#The Father Syaoran

[completeoveranalysis]

[1]

Chapitre 217 - Words of Magic

Splash Text reading something like: Right now, moving onward is all that I can do. Even if I know that what I seek, is too distant to reach.

And also we have THREE SYAORANS. 

But uh. Which is which.

One is Lava Lamp, one is probably our first Syaoran (ie, Lava Lamp’s clone), and one is probably the Syaoran who was in the Jam Jar. So like, Lava Lamp’s Dad. 

If I had to guess I imagine he’s probably the one in front, since he doesn’t have any goggles and is holding a Sakura flower in place of a feather. Arguably any of them could be holding a Sakura flower, but Lava Lamp’s dad is the only one who we haven’t actually seen in the feather storyline (unless...), so I think it’d be him up front. Also he looks a little more tired around the eyes, which matches with the vibe of being slightly older. A mood, at the very least.

I’d probably also guess that our clone Syaoran is the one on the left, since he USUALLY shows up covered in blood, and he has a bit more of a blank look to his expression. But how depressing that ‘covered in blood’ has become one of his signifiers.

Which leaves Lava Lamp as the one in the back, clutching the feather to his chest and staring up at the brightening sky - which is very metaphor, very appropriate. 

You could make some interesting arguments about the different directions they’re looking at and what that means, but even just the difference in how they hold their items is very fun. Lava Lamp clutches the feather to his chest and holds it tightly, as if it’s the centre of his world and is protective of it. As if he's afraid to let it go.

Our clone Syaoran holds it at a distance but at eye level, staring at it like he’s been programmed to keep an eye on them but not be emotionally attached to them. (And yet some slight connection persists.)

Meanwhile Lava Lamp’s dad looks directly at the camera like he is about to begin a speech that explains his backstory and oh boy I would like that very much.

[angelshizuka]

I finished my CCS rewatch a few days ago, though it took a bit longer than expected, because I kept putting off watching the 2nd movie. It was the part I was most excited about rewatching, but couldn't watch until the very end, because I wanted to keep my rewatch chronological, but that's also what made me scared to watch it. Plus, once I watched it my rewatch would be over and what do I do with my life then... (Clear Card just isn't the same, you know).

It's especially the movies I remember watching a lot back in the 2000s, because we had them on DVD. Neither movie ever released in my country, but our parents got them for my sister on their vacation in the UK and like the annoying little sister I am, I constantly borrowed them. I also remember the English dub on those DVDs being genuinely good.

Anyway, I was a bit nervous about the rewatch in general, because I was scared I was remembering CCS through rose tinted nostalgia goggles, but if anything it's even better than I remember. Like, in my memory a lot of the timeline and details got shuffled around and now having a clear view of that again, the progression and pacing is just so good. This might be the most logical timeline I've ever seen in any show with the way they kept track of time passing and it actually making sense. And I feel like I understand the complex layered storytelling more than I did as a kid.

I'm definitely nervous about starting Clear Card (and may be putting it off a little...), because I heard so many mixed opinions on it and I doubt it's gonna hit me the same the OG did, but I do still plan to watch it. I did watch the OVA already and I at least really enjoyed that one. My main hope for Clear Card is getting more (post-confession) Syaosaku and at least this OVA delivered on that. I mean, I will always love the OG anime ending, especially because it gave me the 2nd movie which I love with my whole heart, but it was nice seeing an animated version of the manga ending.

Though, genuine question, does this mean Clear Card changed the canon of the OG anime or is this OVA more it's own seperate thing they just did for fun?

[futuretrain]

re: last rb didn't want to put in the tags bc op isn't there in the manga yet but for like a good minute i was like "but wait, what language did "real" clow country speak then bc r!sakura and r!syaoran remark when he first arrives that they speak the same language (or at least understand each other), how would r!syaoran who lived his entire life in our modern world know a language from the future" and then i remembered who his parents were and that they'd obviously teach him that language bc they KNEW he'd need it. c!syaoran even remarks in the scene with seishirou that *his* father taught him to read the old language, so of course r!syaoran's own father would also teach him the "new" language.

...on the other hand they could've adapted a different writing system so syaoran and sakura could still speak because the dialects were still mutually intelligible and it's the emphasis on the "reading" part that is the concern in c!syaoran's flashback? god i wish clamp had gone into their linguistics a little bit more in this series because whenever you remove mokona from a scene i start having SO many questions

"maybe that was hitsuzen too" well has hitsuzen ever considered explaining itself

[meimi-haneoka]

Clear Card Trivia 3 ~ Sakura's journey of growth and self-understanding throughout Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card

Hello and welcome back to my "Clear Card Trivia" series, a collection of informative posts where I delve into certain aspects of the story of Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card! ✨

The topic I will talk about today has been on my "to-do list" for long time. It's something I felt the need to talk about, and I won't hide the reason why: the desire to fully eviscerate this topic grew particularly after reading around certain criticism of Clear Card Arc. But also after listening to CLAMP's Twitter Spaces, particularly the ones towards the end of the story.

It's something that, setting aside my obvious love for the new characters, will always make me think that Clear Card Arc has been a very welcome addition to the series.

This post will delve into Sakura's growth throughout Clear Card Arc.

Sakura grew up considerably during the story, and had a character development that sadly not many people truly realized.

I'm not talking about an evolution of the character design which, despite changing and evolving throughout the story (as it's expected for a long-running serialization), kept depicting Sakura consistently with quite young looks...no, I'm talking about her mental growth, in relation to her self-knowledge and her relationship with her magic powers.

A journey that might almost feel "frustrating", because it is full of "up and downs", and Sakura sometimes seems to be taking one step forward and two back. Aside from the obvious practical reasons (the plot had to develop several other storylines simultaneously), it very much reflects the realistic growth of a pre-teen, which is never a straight line but is made of improvements and relapses.

Along the journey, I couldn't really avoid mentioning some bits of the development of Sakura's relationship with Syaoran, which will get its own deep and detailed post another day.

There's also an extra about the significance of the Clear Cards in the story, at the end.

I have to be honest, the post is very long, but I tried to insert visual elements to make it easier on the eye. If you're curious to know how the hell I found so much to talk about for this specific topic, follow me under the cut and dive into Sakura's journey throughout Clear Card (it's also a good way to review the story)! ✨

A Disconnected Beginning

Clear Card Arc starts in a very "festive" and happy way: everything is peaceful, a new exciting chapter of Sakura's educational life is starting with the beginning of middle school, Syaoran is back to Tomoeda, this time to stay forever with his beloved girl...everything seems so perfect. And precisely in chapter 1, before everything takes an unexpected turn, we have this scene here, which I consider the "true" beginning of everything:

Sakura says "I haven't been using this lately...well, that's for the better".

At the beginning of Clear Card Arc, Sakura seems to be feeling disconnected from her natural gift.

Despite she had to go on a quest to collect all the Clow Cards, which later she gave a new life to by changing them into Sakura Cards, we have to remember that Sakura was born with magic powers. They weren't bestowed on her by Kero-chan, nor by the contract with the Clow Book: she always had magic in her blood, and it apparently "woke up" on that fateful day she found the Clow Book in the library of her father.

At the beginning of this arc, Sakura seems to think that the purpose, the meaning of this natural gift which is literally part of herself, has been fulfilled by transforming all the Cards, and splitting Eriol's power as he had requested. Her words here seem to be suggesting a general idea of "if I have to use this key (therefore, my magic powers), it means something troublesome is happening, so it's better if I'm not using it because it means everything is okay".

And although we can't really deny that what happened afterwards is far from being able to be considered "peaceful", this scene here always left a bad taste in my mouth because there's almost a negative vibe attached to the idea of her magic, transpiring from Sakura's words. It's almost as if she's politely rejecting it.

Precisely after she places her Star Key in her jewelry box, probably hoping to never have to use it again, she has her first premonitory dream of the events that will shake her life afterwards. Almost as if her powers were trying to tell her "no my dear, this is you and you'd better come to terms with it as soon as possible".

Then, as we all know, the Cards turn blank. Sakura produces a new key while having another dream and a quest to fight and "secure" some strange phenomena happening around her begins, leaving her in a state of increasing confusion.

This is the beginning of the part of the story that I quite literally call "Sakura loses sight of herself".

At this very early stage of the story, she still doesn't know that she started losing control over her increasing magical power, and it is definitely not a coincidence that all of this began when she thought of shutting her main magic tool away in a box, hoping to ignore it forever. For plot reasons, this also happens simultaneously to Syaoran taking the spirits of the Sakura Cards away from her (because in the beginning, you had to be tricked into thinking he was up to something shady and was the real mastermind behind all the incidents).

Syaoran expected for Sakura to lose control over her powers, as his mother predicted a general period of trouble for her that could lead her to unhappiness, albeit without any clear indication of what could happen: Syaoran came to Japan knowing something was bound to happen to his girl and her powers, and that something was going to lead her to grief, but he had no idea about all the rest. So his uncertain and reckless approach, which ended up in some cases worsening the situation, is also somewhat understandable. He was acting like a worried, overprotective boyfriend at his wit's end.

The strange events, which Sakura materializes into a new set of Cards, surely leave her distraught and confused, not to mention the situation with the Sakura Cards and Eriol's missing replies, but I feel that what really destabilizes her core are the constant dreams she gets, sometimes even in the middle of her waking hours, making her faint on the spot wherever she is.

Premonitory dreams are a part of her natural gift that she began to express ever since the OG manga, but she never seemed to really understand them or take them seriously.

This time around, she keeps seeing this cloaked figure and this terrifying dragon, no one speaks a word despite her relentless questions and the cloaked figure seems to be wanting to take her newly made key away (Lilie!!! what were you trying to do!! *facepalm* she probably tried to pull her closer so she could talk to her), so it's just normal that all of that leaves her increasingly stressed and anxious, even though initially you never see her openly and verbally stating that, due to her overall positive nature ("I'll manage it, somehow" is part of her "everything will be alright" invincible spell, and this is indeed what she keeps telling herself in the beginning of the arc, even though in some occasions it turned out to be a double-edged sword, as sometimes it looked more like sweeping her fears under the carpet, to me).

"Something Is Not Right"

Dream after dream, Card after Card, Sakura begins to have these general feelings of discomfort and of "something is not right, here", as she openly states to Syaoran in this scene of volume 4, chapter 14. There's something about this situation that is pricking her sixth sense, and makes her uneasy, but she can't quite put her finger on it yet. All she can do is to keep "fighting" these phenomena happening around her, hoping to find out more along the way. She reiterates the same feeling of uneasiness at the end of chapter 15, after what I consider one of the most concerning side-effects of her poor control over her powers: Sakura seems almost "in trance" while she leads her guardians to the exit of the maze, and acts in a very uncharacteristic, cold way by shoving her bag in front of Yue to make him hold it for her. It's almost as if her magical sixth sense worked too strongly and warped her personality in that moment: an effect that has been mentioned several times in relation to powerful magicians like Clow, Eriol and later Kaito too, so it's not farfetched at all to attribute this one-off occurrence to her loss of control over her strong powers, which ended up affecting her personality too. Luckily, it didn't happen again in the rest of the story and the capture of this Card was completely changed in the anime (a wise decision imho, since the JP fandom is particularly fussy about the integrity of Sakura's character, and she needed to stay "Sakura" in order to do what she did at the end).

