#hes so zuka fan coded no one gets it

[crowtobio]

jutai <3

[margridarnauds]

Hey I want some more opinions, what's your take on Robespierre/Danton (Hikarifuru) or Robespierre/st just (hikarifuru)

Asking me to get into ship wars in a fandom of two people and a shoelace? Welp, I love knocking glasses of water off the tabletop, let’s roll. 

Personally, I’m not necessarily a huge fan of Robespierre/Danton. Maybe it’s because I’m totally disgusted with Danton as a historical figure, maybe it’s that I don’t really see the chemistry so much, I don’t know, because it HITS so many of my Things. And yet. And yet. Like, you’ve got the angsty breakup, the lack of personal space, the inevitable tragedy, the “Danton haunting Robespierre’s ass,” but I just can’t GET into it, even though I can get it. Danton to me only really shines as a character when (1) He’s getting dommed kicked around by Talleyrand and Madame Roland, (2) He’s with Camille, or (3) He’s with Gabrielle. 

Saint Just/Robespierre: I mean....I do have a self-admittedly shitty fic for them. It might be the ONLY fic I make for them, because there’s honestly only so many ways you can work it, but I’m interested. Not necessarily in a healthy, requited way per se, but in the “Robespierre going down a dark path and needing an outlet and, hey, Saint Just is right there and obsessed” way. (Obviously not how I ship historical Saintspierre, who were a power couple if one existed, either platonically or romantically.) 

Like, Saint Just deciding to lay the moves on while Robespierre is spiraling into a whirlpool of hatred and betrayal? ART. It’s the kind of dynamic where Maxime’s seduction to the dark side is....well....a seduction to the dark side. 

Also, since we’re being brutally honest here, I’m going to briefly privilege the brutality over the honesty: I have a certain amount of sympathy for any of the times where Zuka blatantly tosses in gay subtext for fanservice while demonizing gay or gay coded characters at the same time. Saint Just has a gay crush on Robespierre? Makes the fans go wild AND it further solidifies that Saint Just is Wrong™ and corrupting Our Hero. His influence is supposed to be the exact opposite of Marianne’s stabilizing, moderate influence, which reflects Max’s more human side (though he also moderates her). Peyronan? Blatant fanservice, but, in the end, it’s also there to show that Lazare is Wrong™. Were it not for Ryuu Masaki’s questionable acting decisions, what we would end up with would be a highly gay coded, predatory villain singing suggestive lines and making heart eyes at a struggling, helpless, hero who immediately afterwards upgrades his relationship with his female love interest. Artois? Gets close and personal with Necker AND Fersen, as a way of showing how utterly debauched he is. George Carey can seduce Shakespeare in the Shakespeare musical, but it’s to show William’s slide to the dark, neglecting his wife and child in pursuit of George’s dick furthering his career.

They could do better. They should do better. They have done a bit better, in recent years, with Poe Clan and Baddy. I am not including I Am From Austria for Reasons, though they did.............try..........after Austria twisted their arm into a knot over it, but whether that really shows on the final video is...........debatable. But it is one way where Takarazuka’s traditionally conservative nature comes out, and honestly, it’s jarring after dealing with Toho long enough where, even though Toho ALSO has its issues (let us not think that I’m blind to some of Toho’s more questionable creative decisions), you can still see productions of, say, Rent, La Cage Aux Folles, Fun Home, etc. I am not saying that Takarazuka is Bad™ obviously, given that I enjoy it too, I enjoy these musicals, but it’s also something that I utterly refuse to give them excuses for.  To tie this back to the initial topic on which I’m supposed to be brutally honest on, I do think there’s something in the LGBT+ experience of looking at a narrative that is rather hostile to LGBT+ characters and going “No, this is mine, and you can’t have it.” Some people aren’t interested in SJ/Robes because it’s too obvious or because there’s only so many places it can go, and that’s something that I can totally get, especially given there’s no real way to “fix” it without totally destroying both characters, but, at the same time, I am interested in the dynamic even if it’s a somewhat limited one. 

[yukinojou]

Reasons to love Miss Sherlock (as non-spoilery as I could make them):

Hands down the most true-to-the-original-stories modern adaptation I’ve seen. Sherlock is a chemist! Hatano-san (Mrs Hudson) being so vital! Wato’s war doctor trauma being dealt with in a realistic way that isn’t “oh you just need to find a new calling”!

The mysteries and corpses are so delightfully Victorian Gothic ❤️ Family secrets, vengeance, codes, politics... This is all true to the stories too.

Cable Street Irregulars! Okay, only one shows up properly, but you can tell Sherlock has a stable.

AESTHETIC. Sherlock’s room and clothes are a temple to 1890s opulence. So many textures, the warmth of the wood, the dressing gowns! The set designers did their homework and it’s all spot-on. And in other locations, every single thing has meaning. Plus I loved the run-down locations and characters, lower-class Japanese clearly standing in for Victorian slums.

Sherlock not being just a brilliant bored asshole. She’s so dedicated to her work and willing to drop everything for a case. She’s clearly neuroatypical - and wow Takeuchi Yuko has done her research, the fidgeting and food issues and personal space and attention span - but she cares so very much, she just has trouble with acknowledging the importance of the relationships she actually has formed.

(I can’t get over how dumb Shibata is. Idiot, she picks on you and shoves you around and shuts you up with her hand because she’s comfortable with you and trusts you not to hurt her. Honestly, he’s the third person she’s the most physically comfortable with, after her brother and Wato.)

NOT downplaying the effects of violence. And I don’t just mean the visuals, though blood flows freely, but the effects on people. The whole point of the overall story is that violence breaks people. What Sherlock does at the end is directly, straightforwardly led to by what she experienced before.

There’s a particular breakdown scene after a killing that just stabs you in the gut. I think this is the first time I’ve seen so piercingly shown that a good guy can break down because of the simple fact of taking a life - such a contrast to Western stories in which heroes blow away legions of mooks and dust themselves off before celebrating. That’s the theme, the way violence damages/destroys all parties involved.

Which relates to - letting both men and women cry and break down in ugly ways. Takeuchi and Kanjiya are both stunningly beautiful, and yet their emotions aren’t shot with a male-gaze aesthetic view. There are so many scenes where the script lets the actors do their thing and the words don’t get in the way. The camera, too, lets the story breathe, lets the actors have their stage, and that makes for good art.

Oh! And I want a Kento! He’s the Mycroft character, and for once there’s no sibling rivalry at all - Kento and Sherlock clearly adore each other, she climbs all over him, and he’ll go through hell for her (and also hire her to solve his work problems, which, so much trust on both sides). Ozawa Yukiyoshi isn’t actually that big, just tall, but somehow he just exudes teddybear. (And in some scenes, big brother grizzly bear.)

Finally, it’s such a female series. Not just both the leads - but how central the landlady is, and so many issues the cases are built on. Having so many women in the cast means they can be all things. (And so many guest stars playing professional women!).

In conclusion: not just lesbian and/or Zuka fan catnip, though dammit, it’s good Zuka fan catnip too...

And where’s our second series???