CLAMP - Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, vol. 13-17

[oyceter]

Eh. I feel I need an explanation of the plot. Much as I love stories about doubles, on a practical level they confuse the heck out of me! People! I cannot even keep track of a normal, straightforward plot with distinct characters, much less one with clones and identity switching!

So: the Syaoran we have known and loved (hereby termed Our Syaoran) is actually a clone of the original Syaoran (hereby termed Eyeless Syaoran)? Or is it the opposite way around? And Eyeless Syaoran is actually the one missing an eye, right? Or... eh, I guess he's not really missing an eye because he ate Fai's eye (!!!!).

I think I spoiled myself for the eye development, but I still snickered because it is not just singular eye trauma! It is eye trauma involving multiple people and magic eyes! Oh! And Eyeless Syaoran actually gave one of his eyes (and cloned his heart?!?!) to Our Syaoran, who was then sent to Clow to meet Sakura by Yuuko. I think? Maybe?

Also, what is up with Subaru? He is a VAMPIRE?! OMG! *dies laughing* Awesomeness! I mean, it is wonderful and tragic and OMG! Fai! Fai has to drink his blood to live! And Kurogane makes a wish via Yuuko to keep Fai alive and now Fai must live off of his blood and only his blood!!! There are not enough exclamation points in the world for the awesomeness!

So, um, where is the Fai/Kurogane slash now? I had seen the undercurrents before, but now that they have a tragic connection and Kurogane's sacrifice linking them together, they have pushed all my buttons! And usually I reserve this level of "OMG! The plot! OMG! *flings hands around in an incoherent attempt to express the overwhelming cracktastic awesomeness*" for Yuki Kaori.

I am liking this series so much more now.

Comments

[rilina.livejournal.com]

Our Syaoran is clone!Syaoran. Original!Syaoran was original missing his left eye (well, wearing something over it), but clone!Syaoran was the one who ate Fai's eye.

It is very, very confusing.

[rilina.livejournal.com]

Also, while I see the slash undertones for Fai and Kurogane, for some reason I don't grok the pairing the same way I do, say, Doumeki/Watanuki.

I love that Kamui is Subaru's twin, and that Kamui is leading the alternate versions of the dragons of Earth (and Fuuma the dragons of Heaven). Plus, I would love to get the backstory of TRC!Subaru and TRC!Seishirou, because the hints we get are very intriguing.

Now excuse me while I go gloat over my success in getting people to catch up on TRC. Hee.

[oyceter]

I think my liking for Fai/Kurogane stems from the "stoic guy sacrificing self" thing. Haha, am so predictable!

Also, blood and vampires wtf awesome!

[oyceter]

I am so confused! So Clone Syaoran went crazy? Why did he go crazy? And now Original Syaoran is going to help the gang get Clone Syaoran back?

And I totally missed the part about Subaru and Kamui being twins! Though I liked Kamui and Fuuma clearly having chosen opposite sides from X.

SO CONFUSED!

[rilina.livejournal.com]

clone!Syaoran was created by Fei Wang (Wong? My scans have both) Reed as a thing that was solely obsessed with retrieving the feathers; he had no heart. original!Syaoran found this (and unclear other things about Fei Wang Reed's plot); Fei Wang Reed imprisoned him in the tank thing with that tattoo. Before the spell was complete, however, original!Syaoran gave clone!Syaoran a copy of his heart; the copy was sealed through the clone's right eye. It was apparently original!Syaoran's hope that clone!Syaoran would grow his own heart and not remain a tool of Fei Wang Reed.

The seal on clone!Syaoran's eye began to break down, which is why we had flashes of clone!Syaoran acting obsessed with the feathers before everything went to hell.

When the seal broke, clone!Syaoran's copied heart began to go back to original!Syaoran. Fai tried to prevent this, and got his eye eaten for his pains; the loss of the seal made clone!Syaoran revert to crazyness. Now clone!Syaoran has taken off in search of more feathers, and original!Syaoran, who has been watching everything the whole time through clone!Syaoran's eyes, has joined up with the gang. What makes everything so deliciously tragic is that original!Syaoran clearly has some of clone!Syaoran's feelings for the gang (esp Sakura--remember he stops fighting when she shouts), but the gang still wants clone!Syaoran back.

Yes, Subaru and Kamui are twins! Way back in Outo, Seishirou talked about being after the vampire twins, one of whom was Subaru. The natural assumption was that the other was Hokuto, but nope.

[snarp]

And to make it all even more confusing, if I'm understanding the sequence of events right, Fai removed the heart and then tried to reattach it to Clone!Syaoran by putting it in his eye and feeding the eye to him. Basically. But the heart didn't take, and Original!Syaoran removed the heart a second time a minute later.

(It amuses me to claim that all Clone!Syaoran's problems can be traced back an Oedipal complex, justified by Fai's "Fai-Mommy and Kurogane-Daddy" thing, Clone!Syaoran's many fight scenes with Kurogane, and Clone!Syaoran's biting Fai's head.)

[oyceter]

Whoa. That is very confusing indeed!

[oyceter]

You rock so much for all the explanations and for listening to me (well, metaphorically listening?) hysterically laugh and laugh and laugh.

I cannot believe that CLAMP has taken their signature eye trauma to a complete new level and that they have done so thematically in ways that make the plot better! And that the entire self-indulgent-sounding premise of crossovers with all their existing universes has turned out to be so thematically rich!

[hysteriachan.livejournal.com]

I spent a huge swatch of yesterday reading from vol. 9 to the current chapters, and I think I've mostly got things straightened out (mostly from reading rilina's thoughts on it), but wow, do I share the confusion. *twitch*

[oyceter]

So confusing! I think I have things sorted out in my head now, largely from explanations, but I feel the need for a massive reread of both series (woe! 30-some volumes!).