CLAMP Rants

Now this just bugs me...

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:36:15 GMT

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't remember a single time in the two series of xxxHolic and Tsubasa that the characters have differentiated between Soel and Larg by referring to them as "White Mokona" or "Black Mokona" (or in fan-Japanese "Shiroi-Mokona" and "Kuro-Mokona", which I believe is at least partially grammatically incorrect in Japanese). Edit: Turns out one form is adjective, the other is noun, so thanks to the person who pointed that out! Which serves to point out that the fans who use that need to at least be consistent.

They're both just Mokona, and refer to themselves as such. Black and White are just fan designations and the stuff that shows up on merchandise, last I checked. The closest they get to referring to them as that is when they refer to them as "the white one" and "the black one" in the first chapter they appear in.

So yeah, seeing that jump out broke my train of thought while reading a supposed "in character" thing. They don't call them that. They're just Mokona, both of them!

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:48:39 GMT

Fandom, stop trying to justify your obvious character and pairing bias by criticizing CLAMP's narrative/plot/pacing/whatever.

It's kind of amusing to watch the fandom who was fangirling Fye's past whine and bitch about Syaoran's now, clinging to technicalities that didn't seem to bother them in the slightest when the manga was focusing on Fye.

Let's see.

- In both, the group chose to go to the country where it'd happen.
- In both, the group chose to go to said country to rescue Sakura.
- In both, we had the character whose past was gonna be revealed be all cryptic and "..."-y and angsty before it begun.
- In both, there was a huge-ass door opened.
- In both, one of the two main pairings got ignored (Syaoran was K.O.'d or in the background during most of Celes, Sakura was... a corpse, and now Kuro and Fye are just listening to the story, I guess?)
- In both, it starts with a TON OF NEW INFO (The twins, Valeria, the curse, the pit, the corpses, the original names vs MEET MY PARENTS, Yuuko, the different Clow Country)
- In both, once this first OMGWTFBBQ info was told, they started to be kinda repetitive and focus on either angst or fluff. And both were over the top at some point. We got a bunch of chapters of MISFORTUNE and SIN and Yuuy piling up corpses, and now we're getting a bunch of chapters with CUTE and CHIBI and fluff and hand-holding. ... And mentions of destiny and dreams, but that's just the default for a CLAMP manga.

They both had breaks. They both dragged on at some point. ETC.

Neither one's pointless. I'm sick of hearing that Syaoran's past is dumb and boring and meaningless because (so far) it's full of fluff and cuteness. Angst doesn't automatically make things deeper and better.

Fye's past finally answered all the questions we had about him. It was (obviously) crucial to his development, etc. Syaoran's is now showing us his motivations, and his personality (the poor kid didn't get a chance to show what he's like when he's not angsting, having joined up in the middle of the Tokyo arc), and it's already answered a lot of questions there were about him. It's also brought up a thousand new ones, of course, but it's still freaking being serialized. I, for one, remember Fye's past driving me crazy when it was being serialized, too. And Infinity.

TL;DR: Just embrace the fact that the only reason why you hate Syaoran's past is because it's Syaoran's and it means Kurogane and/or Fay aren't in the spotlight. Trying to hide behind stupid excuses and things that didn't bother you when it was Fye's past the one being told just makes you look even more butthurt.

I whine because I want too

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:32:48 GMT

Dear CLAMP,

You've seemed to have forgotten the existence of an important character in xxxHolic. Please fix this so we can have our adorable trio back.

is the CCS section getting worse?!

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:08:51 GMT

Dear "fanfic" "author",

Sakura would not kill herself just because Syaoran married Tomoyo.

She definitely would not kill Touya, Fujitaka, and Eriol just because they "didn't understand her suffering" and tried to calm her down.

Even if you were to write a character for which those actions would be IC, the situation would not be romantic, and it would not make me sorry for your character. It would be just as disgusting.

Signed,
A fan who thought she'd seen it all in CCS badfic

P.S. Sakura's first love was Yukito, not Syaoran, so having her shout that Eriol isn't as hurt because Tomoyo is his second love makes no sense and only makes her sound completely crazy.

Stupid fanfic plots....

