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completeoveranalysis · 4 days

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[9]

MOM HOLY FUCK THEY REALLY ARE SAYING IT

EXCUSE ME

WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT IS THIS THE GREATEST THING

LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS

Clamp absolutely set the precedent for this with our visit to Shura/Shara all those years ago. We’ve SEEN the possibility of being in the past and future of the same world and teleporting between the two. We knew the feathers could appear pretty much anywhere in the timeline of a world, given how time works differently across the mutliverse, and we DID just straight up go backwards and forwards in time via Mokona, so it’s absolutely possible for them to appear in the Past of the Kingdom of Clow.

WHICH IS APPARENTLY ACID TOKYO????

WHICH JUST ABSOLUTELY BLOWS MY MIND WHAT THE FUCK

WHAT A WAY TO TIE IT ALL TOGETHER??

X/1999 IS THE SET UP TO THE CLOW KINGDOM?

THE CLOW KINGDOM IS IN THE RUINED ECOLOGICAL DISASTER OF OUR OWN CURRENT WORLD???

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle as a pseudo-not-really-but-kind-of-sequel-event to Cardcaptor Sakura but ACTUALLY ALSO being the sequel-kind-of-but-not-exactly sequel to X/1999???? Or Alternate Timeline X/1999? Where things are ever so slightly different but the world was ruined in the same way?

AND THE RESERVOIR

THE RESERVOIR IN ACID TOKYO IS THE RESERVOIR IN THE CLOW RUINS????

I’m REELING OVER THIS

THEY SET THAT UP

SAKURA WALKED THROUGH THE DESERT TO PURIFY THE WATER TO SAVE THESE PEOPLE AND IT MADE THE RESERVOIR THAT LOVED SAKURA SO MUCH THAT IT PROTECTS HER

AND WATANUKI! WATANUKI WAS AN ESSENTIAL PIECE OF SETTING UP THE RESERVOIR IN A WORLD BEFORE HE EVEN EXISTED IN THAT TIMELINE

And that’s Definitely the feather they’re talking about, isn’t it? The feather that Sakura left in Acid Tokyo is still in the Reservoir right now, and is the reason the water is magic and loves her so much - because it’s a piece of her, and -... well, a piece of her clone. But it’s a piece of SAKURA, and so they resemble and resonate with each other, and that's why the water is so close to her, but 'Sakura' can’t absorb the feather because she’s already a full person and those aren’t her memories, but the memories of her clone.

Meanwhile Sakura (ie, our cloned Sakura) is currently on the other side of the portal at a point in time that DIDN’T exist a few seconds ago, for Original 'Sakura', but the rest of the universe has moved on and decades have passed (even though no time at all has passed for her) and now the feather from her clone has ended up in the past that set up the reservoir potentially centuries before she was even born.

Timeline!

Oh my god?

Oh my god.

I’m going to be thinking about this forever.

No wait I’m not done ACID TOKYO WAS like THE point in the narrative where everything changed forever. And from a Tsubasa point of view it felt like a world picked at random for all the Important Narrative changes to take place - but it never was! It was the most important world of all! It was the Clow Kingdom!

So Syaoran lived his life in the Clow Kingdom, and then his soul collapsed in Acid Tokyo, which was ALSO the Clow Kingdom, and then he went and died defending Lava Lamp, in the Clow Kingdom. All at completely different points in the timeline but all in the exact same world.

Though I will say I am thoroughly baffled by the connection between the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building and THE CLOW RUINS???

ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO BE THE SAME BUILDING?

Oh my god they’re in the same location aren’t they. The reservoir was underneath it and now it’s under the ruins. I suppose they have Magic so they could probably reshape them however they want but WHAT A CON CLAMP HAVE PULLED ON US

TO SPEND THE ENTIRE MANGA STARING AT THE WINGS OF THE CLOW RUINS AND THEY WERE SECRETLY WAITING FOR THE RIGHT TIME TO TELL US THAT WE WERE ACTUALLY LOOKING AT THE TOKYO METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT BUILDING ALL ALONG

THE AUDACITY OF IT ALL

#I LOVE IT?#I LOVE IT!#OH MY GOD THEY PULLED THE WHOLE RUG AWAY #THE GREATEST NARRATIVE CIRCLE?#THE MOST EXTREME TWIST?#OH MY GOD #Liveblogging the reservoir chronicle #Tsubasa #Vol 212 #Lava Lamp Guy #Fai #Kurogane #ACID TOKYO? IN MY CLOW KINGDOM???#IT’S MORE LIKELY THAN YOU THINK!#Excuse me I have to stare at the wall for seventeen hours

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princess-of-the-corner · 6 months

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Okay finally a proper liveblog of Shadybug and Claw Noire!

Gabriel's VA is having so much fun in that intro

How'd they get video from the other dimension? Is that explained?

FUCKING BETTERFLY I refuse to call him that we're calling him Hesperia. Anyway buddy boy everything is crumbling you don't have time for the speech!! You already know she's doing this shit just say yes!!

