#Which Sakura?

[completeoveranalysis]

[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.

#Woops this is a novel #I saw a silly little wheel and had to talk for uh… like 1000 words #I blame clamp #Liveblogging the reservoir chronicle #Tsubasa #Vol 201 #Fai #Kurogane #Lava lamp guy #Sakura #Which Sakura? #A sakura #Not Sakura #and the red string from lava lamp's sword #Being in the centre of it all #Since he IS the centre of it all #And its his past that was at ground zero for all these other things kicking off #Oh oh and the checkered pattern on the floor #Kind of revisiting all those group photos we had in Infinity #But giving them the Nice Version instead #To cap off all the suffering with an alternate destiny

[nonagalleryart]

Rereading some of my old Clamp manga and trying to figure out how to make flowers appear in real life for dramatic effect.

Also is there any character or shows you would like to see me draw more of?

#fanart #nona gallery #art #illustration #cardcaptor sakura #Kero #Sakura #CLAMP #Manga #Anime #Drawing Prompts #Got a few quite weeks coming up so gonna try and draw as much as I can #Which will still probably be very little

[wormontwostrings]

first proper madoka magica fanart

#I couldn’t decide which one to draw #madoka magica #pmmm #puella magi madoka magica #madoka kaname #homura akemi #sayaka miki #kyoko sakura

[brighteuphony]

Got a bunch of Sasuke-centric asks, so here we are!

Sakura has some complicated feelings about Sasuke.

In my AU, Sakura was born to civilian parents who didn't really want her to become shinobi, even though that had been her dream for as long as she could remember- and it was no secret in the Haruno household that they were hoping she'd drop out, or at the very most, be career genin.

So Sakura never really had anyone to believe in her and had to go into the academy (late!) as a civilian-born, meaning she was automatically behind in development (and status) compared to the clan kids. (I headcanon that until the Academy, Sakura didn't ever spar with anyone, versus clan kids who had probably learned how to wield kunai before they knew how to walk).

So Sakura worked hard and did her absolute best to get the barest minimum that clan kids were afforded by default. Unfortunately, her best, without the resources/opportunities, just wasn't good enough. And Sakura knew it. Academically, she was brilliant, but that's not enough to be a good shinobi. And somewhere deep down, Sakura (at the very least Inner Sakura) knew it.

It's why I headcanon that she developed such a violent temper. People who are secure in themselves don't have such explosive, uncontrolled outbursts- it's why she picked on people like Naruto, who was probably the only person below her in the pecking order (maybe Tenten? But they're equals I guess). It's why she's so quick to anger and usually has those responses OUT of combat- it's because that's the only place her violence is actually effective.

It's also why she's such a teacher's pet- she needs validation from others to try and fill the gaping void.

So when Sasuke appeared on the radar, and everyone wanted him, so did Sakura. Because if she got him, she would do something that no one else- clan-privileged and better- could do. In fact, she staked most of her identity (her hair, her diet, her clothing) on it.

None of this was conscious. She really did have a crush on Sasuke, but the seed of it was born from a very misguided desire to prove herself on an even playing field.

After all, she didn't have a clan upbringing/resources to teach her how to find self-worth and actualization through her skills (she went home, and her civilian parents praised her for things that absolutely didn't matter in shinobi reality, amazement that she could throw a kunai! how good her grades were! and how cool it was that she could jump high!)

(and Kakashi absolutely didn't help, lol), so she defaulted to what she knew- which was being a regular girl with a regular crush.

Now, as an ~adult, she's come to the painful realization that her love for Sasuke was just a goalpost. Ironically, she set her sights on someone who would inadvertently feed into all of those insecurities, and because Sakura didn't love/believe in herself, she accepted Sasuke's abuse.

She also understands that she ran into the Chidori/Rasengan deathmatch of her own stupidity, but she just can't forgive Sasuke for leaving. For never owning up. 'Cause that's just coward behavior..

Basically, Sasuke's cruelty was just a reflection of her own self-loathing, and unfortunately, Sakura just wallowed in denial and ended up paying a hefty-ass price.

So if she ever sees Sasuke again? Honestly, she doesn't know whether she wants justice or revenge. It's complicated.

Whew- that was a text dump....

Once again, thank you so much to everyone for all the interest and asks! I'm so happy we can all share Naruto rotbrain together.

#naruto #haruno sakura #sasuke #tfw Sakura realizes that she doesn't even LIKE Sasuke let alone LOVE him #Sakura has a lot of deep seated insecurities about herself #which are all valid honestly #and she never had any teachers or family to back her up #i have no beef with SasuSaku but they're not right for each other in this AU #also no beef against Sasuke #he bby #coven!Sakura

[hellcifrogs]

I really wanna see everyone's reaction to Naruto's fox summons

One reaction I have for sure!

