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quwr0fwrlccywrlfh · 1 year

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HxH Ch 395: Founding, Pt 1

My thoughts on some of the newest hxh chapters, bc I’m losing my mind and need a place to just spew out every rambly little thought going through my head.

Spoilers ahead ofc

We’re staring at the beginning of the Meteor City flashback, bc tbh I’m not even caught up on the current arc yet, but everything pales in comparison to the momentousness of the PHANTOM TROUPE’S BACKSTORY. These sprawling panels alone already had me so emotional. This is a story decades years in the making: 20+ years ago, there was the *briefest* of scenes in the Yorknew arc of bb Chrollo playing catch with a VHS tape (it got like 1 panel in the manga and less than 10 seconds in the 2011 anime—even less in 1999). It’s one of my absolute favorite scenes in the series, and I even designed a big heckin enamel pin of little chrollo with the tape, but I was resigned to the likelihood that it would remain just that: a cryptic, wisp of a scene that would never be fully fleshed out or explained.

And tbh? I was totally fine with that. One of my favorite things about Chrollo and the troupe was how little we knew about them, how their characters and motives were presented by indirect information and impressions. The air of mystery made them more intriguing.

So when I saw this tape again, I had mixed feelings—I was excited beyond belief to get more spider content—and not only that, but have my pet favorite cryptic hxh scene CONTEXTUALIZED—but I was also a little apprehensive. I was worried I’d be let down by knowing the truth, that the spiders’ backstory would be hoaky. (Specifically, I was worried that their eventual genocide of the Kurta clan would attempt to be justified in some way—because, well, um, no.)

But wow was I wrong.

So that’s what this whole rambly, off-the-rails post is about: how wrong I was to worry that the spiders would LOSE their interest and appeal by getting a backstory. Bc they have only gained it, and once again, togashi is fuckign brilliant.

Also Meteor City is beautiful. Like yeah it’s a junkyard, but the vast expanse conveyed in this opening panel is breathtaking, and ever since first hearing of its existence in hxh Ive been fascinated by the concept of a wasteland city—it’s just so dystopian and unique—and now we finally get to SEE IT.

Was definitely reading through tears when I saw these three—the BABIES. We now know the two other kids Chrollo was playing catch with way back in the Yorknew flashback was Franklin & Shalnark. It surprised me a bit at first, bc I never considered the possibility that practically the WHOLE troupe were childhood friends (I suspected a few of them were, but not the whole group)—but thinking about it more, it makes sense that these three were close right off the bat. Chrollo, Franklin, and Shal. They’re the cerebral & logic-driven spiders. The brainiacs, the nerds—and the weebs (Franklin: I hope it’s anime!). These panels already establish that hunting for tapes is their thing, even at risk of trespassing on another kid-gang’s territory.

Side notes: 1) shal’s little gap tooth smile!!! 2) they’re wary of Machi in particular--as they should be

Here’s their rival kid-gang: Uvo & Machi (bb Machi!!! ;_;) Again, after a little thought, it made sense to me that those two were a team as well—they’re both instinct-driven and reliant on brute force and physical strength (Machi just happens to double as a healer). And what a cute little duo they make too: little Machi providing Uvo with ammo :’) The way Uvo calls it his “kingdom” is interesting as well, but more on that later.

Side note: Chrollo’s soft little “Ah! So soon?”

Shal the smartass is rewarded with PAIN haha. Something that I LOVE about these chapters is how the troupe’s child selves are portrayed so consistently with their adult characters—it may seem obvious, but writing a consistent character is HARD, especially when their story spans 20+ years of real time and undergo massive amounts of life-altering development. Also, it’s cool to see that despite abandoning themselves to become hardened criminals, parts of the spiders’ personalities remain unchanged. For Shal specifically, bc we already knew he was a little psycho, so it makes perfect sense becoming a mass murderer didn’t do much to change who he is at the core: a smartass.

It also provides a neat little contrast to Chrollo, who DID change quite a bit—but we’ll get to that.

SHAL IS STILL ROLLING XD Uvo’s “9 deaths left!” conveying that despite Shal’s snide comeback, he knows very much what he said—and meant it. He’s more than just your average meathead: he’s straightforward rather than simple, and he makes his own definitions.

Chrollo, Franklin, and Shal are clearly at odds with those definitions here—hence the conflict. Where Uvo sees his personal kingdom, the brainiacs see public property. This conflict might seem tense at first, but we soon see that it’s not:

They’re grinning, clearly having some fun with this. It’s implied that this isn’t their first run-in, and it’s a repeated game for them. How else do kids stay occupied in a landfill?

It’s notable that Franklin steps forward to confront Uvo, since it implies leadership (to be fair, he’s also big, unlike Chrollo, and fully functional, unlike Shal). Franklin also delivers their scavenger group’s worldview: the harsh reality that they live in a junkyard full of discarded trash, and everyone has an equal right to it. During the conflict, Shal has only snarked, and Chrollo has only made quiet side comments—more to himself than anyone—but Franklin confronts their “enemy” directly and speaks for the group.

Uvo responds in the most Uvo way possible, and it’s a really touching line, honestly: “Only dumbasses let their surroundings define them! I’m wherever the hell I say I am!” His pride shines just as brightly as a kid as it does when he’s an adult, and it goes on to shape the whole troupe’s philosophy too: the underlying sense of pride they have at not letting their circumstances define them, and refusing to let the world silence them.

Touching philosophy and fun games aside though, they still beat each other up haha.

Enter: our third little gang! It was no surprise that Phinks and Feitan were a team, because they’ve remained close even as adults in the troupe, but what WAS a charming surprise is them bullying Chrollo. I had a pet theory that some of the troupe members used to bully him as kids—bc well, he’s a little nerd—and it was so gratifying to have it confirmed.