Well someone went whole hog on the intro sequence

NATHALIE SENDING GABE RIGHT TO VOICEMAIL

Also I forgot this is right after Destruction no one is getting any fuckin sleep

Mari and Alya are real gay here

TIKKI STEALING MACAROONS

Hesperia asking Mari not to panic after all that has big "B̷̬͇̬̏́̿̚Ȩ̸̬͇̠̓̏͐ ̵̛̝̠̖̤̱͎̻̱͗̉͊́̾̂̔̓̐̃̆̾̽͘N̸̝̠͓͍̺͔͉̮̰̈́̈́̍̒̒̊͐̒̈́̃͜Ǫ̶̧̡͓̥̤̪̤͛T̵͈̳̝̾̀͒ͅ ̴̺̾̈́̾͂̋̇̒̆À̴̢͔͖̯̺̜͇͎͎̬̻̖̲̏̒́͘͜͠F̴̧̧̘͇̈́̏̔̀͜Ŕ̶̨̟͎͕͓̤̟̤̺͓͚̺̰͒̊̌̅̂̈́͝Ḁ̶͙̈́͝Ĩ̵̢̘̩͉̳̯̼D̴̡͉͇̳̮͎̜͐̐́̍̎̉͝" energy.

rest in fucking pieces Markov!

Claw explodes a wall and Sabine just calmly goes to check like?? I'd be sprinting up there???

I was really hoping Shady would say 'Lucky Harm'. I would've also screamed and lit something on fire, but it would've been funny

so. not only can SB make binoculers that track butterfly pheramones. But Hesperia /gives off butterfly pheromones???/ I guess the fandom making everyone more animalistic was right? We won but at what cost?

Also SB and Claw's banter kills me I love the rivalmance

Okay this is a personal thing but I hate this because if it were a more appropriate couple, Hesperia being so soft and carrying Marinette away would be adorable shipping fodder but it's Hesperia and Marinette so I'm like sir step like three feet away

Once again, rip the Eiffel Tower.

I know it's said that Gabriel stole the Miraculous, but does he say it later or are we taking SB's word for it? Because that could be a lie from that 'the supreme' guy.

Tikki. Everything you just said about parallel universes went over my head and this is coming from someone who loves Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle.

Also fuck this existing with Bunnyx's One True Timeline thing

Okay so I 100% called why the Timers are in place. But why does 'being used for evil' override the security system???

... I'm yoinking Claw's nunchucks.

Okay that's the context for Claw doing that. So uh. Buddy boy needs a fuckin therapist NOW

Ladybug: "I'll explain everything to you later." Me: "ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?!"

Why.... why did time freeze when making Celestial Cat? It's not a thing that happened any time befre??

THE ONE LINERS. CLAW NOT CATCHING SHADY. I LOVE THEM

Also LB should be having Chat Blanc flashbacks right now

DID SHADY JUST CALL CLAW A DOUCHEBAG??? I SWEAR TO FUCK THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID????

First mention of 'The Supreme'. Saying he'll spare whichever gets the Butterfly. But also like. Ya don't have to be so happy about it.

So like. /is/ the other world some evil hellscape where only a few are good? Or is it just that SB was bullied and Claw lost his mom and The Supreme is manipulating them? Because Hesperia is going on about shit being awful, but if there's more changes then just the slightly altered path, that kinda ruins the idea that they're all just a touch different. But if that world's so fucked how'd they turn out good?

I love how Mari's beartrap diary comes back just to get easily broken into because no one would care about minor property damage if they're breaking into her house to read her diary.

Hesperia: "Claw Noir knows nothing about friendship" Me: "GEE I WONDER WHY"

ofc Alya leaves before seeing who Claw Noir is.

.... Hearing that Andre is on the 'never too late to do good' show or whatever is hurting me knowing the abuse abandonment and kidnapping he takes part in during season 5.

GOD EMODRIEN AND EMONETTE JUST FUCKIN but also their lovesquare is great.

We see a glimpse into the other world in a flashback and things seem? Fine?? ???

So SB and Claw didn't know about the Wish that could give them what they want, but joined The Supreme because......?

"MOM GET OFF MY BACK!!!" Peak middle school emo phase.

Okay but question of how bad things /actually/ are aside, the acting in this? It hurts hearing her cry and all and just want to have the life with friends.

Monarch has finally shown up and he's also having fun but also SB, Claw? This would be the time for regular knives!

Okay but why are they trusting Monarch so easily? You'd think they'd have some trust issues with people offering to make their dreams come true

Giant Shady and Claw. If they're not Akumas, I'm assuming Illusions. Why doesn't Mari think of that?

Alya is the MVP tho!

Mari honey your plans are ALWAYS convoluted it's your thing.

Stilll a little bullshit on why they didn't do the identity reveal but... I mean they gotta ya know?

GOD Monarch's stained glass butterfly lapel is the only thing about his design that absolutely FUCKS

THE BAD ACTING OMG

Oh hey Multiplication makes Gabe a normal height instead of fucking 220cm/7'2"!!!!!!!

Here's how Maribug and Adrichat(the ships) can still win!

Chat without an ear looks cursed

So the Guardian Angel thing saves them, but why didn't Monarch try to Venom them a second time?

Still hate how Shady pins all the bad things in her life on Chloé even though either 1.) all the pain is from The Supreme making everything a hellscape and filled with assholes, or 2.) everything was the same up until Origins where she had friends and loving parents and all.

Okay other than the :/ on the Chloé bashing and the question of what's going on in their world/why things are Like This, the scene is fucking fantastic. No commentary. For as much as I dunk on ML, when it's good it's REALLY GOOD

Okay only one note: Mari has way to much faith her speech will work. Like girl at least dodge.