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:43:23 GMT

THIS RANT CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR RECENT TSUBASA CHAPTERS!!! READ WITH CAUTION!!!

Alright, I realize that everybody will have a different idea of what makes a good fanfic and sometimes summaries are hard to write, but this is stupid.

1) Now that Kuro and Fay are married, the next step is to have babies. The problem is, there is absolutely no way for him to bear a child! As they got their wish through asking Yuuko, the next problem comes: how do they answer awkward questions of a kid?

You weird fangirls do realize that there is no possible way for two guys to have a kid together, right? Instead of having them turn anatomy on its head, why don't Fay and Kurogane do what other gay couples do and adopt, I've never seen somebody think of that before.

2)crossovers with almost all of my stories! No spoilers I know of! clone sakura is still alive in soul and makes a wish to hopefully save the real syaoran!

Um... How do you define spoiler because I just found TWO! There are lots of people that haven't read to those chapters yet. it would be nice if you didn't put the biggest spoiler ever in the first line of your summary.

Has anybody else found summaries that beat these? I'd love a good laugh.

militantly conservative libertarian wut...?

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:52:56 GMT

Indeed, what fast becomes truly distasteful about this series (both anime and manga versions) is the way in which it consistently advances such a militantly conservative libertarian view of the world. In this iteration of CLAMP-land, everyone chooses one's own destiny, and if you suffer from misfortune, it must be your own fault. Oprah and the rest of the self-help industry would be proud. How far CLAMP has come from those early days of Tokyo Babylon, where the dehumanizing effects of the modern urban social setting were to blame! Talk about taking out the disillusionment accompanying middle age on the fans. Liberals have been fairly warned—your thoughts won't be much provoked by XXXHOLiC, but you might be.
--Anime News Network, on xxxHOLiC.

They also mentioned that Yuuko "stands idly by while a young graduate student orchestrates her own destruction" (the monkey's fist arc).

Just... wtf?

Horitsuba is not an angst pit wtf?

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:24:38 GMT

Horitsuba is not angsty. It's crack. STOP trying to make it into some deep, tragic, angsty thing.

Syaoran thinks Valentine's Day is an epic battle between women. How can you take that seriously even for a second?

If you want angst you've got a vast abundance in the actual manga, where each chapter hands you the angst on a fucking silver platter. Think about it, fandom.

first name/last name

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:17:44 GMT

Yuzuriha's first name isn't Nekoi. It is, in fact, Yuzuriha.

There's actually a comment in X specifically to the effect of, "oh, how weird, your last name and first name sound backwards;" the series awknowledges that "Nekoi" does sound a bit more first-name like than surname-like, and that Yuzuriha is an uncommon and uncommonly written name.

So I understand being initially confused. But it boggles me how many people persist in believing that Yuzuriha is in fact her *last* name, even after reading the whole series - especially on the internet.

Bonus rant: Same goes for Shiyuu Kusanagi: Kusanagi is his given name. In fact, the same conversation where Yuzuriha's name is remarked on sounding "backwards," so is his.

(Strangely enough, I don't see this one *as* much, even though it looks to me like the more logical confusion point.)

MOD POST

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:18:41 GMT

400 MEMBERS

Congrats, tobakichan, for being number 400! Newbies buy the drink rounds. In celebration, we made a new profile header that accurately sums up 109.999999% of all rants here.

The stats so far, from the tags:

* Fai/Fye/Fay/φ is the most ranted-about character, with 38 rants to his name. Sakura and Subaru tie at second with 22 rants each. Syaoran finishes at a modest third with 16 rants.

* Kurogane/Fai (36 rants) is most ranted-about pairing, with Syaoran/Sakura following (19 rants). Seishirou/Subaru comes in third (17 rants).

* Tsubasa is the most ranted-about series with a staggering 162; X comes in second at 93. Cardcaptor Sakura is in third with 61.

If you look into your hearts, you can decide whether this is something to be proud about or not. In any case, CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR OPINIONZZZ!1!!

beating a dead horse here

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 23:01:02 GMT

people, when it comes to relationships ( meaning romantic ones ) unusual =/= unhealthy!

no, really. I swear it on the life of my pink shirt.

