#Holitsuba

[the-corvus-luna]

Another beautiful full moon in the sky, which means it's time for CLAMP's beautiful Line wallpapers!

Here are the ones that were posted, with watermark.

Here's the edited, without watermark.

Tl;Dr: Syaoran is on the left, and Syaoron is on the right.

Long Spoilers Below

This one is the Syaoran twins from Holitsuba. I didn't realize this before, but in the line post, the twins were called '小龍と小狼', which means one would be Xiaolang (Syaoran) or 'little wolf' and the other one would be called Xiaolong (Syaoron) or 'little dragon' in both Chinese and Japanese.

Syaoron = Xiaolong = 小龍: 小= small, little 龍= dragon, especially a Chinese dragon

Syaoran = Xiaolang = 小狼: 小= small, little 狼= wolf

This image from Holitsuba should give us context of who's who.

(Image Source)

"Notes on characters: Sakura and Syaoran obviously like each other, and Syaoron appears to like teasing his younger brother about that. Syaoron also appears to be the more mature twin of the pair, while Syaoran gives off a more innocent air and is more easily startled."

-quote from tsubasa.fandom

The kanji isn't listed on the source website. Without knowing the original kanji used for which character, it's just a 50/50 chance. Mistakes and mistransations can happen to anyone.

I delved into the JP wiki, and this is what I found.

小狼（シャオラン）

B組。海外からの留学生。真面目で素直だが、成績は四月一日以下。サッカー部と掛け持ちで剣道部所属。サクラとは恋仲（第1話）。

Xiaolang (Syaoran)

"Class B. An international student from overseas. Diligent and honest, but academic performance is below average compared to Watanuki. Also a member of both the soccer club and the kendo club. In a romantic relationship with Sakura (Episode 1)."

And, this:

小龍（シャオロン）

C組。小狼の双子の兄で、留学生。小狼とほとんど瓜二つでありながら、性格は多少真面目とは言い難い性格。バスケットボール部と掛け持ちで弓道部所属。第二部にて初登場した。原作における『小狼』に当たる人物。

Xiaolong (Syaoron)

"Class C. Twin brother of Syaoran, also an exchange student. Nearly identical to Syaoran in appearance, but with a slightly less serious personality. A member of both the basketball club and the archery club. First appeared in the second part. Corresponds to the character '小狼' in the original work."

Syaoran is more serious while Syaoron is light-hearted.

Syaoran is on the left, and Syaoron is on the right.

(That means the fandom link was incorrect about Syaoron being serious/Syaoran being innocent)

[farenmaddox]

pick my WIP

yo whats up everyone

I opened up my huge folder of unfinished WIPs (all Tsubasa-related) and lo and behold, I feel energized and interested in working on (at least) one of them. Which one to work on, this is the problem.

if anybody is still following me who CARES about my writing fanfiction, you should help me pick the WIP I should make some progress on. I actually have more than what I put on the poll, but I've only listed the ones I feel like I would want to work on, not every WIP I've ever had.

*Kurogane has two hands, etc.

**Ghost story: It's literally the first scene, so this is not really a spoiler: Kurogane dies in a fight before Tomoyo can send him on the journey. She and Yuuko connect with Holitsuba-verse because that's the only one where there's a healthy and sane version of Kurogane available, and they need HIM to go on the journey in place of ninja!Kurogane. He's like "I am a gym teacher and you want me to help you save the multiverse with what??? My dodgeball skills????"

***Raise Me Up (please god let me think of a better title, this one no longer feels right) is like, probably 30% already written??? I had six complete chapters and a huge pile of other scenes done when I abandoned it?)

ETA:

btw, forgot to say this, but the already-written parts of Drinks and Aníron are both available at my AO3 account if you want to poke at them and see if it influences your decision.

Drinks and Subtle Things

Aníron

[settana]

Doumeki’s Lust in xxxHOLIC Rou Adayume (Selfish Dream)

Cages wanting to trap him, hands wanting to grab him, mouths trying to devour him, shadows wanting to possess him…  Dreams are a reflection of innermost desires of your mind.