Notable that Phinks does all the talking—it’s consistent with the idea that Feitan may have been a newer resident of Meteor City at this point, and was still not confident enough to speak in the local language. It’s also so cute to think of Phinks stumbling upon a scared, shy little new kid and deciding to adopt him :3

Side notes: 1) the deliciously detailed shots of the junkyard meteor city rubble 2) phinks and feitan’s hairrrrrrrrr 3) phinks’s FACE 4) Chrollo being the cutest lil guy once again

The sneaky little thiiiiief ahhh. Well, not a thief yet really, since Meteor City trash IS communal property, but I love how he pulled one over on Phinks. It reaffirms 1) how much of a lovable, gullible dumbass our resident tracksuited himbo was and is 2) how crafty Chrollo was even as a kid. Also love how Chrollo doesn’t say a word the whole time—he seems pretty reserved overall, saying very little, and when he does speak it’s often side comments to himself without any intended listener, more just a way to help him reason through a situation. For all the changes that happen to the poor little guy later, that’s consistent with his adult self haha.

Also going back to phinks’s “we’re not like that meanie Uvo”: it hints at an aversion to physical conflict when he can avoid it. The bike speaks to this as well: he’d rather zoom away from a problem, which is totally fine, especially when so many ‘problems’ in Meteor City are far too big for two kids to take on alone, and escape is a much wiser option. Feitan, however, is cruising for a bruising—just look at that bat.

Side note: another really pretty strip of sheer Meteor City setting detail ahhhh. It’s clear now that a lot of the residents live in hamlets or shacks, which is definitely what I pictured and makes sense.

CHURCH BOY CHROLLO CONFIRMED!! It was so obvious I couldn’t believe it at first, but wow, there it is. A nice twist is the hodgepodge architecture of the building: it’s not just a traditional Catholic cathedral. It fits with how despite the endless jesus parallels and the louder elements of adult Chrollo’s character design (inverted cross, forehead tattoo), his shtick is more than just christian. His character has elements of Buddhism, Judaism, fatalism, etc. He’s a sampler of religion and schools of thought, not necessary an adherent to any particular one, in part because he grew up in a multifaith setting.

Philosophical and religious musings aside, this scene is so quietly touching and sad. Chrollo still has his little tape, but he’s got a basket of flowers as well, implying that he stopped to pick them before heading over to check the tape, and further implying that the flowers are even MORE important to him than the tape he and his friends risked bodily harm to collect. Looking closer we see why: the center lower panel is filled with little crosses. Graves. He laid flowers on gravestones.

It immediately brought Melody’s words about him in Yorknew to mind: “He walks with death every day of his life.”

This scene established that Chrollo is indeed a frequent visitor of the church. It’s his sanctuary: a place for him to go and study. The church itself seems surprisingly nice and well-kept too: the only finished building we’ve seen in Meteor City so far, which implies it’s supported financially in some way, and is a priority in the community. They may not have houses, but they have a nice church. The how’s and why’s of this aren’t specified yet, but it makes me very curious about the structure of the city’s society.

Speaking of society: the priest sheds light on the graves outside: they’re children’s graves. Specifically, children who have been abducted. So the graves are meant to acknowledge the missing rather than the confirmed dead, which is almost worse. It’s also the first little hint of what we’ve all been looking for in this flashback: the probable reason behind the troupe’s anger and despair.

The sheer weight of the information contained in these panels, wow.

Before getting into it though: we can see Chrollo’s flowers by all of the graves, and they’re nice big pretty flowers too. Zinnias, dahlias, maybe roses. He took time out of his very urgent tape mission to gather and leave those flowers. It’s heartbreaking.

Para 1: info we knew already. Meteor City residents are all unpersons, so the system doesn’t care what happens to them.

Para 2: more info we knew—MC struck a deal with the mob in exchange for protection—but then a new gut-wrenching detail that makes sense but makes it so much worse: the vast majority of the victims were kids.

Para 3: very fitting, since we already knew chrollo took one of his strongest known abilities, Sun and Moon, from a MC elder, and interesting that we now know that multiple such elders had similar powers.

Law of Retribution motto: the same as the note the spiders left behind at the Kurta massacre. There’s so much to say about it but I think I’ll save it for later, since this is meant to be a light little jaunt of note-taking lmao

Para 4: the wording confuses me a little—does it mean the troupe were literal babies when this system first started, meaning it had already been in place for a few years by the time they reached the ages they are in this chapter? Or is it more figurative timeline-wise: meaning it was still in development, and that’s why so many kids are still going missing. Togashi is occasionally very hyper-specific when it comes to timing, but most of the time he’s pretty fast and loose, so I’m guessing it’s the latter, the law of retribution is still in development--or it’s proving to not be very effective.

NNNAHHHFHFHDJADHHSKS

the BABIES T_T

It was a shock and also no shock at all that Chrollo and Pakunoda seemed to have a close friendship and aren’t surprised to run into each other at the church. Needless to say I think it’s the highlight of this chapter for me, not least of which because we already know full well how this story ends, and the flashback only makes it hurt that much more.

I’ve also seen this panel of Chrollo circulating around with the caption ‘He used to be so happy’--and yeah, yeah he was. This whole chapter is shaping up to deliver the resounding point that Chrollo used to be a bright, happy, normal (?) kid. I’ve also heard him described as having a mix of Gon’s boundless enthusiasm and Kurapika’s insatiable curiosity and intellect, and I think that really fits.

Side notes: 1) Chrollo’s “Yo!”, I cry ;_; 2) Paku’s HAIRCUT. Stranger Things inspired, perhaps? A nod to how both she and Eleven have psychic, memory-reading powers? Either way, the look is fire.

They’re so cute I am in pain ;_;

Tiny Chrollo’s little meltdowns :’))) Once again showing how EMOTIVE he was as a kid, versus the cool and collected facade he keeps up as head of the spider. As a kid he had no qualms about letting his feelings show, which is extra endearing as a boy, who are often socialized from young ages to bury their emotions (but hey, maybe Meteor City is different).

“You read us like a book, Paku!” - clearly a nod to what Paku later develops as her hatsu: psychometry. Reading memories, and therefore people.