Fandom screwing over Fay's character? Alert the media!

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:40:19 GMT

I know several people have ranted about Fay's character before, but this is a rant specific to the more recent chapters.

We all know that Fay's a pretty fucked up guy. But his problems stem from issues of self-worth, NOT self-pity.

So when you, fandom, write a story about post-Celes, and you have Fay be angsty and self-pitying and telling Kurogane, "You should have left me in Celes..." and "I'm not worth the trouble at all, how can you care so much about me?" ?

YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG.

That's taking about eight giant leaps backwards for his character. The point of the end of Celes and Nihon? To show that Fay's worked out his issues. He's let go of his brother, his king is released, his curses have been activated, and he has companions that care about him and don't want him to be left behind.

You can SEE that he's at peace in the manga. He's calmer. And you can see that he's learned because he told Kurogane that he'd wait for Sakura and Syaoran, even if it is painful. Something he couldn't do in Tokyo.

So having him be all "oh woe is me" and "I'm not worth it!!11" is NOT HOW POST-CELES FAY WOULD ACT. Period.

You want an angsty Fay? Infinity's a good place to start. Pre-series is good, too.
But you just can't make post-Celes Fay angsty because he's just NOT anymore. He's at peace, so leave him peace.

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:59:46 GMT

Fandom, Kurogane isn't a rapist.

Stop reading yaoi manga and try reading Tsubasa instead.

ahem On introversion and Doumeki

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:59:44 GMT

So there are some theories floating around about Doumeki -- some interesting, some possible, some not -- however, I keep seeing one thing that really ticks me off with these.

Just because Doumeki does not show emotion to the extent that other people do does not necessarily make him a robot/clone/whatever without taking other factors into account. It's called introversion, and I think I speak for a good number of introverts when I say that the implication that we're somehow not normal/human just because we don't express (key word) ourselves or our emotions as much rubs us the wrong way in a big way.

So yeah, theorize all you want, but stop using that one factor alone to say "he's not human" since it ticks the people off who are human but don't express themselves on flailing-Watanuki levels. We get enough of this crap anyway!

Thu, 29 May 2008 04:00:41 GMT

TRC Fandom, stop whining about the main character of the manga being in the covers or splash pages. Seriously, it's getting old. It happened with every manga of CLAMP (look at CCS or Chobits or X), and it's not gonna suddenly change now because you're bored with Syaoran's arc and miss the gay.

headdesk

Fri, 23 May 2008 05:36:56 GMT

Sakura Kinomoto is a bitch!!

That’s right she is. Everything revolves around her. And people instantly love her for no reason. Even the bad guys. It’s always about her and no one else. Has anyone else noticed that she’s a Mary sue?? Seriously! Nothing bad has ever happened to her and when something bad does happens all she does is cry or be scared or even go unconscious. She’s an annoying brat who can’t even remember a single thing. Even the way she runs is annoying. That girl is such a slutty whore I’m insulted that Syaoran works so hard for that bitch.
Not only that, I can’t believe that those three guys never raped her. If she’s so cute and perfect why didn’t they just rape when she was asleep? It would be so great if that slutty, bitchy whore would be raped or even brutally murdered. Hehehe… Yes that’s right SAKURA IS A BITCH

To the person who posted the above on ff.net

Either you are a fucking moron or you are a troll, or both. Either way, it doesn't excuse you. Now GTFO of my fandom.

D:

Sat, 17 May 2008 03:53:09 GMT

Psycho Lesbian - If you're not a little creeped out by Tomoyo's level of obsession for Sakura you REALLY have not been paying attention.

Excuse me... WHAT?! Since when is one of the most kind, caring, intellegent CLAMP characters ever created deserving to be lumped in with people like Nina Einstein? And this is the same girl who lets Sakura go willingly at the end in one of the most selfless acts in modern manga? What part of that says "psycho" or are all characters who express attraction to someone of the same gender inherently psycho in your book? In that case I have a bokken with your name on it from yours truly to beat some stuff into your noggin.

You, sir or madam, is the one who has not been paying attention on a couple counts.