Yes, we know Haruka.

I’ve recently re-watched xxxHolic Rou Adayume (literally translated as xxxHolic Cage: Selfish Dream) and noticed how I felt more disturbed during Doumeki’s nightmare scene than the first time I watched it. At first, I thought it had been Watanuki trying to run from danger but that didn’t fit why he looked quite disturbed when talking to Haruka afterwards. Also, why was the OAD titled ‘Selfish Dream’? That could only mean Doumeki’s dream was selfish. But Doumeki and selfishness don’t go together, right? 

For me, the initial talk Haruka gave about selfish human hearts and the nightmare scene revealed the whole picture: Doumeki lusted after Watanuki but he knew his desires were selfish since acting upon them would be detrimental to Watanuki’s future. So, the later had to enter his nightmare and free himself from Doumeki’s selfish desires.

Allow me to explain why I believe it was ‘lust’.

At the start of the OAD, Haruka (out of the blue) says the following:

“Human hearts are selfish. They prioritize what they want over everything; even reason”. We can be sure Haruka told this to Shizuka when he was little and at the start of the dream he remembers how his grandparent often told him things he didn’t understand because of his immaturity. 

It would be safe to deduct that Haruka knew about his grandson’s fate encountering Watanuki and how it would affect him. I won’t go into details about the scenes with Watanuki but rather what he desired.

Doumeki and Watanuki (despite their fighting) are close and they do care for each other but it appeared as if Doumeki wanted more. However, if he were to have a relationship with Watanuki, he would die and Watanuki would remain alone. He knows Watanuki needs not only a human companion but also his spiritual energy and having descendants would solve the problem. 

This moment in xxxHolic Shunmuki was so precious because we can see both Doumeki and Kohane worried for Watanuki and promising themselves that they won’t let him be alone:

So, problem solved. Doumeki can still see Watanuki at the shop, hang out with him, tease him, eat his delicious cooking, and so on, and he will bring descendants that will take care of his friend. Doumeki knows what needs to be done and how to do it, so everything should be alright.

Except that it isn’t because that’s not what he wants.

The dream ends with Yuuko telling Doumeki not to hesitate. Then, we can see the following:

- A black viscous liquid flowing down 

Tears? Maybe I might be looking too much into it, but that could be a subconscious and metaphorical representation of sad, bitter tears. Maybe Doumeki was suppressing his tears.

- The black liquid forming a cage

It wants to trap something…

- The buildings breaking down

Doumeki’s walls are breaking down, his inner self is breaking down, the barrier he built up to hold himself is breaking down. Doumeki himself is breaking down. Note that before this scene, we see the black liquid on tree trunks, which represent a person’s stability.

- The remnants of the broken building trying to trap down Watanuki

He wants him for himself.

- Two moons aggressively joining together

This was subtle but disturbing when you see that after joining a window is broken. Joining together… something breaking…Something dripping out of where it broke… Do I need to be explicit here?

- A timid hand suddenly turning ferocious trying to grab him

This is where things stopped being so subtle. It appears as a strong desire to touch him. Which is disturbing considered what happened above. 

- A wall trying to trap Watanuki and a hand grabbing him

Once again, the desire to possess and touch him. This hand is more straightforward than the first one. After being grabbed, he is observed by two red eyes. Red is the color of lust, so it is possible that he is been seen with that desire. 

- Another hand trying to grab him

This is the third attempt. This time, this hand is much more aggressive. 

- A mouth trying to devour him

We’ve seen hands, now a mouth with fiery teeth. In foreplay, touching and kissing are essential parts, so now that we’ve seen desire to touch, we can see sexual desires linked with the mouth. I won’t go into many details since I want to keep it PG13. Also, the sharp teeth and the fact that he swallowed Watanuki can be seen as possessiveness as well.

- A mouth and deformed hands trying to grab him

Doumeki’s entire him wanting to possess Watanuki.