THE LITTLE GLANCE PAKU GIVES HIM. It’s everything to me tbh. I remember when my friend first started sending me leaks of this chapter, these tiny side panels were some of the first I saw. To me it confirms what I’d already suspected: Paku had deeper feelings for Chrollo. Whether she kept up the same childhood crush is up for debate, but either way, she cared about him a lot, and I’m connecting the dots that it’s why she was unable to sacrifice him for the sake of the spider in Yorknew.

Paku’s shock at Chrollo being fluent in at least two foreign languages, paired with Rizol listening on thoughtfully, followed by a cut to what looks like some kind of MC council meeting. Chrollo is a prodigy, no doubt about it, and he’s getting noticed. What makes me pause is how they’re already pinning the hopes of an entire city on a child--it certainly adds to long list of christ figure elements of Chrollo’s character, but it’s like... are things really so desperate... that you’re going to burden a kid with this responsibility? Perhaps. Perhaps they’re looking more to the future, once Chrollo is allowed to grow up a little and rise to the role on his own, but either way, it’s clear the point of this scene is to cement Chrollo as his community’s genius golden boy, much like a certain Kurta.

We get more angles of the fascinating architecture of the church, as well as an interior that seems to be the council room. Chrollo’s penchant for burning candles on his pedestal? It was born here.

The fancy outfits of Rizol and the council member shed more light on Meteor City as well: it shows it has a distinct culture, which makes perfect sense and seems obvious in retrospect, but it’s yet another thing I didn’t really consciously think about when I used to imagine Meteor City. I didn’t picture it this organized. What bothers me though is how the priests and council members get nice, fancy outfits but the kids are running around with rags their feet instead of shoes.

THE MYSTERY OF THE TAPE IS FINALLY SOLVED. I can’t quite describe the noise I made when I saw this for the first time, but it was definitely very loud and very exuberant. As a 90s kid, I was RAISED on the Power Rangers, and that’s clearly what the Clean-Up Rangers are parodying. What a fitting parody for a city fully of scrunkly street urchins too haha: the theme of cleanliness. (For the troupe in particular it has even greater thematic weight, but we can save that for later). But once again: I cannot believe the mysterious VHS tape people have been theorizing about for 20+ years turned out to be episodes of the Power Rangers. It’s better than anything I could have ever come up with.

Chrollo mentions “yesterday,” which means they left and came back at some point, and further cements that they hang out in the church together pretty regularly. It also implies that Chrollo was right in that no one ever guesses where he goes--at least not Phinks or Uvo--and he can keep it secret for at least a day longer.

Paku’s enthusiasm for getting everyone together to watch it is so heartwarming too--it speaks to a sense of community that looks past silly turf wars (depending on who she means by “everyone,” haha).

Lastly, Chrollo’s got a plan. His first of many:

Paku and Chrollo’s interactions here are so quintessential “KID” it destroyed me :’))). First, Paku calling Chrollo ‘Li’l bro,’ - which you’d think might cancel out the romantic crush theory, but my read is it’s more along the lines of kids not fully grasping the nuances of different types of relationships yet--that or she’s in denial, which is also likely xD

Then Chrollo getting absolutely MIFFED about being called younger, when he is actually OLDER than Paku, thank you very much!! *huffy face emoji* It’s exactly what a kid would do, and once again it breaks my heart to see him be this cute and innocent and know what he becomes :’)

Paku’s “You don’t look it!” calling to mind all the other times in hxh when people have commented on Chrollo’s age vs appearance: such as Neon (a literal teenager lmao) being surprised that he was in his late 20s, and the mafia men who found Chrollo’s “body” being shocked that their forces were decimated by a “kid.” Chrollo is and always has been: baby.

They’re so adorable I just wanna dunk them in my coffee.

SPEAKING OF ADORABLE

I think it’s precious that these two babies find it very important that the three female characters in the Clean-Up Rangers get three distinct voices--because yeah, yeah it is important, good job kids (I just wanna pat their little heads ;_;) And not only that--once again we see Paku surmising Chrollo’s thoughts/actions without him needing to say anything, which attests both to her future nen abilities and to just how closely she pays attention to him.

CHROLLO’S ‘I LOVE YOU, PAKU!’ GAHHHHHH. stooooop T____T

100% became a core memory for this girl, and Chrollo has *zero* clue what the big deal is. It could just be childish innocence, but it could also be that Chrollo’s model for attraction doesn’t allow him to see the significance of telling a girl he loves her (*cough* ace *cough*). Because on the other hand - it shouldn’t be any more significant than for two kids of the same gender, but since we live in a world still heavily influenced by the gender binary and heteronormativity... *sigh.*

(I can just picture adult paku thinking about this sometimes though... “when we were kids he told me he loved me...” no wonder she couldn’t let him die).

Chrollo insisting on his sincerity is so endlessly precious too--because he DOES mean it, just not in the way that Paku might be hoping for. If there’s any major, overarching takeaway from these chapters it’s that Chrollo loves his friends very, very deeply.

Side note: Chrollo surprised pikachu face.

Enter: two more Chrollo friends! I love that his closest friends all seem to be girls :’) Their introduction comes with mixed emotions though, because we’ve seen Sheila before, in Kurapika’s backtory--and that’s a big shock--but we have not seen Sarasa anywhere, so... where did she go? Could she possibly be one of the unaccounted spiders: the original # 4 or # 8? Or could something else have happened to her?

Moving on past that thoughhhh - it’s neat how they have such vibrant personalities that we get a read on them right away: Sarasa is the spunky go-getter who loves trying new things, and Sheila is quietly curious, happy reading her favorite book over and over (”Your sound arguments won’t change my mind.” - I’m DED) Also love the detail that Sheila’s a bit of a klutz: she trips and falls over mid-book, and there was already a bandage on her leg before that.

Other great details: Their little nerd hideaway is called the “All Faiths Church,” confirming what was already implied with the mixed architecture. Just like Meteor City itself, the church is a bit of a hodgepodge.

“Don’t let Uvo and the guys find out!” - there’s a gender divide here, and it’s interesting how the line is drawn with Machi on the side of the “guys” and Chrollo on the side of the “girls.” (kindling for my own little theory that they’re both trans/non-binary and are most comfortable hanging out with a gender different than what they were assigned at birth).

Chrollo being a little genius once again--verging on the unrealistic, because even if it took Paku a couple hours to find their friends, it’s a tall order for even an expert translator to write up an entire script. But it sure makes a point that this kid is SMART, and on top of it, he doesn’t seem to let the praise get to his head, breezing right past Paku’s shock--which is so so so precious. Modest little guy :3

“Huh? So you’re playing everyone else?” - the significance of this didn’t hit me at first, because I was too busy being distracted by all the CUTE, but this is clearly foreshadowing to Chrollo’s struggle with identity. Right now he’s just being an ambitious little actor (and a bit of a hog - the excuse not to let *anyone* else in seemed a little flimsy to me), but in retrospect it’s easy to make the connection: so good at playing other people that he forgets who HE is.

“No way was he born here.” - I have so many thoughts about Sheila’s comment. Might Chrollo have come from somewhere other than Meteor City initially? Or is she just referring to how gifted and charismatic he seems, how it’s hard to believe a kid like that could’ve come from a junkyard? It almost makes me wonder if she suspected there was something off about him, even while they were all still just sweet, innocent kids. I also think it’s an ironic statement, considering how Chrollo grows up to become the embodiment of Meteor City: taking everything, but having no identity of his own.

Side note: Sarasa and Chrollo dancing around all excited. The cutest.

The cuteness sure gets dampened abruptly, though. Here we are: the last page of 395, and a very ominous hint once again at what might be the cause of the troupe’s rage and despair.

It’s redeemed a bit by the image of Chrollo and friends working on their dub though. Once again, never in a million years did I expect my beloved mystery VHS tape to be... Power Rangers haha. And never in a BILLION years did I expect it would lead to Chrollo forming his own dubbing company.

Final takeaways from this chapter: 1) the founding members of the troupe have ALL known each other since childhood (yeah nobu’s not here quite yet but I’m sure he’s... somewhere), and not only that, a lot of them were close friends 2) many of them seem to have retained a lot of their childhood personalities, with the notable exception of Chrollo and Paku, who are MUCH more full of life as kids than they’re ever shown as adults 3) Baby Chrollo in particular seems very different, in all the best of ways, and it makes me so incredibly sad. He lays flowers on graves, speaks at least two foreign languages and gets excited about the Power Rangers. Whatever happened to that sweet little kid? Or is he still there, somewhere?

Guess we’ll have to read the rest of the flashback.

Until next time!

#hxh spoilers #hxh 395 #hunter x hunter #hxh manga #hxh chapter 395

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feitansluver · 3 years

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WOAHH ok so those machi hc's were just so in-character ?? I was reading down the list and I was just like 'yup yup, I agree with that, yup' the whole time. you're a really good writer and it shows wow !! may I ask for the same dating hc's but for feitan :D

Author's Note: AHHH! thank you so much, darling. I'm such a perfectionist when it comes to my portrayals of anime characters, so to hear that is a relief. I adore writing for Feitan ahh, I love this request. (that's why this one is so long omg). Keep on the lookout for a Feitan x Reader series starting on here really soon. Anywho, enjoy! Reblogs, hearts, and constructive criticism are always appreciated.

Feitan: General Dating Headcanons

to put it plain and simple: feitan's a bitch. he's not a heartfelt person, and he is SO brutally honest, it's insane. it's a hard to make this man catch feelings, or to even catch feelings for him.

he's so loyal to the troupe, so very loyal to the point he WILL NOT date a troupe member. but he also won't date your average joe.

basically, what i'm getting at is that you have to be from meteor. in fact, that's probably where you two met. meteor city before the troupe was created.

the reason I say this is because feitan is not going to date someone he sees as socially above him. he's also not going to date someone who's more vulnerable than him. now, having a s/o from meteor is a for sure sign in his own mind that they can and will be alright when he's away.

now that I've cleared that up, onto the actual dating headcanons:

In meteor, feitan most likely realized he felt something with you, however, it wasn't really enough to make him stay and/or confess to you in that time before the troupe had left. regardless if you two were friends or not, he left w/o saying anything, that's for sure. he justifies this by saying he doesn't like saying goodbye, but the real reason is he doesn't really enjoy seeing you upset.

Alright, well, Jojo, if we don't get together in meteor, then when do we link?

A day or so after the Kurta Massacre.

Yes, that was many years after the troupe was banded, however this time period is so important for the development of y'all's soon to be relationship. It was during that time that Feitan realized that he really couldn't be away from you. He missed you so much, it was unbearable for him, truly.

He'll never admit this, but he actually went to shalnark several times to try and find you, but would change his mind (and cuss out sir shark) after hearing shal's relentless teasing.

back to what I was saying, it was the day after the massacre, and the troupe had already gone their separate ways. Feitan was walking through that town that was outside of the clan grounds (the one shown for the kurta trials in the phantom rouge movie.), and there he spotted you.

God he couldn't believe how stunning you were. He stood there staring at you, contemplating whether he should actually go up to you or not. Before he could make a decision however, you went and noticed him.

"Feitan... Is that really you?"

After a small confession on his end, (I won't go into too much detail, but basically he kinda just grabbed your wrist firmly and dragged you with him, mumbling a short "I missed you, y/n." as he took you back to his abode.) you two ended up together ta daaaaa!

When you two first started dating, he wasn't super comfortable around you since it was more like that awkward talking phase, but he would listen to everything you had to say and commit everything he deemed useful to memory.

He wouldn't talk too much about himself, only telling you bits and pieces of his troupe work. (yes, you know what he does, he just doesn't go into detail because he prefers to focus on you when home.)

Feitan is okay with cuddling. He's not super against it, but he isn't excited about it. He'll do it with enough begging or if he notices you're upset about something.

On that same note, he's so good about detecting your emotions. I believe this is because he can read body language and facial expressions well, being a master torturer after all.

Good luck with trying to get this man to sleep with you. It's not that he doesn't love you, it's simply just a preference after living in Meteor and trust issues. Either you two have separate beds in the same room, or two rooms connected with a large doorway (w/o the door ofc). He'll cuddle on either the couch or the same bed w you, even watch movies on the same bed, but never sleep on the same bed and that will not change.

