I see the light!

[taotrooper]

How could've missed this! And me! And it was in the first fucking CLAMP manga volume I ever bought!

I've noticed a new magnolia appearance. This time in X. I'm not sure if it's the oldest one with the stupid flowers (this one must've been made in 1997). I shall look if there's something in RG Veda artbooks or something.

And here's the illust. Volume 10 backcover.



...Kakyou. KAKYOU. thank God it's not Aoki, though; that really would've killed my brain

But really, this is giving me new clues regarding the magnolia conspiracy, and an actual link towards the magnolia people. Or at least the guys; Yuuko plays hard, as always.

First of all, the four of them have seen the future and/or done some kind of divination. Clow and Kakyou do it naturally, of course. Yuuko doesn't seem to do it often, and we still don't know how much of a clairvoyant Watanuki is.

But here's my point that defies Yuuko. Clow was overwhelmed by his powers because he saw the future everytime and he hated that. Kakyou is overwhelmed by his powers because he only sees the future in dreams, he's in a coma so he bloody sleeps 24/7, and he -unlike Clow- can't do anything to change it. Kimihiro is overwhelmed by his powers because evil creatures want to eat him. You see the pattern? Like I said, Yuuko seems happy with her powers. Clow and Kakyou are more extreme about it, to the point that they wanted to die in order to make the visions stop.

So here's the symbolism. Deception by illusions. Dreams. Visions. Overwhelmed by your own abilities. Destiny.

I wish I could look for the Wheel of Fortune meaning -Kakyou's Tarot card-, to see if it fits Clow, or Watanuki, or Yuuko. Alas, I'm in a hurry.

But my point is, magnolias do have a meaning in CLAMP art, like sakuras. It doesn't mean it saves Watanuki from being a 'Clow derivate' like I want to believe.

And if this isn't a good excuse for you to continue reading X, Laurus, I don't know what it could be.

Comments

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Wheel of Fortune is about change. External, circumstancial change by compareason with the Death card, which is about inner change, metamorphosis. It's about the fact that all fortunes may change any time, kings may be deposed, peasants can arise etc. In Asian context, making a parallel to Karma seems natural.

It relates well with prophecy abilities, but it's a bit ironic for Kakyou who is indeed unable (or is he ?) to change the world around him.

I'll go check my RV Veda volumes right away ^^

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

However, Wheel of Fortune does sound fitting for the XXXHOLiC and CCS plots, even though Kakyou has little to do with the card.

Thank you for the info ^_^ I'm checking the RG Veda artbook scans right now.

[chibiyuuto.livejournal.com]

Yeah I agree with you... but I also think it depends on the mood of each chara... like, each chara has a proper flower.... Aoki would NEVER have Magnolias XDDD He's simply too much genki, he doesn't fit.

[laurus-nobilis.livejournal.com]

I'm up to volume 5 already! And it's finally going from "confusing" to "interesting". I'm still not in love with it or anything, but I had a similar reaction to RG Veda, so I'll wait until I've read all there is to form an actual opinion.

The magnolia thing makes so, so much sense. I'm glad to see it wasn't just that our brains are looking for conspiracy theories. @_@ There was something, ha! Even if it wasn't exactly a "family tree".

And because I don't know much about tarot, I went and googled the Wheel of Fortune. Changes and cycles... the perpetual motion of a fluid universe and the flux of human life... a new cycle in life... as the wheel turns downwards, in time it will turn up...

Maybe it's because I'm still under the influence of magnolias, but, well. This women must read Ende.

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

However, main characters are easily portraited with several kinds of flowers depending on the illust *cough*Sakura-chan*cough*

Aoki has no flowers in his illusts XD But that's a good thing for me, as he's a Fujitaka kind of guy. And Fujitaka relates to Clow. Thank God he has no magnolias.

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

The first volumes are slow, and the characters seem a bit lame. But they all grow up and get their own personality. I never imagined, for instance, that Karen -underwear lady with curly hair- would become so cool and cute later on. Kamui's moodiness gets better, but maybe it's because of the angst he's under. After volume 8, things start getting creepy.

Yay, there was something ^_^ Pero aún no está descartada la idea de la familia del todo XD Que Kakyou y Yuuko no llevan trajes chinos!

...That sounds like Clow's dialogue in anime episode 68.

[laurus-nobilis.livejournal.com]

... and I've just realized that I left out what I was going to say about Ende. *headdesk* I meant that the Wheel of Fortune + Magnolias made me think of The Neverending Story, because of the Childlike Empress. She's got magnolia symbolism around her, and she makes Fantasia go through a new "cycle" every time she gets a new name.

Yeah, I'm a little obsessed. :/

Re: X: I like the characters already. Not so much the main ones, but Sorata and Arashi are love. And Yuzuriha too. ♥ Good thing I already know they all die messy deaths.

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

Yeah, figured about the Empress.

Sorashi is a lovely pairing ^_^ Actually, they're not dead yet in manga. That was just the movie, and everyone died there; Sorata died in the anime series, but you'll agree that's not exactly a surprise...