#WHAT IS REALITY IN XXXHOLIC

[completeoveranalysis]

[16]

That growth again! I’m so proud!

I’m also so intrigued by what Yuuko is thinking through these moments. She asks him AGAIN if he has a wish for her, and again she seems not to want to ask but does because she has to, even though it might be impossibly costly for him

And how relieved must she feel when he says no - or at least wants to be, but still has to clarify why just to make sure it’s the good version of this refusal

I DONT THINK I HAVE EVER SEEN YUUKO LOOK SURPRISED

THIS IS PHENOMENAL 

THE WONDERS OF THIS TINY EXISTENTIAL BOY WHO STILL WANTS TO HELP HER IF HE CAN

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

OH THIS IS SO CUTE MY HEART

YUUKO JUST OPENLY HUGGING HIM

HELLO DREAM COME TRUE 

this is all I need for now this is better than answers 

Yuuko Ichihara genuinely touched and hugging Watanuki as he tries to help her

GOODNESS WHAT A WILD RIDE THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN 

How much of the blog is just pure caps lock

What have I become 

… what do you mean that’s the end of the volume and I have to buy more

[edenaziraphale]

When I first started reading xxxHolic I always wondered why Yuko lived the way she did- drinking constantly, smoking like a chimney, attitude like she’s got nothing to gain or lose from any of this-

And then as the series is approaching it’s end we find out there really is nothing. She’s dead, she should have died so so long ago and this existence that she’s trapped in is the closest to hell most people are ever going to get. She is lonely and probably in pain, and waiting for the day she knows is coming, the one which will right the wrongs that kept her alive in the first place. Yuko is waiting to finally be allowed to die.

She knows there’s important work to be done first. She knows there will be a beautiful but achingly sad little boy, as lonely as herself, who has to be loved into reality, and that she needs to guide him toward the people who will help him survive, lest he disappear the same moment she does.

But the drinking, the smoking, the drama she can’t help but be blasé about- those are numbing. They’re distractions and they help to pass the time. At least she gets to leave, I thought. I can’t imagine what would happen if this were a stuck-in-a-tower kind of curse.

But we didn’t have to imagine, because we see it.

Watanuki takes up the mantle.

Yuko didn’t anticipate loving this boy. Most of that has been burned out of her by now, too tired to hope for anything but rest.

But she didn’t expect his eyes to be quite that big, that sad. And when she meets him and the power inside of her reaches (without her permission, as it has always been prone to doing) for a glimpse of his future, she’s struck by the sensation of emptiness. Of nothing. An apartment whose tenant the landlord can’t remember. A desk with no child inside. Anger. A boy whose dark eyes search halls for something he doesn’t know or understand. A family name which carries a legacy that Yuko remembers. Yuko worked so hard to will life into Watanuki, spent so long teaching him the selfishness and the tragedy of his own sacrificial self loathing. He didn't need to be a martyr, there was nothing he needed to die for. He was a casualty of a war that had nothing to do with him. She tried, over and over and over, to offer him a way out. I think all the time about how she must have felt knowing that Watanuki took on her imprisonment and compounded it, made it that much more intense, made it that much worse. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. I wonder if it hurt.

[annbourbon]

[[Name]]less

"Names are very important. Names have power. It doesn't matter if it's living or not. Once you give it a name you embodied that person or object. With the same anount of power." Says Yuuko in XxXHolic.

And I'm so sorry it took me so long to remember this quote~~

The irony is that it's not the first time listening to this. So let's delve into your name and why it's important. Especially in magical settings.

But to do that we need to be remembered of The Karmic Laws. Especially these:

You create your reality ~ Interconnection ~ Responsibility ~ Ripple Effect

You create your own reality.

You are chained down by your actions, words, and thoughts.

By now we all are fully aware of the Attraction Law. In truth, this has nothing to do with magic but with the way you are (remember that Karma is nothing but cause~effect) Hence why there's this urgency in curating our own life. To consume media carefully designed to better our lives and not the contrary. However not everyone does this. And even less people pay attention to the way they behave or are around others. We all are self-fulfilling prophecies. But have you ever thought of yourself helpless? That's because you have allowed others to take control and dictate your own reality.

Responsibility

You are responsible for your own happiness. However, you are also allowed to ask for something that it's not happiness. Yes, as strange as it seems, more often than not in our world, we strive for other emotions that are not happiness.

The question is if we're to break the compromise we have towards our own self.

Interconnection & Ripple Effect

No matter how small the problem is, how small the thing is, it always affects the people around you. We are not alone in this world.~ Yuuko Ichihara.

Your actions. Your food. All, from the clothes you wear to the place where you live. The people who bring food to your place and those who spent months cultivating them for you to eat. We are connected.

There's a term called interconnection or interdependence. The more you explore it the more grateful and terrified are of it. Grateful because our bonds are not easily broken. Terrified because of the way we affect others. We hold responsibilities just by existing. When we communicate our worries and fears, or our hopes. These, that are only of our own, end up chaining others as well.

That's why compliments can be complicated to come by sometimes.

To speak too much positivity will lead a person to find themselves as terrified of making mistakes as if you'd scream in disappointment. In both ways, chained.

Wish more of us would wonder about the effects our words have on others. How many people do we affect every day without realizing? How has what escaped from my lips weighed on those people?*

Frightening things, these words. Once they’ve escaped a person lips, they can never be returned. Once heard, they can never be ignored. Still, people throw them out far to lightly, often unaware of the chains they create.~ Ichihara Yuuko.

For another example, Chihiro name was tied to her memories too. Without her name she would have been trapped forever.

And even the name change wasn't fortuitous. Sen [[ 千 · せん ]] means thousand in Japanese. Not exactly subtle when it comes to name changes but the goal is reached anyways~ as the question arises: Are we able to navigate between a sea of thousands of people each day, sharing perspectives, opinions, being tied one to another in more ways than one~ and still keep our identity intact?

After all, names are a symbol. A symbol of our own identity. Tied to our mind. Though a name as Juliet in Shakespeare says, doesn't really matter for in essence a rose keeps smelling equally sweet. The names are in many ways, tied to our emotions and memories. There's a quote that explains it way better than me~

"Names have power, like magic spells. All of the sudden it seemed that her stepmother and stepsisters had indeed transformed her into merely a creature of ash and toil.” ~ Cinderella, live action. (2015)

Now that we have talked about that, we're gonna have to go back to fairies.

