Clow country fixation

[taotrooper]

I just edited my userinfo and interests. It's been a while since the last time I touched them. I have 52 interests! O_O And I'm the first dork to put "Clow Country" as an interest XD Silly me. I'd add more interests I'm coming up to, but I'll let the 52 be there for some days, just for the heck of it.

Speaking of Clow Country, I can't bloody stop thinking about that stupid country. It's just puzzling me so much in so many twisted little ways it's not funny. No, not only the Predecessor King issue. It's just everything in general.

- The real-life place it's based on. It's reminding me more of Mesopotamia than Egypt. Actually, I don't know why I thought of Egypt at first, because now I notice there's little of Egypt -thank God, I don't want to see Touya marrying Sakura-. So now I'm trying to learn more about Mesopotamia in general, to see if I can nail what exactly about it makes me think about Clow. Besides, CLAMP does dig that civilization in some way, right? Tokyo Babylon, anyone? Besides, winged lions. Need I say more?

- Written system and its inconsistencies. I mean, well, they definitely use books and paper. They use what it seems to be parchment rolls, but only for archaeology drawings, but so do we in real life. However! In volume 1, in a Syaoran flashback when he talks to Yuuko, Sakura is holding a stone tablet with cuneiform symbols carved in it! What the hell, make up your own mind, Ohkawa. I'm thinking the old written style in Clow used to be cuneiform writing, but for other nations' transculturation they went to paper instead. It has happened before in our real world, so why not. Or maybe that's not even from Clow; maybe that's something Fujitaka excavated somewhere (either Clow or another country) and Sakura was taking a look at the weird stone.

- Religion. I'm thinking a lot about religion, considering I do want to write Clow!Touya/Yukito and I need to know about their beliefs in order to get Yukito's resposabilities in a convincing way. For instance, is their religion monotheist or polytheist? Do they worship icons? What are the High Priest's functions? Are they always supposed to be infuencial in politics -either in a pope-like fashion or as counsellors-, or that's just Yukito because he's the King's lover right hand? Can they have sex? Not that Touya should stop for that, mind you. Can they get married? (Important issue for the Clow-was-the-priest theories...) What kind of ceremonies and holidays would they have? What about the dead? Do they bury, cremate or mommify them?

- And the most important of them, the one I'm hoping CLAMP won't let as a plot hole. What the fuck were those ruins?!

Ah, on Wednesday I went to an anime projection at my faculty. Just a couple of things:
- Samurai Champloo with subtitles in Spanish slang is hilarious XD It was so full of cursing it was even more funny.
- GitS: Stand Alone Complex. I didn't get squat about that episode's plot, but now I'm so fricking glad those are the guys doing XXXHOLiC *_* They're nifty.
- Midori no Hibi is crack.
- Prince of Tennis: still doesn't moves me.
- The Naruto the movie ending is so dumb. I just wanted to kick the princess.
- I won an Akira figure, which I'll proceed to sell on eBay when I get a debit card to use Paypal with and buy HBP with said card.

Comments

[gekidasa.livejournal.com]

- Prince of Tennis: still doesn't moves me.

You're never going to be interested in PoT if you expected to be moved by Tennisball Z. ^^;;

[katharos-8.livejournal.com]

I can't bloody stop thinking about that stupid country
You're not alone! And now you're not alone on the intersts either. ;-)

It's reminding me more of Mesopotamia than Egypt
*immediatly googles Mesopotamia and then feels stupid.*
Of course, that's where Gilgamesh comes from isn't it. The oldest story in the world... which is also a love story... between two males. Hmm. Think that's why Clamp likes the place?

let's see, the Goddess Ninsun interprets Gilgamesh's dream...
Dearest child, this bright star from heaven,
this huge boulder that you could not lift -
it stands for a dear friend, a mighty hero.
You will take him in your arms, embrace and caress him
the way a man caresses his wife.
He will be your double, your second self,
a man who is loyal, who will stand by your side.

I'm thinking the old written style in Clow used to be cuneiform writing, but for other nations' transculturation they went to paper instead.
Could also be religious writings or somethng perhaps

Religion - I kinda assumed it was a polytheistic religion. Monotheisms are the exception rather than the rule afterall. (This also relates into some thinking I've done about the history of the kingdom... I have mentioned I've done way to much worldbuilding for this haven't I?) So perhaps many little gods presided over by the Sun and Moon, of which the King and High Priest are avatars ala Ancient Egypt, although not quite so heavy on the whole living gods thng as the Pharoah's. Relations between the citizens of Clow and the royal family seem quite relaxed after all. But even so that means the King would be involved in religion in the some way, which echoes the fights for his country/one who protects secular divide. That kind of implies that the High Priest is always influencial in politics. And all this speculation adds up to the fact that there is no divide between church and state because church is state and vice versa.