His love language is acts of service and quality time.

He's the type of guy to always make you breakfast in bed whenever he's home, simply because he's awake at the crack of dawn. that and he loves you but mainly the dawn thing.

Feitan enjoys watching movies with you, but it's only those really boring documentaries about old art periods and gothic literature, maybe some translated Russian literature as well. However, feitan will sit and watch a movie you'd like to watch as long as you play w/ his hands or hair. He adores the feeling, it relaxes him quite a bit to the point where he will not complain.

He keeps you away from the troupe for a good amount of time, but eventually Phinks and Shalnark will show up at you two's house while he's out for a few hours.

This brings me to my jealousy headcanons for fei. He's SO jealous of anyone who you keep your eyes on for more than a few seconds. He's not insecure at all, he just doesn't like the thought of you being with anyone besides himself.

That's why when he sees Phinks flirting with you since he has no idea you're with Feitan and Shalnark doing the same, knowingly, to get on Feitan's nerves, he kicks them out in two seconds and throws you over his shoulder to spend time together on the couch.

When Feitan's away, he leaves his cowl, to be specific the one with the red wing-like design besides the skull. (he has his other one w/o the red wings so he's okay.) He likes the way you look in it and knows you like it too. It's a token for you to remember him by, since you cannot reach him by phone when he's away. (for your safety.)

Speaking of safety, if you have not learned nen yet, he's teaching you right away. He hates having to explain things w/ the whole language barrier, but he'll do it for you and you only. I'm not kidding, he may seem a bit harsh w the constant working out, but it's for your own good. You need to be able to protect yourself from nen users when he's away.

Speaking of his speech, he hates if you mention it or try and imitate his accent/way of speaking. I'm serious, he may just ignore you for a few days to a week depending on how severe your teasing was. Once you sincerely apologize, he'll spoil you with attention to make up for lost time.

OOO, he'll cook you traditional food that he remembers being made by whomever taught him his first language. if you try to comment on it, he says:

" yes yes… less talk-ing… more eat-ing, s/o. or else i'll… eat for you." (I typed like that so you could imagine his voice, yw:'))

When he's home, he keeps the cowl off after you pester him about it so many times. He actually gets really flustered from compliments, but only his ears turn red, which is under his hair so.

Feitan does not use the phrase "I love you" sparingly, but he always says it before he leaves for a mission, regardless if you're awake to hear it or not.

Contrary to popular belief, he doesn't care that he's short. He doesn't even notice half the time because he's so used to it. He sees it as a combat advantage lol. If you are taller than him, he'll just snicker if you make a /good/ short joke, otherwise he'll just roll his eyes in annoyance.

To wrap this up, Feitan is a great boyfriend. He may have his own stoic ways of doing things, but he makes sure you're aware you're cared for no matter what. He loves you just as much as he cherishes the troupe.

END!

#feitan #feitan portor #feitan x reader #feitan portor x reader #feitan hcs #feitan headcanons #phantom troupe #phinks #shalnark #chrollo #kurapika #meteor city #young feitan #feitansluver

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icharchivist · 6 years

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Why do you think the troupe is so hypocritical? Gon calls them out on this more than once, and no one in the troupe has ever provided an answer as to why they think they have the right to kill anyone they want but will massacre anyone who kills a single one of their own, even if it’s for revenge for something the troupe did previously?

Heya!

Oooh that’s actually a fascinating subject i touched a bit in another reply (i wrote a lot more about it but i can’t find the links rip)

But to me, it’s because no one matter outside of Them.

What needs to be understood is that, the core members of the Troupe comes from Meteor City. They are, for the most part, orphans, usually left to rot there. Meteor City is disrespected toward the world, people look down on them, they are considered to not even exist. They are completely outside of society as we know it, so much that the mentality of MC is that nothing else matter outside of them. Their citizens has a bound descriped as “even closer than family” because they are a brunch of strangers who were bound by the misery of this city and the fact they were always considered outcast.

The rest of the world doesn’t care for Meteor City, they consider it a dump, in which they can put and hide all their dirty doings. Mafias especially, take advantage of the misery of MC to do their illegal stuff there, since MC doesn’t exist and no one would look for anything these;

For children raised in this mindset, to me it becomes obvious. Nothing outside them matters. It’s like the rest of the world is far from them, in a whole other setting.

Chrollo especially mentions that the Troupe is not really constitued of multiple people, but more a Whole, an unique entity, as the spider. Killing one of them isn’t killing a family member or a friend, but destroying one of their limbs. They are that close, they are that fusional.

They have no one else but each others.

Why would they care about the outside world? They’ve been dumped like garbage in a forgotten city which makes them being unrecognized by the rest of the world. The only people who are there for them are Meteor City’s citizens. Which is why they go to Meteor City to fix the problems when the Zazan is acting up, which is why Phinks wants to push the agonizing citizen to die with honor.

They don’t care if the problem is anywhere else, they stick only to their own people. No one else would help them anyway, so why would they care about the others?

So, when this strong sense of community appears, they end up considering the rest of the world as Other, as Non-being. If it’s not MC’s citizens, their group, then it’s not important. So everyone who isn’t Theirs, doesn’t matter, they’re probably just sort of insects they can play with from time to time. It wouldn’t surprise me that’s why Chrollo exclude himself from the rest of the world with the likes of “Humans are strange beings” when Hisoka challenge him. Because he doesn’t consider himself part of this society. they ar the Spider first, MC’s citizen second, and only then Humans.

Now we do know there are some spiders that aren’t from Meteor City; Obviously we can mention Kalluto (but even there, it’s fair to notice Kikyo comes from MC, which probably gave a kin sort of argument to him joining - and while Chrollo sure showed anger against Silva for killing the former n.6 he also showed respect toward him because of that.), but the likes of Shizuku or Benerolov works as well. I think Shalnark isn’t one of the core members either. Yet, those are the ones who go to Meteor City to solve the problems in the CA arc. Regardless to that, I feel like once you become a spider, you have to develop this kinship to the group that will make you disregard the rest of the world - you’re a Spider before being a human being.