BTW, whoever does the tags, can we get a new tag for TVTropes stupidity in the vein of "Bee Train bathes in puppy blood"? As a user of that site I approve.

Enemies

Thu, 15 May 2008 05:46:35 GMT

I realize and have absolutely no problem with the fact that 99 percent of all X fic out there is going to focus on romance and sometimes gen relationships between characters, not the whole end of the world thing. Hell, I do it myself, so I can't exactly call anyone for doing it too.

But. Still. Even though you're writing your romance, there is still an apocalypse going on. Don't touch on it if you don't want to, but generally speaking? The DoH and DoE are enemies, and the first reaction to them meeting randomly is probably going to reflect that before the romance. Yuuto/Karen is awesome in theory, but try to explain why they're skipping straight to the buddy-buddy; same with any DoH/DoE combination, romantic or gen. The exceptions would be K/F and S/S, but even then, I imagine that Kamui and Subaru's *friends* might get a little concerned, if not them themselves.

I'm not asking for you to write out death and dismemberment (unless you want to; it would be pretty awesome with the otherwise lack of violence in the fandom) - just bear it in mind, you know? Strictly speaking, the DoH and DoE are supposed to be fighting to the death, after all.

...what about Sakura?

Wed, 14 May 2008 16:26:16 GMT

First rant - I guess it's pretty useless, but this bugged me.
Anyway I just recieved my Del Rey copy of TRC vol. 17, the backcover said this;

'In mere minutes, Fai will be dead, and Kurogane's only hope to save him is to make a deal with Yukko the witch, a woman he has never trusted. The deal sends Kurogane - alone- into the worst danger he has ever faced.'

...I thought that was Sakura. Going out and getting injured in danger all by herself? Kurogane actually benifited from the vampire thing, and I doubt that slitting his wrist for a little blood was the most epic thing he's ever done, considering he's a ninja...
If Del Rey wants a dramatic summary to sell the manga, why doesn't it put any of what Sakura did on the back? Since this was pretty much her volume for ass-kicking moments /:

~~Maybe I'm being too trivial. If this rant annoys anyone, I'm very sorry, I'll delete it orz;;~~

No, it's not another ship rant

Sun, 11 May 2008 05:11:21 GMT

Fandom, please stop mentioning or listing the gay couples in the CLAMP-verse when you're trying to show CLAMP is okay with having fucked up relationships.

R!Syao/Sakura not truly being incest is another issue, but seeing so many people happily equating homosexuality with incest is really getting on my nerves.

Please, NO

Sat, 10 May 2008 15:10:28 GMT

The parents (Fujitaka and Nadeshiko) turn to look at R!Syaoran and TRC!Sakura

"... It's him, isn't it?"
"Yes. Sakura-hime's destined person."

Another wiki rant!

Sat, 10 May 2008 00:53:29 GMT

Dear idiot trying to delete the xxxHolic article,

xxxHolic is not "an incredibly obscure anime" just because you say so, and seem to think that the inconsequentially little amount of space it takes up on the website could be used for something else (not that anyone seems to think that far ahead and suggest what it can be used for). And also, it's a damn manga, the anime came second. Get your facts right before you go around spouting this stuff and acting like you own the place.

~~It really wouldn't surprise me if this is the same person who was trying to get rid of the stuff on Clover~~.

Clover? What's that?!

Thu, 08 May 2008 06:38:42 GMT

Dear CLAMP Wikipedia editors,

Clover is indeed a manga by CLAMP. I would think their name on the cover of each volume was more than enough proof of this fact.

And believe it or not, it is unfinished. CLAMP has said this in interviews. Unless CLAMP picks it back up at some point to complete it, it'll always be unfinished.

Therefore you shouldn't:

1) Remove it from the unfinished series section of CLAMP's page.

and/or

2) Remove it completely from CLAMP's page so you can act like the series doesn't exist!

Some of us like Clover! I know it doesn't get as much attention as some of CLAMP's other works but definitely one of their best.

No Love,
an annoyed Clover fan

Oh for the love of fuck...

