thought that Ai Rohan, a relative of Lupin III, was given her name just because it vaguely sounded like "Lupin", but there is a bigger connection.

The Rohan coat of arms has lozenges representing chiastloites, andalusites distantly linked to the legendary Queen Lupa of Santiago de Compostela (said to be a female version of the god Lugh, who is somehow associated with a Greek wolf festival because he was reincarnated as a leprechaun. It's hard to explain).

What really links the names together is Maurice Leblanc's mentions of Louis René de Rohan, first in 'The Queen's Necklace', where we meet his fictional descendant, the Count of Dreux-Soubise, and then in 'The Countess of Cagliostro'. 

In one chapter, Josephine Balsamo reminds Arsène Lupin that Dreux-Soubise was his mother's distant cousin. That means he and his descendants are distantly related to the Rohan family, including other fictional members such as the Comte de Rochefort, and Princess Beatrix from 'The Woman Who Dared'.

It is worth researching this family because they have fascinating stories and could potentially inspire people to have adventures.

The Princess Who Laughed at a Man

 When Snow White first meets woman-hating Grumpy in the 1937 film, she playfully mimics him. He takes it better than most misogynistic men would today.

As the story goes on, Snow White continues to respond to Grumpy's rude comments with teasing and playing up her sweetness, even though she secretly wishes they would get along.

She is one of the few Disney Princesses to laugh at a man, and as far as I know the only one to get away with it.

I have always loved Snow White but have dismissed her in part as a damsel in distress. It is still true of her, but the more I think about her personality and relationships, the more I appreciate her.

In some ways, 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' was of its time, even slightly regressive. But compared to the social reality of the 1930s, it was also progressive.