#cardcaptor lissa

[iturbide]

My brain could do for some happy stuff. Would you like to share any thoughts on Card Captor Lissa?

I would be delighted to share some CardCaptor Lissa thoughts ❤

So with the understanding that a lot of this is still in development and therefore potentially in flux, I can still say with 100% certainty that Lissa loves her brother’s boyfriend.  He’s like the brother she always wanted (her other brother’s a jerk and she definitely didn’t ask for him), and she has no qualms about trying to monopolize Robin’s time, even or especially when he’s over at her house spending time with Chrom.  Her brother thinks she’s being a pain, but Robin is nothing if not indulgent, so it’s really no wonder she crashes in on them at every opportunity, even after she starts secretly collecting the cards that escaped.

Robin is aware that Lissa’s up to something, of course, but not exactly what.  She’s secretive about it, and doesn’t want to tell him the details, but so long as she’s not getting in trouble or ending up in danger he’s happy to turn a blind eye and cover for her with Chrom.  For his part, Chrom is suspicious, but doesn’t have anything to go on, so he just keeps an eye on her trying to figure out what exactly she’s up to (not that it helps).  Interestingly, Chrom is highly resistant to the cards from the Book of Naga and able to get through things that most people would struggle with (including Lissa); he himself has no affinity nor aptitude for magic, but can to some degree nullify Naga’s magic by drawing it to himself.  Meanwhile, Robin is highly susceptible to the magic of Naga’s cards, and to some extent draws them in, since they were made to counter Grima’s power; areas that he frequents tend to attract cards with the same certainty that Lissa’s presence does.

(He is, however, entirely unaffected by Tiki, and in fact seems to have a soft spot for Lissa’s ‘stuffed animal’ -- Lissa’s worried Tiki will slip up at some point, but she manages to keep it together.)

Henry is Lissa’s opponent when it comes to reclaiming the cards, but he’s there for a very different purpose than she is: he wants to prevent her from recapturing the escaped cards.  He and Tharja (who’s in Robin and Chrom’s class) both hail from Plegia, just as Robin does, and the old legends remain deeply interwoven in their culture.  Even if most people just see them as stories, those with close ties to magic and history know the truth of it, and Tharja and Henry are both well aware of Robin’s deeper nature.  Their main purpose in coming was to ensure that Grima’s return came about successfully, and further to make sure that the fell dragon isn’t stopped afterward...but the situation with Robin, Chrom, and Lissa still manages to catch them completely off guard.

Henry is also competitively eager to make Robin happy, since he knows Robin is Grima -- though later it becomes about doing nice things for Robin specifically, because he’s really nice and treats Henry a lot like a big brother would, and Henry gets attached easily.  Tharja, meanwhile, is uncomfortably clingy with Robin, and he does his best to avoid her, often with Chrom’s help; the fact that Chrom is helping Grima is not lost on Tharja, and constantly perplexes her.

[iturbide]

Cardcaptor Lissa AU! I love Cardcaptors and this AU soooo much c: Just a quick question, but is Grima a bit like the Nothing card from the CSS movie then?

It’s a lot of fun so far it’s still in development since I’m still very early in my Cardcaptor Sakura re-watch (and I’ve never seen the whole series before -- I didn’t realize there were two movies until recently), but I’m really enjoying myself. ❤

As for Grima, though, I’m actually slotting him in as the Yue analogue because of all the parallels between them!

Yue is the ‘other self’ for Yukito, who is not only one of Sakura’s closest friends but her older brother Toya’s boyfriend.  Grima, meanwhile, is effectively the ‘other self’ for Robin -- one of Lissa’s dearest friends and her older brother Chrom’s boyfriend.

Yue represents the moon and is affiliated with elements like dark, wind, and water, including storm and rain aspects.  Grima is associated with dark magic (up to and including Grima’s Truth being a dark magic spell), but stormclouds and rain arise when Grima’s dragon form appears, and Robin (Grima’s vessel) is most adept with storm-like wind and thunder magic.

Yue’s existence long predates Sakura’s time as a Cardcaptor, and he had close ties with the other guardian of the cards.  Needless to say, Grima’s existence long predates Lissa, and depending on how you view the timeline, he could be Tiki’s contemporary and I want them to be friends.

Yue’s arrival on the scene is a powerful moment that heralds the “Final Judgment” of the Cardcaptor candidate, where failure means losing something impossibly dear (in this case, memories of people they care for).  Grima’s return to the world is said to herald its destruction -- the loss of everything dear, effectively.  Grander in scope, but similar intent.