Thu, 08 May 2008 03:26:38 GMT

If all the reaction people have to the spoilers coming in from chapter 189 of Tsubasa is OH NOES THAN THAT MEANS THAT CCS SYAORAN AND SAKURA DID GET MARRIED AND HAVE SEX! THERE GOES MY PRECIOUS ALTERNATE YURI/YAOI PAIRING! then I think you missed something vital. IE the canoness of S/S has not ever been in question since the end of CCS and you're about ten years too late to complain. The last panel of the damn manga pretty well sealed that up.

And while we're at it stop comparing Syaoran to Oedipus right off the bat. Really, it's not funny or original. If you really want that sort of thing look no further than our dear Sakurazukamori.

And one more thing! They're alternate universes and selves, remember that before jumping to conclusions. And we still have no idea WTF is going on, so would it kill you to wait a bit before flipping out?

*mega headdesk*

By the way, I'm holding off judgment until I have the actual chapter in front of me, so this isn't about the chapter by the wank in its wake. That is all. Also, I'm turning off my end of receiving comments because I have to go to bed and I don't want to kill my mail account since it's only been half an hour and we are already approaching 30 comments. Feel free to discuss, I'm just trying not to kill my inbox (again).

Characterization

Wed, 07 May 2008 18:42:05 GMT

CLAMP has the habit of creating a lot of characters and only really fleshing out a few of them. This is perfectly acceptable. It is also perfectly acceptable to then flesh out the characters yourself in fanfiction; after all, that's sort of one of the points of fanfiction, is it not?

So really, I'm not picky with what you choose to create for the characters - as long as you explain it in context, go as crazy as you'd like with backstories and motivations and younger/older siblings. This is seriously all a-okay with me.

But guys? There is a limit. And that limit is crossed the moment you contradict what framework characterization there already is for no reason.

"For no reason?" Let me explain! Take Keiichi. Say you want to write a story where he discovers that his BFF Kamui is in fact sort of indirectly behind the earthquakes that killed his parents; say that you then want to extend this to Keiichi feeling frustrated, even angry, at Kamui, even knowing that it isn't really his fault. This could be an interesting story. While "Keiichi hating Kamui and being angry and mad" isn't really the way someone expects to see Keiichi in a story, it can be set up and explained in a way where, in context, it makes sense, even with Keiichi's general happy!! nature.

However, if you need an antagonist for your story (which is silly because X has a cast full of them already--yes, Fuuma is one of them), and you decide that no one would be better for the role than Keiichi, because "betrayal of friendship" is always a fun source of angst and Kamui has never gone through that twice already--and then you proceed to make Keiichi angry, frustrated, and even violent towards Kamui without bothering to rationalize, explain, or devote time to the cause of it... that is when you cross the line from "exploring and fleshing out a character" to "OOC."

By all means, make Keiichi your story's bad guy. Just give me a reason for it first. I know it's tiring to devote chapters to setting things up when you want to jump to the action, but when it's the line between "OOC" and "a good story," I think it's a sacrifice you should really consider making.

This applies to any character or concept, I think, and would be well remembered by (sadly) a lot of fandom, but is inspired directly by an evil!Keiichi story, thus the specific example.

The World is Ending...

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:29:51 GMT

It really must be, if i'm actually ranting about violence in CLAMP fics...

Dear X/1999 Writer,

   Just so you know I really did like your fic and I didn't mind the violence/gore at all. As a matter of fact I quite liked it. Unfortunately at some point the plot got lost in all the gore and it stopped being interesting. The violence was mostly incidental, just a string of bad luck and then suddenly we're treated to Kamui having a nervous breakdown and shredding Seiichirou (of all people) into little pieces. No explanation, no warning, nothing to indicate it was going to happen.
   I suppose I should have expected it since you seem to have made him your whipping boy.
   The point i'm trying to get across is violence in moderation (or at least 'rational' violence). It's fine if it fits. It's not fine if it's perfectly mindless. Writing isn't the place for that.

Signed,
   Myself.

And now for the flipside:

Dear xxxHOLiC Writers,

Can we have Watanuki in some real danger please? Even when some great terror from beyond is introduced it still feels like everything is going to be peachy keen. I know it's possible to do, so let's see it please?

Near Begging,
Myself.