#ask doodle #kuroha has given me sasuke vibes FROM THE SKETCH #hes grumpy and hell complain but hell let sakura make fun of him #which one do i mean? #yes

[asfodeltide]

#futaba sakura #persona 5 royal #persona 5 #persona #morgana #mine #She has become my Maya for the past few weeks. Which is to say she's a character I can draw in ten minutes perfectly from memory #Story progress with p5r: I have dipped my toes into the 3rd sem content but I'm too antsy to continue (head in hands) #Happy new year as well! #edit: Forgot to add alt text #id in alt

[ronanxing]

i love gay people

#idrk how to draw joker which sucks cuz hes cute #persona #persona 5 #persona 5 royal #enkidoodles #im still practicing how to do lineart akskekkdjf #p5 #p5r #akira kurusu #ren amamiya #akechi goro #goro akechi #sumire yoshizawa #futaba sakura #sumitaba #FUCK akechis black mask outfit #its ugly and hard to draw HE SUCKS (i love him)

[mokutone]

late entry for day 7 of @tendaysoftenzo ! the prompt was:

Day 7, November 7th: Hanakotoba (Language of Flowers) | Bonds

:) thats his fambly

#tendaysoftenzo #my art #naruto #yamato #tenzō #yamato tenzo #sakura haruno #naruto uzumaki #sai #sai yamanaka #kakashi #i don't have any big thoughts for this one just the simplest and prettiest thought: #he cares about these people so much and to be around them seems to make him happy. seems to make him feel useful #useful is such an ugly word. but also i mean like marge piercy ''to be of use'' useful like. to do work which is meaningful #work which is done with love. to better peoples lives with one's own dedication

[spooky-activity]

something something “training her rebellious spirit”

…probably

#haru okumura #sumire yoshizawa #persona 5 royal #p5r #fanart #ryuji sakamoto #ann takamaki #ren amamiya #akira kusuru #yusuke kitagawa #makoto niijima #futaba sakura #morgana persona 5 #Mona persona 5 #mine #my art #the thing I find funniest about this piece is that Mona isn’t necessarily rooting for Sumire to swear #he’s rooting for haru to be able to coax it out of her #which is kinda the same thing but #whatever djskdkf #my favorite part of Persona 5 Strikers was every time haru said: #“We just hate the police! 😊’’ #it was SO funny

[teamsasukes]

the chunin exams arc was so interesting for how it portrayed sakura's potential and how people in her life influenced it. kakashi lying about the team-based enrollment criteria because he thinks sakura would be likely to sign up only to appease sasuke, and being genuinely surprised when she shows up anyway. naruto being completely oblivious when sakura was upset preceding the exams and also after she cut her hair in the forest of death. naruto literally dreaming about saving sakura from enemies, being the hero to her damsel-in-distress. sakura moulding herself into a perfectly feminine lady because that's what society demanded and what she thought sasuke would want. versus sasuke calling her out for focusing too much on romance instead of her skills like she should be doing. sasuke picking up that she was upset because she felt inadequate and reminding her of what she was best at -- maybe even better than him -- and never begrudging her for it. ino hacking into her mind because she was sure, not a single doubt in her mind, that sakura would know the answers to the impossible questions on the written exam. ino and sasuke both stepping in to save her during her fight with the sound nin, but only after being spurred on by the brutal beating she took. ino and sasuke getting frustrated with naruto when he commented on how her haircut looked because it made sakura trivialize her experience and offer a fake explanation about women being fickle. the flashbacks revealing to us that ino affirmed that she would one day bloom into a beautiful flower. ino and sasuke serving as a catalyst for sakura to get stronger before pt 1 and pt 2 respectively. idk do you see what i'm seeing

#haruno sakura #inosaku #sasusaku #idk considering sakura's main goal as a character.... #it's just so touching they're the only ones we see who ever seemed to expect something of her. believe in her even... #and tsunade eventually ofc. really really wish we had more of that dynamic #and i dont wanna discredit naruto he did cheer her on during her fight w ino #i just think this theme of knowing and encouraging sakura's potential is not really. true of ns as it is for is and ss #which is why whenever i see those 'naruto was the only one who saw sakura's REAL self' posts a part of me shrivels up and dies #the 'real self' in question = beating him up for little to no reason #and like sure it alludes to her real personality but it's not a healthy expression of it. that's why it occurs w far less frequency in pt 2 #anyway i'd need a whole other post to delve into that but let's just say it's really not an interpretation i enjoy #naruto meta

[taitavva]

niijima akechi sibs and futaba akechi sibs

annoying younger brother energy vs annoying older brother energy .. FIGHT !!