I feel like it’s this deep bound with Meteor City which matters the most for the Spiders, so as a Spider, you need to care about Meteor City and its values - and if you do, it’s You and your Group Against the Rest of the World.

I think that’s also why Chrollo doesn’t think twice about Killing - he doesn’t even consider other people as his equal beings. He excludes himself, and probably the others spiders/MC’s citizens, from “Humans”. So there’s no double thinking about killing them. They’re not Them, so they don’t matter.

I don’t know how more to explain it, but I do think it comes from its root at Meteor City. Since no one in the rest of the world consider MC’s citizens as actual people, then the MC’s citizens, which involves the Spiders, would be the same toward the outside world. And it’s mentioned as such, that Meteor City, while accepting anything the outside world has to offer, won’t consider them equals.

Which is where their hypocrisis comes from. Because they don’t even consider themselves like the rest of the world, so they don’t care.

(also it’s to notice - they don’t criticize Kurapika for wanting revenge, Uvo just laugh because it already happened before that people only seeking revenge were after them, while the Troupe couldn’t care less. They don’t seek revenge for their own survival, and the only reason Chrollo stops them from seeking revenge is because he doesn’t want to lose more of the Troupe - but all member of the Troupe showed moments of wanting revenge and Chrollo especially showed his anger both against Silva and against Kurapika. They understand where it’s coming from, they just don’t care.)

Meteor City’s slogan is “We accept everything, so don’t take anything away from us.” It’s a slogan that became famous after long years of dumping everything in MC, someone once killed an eldery man from MC - and the repercution were terrible. MC’s citizens turned on the killer, and left this slogan as a note. It’s also to notice that it’s what the Troupe left in the Kurta’s village. (more about this here and here)

This is what the Troupe identifies with. This is what forged their mentality. This is Them First, and Anyone who isn’t Them doesn’t matter. You can join if you like - but if you take anything from us, you’ll Regret it.

I don’t know if it’s clear at all ahah ^^’ but this is basically this. Growing up in Meteor City gave them another vision of the outside world, and they pass their own before anyone else, thus why they don’t even second guess it. It’s just the way it is.

Take care!

#ichafantalks hxh #ichameta hxh #i love the troupe's mindset so much #it's fucked up but it's so damn interesting #Anonymous #ichareply

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yeonban · 8 months

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WHAT TYPE OF VILLAIN ARE YOU?

TOBIAS: No Moral Compass.

You are cold, analytical, and you strive to be as objective as a person of flesh and blood can be. Either don't understand the concepts of good and evil, or you understand it perfectly and think it's a load of bull. Some may call you selfish, some may call you unfeeling, but you're just doing what you believe will yield the best results, plain and simple. Why bother with petty ideals of right or wrong when you can do what will actively help those you give a fuck about? Your goals may be selfish or noble or anything in between, but you will not let anyone make you feel like garbage for going after them. You couldn't care less about what people brand you as. You just care about getting shit done by any means necessary.

AIJIRO: The Betrayer.

You like to do things up close and personal. As personal as you can get. You are an excellent actor, and you do adore putting on a smile knowing your worst enemy, the one you hate the most, doesn't suspect a thing when they tell you their deepest secrets. Your only motivation is revenge, and revenge you shall get. Perhaps you loved them once, long ago, but any fondness for your target you once felt has long since warped and twisted into perverse obsession, laced with malice and venom and seething hatred. Good or evil does not matter to you. All that matters is they get what they deserve.

MIKITO: Duality.

You have a constant inner struggle between right and wrong. There is a side of you that does not want to be doing what you are doing in the slightest, but once you've tasted the forbidden fruit and done something wrong, you're hungry for more. Perhaps this evil side of you takes shape as simply talking to yourself, a sort of Jekyll and Hyde split, or perhaps its voice is backed up by a demon within you, a parasite that whispers temptations, or a monster that your body reshapes itself into when your own desires become too great. Whatever the case, you take great care to keep the evil within a closely guarded secret. Nobody can know, lest the monster you are take complete control.

SHALNARK: Pure Evil.

You are unapologetically evil, you are likely just here for the drama and the theater of it all. You are selfish and cruel because you want to be, not because you had no other choice, but because you revel in the opportunity to do what is wrong. That's not to say you will commit every unspeakable act, perhaps you have standards and your own moral code, but by no means are you the good guy in your own mind. Those who have wronged you, no matter how trivial or petty the slight against you, will be treated without mercy and you will be cackling the entire time without a hint of remorse. You enjoy the most painful and twisted approach to getting your revenge. Above all else, you like to cause problems on purpose.

#muse: tobias.#muse: inue aijiro.#muse: inumura mikito.#muse: shalnark kurta.#* tobias. / development.#* inue aijiro. / development.#* inumura mikito. / development.#* shalnark kurta. / development.#Yea. HOW DO THEY /ALL/ FIT SO WELL... also I love the range here <3 not even One repeated answer

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yeonban · 10 months

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Send me ‘ hc ‘ + a word and i’ll write a headcanon about it regarding my character.

Anonymous asked: hc- 'Tender' for Shalnark

Although Shalnark is one of the more "well adjusted to society" members of the troupe, the concept of tenderness is just as alien to him as it is to the rest of them. He knows what it means, he's capable of being tender to a select few people (only within the troupe though, and even then he's only tender to Feitan, Chrollo and Pakunoda without external prompting at play) and he can understand when he should fake being caring to others, but no matter what your relationship with him is, Shalnark will always freeze first when offered tenderness.

Tenderness is something he isn't at all used to despite how sociable he may seem, and frankly depending on the situation it might even make him uncomfortable if it comes across as genuine (while if it's a joke/dare he'll just go with the flow), so time, place and context are all very important pieces of information to take into consideration when deciding when and how to show him actual care.

At best (with the three spiders mentioned above) he'll initially be silent before ultimately reciprocating (although he'd still feel a bit lost on what's gotten into them), most of the time (aka with the other troupe members) he'll feel a tad discomforted and either stand awkwardly until they've had enough or outright nudge them away from him to get them to stop, and at worst you might lose an arm or a life depending on his mood and what exactly it is that you've done/said.