I do think it's a little weird that Claw stopped though. Like, he and Shady already signed up for murder. He's probably killed someone's mother before. Why would he care about the Wish doing it for him?

Also like. Monarch wasn't watching this shit? Really?

They still have the dunking on each other dynamic.

So. The Rooster can do interdimensional travel. Because sure that doesn't break it's bullshit rules I guess. Why doesn't Monarch do this later when no one's paying attention?

HATSUNE MIKU????

Scarabella and Kitty Noire universe! I'm just gonna assume they're the lovesquare in that one.

anime universe lmao

The comic one is a copout

Wait. The implication with the Mr. Bug and Lady Noire one is that it's still the original LB and CN just swapped. How did. How did they swap in 10 seconds without revealing their identities???

Mari's final speech once again implies that everything was the same until Origins.

Also the Alyanette is STRONG today

Get these girlss a fuckin NAP

Okay overall thoughts:

While I do think it has it's flaws, some of which piss me off a lot. This was mostly a very fucking good special holy fuck.

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tsubasame-no · 2 years

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made this blog so i can liveblog tsubasa reservoir chronicle if i decide to re read it without annoying my followers on my main

#im just gonna annoy the ppl in the tsubasa tag instead #trc

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akinari-kashihara · 1 year

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Yesterday's Changelog

Arknights - Updated Avataro Sentai Donbrothers - Updated D.Gray-Man - Updated Mobile Fighter G Gundam - Updated Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger - Uploaded Mirai Sentai Timeranger - Uploaded Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam - Uploaded Tsubasa-RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE- - Uploaded Ultraman Geed - Uploaded Ultraman Mebius - Uploaded Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Opinion - Updated Landing Page - Now contains the changelog and removed the Neocities default Liveblog Library - Updated Age Check pages have been added to relevant liveblogs

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psychewritesbs · 2 years

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The Seven Luminaries IV

I’m over all this fate bullsht. idk why but it feels more confusing in x than it does in Tsubasa. BLAH.

Anyways... in this chapter we have...

Sympathy for Kamui

Our rolling head count goes up to 7!

Everybody’s favorite creepster shows up!

More Subaru breadcrumbs

Fuuma the kinkmaster

Humans playing God because the idea that Kamui, a human, can challenge the order of things (fate) wasn’t complicated enough

Kotori’s dream--this was by far my favorite part

I’m going to need for characters to stop meddling with fate

Aunt Tokiko’s nips

That’s right... Aunt Tokiko’s nips make a cameo in this chapter just as she becomes a rolling head god I missed liveblog bsing.

Sympathy for Kamui

I have to be honest.

I did not like Kamui very much at all the first time I read x. Sure I warmed up to him as the story progressed and he became less of a feral cat and turned into a domesticated cat.

And yes, I get it, his cattitude was very much a front, a mask he put on. And I think it was in the last chapter’s liveblog that I mentioned that the mask may have been what others expected and projected onto him.

But, now that I am taking my time reading x (this is my second time reading the manga), and that I am paying more attention to Kamui... man... this poor kid.

This 16-year-old wait actually how old is he?, not only does he carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, literally, he’s had to see and experience heartbreaking things that would break any normal human being.

Not to mention Kamui is also carrying the guilt of thinking that his friends will suffer because of him.

Idk. There’s something here about how these experiences shaped him and led him to make a specific choice.

It’s just so sad to see him try to walk away from his heart (Kotori and Fuuma) to try to protect them and himself--even though in the end, those bonds ended up being far too compelling to be ignored, and the source of the pain he wanted to run from.

Fate.

Rolling head count: #5

Challenging fate and destiny

Um. Listen. Kotori is so damn cute.

But anyways, that’s besides the point.

I just love how Kamui, who up until that point appeared to have no purpose for his power, is questioning whether there is a purpose for his fated powers.

I suppose the difference between this moment and the moment when good boi Fuuma officially turns into Fuuma the kinkmaster is that in this scene Kamui is exploring the idea of using his powers to protect Kotori (and Fuuma).

He has not made a definite choice.

Above all, I particularly love how Kamui is coming to the realization that he can't hide his head in the sand and hide from his fate and/or destiny. He can’t hide from his pain if he wants to protect the people he loves.

I’ve always wondered how many birds CLAMP killed to get so many feathers into the panels but... I think the panel above made me wonder whether the birds are meant to symbolize free will.

In a story about fate and destiny defining our every choice, birds are about flight and freedom, and it kind of makes me wonder about Kotori’s role in the story and her ultimate sacrifice.

Since it parallels Sakura’s from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, I can’t help but wonder if Kotori too was trying to influence fate and the future through her sacrifice.

But alas, as soon as Kamui thinks about using his powers to protect Kotori, he’s given the opportunity to test his resolve.

Dun dun dun...

What on Earth could possibly be going on?!

DUN DUN DUN!!!!!

Enter everybody’s favorite creepster

Sei-chan... you’re really over-the-top dramatic and cringe.

But I love you all the more for it.

The seisub breadcrumbs give me life.

Ok but... since Sei hides behind his glasses...

It’s really cool to see his eyes once again.

You know... since he’s so unfeeling and his eyes never give him away about how unfeeling he is and all...

