#i love the interactions and dynamics between the ccs so much it’s not fair

[killjoyer]

just realised that when limited life is over (which. lets b real. probs gonna b either next session or the session after that with the way things are looking), i will have to resign myself to waiting until life series 5 (if it does happen. which. hopefully 🙏)

[azsazz]

answering this one here too because cc spoilers :)

I like CC for different reasons than I like acotar, for example in CC I feel like a lot of the friendships/relationships felt more organic to me. Like Danika was not a good person but she and Bryce were good friends. Also Bryce and LeLe felt like real friends to me, same with Ruhn and his friends. I feel like Feyre’s friendship with Mor for example is really forced, everyone says their best friends but I feel like they barley interacted in the books? And I feel like no one respects Feyre’s leadership as much as Rhys’s (honestly I feel like the ENTIRE ic dynamic is weird af and an attempt to write close friends that kind of fell flat.) Mor gives me more pick me energy than Bryce but I see how you think that.

i did like lele a lot, and yeah, their relationship was a good one. i agree that feyre and mor didn't really interact. it does feel a bit forced also with the fact that obviously her and rhys are mates so who's going to actually say something if they don't like her? also mor is rhys' only family so she kind of doesn't have a choice to be feyre's friend

also I feel like Hunt gets unnecessarily picked on bc he’s boring but he’s one of the only SJM males that didn’t do some sketchy shit with his partner in some way. (Ik the synth deal but that didn’t really happen to Bryce) I haven’t read it in a while but nothing comes to the top of my head besides like them being mean to each other in the beginning

i do like hunt, i'll give sjm that. he's a good man.

Examples: Rhys had the dancing and the pregnancy (which Ik Rhys stans like to explain away but I still think it’s messed up). Cassian didn’t defend his mate and took Nesta on a week long hike where she physically collapsed from malnutrition and exhaustion bc she told feyre the TRUTH. Rowan punching Aelin in the face etc.

rhys has def done some questionable things. like yeah we can all get mad at fucking tamlin for wanting to keep feyre safe in his house when he knew they weren't out of the woods yet and worse was coming. and yeah, he went about it the wrong way but he was terrified for her? he didn't know what he was going? and rhys literally locked her in a fucking bubble while she was pregnant? yeah she could roam around but if that were me i'd feel suffocated as fuck? like its not really that different.

sjm loves talking about how her fmc's are so strong and stuff but she glorifies all the men they can do no wrong

CC had terribly world building, but let’s be honest SJM hasn’t had good world building since TOG and even that is sometimes questionable, but I think the relationships between characters are better and the individual emotions of the characters feel more human to me in some aspects.

Idk that’s just my opinion of the two books. Overall I still do think ACOTAR is the better series of the two, and the cross over is def a cash grab. But sometimes I feel like the good parts of CC get overlooked bc of shitty world building

that's def a fair point. i got so lost in trying to figure out what the fuck was going on i couldn't even focus on the relationships, i'll admit that!

[mariaiscrafting]

no, you know what, I’m going to stop vague’ing on the dash. my anger is about to get extremely direct and enraged, so fair warning, but I don’t care about anyone’s comfort right now. I’m going to get fucking mad, and you all will fucking deal.

not a single one of us has the right, or should even have the option, to guess about ccs’ sexualities. I’ve kept my mouth shut when it comes to people analyzing george/dream and guessing they’re some kind of queer, but I’m fucking done. I’m going to go into every single reason “truthing” about ccs’ sexualities is just so beyond fucked.

first of all, this is in response specifically to ranboo and tubbo truthing. being a kid and getting thrown into such a massive spotlight, where you will undoubtedly be subject to some fuck shit eventually because the internet is full of thousands upon thousands of people, is already terrifying and anxiety-inducing and damaging enough. but for their own audiencemembers - their own supposed fucking “fans” - to take it one step further and speculate about their sexualities? oh, for the love of god. I can barely believe I even have to explain how fucked that is. it is one thing to be friends with or close to someone in real life and recognize your own queer struggle in them, to approach them with sympathy and support in case they are questioning. it is another thing entirely to speculate about the sexuality of someone you don’t even know, and to then take it a step further and “truth” about your fucking theories. you are not an expert, you are not their friend, and you are not a fucking oracle. you can guess all you want about a cc’s sexuality, you can comment on how their actions or behaviors or words resonate with you when you were questioning or closeted, but to go ahead and take your own speculation as truth is arrogant, presumptous, and damaging as all hell. 

