Three years after finishing CLAMP’s Tokyo Babylon series, I still feel that Seishiro handicapped his bet. I mean, come on, how could the winner also be the judge? How fair could that be? If you bet someone that you won’t fall in love with them after a year, of course you’re not going to fall in love… or at least, if you’re as heartless as Seishiro, you’d never admit it.

After all that, how could he not love Subaru?

One of the fascinating things about CLAMP’s works like Tokyo Babylon, X/1999 and xxxHolic is the onmyouji, like Subaru. Wizards are fun, but onmyoudo puts a whole new interesting twist on magic.

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This past week, I’ve imagined what Torchwood would be like if they a kistune agent (who I named Kaine). Torchwood seriously needs more non-humans on their team – especially some that Jack won’t automatically outlive.

Kaine would be a great weevil hunter, since his foxy aura would scare weevils into submission and his fast legs could hunt them down quicker. He’d also add worth as a supernatural advisor, someone who can help Torchwood with the preternatural creatures born on Earth, like fairies.

He’s quite young for a kitsune so he’d enjoy few powers. He rarely smiles and, as the team would discover, smiles only when Ianto gifts him with a children’s toy. Like temari, a paper ball, which Japanese children used to play with, because Ianto is just awesome like that.

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Vampire, werewolf, witch, ghost. All as predictable as urban fantasy revolving around a murder mystery.

If the character is pale and stays in the shade, they’re a vampire. If they disappear on the full moon, they’re a werewolf. If they use magic, they’re some kind of witch/magician. If they’re a paranormal detective, then they’re probably one of the above. If they can’t touch anything, they’re a ghost. Yawn. An author has to be highly imaginative when using these common monsters (and you’ve got to admit, you’d never suspect a vampire to sparkle).

No one ever suspects a character is really a comb.

A comb? No, not just a regular plastic comb. A spirit that used to be a comb. Tsukumogami are Japanese spirits that originate from items or artifacts (such as doors, hinges, swords, heirlooms) that pass 100 years in age.

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