Shalnark doesn't mind touching others (although he has some reservations even about that), but contrary to popular belief, he isn't a fan of being touched if it's anything more than a pat on the arm/shoulder/back. With Feitan he doesn't mind it because of the nature of their relationship, and with Chrollo & Pakunoda he's come to expect random bouts of affection here and there over the years because they're naturally caring when it comes to fellow spiders, so these three get a pass, whereas the rest trying to be tender will always lead to him making fun of them (if the tenderness is directed at someone else) or to him feeling tense and uncomfortable (if it's directed at himself).

#muse: shalnark kurta.#Anonymous #* shalnark kurta. / development.#Another spider besides the 3 lucky ones: (tries to show him love and care regardless of whether there's a catch to it or not)#Shal staring at them blankly or w a frown: (.exe is processing. loading reaction. ensuing reaction.)#Shal: Thanks! Now never do that again

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yeonban · 2 years

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Dark Core Personality Test

Tagging: @shinanai, @queensconquest, @elxsticlxve, @goresugars, @goreburdened, @yuanwang, @perceptualephemera, @withsorrowandregret, @cauterisen & whoever else wants to do it!

Explanation of traits under the cut.

Egoism: “Excessive concern with one’s own pleasure or advantage at the expense of community well-being.”

Machiavellianism: “Manipulativeness, callous affect, and a strategic, calculating orientation.”

Moral Disengagement: “A generalized cognitive orientation that differentiates one’s thinking towards unethical behavior.”

Narcissism: “An all-consuming drive towards ego-reinforcement and an egotistical interest in, or admiration of, one’s self.”

Entitlement: “A stable and pervasive sense that one deserves and is entitled to more than others.”

Psychopathy: “Deficits in affect and self-control (i.e. callousness and impulsivity), as well as a lack of remorse, antisocial behavior, and volatility.”

Sadism: “A tendency to humiliate others via cruel or demeaning behavior, or the propensity to intentionally inflict physical, sexual, or psychological pain on others in order to assert power or for pleasure and enjoyment.”

Self-Interest: “The unprincipled pursuit of gains in socially valued domains, such as material goods, social status, recognition, achievement, and success.”

Spitefulness: “A tendency to engage in behavior that would harm others but would also entail harm to oneself.”

#muse: shalnark kurta.#* shalnark kurta. / development.#* dash games.#*casually tags the hxh fandom* ofc tho u can do it for any muse; or not at all!!#it was a fun quiz to do imo :eyes:

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yeonban · 1 year

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Are you the soldier, poet, or king?

The Soldier

"There will come a soldier / Who carries a mighty sword / He will tear your city down". Righteousness. Strength. Violence. You see a door and break through it. You wonder, sometimes, if anger is the only thing you can feel. Remember : love is passion too. You made your own rules and will follow them to death. You try and forget that there is only one rule, and that it is "FIGHT". You are tired of fighting. You try to forget that, too, and keep going. You dream of quiet. Your love is where you heal. God knows you deserve to. (Really. You deserve to.)

Tagged by: @deathfavor Tysm!!Tagging: @shinanai, @withgutsandglory, @sewn-with-gold, @cauterisen, @destinywoven, @youngesper, @kllva & whoever else wants to do this!

#muse: shalnark kurta.#* shalnark kurta. / development.#Definitely the most accurate of the 3! And pretty accurate overall too if you just squint at some parts?#A few of them are moreso talking about the troupe rather than Shal on his own (like ''violence'' & the starting quote)#99% of the time he won't go out of his way to cause destruction or be violent on his own; it's mainly smth he does For and With the troupe #but in that sense it's still v fitting bc we all Saw how a chunk of Yorknew City went down in flames & Shal was part of the reason why #Then the rest are about himself; some post-revival (the anger bit) & some in general (righteousness; self-imposed rules & love healing)#For rules; we know the spider made up their own & each of them sticks to those rules no matter what - Shal being no exception #As for love; in this context it encompasses p much anyone he cares about? like yeah Feitan for Sure but I see it as the ENTIRE troupe too #Shal would've been far worse off emotionally than he is rn if he didn't have his friends by his side for most of his life #And lastly the parts where he dreams of quiet / is tired of fighting... he doesn't pay it much mind bc it's how they grew up #there's no different road for them to take & tbh there hasn't been one for decades - and he's perfectly fine w that now #but at the same time he's far more of the nerdy type than the fighting type so he Would prefer to read or smth over some crimes they commit #All in all Shal's very content w the life he leads so any complaints he may have are incredibly minor/don't matter to him in the long run

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yeonban · 1 year

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This is unironically Shalcore

#muse: shalnark kurta.#* shalnark kurta. / development.#His favorite books and the other troupe members' favorite books all have lil annotations written by him on every other page...#Explaining concepts; writing down his opinions; underlining the parts he thinks they'd like the most etc #(if they've ever passed it down to him for a read at least)#Fei and Chrollo are the only ones who know where Shal's storage rooms are but if they were to look thru the books he has there #each book is Filled w his thoughts #not as many as to make the page unreadable or cluttered; but there's at least a lil sentence somewhere every ~5 pages #sometimes with a cute :) or :D if he particularly liked the bit

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yeonban · 2 years

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* SHALNARK, HEADCANONS ┆ REVIVAL.

Three years prior to the events of the Dark Continent arc and Shalnark’s death at Hisoka’s hands, Shalnark, traveling alone at the time, happened upon intel of an enormous bounty placed on the head of a seemingly innocent woman with no notable feats to her name. Although the reason for her bounty hadn’t been explained in the hunter tavern, Shalnark came to the conclusion that she ought to be a nen user with a rare and most likely proven ability, since the person that had listed the bounty had been one of the Ten Dons who, on top of dispatching the Shadow Beasts and their mafia underlings to find her, had also requested the hunters’ aid; which could only mean that her ability was either an extreme threat to his existence, or an unparalleled asset.