Yue’s defining feature are those amazing wings.  It’s rather incidental, but at least in Heroes, Grima’s special art sports wings (three pairs, in fact).

I still have details to work through, but so far it just makes the most sense to me for Grima to be attached to Robin as in canon rather than being a card with no connection.  That’s just me and my plan though!

[iturbide]

I’m still very early in my Cardcaptor Sakura rewatch but that hasn’t stopped me from plotting out AU possibilities:

The original cards were created by Naga as a means of subduing Grima before his power got to be a problem for the world; she appointed the first Cardcaptor and thereby oversaw Grima’s destruction in the past.

The cards primarily focus on light aspects with some earth and fire mixed in.  There are also a handful of neutral aspects, including the Sword (Falchion) and Shield (Fire Emblem).

Tiki and Grima were BFFs before Naga decided Grima had to go.  Tiki was absolutely distraught about this turn, and chose to seal her powers into the book to ensure the cards couldn’t be used again to cause harm.

Grima returning to the world was a little surprising, but not unpleasant.  Robin is vaguely aware of Grima at first, though he becomes more and more conscious of that other presence as Grima’s powers grow.

Grima’s return and gradually building power is also what affected the seal and the cards, such that Lissa could open the book, which allowed them to escape. 

Because Tiki is Naga’s daughter, and because she spent so long sealing the cards up, she has an innate connection to their power and can help track them down when she’s able to sense them.

Libra’s here and well aware of what’s going on.  His purpose is to offer whatever aid he can to Lissa during the inevitable clash with Grima, and to provide whatever guidance he can along the way.

Lissa absolutely finds a loophole when it comes to subduing Grima a second time -- namely that she decides not to fight at all, but tries to become friends instead.

Admittedly this comes after she tried fighting because that’s what Libra told her she had to do, though Tiki insisted that she wouldn’t be part of the confrontation herself.

Grima has no trouble fending off Lissa’s attempts and preparing to end things, but Libra manages to disable him at least momentarily to give Lissa another chance at winning.

Lissa quite literally wins by discarding her weapons and throwing herself at Grima instead.  Grima is...very confused by the hug.  And the apology.  And asks if she knows what she’s doing.

She insists she does, and when prompted she explains that Grima just seems like he’s sad and hurting and Lissa wants to give him a friend so maybe he won’t be lonely anymore.

She’s not wrong.  Actually she’s pretty much dead-on right.  So Lissa not only saves the world she nets a brand new best friend in the process.  Go Lissa!

At some point following this Grima decides to try his hand at distilling some magic essence into cards as a kind of gift.  This leads to absolute chaos, as you might imagine, but Lissa appreciates it anyway.

Grima’s card contributions focus on dark aspects with some water and wind (including storm and thunder aspects) mixed in.  There are a few additional neutral aspects, as well.

Naga, having heard about Lissa’s loophole victory, is less than pleased since friendship is really non-binding (something she tried to teach Tiki back in the day), so she may venture down to intervene through Nagi.

Naga’s presence, coupled with the fact that Grima gifted a portion of his own power to Lissa through the cards, ends up having an extreme negative effect on his (and, by proxy, Robin’s) strength and endurance.

Chrom had already been aware of both his sister’s exploits (generally, if not in detail) and Grima’s existence, but Robin’s declining health is an all-new cause for concern and alarm.

Around the time of Naga’s arrival, the original cards stop responding normally.  Lissa ends up finding a way to convert them into altered forms under her own power, rather than Naga’s, which restores their power.

It also means that Naga can no longer influence them, something she gets to experience when there’s an inevitable confrontation over Grima’s continued presence.

Lissa also manages to convert Grima’s cards this way, which helps to alleviate at least some of the strain on him and Robin since it returns a portion of their magic.

[iturbide]

Well speaking of AU stuff, you mentioned having a Card Captor Lissa AU correct? 👀

Yes in fact I am working on a Cardcaptor Lissa AU :D It’s still fairly early in development and I’m really not sure what I’m going to do with it in the end (comic? fic? a combination of the two? something else?), but it’s a lot of fun to play around with since it’s lighter with overall lower stakes than a lot of my other stories.  Modern day, heavy on the slice of life, magic as a quiet thriving undercurrent (something integrated into Plegian society, mostly forgotten by Ylissean, something that comes into greater focus as the story proceeds).

