#At least when Clow fucks something up

[completeoveranalysis]

[5]

OH MOKONA DIDN’T KNOW??

MOKONA DIDN'T KNOW AND THIS IS HOW SHE HAD TO FIND OUT???

I suppose that would be a hard talk to have. How do you even bring that up in conversation.

Who knew that Mokona screaming in concern for her loved ones was going to be such a big part of this climax?

And THIS is a side of Yuuko that’s so painful to see. The clear sadness as she clutches her robes tighter to herself, her existence already starting to fade away…?

The immediate emergency aside, I’m kind of LOVING the parallel existence this gives Yuuko and Sakura. Both of them as people who died but had their existence altered by a Reed, both of them becoming hyper powerful but separated from usual reality. No wonder Yuuko cared so openly for Sakura - not only because it was Sakura, but because Sakura had such a similar fate to herself. And, maybe, a connected existence that would only allow one of them to exist? 

Is there only one blank space in the universe for a being like them? Or is it the specifics of Lava Lamp's actions that drawing them together like magnets until one overwrites the other?

I'm not sure if she was technically a "clone" in the full sense of the word, but Yuuko was, in her own way, a failed attempt at creating someone else - so another type of failed clone, but a powerful one living her own life and maintaining her part of the universe. 

And how sad that Evil Wolverine clearly saw the process that created Yuuko and decided to copy it to shatter the universe, when her existence was to maintain it. How Evil Wolverine saw Yuuko and decided to forcefully create a new broken person who would force her out of existence. 

And despite it all, despite the fact that she knew it was coming, and made plans to help the people she wanted to, and obviously cared for Sakura deeply - despite all that, look how sad Yuuko is that it’s finally happening. 

[friendlyghost07]

Concept: tommyinnit in Gotham like those Peter in Gotham fics (specifically C!Tommy)

Just think about it. First off, the way C!Tommy is written in fics is rly similar to Andrew Garfield’s spiderman if he was aloud to cuss a lot and be British. So already we know the dynamic would work.

Plus, if you go with C!Tommy and not content creator Tommyinnit, then this is someone who knows nothing about the modern world. In Peter in Gotham fics his culture shock is the diff between hero society mostly, and Danny is usually still in the same universe he just moves towns, but Tommy?

Bro doesn’t know what a vigilante is. He knows what a hero is, but would he know about vigilantes? He’s never lived in a world where that was a possibility, so he’s probably never heard the word before, so the bats are just a new concept to him entirely.

And that’s not even touching him learning about modern technology. The technology in the dsmp is so fucked, there’s nukes, but they still use bows and arrows? Plus, their comms are the closest thing to a phone he’s ever seen.

I’m just picturing him entering the library like Peter does at the beginning of every fic, but instead of hacking a computer and high tailing it out of there he lingers, because he has no idea what he’s doing. He just nearly got ran over by a car, but he doesn’t know what a car is, so it seems like a good starting point. He avoids the computers bc “wtf r those block things?” And ask Barbara where “the redstone section is”. (Tommy assumes anything tech is redstone powered) and Barbara is confused bc redstone is a fictional made up thing by Minecraft. And thru this failed interaction Tommy is directed towards the computers, and fails to use one properly for the next hr. Barbara watches in shock, and immediately messages the GC about a “potential clone/alien/escaped lab rat situation”.

He doesn’t think to get a form of ID bc he’s never needed one, or get a job. Everyone always built their own places and lived there in Minecraft. So taxes and economy and working for money is something new he’s learning.

Also his unique trauma just giving the bats a headache, like what do you mean you fought in a national war at 9??? You gen believed ur brother was gonna make u president at 14, then he blew up said nation in front of you??? Tf is a HYBRID? Tim also fucking loosing it at their cracked technology in the SMP.

If someone were to do this my one ask is you add Tommy being scared of ppl with masks on. It makes him tense when he can’t look at someone’s facial expressions to see if they’re mad (thank you c!dream). So red hood’s helmet, and Batman’s clow just fucks with him. At least hood has a domino mask underneath that makes Tommy feel better (not great, but better) but Batman will forever be untrusted until way later in the fic.

Tommy: I don’t have a good track record with brothers, or family in general.

Literally any of the batkids: neither do I.

queue bonding

[mondstaub1]

Not like they expected us to be

My first Jasico fanfiction idea- enjoy

Summary: Jason is not a womanizer like his father or brothers and wonders if something is wrong with him. Enter Nico di Angelo

Jason is used to being compaired to his father and brothers (espically hercules/heracles). It has been a heavy weight on his shoulders for as long as he can remember. But the thing is, he isn't like his father or his brothers in almost all aspects. Still as a son of Jupiter certain things are expected of him and he found it hard to keep up sometimes but he never imagined that his love/sex life would be such a difficult thing for him to master.

No matter if greek or roman myths one thing they all have in commen: Jasons father is a horny bastard. The man couldn't keep it in his pants if his life depended on it. If it can be fucked he did, gender, form or concent be damned. Many of his sons followed a simular patern (his daughters swore of men and became virgin warrior goddesses. Let that sink in) and his mortal children were rarely diffrent either. Hercules was married around 14/15 and fathered over 50 sons by the time he turned 18. So naturally Jason was expected to have a simualr apitite when it came to lovers but he didn't. It just didn't come natural to him. Sure girls had often flirted or just straight up offered to sleep with him but Jason had always denied them. It did not feel right.

Once he hit puperty it became a nightmare, people began to stare and wisper and Jason fought with himself to stay composed and not blush in shame. Other boys were different, they often talked about girls and what they wished to do with them. Jason couldn't get it. Sure the fact that the most important girl in his life was Reyna and even suggesting things like that to her would get him castrated at the very least. Not that he would do it even if she would agree. He loved Reyna but just not like that, he could not imagine himself sexually with her or anyone for that matter.

He tried to push the thought down, it wasn't important, espacially not with everything else going on.

For a short time he thought himself in love with Piper, she was beautiful and smart, a daughter of Aphrodite and everything that he was told he should want in a girl. Lupa aproved the match but the problem was that, at the end of the day Jason did not. When the mist of confusion and attraction that clowed his mind wore off he quickly realised that he has no attraction to Piper at all. Something he had to tell her after she had tried to go for a kiss. Jason has never kissed anyone before and something inside him told him that she was not the right one.

Nearly everyone who learned of his rejection of Piper looked at him like he was crazy. They thought him his father's son and Jupitor would have never rejected such an opportunity. It made him unconfortable. Some looked at him like he was defect, they often metioned his father or brothers and their many conquests. Jason wanted to scream.

One of the few peole who did not compair him to his father was Nico di Angelo. When Jason had asked him why the boy raised an eyebrown and answered: "If you were anything like your father then I would hate you. I don't and you're no so I see no point in it." Maybe it had something to do with the fact that many still mistreaded or jugded the son of Hades unfairly for his own parentage but Jason kept that thought to himself.

As time passed he and Nico became closer and for the first time in his life Jason fell in love. He wanted to be around Nico, wanted to kiss him, be with him. It was nothing like the fling that many expected of him but he didn't care. Being with Nico made him happy, made his skin burn and his heart beat faster. When they first kissed, shy and unsure and fubeling like the boys they were Jason knew that is was more meaningful then any amont of flings could ever be

[sanderssideswriting]

Just watched the Halloween video from this year and saw screencaps of the Halloween video from a few years back… I just don’t understand how we can go from Frankenstein prosthetics for Logan in that episode to messy eyeliner with visible mess up marks for Janus in the new one. Like it’s not a difference of a new makeup artist, it just feels like a lack of caring for it to be as good as it’s been.

I just loved this series so deeply before, so it’s frustrating to see what seem like such flippant disregard for the quality of what they’re making

thank you for this ask because I've been thinking of going through each makeup look and analyzing them more. I totally agree with you about the lack of care. The whole thing is so insanely rushed when they could've taken like, a few more days of planning if they wanted to get it out for halloween, or hell a few days after and have them spin it as them being sad spirit halloween is gone for the year and what a spirit christmas would be like. Or like, the 12 days of christmas but 12 days of spirit halloween? I just feel like there could've been some better ideas. The makeup looks like they were given 5 minutes to figure out what each side would be and 5 minutes to do the make up itself.

onto the make up analysis that'll be under the cut.

Little disclaimer before though, I'm in no way a makeup artist, what I am is a cosplayer and I've pulled together some pretty cool shit with very limited supplies and knowledge.

editors note: so according to the comments it seems like everyone's a character from the nightmare before christmas? Or at the least, Remus, Virgil, Roman and maybe Logan. I don't know, I've seen the movie like twice. just keep that in mind I didn't know until after writing everything below. But it really doesn't change my criticisms of the makeup

first on the list: JANUS

now this is just, I don't even know what it is. I think it's from the I'm Mr White Christmas, song because every year people do half Mr. White Christmas and half Mr. Sun makeup and it looks very good. But you don't need it to look that good. Like, I'd personally make the contrast between the blue and red way more, because it just isn't there. Maybe to keep the snake appearance do like, orange scales or orange underneath then red? Something to look more like fire. the joker esque smile doesn't work, again the contrast is very bad. The blue sticks out but the red doesn't so I'd get some lipstick, maybe a blue eyeliner if you can't get a blue lipstick, and loose the black lines, maybe make the blue side white and the red side more of a very dark red?

VIRGIL

I've got no idea, it's just so generic. A ghoul? A zombie? Who knows, not me. first of all, make the eye makeup darker, maybe some dark contour to make his cheeks look sunken in. if the stitches have to be purple then I'd say make it darker and use a black eyeliner pencil to add some definition and some detail that's harder to do with the eyeshadow

LOGAN

Frankenstein's monster? Or Frankenstein, the thing on his forehead says monster, the lab coat says man. why the fuck is Logan the only one who's got something over his usual attire. I guess you could argue that he just has one laying around? I'm not going to get into the wonky line, straight lines are hard. but the screw, again could've been done better with an eyeliner pencil because they are very pale.

PATTON

also I'm not trying to take unflattering screenshots, I'm just trying to get a clear one of Thomas facing the camera

a clown! very simple, very easy and the makeup is fucking visible!! Personally, adding the triangles around the eyes would be nice, for Patton I'd definitely lean on the fun side of clows and not the scary side. I just think a little more could be done. But I'm just thankful there's an actual red nose. The bar is low. I have to mention Patton's verse again, it's so bad, so rushed, could there not have been a little more thought into it specifically?

ROMAN

Jack Skellington I believe? I don't fucking know. my issue is the eyemake up once again, Make it much darker and less blocky. maybe some nose contour or try to make it look like an actual human skull? the stitches are eh, but I feel like they could be darker, maybe a liquid eyeliner in this case. This is also the only one where I think they really tried to hide Thomas's mustache I guess for the lip stitches?

REMUS

THe boogey man? Also from the nightmare before christmas. Are Roman and Remus doing a group costume? Remus's is probablt the best, he is also the only other side with something over his costume. The makeup looks pretty good, the black is solid at least around his mouth. Again, the eye makeup should be darker. the things on his cheeks are worms I believe. those are alright, I'd probably try to make them stand out a little more

[mooglestiltzkin]

incest is not going to stop me from reading a story tbh, bc i will read lots of stories where i’m not a fan of the main ship (that aren’t related!) so a story having incest won’t necessarily faze me/don’t see it as that different tbh? and it’s easy enough to not to ship them and continue reading if the story sounds interesting regardless but like.

when you know the leads are going to fall in love and they are distantly related

at what point does it stop feeling weird? to ship them? knowing that?

ngl even if it wasn’t for syaoran’s anger issues mysteriously disappeared that didn’t feel like character development at all, him and sakura being descendants of clow reed… it’s still a bit… i kinda wish that wasn’t a canon detail…

and i feel like that with witch’s workshop tbh. at least three characters are distantly related and two have previously dated, and the main ship clearly is going to be the remaining one with one half of that ex-couple.

furuba is maybe always going to be strange re: ships, but i also read that at a time i didn’t really care tbh. and i really liked haru/rin the most back then. i had three main ships, only h/r was canon.

idk. maybe going hm, weird, wish it wasn’t the case but whatever i’m not the one writing this. is the best course of action and just read on. case by case, ig, and dependent on how annoyed (grossed out?) i get by it, maybe. some sort of sunk cost fallacy.

will i ship them? eh, not in an emotional investing way, unless it contains something incredibly appealing (like if it’s deliciously fucked up, for example), but that’s… super rare?

[ashlingnarcos]

.

scrumptious gif choices

WHAT A GOOD OPENING IMAGE. Really sets the tone, plus it's a hilarious image while being impressive at the same time…characterizes Mayo too…ooh skill baby!

"by mistake" ooh they fuckin "It never pays to fall for a family man, isn’t that what the girls say? " I WAS RIGHT

Or was he just at sea like always? love that

But Pancho was good people. He always liked Pancho. Shit, who didn’t like Pancho. a) aww b) clow— sniper takes me out

But he supposed that’s what happened when you let an overgrown manchild, dressed head-to-toe in Versace, stick his gold-dipped cuerno de chiva against the decorator’s temple and threaten to blow them away into semi-automatic oblivion, just for a discount on silk drapes from Rome or wherever-the-fuck. SCREAMING. God this is so colorful and fun and funny…and honestly thru Mayo's eyes it's like these guys are living in trump tower lmfao

It felt quite the honor just to see the man laugh. He got the feeling Mín didn’t laugh much. oh so you been rotisserie-rotissserieing these en. i see. I SEE. I SEE THE VISION.

"the image etch-A-sketched away" fucking love this metaphor

He used to think, what a strange little something you are, Benjamín Arellano Félix, the way one would think fondly of a pet they had growing up. He found himself wishing now that Mín felt just a pet to him. this is super Mayo, he always has this vaguely supercilious vibe which may also be part of his detchment…mm it's giving texture it's giving this mans fucking weird it's giving condescension in an in character type a way

In truth, he didn’t much like it either. But he hadn’t figured out if it was just because she was a woman or because of the kind of woman she was. He never had much patience for anyone with a chip on their shoulder. Inchresting…inchresting.