At the culmination of a "mini arc" (the visit to great-grandpa Masaki) characterized by uncontrolled visions of Nadeshiko, another frightening dream (one that ended up dragging even Akiho in, due to the synchronization) and Sakura for the first time ever confronting Syaoran about the things he's been hiding from her, we reach the following scene of volume 5, chapter 23.

"I Wish I Had A Mirror"

I always considered this scene extremely important, because for the first time Sakura spells out clearly the inner turmoil that's been gnawing at her soul ever since this ordeal with the new Cards started.

"The truth is...I'm the worst at understanding myself. And that is probably causing lots of concern to everyone." "I wish I had a mirror. A mirror that could reflect the real me. Then, I would probably understand how to not make everyone worry"

Here, Sakura clearly spells out the frustration of knowing, feeling in her bones that there's something wrong with her, something that she's not understanding about herself, and that something is causing problems, but most importantly, is causing her loved ones to worry about her. Let's not forget that not only Syaoran, but also Yukito, Touya, Fujitaka, Tomoyo, Eriol & his family have all been watching her situation in apprehension, each of them making decisions and moving discretely in a direction they felt was right (and admittedly, not all instances were so).

Sakura can somehow feel all of that, she can feel that it's related to something she still hasn't realized about herself. This tends to be forgotten because it happens in a relatively early part of the plot, but notice how this is the same problem Kaito suffers from. A quite stunted ability to understand oneself. Sakura and Kaito definitely have lots in common, when it comes to this specific part of themselves. Keep this in mind, because it'll be relevant later.

And then, the situation worsens.

Sakura's dreams start to terrify her, because they begin to show Syaoran's face under the cloak of the mysterious figure who's scaring her in her dreams. An apparent truth she cannot accept, she won't accept, even though she's still unsure about what exactly these dreams she's having are. Despite her boyfriend has been acting shady for long time, she decides to trust him and wait for him to talk to her about all the stuff he's holding inside, instead of putting him through the wringer. This also means, though, that Sakura will keep all her fears to herself, eventually bottling up.

Furthermore, Kaito starts to rewind time to fix a situation without a way out (in chapter 28, Akiho was on the verge of going berserk completely and unleash the artifact), creating an additional sense of confusion when Sakura can feel that her finger is numb due to strain, but she can't understand why (she had fought Kaito's time magic unconsciously). Whenever Kaito will rewind time, even later on, Sakura's magical sixth sense will try to wake her consciousness up more and more, giving her these vibes of "deja vu" or making her act in an apparently inexplicable way.

In the first part of Clear Card, Sakura sometimes literally looks like a soul wandering about in confusion, dragged by the events.

I wish to point out that this is not a flaw in the characterization, it is a precise design by CLAMP. Sakura IS, in this part of the story, confused and lost, overwhelmed by the events. She has no idea how to approach this matter other than "treating the symptoms" as they come. This happens because she's still, surprisingly, quite reluctant to embrace a fundamental part of herself: her innate magic power, which expresses itself mainly through her intuition. But we'll gradually get there.

Around chapter 30, before the big realization, Sakura's situation reached a point where:

- her Sakura Cards unexpectedly became blank; - almost everyday (sometimes multiple times a day) there's a new incident that she secures into new transparent Cards; - she constantly sees ominous dreams (in scattered order) with a cloaked figure acting in a questionable way and a scary dragon, and at some point she starts seeing her boyfriend under that cloak; - her boyfriend acts shady, Eriol doesn't reply to her messages; - there's a general feeling of "something is not right" with her magic and some stuff starts to not make sense to her (because Kaito rewinds time)

It is at this point that Sakura finally moves one (giant) step forward and connects all the "puzzle pieces" she collected (particularly, how much more "obvious" the creation of a Card became) and understands that she's been the one causing subconsciously each and every single incident that lead to the creation of a new transparent Card.

"I'm Angry At Myself"

And with Syaoran finally coming clean with her (because at that point he had no reason to keep things hidden anymore, as the thing he was trying to delay ultimately happened - and believe me, I'm sure he partly felt relieved to not need to lie anymore, as that took quite a toll on him too), Sakura can at last give an explanation to at least a part of the things that are happening. And she finally realizes that the doubt that was tormenting her was true: she DID, in fact, not understand something very important about herself, she didn't realize that it was her own power going out of control and that all the incidents that happened bore "her magic signature", so to speak. She failed to "tune in" with her magic.

For the first time ever, Sakura expresses anger at herself.

She will direct that anger (to a lesser extent) to Syaoran too, but I'll tackle that in a separate post.

This is a moment of deep reflection and regrets for Sakura: the poor understanding of herself, the poor "communication" between her heart and her magic powers brought to a situation where her most beloved person was putting himself in danger in order to protect her, while trying to not make things escalate. This is a very sensitive, beautiful and important moment, steeped in conflicting and complex feelings (and remember, Sakura is just a pre-teen. It is normal for a pre-teen like her to not understand herself, but there's just one tiny detail: she's not a common pre-teen, due to her natural gift, and she needs to take that into account). Eventually Sakura calms down, and after creating Rewind, her resolute face while hugging tightly Syaoran suggests that from now on she'll face this matter from another, more courageous and determined perspective.

Or at least, these were her good intentions. Because unfortunately, insecurities are hard to eradicate and in the central part of the story it's shocking to realize how far longer Sakura will insist in shutting away her emotions and refusing to listen to her heart (and intuition) fully.

"It's Just My Imagination"

Part of Sakura's anxiety might have been sedated with the revelation that the Clear Cards are produced by the girl herself, but unfortunately the true core of her problems was not solved at all and will only surface more clearly in the next 20 chapters.

Sakura actively starts having "premonitory bad feelings" when she sees Akiho in volume 7 chapter 34, a bad feeling that she does check with Syaoran, but quickly dismisses as "well, it's just my imagination". This will basically be one of the major problems preventing her from reaching the complete control of her magic. Sakura, knowing her magic potential, should've given way more credit to her sixth sense, but her anxiety, her insecurity and her crippled connection to her innate gift still pushes her to dismiss these "signs" as nothing really important or true. Timely as hell, a few hours later something bad will indeed happen to Akiho, where she completely loses consciousness for the first time and the clan/Association actively starts to absorb Sakura's power through the artifact implanted in Akiho. All of this was caused by the high concentration of magic that "triggered" Akiho's artifact (and here I have to sarcastically "applaud" Kaito, just like Syaoran he's another one who does stuff before thinking through, ultimately worsening the problem).

Once trapped in Akiho's artifact, thanks to her power Sakura can see the most horrifying glimpse of Akiho's past, when she was turned into a magic artifact, by living it on her own skin. And even though Kaito is forced to rewind time once again to save the situation, erasing these memories from Sakura's head, her heart (which is tightly connected to her magical sixth sense - I'd daresay her heart is straight up the source of her magic) DOES REMEMBER, pushing Sakura to act in an apparently irrational way, crying and hugging Akiho tight in empathy. Sakura is particularly shaken by this feeling, still in pain even hours later, but once again she doesn't understand where it comes from. However, she does express with Syaoran an intention to talk to him about it once she's able to put it into words, and in the meantime do her best with all the rest. At least, there's an intention to understand better this part of herself, but it's still soon to see actual results.

Aaand CLAMP really seem to be wanting to test Sakura in this arc, because at this point of the plot, they add the electrocution spell. 😅 No one seems to understand who caused it (it's not Sakura, nor Kaito, but now we know it was none other than Yelan!!) and Sakura's anxiety increases once again. The fact only Syaoran gets affected by it inevitably reignites the doubts in her mind, unwittingly reminded of that terrifying dream of Cloaked Syaoran she keeps seeing...but she stubbornly keeps telling herself "no, it's not like that, it's just a dream". It's undeniable that this situation where she cannot understand her foretelling dreams yet, and the way they show her scattered hints because her power is out of control, has surely contributed to Sakura's insecurity when it comes to trust her own intuition.

Her power is so out of control at this point, that even when Kaito shrinks her and throws her in a hole carved into a tree (landing in a "world" created with magic where he hopes she'll create the right Card) her dreams take over again (it's apparent by the "shaaan" sound and how everything turns suddenly pitch black, a common background of her dreams), showing her Akiho in the dress she was wearing when she was turned into an artifact and, inevitably, Sakura's biggest fear, "Cloaked Syaoran". Pay attention because these visions she's getting here thanks to her power match what will happen later on: what the talking flowers tell her here will turn out to be the beginning of the lyrics of the main theme of the "Alice in Clockland" play. This vision of Cloaked Syaoran seemingly "about to do something" to Akiho horrifies Sakura to the point of screaming in terror and creating one of the most unsettling Cards, "Break". It is after this very scary moment that Sakura starts to wonder very specifically for what purpose she is creating all these Cards. The purpose is actually more than one, but she definitely posed herself THE RIGHT question, as this brings her one step closer to the core of the problem and eventually embracing her own magic abilities.

Then, between chapters 43 and 45 we finally start to see some changes in Sakura: surprisingly, she begins to listen more to her sixth sense, first catching Yukito red-handed while activating a newly acquired magic, and then wondering about a strange painful feeling in her chest when her father tells her that lately she and Akiho became even more similar. We were all lead to believe that this was the foreshadowing of Akiho taking her place (cause everything in the plot at this point deceivingly hints at Kaito wanting to switch them), but she actually was getting foreshadowings of the "rewritten world", where Sakura would genuinely feel wrecked to know that someone important to Akiho was missing, precisely when Akiho would've become part of her family as her twin. In fact, in chapter 45, before falling completely asleep, she hears again the ominous "you won't be able to come back" (the Association's threat to Kaito), wondering WHO wouldn't be able to come back - somehow, Sakura knows that it's not directed at her.

"Just Tell me Honestly How You Feel"

And then, we reach another moment that I consider pivotal for Sakura's growth during this Clear Card Arc. The moment when she's on the verge of breaking down and finally lets all her feelings out.

Her anxiety over the dream with the Cloaked Figure reached the highest peak, so much that she finally manifests a Card, Mirage, that challenges her precisely with that appearance. While Sakura battles that Card (which at the moment she still believes it's an actual person), she seems resoluted to get to the bottom of this story, and to pull down that hood to know the truth. You can really feel that she's so done with all this psychological torture. The fact the real Syaoran appears right at that moment and she finds out the person she saw was just a Card is partly a relief for her, but also throws Sakura again in despair because who the hell is that person in the dream, then??