But my favorite part about this whole interaction against Kamui is that Sei looks down on Kamui’s kindness as though it was weakness.

The lines “such a kind boy. But if you continue to hold onto the girl, you won’t be able to dodge the next one” say more about Sei’s own relationship to kindness than it says anything about Kamui.

It’s almost as though Sei sees kindness as something that gets in the way of self-preservation. And like... idk, to me it feels like Sei might have been a kind person once upon a time and had to learn to do away with that kindness to preserve his sense of self.

Truly... who knows.

What gets me is that, despite looking down on kindness as a quality, he can say something like this with such a kind look on his face. Almost as though he feels tenderness for how Kamui’s kindness is about to hurt him dearly.

This man is such a conundrum and I love him all the more for it.

But then good boi Fuuma breaks into and dispels Sei’s illusion and it marks the beginning of their lifelong bromance.

Fuuma the kinkmaster

We also get one of the first glimpses of Fuuma the kinkmaster as Fuuma caresses Kamui’s face.

And then all of a sudden it’s sexy time!

Would you just look at that leg!

Also I’m off the idea that good boi Fuuma and bad boi Fuuma are actually the same--like the two sides of the same coin. So let’s see how that idea holds up as I keep reading because there’s something far less introverted about bad boi Fuuma.

Perhaps introversion is not the right word... I shall think long and hard about it.

But it’s interesting that Kamui kept denying that bad boi Fuuma was the same as good boi Fuuma right up until the end.

Is Kamui in denial? Or does he truly know him best?

But if he’s simply joining team Earth because Kamui has been leaning towards making the choice to honor his desire to protect those he loves, then Fuuma is simply becoming the opposite--one who does not choose his heart.

Ah... idk idk. It truly feels like it’s two sides of the same coin and one of them is hidden.

Humans playing God

What with all the talk of challenging or accepting one’s fate and destiny, we also have humans playing God.

And there’s something kind of unsettling about this because... idk how to say other than by bringing up the idea that fate is beyond the human mind’s comprehension.

And yet, humans, in their pursuit of our egocentric goals, will resort to playing God in the name of science.

Now, there’s more to Nataku’s creation than science for the sake of science, but we’re still talking about humans playing God.

TRC’s Syaoran and Nataku

I’m just going to leave that here for anyone who reads this to mull over.

But anyways, on top of the arrogance of playing God is the arrogance of assuming this creation would not have a soul.

Considering TRC Syaoran and x’s Nataku, it kind of begs the question, what is the soul?

Yay Subaru!

Have you noticed how much hype is built up about Subaru showing up in mangas outside of Tokyo Babylon?

In x, CLAMP has been foreshadowing his return for a couple of chapters already. Feeding us breadcrumbs.

It’s ok tho... I’ll take all the breadcrumbs.

In TRC it’s the same. We get breadcrumbed until we finally see him in the Tokyo Revelations Arc and finally learn he’s the cutest vampire ever.

It’s kind of cute that CLAMP treats Subaru with so much reverence and likes to create hype and anticipation about his character showing up.

Fuuma’s promise

Here we go with the birds again.

Are the feathers meant to symbolize free will?

Or did a bird just happened to get murdered in the vicinity?

Your guess is as good as mine but my money is on the latter.

Also, I suspect that bad boi Fuuma never quite let go of that promise. Instead he decided to be the one who made Kamui cry bahaha.

YES! The breadcrumbs coalesce into something coherent

I just realized how much Subaru wants to look like Sei...

And just as quickly as he came, he’s gone.

Kotori’s dream

Gosh I can’t talk about Kotori’s dream without including all the panels in the dream... but this liveblog is already very image heavy.

It’s just that the way the dream is so...

From the way the whole dream is depicted as Kotori stepping into a realm beyond our physical world--outside of space-time. Or more like... a space between dreams, between two realities where no matter how fated events unfold, her fate is one set in stone.

And, again, there’s something about how she’s a “bird” caged by her fate. She is not free to escape her fate.

I am seriously going to need CLAMP to decide how they want to handle the whole situation.

Is fate something free will can overcome, or not?

Hell. WHAT IS FREE WILL?

Perhaps that is the point--the human spirit can remain free even while bound by fated events, but only when it exercises its freedom of choice.

Idk. This is too smart for me.

I’ll focus on something more aligned with my intelligence level like...

Rolling head count: #6

So if there’s another panel of Kotori’s severed head right next to this one, does that count for two heads or one head?

Ok, let’s count one head per character per scene.

That’s 2 rolling heads this chapter already!

The prophecy

Ok.

What the fudge tho...

I’m getting a Tsubasa-induced confusion headache here.

So Saya’s sacrifice changed the future...

Again, callback to Sakura sacrificing herself to change the future in Tsubasa and Kotori doing the same in x.

Does that mean Hokuto changed the fated future too?

All these women getting stabbed by phallic symbols in CLAMP as a metaphor for changing the future is so... space-time metaphor?

Confusion aside...

What’s also interesting is that at least in x, the swords are given birth to so that the weapons that will be used in the battle for the end of the world are born to this world from a womb the way a human would be.

Which is an interesting contrast to Nataku and how Nataku, not born from a woman’s womb, is thought not to possess a soul.

Again, what is a soul in CLAMP?

Rolling head count: #7

Alas, we end the chapter with yet another rolling head.