I can just imagine what it would’ve been like if I’d grown an online platform that ripped me of my privacy when I was a teenager and trying to figure out my own sexuality. if I had a section of my audience analyzing my every social media post, the inflection in my voice and the nature of my laughs, my every interaction with my best friend, you know what I would’ve done? retreated so far into the closet that I would probably have tricked myself into thinking I was heterosexual. I would’ve been so fucking terrified and felt so stripped of any privacy or control I had over my own goddamn thoughts; do you understand how fucking vile that is? have none of you ever been terrified of giving away your own sexuality through your mannerisms and facial expressions and words, while you were closeted? have none of you ever experienced that utter fucking terror when you notice someone start to question your sexuality, the immediate urge to retreat and back up and act and believe the complete opposite just to prove them wrong and go back to the safety and security of them believing you were straight? for fuck’s sake, now imagine that feeling amplified a hundred fold, applied not just to one instance or one person in your life, but to thousands. do y’all not understand just how a) morally fucked it is to inflict this same kind of practice onto someone you supposedly care about and support, and b) potentially psychologically damaging this could be to ccs who are closeted, especially the fucking minors? oh my fucking god.

that isn’t even to point out why people do this shit - which is to project and find solace and derive some kind of enjoyment out of cc’s. that’s what cc’s are there for; they are entertainers, first and foremost, which continues outside of streams and bleeds into fandom culture and the kind of enjoyment fans can make out of interacting with other fans and creating their own fan content. the problem with this fact is that fans take it too far, like 85% of the time. cc’s aren’t just there for our own enjoyment. they are fucking people, oh my lord. they are real people that we will never know, and while we may have our fun with our little theories and talking to other fans and making and watching cute compilations and writing fanfiction and making fanart, we are just deriving entertainment from the parts of themselves they choose to show us. that persona they put on for the stream, that is not 100% them. they are real, rounded, 3-d, full people who we only ever get the privilege of witnessing a small sliver of. and we need to fucking remember that, because we can’t just keep running with the ideas of ccs that we have in our heads and treating them like they’re malleable characters for our own entertainment. 

anyways, specifically about truthing (and mind you, this is the point in the rant where a little of my anger starts to seep out because I’m tired and it’s 1:40 AM and I have class tomorrow): there’s so many things that can be said about gaydar. I’m not here to argue whether or not it exists, or the details of the morality of straight versus non-straight people engaging in the practice of truthing. I’m just here to say that, even if you believe gaydar exists and can be accurate when employed by non-straight people, that still only applies to people you fucking know. what you see of a cc is not “getting to know” them. what you are seeing is one face of a multi-faceted jewel, cut in far more ways that you can ever hope to one day perceive. your theories are just those - theories. whatever you might think of the giggles you heard or the pickup lines you saw uttered or the softness you imagine between x and y, human interaction is far too complex and laced with meaning for some rando on the internet who watches youtube videos and twitch streams to fully grasp from two entertainers working from behind a screen. your gaydar is not going to fucking work through a screen, fuck off with that shit.

another thing that’s fucking bothering me so much is this assumption that comes with being at all open about queerness when you yourself are not queer. ik this is just one of the many factors “truthers” use to justify the findings of their totally infallible, prophetic gaydar, but it’s a factor nonetheless, and it bothers the fuck outta me. someone being willing to express support for lgbt people or donate to lgbt chairities or open to conversations with other lgbt people about lgbt endeavors is not evidence of queerness. to say that it is contributes to the harmful belief that cishets still have that they cannot be any of those things - that is, exceedingly open about and to queerness - without being perceived as queer themselves. 

anyways, and now we are at the bottom line, which is that, this entire conversation wouldn’t even have to be had if people just fucking listened to cc boundaries. ranboo and tubbo do not like being shipped. it is that fucking simple. i know that it is tempting to ship two people you think are cute together. i know it is tempting to indulge in a dynamic you find comforting. but idgaf. temptation is not an excuse. find some fictional characters to ship, and kindly fuck off.