Syaoran, as the good and attentive boyfriend he is, can just feel that Sakura is stressing over something, so he brings her to his home to help her calming down. And to her umpteenth attempt at sweeping her negative emotions under the carpet, beating around the bush commenting over the tea with a fake smile, he cuts immediately her bullshit and just tells her : "You don't need to force yourself. Just tell me how you feel right now". When she hears that she's allowed to speak out her emotions with honesty, Sakura wears on her face one of the most heartbreaking expressions of the entire manga. She's literally about to break down in tears of exhaustion, as you can see it above. ☝️ Listening to her, gradually, Syaoran encourages Sakura to get out all that's been torturing her lately, particularly about the dream with the Cloaked Figure. It is a very difficult moment for her, because she has to relive the dream, and expose in front of him all the fears and doubts that were trying to tamper with her trust in him. Courageously, she goes through with it, even though her denial ("it's just a dream!") is so strong that she ends up creating another Card: "Dreaming". Sakura at first seems relieved to see the Card, in the hope that everything she saw was indeed a mere messed up dream and nothing else (see? she's again self-sabotaging her relationship with her magic) but Syaoran with his frankness is quick to bring her feet on the ground: the kanji on the Card show "yumemi", and the word can also indicate a "foretelling dream".

Although Sakura seems disheartened at first, her next dream with the Cloaked Figure is much more relaxed, so much that even the dragon doesn't particularly scare her anymore: our girl's intuition makes her correctly feel a sense of loneliness in this dream, which she attributes to the hooded figure, not realizing that it was more likely coming from the dragon itself (aka, Kaito). After all, in chapter 72, Lilie will confirm that her presence ended up distracting her from the one "character" she should've paid all of her attention to. Her intuition, despite being misattributed, ended up having a positive effect through the synchronization with Akiho: the girl will wake up with the same feeling of discomfort of her friend, and as if guided by hitsuzen, she will head to the garden where she'll find a sickly Kaito staring at the moon - most likely feeling the loneliness Sakura perceived in her dream. I like to think that in this scene of chapter 48, Sakura subconsciously helped Akiho comforting Kaito, by waking her up with the unresting feeling, precisely when Kaito needed it the most. Still not completely embraced her magical sixth sense yet, but a significant improvement.

The road between chapter 48 and chapter 52 is paved with lots of struggles, as the Mirror Sakura Card gets stolen by Kaito, Sakura runs the risk of being absorbed into Akiho's artifact again, she meets Momo for the first time and she's even given a hint about Kaito's plan (or what Momo thought was his plan, as he had benignly lied to her about that), but almost all of that gets rewound and erased when Kaito intervenes. Moreover, despite not remembering anything consciously, Sakura is left with a sense of unhappiness when she looks at her home, a remnant of her brief journey in the world of Momo's book which straight up threw her into despair, showing her what her life would be if everyone forgot about her. She also finds once again a Card produced out of nowhere, "Time": I'm convinced she produced this Card because her conscience was awake while Momo and Kaito talked in stopped time, and their conversation triggered her sixth sense to produce Time as a result. Needless to say, all of this worsens her state of mind once again, which leads to the other pivotal, and finally resolutive, scene of chapter 52.

Never Avert Your Eyes From Your Heart

We finally get to what I consider THE scene, the one that will definitively shake Sakura from her deadlock, from the anxiety that stunted her connection with her innate gift and her deepest emotions. And the one who helps her overcoming all her fears is, of course, the love of her life - with a honorable mention for none other than his mother Yelan!!

Chapter 52 got a very, very special place in my heart, because it's basically one giant parallel between SyaoSaku and YunaAki. The two pairings experience similar situations, but the response from one side of each pairing is quite different. Let's remind you for a moment of the part earlier in this post when I told you that Kaito and Sakura, for most of Clear Card, surprisingly have one thing in common: they don't seem to understand themselves well enough, and both have a tendency to look away from feelings that cause unrest to their hearts - anxiety for Sakura, love for Kaito.

Syaoran, always attentive and observant towards his girlfriend, notices immediately that Sakura is suffering, as soon as he sees her at school. Despite being unable to touch her to comfort her, he offers all of himself to support and listen to her concerns. Sakura is visibly and pleasantly surprised of how the boy could read behind her mask, that usual contrived smile with which she tries to dissimulate her emotions and not make him worry. A bad habit she's consolidated lately, but that Syaoran is gently determined to dismantle. After opening up with him (and this is where Sakura differs from Kaito - by having an established relationship made of love and trust with Syaoran, Sakura lowers her walls with him), she falls once again into the usual trap of "but maybe it's just my imagination" and I love to see how Syaoran is her anchor to the ground, making her see the concreteness of this situation: he straight up tells her "you produced a Card out of it, it cannot be 'just your imagination'. " And then, like a precious family gift, he passes on to her the priceless words of wisdom of his mother Yelan, an advice that not only Sakura, but also the other "lost soul" of the other paralleling pairing should listen to:

"People with magical power should never ignore the turmoil and stirring in their hearts, the so-called 'intuition'. And it’s not limited to people with magical powers. People should never avert their eyes from the changes in their heart."

This is a turning point for Sakura. These words seem to positively "break" something inside of her, showing her the correct path to follow. CLAMP beautifully portray this process of "embracing and assimilating" the words she's just heard, by making her place her hand over her heart. I love when they do that (they used the same visual when Akiho heard Kaito's true name, and 'wrote it' on the most important page of the book of her life). Sakura is truly grateful for the words Syaoran relayed to her, precisely what she needed to get out of her impasse with her feelings and magic. She knows she can always count on the support of her soulmate even in the darkest moments, and she's thankful for having him in her life.

From this moment onwards, Sakura will experience several instances where her magical premonitory senses give her signals through the "stirring" of her heart. Contrarily to before, she starts to actively take them seriously, listening, without dismissing them as the delirium of an anxious little girl. This allows her to activate the Siege Card in the fraction of a second, successfully shielding herself from Kaito's time magic, making her the first person ever who achieved that. This also leads her to effectively remember that she saw Kaito using magic, even when time was rewound by him, and contact immediately Syaoran to talk about it, planning how to move from that moment onwards. A little relapse on her bad habit is immediately dispelled by Syaoran, and our girl even goes as far as saying "there's something inside Akiho", even though she's not sure exactly why she's feeling that way. But it's an intuition she's having and she decides to not dismiss it anymore, with everyone trusting and supporting her in that direction. By listening more and better to what her heart tells her, Sakura also decides to not confront Akiho about Kaito and his magic, because she's well aware of the feelings Akiho got for Kaito and she doesn't want to potentially disrupt their relationship. So, she decides to wait for her friend to talk about it first.

Thanks to this better understanding of her own intuition, she also says in chapter 57 that she wants to meet the guardian of the book "Alice in Clockland" once more, despite not remembering if and when she's met her before. This also ultimately leads her to accept the role of Alice in the upcoming play scripted by her friend Naoko, because her sixth sense tells her that it's inevitable for her to do so. It's important to emphasize how the other characters support and encourage her to listen to her innate gift, at this point, without trampling over her self-determination like they did before.

It is a moment of big growth and character development for everyone.

The Ultimate Growth: Finding a Meaning and a Purpose

What happens afterwards is history: the fateful "Alice in Clockland" play unfolds, and Kaito completes his plan to push Sakura to create the Card he needs, exchanging his magic artifact (the watch) with Akiho's one (the book), in addition to activating the forbidden magic to rewrite the memories of everyone, to fit Akiho as part of Sakura's family.

Sakura's intuition will be crucial to wake her true self up while in Clockland, succeeding in beating Kaito's magic multiple times, till Syaoran comes in and gives the "final blow", cutting off the spell definitively.

And even when everything seems lost because Kaito successfully activated the fobidden magic, changing their memories and erasing himself from their existence, Sakura's magic and sixth sense keep making her say things she either already said or heard before in the "unrewritten world". Not only that, but even after meeting Lilie in a dream and forgetting her face (due to the strong influence of the forbidden spell), bit and pieces of that conversation keep coming back to her, and she listens dutifully to every single one of these "feelings". Kaito might have overridden part of their memories (only the ones concerning him, Akiho and the events connected to the creation of the Cards), but the experience, feelings and personal growth of each character were left untouched, that's why the chemistry between Sakura and Syaoran is the same as before the play started, but also Sakura's personal relationship with her magic is far better than before (an information that might have seemed random and unimportant is that now Sakura summons Mirror even just to chat, an indication of her completely changed perspective on her magic).

Now that Sakura finally embraced her magical power, all that's left for her is to find a true purpose for it.

A question echoes in my mind, "What am I creating these Cards for?". Sakura poses herself this question halfway through the story, and she finds the answer to it precisely at the end of the journey.

Her powerful magic intuition, combined with her immense empathy, leads her to realize that somebody is missing from their reality, and that person is the one Akiho loves. At this point Sakura is unstoppable: she wants to listen to the voice in her heart that's screaming "Go and help them!! Give the true happiness back to Akiho!", and everyone can only follow her lead as she assertively puts into practice what her heart is telling her to do.

Sakura in this final part of the story shines brighter than ever. She's more assertive and self-confident than ever. All of this is because there's something she strongly wants to do with her innate gift, as Eriol unequivocally says in chapter 75: her power grows exponentially again, but this time it's not out of her control - it is Sakura herself who's voluntarily boosting it, thanks to her strong wish. And that allows her to control it and use it exactly as she wants.

In chapter 79 her growth reaches the highest peak, by handling the resolution of Akiho and Kaito's personal problems in an admirable way (she steps aside for a moment to give Akiho all the agency she needed), but also finding herself in front of an uncomfortable dilemma, which leads her to an unavoidable reality: Sakura quickly understands that she cannot be on everyone's side and there are lines to be drawn at some point. She can't be a pure and oblivious girl forever. She needs to grow up. There are choices to be made, especially when dealing with real evil people.

And Sakura choses to go on with the people she loves, even if that means she has to "stain" her "moral record" a little bit.

Empowered by this strong wish to fix the situation, she literally gives life to a miracle, protecting her dear friend and her beloved from the grasp of their abusers, simultanously giving everyone their true memories back. The effort exerts her greatly, but what she achieved is by far the most important thing she's ever done with her magic power till now: she helped two dear people lost in a life-and-death situation. Her magical growth went along with her personal, mental one.

This is also the reason why the accusations of "the other magicians should've trained her" end up being in vain: Sakura's problem with her powers was mainly on a personal level, not on a technical one. This was a journey she had to mainly walk by herself, finding the right balance and confidence in her abilities, deep down in her heart.

No one could've done that for her.

Merely training the practical aspect of it would've just worsened the situation, because Sakura wouldn't have been truly "in it" with her heart and mind. She needed to go through this process of growth, before reaching this stage of self-awareness in relation to her magic powers. I truly feel this is the reason why CLAMP made certain choices inside this story. Again, as I always say, a good part of Cardcaptor Sakura does revolve around magic, but the main focus and linchpin of this story is and always will be the main character's heart, her growth and the interpersonal relationships with her loved ones.