- The color ‘black’ through the entire dream

You don’t need to go through a spiritual school to know that black represents the opposite of purity when talking about energy. I am not going to tell you that sexual desire is bad, hence, it is black, since it is an essential part of human nature. However, Doumeki’s desire was shown as black, the most dangerous color of all.

This is because Doumeki has a pure aura and tries to do whatever is the right thing to do. We’ve seen how selfless he is through the entire series. We know that if he were to feel something for someone, he would like his beloved to be safe even if he himself is unhappy. 

Remember this?

Doumeki chose to “kill” her because Watanuki would be safe, even if Doumeki himself would be unhappy since Watanuki would hate him.

This is the kind of person Doumeki is: noble and purer in heart than most human beings but still not a saint.

So, we knew during xxxHolic that Doumeki cared about Watanuki but what we didn’t expect was for him to have other desires. He knows he must get rid of them, because acting upon his desires would be selfish and would make Watanuki unsafe. 

So now what Haruka said at the start of the OAD makes more sense:

So, it is not about Doumeki feeling regret of loving Watanuki and having to hold that feeling due to marriage. You can marry but love another person and be close to them, and we know that Doumeki and Watanuki are close as they spend a lot of time together. Or, Doumeki could love Watanuki as his closest friend. But this is not the case.

In Horitsuba Gakuen Drama CD 4, Doumeki grabs Watanuki’s chest under his shirt and claims that it was subconscious, while Kurogane wonders if it is ok to broadcast such a scene. Even if it is another universe, we are talking about the same Doumeki. And while that scene might have been played for laughs, it is still a weird “joke” to do for someone as Doumeki.  

This is why I believe the love Doumeki wants is the one belonging to a couple, which involves intimacy in both body and soul. Once married, Doumeki knows that he won’t have that kind of relationship as he must respect marriage vows and is his duty to keep Watanuki safe regardless of his own happiness. After all, he has given so much to keep Watanuki safe. His life revolves around him.

He knows his human heart is selfish, he knows his desires are wrong, so this is why they are painted in black and shown as vicious spirits. When Watanuki frees himself, he is finally able to move on with his duty, probably the one that was destined for him since birth that Haruka wanted to make sure his grandson properly fulfilled: keep Watanuki safe.

[seishirosakurazuka]

from clamp's twitter. an au of an au of a multiverse au of a beloved clamp classic?? crossdressing romeo + juliet where they're both horses??? IS EVERYONE HORSES??????? I NEED TO KNOW

[chibiyuuto]

"Shiritsu Holitsuba Gakuen" short comic from Weekly Shonen Magazine #47

“Shiritsu Holitsuba Gakuen” short comic from Weekly Shonen Magazine #47

© CLAMP・Shigatsu Tsuitachi CO.,LTD. / 講談社 Chinese scanlations. English translations: none yet. To celebrate the release of Tsubasa – WoRLD CHRoNiCLE – Nirai Kanai hen #2, CLAMP drew a new Shiritsu Holitsuba Gakuen short comic. This will be published tomorrow in Weekly Shonen Magazine #47. DISCLAIMER: If you enjoyed reading this story, please support CLAMP by purchasing the original or licensed…

[theclampconfessions]

“I want more stuff of the school they show in the TRC/xxxHolic drama CDs!”

[pbsketches]

[the-corvus-luna]

The Strawberry Full Moon is next week, which means a CLAMP Wallpaper.

It's not just a full moon, but it's also the Summer Solstice, too! Finally, it's officially summer in the northern hemisphere.

Let's have some fun! Sadly, I can't fit all their works in one poll, so less known (one-shots) and previously represented series will be covered under other. (Clamp says which character is from what series, so that actually puts Tokyo Babylon in the poll since Seishiro was specifically from TRC)

I realized it a few hours after my post that despite saying "previously represented series will be covered under other", that in fact... i did list Magic Knight Rayearth because I have a case of goo-brain. Oh wellllll.