Though he’d certainly made an exception for Mín who’d carted around a chip so heavy, it was a wonder he never tipped over. LOL. That's the world of these guys tho

Even in his blackest moments, twisting his knife in someone’s gut or getting ready to light them on fire, he couldn’t much find a reason not to be at least cordial. This is so funny but also insanely effective at making him seem a bit Strange…and making the overall point that manners, or at least his idea of manners, really mean nothing and they're all part of weird custom/ego trip stuff. who cares about being cordial if ur killing a guy asdf;lkdsafds

Money in shrimping . SCREAMING I mean I totally believe he'd say it i just. Ooh money in shrimping is just such a funny phrase yk

Mayo looking after Món is such a thing to make Mín into him lbr

They never stood as close as they’d wanted to. They never talked for as long as they wanted to. It was for the best. we love sentence rhythm babey! something about it

KNUCKLE KISSES??????

oh shit fuck wife. you so right. Oh min baby don't do it. he's so hot tho. sobbing

yeah let's go with benjamayo hahahaha <3333 give us more benjamayo soon ??? or anytime at all df <33333

would you believe that i sniper takes me out anyways yeah! love benjamayo and the way you executed it. love how REAL Mayo seems, his lil quirks and the way he sees the world, darkness and strangeness and also just him being a lil guy i wanna put in a bug jar

| Tu cómplice |

⁂

Pairing: Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada x Benjamín Arellano Félix

For @narcosfandomdiscord NarcOctober Fanworks collection [October 1 - Day of Firsts]

Word count: ≈ 2.8K

TWs: Canon-consistent violence? Much angst but like in the supes casual way I imagine Mayo does..?

Just the two of them seated at the wrought iron table in the backyard, up till dawn, smoking and talking. It felt quite the honor just to see the man laugh. Ngl guys, this is Basically just Mayo internally but actively pining for Mín? for like kinda no reason?? while he’s negotiating with Dina because Mín’s gone into hiding after the assassination of Cardinal Juan Posadas Ocampo. Idk this is literally just 3k words of nonsense and insanity. It’s legitimately one of the most aimless and ooc things I’ve ever written sksks but hey!! it exists now..?

⁂

The ornate, gilded door knocker felt heavy between his fingertips as he rapped a few times and waited, stubbing out his cigarette in the open mouth of one of the lion statues placed on either side of the stairway. He chuckled to himself. If it wasn’t an ashtray before, it was one now. To him it looked like one anyway. The mansion’s pretentious decor always screamed “New Money” to him, no matter how hard the Arellanos tried to bury Sinaloa in their past.

By his count, Mayo had only ever been to Arellano house three times. Once by invitation, another by accident, and a third - the last - by mistake. A mistake he couldn’t muster the good sense to regret no matter how hard he tried.

It never pays to fall for a family man, isn’t that what the girls say? Certainly the ones he’d shared a few fleeting nights with between the sheets, a wad of folded bills on the nightstand, couple packs of cigarettes, and some pillow talk that always told some tale of woe about falling for a family man. But is that what happened? Had he fallen? Or was he just at sea like always? Either way, it made for no less than an interesting ride.

The relief-distorted disappointment when it was Pancho who answered the door should’ve told him something, even if he didn’t care to pay it much mind just now. A matter for tomorrow. Except that’s what he’d told himself the whole time. Shit, that’s how he got into this mess. Surely there’d come a point when tomorrow was today, no?

Pancho smiled, “Qué húbole, compa?” and pulled Mayo in, clapping his back twice in a way that was warm and sincere as much as it was overwhelming. But Pancho was good people. He always liked Pancho. Shit, who didn’t like Pancho.

“Nada mucho, nada más,” Mayo winked, tipping his hat as he crossed the threshold into the foyer of the Arellano mansion.

He smirked to himself at the same private joke he had every time he’d set foot in this house: the place’s grandiosity might be as intimidating as it was meant to be if it weren’t so fucking cartoonish. But he supposed that’s what happened when you let an overgrown manchild, dressed head-to-toe in Versace, stick his gold-dipped cuerno de chiva against the decorator’s temple and threaten to blow them away into semi-automatic oblivion, just for a discount on silk drapes from Rome or wherever-the-fuck.

Mayo's eyes stung a bit, hit with the phantom smell of the cigar smoke that came tumbling out of Benjamín’s mouth when he’d laughed himself nearly to tears telling Mayo that story. It'd been just the two of them seated at the wrought iron table in the backyard, up 'til dawn, smoking and talking. It felt quite the honor just to see the man laugh. He got the feeling Mín didn’t laugh much. That was the second time Mayo had been here.

He shook his head, the image etch-A-sketched away like nothing and followed Pancho through the foyer to the dining room and then the living room. Or rather, one of the living rooms. The house smelled so strongly of floral-scented candles and potpourri, he worried he might get a headache sitting in here for too long. They must’ve just had the place cleaned. It bothered him that he even noticed and it especially bothered him why. That it was because there was no hint of that familiar, faint musk that should’ve been there, expensive without trying too hard, that seemed to trail Mín along with a perpetual cloud of neurotic discontent, everywhere he went.

Even from the beginning Mayo liked that about him. The discontent he wore right on his sleeve. He’d noted it when they’d first met at some meat market in Mazátlan, right around the time he first linked up with the Sinaloa crew, just before they arrested Miguel and the whole Federation got dissolved. Just in Mín's discontent, his raw, kinetic ambition, Mayo saw something of himself, even if the two fo them strove for very different things. He used to think, what a strange little something you are, Benjamín Arellano Félix, the way one would think fondly of a pet they had growing up. He found himself wishing now that Mín felt just a pet to him.

But they belonged to each other in a new way now. Darker, tenuous, and confounding in just exactly how straightforward it was. No implications, no questions to be asked. It said nothing about either of them except that they belonged, if only for and evening. Or the amount of time it takes to smoke a full Montecristo and down a stiff drink of scotch.

He turned to the fish tank and stared at his warped reflection, saying to no one in particular, “Things are changing real fast, huh? The army in Tijuana fucking shit up. Coming after your family, no less. Now Benjamín’s gone. Fucking mess, huh?”

He felt it coming. This meeting. Depending on the outcome, it might signify a breaking point and he’d have to choose between what is and what should never be. The Arellanos got caught flying far too close to the sun and they knew it now. (And everyone wondered why he preferred boats.) It’s what set Mín on the lam, no telling how long he would be out there. Floating around wherever he was. Away.

Shaking his head, “Just hoping it all blows over and Benjamín can come back home,” Pancho spilled a glass of some brown liquor, as he set it down on the beverage cart in front of Mayo.

Amused, Mayo tried mopping it with only his fingers until he gave up, taking a sip. There was still plenty to drink, since Pancho had filled it nearly to the brim, almost as high as his own. Suddenly, it made sense why Pancho wasn’t in charge of the family business despite being the oldest. Hombre couldn’t bluff for shit.

Mayo took the seat by the beverage cart, as Pancho practically melted back onto the giant couch across from him. Doing his best to affect it, almost like an afterthought, Mayo leaned back in the chair and said, “Send him my best, yeah?” He took out a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his pockets, giving them a little jiggle and raising his eyebrows.

Pancho got what he was asking but Dina startled him with an answer before Pancho got the chance. She spoke from behind them, standing at a large window, “Of course, please. Make yourself at home.” She waved her own lit cigarette as if to hammer the point home. “I do it in here all the time. Drives mamá mad. The smell gets in the drapes, she says.”

How long had she been standing there? Her beige suit blended so well with the drapes she spoke about with such indifference. Mayo half wondered if it was some kind of business tactic, camouflaging with the furniture. Better to hear all chisme whispered in these halls by house staff or other scheming subordinates a quien no le gustaba tener una jefa. In truth, he didn’t much like it either. But he hadn’t figured out if it was just because she was a woman or because of the kind of woman she was. He never had much patience for anyone with a chip on their shoulder.

Though he’d certainly made an exception for Mín who’d carted around a chip so heavy, it was a wonder he never tipped over. So, maybe it was the woman thing. Did it much matter? Not really cuando sabía que ella había planeado quitarle sus huevos. All these months later, and that cool twenty mil still burned a hole in their coffers and there was no making eyes at Dina to make it all go away, least of all when they were hurting for the cash. Not that he wouldn’t try. That is after all how he and Benjamín started off doing ... Well, whatever the fuck they did.

He thought of Dina’s wedding, how light and alive, self-assured Benjamín was. In his element. A new look he wore so well that, in Mayo’s estimation, he didn’t get to enjoy for long enough. Now look where they all were.

“So look, Pancho,” he brushed Dina off because if her goal was to blend in with it, well, he was happy to treat her like the furniture. “Amado’s expanded operations. Taken over the port in Peñasco, made it hard for my boats to unload. I was hoping to redirect them through San Ysidro, and not pass them through Tijuana.”

“That would put all your business in our plaza, wouldn’t it?”

The smirk of a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar broke across Mayo's face and he dragged on his cigarette, nodding in the affirmative.

“And yet, you refuse to join our organization?”

He offered the answer that seemed to satisfy anyone who challenged his go-it-alone approach. It satisfied Mín well enough when he'd approached Mayo at the wedding. “Es qué, a mí me gusta ser mi propio patrón.”

Nothing less than the truth. In an industry of professional con artists, backstabbers, hustlers, and murderers, maybe like her brother, she’d appreciate it.

“Yes, so you’ve said.” She didn’t.

And she still hadn’t turned around to face them. For people so concerned with blending into high society, the Arellanos weren’t the most well-mannered. Mayo’s working-class manner of dress might, to the untrained eye, indicate that manners weren’t something he cared about. But he did. Even in his blackest moments, twisting his knife in someone’s gut or getting ready to light them on fire, he couldn’t much find a reason not to be at least cordial.

Fighting for a lifeline, he glanced at Pancho who almost looked like he was trying to become one with the couch, drink limp in his hand, as he stared at the All-Knowing Queen in white.

She finally turned to grace them with her full attention, gliding over and resting her hands on the back of the empty couch next to him. “You owe us twenty million dollars. What’s your plan to repay us?”

Back in the days when Miguel held court and favored the Sinaloa faction at the expense of his own family, dicking the Arellanos around as though the petulant kids he’d watched grow up would remain petulant kids forever, Mayo remembered thinking that Mín’s attempts at diplomacy weren’t well-earned by their uncle. And he’d told Mín as much. Even Dina agreed at the time.

But all these years later, with Dina the sharp tip of the lethal spear that was now the Arellano Félix Organization, Mayo wondered if they couldn’t do with some of Benjamín’s trademark diplomacy. Mín liked people. He knew how to talk to them. Dina was trickier to deal with. Though savvy like her brother, she was nothing but prickly, sharp edges. Good for dealing what needed to be dealt to their enemies. Not much for making friends.

Mayo tried his hand at diplomacy, “Money in shrimping, eh … moves slower than I’d like,” but ire crept in anyway when the absence of his— his— of Benjamín was screaming at him. “Benjamín understands that. I pay as it comes.”

Understands, yes. Present tense. He was gone, not dead and even with Dina in charge, he still must’ve been keeping tabs from somewhere. She couldn’t have the final word here. Not really.

Unwilling to follow his lead in diplomacy, she shot back. “How much have you got?”

“Here with me?” Now he was annoyed.

And that was met with a haughty huff from her, along with a scorn-filled smirk, so acrid and bitter he nearly tasted it in the air between them. She had him where she wanted him and it twisted his gut, knowing where this was about to go.

“You aren’t moving anything through this plaza until the tax is paid.”

It was over already and he knew it. That didn’t stop him from trying one final time, “Qué dice, Pancho? Esa es la última palabra de la familia?” like it might speak Benjamín into their living room.

Of course, when it didn’t work, the thought of Mín, knowing what he’d have to resort to next, only served to make his stomach churn more. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. What’s that thing they say about purple elephants? Because before the first don’t, the image of Benjamín’s gentle brown eyes in the moonlit backyard, full of that kinetic ambition, not for success but for something else —belonging— flooded Mayo. The third time he’d been here.

᪣

It had only been a few months since the wedding. A celebration at Roxanne’s gone awry and he’d had to bring Ramón home before he tore the club apart, going after Chapo for some snide comment about what they all knew happened to Rayo. The bad blood between the Arellanos and the Sinaloa crew was so long standing without erupting into an all-out war, it seemed to make sense at the time to at least attempt to avoid tipping it over the edge. In hindsight, the whole shitshow was gripped with such inevitability, it seemed more like going against the will of the gods, now that he thought about it. But you only know what you know when you know it. So, he done the sensible thing, intervened before things got ugly, agreeing against his better judgment to remove Ramón from the equation, by driving the rowdy motherfucker home while he sat in the passenger's seat of his pickup, three sheets to the wind, sprawled out, passed out, and snoring. Despite the fact he’d had no love para el pinshe huevón, there was love in his heart somewhere. And so it was easy to say, “yes” after shucking Ramón off his shoulder onto one of their house staff's, when Mín offered him a cigar and a drink. An opportunity for another of their little chats that they’d come to enjoy whenever they crossed paths. Though Mayo had noticed, in the distinct lack of one, every one of those times happened to be under the unconscious supervision of a crowd. So that when Benjamín complimented him on his business savvy, and said things like, “Fuck, man. You’re better than that,” the grin that spread across his face never got as wide as it wanted to be. They never stood as close as they’d wanted to. They never talked for as long as they wanted to. It was for the best. Because without the safety net of nosy onlookers, talking about life, growing up in Sinaloa, the incessant hustle, the never ending grind to the top, commiserating over the absurdity of this business they’d both come up in, ambition, what all of it even meant? Could they do something else? Should they do something else? Was it really worth it?— they both folded like a pair of cheap suits. And so he didn’t remove it, when Mín’s hand found itself on top of his. The contrast of how smooth, almost manicured it was compared his own, weather-worn, brought to light disparities that extended far beyond the physical and yet didn’t make a bit of difference. The words tumbled from Mín’s lips suddenly. “You know ... I do love my wife.” And that trademark cloud of anxiety that made him think too much came swept over them with a fury. Not long for this world, Mayo waved it away. “I know you do.” “You do?” It was almost funny. Despite the evident affinity they shared in these little chats, Mín’s shock reminded him just how little they really knew each other. How much of a gamble he’d just taken. “You know that I know that this,” Mayo lifted their hands, fingers interlaced together, and placed his lips against one of Mín’s knuckles, “and that,” then bobbed his head toward the house, “can be different but true, at the same time.”

᪣

He sighed and swallowed the memory hard.

“‘Ta bueno, ‘ta bueno,” nodding vigorously because he saw the whole fucking thing coming before he’d set foot in the house. Standing up and putting his hat back on, he muttered cooly, “Well, I won’t take up any more of your time.”

Striding toward the fish tank, he thought of Mín again and turned back around. He met Dina’s eyes in a challenge, you did this but simply tipped his hat, “Patrona,” a gesture of faux respect she was undoubtedly smart enough and petty enough to see for what it was.

On his way out of the house, he was already hard at work, scouring his brain. What was the last number that he had for Amado? Fuck, that shit was months ago. He'd probably have a new one. Oh, well. It'd be worth it. Or ... would it? Well frankly, if he was really honest with himself, he'd probably stopped giving a shit the second the words, "make yourself at home" came out of her mouth.