This makes Clear Card Arc, in my opinion, a worthy sequel and a full-fledged part of the Cardcaptor Sakura series. I think those who decide to skip it or read it with a superficial approach miss a journey of tremendous growth for our beloved protagonist.

So much for those who kept saying "This is not Sakura's story".

How can all that ☝️ NOT be Sakura's story?

I'll let you judge. 😊

Extra: The Significance of the Clear Cards

I want to digress for a moment about a thorny topic: the significance of the Clear Cards in this story.

Sakura isn't always completely passive towards the events happening around her, but wonders several times during the story why all those Cards are manifesting like that. While the first and easiest answer is of course "because her powers are going out of control" (and this is something Momo herself questions Sakura about in chapter 50), it becomes apparent at some point that the more the story goes on, the more the Cards that are created by her are particularly relevant and connected to the events that will happen in the final part of the story.

I know this is a sore spot for many who complain about not understanding the purpose of the Clear cards. It's because people tend to compare this set of Cards with the ones Sakura captured previously. That's not the right way to look at them, because their origin and purpose are different and change throughout the story. Forget about the Sakura Cards, even though so many of these "Clear Cards" (which are never called so, not even once, in the story itself, but just "new cards" or "transparent cards") might look so similar in purpose to the previous ones.

First of all, the Clear Cards are an outlet for Sakura to vent in a healthy way her power in excess. Power that if kept inside, untapped and confined in her body, might have unpredictable harmful effects on her (<- probably the grief Yelan foresaw). God bless the Clear Cards for existing and allowing Sakura to vent out these bouts of uncontrolled power in a relatively safe way.

The Cards that Sakura produces in the beginning are sometimes reminiscing of the Sakura Cards, because her power manifests itself basing on Sakura's experiences, feelings, thoughts and wishes. The Sakura Cards are an important part of her life (before Syaoran took them, she literally acted like their "mom", keeping them alive with her power) so it's only normal that the first base for some of these new Cards would be a magic tool that she already knows. In this sense, it becomes easier to understand why many of the "captures" seem so easy, way too easy compared to what a reader would expect from a sequel: the goal of the capture here isn't to make her power and experience in capturing cards grow. She already had 2 arcs to do all of that. The capture of the Cards in this third arc becomes something new and unexpected: a "damage control" of a regrettable situation with Sakura's powers, while she learns to dominate them and enter into harmony with her supernatural abilities. The growth Sakura needs here is mainly a mental one. Performing her magical power aimlessly without having a true connection with it and a true understanding will only exacerbate the problem. This is the reason why, despite having a "capture" element, Clear Card derails from the previous arcs in the purpose of the capture. It's a pity that an element that should've brought freshness to the plot was in many cases received as an actual flaw.

In the beginning, as Sakura's power is completely out of her control, some Cards might look completely random too - they don't look based on Cards, thoughts or wishes (like Appear, Reflect, Action, etc.). But pay attention, because the more the story goes on, the more the Cards begin to become particularly specific to something that shook Sakura's heart in that moment, or referencing events/feelings that will become pivotal to the events Sakura will experience later. Especially regarding Kaito's plan. Many of the later Cards Sakura produces are a direct reflection of the feelings and wishes that Kaito infused in the activation of the forbidden magic, with the creation of "the story for Akiho", the one he wanted to absolutely have a happy ending for. Cards like Repair, Promise, Choice, Kindness, True and False, Synchronization, Rewind....many of them didn't even get to express their magical abilities in a "conventional way" (everyone expected to see Sakura literally activating them like she does with all the others), but it's just because at that point the Cards Sakura is producing are born following her premonitory intuition: thanks to the hints/speeches that those Cards give her in Clockland, Sakura little by little regains consciousness of her true self (it's a pity that many English readers will never realize all the times Sakura was about to "wake up" in Clockland, because the translation didn't respect the change in fonts of the JP text). Sakura wasn't supposed to "use" them in a conventional way (how do you "use" Kindness? You force people to be "kind"? 🤨 and what about Choice??), she was supposed to listen to them and let them guide her towards the truth. This is also the reason why all of these Cards bear the face of her loved ones. Think of them as tarots. Which is, incidentally, another use of the original Clow/Sakura Cards. I am basically sure of this interpretation because the kanji of some of those Cards I mentioned above are brought up during the climax: particularly when Akiho talks to Kaito in chapter 78, she uses two specific verbs, referring to Kindness (慈愛 - a kind of gentle and tender love) when she describes the love and support her family gives her in this rewritten world, and to Choice (選択) when she questions Kaito about his choice to disappear completely from her life. So to summarize, the last Cards Sakura produced "accidentally" weren't accidental at all, but were actually specifically produced by her power in reference to Kaito's plan, to help her finding the way out to a dire situation. This represents a very important indicator in the plot: at that stage of the story, Sakura started to listen more and more to her intuition and her sixth sense, finally quitting her bad habit of downplaying it ("maybe it's just me") but actually giving it credit and taking it seriously, trusting her instinct to lead her in the right direction. And this was, of course, all thanks to the speech Syaoran gave her back in chapter 52. It is also the case of the Rewind Card, which Sakura will ultimately understand the purpose of on her own, at the very end of the series. That's the moment where everything will become clear and make sense to her: "This Card, too...I created it precisely for this moment". The Clear Cards ultimately became the embodiment of her foretelling powers. Which then led to the birth of the first two consciously created Cards, Blank & Remind, which will become so important in the climax.

If we ever get a new arc in the next years, we'll certainly deal with a more mature Sakura, who's more in sync with her magical powers 🩷.

[teecupangel]

cardcaptor sakura au with Desmond as Sakura, Altaïr as Syaoran, Ezio as Kero, Rebecca or Clay as Tomoyo maybe, maybe Ratonhnhaké:ton as Yuki and Shay as Toya?? that'd be interesting! Leonardo would make a great Tomoyo too. oh oh, maybe Kadar as Yuki?? that'd make sense with Altaïr as Syaoran

can't remember if you’ve done something for this idea before!

(I've not done something like this before and we’re going to focus on the first season on this one so no Eriol and his cohorts)

Okay, that’s such a fun cast but hear me out:

Instead of Kero, Ezio should be Desmond’s Tomoyo. He’s rich af and would definitely shower his best friend/second cousin with cute clothes to go along with his miserable life as a sorta magical girl and videotape it. He’d also be shameless in calling how cute and adorable Desmond is. Leonardo can be the older man who makes Ezio’s vague outfit ideas into reality.

Altaïr as Syaoran is so spot on. A total badass with a character development of adorkable.

Kadar being Desmond and Altaïr’s Yuki would be so funny because, this time around, it would be Altaïr having a crush on Kadar. XD

You know what would be fun? If Kadar and Malik are the same ‘person’. Kadar is the Yuki persona while Malik is the Yue persona. And the twist is Altaïr has a crush on Kadar but absolutely thinks Malik is annoying af (although, to be fair, Malik would start to show up during the time that Altaïr’s feelings for Desmond would be developing and Malik is a bit of a dick to Desmond due to him being loyal to the person who created the cards)

Speaking of which… how about Clow Reed is someone like Bayek? Or maybe Basim if you want to go for the ‘is he good? Is he not?’ kind of vibe.

The annoying older brother who cares dynamic between the Kinomoto siblings would be a bit hard to do with Ratonhnhaké:ton and Desmond, unless you want to change it up to cool older brother who shows he cares for his younger brother quietly. Plus, the idea of Kadar and Ratonhnhaké:ton together sounds like a fun pairing.

Haytham can be their father, I guess. He’d be more interesting to add than Bill anyway.

Clay needs to be Kero. Just imagine his snarkiness in all that cute mascot glory XD

[tamaruaart]

The Vengeance AU

Hi y'all- okay so damn, I have been holding this one off for QUITE a while- I've had this idea in my head for a bit but I never made full AU out of it, but before that I guess I should give a "heads up" of sorts?

I already have a post about Zhao's family tree. And there you can see she had two siblings, Mao-Yin and Syaoran (who were actually twins)

Something I try to make clear is that Zhao (As well as Quanshuǐ and Yue) is not only an OC for Lego Monkie Kid, but also for the original Journey to the West book. Though her role is fairly minor. And in her JTTW book version a lot, and I mean a lot of things are different than in LMK.

Like for example in JTTW her orange hair was actually a punishment, while in LMK it's her natural hair color. Or how in JTTW Quanshuǐ was one of Zhao's temple maidens while she was still living with her family. And also in JTTW Mao-Yin and Pangfua (Zhao, Mao-Yin and Syaoran's mother) committed a suicide in a river while in LMK they just kinda disappeared.

(However all of the JTTW lore about Zhao and her family is canon in LMK in this AU)

I'm trying to write LMK!Zhao as if she was an actual LMK character. I'm changing things I think the actual writers would have changed to fit the tone of the show.

One thing to mention in the JTTW version is that Zhao's brother Syaoran was actually killed via homicide by a few soldiers, and there's a lot to say about that but I'm not going to get into it (this is changed in LMK where he's still alive). Anyways, in JTTW he had a child with one of Zhao's late flower maidens who's name was Měi Lán.

The child's name was Yuǎn'ān (far & safe/far from danger). Basically at the end of jttw yadayadayada zhao wukong argue wukong kill zhao yadayadayada yuǎn sad and angy. And that's basically his JTTW lore /j

He's honestly such a minor character I don't think he would appear in LMK at all. He probably wouldn't even be a canon LMK character at that-

But then I was having a brain rot and thought "What if I made an AU where Yuǎn'ān is a canon LMK character and he was a villain trying to kill MK as revenge so that Wukong can feel the pain of having to lose someone so close to him. Because he knows he can't harm Wukong as Wukong is immortal... but MK isn't" ?

And now we're here! So, enough chitter chatter time for Yuǎn'ān!

(He takes after his father. A LOT. Also if you point out how wonky the feet look I'm throwing you into the dumpster)

General Premise:

In the vengeance AU Yuǎn'ān is one of the main villains. In short, word got around about a certain "Monkie Kid" and a certain "White Tiger" heard about it. He could never forgive Sun Wukong for what he did, but even then he can't do anything to Wukong because he's immortal. Unfortunately, or well, fortunately in Yuǎn's case... The Monkie Kid isn't immortal. Forever grieving the petty loss of his aunt, he sets out to "get rid" of MK, and maybe then Wukong will finally know what it feels like to lose someone oh so dear... Or maybe, just maybe.. he already knows?

Personally:

Yuǎn'ān is... Not exactly an optimist to say the least. He's extremely devoted, salty (this whole ass AU is just him holding a grudge) and a biiiittttttttt passive aggressive. You could say he's a sort of He-Wolf. Also he's a literal copy and paste of his father smh (ironic 'cause he never even met him-).