Aunt Tokiko gives birth to the second sword is that her nips tho? and thus becomes Kamui’s last living relative (that we know of) to die, thus kickstarting the fated events that would lead to the battle for the end of the world.

#x liveblog incoming #x/1999

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completeoveranalysis · 29 days

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[4]

OOF, Fai clutches the crystalised magic and it too shatters like glass, just like Syaoran did, the crystal breaking between his hands just like Syaoran did in Lava Lamp’s

And Fai clutches his hands in front of his face, hands pressed together like in prayer, surrounded by a dark circle that looks so much like an eye (the thing he lost to Syaoran) with Fai’s hands acting as the pupil

EXACTLY THAT

Fai theorising that Syaoran (the Syaoran that came back, when he was Syaoran with Soul, after he left Nihon), kept using the magic and getting far stronger than necessary on purpose so that when the magic went back to Fai it would be enough to sustain him on its own.

And it worked - Fai takes off his blindfold and has his eye restored as well as his magic (and grown far stronger than we’ve ever seen it)

But none of that is even slightly comparable to having Syaoran

#JUST OPENLY SOBBING #The love is stored in the pieces of yourself #That you happily give to keep someone safe #You don’t want the pieces back #because that means the person is no longer here #How it’s not even a fair trade #Because they’re worth FAR MORE #than anything you could ever give up to protect them #B Y E MORE SOBBING #Liveblogging the reservoir chronicle #Tsubasa #Vol 211 #Fai #Syaoran #HELP IM IN PIECES #(also does this imply Fai is no longer a vampire)#(I am willing to ignore that)

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completeoveranalysis · 1 month

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[4]

OH EXCUSE ME??

WHY MUST THEY HURT ME THIS WAY????

Syaoran is just gushing blood at this point, to the point that HIS EYE COMES OUT

OR RATHER, FAI’S EYE COMES OUT

THE COLOUR (IE, THE SOURCE OF FAI’S MAGIC) COMES OUT OF HIS EYE AND CRYSTALISES LIKE FAI’S OTHER EYE DID BACK IN NIHON

Which gets me from a few angles, because like, could that go back to Fai now? Could he get that magic back? Or did he already trade away the ownership of it when he traded all of his magic to Yuuko? Does he even want it? It’s uh… caused many problems. And painful memories. And even more painful injuries.

BUT ALSO THE LOOK OF SYAORAN WITH HIS NORMAL EYES RESTORED?

THAT’S JUST SYAORAN!

MY CLONE SON IS DYING

AND IN HIS HARSH BREATHING HE FINDS HIMSELF MENTIONING THE FEATHERS BECAUSE OF COURSE HE DOES THAT WAS HIS CORE ALL ALONG

If he was going to have to talk about anything in his final moments it would have to be the feathers

And he almost looks lifeless as he passes on that they should give the feathers to Sakura. Because that was his central programming from start to finish.

Unless he knows something else?!

Is this the implication that maybe giving the feathers to Sakura at this point might cause something?

Is there a thread of a chance that Sakura is not just an empty body but that there is still something to be restored?

(And how cruel would that be to bring her back only to find that her most important person has died all over again?)

OH NO IM SCREAMING

HELLO ITS REALLY HIM

ITS SYAORAN tALKING ABOUT HIS FAMILY ON HIS DEATHBED

I WASN'T PREPARED FOR THIS

OH NO NOW I AM ALSO DECEASED

HE SEEMINGLY ROUNDS OFF THE FAMILY BY MENTIONING SAKURA BUT THEN ALSO ADDS LAVA LAMP

SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP

HOW WILL I EVER RECOVER FROM THIS

THEY NEVER EVEN TECHNICALLY KNEW EACH OTHER

THEY SPENT THEIR WHOLE LIVES INTERTWINED

THEY FOUGHT AND TRIED TO KILL EACH OTHER AND DIED TRYING TO SAVE EACH OTHER

LAVA LAMP GAMBLED HALF HIS SOUL ON SAVING THIS BOY AND WATCHED SYAORAN'S ENTIRE LIFE FROM HIS OWN EYES RIGHT UP UNTIL HE LOST HIS SOUL

AND NOW HE’S HOLDING HIM AS HE DIES RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM AND SYAORAN LISTS HIM AS PART OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE TO HIM, MAKING THEM FAMILY FROM START TO FINISH

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

#WHAT DO I SAY #WHAT DO I EVEN SAY #I WANT TO FOLD MYSELF INTO A LAWN CHAIR AND BE THROWN INTO SPACE #MY CLONE SON SYAORAN #WHO TRIED SO HARD AND LOVED SO MUCH #AND NEVER DID ANYTHING WRONG #(EXCEPT FOR ALL THE WAR CRIMES)#Liveblogging the reservoir chronicle #Tsubasa #Vol 210 #Lava Lamp Guy #SYAORAN #THROW ME INTO THE SUN WHY DID THIS HAPPEN #FUCK ME IN SPACE WHAT A WAY TO GO

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completeoveranalysis · 1 month

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[6]

YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!

YYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

Oh this next page has an open wound so I might put it behind a Read More just in case but YEAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!

ARE WE SAYING THAT SYAORAN STABBED HIS OWN FOOT VIOLENTLY ENOUGH TO SPRAY A FOUNTAIN OF BLOOD INTO THE AIR?