Stepping out into the midday sun at the top of the steps leading down to the driveway, he caught the carcass of his cigarette laying in the lion's mouth out of the corner of his eye.

Dina would regret this and probably never even know why.

But Benjamín would.

En ese mundo de complicidades y traiciones, un día tu mejor enemigo es tu cómplice y al otro se convierte en tu peor enemigo.

═

taglist: @narcosfandomdiscord @ashlingnarcos @narcolini @drabbles-mc

[miraculouscontent]

(non-Miraculous asks)

Anonymous said:

Ok this may just be me but I hate deconstructions. I feel like they are always mean spirited and try to be dark and edgy and thinks that every single person is an asshole because that’s “realistic” when no it’s not. This maybe because I like superhero stories and love it when the heroes overcome their struggles.

I can agree for the most part. Whenever I hear “okay but what if it was dArK--” I’m just okay, gonna stop you right there.

Anonymous said:

I swear, nothing bothers me more than people who want Miraculous Ladybug to literally just be Yandere Simulator(with Marinette as Ayano, Alya as Info-chan, Adrien as Taro, Chloe as Osana, Lila as Kizana, Kagami as Megami, and Luka as Budo). It just grinds my gears, especially because they're, once again, framing Marinette as a stalker, which just makes her look bad, AND pits all the girls against each other for Mr. Generic Harem Protagonist, once a-fucking-gain. Just go play the actual game, ok?

All I'm hearing is that now I have to ship Ayano and Budo and write a fic where the ghost girl uses fancy fantasy magic to merge her soul with Ayano and lets her actually have emotions, healing her from being a yandere while the ghost girl (in a way) gets to live a life she was cut short of, also allowing Ayano to be happy and go onto be friends with all the rivals.

Extremely convoluted but that’s the only way we get happy endings in this house.

Anonymous said:

I remember how, when writing Sailor Moon, Naoko Takeuchi refused to bow to older male writers wanted, say, for the girls to be stereotypical manga characters, with one being overweight, one being a stereotypical nerd, etc. But Naoko wanted each of the girls to be beautiful and feminine. While I don't like that they all share a body type, I admire how she didn't listen to grown men when writing for and about young girls. And I can't help but think about how Madoka is the antithesis of all that.

I can appreciate writers who put their foot down to stick to their values. There are limits of course, but yeah, a women writing women probably shouldn’t be listening to a man’s input. I’m sure good advice exists buuut...

Anonymous said:

What is your ranking of the seasons of the year from most to least favorite and why?

Summer - I work best in the warmth

Spring - Always brings images of flowers blooming to mind

Autumn - Things are getting cold and I don’t like it

Winter - It can go choke for all I care

Anonymous asked:

Someone on TV Tropes actually said that the name Feminist Fantasy should be changed because "feminism excludes men the same way meninism excludes women" and actually had the nerve to link that to the "Not So Different" trope, as if women haven't been excluded throughout the history of almost every human society. Fortunately, someone responded to them in a way that technically amounted to "do your damn research" but I'm still facepalming so hard at TV Tropes' "what about the men" rhetoric.

I feel like I lost braincells reading this.

Anonymous asked:

I feel like in fiction written by men there are only three flaws that female protagonists are allowed to have: clumsy, boy-crazy, or ashamed of their flat chests. I hate it.

Don’t forget, “having to listen to the men for how they’re supposed to feel.”

Anonymous asked:

Jatp. Nominated. For. Seven. Emmys. SEVEN!!!! Miraculous could NEVER. Literally.

omg!! Congrats to Julie and the Phantoms!

Anonymous asked:

WHAT ARE YOUR FLASHBACKS TO EVER AFTER HIGH?? I GOTTA KNOW? OMG?

Oh, I’ve seen basically the whole series, though the one I remember most is definitely Epic Winter. It was my favorite one though Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie so I’m biased.

I also like a lot of the “twists” and just--crazy concepts they rolled with, like with Red Riding Hood’s story and how Apple White gets woken up from her slumber.

Anonymous asked:

You're gonna be happy to hear this...I just started watching Cardcaptor Sakura today, and holy shit not only do I love it, but I also love how freaking META it is! I know you said you're not all that knowledgeable about Magical Girl, but this show is AWARE that it's a Magical Girl show! From Tomoyo(the main reason this show is so meta, tbh) realizing Sakura is a Magical Girl and asking if she has a transformation pose, to designing outfits for her(more on that later) to videotaping her(aka literally making a Magical Girl anime out of her Magical Girl friend), it just has fun with itself and plays with Magical Girl tropes without making a mockery of them like all those "dark" male-aimed ones do(lookin' at you, Madoka Magica and Yuki Yuna!).

And not only is it hilarious and adorable(especially with Sakura's crush on Yukito, Tomoyo's crush on Sakura, and Touya picking on Sakura, but playfully), but I love how it's riddled with girl power. While watching some of the first episodes I was looking forward to seeing Syaoran(partly because I love male Tsunderes and partly because I can't pronounce his name), and was surprised that he wasn't in the first few episodes, but more importantly I was so happy to see a show that treats its female characters with respect and shows women unironically receiving support from other women and being shown possessing power and authority.

I love Sakura and Tomoyo's friendship even if I hate the trope of "Lesbian Never Gets The Girl"(not that I think she's entitled to Sakura's affections or anything, but still.) and watching her support Sakura in her magic endeavors without being jealous or vindictive, I love that they're allowed to be independent and smart but that the show doesn't forget that they're kids, instead of making them like Manon and Chris, and I love that the show passes the Bechdel test in pretty much the first or second episode, and that pretty much every important and unimportant character we meet that's not Sakura's family members, Kero, or Yukito(plus maaaayyybe the Shadow Clow Card) are female.

Even little things, like all FOUR of Tomoyo's bodyguards in the second episode being female without there being a "reason" or the show making a big deal of it(either in a "yay girl power!" way or a "what but women can't x" way or an objectifying way) fills me with insurmountable joy. Also, I love that the show follows the Magical Girl trend of pretty much admitting that femininity is power, since frilly dresses are stated to be the most "fitting" thing for a Cardcaptor to wear, as without it, they might not be mentally up to the task, and this is an unironic truth rather than a joke(although Sakura is shown to be embarrassed, but it's much more likely that she's simply not used to that kind of gear due to not being rich as Tomoyo is.) or a gag.

I just thought I should tell you this because I know you like Cardcaptor Sakura, and with the crappy episodes that just came out of this show, I think you deserve to read an ask that's about a GENUINE girl power Magical Girl show, instead of yet more Miraculous Ladybug salt or Madoka Magica hate(not that there's anything wrong with either of those two, but it just gets grating after a while.). Overall, I'm looking forward to watching this show, since I've been looking for a Magical Girl show to watch nowadays(I've been meaning to watch Star Twinkle Precure but I can't find the third episode and all of Cardcaptor Sakura is on YouTube now, so.). So excited!

Hey, I’m glad that you’re having fun with it!

Though, just a warning, you might wanna steer clear of the Clear Card arc. It’s a sequel to the original series made waaaay after the original (think the equivalent of Yashahime for Inuyasha, though continuing with the original characters) but omg I hated it.

Anonymous asked:

With the crappy Season 4 episodes that just came out I'm glad I got into Cardcaptor Sakura when I did. Who needs "Marinette needs to make a mistake every episode and learn something from it" when you can have genuine girl power and sweetness incarnate?

Alya could never compete with Tomoyo, I’m just sayin’.

Anonymous asked:

Your comment about white men feeling "disenfranchised" because more shows are about black people and/or women(I say and/or because the two aren't mutually exclusive.), as if there aren't a million other things they could be watching instead is so true! It reminds me of how I was talking to someone recently about the new generation of MLP, in which I stated that we didn't need a male mane pony(spoiler alert: they have one, sadly.), and he claimed that it would be beneficial since many shows aimed at boys at least try to include at least one main girl, and that it would be good for G5 of MLP to have at least one strong male lead so that boys could have a role model and know that the show isn't "girly".

Okay, so far, so good, but this I could chalk up to just unconscious internalized misogyny, especially since he didn't say it in any sort of "way". So I respectfully told him that the scale regarding representation is already not equal and that boys can look up to girls and that a show being girly is not a bad thing and all that stuff that you already know about. Then he responded claiming some stuff about how he keeps trying to pitch stories about straight white male characters and how nobody is accepting his offers and so this means that straight white men are underrepresented compared to everyone else. He even explicitly said, and I quote "White people are actually critically underrepresented in media right now. Especially boys."; I swear to the Goddess above.

At this point I was officially upset as a black girl, to hear this white(and presumably adult) man telling me that he was underrepresented in media compared to me, even saying that the media execs are practicing "quotas and tokenization"(and yes, he repeatedly used those terms for any instance of representation, even when I asked him politely to stop.) by replacing women with men or white people with pocs and are making white men look like incompetent doofuses.

He also kept saying stuff about how shows are always shoehorning people of color in where they don't belong by casting them in settings such as Shakespeare and medieval times when "realistically" there were no people of color during those time periods(which is obviously not true, it's just not what the history books show us.), and made a really insensitive comment about how black children in the USA today don't know the significance of having the first black president because the media supposedly already shows them black people in various professions(despite also claiming he couldn't speak to the "black experience" and yet here he is whitesplaining that shit.).

It got to the point where he was seriously and unironically using the word "blackwashing". When I pointed out to him that white men aren't underrepresented and that it's just his self-centered ego telling him that they are, that the word "blackwashing" isn't a thing, and that mis/underrepresentation in media DOES affect black kids negatively(even citing myself as an example) he went on to claim that I was being tone-deaf and that "blackwashing" is just as bad as whitewashing, and that making Ariel black is just as bad as making Jasmine white.

At this point I had to bang my head on the table and explain to him the difference; his ass still wouldn't get it. Eventually he started saying some really skeevy and hypocritical shite that white men say all the time when whining about how "oppressed and underrepresented" they are: that black people and/or women

(it looks like there might be an ask missing here, in which case, sorry if Tubmlr ate it!)

avor of supporting the commonly believed LIE that "women and/or minority groups don't have as much history worth learning about, so there's no point in focusing on them." He also kept using patronizing, condescending, mansplaining language such as "let me explain it to you" or "you still don't get it do you?", and when he said women had nothing to contribute to society because "oppression" he even had the nerve to tack on "welcome to the unequal society" as if I hadn't been lecturing him about just that.

Because obviously only white men did anything worthwhile or important in history. At this point, I had to block him. I couldn't take it anymore and this was on an MLP site of all places(although I'm probably just as guilty of that part, but at least I wasn't an ass!). I just can't stand white men who "want to be oppressed so bad" but still want to claim that their achievements are more important and deserve to be more prominent. Honestly, so many white men are so fragile the second they're not in the spotlight. I can't help but think that despite all the privilege afforded to their class being a white man sounds like the worst thing ever.

“he claimed that it would be beneficial since many shows aimed at boys at least try to include at least one main girl, and that it would be good for G5 of MLP to have at least one strong male lead so that boys could have a role model and know that the show isn't "girly". “

I might be looking too deep into that but I don’t like the idea of, “Well WE squeezed in a girl and therefore YOUR SHOWS--” like it’s some sort of matter of “fairness” or that boys’ shows aren’t putting in girls out of a genuine like for them but because they “need” one or it’s some sort of obligation.

Also, we need to stop this idea that boys can’t look up to female characters and vice versa for girls. You already said it but yeah.

And yeah, I hear "quotas and tokenization" and I officially tune out of whatever the person is saying, lol. White men are critically underrepresented???? Newsflash, maybe it’s just because others are being represented more??

Just the whole thing about whites being “underrepresented” boggles my mind. White people don’t have some sort of special ability or skill that other races can’t do themselves unless you count the “superpower” of white privilege.

Like, oh my god, all that “whitesplaining” and having to read the word “blackwashing” was physically painful. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I don’t know how they got hold of the technology to communicate with you from whatever time period their from, presumably the Stone Age.

Don’t even blame you for blocking them. There’s just a level of absolute... blindness? Arrogance??? That comes with the territory with them sometimes, I swear. You had every right to be upset; other races come to ask for equality and fair representation and suddenly you have these white men (not all obviously but damn) coming by and crying that they’re being oPpReSsEd. U_U

Like, honestly, my father in particular is absolutely that kind of person so I’ve heard that kind of stuff before. it’s all gross.

On a slightly unrelated note (trying to end this with some positivity), I hadn’t even heard about a fifth generation of MLP until I read this, and just wanted to let you know that I really hope you have a really good time with it! Hopefully the male character isn’t... well, you know.

[ccborrega]

Either Clow lied to Yuuko's face or Eriol lied to Sakura's face and the memories left behind for her were lies too.

Or maybe a bit of both?. Bear with me. Basically, the problem is there are conflicting versions regarding Clow's 'Death' and his motivations for it between CCS and Tsubasa/Holic:

I've said it in previous rants, but Yuuko states in the Holic Kei CD drama that his death came as a surprise to her ('Even though red wine was your favorite, I couldn't make you have some- by then you were already gone, all of a sudden') which- you'd think maybe if he and Yuuko are like the big masterminds behind everything that's going on along with Fei Wang, he'd like.... let her know what he's going to do??? Specially since he knows (Either because he decided or just foresaw it) WHEN he was going to 'Die'?? Like he let Yue and Kero know in advance and all??? He definitely knew WHEN he was going to 'Die' and just decided not to tell her. So that's one thing.

Then, when her time starts moving again and she's disappearing, she's expecting to reunite with him ('To death... to where you are...') which kind of makes sense within a simplistic vision of 'He died' that she's seemingly subject to... except, we know Clow is not as much 'Dead' as 'Nonexistant' by then. As per CCS canon shown to us through a vision Sakura has, at the time where he was supposed to die, he split into two separate, living beings: Eriol, who has all of his memories and magic (And yet is still a different person as per his own statement.), and Fujitaka, who is a common human being. In other words, he can't meet her ever again because he isn't anywhere. But she doesn't seem to know this.

(You could argue that he didn't as much lie to her as deliberately with-held information- an you'd have a point, but it's still a pretty shitty thing to do to the woman you're already leaving with a shit-ton of problems to solve in your stead, specially if she's under the impression that the two of you will eventually meet again when she's done playing her role cleaning after your mess.)

Not sure why Eriol didn't like- drop by and explain things to her but perhaps he didn't want to pain her further by letting her know Clow didn't exist anymore? And instead he left her with an empty promise. Charming. (To be fair, he's not Clow anymore, so technically this wasn't his business anymore, but like- he's just not gonna say anything because he's technically someone else? Bruh.)