Mythology ~ Changelings

A changeling was a substitute left by a supernatural being when kidnapping a human being. Sometimes the changeling was a 'stock' (a piece of wood made magically to resemble the kidnapped human), more often the changeling was a supernatural being made magically to look like the kidnapped human. Supernatural beings blamed for stealing children included fairies, demons, trolls, nereids and many others. Usually, the kidnapped human was a child; but there were cases, particularly in Scandinavia and Ireland, where adults were taken.

Wikipedia

And

It was thought that fairies could only change their weakly and more starveling elves for the more robust offspring of men before baptism. In the Highlands, children used to be watched until the christening was over, lest they should be stolen or changed by the fairies.

Pantheon.org

There are several stories about changeling. Usually those were nothing but ways to explain why certain babies were dying, sick or different, in an autistic way but for the era they used what they could to explain it. And if I'm not mistaken, even though right now I couldn't find it, one of the methods for "having your kid back" was to call it by the name you would have given to before they were taken away. Acknowledging the presence of the changeling. Although other methods were much more bloody and included to torture the changeling. Or to guess for the name of the changeling.

One of the stories, if not about changelings about names and how important they are, it's Rumpelstiltskin.

A character who is presented to us as a mysterious gnomelike man who spins straw into gold for the benefit of a beautiful miller's daughter, in exchange for her future firstborn child.

Britannica.

When the gnome reappears to demand his payment the young woman, now a queen, cries and asks for mercy. He gives her three days to find his real name or he'll take her daughter. In the end she wins of course, and gets to keep the child and that's how we get to now his name is Rumpelstiltskin.

However, by bringing on this story I had another purpose too, as the story of Rumpelstiltskin summarizes in perfection several Karmic Laws:

You create your reality ~ Interconnection ~ Responsibility ~ Ripple Effect ~ Truthfulness

The moral of the story is, “Always tell the truth, and take responsibility of your actions”. If the miller’s daughter (in some variations is the father, but that only adds more weight to our interconnections and the ripple effect these have) had been truthful to the King, she would have never found herself in this situation. However, once she was trapped under the burden of her promise, she had to find her way out of it and honour the deal.

(...) Which is another way to learn never to accept deals from strangers without fully understanding the consequences and expectations.

FirstCry.com

Remember the deals and contracts I told you about in my last posts? Well~ as I said, things tend to connect.

And finally~ how does this ties to the Cheritzverse?

Well, for starters~ it's interesting to notice how the first game (Dandelion) did not allowed us to change the MC name. Her name is Heejung. That's it. However she loses her memories by the end of the game.

And this sets the second game~ Nameless. Making a big deal out of lost memories. And even better~ the game this time allows us to change the protagonist name. While her name is originally still there~ Eri. Now you have the power to change it.

By Mystic Messenger the MC has no name at all. And also, no memories and no eyes. Historically eyes are tied to our soul. To our emotions. I'll talk about this later in another post.

The Ssum not only goes as far as letting us change our own name, but our S.O. name too. And as players, some features are unlocked when you change the names, especially to the RFA members.

In the end, I don't think it's a coincidence the way it's played out. Especially not when we know the Wizard loves to take memories as a method of payment.

⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆* ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆

Links:

* Words are living beings

* Spirited Away

* Wiki - Changelings

* Changelings

* Rumpelstiltskin

* Britannica ~ Rumpelstiltskin

[kimium]

Trick or treat, give me something ficcy to eat! ;D

(From this ask HERE)

Oh my dear Yuki... do I ever have something ficcy for you to eat! You see for you I couldn't just give something small or a snippet. Oh no. I had to go all out. And what better way to do that than to hunt down that old fic of mine you found and revise it a little bit? I mean you SENT ME A PHOTO of it on your computer, and go "Ahaha remember this old crossover fic?" There was no way I couldn't do that.

So as a treat to you (and I guess everyone else) behold my revised (long) snippet of a DMMD/XXXHolic crossover fic that never saw the light of AO3. It's not done and I don't know if I'll actually finish revising the whole thing. At this moment I did it for the ask. Rest is under cut because it's LONG.

Koujaku wasn’t sure how he arrived at the house but something deep inside him told him it was Right.

The day had started out as normal as possible for him which meant he woke up half an hour past his alarm. Several other notifications had appeared including several haircut appointments he’d scheduled for the morning. Beni had chirped and scolded Koujaku for several long minutes despite Koujaku’s frantic attempts to ease his robotic bird’s metaphorical ruffled feathers.

Thankfully, he didn’t arrive late to any of his appointments though the first couple of clients, a grandmother and her granddaughter, commented on his flustered appearance. Several decades of smooth talking helped drift the conversation away from his appearance and onto theirs. A good thing because Koujaku wasn’t certain he could live with the embarrassment of his clients knowing his frantic morning.

Once his morning appointments concluded Koujaku trudged out in search of lunch. His poor fridge only sported a couple apples, a rather sad looking banana, half a carton of juice, and leftover rice. The quest for lunch thankfully was solved by his favourite ramen place but suddenly branched into a grocery store journey.

According to one of his regulars there was an amazing new locally run grocery store that sold tofu to “die for” and produce that was the freshest they’d ever seen. It was a bit out of his normal journey but Koujaku decided he had little else to do that day and an adventure wouldn’t be the worst.

So, here he was on the way to this fabled grocery store when he stumbled upon the house.

The house in question was in a traditional Japanese style house complete with shoji doors, sloped titled roofs, and a frame made entirely of dark wood. Under the hot summer sun, the grain of the wood reflected warm undertones buried within, like it was sealing in amber. A neat smooth stone path guided Koujaku’s gaze in a soft curve allowing him to take in the greenery around the place. It was mostly shrubbery but there was an occasional short stubby tree that both looked like it was getting enough water and not was dying of thirst.

Stepping forwards Koujaku lay his hand on the final piece of the house: the large wooden frame that was connected to tall stone walls around the property. Normally the walls were a slightly common sight in suburban areas that wanted both privacy and sound proofing. However, for this particular house it gave the appearance of wealth. After all the entire estate appeared to be the size of two regular houses smashed together and merged into one full entity.

