#syaoran

CCS Dream 3/14/22

Another CCS dream, and naturally, nothing good happened in this one either. Lmao.

In this dream, I was reading a Nakayoshi magazine and Syaoran was holding an unconscious Sakura with tears falling down his face. She wouldn’t wake up.

It seemed like they were transported to some other place (maybe Alice’s world?), but the only space I saw looked like a pretty normal looking bedroom with two fluffy looking beds and fancy curly looking bed frames (the frames reminded me of the bed Sakura has).

Both Sakura and Akiho were lying on one of the beds, and suddenly by the end of the dream, Syaoran and Kaito were lying on the other, also asleep.

I’m not entirely sure what to make of it. Lol. I think it might have to do with Naoko’s comment a few chapters ago about how it would be scary to not be able to wake up from a dream. But I hadn’t thought about CCS much at all yesterday, so this dream really came out of the blue.

Just some of my favorite drawings from High School ❤️

So I recently discovered that Ibis Paint has a function of recording time lapse videos, and I’m just mesmerized!! It’s so much fun watching my own process!! I also think it says a lot about me sometimes.

Last night I had a veryunexpected dream, but it seems fitting seeing as last night there was a full lunar eclipse that made the moon blood red! 

In this dream, Syaoran was out with Sakura somewhere, maybe a museum? And Kaito shows up. Syaoran is glaring at him of course and on guard. Kaito smiles back like he always does, but then suddenly his face gets serious, and something totally crazyhappens….

Kaito stops time, touches Syaoran to unfreeze time around him, but uses magic to not just silence him but also keep him from moving. He then picks him up and starts running away!! So in the dream, I was watching this on a tv and screaming like so bad. I was like ‘WHAT?! WHAT’S HAPPENING?!’. So Kaito is running off with Syaoran over his shoulder and gets onto an elevator. Syaoran breaks through the spell a little and starts talking, trying to use magic to get a message to Sakura, but Kaito knocks him out and you see Syaoran’s head fall back. I don’t remember exactly what Kaito said, but he mentioned something about Yelan then said something about “the owner of this world”. It was about right when the elevator opened that the scene cut out, cuz’ someone changed the channel and I got really mad and couldn’t see the rest of it. That’s about when I woke up.

Tsubasa Chronicle Month: Day 2-Syaoran

Here we go again! Another chapter, and seemingly like always, I have more and more questions! CLAMP, CUT ME SOME SLACK HERE!!

We also got 3 whole panels of Syaoran, which is not enough, but I’ll  honestly take it at this point. Lmao!  But we do get some juicy Kaito development, and I’m living for it! My full thoughts on this chapter are under the cut due to length and spoilers!

I feel like this cover page is a perfect choice for CLAMP since introducing us officially to Lillie (I say officially since we now know her name), and seeing as what goes on later in this chapter, it is also fitting to have both mothers on the cover. I absolutely lovethe dress designs and it only just now occurred to me seeing this image that both Nadeshiko and Lillie have flower names! They are wearing dresses designed after their respective flowers, and I can never get over just how creativeMokona-sensei is with her designs. Seriously, no matter how hard I try to design an outfit myself, it always looks so bland in comparison (which also makes me realize I have no sense of fashion), but Mokona is just never lacking in genius. Just amazing.

The chapter itself starts off with another Cloaked Figure dream, and it seems Sakura is pressing more and more for answers each time she has these. They don’t seem to really startle her anymore or cause her distress. In fact, she only seems to become more calm and calculating with her questions, and it really shows how she’s grown. She even starts to answer a bit of her own questions while she goes. She knows that at some point she will meet this cloaked figure, and as part of her outfit changes for a brief moment (just the sleeve showing as to not spoil for us her official Alice costume), she also identifies that she will meet the cloaked figure while wearing this particular outfit.