Then there's the matter of Clow having spent some time (At least a good five years) as the king of Clow Country. By TRC's account, this would have happened after he told Yue and Kero that he was going to die- an here's where another contradiction enters because, as I've already stated, Sakura Kinomoto SAW the moment where he split into two happen. So we're left with- he either was lying to Sakura in her vision regarding WHEN his 'Death' happened (In reality it happened years into Yue and Kero being asleep and not on that same day.) OR he lied to Yuuko and was coming and going from Clow country for years, even as they were still making the Mokonas and later when they were sharing custody of them, making his final moment with Yue and Kero completely true.

(In the case Sakura summoned that vision by herself without his participation, this would make it the truth and mean he definitely lied to Yuuko.)

The only other options are: 1- Because time flows differently in each dimension, he managed to live a handful of years in Clow Country and then go back to his world to 'Die' within the same day. Or 2- Because logic was already collapsing, the timelines are not really meant to add up in any way that makes sense... which just sucks for the reader because everything else can more-or-less be explained in a satisfactory way, even if it's one that includes time paradoxes. This just feels lazy.

Now, timing aside, the contradictions between Sakura's account of his 'Death' and what Yuuko thinks it to be leave us with another matter: Either he, once more, lied to Sakura in that vision he left behind for her OR he lied to Yuuko, making her think he was going to come back to visit still when in reality he was going to 'Die' and THEN making her think he was dead and in the world of the dead when in reality Clow is completely gone and what's left of him is still among the living.

(Once more, Even in the case Sakura summoned that vision by herself without his participation, it'd only mean he definitely lied to Yuuko.)

Then, Eriol reveals that when Clow split himself in two, his wish was to 'Not be the most powerful magician in the world anymore', and the motivation behind this, he says, is that the knowledge of the future was too painful a burden for him. Meanwhile, Tsubasa establishes that the reason he begun to hate his power and his status as the world's most powerful magician was his accidental wish. So what is the truth?

Look, I know, OK? I know CCS predates Tsubasa and Holic and it's possible CLAMP hadn't really planned on explanding the Clow lore like that, but the matter still stands that these conflicting statements make Eriol look like a liar.

(UNLESS, an this is something I for whatever reason had stored in my memory as canon but I don't know WHERE I got it because it's nowhere in the manga and I don't think it's in the anime either, though it's been a good ten years since my last full rewatch... unless Eriol has lost all the memories of Clow's life and therefore completely forgotten about Yuuko. Which would make him an unreliable narrator more than a liar, but certainly adds insult to injury where Clow's treatment of her regards.)

Finally, there's the matter of Clear Card's current problem being that Sakura is growing too powerful to control her magic- which, Tomoyo HAD pointed out it sounded like it could happen when Eriol revealed he was wrecking shit up to help her become more powerful so that she could help him give half of his magic to Fujtaka at the end of CCS. What did the creepy little ferret say back then? 'Nah, we're good, she can handle it'. So, that was a lie. It's specially bad when you realize it's also stated that Touya is recovering his powers little by little- meaning their magic grows with time. Meaning there was no way Sakura's power wasn't going to grow enough to start being a problem eventually.

Again, Clear Card is a new work and CLAMP probably didn't plan on expanding CCS when they finished the original manga, but the fact that all of this happened despite Eriol straight out telling them it wouldn't makes him look like either an idiot or a liar, and one that threw Sakura under the bus to save himself. I have a feeling a lot of things in Clear Card are going to get reversed conveniently because the wand Sakura Kinomoto hands to her adult!clone self in Tsubasa is still the star one (which doesn't exist anymore in Clear Card), but right now as per April 2021, Eriol is not looking great.

Of course, it's always possible this is just CLAMP not quite fact-checking themselves as well as they could before referencing their other works in the newer ones or something like that but if I'm right... we just added another layer of fucked-up to Clow's character.

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Ayesha Liveblogs Cardcaptor Sakura S1

For faithfulness reasons, I’ll forgo rewatching in English even though I’m Jared 19 and never learned how to read 

I will say the original English dub had a BANGER of a theme song and I do miss that

"I’m a Fourth Grader at Tomoeda Elementary” I know I watched this like when I was age 7 or smth but SHE’S LIKE 10?? OH MY GOD who is letting this ten-year-old roam the streets

“I’m gonna stomp on him” [Lucille Bluth voice] good for her

I fully forgot Sakura had a dad I was ready to accept her Grade 11 brother raising her

Sakura’s roller blades give me visceral memories of my barbie skates

Lmao is Yuki’s ability to throw a piece of candy at a child from a moving bicycle backwards foreshadowing his superhero abilities

Okay having checked this scene in both English versions and Japanese, my opinion no one asked for: the Aminax version is bad voices on all counts, Japanese has a better voice for Toya and original English dub has a better voice for Sakura and Yukito (who they called Julian lmao) I am not accepting constructive criticism 

Tomoyo and Sakura sound so similar I could not even tell that Tomoyo was speaking omg

“There isn’t anything cuter or more interesting than you Sakura-chan” Tomoyo is really honest with her feelings I guess ten-year-olds be like that sometimes

“Is someone there” home invasions are what happens when you don’t lock your front door

This is not a study lmao this is a personal library there is hardly a workspace just aisles of shelves

Oh shit The Clow WIND RAIN SHADOW WOOD SWORD POWER THUNDER SLEEP CARD CAPTORS OF THE CLOW EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED NOW

Wait if this is hanging out in her dad’s study was her dad the last Cardcaptor lmao

Or probs her mom, since she’s gone the way of all anime moms

Sakura is accepting this whole “tiny magical flying lion” thing p well

“I accidentally fell asleep” “For how long” “30 years” same

“Stand right over there” Kerberos does not ask permission before magical girl transforming you lmao

“Why are you acting so wimpy” bc she’s 10 and you’re asking her to fight a giant ghost bird???

Honestly I love a good quest-to-collect-important-items maybe Inuyasha and DBZ ruined my taste but it’s a great formula 

“You’ll be a better adult if you have all sorts of experiences in your life” r u going to take career counselling advice from a tiny flying lion Sakura

I do kind of miss Kero’s slightly unhinged young man energy

I like that whenever Sakura’s brother is rude she steps on his foot or kicks him fkjhjgkh excellent little sister depiction

I was expecting more secrecy but it is very funny to see Tomoyo try to convince her friend to be a superhero

“Do a flashy one” kfhkjdhkj Kero supports the use of magic powers for showing off

“Trademark poses and skills are the basic parts of being a magical girl” oh my gooood

I mean if I walked into my school and there was a mountain of haphazard desks waiting there I too would be threatened 

Sakura is the only one in this group who has a reasonable understanding of what ten-year-olds should be allowed to do

LMAO @ Tomoyo’s team of bodyguards dropping her off to break into the school ONLY TO DRIVE AWAY

Tomoyo and Kero’s friendship is killing me the SHENANIGANS

I’m not sure I accept this light logic bc you need light to cast a shadow

Sakura’s “heart-racing first date” ur TEN oh my god

I mean it’s nice that Sakura wants to save the penguin but why did it take that for her to get upset it was going to drown a whole adult woman

Did Toya just RIP APART a WHIRLPOOL with his BARE HANDS

I wonder how Toya feels that his little sister has a crush on his boyfriend lmao

This cell phone is really top of the line for 1999 lmao I love it 

U know if I were a high school student and my friend asked my 10 year old sibling out to lunch instead of me I’d be confused

"They’re not even gonna hold hands? Kids these days” This is a VERY weird vibe for an episode

You know I guess if you never watch the second episode you never have context for all of these superhero outfits LMAO

None of these locations have security cameras I guess the 1990s was a lawless time

Will all of Yuki’s magical advice be delivered in the form of mysterious field trips

LMAO @ YUKITO ALWAYS TAKING SAKURA TO TOYA’S TEMP JOBS

Say what you will about the ominous influence of the other card, I think Wood is being fairly polite since it’s contorting around her house instead of destroying it lmao

“I was planning to film ‘Sakura Dances in the Jungle’ in the park today” I love Tomoyo 

Every little girl in this show sounds so similar lmao this is not good for my distracted watching style 

Wow Ms Maki is really unloading on these two fourth grade girls 

Since Tomoyo clearly interacts with even the more spirit-like Clow Cards I really have to wonder why no one else in this town is seeing these giant ghost monsters loom around the city

Well I guess this episode is a direct response to my previous comment 

“I can’t stand scary stories” says the girl who spends her nights going into isolated areas and fighting magical ghosts

Seeing Sakura activate her Fly card really gives me overwhelming nostalgia for the days I wanted nothing more than to be a Cardcaptor I used to wave around a toy broom like that magic key ahhhhhhhh

In the absence of the first English voice and with the added gentle Japanese intonation for his speaking, I am constantly forgetting that Yukito’s character is a 16-year-old boy 

Toya is really casually bomb-dropping the fact that he used to see ghosts and Yuki’s just like ‘dope are there ghosts around now’

Omg Kero’s sad face as he dropped the flower in Sakura’s lap 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

“I want to see if she wants to tell me something” like maybe ‘don’t run around town at night chasing ghosts ur 10!!!’ 

UHHHH AGAIN TOYA REAL CASUAL ABOUT THE GHOST THING 

Yukito Tsukishiro: Chronic Aid-er and Abet-er of Pre-teen Mischief 

Also if I’m right his name means something like “Ice White Moon?” Very heavy-handed foreshadowing lmao

“After we left, I went to the museum again and borrowed one” TOMOYO U CASED THE JOINT KJDHFKJHF

WHY IS EVERY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL KID IN THIS TOWN ABLE TO BREAK INTO THIS MUSEUM SO EASILY

Tomoyo is eerily well-prepared for this mission it’s like she has been planning to burgle a museum all her life

They really made an executive choice to have both a Yuuki and a Yuki that was a decision that someone made

Oh hey it’s the other pre-teen supehero!!! That guy!!

The more I think about it, the stranger the height difference between Sakura and her brother becomes bc compared to him she’s really like 2.5 feet tall they did not pick a proportion scale

U see this what I mean by gentle intonation, Syaoran somehow sounds older than Yuki simple by roughness of voice

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH TOYA U DEFEND UR SISTER

“Here, a steamed pork bun” Yuki sure nows how to de-escalate lmao 

“That is made out of an insulator as well” Tomoyo is really prepared for any and every situation

It’s not fair of Li to compare what is probably years of magical training from his family to ‘trial by fire for eight weeks with a plush toy who doesn’t explain anything important until critical moments’

I’m really not sure what’s happening with Rika and the teacher but I DON’T LIKE IT

“I just want to be with you as long as possible” [cut to floral pattern] Tomoyo is aiming to supersede Yuki as Gentle Shojo Protagonist Sakura Fixates On looool

I’m sure there’s NOTHING significant about this familiar-looking sword brooch

Kero biting Li whenever whenever he says something rude to Sakura kghkjghk direct feminist action

What IS THIS business with Li running away flustered like that are pre-teen Cardcaptors ONLY allowed to have a crush on Yukito

“I guess I’ll have to beat him up once” Toya has zero qualms about fighting a ten-year-old

Two fourth graders giving Yukito chocolate while he peacefully hangs out with his boyfriend is the funniest version of executing this weirdness that could happen

What I’m really wondering is how the hell they cut out or explained away Li’s crush in the first English anime

“You were just a fledgling teacher and you married one of your [high school] students!!” u did WHAT what the FUCK MR. KINOMOTO I’m on Sonomi’s side

“Mother got married when she was 16″ MR. KINOMOTO CANCELLED! BANNED! THE HELL IS THIS!

“It was I who was granted time with Nadeshiko from her 16th to 27th birthdays” GO 2 JAIL DO NOT PASS GO 

This episode has added a lot of layers to this show none of which I like

“What kind of person was my dad” someone who should be banned from teaching

“Your father is a disgusting person” WELL

SONOMI I KNOW UR TRYING TO BE NICE BUT HE HAS AT LEAST ONE MAJOR FLAW

Lmao they’re not even giving context why Yuki is around anymore he’s just an accepted artifact of the Kinomoto household

How is that the Time card is Li’s but not Thunder since he also returned that one to its original form

“Their fastest confirmed speed is over 100km/h” Yamazaki leave Li alone he just wants to adore the sloths jhfkhgjhgkhg

Ahhhhhh Li helping Sakura get the Power card?? These motives are quite hard to read but it seems sweet

OMGGG @ TOMOYO MAKING SAKURA DEADLIFT A PLAYGROUND

“I heard a rumour that everyone who asked Kinomoto out has been denied.” Well. [x]

“It’s one of the seven strangest things at this school, that both Kinomoto and Tsukishiro don’t have girlfriends.” WELL. [x]

AWWWWW YUKI DOESN’T LEAVE THE OTHER PRE-TEEN FAN CLUB MEMBERS OUT OF HIS KIND GESTURES

[Hannibal Buress voice] I was so caught up in euphoria of festival arcs, that for like a minute I lived in a world where the rest of this anime didn’t exist 

TOYA BEING THE STAR OF DRAG CINDERELLA... OP UR MIND

I have no idea what the premise of the next Clow Card is but I really hope it’s “turn u into whatever ur acting as” bc I will LOSE my mind

I have not heard Yuki once intone as passionately as he did when he thought Toya was going to fall 

“You like someone else” 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

“I didn’t promise anyone else a dance” Can I just say I LOVE TOYA?

The moment of stillness before Yukito revealed who he was asking to dance lmao... the repressed teenage wlw inside me LIVES

Yuki and Toya tag-teaming as the Sakura Support Team my heart!!

Geolocating someone from a fax... the incredible 90sness of this act....