Not to mention stubborn, oh my god this man listens to no one-

However, deep down he doesn't have the guts to kill someone, like he could definitely injure you (he's got the hunting spirit after all) but not... To exactly murder a person.

Yet, only destiny will determine if he'll end up listening to his gut, or to his head...

Anyways, this is cringe but idc TRIVIA TIME MOTHERFUCKER >:D

Q&As:

How old is he?

Ageless. But mentally I'd say around his early twenties (Maybe 23-24)

Are Quan and Yue also going to be in the AU?

Quanshuǐ doesn't appear in the AU. Yue exists but we don't really see him.

Does Yuǎn have orbs for hands?

No I was just being lazy when I drew him :(

Did his earrings belong to Zhao?

Yeah :)

What are his pronouns and sexuality?

He's demisexual and pan, pronouns are he/him

Any funfacts about his appearance?

He gets his eyes and freckles from Zhao. And his hair is from his father

I don't see his freckl-

LOOK CLOSELY AT HIS FACE AND SHOULDERS.

Are any canon key events and characters changed/removed in the AU? And when does Yuǎn'ān appear?

No. No events nor canon characters are removed. Yuǎn gets foreshadowed sometime during the end of season 2. Then he gets fully revealed in season mid-season 3 and starts his whole "IM GOING TO FUCKING KILL Y-" thing.

Will he be redeemed?

We'll see. (probably-)

Does he have any OC x Canon parings?

For now, no. And honestly I'm not planning on any because I don't exactly see him as the romantic type. I'm open if any of my tumblr friends/moots would be interested in Oc x Oc crackships with him tho, heheh! 👀

Can he also heal like Zhao can?

Eh, I'm still debating but probably not

Will you be posting a lot about this AU?

Probably not a lot. But I'm sure you'll get some content of it from time to time.

Why is he so salty??

That's just the way he was born man 😔

Anyways, yeah! That's basically it, thank you for reading! If you have any questions about this mf feel free to ask :D

Ba-byeeeeeee

[yall-hate-kids-tourney]

Loser Round 2: Meiling Li (Cardcaptor Sakura) vs. Damian Wayne (DC)

Propaganda below the cut

Meiling Li (10):

Meiling is a primary school-aged child who moved to a foreign country where she's still learning the dominant language, does not know anyone besides the people she's staying with, and is routinely involved in dangerous magic battles when she has no magical powers herself. And this is in addition to the fact that she's, y'know, still developing theory of mind because she is 10. Despite all this, she manages to stay mostly upbeat, and is always so determined to be helpful in whatever way she can. Over the course of the series she has a really well-written character arc that sees her gradually developing the confidence to open up to people besides Syaoran, and learning to be more considerate of other people's feelings. Naturally, this all means that the internet hates her for being 'clingy', 'annoying' and 'useless'. She's 10.

Damian Wayne (9-14):

Damian is a kid who was raised as an assassin and because of that when he first appears he has some really messed up ideas of how to prove himself to his father by being aggressive with the criminals they capture and attacking his brother. Because of this people act like he is the most evil character ever and refuse to give him any grace. They make him out to be this awful irredeemable monster who just wants to kill his brother and hurt people. If the fandom isn’t making his out to be The Worst(tm) then they are ignoring his existence all-together. He is a really interesting character who has done some not so great things but he’s grown and learned a lot through various character arcs (as much of an arc as a comic book character can have) and he deserves to be acknowledged for himself and not just as a villain so that people can woobify his brother.

——

HES JUST A LITTLE BABY GUY!!!!! Little baby man raised as an assassin and learning how to be a real person <3. But because he was kind of a dick and also a little stabby early-on, especially to the fandom's main "so sad uwu depressed baby" blorbo (and also he's not white), people treat him like he's satan incarnate

[rcmclachlan]

tease tidbit tuesday

thanks @dadvans for the tag! This comes from Permission Slip, my current WIP prequel to Heritage Site.

Touya lets out a long sigh and looks at the ceiling. "It's… bad."

"Tell me anyway." Tell me how long this has been happening without my knowledge. Tell me if you were thinking of them every time I let you inside me. Tell me their name. Tell me who wrestled your heart away from Tsukishiro Yukito's ghost. Tell me who I must concede defeat to. You owe me this, Yue thinks viciously, which is unfair but feels justified.

Kinomoto Touya has always been brave, far more than anyone ever gave him credit for until his showdown with Ma Hajime. He inhales deeply, steels his shoulders, and looks Yue right in the eye.

"I accidentally invited a fourth grade class from Tomoeda Elementary here for a field trip."

The first time Yue had ever seen a television set was when Sakura was still just a girl. She had been looking for a way to watch family movies and needed an older television to connect to the ancient contraption the movies had been filmed on. There was one in the attic her father had held onto from his first year of marriage to Nadeshiko, and it took Sakura, Touya, their father, Daidouji Tomoyo, and two of Syaoran's horrible sisters to figure out how to run it. When they first turned it on, the television produced a jarring sound that had Yue reaching for a blade, as well as a million shifting black and white dots that Touya called "snow."

That awful, jagged sound is all Yue can hear as he stares at Touya.

Touya stares back, then throws the match by averting his gaze to the floor. He rubs the back of his neck with a sheepish grimace, looking as if every word is being pulled out of him with rope. "Uh, they're coming Friday."

Stunned, Yue looks down at the stretched-out magic of the syzygy tide on his workshop table and, with mounting horror, says, "I would have vastly preferred infidelity to this."

"Yeah, I know," Touya grumbles, then blinks. "Wait, you what?"

Tagging @ataraxetta, @sonatine, @alchemyalice, @stitchyblogs, @lemonistas, and @itsevidentvery

[pennysperfectpolls]

Adoption poll round 1 match 20

Dimitri alexandre blaiddyd (Fire emblem)

Angela (Lobotomy Corporation/ Library Of Ruina)

Syaoran Li (Cardcaptor Sakura)

Only one will move on

Propaganda under the cut

Dimitri alexandre blaiddyd (Fire emblem) Propaganda

His father died horribly in front of him and haunts him the rest of his miserable life. Later he finds out his stepmother who he loved was a part of the plot to kill his father. She also haunts him. His step sister who doesn’t know she is his step sister invades his country and one of them kills the other(it can go either way). He doesn’t even remember his mother.

——————

He literally goes delusional and mad if you don’t pick him. He dies in all other routes whether it be speared to death by many soldiers after a big battle that killed some of his friends trying to chase down the one who he thinks caused the Tragedy that killed his whole family or being killed by said person and watching his professor, the one he thought he could trust side with the one he absolutely hates. He has massive survivors guilt and is being haunted by his loved ones asking for revenge. EVEN IN HIS ROUTE HE IS DELUSIONAL UNTIL YOU (the professor) HELP HIM AFTER HE JUST LOST ANOTHER ONE OF HIS CLOSE LOVED ONE WHO SACRIFICED THEMSELVES FOR HIM FEARING THEY TOO WILL HAUNT HIM AND GETS SCARED YOU WILL HAUNT HIM TOO. He needs a hug and needs someone to pull him from his spiral downward.

Pollrunner note: look at him he’s so sad

Angela (Lobotomy Corporation/ Library Of Ruina) Propaganda

she deserves better imo </3

Syaoran Li (Cardcaptor Sakura)

No propaganda given

[hanafubukki]

Card Captor Sakura AU

YN is Sakura and Sebek is Syaoran. Sebek because he has the tsun vibes Syaoran did in the beginning and also as dedicated as him, especially in capturing the cards.

Sebek is also the type to help from the sidelines and fight fairly for the cards. He also loves from the sidelines waiting for YN to notice him.

YN father could be Lilia and brother is Silver.

Silver would be great because, just like Touya, he helps from the sidelines and he cares. He’s always watching and helping out.

Also the funny dynamics between silver and sebek in this situation would be hilarious.

Malleus can be Yukito/Yue. Both YN and Sebek has a crush on him. And just like in the anime, they both move on from that crush.

YN would knit a scarf for Sebek that he cherishes.

Sebek and YN would make each other bears as a symbolism of their love and confession.

That one elevator scene but with Sebek and YN, where he thought he lost them but they were okay and he hugged them.

Silver dresses up as a bear and gives YN a balloon to cheer up his sibling.

Lilia teaching at school but always being there for his kids and and knowing when something is wrong.

Grim can be keroberos. Which is fitting since malleus is yue.

YN dressing up cutely and Sebek having the cutest reactions. Just puffing up red or running away. Until he realizes his feelings.

YN being there and taking care of a sick Sebek.

Just childhood friends to lovers with these two.

[completeoveranalysis]

[3]

Oh this is a DELIGHT.

Lava Lamp re-enacting the beginning of xxxHolic beat for beat. Yuuko's even in the same outfit!

Clamp had a lot of fun with this.

Lava Lamp Guy and his [redacted] mirroring each others steps years apart, except Lava Lamp knew what he was doing and Watanuki did not. 

(Or at least, did not the second time around. The time we’ve seen.)

... Then again if time travel is involved WHO KNOWS. Maybe it's the exact same day. We just don't know!

SEE? SEE THIS IS WHAT I MEAN ABOUT THE CARDCAPTOR SAKURA THING.

BUT ALSO

W H A T

W  H  A  T

Oh my god here we go. 

FIRST CONFIRMED FAMILY NAME: LI

THIS IS LI SYAORAN SON OF LI SYAORAN

(PANICS IN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA)

[askkurofai]

CLAMP, brainstorming for TRC: "Omg what if we designed contradictory characters that make sense!"

Kurogane: Lone wolf family man

Fai: Socially distant extrovert

Sakura: Amnesiac holder of memories

Syaoran: Orphan boy his own father

[harukirai]

Queer history of Final Fantasy

I am replaying all the old final fantasies(mostly psp psone releases), first time with english localization and not the original jp.

Now i get it.

It all make sense now.

I couldn't understand the wave of "why shove the gays in our face" backlash of 16(even though, the non homophobic felt it was lacking since they didn't want to 'push it in yall face'). Like apperantly moat of the implication or straight up fruity moments in the old game was completely removed, or changed to the point of it being a 'silly thing'.

So lets clarify -

*Cecil(iv), your homeboy- an Non-binary (language is the best indication, but yeah i think it was a decision made for both female and male players to be able to relate to them, but yeah funny outcome non the less)

*Bartz(v)- outright bisexual, they didnt even hide it- next person on this list gonna make it make sense.

*faris(v)- an ftm transgender( at least in the original version, i know in some new iterations they scrapped the whole concept, but left it in in others?)- mainly speak about himself with (ore/boku- which is conventionally usally by male speakers), after finding out soem of the cast either use a female pronounce on him, but bartz constantly either avoid it or use male pronounce(or the nonbinary version which is usually reffered to kidz) but yeah, bartz was crushing on faris where he thought he was a cis male and unlike the other guy didnt shy away.

Lets jump a bit to 8-

Irvine(viii)- even though considered very handsome to the point he could get with any girl hed want, was even flirted with by selphie i think i need to remember, but he usually brush it off.

If anything he is either asexual, or gay(its very subtle, but its what called queer coding, and well see that allot from now on cause japan caught up to westerns norm on media)

Quina Quen (ix)- literally, a nonbinary- but i think they kept it in eng as well cause they are not human, but like black mages they have no sex, but unlike black mages they are 'genderless' and dont care for human norms.

Kuja(ix)- either gay/intersex/both.

Look at him.

Seriously that character confused a whole generation sexuality.

Like sephiroth, but unlike sephiroth he also have effeminate mannerisms, and until it was revealed by text it wasnt so obvious.sephiroth in jp have a confusing language because he himself is possed by jenova, so evem though i love this headcanon, sephiroth isnt trans actually.

Auron(x)- ahh yes, your favourite broody guy and probably where im gonna get tons of hate.

Auron is very subtle, but once you notice it its hard to deny.

I think Auron is gay, unlike jecht or braska- he did not have kids, denied arranged marriage, and followed jecht to dream zanarken just to save jecht only son- it was pretty obvious that auron loved jecht. He also loved braska but not as much, and it shows- that for auron it was more than friendship. You can see it with his attitude towards yuna vs tidus- with yuna he is nicer, politer. Liem you act when you babysit your friends /cousins child.

But to tidus, he is a full father figure.In their journey together they grow, and i think if he wasnt the boy of the man he loved he wouldn't treat tidus as his own. With all the scoldinngs in mind.

Paine(X-2)- qlmost forgot her, but yeah she's pretty gay for riku

I dont remember much though because if the mission structure of the game.

Larsa(xii) - ohh i see you boy, i see u. He is sus as hell. He is a kid so its pretty innocent(and relatable to us queer kidz)

Its pretty obvios that he is crushing on basch, innocently though. I know some ppl who shipped him with penelo, but canonically by spinoffs at least she and vann are an item.

Also they made sure it was obvious cause japan have this thing that a young character is crushing on a teacher,mentor , older characters in general(aka cc sakura- her friend crushing on a teacher, syaoran & sakura crushing on yukito, also happens in tons of pop culture media at that time, so im not surprised, but im happy this time its one sided, THANK GOD)

But yeah if you reached the ending its pretty obvious.

Fang & vanille(xiii)- the first lesbians couple! Terra(VI) was supposed to be the first but they were afraid it will make her less marketable so they scrapped her gf. They made them clear, but at the same time they tried to make sure pple wont be fetishizing them(they tried, at least).

I want to explain their story more but i think ill mess it up since i tend to mix up 13's lacie, falcie and all that jazz.

So ill just say that basically there are 2 world in 13, pulse and cacoon. Pulse is basically earth and cacoon is the moon. There is a god for each world called a falcie.

Few of them but ine for each major ones. Our main gand from cacoon, branded by a falcie to be slaves(lacie) vanille and fang are from pulse, and slaves of pulse lacie, so basically they are with the task of creating Ragnarok which is like the end of time and but limw they dont know cause the gods in this game is like 'yeah imma give you a mission but wont tell you beside weird non undersandable feaver dream and you need to figure out and fast or youll become this universe version of zombie, and if you do complete it you become a ceystal living forever but like, sleeping beauty style. So lose lose situation.

The focus of them both is different from the gang, caus the falcie of cacoon is evil so he gove them focus destroying cocoon while if fang& vannile mannaged to ruin that falcie and bring ragnarok theyll become a crystal, and they used it to save coccon from falling and crushing killing all the people in it, basically became a pillar in eternal sleep when they hheld each other.

But they are saved in later game only to... Lightning return which we wont talk about cause i hate timers.

I love the story of xiii, big part of it is vanille & fang, i havent played in english yet, but i will say, their story is one of the more meaningful on this list, very well developed and i will do it disservice if id try to explain it in few sentences - so do yourself a favour and play or watch the playthrough.

Ignis& gladio(xv)- here is when localization ruimed it. I know cause i palyed on jp dub with eng sub and heard the differences live- first of all gladio and ignis are completely different in jp, as individuals and as a pair- they were supposed to be the first dion& terrence moment, but it got scrapped and they went the vannile& fang route, only that bec they are men, the localization team missed the mark.

Gladio got pissed at noctis in the train because of ignis.

In jp its clear their bond is beyond friends, and not mention the fact that their AI is always stuck together, and that gladio isnt a womenizer in jp at all, and there is no fiancee/girlfriend.

In jp he said suggested there is someone he wants to be with but bec of the state of the world and them both being constantly in the battlefront he couldnt ask.

(and ignis clear his throat when everyone is like oh great, very subtle but it was leading to that)

Every stop of the train or erea post blindness gladio was with ignis not leaving him .

Also tabata san also said that they are more than friends. So there's that too.

But its no secret 15 localization is tereible, the massacared prompto, he is so cringy in english, in jp yeah he is funny but like he says more stuff then random pop colture references, he breaks the 4th wall occasionally but not on the same level of the localization. Also, jp noctis is a little shit because he can and will, in localization he is more relatable while ignos and gladio are kimda mean. In jp its the other way around and up until chap 13 (when he is alone) noctis is a bratt. He has some moments when he is nicer, but when struggle shows he is a bratt about it- and its done purposely since he is a spoiled pronce who never done anything alone in his life.

Thats why in chap 13 he has a change of heart, because he was alone and learned to appriciate his friends when he was stuck alone in the dark with no weapons and i think it was a good call storytelling wise, but yeah the english localzation ruined it and made the whole chapter pointless .

Those are the implied/canon gays of final fantasy up to 15(we got a kiss so its obvious).

The series has always been kinda Fruity and i know some of yall will be like, 'but there's no proof'. Well, japanese speakers(who arent homophobic at least) will agree with me that we tend in media that is not specified like BL or GL to make things subtle. So what in the west is called 'queer coding' is very common in japanese media and it comes in way more shape and forms.usually implied with a desper conncetion relationship or linguistics.its funny cause in the 80's and very early 90's gay pple wasnt hidden in jp pop culture (no kisses or anything but it was straight out told to the viewer/player)

And only later 90's there was a trend of removing us completely from the media, but around that time a specific genre was created so it wasn't out completely.(like yaoi/yuri as erotic mangas existed aince the 80's but usually only love stories or main gay characters were mixed in with the straight media, kimda like what netflix does today, but around 96, 97 the shounen ai and shoujo ai genres rose in popularity(mainly cause of clamp) and things got seperated. In games- because it became a bigger deal in the west square took caution with how clear they gonna make stiff not to piss of the christians after the backlash of Pokemon (idk how it was really but through japanese media and news it seemed at the times that the american patents were pissed so game companies started sensoring their games from all things might piss off christians/monotheistics ).

*also i dont live in japan but i am mixed so i grew in a jp speaking house and family from there always sent games on holidays and birthdays+nhk was always running in the backround to check on the motherland😂

[fandomrouletteburrito]

Thinking about how in Tsubasa after reading the entire story how it changes how you feel about all the arcs. Spoilers for the ending and Nirai Kanai and xxxHolic below

There is no happiness in the way the arcs end especially once they reach Tokyo end, there is a sense of completeness but never like: ah yes we are happy now.

The best they get is a sense of satisfaction at having reached the goal and saving people but you know the final goal could potentially take decades and is seemingly endless and that is daunting for the cast.

And once shit starts hitting the fan theres nothing but tragedy after tragedy, the loss of Syaoran, Fai’s near death, Sakura’s loneliness and powerlessness, Kurogane’s anxiety for the other shoe to drop, the ENTIRETY OF CELES, knowing theyre all trying to cope as best as they can but every world they’ve visited since Tokyo has only faced a massacre in Clone!Syaoran’s wake and how traumatizing it is and the pain of knowing he would never do it if he was in control. Not to mention Clone!Syaoran’s inner conflict of knowing deep down he loves Sakura but despite the soul he made it takes losing her WATCHING her DIE to finally bring him to the front however briefly it is.

And in the final end, Clone!Sakura and Clone!Syaoran remain in a state of limbo, kind of dead if we’re being brutally honest.

Like Tsubasa isn’t a story of a happy ending, it’s literally just coping with tragedy and loss. And I think this is what makes me love it so much, that yes all four survived but the cost was two main characters. Its not a satisfying ending, its just tragic, after suffering so much and setting everything right and even being able to live in the original timeline, the two beings that helped them survive this long don’t get to be in this happy ending. Syaoran sacrified his parents, his childhood, his freedom, his time, his chance at a normal life and he still doesn’t get to be with his Sakura all the time. Clone! Syaoran himself said there was a timeline where Sakura and Syaorn can never be together and the knowledge that there was going to be an even worse timeline is so horrific after all that suffering…

And if we want to get into Nirai Kanai, I think this is the only part of Tsubasa I outright sobbed, the cruelty of Syaoran SEEING Clone!Syaoran or his father and needing to FIGHT him and him STAYING DEAD, was so painful. How much Syaoran didn’t want to do it but he had no choice. Not to mention Watanuki had to do the same with Yuuko to help Syaoran(they really do be the same person huh?)

[mikoriin]

Drunken Nights (SyaoSaku NSFW Fic)

so this is actually a couple years old by now, but its a bit i want to insert into my syaosaku fic 'Love Will Be Ours' which you can read here on ao3. i dont know when this would happen, but i felt it in my bones one day back in 2020 and wrote this. its been revised since then, but i hope you all enjoy all the same!

---------

Drunken Nights (read on ao3)

Pairing: Syaoran Li and Sakura Kinomoto

Media: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle

Rating: 18+

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, First Time

Sakura has just been coronated Queen of Clow, promising she will lead her people into a new day where war no longer touches their country's soil, and so the kingdom held a huge party to celebrate their new queen. After celebrating hard, Syaoran leads Sakura to her chambers for the night, however, this time, she asks him to stay with her. Feeling like it would be a betrayal to himself if he said no, Syaoran enters his queen's chambers with her and they find themselves entangled in each other.

---------

The coronation party was a success. Everyone was dancing, singing, and laughing, drinking to their hearts’ content celebrating the newly crowned queen of Clow. Their armies had pushed back the Celecian troops and the war was going in their favor for the first time. Everyone important attended the party, from dukes and duchesses to the members of the royal court. The only person missing was Yukito, though he had given Sakura his blessings and good word to her the previous day. Even Fei Wong was there for a bit, though Sakura found that he soon disappeared as things started getting especially lively. 

The thing that surprised the queen the most, however, was just how much Syaoran let loose. She watched him open up to Ryuuoh and Tomoyo, laughing and cheering in a way she had never seen. It warmed her heart. She hadn’t felt as giddy as she did at the party than she had before Touya passed away. It was a nice change of pace from all the politics consuming her life. Now, however,  it was late into the evening and Sakura had excused herself to her chambers as the ambassadors and court members drank themselves sick. 