Although it doesn’t tell us much at first glance, I think might be confirming that the moment we see that sleeve again, it will be when the plot really gets turned on its head, and it seems more and more likely that this play will be the center of this major event. Surprisingly, the cloaked figure actually lowers part of their cloak to speak, but of course not enough to reveal who they really are. And naturally, with it being a manga, we cannot identify the voice of who is speaking to determine this either, but the words stated are quite alarming. They state that when they meet, it will be “the beginning of the end”. What’s alarming about this is that we don’t know where the ‘end’ leads to. Because this is Cardcaptor Sakura, I’m sure it will have a happy ending overall, but what will they go through first to achieve that happy ending this time? This is also a callback to the very first words in Clear Card, which were “When all the cards have gathered together, it is not the end, but rather, the beginning. The beginning of the end”.

Because this line specifically mentions ‘when the cards have gathered together’, this leads me to believe that for sure we have at least three parties involved, which would  unsurprisingly be Sakura (with the Clear Cards of course), Syaoran (with the Sakura cards), and Kaito (who currently has Mirror).

The dream ends when Sakura wakes up, appearing to have fallen asleep at the dining room table while practicing her lines for the Twin Alices play. Her father is there with a blanket and tells her that he understands that she’s working hard but to not push herself. Sakura of course understands and appreciates the sentiment, but she states that she simply wants to do her best since Akiho is working so hard herself. Syaoran has also mentioned wanting to do his best in his roles since everyone is doing their best, so it seems that they are motivating each other all around for this play!

Sakura looks to the table where her mother’s picture always is and asks her father what she was like. It’s natural for Sakura to be curious about her mother as a person when she never really knew her, and I’m sure she’s even had this conversation before but still wants to know more (as any child would). I have to say, the way Fujitaka talks about her doesn’t really say much about how she actually was as a person, but it shows a lot about how much he loved her. He really seems to adore her and sees her as an angel fallen from heaven who gave him the most precious gifts that anyone could give a person. It’s honestly so pure, it makes me even more sad that Nadeshiko passed away. I can’t imagine how Fujitaka felt when he loved someone that much, who showed him so much love in return, and then lost them.

The scene changes to Akiho, who had fallen asleep doing the same thing Sakura was. And just like Fujitaka was doing for Sakura, Kaito is standing nearby with a blanket for Akiho. The same words are spoken to Akiho, asking her not to push herself, and she responds in exactly the same manner as Sakura by stating that she wants to work hard since Sakura is working so hard. However, Kaito’s reaction to this is a bit different than Fujitaka’s, and he seems to show a bit more concern before his hand seems to one again reach out unconsciously (Cinzia fondly calls this action ‘the hand’ -insert trademark-. Hahahaha).

I think this might be the third time in about 4 chapters that he has done this, so the mask he’s been wearing is most definitely starting to break. Kaito’s true feelings cannot stay buried much longer, and this consistent action of his hand reaching out to Akiho is proof of this. But time and time again, he keeps fighting himself and pulling the hand (-insert trademark-) back before putting the mask back up and simply telling her that she will do wonderfully. Now, I can’t help but wonder why he looked so serious when Akiho was simply talking about doing her best, and I can only assume that it is because he knows that this play is likely going to be ruined by what happens next; that maybe her hard work will go to waste. Or maybe he is just hoping to live long enough to see it and still feels like he had so much to say to her before he’s gone. There are honestly so many different things that could be going through his head right now, but it’s increasingly more obvious how much he cares about her.

Akiho glances backwards at an empty spot, as if looking for something, and Kaito picks up on this before asking her what she was looking for. She says that she wanted to see a photo, but then finds it strange as she never had any photos of her mother to begin with. It seems after observation that this is perhaps a result of the synchronization going on between her and Sakura. Kaito’s face looks a bit grim when she says this, perhaps because he realizes the synchronization is getting stronger, but also it is a reminder of Lillie being gone.

Poor Akiho mentions how her parents never left her a single photo, which is certainly sad on its own, but then she tells a story from her childhood that just makes everything about her life seem so…much…worse. She tells us how her mother was the strongest magician in her clan and could see the future in dreams as well as perform just about any spell with ease, and that her father was the second strongest. It’s nice to hear her officially talking about this, because it shows that she really is aware of the magical world in its entirety. The clan was thrilled when her parents got engaged, but only because of their hopes for the production of a exceptionally gifted magical child. Akiho, as we know, was born without magic, but she tragically tells us more about her parents demise by stating that it was an accident in which they died to protect her.