I seriously don’t understand this world in which you leave 5- and 10-year-olds unattended for hours where are your child welfare laws

I am really choosing to ignore how absolutely bananas the concept of Tomoyo having a hidden Sakura Movie Theatre is

Speaking of weird, are we just trusting that this old man is normal? Is everyone doing that? I’m still not ready to trust yet the Sakura’s dad situation really burned me

“Girls look their best when they smile” a sweet thought that would not fly if an old man I just met told me that lmao

I’m REALLY not trusting this old man dressing up this girl in his dead (missing?) granddaughter’s clothes and staring broodily when she mentions there is a parent with her

“My great-granddaughter seemed happy” YOUR WHAT NOW 

Their school trips seem much more fun than ours were we never went to the beach or fishing or got disappeared briefly in a cave

It continues to be funny how Sakura and Li have 0% tension re: Clow Cards, 99% tension re: Yukito who is already in a committed Something or the Other with Sakura’s brother

“Why were you on the roof” “Because it’s nice out today” LOL YUKITO

There’s no rhyme or reason to these card types huh some are like “I will destroy an entire zoo for fun” and other ones are like “mood lighting :)”

Sakura really isn’t out here to teach us any lessons lol it’s really a ‘get others to do your homework if you can get away with it’ episode

Rounding out the triad of superpowered pre-teens with Meilin I suppose

“Syaoran is my fiance” I have had it up to HERE with this anime cousinfuckery I don’t CARE if it’s cool in Japan or Hong Kong or whatever STOP BEING WEIRD WITH YOUR COUSINS

Poor Syaoran he was doing so well with getting along with Sakura until Meilin got here

"It was done by a girl again?” Oh my god is Meilin beating up grown men in parks for street cred

“It seems our relationship chart has gotten rather complicated” Tomoyo probably means astrology chart but here’s my understanding so far:

Speaking of complex relationships I wonder how Meilin will react to Syaoran’s crush on Yuki

This rivalry between Sakura and Meilin could not be more one-sided

I really was wondering for a second if the card was going to split in half

I love the vibe of Sakura and Toya teaming up to help their creepy dad but even MORE SO I love that Yukito is In This Household

“The contents are already up here” This episode really doesn’t hit the same way now that cloud storage exists and also what were all those floppy disks for if not to save your work Mr. Kinomoto

I love that Tomoyo always pulls her weight in her superhero sidekick role like she is here to support and help whenever needed 

Sakura using her powers to impress her crush with a ghost duet lmao these priorities 

“Sakura’s Little Adventure” I see what u did there

Kero’s little shoulder pat with his paw to let Sakura know he’s there aw

Omg this Clow Card is so cute “Is it your fault I’m so small now?” [nods pleasantly]

It is very bold of Sakura to be doing magic so casually when her brother and Yuki are right downstairs 

I like that this show recognizes the inherent intimacy of allowing someone to cut your hair

“Information about you has gotten around to the cards” well this is an ominous start to this funky tarot reading

Well the experience of seeing his little sister try to murder him has got to be traumatizing for Toya I hope he doesn’t remember this

UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM DID TOYA JUST FALL OFF OF A CLIFF

“Can you give me a break... and stop looking like Sakura” EXCUSE ME

“My mom’s up there too, so say hi to her for me” OH MY GOOOOD TOYA REALLY DOES SEE GHOSTS AHHHHHHHHHHH

WAIT SO IT WAS A CLOW CARD DOES TOYA HAVE MAGICAL POWERS TOO

Omg @ Toya feeding Yuki from his bed this really is an intimate episode

I kind of appreciate the slow build of this show like it took them 25 episodes to introduce meaningful stakes

“But it might be tougher than the earth going ‘boom!’ Depending on who you are...” Well hello threatening figure in sunglasses standing outside Sakura’s house what’s up

“I’ll look the other way” Ms Mizuki is literally this meme:

I can only assume that if Toya knows Ms. Mizuki then she must be a ghost

Personally if Mizuki gives Syaoran the heebie jeebies I trust his instincts

“Um... do you like Yukito too?” Oh my goooood they’re sincerely discussing being Not Straight in middle school in this 90s anime that I watched when I was 7 I cannot believe

“And it’s been a year since you told me you loved me here” WHY DOES EVERYONE IN THIS FAMILY WANT TO DATE SOMEONE TOO OLD FOR THEM WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING DATING SOMEONE TOYA’S AGE MIZUKI

Also I have to rethink every thought I had about Toya being gay. I mean bi is great too but my thoughts..... racing...........

“Because the next time I see you, you’ll have someone else that you’ll be in love with” Yukito BF confirmed but oh my GOD this relationship chart IS complicated good lord

If there’s anything the episode “Sakura and Her Shrine of Memories” has taught me it’s that everyone in this show is bisexual and all teachers in their neighbourhood should be in jail

I understand that Meilin is a kid but poor Syaoran he is constantly being harassed 

I love Yuki’s bottomless stomach lmao

Syaoran and Sakura have such a genuinely supportive relationship but it is very funny how they try simultaneously to get Yuki’s attention with the exact same words

“I’ve been thinking for a while that Mr. Terada is a lot like my dad” oh thank you Rika for someone finally being normal in this show

“Well it’s a harmless one” You see this is what I mean the dichotomy of Clow Cards is like... “I’m going trap you in a maze until you perish” or “I’m gonna give you a sugar rush :]”

I like that Sakura and Syaoran are starting to partner up as a duo on purpose like yessss I love a 1-2 finish and friendship development

Ahhh poor Syaoran he’s realizing that Yukito’s #1 in his life is the Kinomoto fam

We’re all familiar with the eternal struggle of whether using ur superpowers for school sports is cheating 

AWWW SYAORAN USING HIS POWERS FOR MAGICAL PEP TALKS AFTER HE HELPED TURN REI’S PET FOX INTO A POKEMON CARD THAT’S MY BOOOOY

“I will stomp on him” it’s been 31 episodes let Sakura stomp on her brother

Oh my GOOOD does this Big card mean that Sakura WILL FINALLY STOMP ON TOYA LMAO

Ur telling me that no one else in this ENTIRE TOWN notices this altercation of a giant preteen vs a dragon

Why does the logic for how voices travel based on size apply for the Little card (when Toya was speaking) and not for the Big card (when Sakura is speaking)

Sgskdhgkhkgjh honestly body switching as a trope will never not be funny

Syaoran blushing and running away from Sakura oh how the turn tables

Every domestic scene that Yuki and Toya have adds ten years to my life we love some gay/bi teens about to be gay/bi adults

Ffskhhfkj I absolutely cannot relate to this Southern Hemisphere nonsense of finding ten degrees celsius arctic cold like BRO that is a normal spring day here

“We’re not frozen because we have magical powers” I know that cutaway was to confirm Mizuki’s magical powers again but this would’ve been a hilarious time to reveal that like Yamazaki the Compulsively Lying Classmate had powers

Awwww he likes her now that’s cute 

“I got work that day” I will bet someone ten dollars that Toya is working at that quiz rally

Update from 5 minutes later: PAYPAL ME $10

Kero keeps whispering to the moon when in fact some iteration of the moon is right around the corner (literally)

GOOOOOOOOD SYAORAN REALIZING HE HAS A CRUSH ON BOTH HALVES OF THAT TEAM KILLS ME SWEET BOY

Shared Gaze of People Who Have Dated* Toya and Have Magical Powers They Haven’t Revealed Yet

*Go to jail Mizuki

I am really going crazy wondering when they’re gonna reveal stuff about Yukito like bitchhhhhhh I know you’re a moon man when will u tellll usss

How many more times will Sakura have this same threatening dream before she realizes her math teacher is probably going to try to kill her

Update from one minute later: I guess it was exactly one more time

“That’s right, Yukito’s birthday is on Christmas day” is this coming to be a coming of age where he like suddenly sprouts wings at age 17

I’ve been thinking this for a while but this show makes it seem like Japan has a much more fun approach to athletics than my school experiences

Yukito really is unflappable about hanging out with a bunch of kids half his height huh he’s like the Fourth Grader Whisperer

I KNEW IT YUKITO NEVER GOES WITH SAKURA ANYWHERE UNLESS HER BROTHER WILL ALSO BE WORKING THERE DFHKDFHKJ every time it’s just “Hey Toya :)”

“This kid...” HAHAH TOYA HAS JUST REALIZED THAT SYAORAN HAS A CRUSH ON HIS LITTLE SISTER AND HIS BOYFRIEND THE UTTER SUSPICION IN HIS TONE

“Wind become a binding chain” Whoops Sakura foiled by 4th grade knowledge of the elements

Oh shiiiit love a world-building moment now we have two card combos in play ayyyyy

Lmao @ Kero using his returned powers immediately for fireworks mood lighting is a serious Clow Card priority

“I would like to come again this year” everything in this show feels like foreshadowing for dramatic irony

[kurogabae]

TSUBASA: TRAINWRECK CHRONICLES

And Why Bee Train Are Officially Being Labeled, By Me, As The Boomers Of Animation

PART 1 – PART 2 – PART 3 -- Part 4

[Slim Shady’s “Guess Who’s Back” plays in the distance, muffled but threatening]

Look, I know I usually have something to say at the start of these, but honestly? Let’s just go because we’re starting knee-deep in some bullshit. 

Tsarastora (yes... fucking AGAIN):

Well, it didn’t take long for us to return to the land of the walking Not Dead Anymore. Rumor has it that Bee Train was ordered to retcon the S1 finale immediately because who do you think you are to break one of CLAMP’s cardinal rules like that?!? But I’ve never seen any proof of exactly what went down about this plot. But I’m forced to believe Ohkawa materialized behind the director one day and threatened to eat his spine or some shit. 

Anyway. We’re here. Again. And for some reason this is where they decide to have Sakura give Yuuko her White Day gift? Instead of in Piffle? Where she made it? With Tomoyo?

Stop stealing my moments Bee Train. It’s like you’re the crew who edited CCS for America back in the day and tried to market it towards boys so you pushed Syaoran as the main character and tried to remove all romance. Let Sakura have friends! Let her interact with people and have a story! LET HER BE BI!!!

So Yuuko has a dress and Fai makes a joke about being in heaven because the place is so pretty and Kurogane says not to, quote, “say such unlucky things” and it’s moments like this that make you wonder if they Knew and just didn’t care about Fai’s past or if they really were just as in the dark as the rest of us. I flip flop a lot between the two. 

Either way, now the dads are talking about the kids and how brave Syaoran is (why the bullshit in Piffle prompted this I do not know but whatever I guess?) and basically just about how badly they want them to succeed but without just saying it. Meanwhile Sakura is telling Syaoran about her latest memory and I could not for the life of me tell you which one it was and I refuse to go check. The important thing here is that the lazy animation trick that has given Mokona the power of flight is back and she’s hovering around the gang now. Not sitting on shoulders or anything. Just... flying around like she’s Kero. This is fine. I guess.

And then, after what has to be like a solid half hour of just dicking around Mokona Very Suddenly senses a feather. Why so suddenly? Because they wanted to get everything else out of the way first and it was convenient. No other reason. The feather isn’t moving. Neither are they really. She just decides to turn her sensors on now? IDK. Maybe she needs a tune up.

They find the feather not far away just casually sitting inside a rock and everyone but Kurogane is like “Yay! Easy find! Go us!” because apparently no one can learn anything in this anime about what those fucking feathers do. Spoilers: it’s not a rock, it’s a dragon.

[Kurogane voice]: kin

The dragon fucks off and here we come to a Thing. Now, Kurogane is ready to slaughter this thing and wear its bones basically. He is Ready to Fight in a real way. I found that odd and really didn’t care for it. In Hanshin he seems in awe of Celes when it appears to him and even though it’s mostly fanon that Kurogane respects and likes dragons that makes sense. His family’s guardian was a dragon, his sword was modeled after a dragon. His whole motif is dragons! Why is he so ready to kill this one? Does it not count if it’s not a Nihon dragon? Does only Ginryuu get respect? It just feels bad???

But none of that matters because guess what! Dragon shaped as it might be, the thing is a demon? At least, that’s what they’re calling it. Sometimes. Fai says demon, Syaoran says dragon. They don’t.... agree on the term? Shut up. It’s a dragon.

So they soon realize that they are back in Should Be Very Dead-ville and oh no everyone is going to die again unless we get this OTHER feather because if one feather can buy us a month of living surely one more will fix our deaths forever right? ....right? (On a side note; Fai makes a comment about how weird it is that two feathers fell in the same world while he’s from Celes and knows damn well he found two and is unaware of a third!!!) 

Either way the family is gonna help because, you know. Feather. If memory serves, the dragon is hiding in a lake, so what does Kurogane (who is now in charge because of course) have them do? They set the lake on fucking fire. And it delights him. It do not, however, delight the dragon, who, understandably, goes apeshit. Luckily, no one dies and they just hack off the horn that the feather was stuck in. And then they... take it to God again because wow they really do think this will work. Sakura, honey, I know how sweet you are but it only got them one month last time. What good will this do?

The answer is no good!

God basically tells them it’s tough tits, the month long visitation was all they could manage and no matter how many super powered magic bird parts they bring the dead are dead and that’s that. Which sucks for those villagers but haha, bummer for FAi to have to hear. Again. After watching Sakura wish someone to life with a mere piece of her soul. Again. Wonder how that felt. (Short post about Kurogane and Fai’s possible feelings here.)

So to end the episode, Sakura gets her feather back and then the family leaves town but sticks around on the outskirts to watch everyone fucking die again like some sick ass fuckers!!!

I’m not even going to talk about the stupid memory she gets with papa!Clow and learning about how death is a Thing via her dead pet bunny. It happens. It’s inorganic. I hate it. Shut up Clow.

The episode is over and I’ll leave you with this to heal your souls.

I am a simple woman.

Portoria:

WE’RE ON A BOAT MOTHA FUCKER!

If you’re too young to recognize that joke, click the link for... an experience. Wear headphones. Everyone else, please join me in this not-a-Wind-Waker-AU. 

We’re gonna skip all of my bad sailor jokes and focus for a minute on Kurogane’s Sinbad cosplay here because yes good hello I am easily distracted. 

Anyway, the captain is this world’s version of Koryo’s shitty Ryanban and Kurogane and Fai have a moment to wax philosophical about whether or not souls are inherently good or evil, which is fine and I would hardly mention if, while they were doing this, the “camera” wasn’t stood still on an image of Syaoran and Sakura just... smiling at each other while the dads spoke. Like the kids aren’t even doing anything, they’re just smiling. It’s weird. It’s also almost like accidental foreshadowing because HAHA THOSE ARE CLONES! But I’m not gonna go into it for the sake of this joke.

On the ship everyone has to work, Kurogane is terrorizing his new shipmates into compliance under his leadership, Fai and Sakura are cooking fish, and Syaoran is in the engine room with a child version of Fujitaka AKA his father. Understandably, Syaoran is Feeling Emotions, not that the animation is any indicator of this. He also calls a ten year old daddy so things are going great. 

Now yes, Syaoran must miss his father terribly, not only has he been dead for who knows how long exactly (anywhere upwards of 5 years possibly) but Syaoran is far from home without any pictures or familiarity to remind him of Fujitaka, and now he’s got some savant elementary schooler who is an AU version of his dad basically sharing his deepest hopes and dreams.  It’s a weird episode. Oh, and there is no feather, but Mokona is sweet as can be and stays so Syaoran can get to know this version of Fujitaka. Which honestly seems more like a punishment than anything to me, but hey. 

Also, there’s a sea monster. And a haunted island. And something that sounds suspiciously like Piedmon from Digimon. 

Syaoran and Fujitaka get stranded on the island after getting yeeted overboard and the captain telling the rest of the family that his ancestors forbid people from going to the island is enough to stop a rescue mission? Like. Kurogane AND Sakura are sitting there, letting nothing happen. This is fine. Everything is fine. 

