#WITH SAKURA AND SYAORAN IN THE JAM JAR? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

completeoveranalysis · 6 days

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EXCUSE ME I only got to the first panel and had to scream

HELLO! YUKITO AND TOUYA HELLO!! PEAK COUPLE SPOTTED. EXCITEMENT MAXIMUM.

But I suppose I should actually read the page too.

UPDATE. IT IS EVEN MORE WILD THAN BEFORE SOMEHOW.

WHAT DO I EVEN DO WITH THIS?!

Where do we even start.

Yuuko’s talking about the Jam Jar and explains that it was “entrusted to me by the flesh and blood relations of the two of them.”

And the [two of them] seems to be referring to Lava Lamp’s parents, judging by the rest of the page (unless there are even MORE Syaorans and Sakuras floating around but I'm not even considering that yet). But immediately PULL THE BREAK. PULL EVERY BREAK. LET’S STOP RIGHT HERE.

The panel that mentions the “blood relations” of [the two of them] shows Touya and Yukito from behind. Touya and Yukito specifically in regular, modern clothes.

And I completely lose it.

BECAUSE LIKE

THAT IS 100% THEIR CARDCAPTOR SAKURA VERSIONS IS IT NOT?!

AND LIKE OK.

OK OK OK

We’ve done this dance before.

Lava Lamp’s backstory was FULL of references that seemed to imply (on purpose) that Cardcaptor Sakura was the origin of his parents, with JUST enough small inconsistencies to show that that’s PROBABLY not actually who they are, YET THEY CONTINUED to tease it as the real answer.

And EVEN HERE they're doing it again.

They show us a Touya and Yukito who 1 to 1 look like their Cardcaptor Sakura counterparts, in modern clothing - but FROM BEHIND, to add a little bit of doubt. The story is lining up all the pieces so that once again it looks like CCS Touya and Yukito gave Yuuko the Jam Jar - and that it's potentially CCS Sakura and Syaoran in the Jam Jar, who have never met Yuuko, but still turned back time, even if it meant “distancing themselves from their own children”.

AND THEY EVEN SHOW YOU THEM, SAKURA AND SYAORAN as Lava Lamp’s parents BUT FROM A DISTANCE, SO YOU CAN’T POSSIBLY TELL FOR SURE EXACTLY IF THEY’RE WHO YOU THINK THEY ARE OR NOT.

MORE - THEY SHOW US THE MAGIC CIRCLES. Sakura stands on Syaoran’s magic circle and Syaoran stands on CARDCAPTOR SAKURA’S MAGIC CIRCLE. And even though people argue with me over this I will stand by the fact that we have canonically only seen this magic circle for Cardcaptor Sakura at this point in the story. It is her UNIQUE magic circle she created on her own. That’s the only place we have seen it.

And, yes! From a wider universe perspective it’s possible that Sakura’s Unique Magic Circle is Actually Not Unique and Other Sakura’s Also Have The Same Magic Circle, but we don’t know that yet. We've seen Xing Huo, for example, using the Reed magic circle. Which could be for many many reasons, but on the simplest level it's an example of Another Sakura using a magic circle that is Not the one implied to be unique to Cardcaptor Sakura.

And do I think Lava Lamp's mother is Cardcaptor Sakura? No!

But what we do know is that Clamp are having the TIME OF THEIR LIVES showing us glimpses of symbols and characters KNOWING That it all points directly towards Cardcaptor Sakura

EVEN THOUGH IT COULDN’T REALISTICALLY BE HER. But with enough doubt in place for the thoughts of "OR COULD IT?" to be just as valid at this point.

EVERY PIECE OF THIS IS ON PURPOSE AND I AM GOING RABID OVER IT.

AND JUST. Even though I know it’s most likely not actually them, is just genuinely so much fun to see them that I don’t even mind.

Lie to me Clamp! Lead me to the wrong conclusion! I will have a fantastic time even if I don’t actually believe you.

Also I am absolutely not receiving any comments that clarify who they are at this time thank you.

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completeoveranalysis · 5 days

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OK!