Intriguing. Was this house always there? Koujaku took a step further inside and examined the front of the house as if there would be some sort of sign to indicate the address. Nothing. Koujaku furrowed his brow before reality hit him over the head.

What the hell was he doing? Here he was waltzing into the middle of someone’s private property. He’d be lucky if all the owner did was yell at him. If the police were called it would add an extra hassle to his schedule.

Taking a step back Koujaku almost turned around when the door to the front opened revealing two children who appeared no older than ten. They were identical in every aspect except in their hair, which was pastel pink and blue respectfully. He jolted and panic welled up in his throat, mixing with several excuses and explanations to why he was randomly standing on the property. All of them sounded horrible and unconvincing and he hadn’t even said anything.

“I- I can explain—” Great now Koujaku had to try explain his presence to children. Hopefully their parents or guardians would arrive and listen to him.

“Welcome to our home!” the pink haired one chirped gleefully, extending a hand as if to welcome him inside.

“Mistress! We have a guest!” the other one with blue hair yelled.

“Uh… wait…”

In a blink the children were suddenly in front of Koujaku. Their hands were tightly gripped around his wrists as they dragged him slowly towards the house. Koujaku did his best to dig his heels into the ground but to his shock the children managed to tug him inside with ease.

Koujaku barely had time to kick off his geta in the genkan before he was dragged down a long hallway towards two large sliding doors. The kids opened it with more force than necessary and shoved Koujaku inside unceremoniously. He stumbled, nearly hitting his head on a low hanging paper lantern, but managed to not fall on his face or ass.

The interior of the room was just as traditional as the exterior with tatami mats, a kotatsu that was fully set up and out of season, several framed pieces of calligraphy that Koujaku believed were lines from poetry, and a low couch.

Draped on the couch in a posture that could only be called lounging was a woman. Her long black hair fell off the arm of the couch in inky waves that complimented her pale skin. The kimono she was wearing was a deep burgundy colour like the colour of wine with several golden butterflies along the sleeves and hem. The obi was also gold and was loosely wrapped around her waist as if she wanted to be comfortable but didn’t want to change. In her hand was a long thin black pipe that billowed thin smoke yet Koujaku couldn’t smell anything.

Koujaku straightened himself up. “Uh, my apologies. You see I—”

The woman lowered the pipe from her lips. “Watanuki! We have a customer! Bring some tea and snacks pronto!”

From beyond a door Koujaku heard a masculine voice yell but he couldn’t make out the words. The woman seemed to be able to as she laughed merrily and took another drag of her pipe before looking at Koujaku. Her eyes were light with mischief yet deep with allure. Koujaku swallowed.

“Welcome to my shop,” she greeted. “I’m Yuko the owner and here we grant wishes.”

[dojae-huh]

dy hater anons, what do you do and feel when ty talks positively about dy, when ty does sth for him, when dy does sth for ty, so on.? keep turning a blind eye and ear to their friendship? assuming it's fake or in denial about it all?

yes, go get mental health support. living in such hatred, over people who don't know you and have never done anything bad to you and people you love including ty, is miserable for sure.

idols aren't perfect personality wise like us all and among them, there must be some conflicts and misunderstandings but this level of denial and delusion is mindboggling.

love can come from denial and delusion too but baseless hate makes you unhappy and harms your mental health. i see no pros from this. are you going to keep living like this, camping on blogs and x accs about people you hate to boot?

It's not love towards Taeyong. Maybe an obsession or fixation.

It's very hard to discuss antis because they come with no background. People from different age classes and from different countries can have various roots to their behaviour. For example, there is the modern notion of "safe space" in NA and belief that others must censor their speech to make a person in distress "feel safe". And the bar for "insult" or "microagression" is continuesly lowered down. To the degree that everything that is not to someone's liking or contradicts their opinion is a "threat".

Regardless. Hateful dirty speech, verbal abuses are a sign of a person not being OK. Happy, satisfied with life and sure of themselves people are filled with joy they want to share having an excess of positive energy. Miserable people and those who hate themselves, on the other hand, look for ways to induce pain, to spread negativity.

There is a wonderful manga xxxHolic. It touches on the Japanese idea of negative emotions, lies, envy, bad deeds turning people into monsters. In the manga it is done in a form of people producing black smoke and attracting bad luck on themselves as a punishment/consequence to balance out their bad energy.

In reality, stress, negative emotions, self-hatred backfire on one's own body in the form of autoimmune illnessess and detoriating health. As well as physical attractiveness. Hateful people look uglier even having good features originally as the face reflects their rotten core.

[iheartsyaosaku]

Clear card pros and cons (that i can remember i need to reread it again)

Pros:

SYAOSAKU DATING ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥

idk more content around our fave characters (though not as much but take it as you will)

The wierd ass technology update all of a sudden everyone has iphones (minus syaoran)

It picked up from the og ending where syaoran comes back from hong kong

SYAOSAKU DATING 🥹🥹🥹

SYAOSAKU WENT ON A DATE ‼️‼️

Unlocked sakura new swag (at the cost of ending her cardcaptor retirement…)

(Anime only) english dub actors of trc syaosaku voice ccscc syaosaku i thought that was pretty cool (syaoran sounds like maybe he went through puberty a little too early but thats okay)

(Anime only) SYAORAN SPEAKS FRENCH IN THE ENGLISH DUB

cute art style

Maybe just me but sometimes i get a little emotional seeing sakura in her daily life in middle school because its like !! Wow i remember when you were in 4th grade and now you’re in 7th grade im so proud of you sakura 🥹

Momo (new mascot to make marketable plushie off of)

(Anime only) MEILING COMEBACK ‼️

THE SYAOSAKU SONG HOSHI NO TEGAMI 😭😭😭😭😭 BEST SONG EVERRRR WTF SYAORANS SINGING VOICE IS SO!:?:)/$/? THEYRE SUCH A GOOD DUET

SYAOSAKU DATING. Btw. Theyre a couple. Theyre dating and theyre in love.

Cons:

KAITO.