And it kinda is because the island if filled with old shit and Syaoran is geeking out like a kid surrounded by his special interest would be expected to. 

In the end, the creepy laughter was wind, the island isn’t haunted, the family tries to row out to save Syaoran and a sea monster is on screen for all of 30 seconds. This episode was boring. Dull. It wasn’t even particularly angsty because Bee Train has no concept of emotional DEPTH!! Their expressions and emotions are as flat as Fai’s ass and as dry as Clow’s deserts. This could have been a very moving and fascinating filler episode, but Bee Train remains in capable of doing ANYTHING AT ALL EVER! I’m bored. This is boring.

At least Sakura looked cute in her little sailor outfit. 

The next episode is “A Date With a Wizard” and that shitshow is getting its own post. Peace. 

PART 1 – PART 2 – PART 3 -- Part 4

[completeoveranalysis]

hey! idk if you remember but i'm the person who asked if i could send in my own thoughts on ashura like way back when you were first getting to the celes arc :] sorry this is gonna be long admittedly my thoughts on him have changed since then, i think i first regarded him as a well meaning person bc, when i was a teen i saw a post in defense of him saying ashura was probably the one who taught fai about kindness and smiles. which with all i know about faux positivity now is. yeah. that's a lot to unpack ashura's whole thing with morally dubiously manipulating people he has power over (which he shares with clow reed actually) i think first and foremost serves to explore clamp's favorite narrative ploy: what claims to be the conflict between the self vs the world is actually the conflict between people's individual will and how power dynamics play into it. people like ashura (both in rg veda and trc) and clow reed and a load of other villains in clamp's other works expend the power of their will to make changes that they believe are good, in ignorance of others' wishes. but at the same time his relationship to fai is something just. incredibly fucked up and is bound to invite personal reactions

i think ashura really did care, or at the very least he personally believed what he did was the right thing, enough to justify the harm that he knew he was causing. i think in addition to that, it can be inferred that because of his condition he never functioned in the realms of human morality.

another thing to consider is how clamp approaches writing abusive parental/mentor figures. when people explore this kind of trauma it's entirely within their right to not humanize those who abused them. but they may also choose to do the opposite, not to justify the harm that was done but to come to terms with it, see the bigger picture of cycles of abuse, or any meaning they might find in it. i think clamp tends to do the latter. i can't claim to know ohkawa's original intents but, because of my asian upbringing i'm pretty close to the communal way of life that affects how people approach these things; works i know of that employs similar approaches are fruits basket and umineko no naku koro ni and they did a fantastic job with it. within clamp's own works, an example can be found in x/1999 (i'm not sure how far you are into it so i'll just leave it at that).

like you pointed out during your liveblogging clamp clearly laid out the horrifying nature of ashura's manipulation. but at the same time they spare him empathy, it's what they tend to do with their characters (even though people perceive them on the surface to be obsessed with writing suffering and that's another pet peeve i have with clamp fandom jokes...) but (x2) as a reader anyone can have their own feelings and interps of it it and i think that's what's important.

at the end of the day ashura is just one truly fucked up little man. i think we can all agree on that.

Ohoho I do remember! And thank you for giving me your thoughts! They are DELICIOUS, and I absolutely agree with what you say here.

I do think that Ashura cared for Fai, and thought he was doing the right thing for Fai - and was also willing to do great harm to a great number of people to achieve his version of love.

And considering how dark and heavy the entire plot thread is, I like that CLAMP don't present us with a "final answer" for what we should think about the situation. It's a complex and nuanced scenario that absolutely invites deeper thought and reflection, so, let's do that!

But behind the cut, because of spoilers and content warnings and the like.

Just for clarity, the content warnings include emotional abuse, murder, and suicide.

Goodness, I've had a lot of time to reflect on Ashura.

The big thing with Ashura is that he only sees his own perspective. He doesn't see (or perhaps does not care) that what he's trying to do is utterly fucking up Fai in the process. Either his goal/his version of "caring for Fai" completely trumps Fai's own feelings, and this thought comforts him to the point of complete confidence in his actions, or it doesn't particularly matter to Ashura what Fai's emotional state is as long as the curse is broken.

Another big thing with Ashura is we know WHAT he was trying to do, in that he wanted to break Fai's curse and die in the process. But we don't know which of these two things was his original intention, and if it even matters. WAS he selflessly offering himself as tribute to free Fai from the curse, or was he using the curse as a way to free himself from his own dark existence? Was he breaking Fai's curse out of love, or out of a calculated goal? Is he just trying to accomplish this item despite what it will do to Fai, or is he doing this for Fai's sake, no matter what state it will leave him in? Is there even a distinction for Ashura?

The OTHER big thing about Ashura that really starts to sway this in a darker direction is that Evil Wolverine KNEW what killing this would do to Fai. He knew that there was an incredibly undeniably strong likelihood that Fai would immediately kill himself after having killed Ashura, so much so that Evil Wolverine banked on this happening from the very beginning. It was his plan from the start - that Ashura would manage to break the curse by getting Fai to kill him, and Fai would immediately die as a result of his heartbreak. So is Evil Wolverine knew this so easily, how did Ashura not see this coming? Or did he not care about this either? Was Ashura so set in his own correctness that he genuinely did not know Fai well enough to guess what this would do to him, when even Evil Wolverine knew? Or was that also beside the point for him?

Though I think this term has lost a lot of its meaning in recent years, Ashura is presented as beautifully Morally Grey. He does Bad Things to accomplish an ultimate Good Thing. He's doing a Good Thing but it will have a Bad Effect on the people that survive. There are so many varied ways to interpret Ashura's actions that defining them as "good" or "bad" ends up losing all meaning, and I feel that's the ultimate point. CLAMP present Ashura with such an intricate mix of positive and negative qualities that the morality scale doesn't properly encapsulate him whatsoever any more. If he's purely a villain, then how do we measure the loving home he gave to Fai, and how he gave him the longest period of happiness in a life that was purely traumatic suffering before then? How do we measure the idea that his good advice ended up causing life long emotional trauma to Fai and the people around him? And on the other hand, if his actions are "purely good" because he wanted a "good thing", how do we measure the fact that he slaughtered almost an entire world of living people to accomplish it? How do we measure the idea that he broke Fai's curse against the severe emotional fallout that would have caused Fai to kill himself?

There is no ultimate answer to Ashura. It all comes down to an individual reader's interpretation, what things ring truest to them, and what things that they choose to emphasise over the others. And that's how it should be! No two readers will have the EXACT same experience with any text, and the same goes for Tsubasa. The reader's feelings towards Ashura are entirely personal and individual, and by their very nature they will be correct for them, and not necessarily for anyone else.

And that's where I draw a little line about what I'm about to say and clarify that my interpretation of Ashura doesn't need to match anyone else's, and everyone SHOULD be able to judge him individually. But here's my very personal take!

For me personally, Ashura rings true as a depiction of... I don't even know the right combination of words for it. A selfish type of love - a well meaning but harmful love.

Because I do think Ashura cared for Fai, and had a good effect on him at times, and gave him a loving home when he needed it, but that's not the full picture. Ashura's love is a narcissistic type of love that puts HIS views of 'what is right for Fai' above anything Fai himself might feel, robs him of any choice or decision in the matter, and is willing to absolutely destroy Fai emotionally in order to get him to what Ashura sees is the 'correct' result. It's a type of situation that I relate a little too strongly to not have a biased opinion of Ashura -because I do feel like I've lived through a very Fai-like experience in my personal life over the last couple of years, so it's become impossible for me not to project my own experiences on to what Ashura does to Fai.

Even though Ashura meant for a good result, that does not mean his love was not abusive, and it doesn't mean he didn't deeply traumatise Fai in the process, and it doesn't mean Fai ever has to forgive him for what he did. Not that Fai has that chance, because Ashura robbed him of that too - but in real life things get a lot harder to navigate and understand, especially when you're still in the middle of it. Like Fai, you get stuck on some of the positives and think that the 'bad' things can't possibly be real, even while they poison you from the inside and drive you to a destruction that the other person is absolutely fine with because it will give them what they want. And even then, you want to be a "good person", especially if you define your self worth off of making other people happy, so you may find yourself wanting to forgive them, or feeling like you HAVE to forgive them. But you don't. You can choose these things for yourself. You can redefine your whole life and leave behind the people who treat you like Ashura does - even though it hurts you, and it hurts them, because they don't even see that they're doing anything wrong.

But at the end of the day YOU are worth more than anyone else's feelings - and this is what I absolutely ADORE about the way Kurogane treats Fai, because he has ALWAYS been about that from the very start. Kurogane shows us that Fai deserves to live, to be happy, to be safe, JUST because he's Fai, and for no other reason. And he does!

Kurogane's love for Fai has always had Fai's wellbeing as the priority. It causes friction between them in Acid Tokyo when they don't agree on what that means, and they don't always make the best decisions, but at the core Kurogane's love is selfless, nurturing, and protective.

Ashura's love for Fai always had Ashura's love for Fai as the priority. It hinges on what Ashura wants, and while it does have nice experiences for Fai along the way, Fai's thoughts, feelings, and decisions are not a factor that comes into play. This ultimately leads to a situation where Fai's mental distress, trauma, and ultimate suicide are not only on the table but practically guaranteed, if Evil Wolverine is to be believed. At its core, Ashura's love was love, but it was selfish, damaging, and destructive.

So that's my take on Ashura! I'm very happy for other people to have alternate takes on the situation, because that's the beautiful things about stories like this, and it doesn't even need a big thought process behind it. Some people can just like Ashura for no particular reason, because it matches their own experiences better, and that's completely ok!

But because this is my post Ashura is a piece of shit, and like you said, a fucked up little man.

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

I watched Cardcaptor Sakura Sealed Card, and it was pretty great! Immediately I wanna say that this movie is a feast for the eyes, from start to finish it’s sakuga as hell and the artwork is beautiful too, plus the costumes are perhaps the best yet, shoutouts to Syaoran’s outfit, the green is a lot easier on the eyes than his usual. The show obviously looked brilliant but god damn they stepped it up for this, the increased aspect ratio was also really appreciated, helped make the backgrounds livelier than ever, which is particularly meaningful since this movie’s amusement park setting has a lot to show off. Plot wise it’s also a pretty fun time, definitely a lot better than movie 1 I’d say. Where movie 1 has however long of great slice of life stuff and then just somewhat lacking action stuff, this is however long of great slice of life stuff with a mystery that’s more meaningfully tied into the slice of life stuff, that turns into pretty awesome action stuff, and it’s all interwoven with a nice love story, because Sakura hasn’t actually returned her feelings to Syaoran yet, but she really wants to, as do Tomoyo and Meilin who’s also here and just as delightful as ever. Honestly I think this kind of downplays the bear scene which I thought was super duper cool, and in fact the bear’s like not really in this movie which is a big shame, but Sakura’s attempts to confess and their parallels with the in-universe play they’re all putting on are really entertaining, and the proper confession at the end is a really sweet moment. Plus fuckin, Sakura jumping over the dangerous ass gap while shouting to Syaoran about how she loves him, all the while he’s worried because the gap’ll fix itself but Sakura’s not waiting, it’s absolutely fucking adorable, that that’s the shot they end the movie with is fucking perfect. That being said I don’t know how sold I am on the sort of main conflict with the antagonist. I think they’re way better than the girl from movie 1, significantly better design too, but something about “there was actually another Clow Card sealed away all this time that we’re only now bringing up because Eriol remembered it” plus the fact that it has as much strength as every other Clow Card combined, idk it felt fairly out of nowhere. And then when we turn it into a Sakura Card, we actually just combine it with that previously unnamed card Sakura made when the show ended (I was wrong to guess “Love” - it’s called “Hope”) which I don’t really understand the mechanics of. How did Sakura create half of a Sakura Card for a Clow Card that was sealed away? I don’t really know. The Hope Card is shown a couple of times throughout the movie, as in, just that Sakura had it, but I wish it played more of a meaningful role on its own throughout the movie, rather than just sort of being tied to the new antagonist at the end for some reason. Chekov’s uh, Card, is in there somewhere. You could probably argue that the villain erasing the most precious feeling of someone when they’re sealed is a rehash of what they did with Yue, but honestly I’m kind of okay with it, mostly it suggests that Clow Reed can only think of one consequence and that’s funny to me. So overall I wasn’t 1000% sold on all of the plot details but overall I do think it was pretty enjoyable, and the antag being tied to Hope at the end is at least more reasonable than what movie 1 offered. Character wise is obviously great, visuals are incredible, music’s also really really good I didn’t mention that, and just overall, I had a fun time. Solid 8/10.

And because it was part of the same video on kissanime, I watched the little Kero-chan short included with the movie today as well. And it was also really really good! Kero-chan and Spinel are really fun to watch together, and the almost Tom and Jerry antics and hijinks and shenanigans they get up to here are particularly fun. Fuckin sword fighting with toothpicks, Kero-chan driving around in a toy car, the two of them flying, fighting around the entire city, it was all fun. I couldn’t really suspend my disbelief about the real takoyaki ball swapping so perfectly with Yamazaki’s bouncy ball, I’d think he’d surely feel the latter being knocked out of his hands, but that’s a fairly small thing. Visuals in this are also really sakuga, though with simpler backgrounds that still worked well with the bit. This was also a fun time. 8/10 too.

And fun fact, that’s actually us done with everything from Cardcaptor Sakura’s 90s run! Everything from here on out is Clear Card. Hey that’s pretty cool, we’re almost done, huh?

[astharoshebarvon]

vampire knight

Will this be a rant? Of sorts, maybe.

It seems now there is another discourse in VK fandom, this time about whether Ren and Ai will be a romantic couple or not. Firstly, Hino is drawing them in a suggestive way, that’s true.

Do I care if they end up together or not? Not really. She has drawn Kaname and Zero in a suggestive way many times, hell, even in recent covers Zero is literally all over Kaname. Not to mention Zero/Kaname has way more fanfictions and incredible fanarts than either of the canon straight couples. It’s true, just check it.

Think what you want, above illustration is pure Zero/Kaname and Yume.

And, in the below one, Zero’s hand...Sorry, two rivals and enemies just don’t do that.

Look at the above illustration, that’s not how two guys stand if they are enemies, they just don’t.

Secondly, both Ai and Ren have an intense need of another’s blood. Now, many people say their relationship is creepy…

Sorry, but many shoujo mangas and mainstream novels have the same crap. The girl is obsessed with the boy and also ends up with him. Yikes. Gross.

And, those stories are celebrated. So, why be against these two? Oh, wait, it’s because they are not hetero.