While I tend to see a lot of the characters in Awakening being close in age, this particular AU needs some additional disparity to fill a lot of the roles.  Robin and Chrom are both in high school, as are Sully, Sumia, Olivia, and Cordelia; Lissa’s still in grade school, along with Maribelle, Ricken, and Donny; while Emmeryn, Frederick, Miriel, Gregor, and Libra are older and have jobs that they tend to.  When Henry and Tharja arrive on the scene, Henry joins Lissa’s class, while Tharja joins Robin and Chrom’s.  Henry becomes a direct counter to Lissa in her attempts to re-collect the missing cards -- not as a rival seeking to capture them for himself and prove his own worth, but as a force of opposition trying to stop her from claiming them at all.

Grima and Naga remain as mythic figures, but there are kernels of truth within those myths that have endured to the present day.  Plegia’s faith in Grima endures, and Henry wants to ensure the fell dragon’s return.  Unlike Lissa, though, Henry clearly recognizes Robin’s power -- which fuels both his shyness toward the high-schooler and his eagerness to win Robin’s favor (which he finds very freely given, unlike Tharja, who just keeps scaring Robin off with her attempts). 

It’s just a fun little exploration so far and I’ve really enjoyed playing around with it when I have time!

[iturbide]

CARDCAPTOR LISSA

i know this is you gun who else would know about this

Look I remember loving Cardcaptor Sakura years back but I also never finished the series so gunhorse and I started watching it over the weekend and it’s just.  Sweet and good and has great animation and I’m enjoying myself immensely despite only being a few episodes in yet.

With that said, it only took five-ish episodes to realize ‘huh Cardcaptor Lissa would be super cute.’

and then i mentioned this to her and what comes into my inbox don’t think you’re sneaky gun because you’re not

Do I have anything solid?  No.  Do I have a scattering of ideas?  Yes.

Lissa and Chrom’s canon age gap is roughly 4-5 years, so she could very easily be in grade school while he’s in high school.

Emm makes for an absolutely fantastic parental figure taking care of her two younger siblings on her own.  Also Chrom loves giving his little sister a hard time so the sibling rivalry endures.

Robin being Grima’s vessel makes him a perfect fit for the whole ‘secret alter-ego’ thing -- plus, he is Chrom’s boyfriend.

Lissa monopolizing her brother’s boyfriend at every opportunity is just A+ (Chrom tolerates it, if only barely, while Robin endlessly indulges her).

I refuse to believe that Maribelle wouldn’t make a whole line of adorable magical girl outfits for her dearest Lissa.  It’s just very her.

Lissa canonically has self-esteem issues centered on her role and sense of belonging since she doesn’t have the same Brand her siblings bear.  Not only would her appointment as a Cardcaptor play directly into this (because she doesn’t feel she has any special talents), it’s also a great way to boost her self esteem and give her a chance to shine.

[iturbide]

Quick question for CCS Lissa,,,,, is this modern like in the show or medieval-fantasy like in Awakening? Also, I hope you're feeling a bit better!! No pressure to answer this, only if youre up for it ;;

It’s definitely more modern!  One of the things that really defines CCS for me is the fact that magic is something out of the ordinary and largely secret from the rest of the world at large.  In Awakening’s fantasy setting, though, magic is commonplace and used specifically for combat purposes via tomes and staves -- having cards for it really wouldn’t be that much of a leap in logic.  I don’t really think that a CCS set-up could work as effectively in that kind of setting, myself, because there’s no justification for maintaining the secrecy and mystery at the heart of CCS.

In a modern setting, though?  One where magic’s mostly been forgotten except as something out of a fairytale?  Where the history might remain -- old tensions across borders caused by religious differences, where dynastic rule is a thing of the past while the class system remains, where magic’s been replaced by scientific advances -- but where the core of those beliefs has passed into myth?  That has all kinds of potential to honor both of the original sources.

I’ve actually posted some early concept stuff on Patreon (mostly design sketches, but also a small comic), too!  I still don’t know what I’m going to do with it in the end (writing? comic? mixed media?), but I’m having fun with the development so far!

[iturbide]

Cardcaptor Lissa sounds adorable and delightful! That was (and still is) on of my favorite anime when I was younger and that sounds like a amazing potential fic.

I’m so glad you like the idea I remember loving it so much when I first came in contact with it (I actually have the original 12 volumes of the manga around somewhere, too), and the re-watch has just been full of warm soft feelings so far.  It’s still a very formative idea and in a very early stage, but it definitely has a lot of potential -- and heck, it could be a great excuse to do some visual development, too!  Cardcaptor Sakura has always been a very visual work, between the original manga and the subsequent anime adaptations; it could be fun to flex the art muscles again and try practicing more detail work!