#op what does this mean #if ur asking me which is better. well ....... #i admit to having a preference #SAE 🔛🔝‼️ #to me akechi isnt really a featherman fan #he just refuses to not know what ppl r talking about #it was an enjoyable childhood show #now he proves his superiority with the amount of lore he can memorize #“did you know feather green wa—” “AHHHH !!!” #persona 5 #p5 #persona 5 royal #p5r #procreate #2024 #goro akechi #sae niijima #makoto niijima #futaba sakura #sojiro sakura #2 hours #taitavva sketches

[completeoveranalysis]

[7]

BIRTHDAY CONFIRMED

LAVA LAMP GUY ALSO INEXPLICABLY HAS THE SAME BIRTHDAY AS SAKURA/NOT SAKURA/WHATEVER HER NAME IS

SO ALL THE SAKURA BIRTHDAYS ALSO WERE LAVA LAMP BIRTHDAYS

MEANING HE WAS 14 ON THE SAME DAY THAT THIS ALL HAPPENED

(And what a terrible birthday party)

OH AND THAT MEANS THAT WATANUKI AND LAVA LAMP GUY HAVE THE SAME BIRTHDAY ALSO, BOTH FROM WHEN THEY WERE THE SAME PERSON (AND SO BORN AS ONE PERSON ON THE SAME DAY) BUT ALSO BECAUSE WATANUKI CAME INTO EXISTENCE AS A SEPARATE PERSON ON THEIR BIRTHDAY

AND

WHEN SAKURA GAVE (CLONE) SYAORAN HER BIRTHDAY FOR HIM TO HAVE, SHE WAS ACCIDENTALLY GIVING HIM THE SAME BIRTHDAY THAT HIS ORIGINAL SYAORAN ALREADY HAD, AND (DEPENDING ON THE TIMING) MIGHT ALSO HAVE BEEN GIVING HIM THE CORRECT BIRTHDAY FOR WHEN HE WAS CLONED AS WELL

SO

The list of People who absolutely have the first of April as their birthday now includes: 

-Cardcaptor Sakura 

-Tsubasa Sakura (Original) (from chapter 1) 

-Tsubasa Sakura (Original) (from Lava Lamp’s backstory) (Who is not named Sakura)

-Tsubasa Sakura (Clone) (Or at least that is the birthday she remembers, so it counts)

-Lava Lamp Guy (Original Syaoran)

-Tsubasa Syaoran (Clone) (Both adopted birthday and real birthday)

-Watanuki (Real Birthday AND came-into-existence-day AND his name)

DOES ANYONE ELSE WANT TO ADMIT TO HAVING THE SAME BIRTHDAY WHILE WE’RE AT IT?

#Oh and Seishirou #He doesn't count #Also me while we're at it #But I’m not an original clamp character #(As far as I know) #Tsubasa #liveblogging the reservoir chronicle #Vol 204 #Lava Lamp Guy #Watanuki #Sakura #Which Sakura? #A Sakura #Not Sakura #Mokona #Kurogane #Fai #And birthday drama #OH OH OH #THEN ALL THE TIMES THAT PEOPLE WISHED SYAORAN HAPPY BIRTHDAY #WHILE LAVA LAMP WAS WATCHING FROM THE LAVA LAMP #THEY WERE ALSO KIND OF WISHING HIM A HAPPY BIRTHDAY? #AND HE HAD TO SIT THERE AND WATCH PEOPLE #CELEBRATE HIS BIRTHDAY WITH HIS CLONE #WHILE NO-ONE AT ALL EVEN KNOWS HE EXISTS THERE #W I L D #I mean I've had bad birthdays but never anything like that

[butchfalin]

one day when futaba and akira are hanging out she goes "hey can i ask you a few questions? or... 80, specifically?" and akira says yeah sure and then after they're done he's like so was that just for fun orrr and futaba goes

#not professionally diagnosed or self diagnosed but a secret third thing (diagnosed by your little sister) #yeehaw #futaba sakura #akira kurusu #persona 5 #yeah. sure. i sketched that futaba in like 2 minutes on paper bc i don't have my ipad on me but needed to get out the message #this isnt My score btw this is the result of me taking it and answering what i think akira would do. Which is a normal thing everyone does! #anyway. i think akira is autistic. that's all #oh also if anyone is unaware that's the raads-r result. Yeah.

[fungh0u1]

more naruto because im normal.

#suigetsu hozuki #sasuke uchiha #juugo #karin uzumaki #naruto uzumaki #ino yamanaka #sakura haruno #naruto #naruto shippuuden #suisasu #juusasu #inosaku #well what evar. migrating these off of my drawing page before i start a new one. ill draw a naruto picture... and then ill post it #hi. for some reason i'm portraying myself as a sasusui warrior here and previously. which is not necessarily true but is kind of true. #my art

[aeonophagic]

girls

#sakukallen #kallensaku #i made the sketch for this in class #which caused the catastrophic event of a classmate asking me if these were furries #peep the nails #hi3 #honkai impact 3rd #kallen kaslana #yae sakura #rajart

[hellcifrogs]

NaruFox AU

After Sakura’s attempt at genjutsu, Kurenai agrees to teach her some more advanced skills. While Kiba and Hinata rest from the exam and Kakashi trains Naruto and Sasuke.

Prev / Next

#NaruFox #shino aburame #sakura haruno #kurenai #naruto au #my art #with this I go back to the last fights #which also won't take so long :)