Hino is not doing anything great even if they do come out as a couple, Clamp has done it many times and Clamp works are way more popular than Hino’s can ever be.

X, a shoujo genre manga has Kamui and Fuuma.

They loved each other, don’t even try to argue with me about it.

Seishirou and Subaru, the most tragic couple of manga and anime are also in it. CCS has Yue with Clow Reed, Yukito/Yue and Touya, Sakura and Tomoyo, some of these feelings are one sided, but none of them are hated.

These couples are way more popular than whole VK manga. Rg Veda, another shoujo has Amaterasu and Souma, Taishakuten and Ashura-ou, Yasha and Ashura can also be interpreted as an M/M couple. Oh, wait. That’s canon. They are together in Tsubasa.

And, don’t get me started on Fai and Kurogane. There you go people, these are shonen and shoujo mangas which have same sex couples.

And, the readers know there was something going on between Fai and Kurogane even if it’s not stated explicitly.

Clamp literally said,”do not call Fuuma and Kamui brothers”. They are soulmates. They don’t even mention the obsessed fangirl, kotori.

Arina Tanemura, whose stories are a perfect example of a  fangirl ending with the guy they were after, also has a single M/M couple in one of her works. Mostly in her stories, the main girl likes one guy, but in the end, that guy never ends up with her. He ends up with one of the obsessed fangirls.

Am I still bitter about how dirty the mangaka did Itsuki Otomiya? Yes. The sweetheart doesn’t even know Haine was his daughter, and the whole bloody cast had coloured illustrations, a freaking artbook is there for the series, but not a single illustration for him. Yikes.

I hope she redeems herself and makes Tokita and Chikage a couple in 31 Ai dreams. The only series of hers which didn’t have this cliché was Sakurahime Kaden and Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne.

And, let’s be honest, Eiichi would have have ended up with another fangirl if he wasn’t dead in Full moon. Thank god he was spared that bullshit. But, then again, he dies. That’s not good either.

Gentleman’s alliance cross, Nekota are just bad. Yes, the art is beautiful, but that doesn’t mean the males of her series deserved to end up with obsessive fangirls.

The one with underage relationship, Nekota or whatever [thank god that was never picked up by Viz.] In this, the blue haired dude, Serizawa, who the main girl liked from the beginning didn’t end up with her, he ended up with a fangirl. Ugh.

And, it is incestuous, the girl has feelings for her underage cousin.  Right.

Her art is beautiful, but damn it, her stories are so annoying.

For her only M/M couple in shinshi doumei cross, she had to make one half of the MM couple a cross dresser.

The guy, Maora was wearing woman’s clothing every time he and Maguri were shown together. He was never once shown as his real, tall self with Maguri.

And, she has said she isn’t comfortable with yaoi, but is okay with shonen ai.

Right.

But the point is, it’s been done many times.

In Hana Kimi, one of the protagonist’s elder brother is gay. He was the school’s physician if I am not wrong. So, Hino is not doing anything new.

Kyou Kara Maou is a shoujo manga, but it has Wulfrum and Yuri, two guys as a main couple. Granted, nothing happens, but they are engaged.

The manga was published in Asuka, a shoujo magazine.

Same goes for uraboku, Luka loves Yuki, regardless of the fact whether he is a female or a male. Senshirou and Kuroto were together, Hotsuma and Shusei were married in previous lives and they were very much together in the present as well.

Do I think Ren and Ai will end up together, I dunno. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. But I don’t think she will show them as a couple. If she will, fine. If she doesn’t, then also fine. They have an intense desire to be with each other, and their relationship is not parallel to Kaname and Yuuki’s or Haruka and Juri’s.

One can say they are like Rido, Yuuki’s uncle, not like the above two couples.

There are many differences between them and the two couples.

And, let’s not forget the harem Sara created, in fact she even kissed one of the girls.

Do I care about Ren and Ai ? No.

My sole reason for reading this manga is: Yume. Just bring Yuuki back and show Yume happily ever after. I really don’t care who ends up with whom.

But some reasons regarding Renai are hypocritical. This manga has incest, why are you being bothered by it now? Hell, she drew Ichiru and Zero in suggestive way too, and Zero’s care for Ichiru could also be questioned in that case.

I am not sure if the above is Zero and Ichiru or Zero with another personality of his, I don’t want to see my artbook right now, but it can be seen as Zero and Ichiru.

We don’t like yuri and yaoi.

Well, in that case I really hope it happens so it’ll tick off the people who make this statement. Yes, it’s a derogatory statement.

If the mangaka wants to do it, she can, it’s her choice. Hate her for it, plenty do. Zekis and yumes do for their reasons. I dislike the way she does things too, I hate many things she has done. But, hey she still did them.

Read Yona of the dawn in that case, that’s the only series which isn’t “problematic”

But,  Kija and Jaeha can be shipped in that too. I do ship them. And, the author has drawn shonen ai doujinshi’s.

And, Yona was in love with Su-won in the beginning, who is her cousin. Incest is incest, whether it’s between siblings or cousins, they are family.

I really don’t think Hino will show Ren and Ai as a couple. Siblings who are weirdly close, yes. Romantic couple, I don’t think so. If I am wrong, fine.

Just give me my Yume happy ending, and Takuma and Seiren scenes. I literally don’t care about the kids relationship. I just don’t. First, I had to suffer through that traitor’s crap with the stupid bint, Sayori, now this.

Edit :  Finally I read this chapter…

I don’t understand how anyone can even compare whatever crap that is going on between Ai and Ren to Yume and Haruka / Juri. The Kuran couples never looked so fucking weird with each other.

I was absolutely right in thinking their feelings for each other are reminiscent of what Rido felt. Just because Ai is Yume’s daughter doesn’t mean she’s a perfect character. Give me a break. Then again she had a crush on Zero as well.

And, she was raised among people like Ruka and Aidou, traitors and obsessed idiots. It’s no wonder she turned out idiotic.

She looks weird when she says, “she had her sister with her” to Youko.

I am not going to post the image cause its just bad.

Yume and Haruka/Juri were never so fucking creepy. Never.

Ren is just so bland and sad in everything that I don’t know what to think. Youko was the only one who wasn’t weird in this Ch.

The author should just wrap this up, it’s neither interesting nor is evoking any feelings in readers. It’s as bad Sayori/Aidou crap. Just stop with the useless story arcs, show Kaname and Yuuki together and end this shit.

I really don’t think the two girls will end up together. Their scenes aren’t sweet, and if she wants to show them, just do it and move on. They are both boring and least interesting. They are so bad it will not matter whether are together or apart.

They are as bad as other creepily obsessed M/F couples in novels and shoujo manga where the obsessed fangirl ends with the boy. This trope itself is gross. Who even cares about them?

They are only being hyped because they are two girls. When people thought Ren was a boy there wasn’t much reaction. I know there wasn’t. But now that they are two girls…

Hate them because they are stupid, no point in saying we don’t like them because its FF relationship. That’s just bigotry. Or maybe the author should be honest and say I wanted Zero and Kaname to fuck but Yuuki kept on getting in the way. So, I decided to pair their daughters together. because according to the author incest is fine in VK.  Just drop this crap already Hino.

I mean what the hell is up with this boring arc ?

I don’t even understand why stupid shit like this is overlooked in MF couples but if same happens in same sex, everyone is like, looks its unhealthy.  Incest, age difference, obsessed idiots/ fangirls, they are all bad.

I love Clamp, but that Rika and Terada thing was just plain gross. Same goes for Rin and Sesshoumaru.

I kept on telling myself about the latter one, no they are a parent child relationship. But at one point, I had to accept it was anything but family love. I love Sesshoumaru and always will. But I can’t get behind Rin/Sessh or whatever nonsense it was. Sessrin is celebrated, it’s a fact. It’s creepy, don’t deny it.

I know some of their artists and Sesskag [yuck] kept on leaving rude comments on SessKik fanworks, my favourite ship.

And Terada/Rika thing is overlooked because, let’s be honest CCS is fucking awesome. I overlook it and concentrate on yue yukito/ touya, syaoran/sakura.

I just want this RenAi thing to go away. I can’t stand either of them. Just show Kaname and Yuuki together and end this series. Hino should wrap it up and start a new one. VK will not gain the popularity it had at one point no matter what. The author is just coming off as desperate.

[meimi-haneoka]

Thoughts on Chapter 34 of CCS Clear Card

Aaaaand here we are again, at that time of the month, ready to talk and scream (?) about another of Clear Card’s chapters! Sakura and Syaoran have sorted out their problems, no more lies and secrets between them, Sakura even had the chance to witness in front of her eyes how her wishes can instantly turn into “incidents”, and her resolute face at the end of Chapter 33 hinted that she’s not gonna succumb to her fate!

What possibly could go wrong?

CLAMP:

UNDER THE CUT!!

The calm before the storm

First of all, I have to admit it. Those talking with me on the Clow Kingdom discord server might have already heard this, but this chapter left me totally disoriented. I don’t know whether it’s due to CLAMP not planning the storyboard properly (unlikely) or because it was supposed to feel like this, as the focus is all on the cliffhanger on the final pages (after all, this is future volume 7′s last chapter), but the feeling I got is that the flow of events is a bit rushed. We have many POV in this chapter, first we’re with the kids, then Kero and Suppi, then Nakuru and Yukito, then the kids again. 32 pages might not have been enough to develop everything properly, but we had to arrive to that cliffhanger.

And some things look definitely off. Like, Tomoyo is finally made aware of the fact that Sakura is the one creating the cards. And her reaction is “Oooh.” . She’s totally....unfazed? o_o Even seeing the Clear Card that represents her, she just comments with “まあ”?! Ok, Tomoyo might not be a drama queen ok no scratch that, she totally is, but I expected a bit more of surprise from her. Instead, she gushed over the Rewind card’s cuteness and started her usual ranting about recording this and that. It’s getting a bit repetitive and stereotypical, CLAMP? Tomoyo is so much more than that. She may not be my favorite ever but I do like her and her perceptiveness. I went so far that I even imagined she already knew Syaoran was the one behind the Sakura Card’s disappearance. So much for that. I hope CLAMP will find the time to bring out a shiny moment for Tomoyo, as I understand that the pages are what they are, and they have to develop the plot for the new characters, so they inevitably have to sacrifice the screen time of other characters.

We have a brief moment of Suppi explaining everything to Kero, and here I go “eh?” again at the story: Sakura says “Kero-chan is at home, this morning a guest came over” .... Ok? Did Sakura see that it was Suppi??? DIDN’T SHE INSTANTLY GO “WHERE THE FUCK IS YOUR ELUSIVE MASTER?” on him??? Ok maybe not with those terms, but....isn’t she surprised, didn’t she ask him why he was there? Again, a totally confusing part. We’ll see if that’ll get explained later on. We have a cute moment between the two small guardians, and again we have a character who acts nonchalantly about the situation, justifying it with “It’s Sakura. She’s gonna do something about it.”

DUDE

I wouldn’t want to break your world made of unicorns and tasty gourmet dishes, but this is exactly the reason why Sakura is in the situation she is, right now!!  It’s a problem she’s got in herself and she can’t do much about it, at the moment. This is what she is. A 12/13 year old girl with a scary amount of power in herself, that is growing by the minute (and we’ll see how, in this chapter). A power she can’t control. Sakura being Sakura is the source of the problem in itself.

I know, it’s supposed to show that he’s totally trusting his mistress, like he effectively says to Suppi. But he’s the 2nd character out of 3 who is acting in a  way too relaxed manner, in this chapter.

The third one is Yukito. It’s Nakuru to remark this fact, adding that it’s better that way. Sure, if everyone started feeling gloomy it would be a big mess. But even being too relaxed, in a situation like this, might lead them to overlook important things. BTW, it seems Eriol arranged paperwork to enroll Nakuru in college! That’s totally an Eriol move! XD Keeping Nakuru and Yukito together without disrupting Yukito’s normal life, great idea.

Sakura’s anxiety

But it’s when the kids arrive to the classroom, that the “fun” starts. The girls are talking about the swimming class they will have today, and Sakura is her usual cheerful self.

Then, Akiho arrives.

Sakura turns around normally, but when she sees her, anxiety start churning inside of her.

Sakura, who never ever felt anything about Akiho, not even after Kaito rewound time, feels something is wrong with her friend. The moment we’ve been waiting for 26 chapters. But there’s more, she can’t shake the feeling even during the swimming class (OFFICIAL SCHOOL SWIMSUITS, BTW!! they’re even more conservative than before and it’s alright XDD).

Of course, eh, her frown doesn’t escape observative-boyfriend-Syaoran's stare. She asks him if he can feel something from Akiho, and he says no, AND HE’S NOT LYING DAMMIT, he really can’t feel anything, but how can he explain ALL THE REST to her, with the spell placed upon him? Of course, this is Syaoran we’re talking about, so he tries to say something anyway, and finds himself not emitting a single sound. See, there’s so much to talk about in so few pages, like how we’re again presented with the fact that Akiho is similar to Sakura in the good reflexes too, AND FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER Sakura’s smile to Akiho is so forced and lukewarm that you CAN really feel something is terribly wrong. Or, how we cannot talk about the first YAMACHIHA FLIRTING SCENE EVER?? I was so happy, in a moment of such tension those two managed to give us a breather before going back to the utter mess that is about to unfold. I love those two and their relationship <3

BUT LOOK WHO’S BEING A TOTAL CREEPER WATCHING KIDS IN SWIMSUITS? Our legendary asshole Yuna D. Kaito, of course!! XD Now, I have to be sincere. This is another of those “???” scenes because, ok, they try to explain that he’s there to cause some trouble now that Sakura knows the origin of the cards, but I still didn’t get why he’s doing that. What’s the connection between the two things? He smiles warmly while taking out his staff and he’s the usual smartass we love to hate!

Shit definitely goes down again

Then, panic unfolds. We have the final proof that in this chapter, Sakura could feel things before happening TWICE: one is as soon as Akiho arrives to school, having an uneasy feeling that she never had while looking at Akiho, and now, seconds before Kaito stopped time with his magic. Actually, scratch that: they might be 3 TIMES, as she pulls out her key and Reflect Card even before the real attack comes to her. This is all fun and games, until you actually stop to realize...that Sakura’s power might have increased once again, leading her to new heights of worrisome strong magical powers. 

A whirlpool raising from the pool attacks Sakura, to which she effortlessly responds using “Reflect” and here I’m once again confused because the scene just doesn’t flow right, there’s at least a panel missing to show that the one attacking her is “the pool” and those “arrows” don’t come out of nowhere, like the rest of this attack anyway, as it felt totally random (this might be the part pertaining to Kaito, anyway).