So, previous characters for the moons have been:

October 2023: Hunter' Moon - Seishiro Sakurazuka (TRC)

November 2023: Beaver's Moon - Syaoron & Syaoran (TRC/Holitsuba)

December 2023: Cold Moon - Kohaku (Wish)

Janurary 2024: Wolf Moon - Ashura (RG Veda)

February 2024: Snow Moon - Fai (TRC)

March 2024: Worm Moon - Miyuki (Miyuki-chan in Wonderland)

April 2024: Pink Moon - Haruka Domeki (xxxHolic)

May 2024: Flower Moon - Primera (MKR)

June 2024: Strawberry Moon - ???

[farenmaddox]

7. Post a snippet from a wip.

20. Do you prefer writing AUs or canon fics?

21. Do you prefer writing chaptered fics or one-shots?

38. What is your most self-indulgent posted story?

74. Do you have a fic you wish got a bit more love?

Well YOU don't ask for much, do ya? :P

7. Ghost snippet!

Fai was a lot of things—flighty, flamboyant, funny, sweet, even occasionally serious when he had to be—but Kurogane had never seen him look like this. His expression was almost angry, and his eyes snapped with some barely-restrained emotion. He pivoted on his heel and started marching away. “H-hey!” Kurogane protested. “Where are you going?” Fai didn’t answer, and Kurogane could do nothing but follow him. Fai went straight to the headmistress’s office and threw open the door without knocking. She was on the phone, but she hung up when she saw them without even making an excuse to her caller. “What can I do for you, Fai-sensei?” “You really think I’m going to let him go without me?” Fai shouted.

20. AU or canon? hmmmmm very depends on the fandom. Obviously TRC is my main jam and I've dabbled with lots of different things in that fandom. My old HP stuff from my youth was almost all AU. ON the other hand, a lot of the fandoms where I've only dabbled and written one or two fics tend to be canon(ish), I think because I only really start exploring AUs after I've spent enough time to go through some of my canon concepts.

.... you know, I actually think my favorite thing is probably canon AU-type stuff. Like, exploring how canon could go differently if X or Y. Final answer.

21. Longfic or one-shots? Listen. I don't know how to shut the fuck up. I have written a lot of one-shots, actually, but I am a long-form writer at heart. I want to build things over time. I'm a friends (or enemies)-to-lovers and slowburn ho. Give me chapters or give me death.

38. What is your most self-indulgent posted story? Oh, definitely Drinks and Subtle Things (Rockstar AU). I did not choose a focus character and chose all of them. I gave all of them just, so many fucking issues, and then I covered them in tattoos and oral sex about it.

Runner up: All the Faults You've Left Behind, closely followed by the other fics where I wrote Kurogane x Doumeki. I remain the only person who has ever used that tag on AO3. Just me, paddling my one-person kayak merrily down the stream.

74. Do you have a fic you wish got a bit more love? I could say my overly-long fic for the 2022 KuroFai Olympics, or grump about how few people leave comments in general these days especially in a fuckoff gigantic fandom like Critical Role, but I'm trolling tonight. I think more people should read my absolutely idiotic Holitsuba-verse porn. Woe, Home Care and Sensei and Souffles be upon ye.

Wanna ask me about my fic? Here's a list of questions. Anonymous is fine with me.

[kat-ran]

Томойечки

[lukefonfabre-moved]

anzu and naomasu - shiritsu holitsuba gakuen 

[chibiyuuto]

A new "Holitsuba Gakuen" short comic will be published in Weekly Shonen Magazine #47 (release date October 21) to celebrate the release of Tsubasa - WoRLD CHRoNiCLE - vol. 2 (release date October 16)!

[pbsketches]

@auxypholoxy : kurofai at karaoke! hope you liked it! :)

[fengtianshi]

(Old photo, but it's snowing pretty much like that, so it's like I've taken it today! xD)

[zelinxia]

Art by Hydrangea.

[mikkeneko]

Holitsuba Fai by perdigiorno.