So…I can’t even imagine losing both of my parents at the same time, let alone at that young an age, but to also know that they died protecting me? I feel like that would make any child feel unworthyof such an immense sacrifice, despite it really showing how much they were loved. But to make things even worse, she recalled a time, back when she was old enough to understand words, that her clan frequently spoke of how unfortunate it was that Lillie could not forsee her own demise and that since she left behind a child with no power, it would have been better if Akiho’s parents never met at all. So this poor child who likely already felt unworthy of her parents sacrifice, was overhearing her own family say with her right there that she was better off not being born due to her lack of magic and the loss of their two strongest magicians. I did not think I could hate this family any more than I already did, but they just went up to Fei Wang Reed level of hate in my book (and that’s a lot of hate). The emotional abuse here is just so incredibly fucked up, and it’s honestly the darkest story to enter CCS thus far.

What also angers me so much is how they stated that Lillie did not forsee her own demise, when in reality, she very likely (like 99.9% based on what she said in the last chapter) did know that she would not live much longer. What these fuckers don’t understand (pardon my language, but this clan makes my blood boil), is that if there was no other way, Lillie would make this decision every single time because her love for her daughter is that strong. But as we’ve seen before, the clan doesn’t understand love at all. They couldn’t possibly understand how a magicless child could be loved so unconditionally.

As I am fuming about this, it seems Kaito shares that feeling of anger, and for the first time, we see him clench his fists as he fights to restrain himself from speaking out. But eventually, it becomes too much, and he has a bit of an outburst (a rather extreme one for Kaito). He tells Akiho that this is not true, and that even though she can’t use magic, there are things she can do that those fools could never dream of doing. The English translation uses the word ‘fools’, which I absolutely love in this context, and though the original Japanese doesn’t translate exactly to that, @meimi-haneoka​ with her glorious translation notes has confirmed that the feelings behind it are still there. Because we know that Kaito is actually a bit more rude and sassy than he allows anyone to see (as Cinzia calls his ‘Ore’ side), I translated this in my mind as “AKIHO, DON’T LISTEN TO THOSE FUCKING IDIOTS, THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT!”. XDDDD

Akiho seems a bit surprised by the rude language Kaito uses (which is really tame, but far different from his usual polite façade), and he recovers quickly, realizing he lost control of himself once again and apologizes for his rudeness. I honestly love this side of Kaito and want to see a lot more of it, but he’s so damn stubborn that he won’t let his true self come out! Come on, I want the sassy Kaito who speaks his mind, regardless of how one might feel about what he’s saying! Akiho shakes her head at his apology and then thanks him. It must have felt good to actually have someone stick up for her for once and tell her that she meanssomething, regardless of whether she has magic or not.

She changes the subject a bit and speaks of how she asked over and over again what her parents were like, but that she was only ever told that they both loved chocolate mint. And because she too loves chocolate mint, this makes her feel like she has a connection to her parents. This is really sweet, but I also am even more furious thinking that the clan couldn’t even bother to divulge more information to her about her own parents other than this one thing. 

But….

CLAMP. I have questions…

In chapter 36, when the whole chocolate mint thing was introduced, Nadeshiko mentioned that Lillie had told her the one she loved most did notlike chocolate mint. In fact, it wasn’t just said once but twice. Lillie was also travelling the world with the one she loved most, which we can only assume must be Akiho’s father. Initially, I thought “Okay, this has to be a translation error, because Kodansha fucks up all the time”, but I was incredibly surprised to hear from Cinzia that this was actually not a translation error.

Now, I can’t rule out this not being a continuity error on CLAMP’s part (I spent 10 years on a story myself and know how hard it is to keep continuity with some things when you’ve been writing for that long), but CLAMP has always done a really good job of keeping things consistent, so I have a hard time believing that this is an error. It’s especially hard to believe considering how much focus they have put on the chocolate mint topic in particular. The subject of chocolate mint has always come across as CLAMP’s subtle way of drawing connections to some characters, but it’s hard to say exactly which connection in particular they want us to pay attention to.