I mean that’s commitment to say the least.

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completeoveranalysis · 2 months

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Did you know that there are two alternate deleted endings to the Celes/Seresu arc? Fai gets killed at the end of the arc in the first one and the 2nd one, he is left forever waiting for Kurogane to come back to save him from the magical bubble that he was trapped in as the world was closing. Kurogane tries his whole life to find a way to save him but doesn't succeed. (Clamp mentioned it on Twitter and an old interview.)

That's the exact kind of heart wrenching tragedy I would expect from the older Clamp narratives! The drama of it all!

I for one am very glad they considered those endings but ultimately broke their own pattern and went with a narrative that is all the stronger for it. They've done tragedy enough that breaking the trend is even more impactful, especially in a story like this, and how it adds to the overall theme they've built so far.

But VERY delicious to consider all the same.

#I hope someone had fun writing the fic version of those endings #THOSE WOULD BE SO JUICY TO READ #THE DRAMA THE SADNESS #And as writing processes go there's always endless things that get changed as you go #and I'm VERY glad they committed to this new version of the story instead #replies #daydreamingshipper #Liveblogging the reservoir chronicle #Tsubasa #Kurofai

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completeoveranalysis · 29 days

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[5]

WAIT I'M NOT OVER THIS YET

How SO MUCH of Tsubasa (and xxxHolic) is based around trades. About giving up things in exchange for what you want or what you need. About willingly (or unwillingly) giving up something important in order to get something you want even more.

How this is the first time any character has essentially been given a refund. How the magic was stolen from him - but it also kind of wasn't.

How in Acid Tokyo Fai let his eye get eaten in an attempt to help repair Syaoran's soul. He essentially GAVE his eye and magic to Syaoran on purpose to save him.

And it worked, in a way, eventually! Syaoran had a soul in the end! He was in there! He was making choices! He was alive!

BUT NOW HE'S NOT AND FAI JUST, GETS THE MAGIC BACK. THE PRICE HE PAID IS JUST GIVEN RIGHT BACK TO HIM AS IF NONE OF IT EVER HAPPENED - SYAORAN IS JUST AS DEAD AND GONE AS WHEN HIS SOUL BROKE IN ACID TOKYO, BUT WORSE NOW, BECAUSE NOW THEY ALL KNOW HE CAN'T BE SAVED.

HOW FAI WOULD HAVE BEEN HAPPY IF HE NEVER HAD THAT MAGIC BACK, IF IT MEANT SYAORAN GOT TO LIVE.

HOW HE LOVED HIS SON AND WANTED HIM TO LIVE AND THAT WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE MAGIC THAT HAD DEFINED HIS WHOLE LIFE. IT WAS A TRADE HE MADE ON PURPOSE.

AND NOW HE JUST... GETS IT BACK.

AND IT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED.

#HE PAID THE PRICE #HE WAS HAPPY WITH THE PRICE #HE PAID THE PRICE ON THE C H A N C E IT MIGHT WORK #AND I DID!!!!#AND HE JUST GETS IT BACK #ITS THE WORST!#IM IN TEARS!!#Liveblogging the reservoir chronicle #Tsubasa #Vol 211 #Fai #Syaoran #OPENLY SOBBING IN THE CLUB TONIGHT

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completeoveranalysis · 1 month

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[8]

(low key hilarious in the most painful way: Syaoran not even emoting when he gets stabbed)

(The contrast between Lava Lamp's outright horror at Syaoran's stabbing,and Syaoran just like :| )

BUT ALSO HE REACHES OUT TO DO A MAGIC BEFORE HE SUCCUMBS TO HIS WOUNDS

Oh! Oh wow, Big Magic?

A Very Big Magic. The biggest spell we’ve seen.

Is he… is it going inside Evil Wolverine’s dimension? Is he ripping the portal open?

PULLING THAT DIMENSION ALL THE WAY OPEN WITH HIS MASSIVE FAI MAGIC??

WHY IS THAT THE END OF THE CHAPTER

THAT WAS AMAZING

#Last week we had One Stab #THIS WEEK WE HAD TWO STAB #EACH STAB MORE DRAMATIC THAN THE LAST #Ides of March lives on indeed #Just not how I was expecting #Liveblogging the reservoir chronicle #Tsubasa #Vol 209 #Syaoran #Lava Lamp Guy #Evil Wolverine #Fai #Kurogane #What a TIME for Fai’s magic to be exclusively Non Healing Magic #I mean yeah if you could ONLY use it to destroy #You might as well rip Evil Wolverine right out of his hiding hole #BUT OH the amount of STABS we’ve HAD

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completeoveranalysis · 9 months

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[5]

CLAMP I LOVE YOU

HELLO DOMESTIC COUPLE KUROFAI

Fai couches his reasoning in a way to figure out the timeline but he is making DAMN SURE his husband’s prosthetics are comfortable and working correctly

I NEVER DREAMED WE WOULD GET THIS KIND OF ATTENTION TO IT. Most manga would just say hey new arm moving on we don’t worry it’s perfectly the same as before

Not clamp! They really sat us down and brought in the realities of a long term health condition and an acknowledgment that things don’t just work perfectly or leave you completely as functional as before.

And THIS level of their relationship too. With Kurogane masking his pain and dismfort because they’ve got serious things go figure out but Fai was paying CLOSE ATTENTION and knew exactly what was up, but also deliberately arranged to be alone with him before talking to him about it out of genuine care for his privacy.

MARRIED MARRIED I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER

LOVE

OHHHHHH OHHHH I LOVE IT

LISTEN JUST GO BACK TO THAT FIRST PANEL THERE. LOOK AT IT. ENJOY IT. KUROGANE FORCING HIMSELF TO PUT ASIDE HIS PRIDE AND EMBARASSMENT AND ADMIT THAT YES, IT HURTS MORE THAN YESTERDAY

THE ANNOYANCE AS HE HAS TO ALLOW HIMSELF TO BE VULNERABLE TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION

THE WAY HE DOES IT ANYWAY. HE IS VULNERABLE WITH FAI.

And Fai immediately clocks him in the head for not mentioning it earlier.

Not recommended in real life but EXQUISITE when your husband is like a 6’6 slab of hardened ninja beef, and also when that was essentially the same way you confirmed your marriage to each other not too long ago

New way for them to ignite their playful banter: unlocked! Instead of Kurogane chasing Fai with a sword it’s Fai hitting him in the head and Kurogane reacting in cartoon outrage. (This is Kurogane after all. He can dodge a punch) (Unless we are also saying that he was so emotionally vulnerable that he let his guard down completely which I am also a fan of. It's a win win scenario)

I suppose it’s one way of encouraging your husband to open up to you when it matters, especially when you already drink his blood on a regular basis.

They really are the most married of all time.

OH AND THIS TOPS IT ALL OFF

THIS NEW DYNAMIC, SO DIFFERENT FROM ANYTHING THEY HAD BEFORE

Not Fai lying or avoiding the question or hiding any part of himself - Fai being completely honest and open and correcting Kurogane when he isn’t doing the same. It's a complete inversion of how they were before, when Kurogane was the one pulling a reluctant Fai towards being honest.

And when Kurogane grumpily notes the irony of Fai being the one to admonish him for keeping secrets (Oof, but also score) Fai OWNS IT, SMILES BRILLIANTLY, and uses it as AMMUNITION to back himself up. Who ELSE is an expert in the consequences of keeping things a secret for too long?

BRILLIANT BRILLIANT LEAVE ME HERE IT’S ALL I NEED

#SKIN CLEAR DEPRESSION GONE CROPS THRIVING #AN OPEN AND LOVING FAI #DRAGGING A GRUMPY KUROGANE INTO MEETING HIS OWN STANDARDS #AHHHHHHHHHHH #liveblogging the reservoir chronicle #Tsubasa #Vol 185 #Kurogane #Fai #KUROFAI #Clamp don't even NEED to do this!#Their arc is over and YET #HERE HAVE SOME MORE KUROFAI FOR YOUR GOOD BEHAVIOUR #Is this also my reward for the apple thing?#I will take this also

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completeoveranalysis · 4 days

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[8]

PLEASE HOLD PLEASE HOLD PLEASE HOLD PLEASE HOLD

#AHHH #AHHHHH #THOUGHTS THOUGHTS THOUGHTS HERE WE GO #LIVEBLOGGING THE RESERVOIR CHRONICLE #TSUBASA #VOL 212

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completeoveranalysis · 6 months

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[1]

Tiny CHILDREN

TINY TSUBASA FAMILY CHILDREN

TINY TRAUMA FREE BABIES

BABY FAI SMILING GENTLY AND GENUINELY

HOLDING LAVA LAMP’S HAND

LOOKING UP AT TINY KUROGANE

AND THEY’RE ALL WEARING WORLD APPROPRIATE CLOTHING

I am slain this is the end of me I’m lying down goodbye

What does the splash text say, there's no way they could make it sad.

If there could have been a day like this

Even now, I still think about it sometimes

WOW OK I TAKE IT BACK THANK YOU FOR THE SADNESS CLAMP

#And the TREE #The tree is not gnarled or barren or broken #It’s FRESH and YOUNG and FULL OF LIFE #The timeline before it all went to hell #Liveblogging the reservoir chronicle #Tsubasa #Vol 198 #Fai #Kurogane #Lava Lamp Guy #PRE-TRAUMA #THEY'RE ALL JUST KIDS #HAVING A GOOD TIME #AHHHHH

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completeoveranalysis · 4 months

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[2]

NEW FAVOURITE COVER?

NEW FAVOURITE COVER!

Chapitre 201 - The Truth from within the Ruins

Oh this is just beyond gorgeous. Who can stand against the pure concentrated adorable that is Tsubasa Babies Family Photo? Now with all four of them!