UNHINGED THEORY TIME:

WHO ARE LAVA LAMPS PARENTS?

Criteria for candidates include: (a) his mother's name is Sakura, (b) his mother is a dream seer, (c) they are vaguely Sakura and Syaoran shaped, (d) they end up in the Jam Jar

Potential Answer 1: Cardcaptor Sakura and Syaoran Li, from Cardcaptor Sakura

Hints in favour: Almost everything. Clamp drop constant hints that imply Cardcaptor Sakura, including but not limited to: the world Lava Lamp is 'from' resembles our world, his father's name is Syaoran Li, his mother's magic circle is the same one from Cardcaptor Sakura, his father's sword is identical to Cardcaptor Sakura!Li Syaoran's sword, his magic circle, Touya and Yukito (in 216, his relatives) are shown in ordinary clothing resembling our world, Lava Lamp's mother gave Yuuko the Star Wand, Lava Lamp's grandmother looks like Nadeshiko, Lava Lamp's father is descended from Clow Reed.

Counterpoints: Lava Lamp doesn't seem to recognise Touya and Yukito in the Clow Kingdom, CLAMP wouldn't need to hide their faces if we already correctly know who they are, Lava Lamp doesn't seem to know how Cardcaptor Sakura is related to Clow Reed.

Also: It's a bit dark! Even though Clamp are OVERFLOWING with hints that Lava Lamp's parents might just be the Cardcaptors, it would be a bit of a downer for the main characters for such a sweet and uplifting manga like Cardcaptor Sakura to end up here.

Theory Status: The one the narrative most strongly backs up, but still doesn't feel quite right

Potential Answer 2: Someone from Tsubasa

Hints in favour: THEY DON'T SHOW US THEIR FACES. EVER. Why leave their faces out unless we would recognise?

With this in mind, let us narrow down the potential Syaorans we have seen who could be considered JUST KIDDING THERE'S ONLY ONE: CLONE SYAORAN. He's the only one with an appearance distinctive enough to be immediately recognisable: he has heterochromia.

What if Clone Syaoran is Real Syaoran's father? Which would make Lava Lamp's mother either Clone Sakura or the new Fusion Sakura we just met.

Counter point: That's completely batshit.

Counter Counter Point: Logic in the universe is dying. Also this is CLAMP. It should be completely batshit.

Another Counterpoint: Hiding their faces could be a red herring just to torture us on purpose

Which I have no defence against that is 100% what they would do

Yet Another Counterpoint: Clone Syaoran and Clone Sakura are currently dead.

AND OK I HAVE NO EXPLANATION FOR THAT ONE.

Unless? There is a gap in the timeline where they could have disappeared for a long period of time? Ie, long enough to disappear to another dimensions, have children together, raise them, and then hop in the Jam Jar for an undisclosed number of years? And then time travel to still make it back into the narrative on time?

And - sure! There are MANY holes times where Clone Syaoran disappears from the narrative entirely. Most notably, his magic growth is extreme between the end of Nihon and his reappearance in the Reservoir. Also that was arguably when his soul was restored. So he MIGHT have disappeared, done all that, and still made it back in time to die in the Reservoir.

Also, if that IS the order of events, that would explain why we can never see his face AND ALSO why he still has Fai's eye when fighting in the Reservoir. Because he hasn't died yet.

Big Counter point: Yuuko has never met Lava Lamp's parents. Also, Lava Lamp's parents don't have the power to cross dimensions.

Which, yeah. That seems to rule them out entirely. Yuuko has met Clone Syaoran.

(Unless she means technically, since she wasn't in the same dimension as Clone Syaoran when she first met him in Chapter 1/2, but surely that's splitting hairs.)

So that seems to... rule them out pretty solidly?

Unless Yuuko HERSELF doesn't know exactly who they are, which seems even more unlikely than anything else.

Theory Status: Doesn't compute but I kind of want it anyway

Potential Answer 3: A completely unrelated pair of Sakura and Syaoran

Hints in Favour: It wouldn't counteract with any other facts we have so far, since we know nothing about them.

Counter point: It's boring.