So, if we go based on the idea that this was nota mistake, then why would Akiho say this?

When I thought about it, I remembered who she had gotten this information from. Her clan had told her this, and honestly what the fuck do they really know about Lillie and Akidad personally? So after discussion with some friends on discord, we came to a bit of a shared conclusion that the clan might have thought Akidad liked chocolate mint, but that he didn’t actually like it at all. In chapter 36, it was mentioned that Syaoran doesn’t like chocolate mint either, but he seemed disappointed when Sakura didn’t make him any. Tomoyo pointed out that even if he didn’t like the flavor, if it was made by Sakura, he would have eaten it. I think the same idea would have applied to Akidad. Although he wouldn’t actually like it, he likely pretended to or at least ate it because he loved how happy it made Lillie. And as a result of seeing this, the clan might be lead to believe he actually liked chocolate mint. This is an idea I can get behind that is both heartwarming but also shows how absolutely disconnected the clan is from the feelings of their own members.

While Akiho expresses her happiness in having this supposed connection to her parents (or at least one of them), Kaito can’t help but see her mother, and this is the first time we see him making a direct comparison between Akiho and Lillie. Of course we already knew they resembled each other quite a bit, but it’s refreshing to see if finally come from Kaito.

However, he starts to think back on that moment where he was asked to review Akiho for magical power and how he had described her as being like a blank book. I had thought for quite some time that he might have felt guilt over his description of her, because it seemed clear that the clan got the idea to turn her into a tool as a result of these words. It appears this theory was correct, but it is even more tragic when we find out that Kaito had only described her in such a way because he thought that with her having no magic and her parents being gone, that they would simply exile her and allow her to live a normal life. This shows how he had actually intended kindness and wanted her to have a good and happy life, but she was robbedof this because of his words. This brings a lot more context to why he might be doing all of this.

I mentioned before that I felt the magic Kaito wanted to do was to bring back a life or change a specific moment in time, but this chapter has now I feel shown plausible motives for bothof those reasons. I could see him wanting to bring back Akiho’s parents so Akiho can live with a happy family, but I can also see him wanting to go back to that moment and change what he stated in a way that would ensure Akiho had a better life than being used as a tool. He clearly has guilt over he situation and even very openly blames himself as the reason that Akiho is on the verge of losing her soul. This is absolutely heartbreaking, and Kaito desperately needs someone to tell him that he is notresponsible for the choices of others. Yes, our words are powerful and impact the world around us, but our words do not completelycontrol the actions of others, and this was a choice made by the clan, not him.

Kaito tells Akiho that he has a feeling that she and her mother have a lot in common, which rather proves to me that Kaito has probably not ever told Akiho that he knew her mother well. If she knew after all, I’m sure she would have asked him all sorts of questions about her. I hope he can tell her more about her someday.

The scene changes to show Fujitaka stating the same thing to Sakura; that she too is a lot like her mother. Fujitaka tells Sakura not to stay up too late, and right after leaving the room, Sakura creates two cards rather abruptly. Immediately, after she creates them, she calls Syaoran, and we FINALLY get our first Syaoran appearance in like 3 months (thank god, I would’ve lost it if we went another full chapter without even one panel of him). Sakura apologizes for calling him so late, but he tells her he was already up (undoubtedly practicing his own part in the play), and she tells him how she believes she created two new cards in a dream. Syaoran asks about the details of these two new cards, and Sakura smiles and responds that they are very kind. The last page shows the two cards, which show what appear to be card versions of Touya (CHOICE) and Fujitaka (KINDNESS). I believe the Touya one stemmed from the conversation she had with him recently about choosing her own future and the Fujitaka one clearly from the kindness her father always shows her every day. I’m not sure what kind of ability these cards would have or if they have any significance at all later on, but it’ll be interesting to find out!

I’m hoping this is the last chapter of the ‘calm before the storm’ and that we’ll actually have some escalation in the next chapter, but we shall see! Until next month!

Me with like every drawing in high school.

AHHHHHHHH!!!!

 AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Sorry, I had to get that out of my system first before I talk about this chapter. The second I saw that Syaoran and Sakura were not just on the cover of the Nakayoshi (the first time ever!) but also the color page, I knew we were about to get an exciting chapter!

Without further ado, let’s jump into it! Under the cut due to length and spoilers!

The color page is SO beautiful. I always love any pages that have SyaoSaku on it, but this one is incredibly symbolic in several ways. The first thing to point out is of course the outfits. Sakura’s has star symbols on it, which show her power of the stars, and Syaoran’s has moons to symbolize his moon magic. The blue and purple colors compliment each other very well, but I especially love the gentle touching of their hands. Since they cannot touch right now, it’s been a while since we’ve actually seen this. It’s nice to see it, even if it is only in a color page. They are also standing beside a bare tree, but they are surrounded by orbs of light in the darkness. This is a rather similar looking image to a previous color page with Kaito (I recognized this as well, but Cinzia pointed it out first and brought up good points), who was entangled by the tree and holding only a single orb of light in his hands while surrounded by glass shards. I believe this is symbolism to how their love lights the darkness, whereas with Kaito he is afraid to not just be loved but to love himself as well.

The chapter starts with Fujitaka entering the school and looking rather worried. Touya reminds him that they are headed to the right place and he does not need to be nervous as he has checked many many times already. Fujitaka is so precious here wanting so desperately to make sure he doesn’t miss a moment. Touya reassures him again that they’ve got Yukito on filming duty, so he will for sure not miss a moment. Fujitaka is grateful but still seems to be worried about what will happen if his camera fails, thinking about every possible thing that could go wrong. Fortunately for him, Sonomi is ready to go with several professional grade cameras manned by her security detail, and this is such a nice callback to the second movie!!

Fujitaka and Sonomi both express how excited they are to see the play, and Nakuru comments on how amusing the both of them are. They follow the signs leading to the play, which I think has an adorable reference to Alice in Wonderland like the little signs that would say ‘Drink Me’ or ‘Eat Me’. Hehe. When they finally reach the destination, they are lead to the courtyard that Syaoran and Kaito had their epic battle on Parents day! But this time, the courtyard looks completely different with dangling banners, lights, and lovely flowing curtains around the stage. It obviously took a lot of work to set all this up, and while everyone shows their amazement at how beautiful it looks, one of the teachers states that the students put all of It together themselves. The teachers adorably talk about how hard everyone worked and that they are doing their best to show everyone around, but can we please talk about how fucking MIKE FROM PORTLAND SHOWED UP?!!!

I didn’t even see him the first time I read this, but @meimi-haneoka​ pointed out that he was there, and holy shit she’s right! Mike from Portland (the English teacher from the first episode of the Clear Card anime) has finally shown his face in the manga, and right before the climax no less! Maybe the jokes about how Mike from Portland is the true enemy is actually to be taken seriously? Lol, just kidding. Nonetheless, it’s incrediblyamusing.

The play begins rather quickly once the setting is introduced, and it starts off with Yamazaki playing the piano and Tomoyo singing! <3

The lyrics of the song are finally being heard for the first time, and it’s such a sweet song! Reminding Alice that she is unique and special and to never forget who she is! Tomoyo starts things off with the first line, saying good morning to Alice, and Sakura wakes from her slumber on the big fluffy bed (that looks quite a lot like her own bed!). The story starts off like we have heard before of Alice being in a world very close to our own yet very far away and how she could sometimes dream of the future.

The black cat appears in the bed, or rather a prop being controlled by a mysterious person who just was hiding away under the covers of the bed. Lmao. Sakura carries the cat off stage and makes a quick costume change. The dress is really cute, but I honestly had hoped for something a bit more glamorous? This does not appear to be the final battle outfit though, as CLAMP teased us with the sleeve of what Sakura will wear when she meets the cloaked figure back in chapter 61.