That Yukito is 'High' Priest implies that there is a religious hiearchy of which Yukito is head of and to some degree responsible for...

And maybe a rich mythology with lots of festival oppurtunities for breaking up the monotony of desert living?

Prince of Tennis: still doesn't moves me
*Cuddles Prince of Tennis consolingly.*

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

Still, I'm the first dork XD

Wow, that poem/prophecy thing on Gilgamesh sounds so slashy! I haven't read everything about the Saga of Gilgamesh, so I didn't know there was subtext going on. I just knew they went to the woods to get cedar and they killed a demon of something.

I love your thoughts. After reading some things about Mesopotamia on the Britannica, I came into the same conclusion. I have a good idea about religion in Clow, based on Mesopotamian cults. Every city and town have their deities. I decided the sun deity was the Royal Family's patron, while the moon deity protected the High Priest If the previous king was also the high priest, he had a cult for both gods (I decided both were asexual gods but treated as maleish things). I can't talk more about it since I want the full details to be a surprise to my flist whenever I write the plotbunny I got today. I hate to build religions out of nowhere, but CLAMP isn't going to do world-building anyway. I hope they won't contradict me!

I don't think the Royal Family is believed to descend from a God either.

[katharos-8.livejournal.com]

You are the supreme dork! XD

Gilgamesh doesn't have subtext. It has text. Both main chracters have sexual relations with women but that's more part of the culture they live in than anything that impinges upon their bond. and their's a book that historians think was proabably added after the main epic that makes the sexual part of their relationship explcit. The fanfiction tradition goes back thousands of years! Ships_manifesto has an essay for them if you're intersted: http://www.livejournal.com/community/ship_manifesto/61535.html

Ah, I love worldbuilding. The problem is I can get too involved in that bit and never get around to writing the actual story. Which I fully intend to do this time. *resolve hat*

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

hmmm who says Gilgamesh says quest for immortality... Might have something to do with Seishirou and vampire!Subarun, or at least, might be why Seishirou was visiting the place

[laurus-nobilis.livejournal.com]

Interesting! I never really thought about all that. I get so involved with the characters that I neglect the surroundings. (One would think that years of trying to write fantasy should have changed that, but nope...)

There are loads of Mesopotamic civilizations Clow country could be based on; maybe even a combination of many. I don't know much about them, though, except that the Persians had a great empire, the Fenicians were dedicated to commerce and the Sumerians probably invented writing. Then there were loads of other cultures thrown in the mix: Assyrians, Acadians, Hitites, Medes...

I've got Wikipedia open in another window, and Persia sounds like the best choice. Did you know that there was a Persian Sibyl presiding Apollo's Oracle once? *refrains from making Solitaire Mystery connection and fails* They had a sun calendar, and if I remember correctly they were pretty good astronomers/astrologists to begin with.

They were politheistic to begin with, but then they had the first monotheism (Zoroastrism). Hmmm. CLAMP-wise, I can't help but wonder if TRC!CLow knew about *the* Mokona.

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

Persians, persians... I wasn't taught Persia when I studied World History on junior high school, damn. I'll have to look more info about it, but those details are interesting!

I can't help but wonder if TRC!CLow knew about *the* Mokona.
Actually... um, nevermind. You'll see about my religious system plot bunny when I write it.

[laurus-nobilis.livejournal.com]

I wasn't taught about Persia, either. Just the two Big Trios: Egypt/Greece/Rome and Mayas/Aztecs/Incas.

Everything else I know, I've learned from Asterix. ;) (Including that list of Mesopotamic cultures in my previous comment, for example...)

*shame*

[elihice.livejournal.com]

...winged lions!

Why didn't I see that?

Re: *shame*

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

Because they had human male heads with beard and that's like creepy sphinxes with facial hair and not Cerberus-like creatures?

Re: *shame*

[elihice.livejournal.com]

Still, is pretty much a shame, considering there's a framed picture in my house of my older sister standing next to one of those statues.

[starsdust.livejournal.com]

Er. La película de Naruto, *en su conjunto* es dumb XDDDD Qué HORROR, por Dios XD Quién fue el guionista? Un mal escritor de fanfiction or something?

[kaien-kun.livejournal.com]

OHH la chica de hiiragizawa! *o* me encata tu lay T^T solo falto la maravillosa e increible Yuuko-sama XDD ejele! saludos! ahh y me presento yo soy Yuuko xDD talves no hayas oido de mi XD pero niaaa es un gusto!!
Byeee