And, as if anyone called her: hello there, “vessel-mode” Akiho! (Ah, actually “vessel” is not a thing anymore, as the term has been completely erased in the tankobon release of volume 6, the latest out. The term “vessel” has been replaced with 中, “inside”. I’ll do a post about it, later on.) Just like last time, the usual assholes are talking through her again, using her as an intercom (though, I’m not sure if these are the Squids or the Association), commenting on Sakura’s powers and then attacking her, still using Akiho, stating that they have to bind her to this book. Yes, the verb used is really “to bind, to file” and it’s relative to books etc. 

Soooooo, now what I want to know is:

IS THIS THE CLIMAX STARTING TO MOVE FOR REAL, this time around?

Is something irreparable about to happen? Will Sakura be trapped in that book?

But most importantly, will Kaito rewind time once again and make the fandom riot like they never had before??? I really want to see if CLAMP are going to put their fan’s patience on the line like that ^^””” Still, it probably feels too soon to wrap this up, considering Kaito said there aren’t enough cards not many chapters ago. She did 3 in one day, yes, but if Kaito was about to cause something before the assholes interfered, it’s probably because he wanted her to give birth to another card. And now we have to see if this will happen or not.

If you’re wondering when next chapter is going to be released, please read my post on the matter.  UPDATE: a confirmation of a break for the July issue came from Nakayoshi’s Twitter account, you can read more HERE .

Thanks to @horitsuba for the scans featured here and thank you for sticking around to the end of this rant!! Mwah mwah! XDD

[yououui]

Feels Anon: Kurogane and Fai share their real names on their terms.

this turned out a lot sweeter and mushier than I thought it would so I hope y’all like dessert!

The evening wind in Clow brings a chill, despite the strong heat that beats down on the sand when the sun is up. Fai doesn’t mind too much though, not enough to grab something to cover his arms as he steps out onto the small balcony attached to his room.

To his and Kurogane’s room.

He supposes it shouldn’t be any different than it was before. They shared rooms numerous times, across more worlds than they could count. 

Things are very different now.

The stars hanging in the sky are bright, providing a soft glow over the kingdom even though the moon is completely hidden that night. Fai never paid much attention to the stars. In Valeria and in Celes, white clouds would often obscure any view of them he could get. Now, he wonders if the stars are the same here as they were there, and in Nihon, and every other world they’ve visited. He is going to have to remind himself to pay more attention.

Fai’s attention is pulled from the sky when a light blanket is dropped over his shoulders, and he looks to find Kurogane standing by his side, leaning against the balcony railing with his back to the kingdom. Kurogane looks back and crosses his arm.

“If you’re not going to get any sleep, you could at least try to not catch a cold,” He says, his voice low and rumbly and vibrating deep within Fai’s chest. 

Fai rests his elbows on the balcony ledge and leans forward on them. He smiles up at Kurogane and quirks up his brows. “Should you be talking?” He asks, looking pointedly at Kurogane’s bare torso, and then back up to Kurogane’s face, amused.

Kurogane scoffs and shakes his head. “You’re the one that’s constantly cold.”

Fai laughs and looks away, down at the people on the ground below them, guards and civilians alike. “Yes, Kuro-sama is very much like a walking furnace.”

Kurogane looks over his shoulder to see what Fai is seeing, and then back at the blond. Fai feels Kurogane’s eyes on him, but does not look back. “What are you doing out here so late, mage?”

Fai smiles wistfully at the nickname, a reminder that yes, he is a wizard again with his eye returned. “Just thinking,” He says. “There are many things to think about.”

Kurogane grunts in response, and Fai knows Kurogane well enough to know that the ninja is agreeing with him. Fai thinks over everything that has happened. Not just in the last few days, but since the beginning, since before the beginning. He glances over at Kurogane, who is looking up at the sky now. The empty space where his left arm should be is even more apparent when he is not wearing a shirt to cover it up. There are pieces of the prosthetic arm from Piffle still attached to his shoulder and chest, but they are covered by bandages.

Kurogane notices Fai’s look and reaches up to pull at a lock of Fai’s hair, free from any restraints to hang around his shoulders. “Stop looking so guilty every time you look at me,” Kurogane says, his tone gentle.

Fai frowns and looks away, partly to save Kurogane the grief of having to see his expression and partly because he can only stand looking at Kurogane’s wound for so long. “Sorry,” He says under his breath.

“And for fuck’s sake, stop apologizing,” Kurogane says, his tone exasperated. There’s a pause. “If anything, I should be apologizing.”

Fai looks over at Kurogane in shock, and he almost looks offended. It’s kind of amusing. “For what?” Fai asks, standing up straight so that he can look properly at Kurogane. “What on earth could you possibly have to apologize for?”

Kurogane shrugs. “A few things.” At Fai’s questioning expression, Kurogane clicks his tongue and looks away. “I still… Feel bad for seeing your past without your permission.”

Fai blinks and furrows his brows. “That wasn’t your fault.”

Kurogane shrugs. “Still feel bad. It wasn’t something I should have seen. Your true name wasn’t something I should have heard. Not without your permission.”

“My… True name?” Fai repeats softly. “That was just… Another lie that was exposed. It’s not… You shouldn’t feel bad for that. Not when I was the one keeping it from everyone.”

Kurogane looks up at the sky, his eyes moving across the different constellations. “In Nihon, true names are sacred. They’re not something to be shared easily.”

Fai’s eyes widen at Kurogane’s words and their implications. His gaze skitters away, back down at the ground. The guards have changed position. “So Kurogane isn’t your ‘true’ name?”

Kurogane swallows. “No,” He says.

Fai nods, but does not say anything. He also does not lift his gaze, his hair covering his eyes in a way that is very familiar to Kurogane. Kurogane glances down at Fai, then back up at the sky, and then he curses under his breath and pushes himself off the railing to kneel on the stone. Fai lifts his head and looks down at Kurogane in confusion, his wide eyes glancing back and forth as if he is waiting for something else to appear.

“What are you doing?” Fai asks when no punchline seems to come.

“I have to be kneeling to reveal my name,” Kurogane says. The stone is cold against his knee through his light pants.

“Your–what? Kuro-sama, what on earth are you saying?” Fai asks. He reaches down to grab Kurogane’s bicep to pull him back up. “You don’t need to reveal anything to me, stand up–”

“My being belongs to my master,” Kurogane says, cutting Fai’s words short. “But my blood belongs to you.”

Fai’s breath hitches. Kurogane wants to lift his head to see Fai’s expression, but he must keep his gaze lowered. 

“My blood and my soul,” Kurogane finishes. “I vow to live by that on my true name, which only my master knows.”

Kurogane finally does lift his head, and Fai looks absolutely terrified, like he is about to run for his life. His hand is still holding onto Kurogane’s arm though, and his grip tightens. Kurogane is sure that there are tears swimming in Fai’s eyes.

“You-ou.”

Fai swallows and takes in a shuddering breath. “You-ou,” He sighs, tasting the name on his tongue. Kurogane thinks that it should feel wrong for someone else to know his true name, someone other than his parents or Tomoyo. Instead, it sounds very right on Fai’s lips.

Kurogane stands, and Fai’s gaze follows him up, stays locked on Kurogane’s eyes. His hand is still around Kurogane’s arm. “It’s not much,” Kurogane says, his voice soft between them. “But it’s yours.”

There are definitely tears in Fai’s eyes now, threatening to spill over. He lowers his head to hide them, his forehead falling against Kurogane’s chest, and his hand slips down Kurogane’s arm to squeeze his hand. 

Kurogane wishes that he had another hand in that moment just so that he could ruffle Fai’s hair. Instead, he just smiles and shakes his head. “Didn’t think it would be that big of a deal,” He says, and Fai sniffs.

“That’s because you’re an idiot,” Fai says, his voice teasing even though it is thick with tears. He reaches up with his other hand to wipe his face, and when he looks up at Kurogane, his face is red and his eyes are puffy, but he is laughing. “How am I supposed to make nicknames with a name like that?”

Kurogane rolls his eyes, but he is still smiling. “I’m sure you’ll figure out a way,” He says, his fingers squeezing Fai’s hand just a little tighter.

Fai hums in agreement and stands up a little straighter, lifts his chin just a little bit more. “Yes, I’m sure I will, You-kun.”

Before Kurogane can say anything about the name, Fai is kissing him, and any complaints he may have had gets lost in Fai’s lips. Their mouths eventually separate, but they do not move apart. Fai looks up at Kurogane’s face and smiles.

“Valeria and Celes were not as fancy as Nihon,” He says, his voice just barely above a whisper. “So I don’t need to give any extra flare to tell you my real name.”

Kurogane is smiling–he hasn’t stopped smiling–and he quirks up a brow. “I already know it.”

“Yes, but you made such a big event out of telling me your name,” Fai says, and there is just a hint of amusement in his voice. “I want to tell you, too. I want to tell you myself that my real name is Yuui.”

Big blue eyes are warm, stars reflecting in them like a still lake, and Kurogane’s heart swells. He grins, his teeth bright in the darkness of the evening, and he lets go of Fai’s hand to wrap his arm around Fai’s back. Fai laughs as Kurogane pulls him in for another kiss, his hands coming up to land gently against Kurogane’s cheeks.

They do not fall asleep until the sun is beginning to rise. Fai has come up with a multitude of new nicknames by the time they do. Kurogane finds that he does not mind at all, not when it means Fai is by his side.

[drops-of-moonlights]

CCS Clear Cards Episode 17 Thoughts, Reactions and Emotions

as always, the tag to block is #Clear Cards spoilers!

And we start with a dream sequence! Funny how these didn’t happen when Meiling was around...

“JUST TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK IS WHAT YOU WANT FOR FUCK’S SAKE” she seemed to say

So it IS a premonition? And that’s why everything fell apart?

OH HELLO POSSIBLE-YUNA DRAGON

!!!

DID SHE REALIZE CAPEY IS AKIHO?

I’M DYING SHE FUCKING FELL OFF THE BED

IS KERO TRYING TO PULL OFF THE FRESHPRE GIRLS’ ATTACK

Ah, so she knows she KNOWS who Capey is, but not who she actually IS

(let’s be real even if you didn’t read the manga Akiho has been hinted as Capey from the start)

WELP KERO IS DEAD

! OH SHIT RIKA

YOU’RE ACTUALLY ALIVE

AND NOT IN AN INNAPROPIATE AND ILLEGAL RELATIONSHIP WITH TERADA

...Oh my god that IS Fuu’s school uniform DOES THIS WORLD HAVE THEIR OWN VERSION OF THE RAYEARTH GIRLS?

Are they treating books like drug what is this scene

I know they’re not being secretive about it but still

K BYE RIKA ENJOY YOUR STAY IN CLAMP PURGATORY

“Yo you forgot your apron” “SHIT” Honey you could have used Flight and Lucid

Not that you care to cover your identity anytime you fly, but still

OH MY GOD

THAT WAS MEGUCA LEVELS OF BIG-SHOT QUALITY

EVEN THE CHIBIS ARE KINDA OFF-MODEL I’M LAUGHING SO HARD

Okay show did you spend the budget in Meiling. I know she deserved it but still.

At least you put the nonsensical recipe in a cooking class

(I’m starting to believe Nev is right and all the cooking is due of a dark magic spell or something)

“I’ll make mine a clock to represent his OBVIOUS MOTIF and also to drive home the fact that MY MEMORY IS LUNA-LEVELS OF FUCKED OVER THANKS TO HIS TIME MAGIC” she seemed to say

(No really I feel so bad for Akiho but it’s so funny at the same time)

“I can’t do his magic motif it’s way too fucking complicated” Okay I actually laughed

THAT SAD KERO ROLL

...waIT MOMO IS NOT WITH AKIHO

SHE HAS ARRIVED

THE WINE MOM MOMO

Oh I like her voice

Wait, so Yuna WANTS Sakura to keep sealing/creating cards?

Oh, it was a pop-up version of Alice in Wonderland! That sounds really cute

“I was going to bring it here, but I left it at home after the apron fiasco and because that would have ACTUALLY moved the plot along, so...” she seemed to say

aaaaaaaaand the pastries are flying around. GREAT

OKAY HOW ARE PEOPLE NOT NOTICING THE GIANT RING OF LIGHT IN THE CORNER

The fact no one busted their heads on the counter and died bleeding on the floor after Snooze is a goddamn miracle, Sakura

TOMOYO WHY DID YOU TEMPT FATE

NOW DEMONIC PASTRIES ARE TRYING TO KILL YOU

OKAY THAT THING IS ACTUALLY TERRIFYING

SAKURA KILL THE THING QUICKLY

THE DIFFERENT SHADES OF WHITE IN HER UNIFORM ARE BOTHERING ME SO MUCH

YO SPIRAL LOOKS SO COOL LIKE THAT

Y’know, I would like it so much more if the Magic Circle appeared behind Sakura when she uses it in the air

Helo, Appear- WAIT ARE THOSE HORNS? I THOUGH THAT WAS YOUR HAIR LIKE WITH FLOWER AND EARTHY

SYAORAN WHERE IN THE FUCK WERE YOU SNOOZE SHOULD NOT HAVE AFFECTED YOU

WERE YOU IN THE TOILET OR IN STARBUCKS OR SOMETHING

Okay, I know that was supposed to be taken as “you don’t need to apologize for not being able to help” BUT IT CAN ALSO BE TAKEN AS “You’re not much of a help anyway so don’t be sorry” AND I’M LIVING

“YO KAITO-SAN YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE THE SHIT THAT HAPPENED TODAY IN CLASS” she seemed to say

...Yuna, I mean it. Hurt Akiho and I will not forgive you.

SAME GOES TO YOU, MOMO

Akiho...ARRGH I FEEL SO MUCH FOR HER AND IT’S SO FRUSTATING

Okay I laughed at the D magic part-wait what?

...Are you trying to go against time? Is the book related to Sakura or time itself?...

...DID YOU NEVER MADE RESEARCH ON CLOW REED. I NEVER READ TSUBASA OR XXXHOLIC BUT I AT LEAST KNOW THAT ALL THE SHIT THAT HAPPENS IN ANY CLAMP PRODUCT IS BECAUSE SHIT LIKE THIS WAS PULLED BY CLOW

ARE YOU TRYING TO DOOM THIS WORLD

Welp I’m more confused now. OF COURSE THE SECOND I GET CAUGHT UP WITH THE MANGA AND CAN UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING I GET FUCKED AGAIN

OH HELLO BLAZE

FANCY SEEING YOU SO QUICK AFTER ALL THE SHIT THAT HAPPENED

FINALLY TOUYA AND YUKI/YUE WILL TALK

HOW MUCH “STUDYING” DID YOU DO ALL THIS TIME YOU WEREN’T HERE

And now to wait a week. Fuck