Theory Status: It would work but it would be disappointing.

PS - no confirmations or denials in either direction please and thank you :D

#I feel like I'm forgetting something #but this is close enough #liveblogging the reservoir chronicle #And completely unhinged theory time #replies #five-p-m #with time travel anything is possible #BUT IS IT?#I GUESS WE'LL SEE

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completeoveranalysis · 6 days

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And we get... SOMETHING! Something sure did happen!

Is there an immediate explanation or -

NOPE.

OK END OF CHAPTER.

LET'S SEE.

The Jam Jar versions of Sakura and Syaoran are OUT, but can we piece together anything else?

Aside from the obvious visual differences (ie, covered in blood, asleep) there are a couple of things that make them look different to the present day Lava Lamp Guy and Super Sakura that we have in the middle here.

Their faces are SLIGHTLY different. Almost identical but not quite! The Jam Jar Syaoran also doesn't appear to have the goggles, and isn't wearing gloves either. Which is probably not significant, but I thought I'd mention it just in case.

Oh! Also the Jam Jar Sakura is slightly transparent! You can see the other Sakura's dress through her feet!

Wild!

What does it mean? WHO KNOWS, but I sure will wait patiently for CLAMP to tell me eventually without suffering every single day in the meantime :D

(lie)

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completeoveranalysis · 6 days

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The wording here makes Yuuko's message a bit ambiguous. When she says they went into the Jam Jar so that “neither of them would vanish” I can’t tell if she means so THEY wouldn’t vanish, or if she means the two futures. Maybe it’s the latter? The more I read it the more it feels like the latter.

And when she moves on to the topic of herself the “And I as well” could mean Herself in terms of Not Vanishing, or that she is also doing something to prevent the Two Futures from vanishing. Probably the latter here as well? The more I read this as well it also seems like the latter.

So. They had Jam Jar time so that neither of the two futures would vanish, and Yuuko's Time moving again means she can also do something that will help with that. I think that's it?

Language is so weird.

Oh! But here we go!

Since the Yuuko’s time is moving, and because the barrier between life and death is still in place, she can finish her 5D chess move and send the Jam Jar Sakura and Syaoran into the World of Dreams. Which they APPARENTLY were not in already - CONFIRMED. That's good to know, since the last time we had a Jam Jar it kind of also WAS the world of dreams?

I constantly feel like I just need to reread everything all over again

HERE WE GO!

JAM JAR: BROKEN!

MAGIC CIRCLE: GIANT

EVERYONE: SHOCKED

I am forcibly removed from the Jam Jar.

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completeoveranalysis · 2 years

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There is nothing different about this panel don’t worry about it c:

Thank you to Kamui personally for being the number one reason why content gets banned.

BUT ANYWAY BUCKLE IN ITS TWIN TIME. VAMPIRE TWINS: REVEALED!

OH AND SPOILERS. SPOILERS FOR SERESU. SPOILERS FOR A THOUSAND YEARS.

As we’ve seen over and over again twins are a huge thing in the shared Tsubasa/xxxHolic suffering zone, but THESE twins are quite a fascinating parallel to some of the others.

Like the Syaoran’s! Kamui is a clear echo of Autopilot Syaoran, being ruthless and uncaring to every world he visits as he’s focused on a singular goal (and person) above all else. Subaru in his suspended sleep prison then mirrors Lava Lamp, as they were both unconscious in magic water jars for a long period of time but still watched the events unfolding around them. There’s a slight possibility he could echo Our Original Syaoran too, depending on how alive his soul might be inside of Auto-Pilot, but that’s a thought for another day.