Intrigued by both the ridiculous amount of money involved and the useful ability he believed her to possess, Shalnark decided to use all the resources at his disposal (wit, money and nen) to find her, a feat which he accomplished. Having learned of her revival ability and the reason behind her bounty (namely the revival of one of the Dons’ biggest foes), Shalnark created an extensive plan meant to make her trust him by posing as a bodyguard sent by the bigshot she had revived. Killing all of the hunters that had found her and purposefully misguiding the Shadow Beasts, Shalnark finally received the specialist’s trust as well as knowledge of the rules behind her ability, and managed to strike a deal with her, through which he would continue to protect her from the assassins sent by the Don, if she agreed to use her revival ability on him - “a precaution” for the worst-case scenario in which he would be killed and no longer able to protect her.

With the specialist having agreed to the terms laid out, and with Shalnark having digested the ability marble, the contract had been put in place. Not long afterwards, Shalnark -not counting as ‘one of the assassins sent by the Don’ in her eyes- killed the specialist. There had been several reasons for Shalnark’s decision to kill her: 1. while alive, she could opt to create a contract with someone else to null Shalnark’s, thus not being of help to neither himself nor the troupe (whose locations he didn’t know at the time, or he would have offered Chrollo her ability or the contract) but if she was dead that problem would be solved yet her revival ability would still persist until the fulfilment of the contract; 2. one of the clauses of their contract could pose a threat to Shalnark’s own life after his revival depending on luck and unforeseen circumstances, which Shalnark didn’t want to bet his life on; and 3. the humongous recompense from the Don, which Shalnark promptly received after presenting him her head.

The rules of the specialist’s revival ability are as follows:

RULE #1. The specialist must verbally agree to the revival out of their own free will (not through coercion), and there can only be one contract at any one point in time. The agreement has to be done during a conversation, which entails replies from both sides - the specialist cannot simply bring it up and have it work instantaneously. Once the two parties have come to an agreement, the ability will take the shape of a marble, which the receiver has to swallow for the contract to be considered "signed”. The specialist cannot take back their agreement once the receiver has digested the marble, in which case the revival will happen regardless of the specialist’s subsequent wishes or death. However, if the specialist desires to revive another person instead, the previous contract will become null. As such, the specialist can create a loophole if they change their mind about helping the receiver by making a contract with another person. -> ADDENDUM. During the conversation, the two parties can add various terms to the contract, an example being the time of revival (i.e: immediately upon death, a day after death, a week after death etc) or even conditions, an example being the people that have to be around the revived person for the revival to ensue (i.e: “the person will only be revived once a friend/family member/trustworthy person etc is in their vicinity” etc). The terms and conditions have to be agreed upon by both parties. RULE #2. There has to be a corpse for the soul to return to. In other words, the body cannot be pulverized by an attack/fire nor turned to ashes after death. If the body no longer exists, the revival will default to failure. If there is a body, all of its injuries will be healed upon revival, no matter how many or how serious. If stipulated in the contract, the ability will explain itself to those mentioned in the contract before starting the revival process. RULE #3. If the revived person is a nen user, they will not be able to use their nen for as many hours/days as they have stayed dead. Since their nen could interfere with the specialist’s revival ability, which lingers until the soul has been properly tied back to the corpse (the process varying depending on how long it has been since the soul had departed), the revival ability seals the revived person’s nen as part of the contract. As soon as the soul has become one with the body again, the specialist’s nen will disappear and the receiver’s nen will return. The ability will disappear after one use, meaning the revived person won’t be revived again if they were to die after revival; unless another contract is created. -> DISCLAIMER. If the revived person is a nen user whose nen has become more powerful post-mortem to an extent that it cannot be fully nulled by the revival ability, the receiver may undergo internal turmoil / conflicts and, in extreme cases, a decline in mental stability or severe shifts in personality and goals, though the revival will happen regardless. As each person is different, these changes may last for a short period of time, a long amount of time or forever, depending entirely on the revived individual.

In Shalnark’s case, among the terms and conditions laid out had been “I will be revived a week after my death” to ensure that the killer would let their guard down and believe him to have been properly disposed of, “I will be revived at an opportune moment, when no holder of ill-will towards me will be in the vicinity” to ensure that he would not be killed again right after his revival by taking into account the fact that he would not be able to use his nen for a week after returning from the dead, and “if a friend of mine is nearby when the revival process is about to start, the ability will explain itself to them first”.

There had been a clause added by the specialist that specified Shalnark would be revived at an earlier date or under different circumstances than he wished for if the specialist would require his immediate protection, but that clause had been nulled once Shalnark killed her, since there would be no more threats to her life that would ever require his protection again. Another clause added by the specialist had been “Shalnark [himself] will not tell anyone what my ability is” in order to avoid being hunted down by any people who could manipulate Shalnark in the future. She agreed to his clause about the ability disclosing itself to his friends because she believed that any friends of his would become allies of her’s rather than enemies. As such, Shalnark was forbidden from telling the Phantom Troupe about the fact that, if he were to die, he will be revived, as well as forbidden from revealing the terms of his contract. This is the reason why he added the condition that the ability will explain itself to those he considers friends before reviving him, since he would be unable to do so by himself, even post-revival.

As per the contract terms and conditions, Shalnark has been revived exactly one week after Hisoka killed him, in one of the Phantom Troupe’s hideouts while they were preparing to set out for the Dark Continent. During the first week post-revival, he isn’t able to use any nen whatsoever, and since his nen had become more malevolent post-mortem, thus not being able to be nulled completely by the contract, Shalnark has been undergoing several changes in personality; such as becoming more easily irritable or even angry, and the visual aspect of his eyes turning scarlet during emotional moments. He isn’t certain when or if these changes will disappear once the specialist’s nen will vanish, but he plans to at least attempt to get rid of them in due time.

#muse: shalnark kurta.#* shalnark kurta. / development.#long post /#ask 2 tag #THIS GOT SO LONGGG I need to add it to my rules so everyone knows why tf Shal's alive #Rip to the specialist; I'm sure you'd have lived longer if literally anyone else had found you instead of Shalnark

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