Snickers and giggles echoed in the empty halls of the palace, music just barely audible in the queen’s ears. Her vision was fuzzy and her stomach swirled with butterflies as she held Syaoran’s hand heading to her chambers, just as the two of them would do any other night. Though tonight, the hand-holding was new. 

“Mr. Fai and Mr. Kurogane were so funny tonight.” Sakura said, swaying their hands between them as they walked side by side. “They’re such a duo.”

Syaoran smiled, “Mr. Kurogane is very strong. He seems indifferent or even cold at times, but he cares. He’s very kind, which is another form of strength.”

Sakura felt her heart swell with glee watching Syaoran talk about someone he loved so dearly. She tightened her grip on his hand.

“And you know, he’s never been easy on me, but he’s taken care of me. Ever since my father died, Mr. Kurogane took me in, even when he didn’t have to. There was no benefit for him, undertaking an inexperienced teeanger with no home or direction.” He continued, a genuine smile painted across his face. “He’s a good man.” 

“Mr. Fai is a lot like Mr. Kurogane.” Sakura chimed in. “His attitude is the complete opposite, always joking and laughing. But, at times he seems like he’s in a faraway world. Like he’s dealing with great pain all by himself.”

She clutched her chest, remembering the way she had been coping with her own pain. Shaking her head, thus ridding the thoughts from her mind, she focused back on Fai. “Despite his pain, I think he’s a good man.”

Syaoran listened to her, just as she had listened to him, feeling warmth seeing her talk about someone she cared about so dearly. Eventually they reached the doors to Sakura’s room, the giddy feeling of being together fading, the sad goodbyes of sleep separating them. Sakura opened the large doors, opening the space into her private quarters. Syaoran began to pull his hand away from hers, but Sakura only held on. 

“Your Highness?” He asked.

Sakura stared at the floor. She didn’t want him to go, but she knew it was time to say goodnight. Biting her lip, she trembled, forcing herself to speak her heart’s true desire. “Stay…”

Syaoran blushed at her request, feeling the butterflies dance around his stomach once again. “Your Highness, I…”

“Please.” She looked him in the eyes now, her face beat red and her eyes screaming for a place to hide, yet she stood her ground.

The knight grew soft at the image of her before him, pleading for him to stay the night with her. How could he say no? He nodded, feeling like it would break every bone in his body to refuse her. Sakura beamed at his answer, leading him into her bedroom. He took in the space he had never seen before, Sakura noticing his head turning every which way. Shutting the door behind her, the queen took her place by his side. Her body trembled as she stood next to him awkwardly. He was actually in her room, in her private quarters where only Tomoyo and her own family had previously entered. 

“Your Highness?” Syaoran asked from beside her, noticing her fidgeting. 

Sakura jumped hearing his voice, she was so nervous she didn’t know what to do with herself. “S-sorry...I know I asked you to come in, but now I’m feeling really nervous.” Her cheeks grew hot.

“Do you want me to leave?” He asked.

Sakura shook her head, grabbing onto his sleeve. “No. I’m nervous, but I’d rather have you with me.”

Syaoran smiled. He felt the same. He took her hand in his and brought it to his lips. “If the queen wishes for me to stay with her through the night, then I will do so.”

Sakura’s whole face turned bright red at this. Her eyes darted from the floor to the ceiling. Syaoran then realized what he did, and blushed himself, letting go of her hand. “I-I’m sorry.” He sputtered out. 

The two stood there in silence for a moment, before turning to each other and speaking. 

“I-” 

“We should-”

They spoke at the same time, cutting each other off. They tried again; 

“Maybe-”

“I think-”

Cut off once again. They looked at each other for a moment before bursting out into laughter. This cleared the awkward vibe between them, the both of them gradually becoming comfortable in the shared space. Sakura took a step toward him, closing the gap between them. She gripped his shirt gently, not looking him in the face. “When my brother died...I felt so cold and empty.” She started, her voice a little shaky. 

“Sakura…” Syaoran started, but Sakura hushed him. 

“It’s okay. I’m okay. Because I’m with you.” She looked up into his amber eyes. “When I’m with you, my sadness, loneliness, and anger all seem to fade away. Touya is still on my mind, and sometimes I’ve even tried to push him out. But when I’m with you, Syaoran, I feel like I can properly say goodbye. And he wouldn’t be angry at me for it, because I know he’s ready to go. And I’m ready to rule my kingdom as a queen Clow deserves.” 

Letting go of his shirt, Sakura took his large hand in hers. “And I would like you to stay by my side.” 

Syaoran looked at her wide eyed. He could feel his chest swell and the butterflies dance around his stomach once again. He looked into her jade eyes, seeing every emotion she was feeling in them. He smiled and leaned his forehead onto hers, bringing his pinky finger up between them. “It’s a promise.” He said. 

Sakura blushed at being so close. She brought her pinky to his, locking their fingers together, sealing the oath between them. They stared into each other’s eyes for a long time, feeling everything at once. Then, Sakura did something neither of them expected, bringing her face closer and closer to his until their lips touched. It lasted only a second, but it was soft and tender. Sakura must have realized what she had done, the panic showing on her face. 

“I’m...I’m so-” Sakura stuttered, not able to finish her sentence. 

Syaoran brought a gentle hand to caress her cheek, cupping her white face in his large palm. He brought his face closer to hers now, their lips brought back together. The kiss was gentle, soft, and warm. He broke the kiss, looking at Sakura again. They stared into each other, the sound of their heartbeats the only thing to be heard. They came closer once again, melting into each other as they kissed. Sakura wrapped her arms around Syaoran’s neck as he cupped her lower back, pressing her entire body against his. 

Sakura moaned slightly into his mouth, the sound driving him crazy. He parted their lips, breathing heavily. Sakura’s eyes were slit open, a hazy look on her face. He bit his lip looking at her, his cheeks changing in color. She was too cute, he wanted her to be his, he wanted all of her. He kissed her again, then her cheek, her eye, and moved to her ear. Sakura yelped at the contact. Syaoran quickly retracted his head. “I’m so sorry! Was that too much?” He asked frantically.

Sakura shook her head. “I’m sorry, I was just surprised.” She ran her fingers through his shaggy hair. “If it’s you, Syaoran, you can kiss me anywhere.”

Syaoran’s heart almost burst out of his chest hearing those words. He wanted to kiss anywhere and everywhere. Wanting to hold her and be one with her. Every bone in his body was screaming at him that this was wrong, that they shouldn't be doing something like this, but at the same time he didn’t care. Maybe it was the wine, maybe it was the simultaneous beating of their hearts, or maybe it was the fact that he was giving in to a long time desire. Syaoran leaned back into her skin, kissing on her lips again ever so gently. He couldn’t get enough of them, the way they molded into his, their softness, their glossy shine when he pulled away. 

Syaoran continued to kiss her, Sakura accepting every one. He moved down to her neck, kissing along her throat, her collarbone, and her shoulders. 

 “Syaoran…” Sakura whispered in a small voice, her vulnerability so loud in that little tone. 

This was like flicking a switch in Syaoran’s brain. He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back gently against the wall. He kissed her again, but this time his tongue slid between the folds of Sakura’s lips. She was surprised at first, but Sakura quickly melted back into the sensation of her knight, allowing their tongues to touch and swirl around each other. She felt her legs shake, her hands gripping the sleeves of Syaoran’s white shirt. Syaoran cupped her face as they kissed, the passionate heat of the moment making a lewd voice leave Sakura’s throat. 

Syaoran pulled away quickly, his face completely red. He looked at Sakura’s face in a complete flush, the queen herself covering her mouth. She seemed so embarrassed, but Syaoran was the one who was feeling shame. He had gotten that out of her, and now after hearing it he felt a fire in his lower abdomen. He pulled back, putting distance between the two of them.

“Syaoran?” Sakura asked, a little nervous that she had scared him away.

Syaoran blushed deeply and stood awkwardly to try and hide the very obvious bulge in his pants. He felt so ashamed that he would think dirty thoughts about his queen, the one he has sworn his life to. Sakura seemed to notice because a quiet oh filled their silence. 

Sakura bit her lip. She was also feeling something she wasn’t used to. Sure, she had felt it before, and had even had nights where it wouldn't go away until she took care of it. But this feeling was different and intense . She wanted him. But she had never been so intimate with anyone before, and she certainly didn’t want to force herself on him. Sakura looked back up at her knight, realizing he was doing the same as she. She thought about the way he kissed her, soft and slow, deep and passionate. He wanted her too. 

She took a step closer to him, closing the gap between them. She took his face in her hands and pulled him down to meet her lips, kissing him hard.

“Your Highness, we…” Syaoran gasped once their lips parted, his voice a hoarse whisper. 

Sakura kissed him again, this time soft and slow. She pushed him back until he was resting on the wall opposite the side she came from. Parting their lips, she looked at him with glossy eyes. “It’s okay. We’re okay. If it’s us, there’s no wrong answer.” She said,

Syaoran bit his lip, but the look in her eyes swayed him. He nodded and leaned in for another kiss. Sakura accepted it, their tongues clashing again. She let her hands wander now, down his neck to his chest, and down his abdomen. Syaoran flinched when she reached his groin. She cupped the hard bulge in his pants, a moan escaping the knight despite his best efforts. Hearing such a noise come from her beloved made Sakura’s legs weak, feeling a pulsating sensation between her thighs. She grazed her hand over the bulge, tucking her fingers between his pants and his hips. Unbuttoning his front, she shimmied the pants down his hips. His dick sprung out once it was free, the cool air from the room touching his sensitive skin, making Syaoran shiver. 

Sakura took in a breath upon seeing it for the first time. She had never seen one in person before, only read about them and seen them in anatomy studies, and now she was looking at her special person’s. She looked at Syaoran, his face was beat red and his breathing was rigid. He looked at her then, their eyes meeting. Sakura began to gently run her hand up and down the base of his dick. This made the knight moan. Sakura almost squealed at hearing such a noise coming from him, it made her feel a strange sense of pride and embarrassment at the same time. She kissed him, her hand still stroking his shaft. Syaoran practically drooled at the contact, letting his noises into her mouth.

Sakura was going to go crazy, he was being so vocal, something she hadn’t expected, and it turned her on. She broke their kiss, leaning her forehead on his shoulder, her free hand traveling in between her thighs. Her fingers pressed into her dress, running circles into her clit. She moaned now, letting the lewd sound leave her mouth. Syaoran must have noticed because he went silent and watched her. The queen could feel his erection get harder in her hand, precum leaking from the tip. 

“Sakura…” His low, hoarse voice made Sakura want to touch herself more.

Syaoran then grabbed her hands with his, bringing her sticky hand to his lips and kissing her fingers, a sight that could’ve made Sakura explode. He stared at her with fiery eyes, a look he had never given her before, and began to lead her to her bed. He gently pushed her down onto her soft, silk sheets, laying on top of her and kissing her once again. Sakura wrapped her arms around him, pressing her tongue into his mouth. She felt herself tingle and become even more wet as the time went on. 

The knight broke the kiss, leaving Sakura whining. She felt embarrassed, but felt that her entire body wanted him, needed him. Syaoran kissed down her chin and neck, her collarbone and the top of her chest. He pulled the top of her dress down to reveal those little, plump breasts. Bringing his large hands to touch the soft skin around her nipple, squeezing a bit. Sakura breathed heavily watching him play with her bosom, throwing her head back when he pinched her pink nipple.

“Ah~” She moaned.

Syaoran continued to touch her breasts, bringing his tongue to caress the hard flesh that seemed to be asking for his attention. Sakura mewed at the sensation, feeling the flesh between her thighs pulsate, screaming and begging to be touched. “Syaoran...please..” She cried.

The knight took his cue, snaking his arms around Sakura’s thighs and up her dress. He grazed his gentle hand up her leg, finding the fabric of her panties. Sliding soft fingers between her skin and the underwear, Syaoran pulled his queen’s panties down and off her legs, tossing them to the side. He propped her up on the bed more, placing her legs over his shoulders. Sakura was breathing heavily with anticipation, her body trembling as her fingers wrapped around the skirt of her silky dress. She almost moaned just from the feeling of the fabric caressing her creamy skin.

Syaoran slid his head down her thighs, taking in her aroma. Taking in her scent was like awakening a beast inside him, he wanted to devour every inch of her.

Then, his attention fixated on a small little mark on her inner thigh. It was a fleshy pink color, standing out among her otherwise porcelain skin. He focused on it for a moment, only taking his mind off of it when Sakura asked if anything was wrong. “Syaoran?” She asked.

He said nothing, but instead buried his head into her thighs, licking the wet flesh. Sakura cried out in pleasure, clenching her thighs around his head. Syaoran began to lick and swirl his tongue between her folds, hearing the girl in his arms moan above him. His mouth left her vulva for a moment, a string of fluid connected his lips to her skin. He then went for her clit, taking the small ball of nerves into his mouth. Sakura cried and whimpered as Syaoran sucked on her and massaged her inner thighs, playing with the squishy flesh in his hand. 

Sakura breathed heavily, feeling his tongue go over her clit a little too roughly. She yelped, “Syaoran, wait wait!”

Syaoran’s head shot up from between her thighs, taking her hand in his. “I’m sorry, was I too rough?” He asked, genuine concern in his voice. 

Taking a second to calm herself down, Sakura gave him the go ahead to continue, with a reminder to be a bit more gentle. Syaoran noted this in his mind, gliding his tongue over her once again. Feeling her legs relax at the sensation of all of her nerves being touched, Sakura brought her legs away from her knight’s head. They stayed like that for a bit, Syaoran tasting every bit of her. Everywhere he licked sent tingles up Skaura’s spine, a fire being lit in her body. Syaoran began to massage her entrance, hearing her moan and whimper made his heart beat with every noise that came out of her mouth. 

“May I?” He asked, prodding her with his finger. 

“Please do.” She breathed out in response, feeling his index finger enter her.

She bit her lip as his slender finger slid inside her, the sensation setting her entire body ablaze. Syaoran brought his mouth back to her clit, licking it gently, watching her responses to his actions. He could feel her loosen around his finger as he licked around her folds.

“May I add another?” He asked, his voice eager.

Sakura agreed, clenching the sheets of her bed when he inserted a second finger. He pumped them into her, feeling around to find her sweet spot. She jolted when his finger grazed a certain area inside her, biting her lip so she wouldn’t be too loud. Hearing her response, Syaoran decided he would massage that spot a little more, sending lightning bolts up her body. 

“Syaoran-!” Sakura cried out, feeling pleasure overtake her body.

Syaoran gently licked Sakura’s clit while stroking that spot, Sakura’s squirming under him. Her body began to shake and her hips were grinding against his mouth. She let out little moans, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She never thought something could feel this good, and felt like she was going to explode, the spot between her thighs becoming drenched in her own fluids. Syaoran moaned against her, sending vibrations along the folds of her pussy. Sakura moaned into the empty space of the room, her voice echoing off the walls of her chambers, surely if someone were to walk by they would hear her. 

Syaoran laughed a little to himself, feeling confident that he was able to make her feel this way. He continued to finger her, rubbing circles into the spot that seemed to be her favorite, the sound of her moans turning him on. He wanted to touch himself, but pleasing his queen and holding her thighs around his face was much more important. 

“Syaoran, I'm gonna…” Sakura whispered, feeling her body tremble. 

Syaoran used what little time he had left to really pump his fingers into her, watching her to see if this is what pleased her. Sakura moaned, and bucked her hips against his hand which was soaked in her juices. He went for her clit one more time, the notes in his brain reminding him she really liked this spot touched. He swirled his wet tongue over the ball, taking it into his mouth and sucking. This sent Sakura over the edge, and she felt herself cum, calling out her knight’s name. Syaoran took his fingers out of her, licking up her entrance, cleaning up her mess. The queen’s legs were trembling as she threw her arms over her eyes, breathing as if she had just run a marathon. 

Syaoran finally pulled his lips away from her, licking his lips and fingers, making sure to taste her everywhere he touched. Satisfied with his clean up, he brought his head up to meet her eyes, but he found them closed. She had fallen asleep. He smiled, seeing her contented face made his heart warm. Gently, he pulled her legs off of his shoulders and maneuvered around her to pick her up bridal style. She squirmed a bit in his arms, but Syaoran’s touch was gentle and warm as he held her against his body. He carried her to the head of the bed, tucking her into her sheets. She smiled and cuddled her pillow in her sleep. Syaoran knelt down to kiss her on the forehead. 

“Goodnight, my queen.” He whispered, nuzzling his face into her hair before leaving her bedside and her quarters, letting her sleep her drunken haze away. 

[aliceinclockland]

COMPLETELY UNRELATED TO CARDCAPTOR HIGH AU IN THE WORKS (i wake up at literally 1am here for work pls hav mercy) BUT.

IMAGINE CARDCAPTOR CHARACTERS DISCOVER THE ENTIRE CCS MANGA AND READS IT THEMSELVES?

this has been inspired by a twitter post bc that tweet made my rusty brain start working again. thank u to that person (and to cinzia's wonderful drawing of yunaaki 🥺🥺)

okay so what I'm thinking as a backstory is that this is post clear card arc (incl. special chapter).

the Kinomotos are doing some spring cleaning in the Fujitaka library basement and then Sakura discovers these books (im thinking the collectors edition) that has a simple, yet captivating cover... and also happens to be magical?

just by seeing the book, sakura feels a little magic in the book, and what surprised her is that its very faint but she can recognize that it is hers.

she then asks her father about it and he just shrugs, saying that he doesn't remember how, where and when did he get them from. Sakura then asks permission to read the books, and she does.

the two then starts reading the books together, until they finished the first book.

um... actually, she didn't read the book... yet.

she contacted tomoyo, asking her if she published a book about their adventures (just like how tomoyo published the video for the animated series to happen).

tomoyo's response is no, and asked her why did she think she did... well, the cover looks like an uncanny illustration of sakura and her parents in the first serialization (cue the infamous Tomoyo reaction "my!")

few minutes later someone rings the doorbell for the kinomotos and fujitaka was surprised to see tomoyo , as sakura hasn't informed him that she'll come by and visit.

they brought the book to school and made everyone see it in lunchtime. naoko volunteered to read it first and remarks that the illustration looks so much like sakura a day after, and that the book is really good and was drawn well. then chiharu and yamazaki took it home to read and said the same thing naoko said. then it was syaoran's turn.

akiho also was informed about this book and asked kaito whether it was part of the books that went to the kinomoto library when sakura removed the book from kaito's soul— kaito said it was a possibility, and is now as intrigued as akiho and wants to read it themselves.

the question would be: would they be intrigued enough to go back to Tomoeda to borrow the book and examine it?

well, color everyone surprised when they saw sakura walk to school WITH akiho a couple of days after the "book fiasco" (everyone forgot about it very quickly).

they've all made some small talks before class starts, and akiho walks around thr faculty to also do some paperworks while they're still in tomoeda.

kaito on the other hand is bringing their stuff to the hiiragizawa mansion (my canon is that eriol gave them a key so they have a temporary home whenever they wanted to visit— bc he knows they will do so when they have a proper excuse for it + akiho's book collection is still in the "basement", safe and sound).

syaoran then sends kaito a picture of the book— still in his possession, bc he needed more time to read it (in other words he wanted his mother to know if there's anything that's going to cause his girl any harm and wanted to be prepared), kaito immediately recognizes it as one of the books that went to the basement when sakura did the deed. he then facetimes syaoran to confirm the suspicions, but also clarifies that it's not the blank book but rather, the book that was once called "alice in clockland". (i miss momo so momo definitely must have a mention here).

you might be asking, "how the hell can kaito CONFIDENTLY facetime syaoran?" well another headcanon i have is that eriol occasionally calls the two during their world tour, just to check up on them, and give them some advices and guidance on their trip (he— eriol— also reports to sakura about how they are doing). kaito feels uncomfortable answering those calls at first and lets akiho set his phone up so that the two of them will be in view as eriol tells kaito that he needs to get used to modern technology because "you'll need it one day".

also their phones are from the one and only, Tomoyo Daidouji. tomoyo sends them prototypes, with all of the tomoeda people's numbers saved in there. the two actually keep all of the gadgets tomoyo mails to them and akiho enjoys using them everyday that she can.

back to present, kaito explains to syaoran that the clockland book was used to record sakura and akiho's life, so he can cast the spell where he could incorporate akiho seamlessly into sakura's life without anyone "sensing any discrepancies". that explains why the book's characters are much alike from their counterparts in real life, including the physical description, but they're not sharing their real names with the characters.

akiho then comes home to the sight of the two facetiming each other, and said hi to syaoran on the other line. she then did the same but with sakura, and the two just talked about everything (by everything i mean EVERYTHING— sakura telling akiho what she learned in school, what recipes she's been learning, her magical experiences, etc., and akiho tling sakura all of the places she and kaito have visited, what books she have read, the culture of the country where they were, and also showed some sovenirs she got (aside from the books she's currently putting on her library)

they then talked about the book, and how sakura felt that the book was her, but wonders why the character doesn't share the same name as her real life self. akiho then explains how important someone's name is and reminded her that she only told her real name to sakura after everything that went down. they then chatted about what name would be perfect as an "alias" for sakura...

i honestly would've written way more if my brain didn't stop braining just after i wrote the last paragraph smh...

I'm planning to do this as an ao3 series but i still need to work on my wordings and grammar bc i am bye-lingual 🙃

that's it today byeeeee~ see y'all after a few months 😭