The Vampire Twins also echo the Fais. Again, Subaru in his magic preservation sphere is a parallel to where the Original Fai is being kept, his body also preserved by a feather, while Kamui in this panel in particular is a clear parallel to Fai/Yuui, in that he’s urging them to skip to the next world to avoid the man chasing them. And THIS parallel is absolutely incredible because it shows us just how Deeply Kind and Loving Fai is in his very soul, since he deviates from the pattern set up by Kamui and Autopilot Syaoran. Unlike the other two, he’s willing to give it all up - he changes his mind about not using magic, about skipping worlds as soon as possible, and cares so deeply for people that he loses half his magic on a halfbaked chance that he might save one of them, which is something Autopilot and Kamui would never do. And I think there’s something to be said that in Acid Tokyo especially, it’s Kamui and Auto-Pilot Syaoran who are the aggressors who violently maim the main cast, and Fai is the one trying to defend them. Which is incredible on its own, but is even more so against the backdrop of the other parallels.

I don’t think any of the other twins fit the pattern off the top of my head. The Chis, Mokonas, and Maru/Moro don’t really fit, but their presence does emphasise the artificial nature of some of the others.

I’m tempted to put Sakura in this space, as she’s a clear fit for Subaru in her sleep, even more so once she’s in jam jar land, but she lacks a twin. Unless it was Xing Huo in some way, but sadly her death halts any further lines I can draw right now. I have my eye out though!

Anyway anyway back to the ones that actually fit, Kamui matches Autopilot Syaoran - and do you think that might be a hint that there’s still hope for him? Kamui is a ruthless asshole who literally murders our Syaoran right before our eyes - but he’s also instrumental in saving Fai, and he’s not FRAMED as a villain (SOMEHOW) and remains passably friendly or at least neutral towards the X/1999 cast as well as the Tsubasa family. Hope for Syaoran then?? Will our son come back???

#I'm desperate here #I will take any hint I can find and run with it #Tsubasa catch up chronicle #Catch Up Acid Tokyo #Catch Up T118 #Tsubasa #and Twin Trauma Time #How fascinating that both the fais and the vampires care so deeply for each other #and yet Autopilot cares for nothing

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completeoveranalysis · 2 years

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(Infinity Spoilers)

Since I’m fresh out of Shara this time around it’s really clear that Clamp built the difference between someone’s soul and their body to be a core idea in the series. In Shara they talked about muscle memory and the body remembering things that the mind forgets, and we’ve seen it at play with both Sakura and Syaoran at this point.

So, Yuuko explains here that Evil Wolverine technically only needs Sakura's body to continue the journey. Which means that when Sakura DOES break into two entities, and her soul goes to the jam jar, it means nothing to Evil Wolverine as long as her body continues to travel (I assume), which it does.

It also frees Sakura from that cycle of Evil Wolverine’s control and lets her do her own thing, potentially influencing events in a way that she wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.

It opens up some interesting thoughts about why it has to be Sakura specifically who goes to each world. Would Syaoran do in a pinch? He’s been to all the same worlds as Sakura (and potentially more, now that he’s off screen feather collecting). Or is it the feathers themselves that absorb the memories and not her body on its own? That way it would definitely have to be Sakura, as the one who will absorb them all.

It’s probably that.

But oh man I can’t wait to know for sure what the heck his hundred step plan actually accomplishes in the end. Apart from the obvious.

#Like yeah yeah use Sakura to gain control of time and space #And probably resurrect someone from the dead #Great fantastic sure but is there anything else to it?#Or am I just thinking there is because I’ve been in this zone for years?#tsubasa catch up chronicle #Tsubasa #Catch Up Acid Tokyo #Catch Up T133

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completeoveranalysis · 3 years

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Warning! This post contains spoilers up to chapter 170 of Tsubasa (and Chapter 71 of xxxHolic). Please skip this if you have not read that far.

Please also make no comments about what happens after that point in either manga.

SO here is the other splash image that really stuck out to me:

This time not because of the Seresu arc but because of how the Infinity arc itself ends.

Here's the link to the original post the image is from if you'd like the full context, but the particular quote from that post I want to use as a reference is here:

"Syaoran also sits on the throne - which as far as I can tell, isn’t his. ... The only one ever wearing the crown they’re all wearing [on their clothes] is Sakura. Now, does it make sense that Syaoran has usurped her throne? Heck yeah! He’s stolen everything from her. He’s stolen her journey (they’re following him now, always a step behind), he’s stolen her feathers, and he’s stolen the person she’s in love with."

Where I was kind of on the right track but couldn't have possibly guessed what all the chess imagery was ultimately feeding into. Looking back now the initial liveblogs for all of these Chess-related splash images are such a big mix of different iconography, so it’s very fun reading through all my old guesses back then. I think I did a really good job of trying to decipher some of it, especially the Cinderella and Snow White imagery in Chapter 140, but the Chess was a bit trickier.

Which, like, understandable, because the chess game that was happening in the chapters was stressful as heck and did not end well, but there is a nice conclusion to it with this image which is easier to read now - especially in regards to Sakura. Because it's made very clear to the viewer that the symbol of the Queen piece is in reference to her; both in these splash images (where she wears the crown at one point, and every character wears the symbol in ways that reflect their allegiance to her) and in the plotline, where she functions as the Queen of the battles taking place. Here is another good example of the symbol being used for Sakura with it right there on her throne, and the two Syaoran's wearing the symbol in smaller ways to represent their relationship to her. But with that all in mind? I had no idea what it was really getting at with Syaoran on Sakura's throne here.

BUT NOW I DO.

If you go back to that example I just gave with Sakura sitting on her throne? It's a different throne! It still makes it very clear that she's undeniably the Queen piece, with the symbol in gold actually being a key part of the throne itself.

And the throne Syaoran sits on? It has the crown symbol as part of the decoration, but it's not representing him, it's just a small symbol to show that matches Sakura's throne. This throne is his own.

He's the King piece.

(And, important distinction; the throne is not Lava Lamp's, but our original plotline Syaoran who is now in Autopilot mode.)

This wouldn't have occurred to me the first time through because I was focused so much on what this might mean for Sakura, and how she related to everyone else, but the way the Infinity Arc ends really hammers this home. After all, Sakura is the mastermind in this arc - everything that happens is according to her plan. She's not playing chess just during the literal chess matches, but during the entire plotline, moving every character and circumstance into place to enact her final plan; to activate both Chi's at once, absorb both their feather's, and trigger Fai's curse - resulting in her pseudo (if purely physical) death. But like we see in the plotline, this isn't a loss - it's a win. It's exactly how she planned things to unfold, and it will lead her to winning the game.

Just in case anyone isn't familiar, in Chess the queen is the most powerful piece capable of the widest variety of moves - but the queen is not the endgame goal. You can lose the queen piece in any game and (besides losing a powerful piece) it's not the end of the world. You can still win the game without the queen piece. It's the King piece that's the Win/Loss condition. The King is the piece you have to keep safe at all costs, even if you lose other pieces in the process. The second the King dies, the match is over. You've lost.

And this matches exactly how Sakura played the series events. She was the Queen in control of every move, and Syaoran was the Win condition she was focused on. She foresaw Fai killing Syaoran in the future - which, for her, is the Losing Scenario. She planned everything to avoid this, and she succeeded! She lost the Queen piece (ie, her physical body) but won the ultimate goal of keeping the King safe. She won the 3D future chess game that she was playing by herself, and positioned herself in the place that would have the most benefit for the victory at the end. (Which I still haven't seen, but she was VERY confident about this having a better result than Fai killing Syaoran.)

I'm also super happy that this ties in really well with the fairy tale allusions I talked about back in Chapter 140, but in ways I wasn't aware of back then either.

I talked about Snow White and how the apple (that shows up in a lot of the splash images in Infinity) may have been referring to Sakura's tendency to sleep a lot. What I didn't realise was that Sakura was essentially about to pull the Big Brain Snow White maneuver on herself to ultimately win her chess game. While in Snow White the poison apple is a trap, here Sakura sprung the trap intentionally. Fai is the apple she bit into deliberately - she arranged it so that killed her body, breaking his own curse, and sent her to the World of Dreams (and thus, she is asleep) which also placed her in a Glass Coffin (aka The Jam Jar of Dreams - Im sorry I have no memory of what it's really called). So the Snow White metaphor is now complete.