[ladyloveandjustice]

Spring 2018 Anime Overview: Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc (Episodes 14-22)

I enjoyed Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card quite a bit. I would by no means call it a bad experience. But it’s impossible to deny it’s the weakest anime I watched this season. The series is underwhelming and flawed, even if parts of it warmed my heart and fed into my love of these characters. The plodding pacing, lack of payoff and disappointing elements were mostly worth it to me for the good parts, but this show really deserved to be so much better than it was. A lot of the problems I mentioned in my review of the first half not only remained, but worsened. There were definitely plenty of adorable moments, which you can see in my liveblog, but I can’t deny the show could have done so much more.

But we’ll start with things I enjoyed. I loved seeing Meiling again and her arc left me very satisfied. One thing I really love about magical girl shows is that they often have a far more complex and nuanced handling of the “romantic rival” girl character than other “more mature” media. They treat the girl in question more like an actual person than a catty stereotype and eventually the focus turns away from the guy and more towards girls building a positive relationship. 

And Meiling is a perfect example of that and I adore her. She started out seeming like a one-dimensional annoying clingy romantic rival character, but as the show went on, she gained more depth and formed really adorable relationships with Sakura and Tomoyo. Her pain, her struggles, her insecurities- they all became real to the viewer. The scene where she’s crying over Syaoran but admits that as much as it pisses her off, she can’t take out her pain on Sakura because she likes her too, is one of the most heart-wrenching in the show.

Meiling’s arc in Clear Card was the perfect cap on that. We finally got to see how Meiling and Sakura interact without the tension of Meiling’s crush on Syaoran in the picture. Her former crush on him wasn’t even mentioned once- they are entirely friends on their own terms. It was great to see how the relationship has so completely evolved. And it was also great to see Meiling and Syaoran interact without that baggage and it really bought home how much better the two of them understand each other now. Where Syaoran would unintentionally make Meiling feel like she was a useless burden to him before in the original series, here he goes out of his way to tell her that he appreciates her and that she shouldn’t feel like she contributes less due to her lack of magic.

 Meanwhile, Meiling was worried about him and since she was a family member, she was more aware of his mysterious struggles than anyone else. But she was not overly focused on him and was capable of giving him space. She was also much more confident around him and was able to roll her eyes at what a loser he was and tease him about it, something she really didn’t do before because she was too busy mooning over him, so it was very cathartic to see her do it here.

Seeing Sakura and Meiling have a proper team-up was fantastic too. I’m always down for the power of girls holding hands saving the day, but this was satisfying in other ways too! Meiling always had a lot of confidence issues about her lack of magic in comparison to the others, so seeing her straight up take charge in a fight and protect and guide Sakura was such a great thing for her character. The “twins” episode in the original anime had Meiling learn she was useful as a partner by teaming up with Syaoran, but here she learns she can even be a good leader if it comes down to it by taking charge with Sakura. Meiling’s arc really builds on what came before it in a positive and satisfying way, and was exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for when Clear Card was announced.

Seeing Meiling now being comfortable enough to be on a first name basis with Sakura was icing on the cake (not to mention a very shippy moment, considering it’s explicitly compared to Syaoran and Sakura’s relationship). This was the kind of relationship progression I wanted from Clear Card. And there were a few other moments that delivered that kind of satisfaction! Sakura’s dad’s conversation with Touya near the end, a short moment with Touya and Yue....

But that sadly wasn’t true for the majority of the series. Most of the season felt terribly stagnant and sloppily paced with the characters not progressing at all and a lot of build up with no pay-off. 

To make it clear, I don’t mind a slow burn- the original CCS definitely moved at a relaxed pace and had a heavy slice-of-life vibe. But the problem with Clear Card’s stalling plot was that it was contingent on a bunch of characters not talking with each other or interacting with each other and this was really what gutted the show for me. 

The original CCS definitely relied on “barriers to communication” as a device to pad the show, but not in a way that prevented the characters from getting good scenes. For instance, Touya being interrupted whenever he tried to tell Yukito the truth about himself in the third season of the original series was an overused and somewhat frustrating reoccuring deal, but it didn’t prevent Touya and Yukito from being involved in the plot or having (very gay) scenes together (in fact, it ensured they would). It was also at least a little bit amusing and had some variety- how’s Ruby Moon gonna interrupt them this time! And it made sense for the characters for the most part- Touya’s TRYING to do the logical thing, so we’re not frustrated with HIM, at least. And it made it incredibly satisfying when Touya finally snapped and told Ruby to go away, he’s talking with Yukito NO MATTER WHAT.

Compare the conflict this season where Touya’s got something going on with a new power but won’t tell Yukito about what it is (EVEN THOUGH HE’S THE ONE WHO BOUGHT IT UP TO HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE) because reasons. This means there’s only a couple scenes with them, they consist of Yukito being like “tell me” and Touya being like “nah”. There is no variety and the scenes make the viewer frustrated with Touya, it means we don’t see Touya and Yukito much because they’re not allowed to be involved in the plot yet and because we’re keeping up some manufactured tension between them for no reason. It had no payoff this season either, and I doubt when/if it DOES pay off we’ll feel satisfied- odds are it’ll just be like “okay so why didn’t you just tell him earlier?”

The way Touya and Yukito were underused here was really frustrating because 1. They’re great characters, 2. they’re one of the most iconic mlm couples in kids anime and 3. their relationship arc wasn’t really properly resolved with a confession scene in the last series, so one of the main reasons I’D do a sequel would be to resolve that, but apparently them not talking is more important.

And that’s not the only plotline of the sort in this season! There’s a similarly bad one with Syaoran. He’s keeping stuff something that involves Sakura secret from her and it does nothing but damage his character and presence in the show. It means he’s not around or talking to her as much, nor is he as expressive since he’s busy brooding about stuff. 

Honestly, the role of “mysterious secret keeper” just doesn’t fit Syaoran- with Touya, at least he’s been shown to be someone who keeps things to himself before. Syaoran, on the other hand, has always been ridiculously straightforward. As much as he tried to act tough, he was always unable to hide every single thought and emotion he had from being stunningly obvious to everyone but Sakura and got flustered CONSTANTLY, which was part of his charm as a character in the original series. It allowed him to be a very active and dynamic character too. Having him suddenly bottle everything up and be all mysterious just kills so much of what made him work. 

Though, to be fair, the show sort of acknowledges he’s unsuited for this role by showing even Sakura has noticed something’s up with him. But that just makes things MORE aggravating- in the last episodes she straight up says to him “I want you to talk to me” which should be the big moment where he realizes how wrong he’s been and tells her everything....but instead he just. doesn’t react. It’s INFURIATING.

And hey, third’s time the charm, we also have our antagonist, Kaito, doing some sketchy bullshit that his charge, Akiho, is completely unaware of (and when she does become aware, he TURNS BACK TIME to make her forget) so he can help her because reasons. Also, Eriol and Kero and Yue now know Sakura’s making cards appear on her own, but won’t tell her, because.

So in this season, here’s a real trend of guys refusing to communicate with and let girls in on things that DIRECTLY AFFECT THEM and denying them agency in regards to their OWN LIVES while insisting it’s “for their own good” and “to protect them” and I’m really! not about it! At this point, I am not confident the show will resolve it in a way that condemns this behavior enough. Why did we have to go here? I’ve seen this plotline SO many times and I am TIRED and I just want to see the characters be together and grow and learn and have fun.

And the lack of that is what makes the “filler” in Clear Card not work while the “filler” in the original show mostly worked for me. There were a variety of scenarios the original series would use to pad out the episode in the old series- a school play! a class trip! Syaoran and Sakura fight over Yukito! A test! Touya’s got a weird new job! They were reoccurring scenarios, but the type that offered variety and many types of character interactions. But with Clear Card the filler is much more limited -”let’s cook a thing and talk about it, let’s eat a thing and talk about it, let’s read an entire storybook that has nothing to do with the episode”. And that feels a lot less worthwhile, to say the least.

I said in my last review that it felt like the series was coasting on nostalgia and well, that still holds true. SO true there’s literally an episode called “Sakura’s Nostalgic Viewing Party” devoted to talking about the Sealed Card Movie. But as implied above, I don’t know if this show really gets what people loved about the old series totally. It copies things, sure. Like Sakura’s basically capturing the same cards over again! ...But this time the cards seem more like objects without personalities, and Sakura’s lack of concern for the cards she had before totally disappearing- which WERE sentient with personalities- is troubling, considering the original series focused on her being concerned for them and forming friendships with them. That whole issue kinda encapsulates the heart this series is missing compared to the original, and the important things its overlooking.

Which brings me to a big problem- there’s an disappointing lack of queerness in Clear Card. The original series was full of queer stuff and very accepting and positive about it as a narrative and it is beloved among queer viewers to this day for that...but, that was so absent in Clear Card. The closest we got to a direct discussion of Yukito and Touya’s relationship was in the prologue special- Yukito mentioned to Sakura about “when I told you I liked Touya” in the context of romance. So still canon, obviously. But Yukito and Touya are sidelined, as mentioned above, so really nothing else with them. Tomoyo is similarly out of focus, so nothing from her. Sakura and Syoaran are only focused on each other crush wise, so nothing for them either. I don’t think (or maybe I just hope) it was deliberate, but it’s still really disappointing. In 2018 they should be giving us MORE, not less.

And now we have to talk about the finale. What it was and what it...wasn’t. Basically, we find out Akiho is the mysterious person who’s been haunting Sakura’s dreams (something that even a five year old would have guessed by now)and she attacks her, Sakura is faced with this big revelations and is fighting....and then Kaito appears our of nowhere, freezes time, then rewinds everything so Sakura doesn’t remember and the fight never happened.

Yep. That was our final episode of the season. We get this big dramatic scene that FINALLY moves the narrative forward...then it is literally undone and rendered meaningless. It’s SO blatantly disrespectful to the audience it’s almost hilarious. I mean I wasn’t expecting much to be wrapped up, but talk about going above and beyond to flip off your viewers.

I always figured the reason for the poor pacing and anticlimactic ending of Clear Card was because it was spinning its wheels so it didn’t pass the manga (the solution to which would have been wait until the manga’s further along to make an anime, but WHATEVER)...but apparently the finale episode actually diverged pretty heavily from the manga.  (spoilers obvs). CLAMP is likely bringing a confusing Tsubasa crossover in the manga version, and the anime wisely decided to reject that.

But the thing is, if they were going to change such a major thing from the manga...why not just do their own thing with the anime from the beginning? Why drag everything out so the anime ended where the manga currently is if they were just gonna change that ending anyway? Why not just add their own stuff from the beginning? Why not end the season on a more satisfying note?

It’s a mystery for the ages.

Despite my LONG gripe session just now, while I was frustrated toward the end, I mostly found the anime pleasant to watch. There were a lot of nice moments despite all its flaws. And I love these characters so much that you know I’ll be right there if they release a movie or second season or whatever. 

But there’s a lot of wasted potential here and I hope the team behind this gets its shit together if they continue this. Like please. Let Touya and Yukito kiss. Let Tomoyo get a girlfriend. Let Sakura know what’s going on in her own life. If you just do that, I’ll never complain about anything related to CCS ever again. I swear.