I’m in love with all the tiny details that they clearly spent so long on - all the lovely folds of Sakura’s dress, the intricate detailing on Fai’s robe and staff. Lava Lamp is in his ceremonial garb, and tiny Kurogane IN HIS FANCY LITTLE OUTFIT. (AND HIS POSTURE? GET OUT. Incredible)

Kurogane doesn’t have Ginryuu yet (since this is Happy Childhood AU, so his father will still have it. Still has the moon though!) but Lava Lamp has the Syaoran Family Sword all ready to go. His outfit would be incomplete without it - they’re all wearing clothing from their home worlds, or maybe their families? I’m technically not sure which world Lava Lamp comes from, but his outfit is Family Legacy all the way down. I’m dying to know if Fai’s outfit is in the style of Seresu or Valeria - I don’t think they’re all that different, but I think I would put my money on Valeria based on the position of the fur and the curl motif. In which case it’s fun for me that his Happy Family AU is in Valeria instead of with Ashura. (sorry not sorry Ashura get fucked)

I suppose in this version he never had reason to leave Valeria in the first place, so it’s a very nice touch that the outfit doesn’t immediately resemble the clothing he wore in his backstory, since that’s all so closely linked to the death of his twin, who would be alive here. Very nice visual choices all around, especially with each of them in their own unique colour pallette. Oh, and even with the colour differences they all have bits of yellow somewhere on them, showing their connection.

The left/right split between them is really fun too - sword wielders on one side, phenomenally powerful magic users on the other, cats vs dogs, unique child/parent pairings, etc. It’s very funny to me that they found a super fancy chair for Sakura and a cushion for Kurogane, but nothing for the other two. But Fai draping himself over the chair is such an incredible piece of character flair, which I am in love with, but also, the TOUCH? The little touch of tiny hands? Sakura reaching back to put her hand on the back of Fai’s? Tiny Lava Lamp’s little grip on Kurogane’s arm? OH it’s so touching.

And behind them all? THAT WINDOW. Such a clear symbol positioned directly in the centre frame. At first I thought it might be an eye, but this is Happy Family AU so there should be no Evil Wolverine to spy on them. What I’m voting on instead is CLAMP playing with Tarot symbols again and this being the Wheel of Fortune, or a similar idea of a wheel of destiny. They use the latter idea a lot in their earlier works (RG Veda and X/1999 say hi), but I think the tarot symbol in particular really shines through with the ideas they’re playing with in Tsubasa/xxxHolic, and has a very strong parallel to the idea of hitsuzen.

After some much safer googling it looks like the “Wheel of Fortune” in Tarot can mean change or cycles or inevitable fate, but on the flipside could also be lacking control. I think the reversed meaning of the card really speaks to me the most about their situation in general, as it describes bad luck and misfortunes thrust upon you from external forces, that you are fighting to take control back from an unwinnable situation. That fighting it is impossible, that continuing to fight it can only bring more suffering, and that the only option is to let it go. To stop blaming yourself for the thing you did wrong, or the thing that you think was your fault. To forgive yourself, to accept it all, to let yourself move on, to accept that change is inevitable, and to finally be able to move forward and just let everything happen.

Because if that’s not exactly the whole situation we are in I don’t know what is. It’s a mirror for the things that Fai and Kurogane have already been through, and for what Lava Lamp Guy is still currently fighting, and CLAMP love to do drop these symbols all the time.

And this is a bit of a tangent but who’s gonna stop me? Clamp LOVE their tragic destiny pairs, especially in their early works - the couples deeply love but also cursed by fate, like Kendappa and Souma, Ashura and Yasha (flavoured differently in RG Veda, but still fitting this cycle again in Tsubasa), Subaru and Seishirou, Sorata and Arashi (unfinished), Kamui and Fuuma, etc. The characters who are so different from each other, so diametrically opposed, but in love still, and it burns so strong that they either have to kill each other or let the world burn around them - or both! They’re always fighting destiny, just like the reversed wheel of fortune, and they fight it to the point of obliteration.

AND THEN we have Tsubasa, and I think it’s so endlessly interesting that they took the same pattern and turned it around. Syaoran and Sakura definitely fit the theme (and wild that they took the Cardcaptor Sakura happy couple deliberately to make the most universe shattering tragedy out of it, but I still haven’t seen how their story ends, whether one will have to tragically die to save everything or whether they’ll get out somehow). But what I mostly want to talk about (surprise surprise) Kurogane and Fai, who fit the pattern exactly. Complete opposites, diametrically opposed, set up as antagonists and destined to kill each other but fall in love instead. That they both fight against the tragic pasts that defined them and eventually change their mind. Eventually, slowly, they accept love again and realise that they can actually live with themselves and each other if they let it all go.

And I think what really gets me is that if this was an earlier Clamp work they absolutely would have tragically died - they would have killed each other in the climax of Seresu and it would have been beautiful and terrible and no-one ever would have ever emotionally recovered from the complete and utter devastation.

BUT THEY DIDN’T.

CLAMP spend all of Tsubasa revisiting all their old works, taking us through a parade of the various tragedies they’ve sung across the years, all leading up to them ultimately breaking their own pattern and letting Fai and Kurogane save each other from the same Clamp fate that claimed every tragic pair before them. They choose each other and get out alive. They stop blaming themselves for the unchangeable parts of destiny and finally forgive themselves. And it’s just very emotional to me that it’s these two that make it, these two that get to recover and choose each other and live their lives inseparable from this point on. The two that had arguably the most tragic backstories also get to face their trauma, survive, and live.

And it’s just so beautiful to see how the CLAMP storytelling method has changed over the years, and to find out that after all these years, the big destiny story they really wanted to tell in their longest and most detailed work was about the two men who fell in love, against all odds and saved each other. Despite absolutely everything saying that it should be impossible, it’s Kurogane and Fai that finally flip the tarot card back around and live.

And I’m extremely interested in what this means for Lava Lamp and Not!Sakura.

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