But also Cinderella! In the image for 140 Sakura is trying on a glass slipper - so she's Cinderella figure as well. But at this point in the plot the clock hadn't struck midnight just yet - like Cinderella, Sakura knew the exact time limit she had to work with, and for her the timing had to be PRECISE. She spent all of Infinity stressed out of her mind about this plan she couldn't trust anyone else with, knowing full well that if she missed the window even slightly it would ruin absolutely everything and they would all lose. Which, funnily enough, makes Yuuko the fairy godmother, since she provided Sakura with the magic she needed to make her plan happen (via wishes). This also means that Fai stabbing her with the sword is the exact moment the clock struck twelve - and like the spell finishing, Sakura could finally drop the act and explain what she had done, even as all the magic disappeared (ie, her luck being traded away). There's even a detransformation sequence of a sort, with her body and soul going in two different directions. But either way, the Cinderella metaphor is also complete!

And with all that done the last part I want to talk about is back in the image of Syaoran on the throne. He's framed on either side with the curtains that portray the chess board, and they're tied back by chains with him in the very centre. He is visually chained to the board - which, like, of course he is. With his Autopilot programming in place he's essentially just a chess piece without any will of his own - a winning piece, for sure, but he's still being moved around without his choice. He's playing the game on auto, making the moves that will lead him to the winning gambit, but without his individual soul he has no choice but to keep playing until the game is over. The goal he's working towards isn't even his - it's Evil Wolverine's. So in the same way that everyone else was a chess piece in Sakura's strategy (if, sort of, willingly), including Sakura herself, Syaoran is a piece being moved around in Evil Wolverine's favour - though if he dies, it's game over for Sakura's side as well.

I'm unclear if Syaoran dying would be a game over scenario for Evil Wolverine, but at the very least it would end the game he is currently playing.

So, in the hyper future 3D chess game that Sakura was playing by herself she couldn't properly win the game for her side by taking out Syaoran because he's her king piece too. Syaoran is the piece at the centre of everything, and will be the key to winning the game for either side. We just have to wait and see if Sakura's gambit will pay off in the way she thinks it will.

#For the record I THINK IT WILL #I believe in her #This has been: a lot of imagery #Tsubasa Catch Up Chronicle #Catch up T144 #Catch up T145 #Catch up T140 #Tsubasa #Ok so Sakura is confirmed Chess Genius y/y?#Sakura #Syaoran #and CHESS

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completeoveranalysis · 3 years

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Warning! This post contains spoilers up to chapter 170 of Tsubasa (and Chapter 71 of xxxHolic). Please skip this if you have not read that far.

Please also make no comments about what happens after that point in either manga.

In which I mostly want to talk about the invisible splash text says: “Time, since that day, has remained still. I dreamt of you and the sky, since that day.”

WHICH is nice and cute at first? It’s like, oh what a nice memory that they think of every now and again! How sweet! How wholesome!

Except that both parties here probably DO think back on this moment when they’re ACTUALLY literally frozen in time. Which is a bit… harsher? To think about.

Wait, did I say both? I meant ALL THREE. Lava lamp comes into the plotline swinging this around already, literally frozen in a lava lamp for a large portion of his life. It’s probably safe to say he latched onto moments like these while he hangs out in the goo.

Our other Syaoran also gets his mind shattered when the clone programming takes over and HOPEFULLY still exists somewhere under the surface? And can remember some nice frozen memories while he’s there? No-one can take that from me yet!

And Sakura, of course, sells her house and moves to the Jam Jar of Dreams, letting her ALSO be frozen in time while she quite literally lives in a dream land. The splash text could be about any of them. It could be all of them. WHY ARE ALL OF THEM FROZEN IN TIME.

Tsubasa: where even the happy platitudes will probably rip out your heart on a second viewing.

#And then CLAMP will laugh at you #THANKS CLAMP #Time since that day SURE HAS remained still #Especially if… you stop reading the series for a year and a bit #That freezes time too I guess!#Woops!#tsubasa catch up chronicle #Catch Up T3 #Catch Up Hanshin #Tsubasa #Listen I'm currently in Quarantine time really Has remained still for a while now #that counts too!

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