New characters who happen to be mediocre

Akiho is literally just a carbon copy of sakura who is just sad (they refused to touch on the different aspects of her like reading books, singing and from kong kong only very rarely)

Kaito fucking sucks literally worst ccs of all time and THATS A LOT saying theres literal PEDOS in the fucking show but theyre all background characters but they can also piss off

Tbf i got confused along the way

Too many plot holes

Syaosaku angst

Syaosaku couldnt touch for a while 😔

Anyway why did yelan do that (referring to point above)

Some shit does not make sense

Tsubasa/xxxholic references (this is for you oomf)

Syaoran???? Is part of the “im keeping things from sakura” gang???? And it sucks so bad (yes it got resolved in the later half BUT IT STILL SUCKED)

TOO MANY THINGS KEPT FROM SAKURA JUST TELL HER DAMN

pushes most characters from the og manga aside to focus on akiho and that man 🙄🙄🙄

Clamp forces us to care about them but in reality we really do not gaf

(In reference to point above) Clamp sees that and pushes the nostalgia tactics/references sometimes and its lowkey tiring

The part where the syao/saku/tomo were reminiscing that fuck ass teacher made me ill i genuinely wanted to kms

Still hasnt gotten rid of their p*do ass shit thanks clamp very cool (sarcasm)

Did i mention that the og characters were pushed back? Because they really were

Akiho felt more of the main character of this story instead of sakura

Tbh not much happened in the entirety of this manga ESPECIALLY considering time shenanigans

Im still mad that syaoran hid stuff from sakura tbh

HOW CAN I FORGET THE UGLY ASS “YUNAAKI IS SIMILAR TO SYAOSAKU” PARALLELS AND HOW BADLY IT PISSES ME OFF

syaosaku dont look but theres an ugly bitch trying to be like you (yunaaki)

Yunaaki becoming borderline canon despite it being a toxic and p*dophilic ship

Kaito still exists in this fucking story and got a somewhat happy ending (befriending syaoran dont piss me the fuck off)

COMPARING KAITO TO SYAORAN KYS @ CLAMP

Kero/tomoyo/yue/nakuru/spinnel basically everyone magically involved is pushed back basically useless until the final act (i think i mentioned the character pushback before)

Still major plotholes

Yamazaki tells the truth now

Touya got whitewashed

Akiho still has too many similarities to sakura it still pisses me off. Why cant they make her her own character

My girl sakura developed anxiety

MY BOY SYAORAN DEVELOPED DEPRESSION

angsty ass middle schoolers

Didnt like the scene where sakuras grandad was basically throwing shade at syaoran comparing his romance with sakura to … sakura’s fuckass dad grooming her mom. What

Syaoran calmed down a bit i miss when he was chaotic af but whatever #middleschoolerthings

Season 2 is taking forever to release good lord

[pandoraimperatrix]

Wandering Word's Meta (Part I)

Since I'm getting to the end of this story, I've decided to share with you a little meta that may or not be included in the main story.

Reminder that everything I'll write here only applies to My Fanfiction. Please for the love of GOD do not use this as some claim I'm making over the DC or the HBO Max's show canon.

Parallel Universes:

I take mostly what I understand as parallel universes from Doctor Who and Tsubasa Resevoir Chronicles/xXxHolic lmao. And from the DC canon Pre-Infinite Crisis. I don't think multiple Earths per se, but multiple timelines and diversions made by choices that change the path a timeline should or not take.

So, what made Dick1's timeline (from the show till just about the beguining of the 3rd season) so different form Parallel!Dick (our protagonist)? I honestly don't know. But there are two major diversions, though:

1- At the end of the troubles with Trigon, Parallel!Kory doesn't leave instantly. She stays for the ride and, even though she planned to leave, go back to Tamaran and her duties, she stays because she is in love with Dick, her freedom and her children.

2- When Parallel!Jason dies, no one brings him back and Parallel!Bruce goes mad, he kills the entire rogue galllery even the woman he loves, Selina, because she tried to defend her friends. P!Dick goes after him to make him stop, but P!Kory would never let the man she loves hurt his own father, so she goes instead, but since her powers were messed up because of her conflicting feelings, P!Bruce kills her easily. P!Rachel releases Trigon out of grief and their entire timeline start collapsing, because P!Rachel's powers are an Anchor keeping the fabric of reality weaved together.

I understand Trigon as an anomaly, it's always the same Trigon through all the parallel realities, in his prision he lives out of time and space always trying to break through.

Gar and CADMUS

One of the things that frustrates me about how I wrote this story it is the POV system... I have never written like that before and drives me a little bit crazy, but it was something that made sense when I started writing. We have P!Dick's POV and Kory's POV, all we learn about the other character's lives are through them.

The things we miss:

1- How the abuse and violation Gar suffered through his entire life, reaching the worst point by his kidnapping by CADMUS broke our boy. If the Chief put him in a internal prision (reason why he couldn't change into different animals), CADMUS violated him by pushing him out of that cage and into the wild, it is a different sort of control, but just as violent. In the Doom Manor he was never nutured as a child should, but he was protected and loved (by Cliff, Rita and Larry within their own capabilities), it was a house of monsters and he was the only one that wasn't monstruous, the one had never hurt anybody, that could look in the mirror and not feel ashamed. CADMUS broke that.

2- After Dick dies, Gar, who was holding himself by the skin of this teeth, goes down in a spiral as starts lashing out, hurting the people that remainded in his life with rashness, because, deep down, he thinks they will also leave and for his own protection he tries to reject them first.

3- He starts befriending the people hurt by this actions because of CADMUS, even if they don't remember him or what he did. Gar believes that it's own him to try to balance the awful things he did with acts of kindness or at least to reconnect to his own humanity by making the effort of humanizing the people that he hurt, because never again he wants to look at another scentient being as a piece of meat. But it isn't easy, there is a lot of guilt, a lot of fighting the conditioning.

Rachel's Powers and Importance

Same problem with Gar. Rachel at least gets a little more from the main narrative because she's not only a character, but also the Plot Device juggling this whole story together lmao

1- Unlike Trigon, Rachel is not an Universal Constant, that means that it can have other Rachels through parallel realities, but most of them are not Trigon's dauthers. Some of them are pretty regular girls without magical troubles. They are all still lesbians and gothics who catfish men online to afford Demonia Boots (THEY ARE EXPENSIVE) and Hot Topic clothes.

2- There was only One Rachel that supposed to the Portal. But something made the universes diverge and they became two, but this dissociation should have never happened, and instead of equal in power, P!Rachel got the small stick, and that's why Trigon consumed her, BUT because she wasn't the Perfect Portal, he was not able to break through completely.

3- When our Rachel ripped the walls between universes to snatch P!Dick since her own model had got himself killed, the other universe collapsed. It doesn't exist anymore, and now only one Rachel in the the entire multiverse has powers, all of them, and Trigon is locked in the prision she created for him.

4- So, what powers does Rachel have? She is a reality manipulator, she has access to the laws of the time and space and she can bend and twist them IF she her soul is strong enough for her to take the toil of doing such things.

I'll write Part II (mostly about Tamaran) whenever...

You can go on my ask box and make your own questions and theories, I'll love to read and chat about them!!

[sakuraswordly]

Let me clear this up. That's right. Suppose you want to understand Gilgamesh. You need to understand Punch and Sonic first. You need to understand Sonic first if you're going to know Punch. I based Sonic's personality on Sonic The Hedgehog Franchise. (Japanese)Also Sonic is the third character that is hard to write. I already said in Announce. You finally know why I call him hard and both his design and everything can connect to Punch and Gilgamesh. Everything about him is perfect and complex! Not ordinary people can understand Sonic.(In my opinion, I think Sonic and the black knight is the best Sonic character that I check so far.)

I really make hard decisions about this character I mean really. Also, I did give a hint 

Have you ever wanted to know  knowledge, to find the key to this Tsofph main story? And you want to know Punch more?

That’s mean...If you mistake Sonic's personality, that means you never understand Punch's personality.

Because these three characters were hard to write. That's why I need to gather many characters to make events and understand them much better.

Do you know why I use AU story? Because I might write a character like Sonic that might not match the owner's idea or the owner didn't write or have it in mind.(is like a researcher)

I also wrote this (Note: Tsubasa of Phantasia is still a setting for a work of fan fiction that departs from the canon of the fictional universe that the fan work is based on.(Not the same Sonic you knew from Sonic the Hedgehog, Japanese video game series  ))

That’s what it means might not match the owner's idea or the owner didn't write or have it in mind.

NoT Only Sonic. Syaoran, Sakura, Kurogane and Fai. Their personality also  based on Tsubasa chronicle. Danny too(Danny’s personality will be based on Dark Danny.). Gilgamesh too(Gilgamesh’s personality will be based on Fate extra ccc). Yuko’s personality based on xxxholic, Dhaos’ personality based on Tales of Phantasia, Eggman’s personality based on Sonic X Japanese, Amy, Tails, Magilou’s personality based on Tales of Berseria. Hikaru, C.C., Mokona, Maya, Sam, Luz and Amity’s personality based on The Owl House 100%(Lumity will be the same), Edward etc. Their personalities are based on the owners who wrote these characters, even Disney. Peter’s personality is based on both Peter Pan from Disney and Link from the Legend of Zelda.

Let's just say, 90% of characters' personalities will be based on their original owner.

Being the villain or the protagonist of the story, the protagonist doesn't have to go through a very difficult life to be a villain. But the innocent protagonist can be the villain of the story because of his right judgment and compassion for those around him. Like in Sonic and the black knight and Punch’ story.

From Prologue: /sakuraswordly You finally understand why I told you guys to watch and read them first.

Also, If you can't find the movie or cartoon that you can't find. Because I haven't finished analyzing it or it's just made for entertainment, therefore, analysis cannot be compared to reality.

[psychewritesbs]

Volume 3′s Call.A and Call.B present CLAMP’s commentary on Subaru and Seishiro’s deep compatibility + the value of “ordinary” people who fulfill their unique dharma through being grounded in their “work”.

When it comes to the issue on compatibility, despite their hearts being the direct inverse of one another’s, Seishiro and Subaru are compatible about very interesting details--aside from showing that they are both weird af, this chapter in particular highlights the fact that, despite their exalted roles as onmyōji, neither of them considers themselves “special”.

Quite the opposite...

Given Subaru’s selfless dedication to his work as demonstrated in these two chapters, Seishiro’s little “all-too-real” speech is a shoutout to the people who are following their destiny and dharma precisely because they are very much grounded in their everyday reality.

More importantly, however, I dare say Seishiro is admitting that he admires acknowledges Subaru for the same reason. To me, the first speech bubble is very descriptive of Subaru’s astrological Moon sign in Capricorn--someone with his feet on the ground who works hard every day.

Subaru, on the other hand, struggles to see himself as someone of value. 

And like... this, as per usual, is so relatable?

Especially at this particular point in my life in which I find myself asking, not necessarily whether I am doing enough, but whether I could do a bit more than what I am already doing towards reaching my goals.

And we all know what Yuko would say: There are no coincidences in this world, what is there is hitsuzen 必然.

Fangirls in CLAMP!

OMG I had forgotten how much I looooove Tokyo Babylon and Subaru!

I just absolutely adore him sooooo much! Subaru captivated my heart and soul since the very first moment I read TB. 

Anyways... I’m supposed to be reading xxxHolic along with ma 🍒, but since I got my TB omnibus volumes out of storage I couldn’t help myself and started another TB re-read. What can I say? I have manga ADD. 

And I have to say: It’s sooooo delightful to read TB on paper again!

Having just finished reading Tsubasa not too long ago, it’s cool to see how far CLAMP has come as mangaka. TB is a great manga but compared to the monster that TRC is, you can tell how much more nuanced and intelligent CLAMP has become since TB.

Again, not that TB isn’t any of these things, it’s just that TB is the beginning of a 30-year-old journey during which they have perfected their craft.

Ah... seriously, CLAMPism is a mood.

[ayameyumesaki]

Tokyo Babylon - CLAMP Premium Collection - Commentary Part 5

Previous Part First Part Next Part

Before we continue, I would like to mention that I actually reread X, especially the part where Kamui went to catatonic state. It was... such a rollercoaster, and you would how see Subaru's personality affected his actions when he was 16 and when he was in X (25 y.o.). Maybe I would touch that a bit.

Anyway a lot of things happened in the second half 😳. Let's start!

Last time, we talked about how "dream is an important thing that tells where you hurt". Let's see more about it,

At this point, Seishiro, just close your clinic and start stalk Subaru eveywhere, you one sus man. He asked Subaru whether they could have an afternoon tea date and Subaru said he didn't even know when it would end. The 😎 man said he would wait until his noon shift.

After Subaru went to the hospital, he said it would be easier to help if he is close (to Subaru). Alright...

Next, we are introduced of the girl in the beginning of the chapter, Kaburagi Mitsuki (16 years old). His father was deceased when she was 12 and since then, she lived together with her mother. She went unconscious 4 months ago (14th July) after returning from his high school and doesn't show any sign of waking up. Anyway, her address is in Ebisu, Grand Heights Mansion (its name is Mansion, but for an apartment name it's common to have 'Mansion' in its name) Room Number 804. According to her mother, she doesn't show any strange behavior in that morning, but she was already sleeping when she came home from work. The case is considered uncurable by medical treatment, thus, a strange phenomenon.

Subaru checked the room and there are no malice there. He went to the girl and was surprised because...

He turned sad as he remembered the past.

She was someone from his past, who told him that she hates him because he isn't normal. Subaru was surprised because he was just dreamed about her this morning, and he realized that he isn't normal after all. Reality tasted the most bitter after it hits you, but what could he do? He couldn't do anything about it as he was born with such ability (and personality).

Then, since Mitsuki certainly wasn't manipulated by anyone, he has no choice but to ask her himself.

Subaru: Make my consciousness leaving my body isn't hard, but entering someone's inside is.... ungh....

He is so cute I can't 😭

Then he did his chants and entered Mitsuki's consciousness, or her dream.

Subaru commented that he entered her consciousness rather in ease and usually there would be some rejection. But Subaru did say that it is easier to enter someone's consciousness if they recognize him, which Mitsuki did unconsciously.

Subaru then searched for Mitsuki and he found her, but

(I can't take picture of this magic circle properly so I will take from what is in the internet)

Subaru found her running towards someone on that magic circle. Why I say it is a magic circle, well, it's not, but somehow similar to magic circles we saw in future series (CCS, TRC or xxxHolic). One thing need to be noted here is aside from pentagrams, Subaru, and to some extend Seishiro, didn't have magic circles. This one, strange enough, doesn't look odd and somewhat familiar...

Then Subaru saw himself and said that she still remembered him 🥺 He blushed tho it's cute. Then Mitsuki disappeared and Subaru wondered he appears in Mitsuki's dream.

Then we got a scene where Subaru saved a wounded puppy (probably due to older boys' bully). They told Subaru that the puppy was thrown away and they would raise it. It's fine for them to hit or kick it since it's theirs. Parents, raise your child better! 😤 That's not how you treat animals!

Subaru doesn't let go the dog and stay quiet. Then he was punched. 🤬🤬🤬 WHERE ARE THESE CHILDREN'S PARENTS, WE MUST HAVE A TALK.

And he stood still like that, so the older boys kicked him instead 😭😭😭 Kind, kind Subaru... I believe he doesn't want to fight back as well---his stance is somewhat prepared to fight, but this is Subaru anyway 🥺 Can you imagine how Hokuto and Sumeragi grandma would feel once they saw him hurt like this? Hokuto would chase them until no end 😭

(Next part in reblog!)

[completeoveranalysis]

[11]

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT'S WHERE WE STOP?

AHHHHHHHHH

[nearer-than-the-eye]

xxxHolic Rou as an analogy for chronic illness

rereading Rou and Rei has actually been SUPER interesting bc for a really long time i had....basically labored under the misconception that watanuki stays in the shop SO THAT he can wait for yuuko, when in actuality he stays in the shop AND ALSO waits for yuuko--the two are related but not caused by each other. 

I read xxxholic waaaay before I read tsubasa, and CLAMP’s fucking. stupid ass choices to put yuuko choosing to protect watanuki and not give him to fei wang AND the explanation for why watanuki is confined to the shop and syaoran has to keep traveling EXCULSIVELY IN TSUBASA. instead of. i don’t know. giving us essential xxxholic character/plot information in BOTH series fucked with my understanding of watanuki’s choice to confine himself big time. 

because like. it’s not really a choice! it’s actually a much closer analogy to chronic illness than I had thought--he literally cannot live ‘normally’ in the outside world, he has to confine himself for the sake of the fabric of reality or whatever the fuck. he ALSO chooses to wait for yuuko and take on her mannerisms and become her successor, but he doesn’t choose to confine himself to wait for yuuko. key point.

i think this is an easy mistake to make if you’re just reading xxxholic or aren’t reading it and tsubasa in close succession, HOWEVER. i do think also the doom and gloom of some of my (admittedly) favorite fics about Rou colored my perception a bit too much because it really is SOOOOOOOO fun to have this angst fest where watanuki has made this horrifying decision to literally choose stagnation, never move on from yuuko’s death, and throw his life away and doumeki just has to watch. BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT HAPPENS, RIGHT?  

I think Rou itself is actually quite a nice counterpoint to that doom and gloom reading--once you get past Rou’s admittedly jarring first couple of chapters, it’s clear watanuki enjoys his work and while his relationship with doumeki has matured, it’s not changed that much. watanuki clearly cares deeply for doumeki (allllll those fucking scenes of them eating together exist for a reason lmao) and his resistance to doumeki is, I think, less about being resentful of being cared for and more about being worried about doumeki giving up opportunities in his life to look after watanuki. but when doumeki was 16 he said “fuck this shit I’m in it for the long haul, you are not dying alone” and has chosen to abide by that promise to himself ever since. (thus watanuki’s repeated “you never change, do you?”).

This is not “watanuki is throwing his life away and doumeki has to watch,” but honestly the much more complex “watanuki’s life has taken a very sharp left turn because of his, essentially, chronic illness, but he’s actively working to build a fulfilling and positive life within the confines of his circumstances, and doumeki has actively decided to help him with that, though watanuki’s situation is still painful for him as watanuki’s friend and, essentially, caretaker.” 

NOW, doumeki being like....i’m gonna marry your best friend and we’ll have kids and start a lineage responsible for taking care of you because i’m THAT in love with you....is a whole other kettle of fish, and THAT shit is certainly fucked up. especially for the kids. but that’s another post. 

[haro-hawayu]

CCS: Clear Card Ch. 56

Finally, I have time to read this chapter ; u;

Chapter 56 is currently available on the CLAMP-net’s YouTube Channel. Also check out @meimi-haneoka's post on the latest chapters because they're amazing and I always look forward to them when it's time to read the latest chapters.

Links for previous chapter reactions can be found here.

Reactions:

COLORED SYAORAN for the COVER!!

Syaoran <33333 I love the look on his face :3

It 1000% screams "I will protect Sakura with my life."

Right we left off with Sakura actually REMEMBERING!

And Syaoran can finally be free from the spell to spill the tea.

LOL this scene of figuring out Kaito's magic is playing out like... after a class exam, everyone is comparing/sharing their answers/thoughts/views on it.

Momo~~so cool :3

Okay, even though Kaito should've have been doing this, it's a little sad to see all his work kinda falling apart like this, given that he's literally risking his life using all this magic.

"Moving time" "Time moving forward" Holic flashbacks ><

FINAL ACT (@meimi-haneoka's post points out translation should be "final act of the story" and not "your story" so big big big difference in meaning)

WHAT FINAL ACT??? WHICH FINAL ACT?

Sakura seems to be onto something (re: Akiho)

SYAORAN! OMGSH.

Awwww pouty Syaoran from old days <333

HAHAHA the expressions on Yue & Kero's face!!! XD

LOL Kero-chan so tsun tsun about Syaoran :3

Okay, I love this Guardian's Group here. I wanna see more of their meetings and interactions, they're so adorable together.

Ahhhhhh I wanna hear these songs they are singing.

TWIN ALICES!

THE PLOT! Alice 1 who is lost in a world of dreams and Alice 2 who can't find her way back to the world she came from!!

~~~

Thoughts

Twin Alices: I KNEW Sakura & Akiho would end up getting involved in a more important way for the play. I'm also even more certain now that the climax or the ultimate "showdown" will be happening during this play--where it's literally Sakura & Alice experiencing the true reality of their roles. Also the description of the Alices is very interesting. The one that stood out to me was the Alice "who can't find her way back to the world she came from" because it reminded me of some chapters past where that mysterious voice was giving that "You cannot return/You can no longer go back" warning to Sakura. Which makes me wonder if that second Alice is referring to Sakura. But at the same time, the Alice "who is lost in a world of dreams" also sounds like something that can happen to Sakura too because "wandering in dreams" sounds very much like the yumemi/dream seers that have been featured in many other CLAMP series. Those can visit dreams of other people--so like the various characters in X/1999, and then some from xxxHOLiC/TRC. Also, both Alices are essentially "lost" if you think about it... so they both do not sound very good for either of the girls... TuT I want them all to be happy.

Sakura's Powers: Sakura is growing stronger and stronger. She has clarity, now that she has seen through Kaito's magic---hopefully this actually means it won't affect them, as Momo has shared. Also, Sakura was able to sense something in Akiho. I wonder if that means that there's something inside of Akiho that is kept lock away which prevented Syaoran and the others from sensing magic in her.

Do I have more thoughts on this? Probably but still processing them in my tired brain XD

[atamascolily]

First Lines meme

(Thanks @virusq!)

Rules: Don't reblog this post, make a new one! List the first lines of the last ten (10) stories you published. Look to see any patterns you notice yourself, and see if anyone else notices any.

Sana locks herself in the bathroom before she transforms, peering into the mirror above the sink at her own face. (lord of yourself I crown and miter you, Magia Record)

The Force came back to Callista in bits and pieces those first few weeks on Yavin IV--spotty at first, with flashes of insight that grew steadier and more reliable as time went on, as if the psychic wound inside her was healing at last. (One Thousand Eighty Major Mistakes, Star Wars Legends)

Once the first adrenaline-fueled nightmare beats away the initial sparkle, the grim reality of her new life sets in. (half-life, PMMM)

In the aftermath of the Northman raid on Kells, Brendan spends every second under cover hard at work on the precious book, losing himself in the swoops and swirls adorning the holy words on every page. (I have been a word in a book, Secret of Kells)

Waking up in the mornings is harder than it used to be, and every movement's an effort, as if Ichigo's limbs are weighed down and useless, burdened by sorrows and losses he can't explain to anyone, because they just won't get it. (nothing can be explained, Bleach x Sandman)

Hitsugaya spent most of the trip from Mami's apartment back to High Spirits vibrating with nervous energy over the likely reception awaiting them once their friends and allies got wind of their newly minted relationship. (one love, more than five lifetimes, Bleach x PMMM)

It wasn't easy for the angelico to get away from his duties in the Eyrie, but Noah was a true Edori at heart and never turned down the opportunity to spend a few days alone in the desert with Caleb. (Journey On, Samaria)

It was rare indeed for Vanyel and Tylendel's schedules to overlap in any meaningful way, let alone leave them both with a free afternoon, and they planned to thoroughly enjoy every moment of this precious opportunity with a secret tryst in the pine grove in the Companion's Field.(Companion Call, Heralds of Valdemar)

Like everywhere in IO, the botany lab combines beauty and purpose in equal measures. (Fruits of Knowledge, Matrix Resurrections)

The streets of Mitakihara are deserted this late at night; sidewalks and skyscrapers reflect the swollen full moon that dominates the sky. (life in fantasy (the butterfly dreaming remix), PMMM via xxxHolic)

And one more because I’m especially proud of it:

Rain drummed on the rooftop of the engawa running along the outside of the main building in the Mitakihara branch of the Urahara Candy Store where Mami sat sheltered from the downpour. (Sweet Tooth, PMMM x Bleach)   

COMMENTARY:

I’ve been focused on functional openings of late, which encapsulate the theme or mood or central image of the fic in a nutshell. Sometimes, I’m going for scene-setting--the reader is clear on who the fic is about and what that character is up to. The rest are best described as atmospheric--instead of focusing on plot, I’m literally describing the scene in hopes of creating a striking, vivid, and hopefully memorable image that sets the tone for what is to come.

I love the idea of stories as fractal, so it’s always great when I can summarize the entire fic in the opening line. It doesn’t always happen, but I feel so accomplished when it does.

I also have a tendency towards wordy opening sentences with multiple clauses. It’s not a coincidence that I’ve been working a lot on the Three Sentence Ficathon on Dreamwidth this past month, which has taught me a lot about conveying an entire scene or story in a limited format. Sorry, not sorry, I guess.

The openings of Journey On and Companion Call are pretty much exactly the same, which is hilarious because that completely didn’t register in the moment when I posted them. It makes sense, because I wrote both of them at more or less the same time. The odds of any one person reading BOTH of these fics from relatively obscure fandoms is pretty small, so outside of deliberate juxtapositions like this one, it’s not something that most readers are likely to notice.

But yes, I’ve noticed I tend to slide into the same linguistic phrasings over and over again and... some of that is inevitable and unavoidable, but I need to work on spicing it up a bit instead of getting lazy. I can get away with it because a large portion of my readership is highly fandom-specific, but it’s a good thing to be aware of.

I’ve been writing a lot of short swift one-shots of late, partly as a writing exercise, partly as a way of blowing off steam, which follows a different trajectory than my longer projects. Editing is not my strong suit, and neither is patience--sometimes I just want to post my ideas right away rather than sit and wait. My fics would probably be “better” if I spent more time editing, but I do this for free and for fun, so that’s a trade-off I’ve made with myself.  Otherwise, it’s far too easy to micromanage and massage my stories forever into word gruel, so I’ve gotten better about accepting imperfections and moving on when I’m ready to move on, and not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good or the decent or “this is as much time and energy as I want to spend on this idea”. I’ve also gotten better at writing and editing on the fly, which is a useful life skill as well.

[dvalshock]

in xxxholic when everything starts coming unraveled and watanuki can’t even trust what’s reality anymore and what’s a dream......... oh my god oh my god oh my god

[thegildedbee]

~ in honor of the winter solstice ~ sherlock fic recs ~

So, I’m hoping that the northern hemisphere’s longest night of the year giving way to the first rays of sunlight will prove to be more than symbolic as a beginning of pushing away the maleficence of the last year that stopped the planet in its tracks. Figuring an offering might be in order, here are some of my favorite light-vanquishing-darkness tales of natural magic where Sherlock and John come together to repair part of their broken worlds . . . Happy yuletide reading! (. . . and if you miss celebrating the solstice in-person with other humans, here’s a virtual celebration that occurs on the 21st :-)

Once Upon a Beast Becoming by @antietamfalls​ from 2015 [ao3, 20k words, rated T] A story set in motion by a druid’s curse, where Sherlock’s place in the natural order can only be reclaimed if he can gain the affection of someone who can see him as he really is, something Sherlock is highly skeptical about: “People did not like him, and humans least of all. To think one might come to love him was inconceivably daft.” And then there is John. The catch is that it all must transpire within one night, and the playing field is even more tilted since John has to be introduced not only to Sherlock, but to the magic inside himself and around him, all as the clock ticks down while something evil and destructive is stalking London. It’s an elegantly-rendered fairytale and John and Sherlock’s interactions are a delight even as the stakes ratchet up.

Cost of a Wish by @slashscribe from 2014 [ao3, 102k, rated E / fusion with  xxxHOLiC, a Japanese manga] Sherlock is the proprietor of a wish-granting shop that John is drawn into through one puzzling happenstance after another until he begins to come into his own powers. This requires that he navigate multiple realities that threaten death and destruction and by means of which he may or may not be able to untangle the binding that prevents Sherlock’s deepest wish from being brought to life. The episodes in the chapters are fascinating, the Sherlock series’ characters in addition to John and Sherlock turn up in especially memorable ways, and about half-way through appears what might be the most ridiculously cute animal in all of Sherlock fic, a pipe-fox who is worth the price of admission alone.

De Veritate Unicornis Modernus by @tepidspongebath​ from 2013 [ao3, 5k, rated G / fusion with The Last Unicorn] This is John’s story through-and-through, with the world-weariness and despair that he displays in the first episode of the series portrayed here as the outcome of the most famous creature in the medieval bestiary becoming trapped in a mortal body -- it’s not civilian life he’s having trouble adjusting to, it’s the loss of his immortal nature. His ancient purpose in life of finding humans to cherish and keep right is rekindled by crossing paths with a consulting detective entirely too enamored of dead bodies who is in need of his influence (and, luckily, possesses the necessary attribute of being a virgin :-) Sketching out the beats of a mythologized A Study in Pink is very cunningly done.

The Stars Move Still by @beautifulfiction​ from [ao3, 96k, rated E] This is such an impressively plotted fic, which right at the top plunges you into one of the most disquieting Moriarties you’ll come across (a demon, it turns out, that was considered too powerful to bind -- Mycroft notes that “The few, previous attempts to which I have found a reference had apocalyptic consequences. The last time an effort was made to summon and tame him appeared to result in the Black Death.”) The portrayal of Sherlock and John’s deepening relationship is exquisite, and the story logic flows from a number of clever plot twists, from the use of St. Paul’s to how Afghanistan’s dreamworld matters, and John’s ease with sprite wrangling (which is intoxicating to read!). 

Unsettled by @axemeaboutaxinomancy​ from 2013 [ao3, 34k, rated E / fusion with His Dark Materials] This amazing fic not only became one of my favorite narratives of Sherlock and John finding each other admidst the mutually transformative effects that begin with their meeting at Barts in repairing the seemingly irreparable ravages of their pasts, but as my introduction to the way the world of HDM works (in other words, you don’t need to be familiar with Pullman for the story to cast its magic). The double resonance of Sherlock and John’s thoughts and feelings being conveyed through their animal daemons is totally captivating, not to mention that Ferendala the wolfhound and Vyarosse the cat are some of the most interesting OCs in Sherlock ficdom. The daemons also help to power the plot, not least, as the author lays out, because “Sherlock's dæmon hadn't settled. Once John realized that, so much made sense. Though so much else didn't, because it practically wasn't possible.”

A follow-up (the two titles are under the series name “The Utmost Edge of Hazard”) is Snowlight [ao3, 1,277 words, rated E], which takes place at Christenmas time, and has a lovely solstice vibe amidst the mutually satisfying physical activities Sherlock and John have in progress. (Will make more sense if Unsettled is read first.)