While Sakura talks to her ‘parents’ in the play, the stagehands shine a logo and title of the play on the curtains and it appears that Naoko has made a last minute change to the title. Now, instead of “The Twin Alices”, she has changed it to “Alice in Clockland”, just like Akiho’s book! This is very surprising, and I’m not the only one who was surprised it seems. Momo and Kaito are watching from the rooftops, and Momo asks if Kaito had anything to do with the title change. He states that it was purely a coincidence and had nothing to do with him, but in classic CLAMP style, it is mentioned that there is no such thing as coincidence; only inevitability (hitsuzen!).

It’s important to note here that the outfit Kaito is wearing has a dragon design on the bottom of it, which looks very similar to the border used on the storybook style backstory shown for him before. I’m not sure if this will be the last outfit we will see him in, but it does seem to further emphasize the importance of what is about to happen.

Kaito states it is time for Alice to arrive in Clockland, and while Sakura is chasing after the black cat, there is a big whoosh of the curtains, which seem to be black now, whereas they were white before. It is very subtle, but I think here, magic is being used to actually transport her to Clockland. 

Sakura is now in a new costume that is absolutely ADORABLE, and she asks where she is.  This outfit also does not appear to be the final battle outfit, but there is a little clock-bolt brooch on her big bow that resembles the one on Momo’s ring crown, so it seems to be possibly reflective of her truly being in Clockland. The setting still look like that of a stage for a play, and a wall with a moon on it opens up to reveal….SYAORAN?  A BLACK CAT SYAORAN?!!!

I was completely stunned to see this for a few different reasons. The first one is because Syaoran is not supposed to be on stage, and his outfit and demeanor seem sodifferent from what I recognize Syaoran to be like. Because of this alone and the big whooshes before, I am 99.9% sure this is notactually Syaoran and is a magically created version of him either by Kaito or Clockland. I am absolutely intrigued to see where this goes and why in particular Syaoran’s form is being shown here. I understand some of you may think that this is still part of the play and that Naoko managed to badger him into taking an actual role on the stage, but I really really doubt it.  I feel like Syaoran would be incredibly embarrassed acting this out with his legs crossed and seeing so much more casual than usual, but who knows? Maybe he’s a much better actor than anyone realized. Hahahaa!

The second reason I’m surprised here is because in late March on 2017, I had a dream that the CCS group was planning a school play and that Tomoyo was making the outfits (of course). I don’t remember how anyone else was dressed, but I specifically remember seeing Syaoran looking a lot like Ciel Phantomhive with the boots, stockings, shorts, and a eye patch over his right eye. And I gotta say…this outfit looks damn close to a Ciel Phantomhive outfit. He’s not wearing an eyepatch here like in my dream, but he is wearing a monocle over the same right eye (because of fucking course it’s the right eye), so I’m considering this another extremely weird dream coming to reality situation. STAY OUT OF MY DREAMS CLAMP, THIS IS GETTING WEIRD.

The chapter ends on that whopper of a cliffhanger, and I’m so so so stoked for the next chapter. I want to know who this is that shares Syaoran’s form. Is it MIRROR being used by Kaito? Is it someone else entirely who looks like him or has stolen his appearance? Or is it actuallySyaoran and I’m totally overthinking things?  I guess we’ll find out! But I can’t wait to see where this goes and how Sakura interacts with this black cat Syaoran!! I imagine she’s going to be very confused and continue to interact with him like she’s still in the play, wondering why Syaoran is on stage, until she eventually realizes she’s not on the stage anymore. 

We’ll just have to wait to find out! See you all next month! 

My new and improved happy place!!

Chrissy: -has a dream in late March 2017 about the CCS group doing a school play and Syaoran wearing Ciel Phantomhive looking clothes-

Also Chrissy: -reads chapter 63 of Clear Card - STAY OUT OF MY DREAMS, CLAMP!!!! 

I’m auctioning off this super rare art print autographed by CLAMP from Anime Expo 2006. Characters featured are Yuuko, Syaoran and Chii. https://www.ebay.com/itm/154843319750

Ultra Rare CLAMP Signed Autograph Board Anime Expo 2006 Exclusive Chii Li Yuuko | eBay

strottine:

Watched Secret of NIMH yesterday so wanted to draw some Tsubasa mice

hoshinochikara: