#Kakin empire

[zecuki]

hxh 401 arrived..!!

[riamistria]

we’re living the suite life now 🎵🎶🎵

[angelsrottencorpse]

I LOVE YOU TYSON I LOVE YOU

[imparateasa]

You just know Ging was proud as fuck when he saw Kites Nen ability was just a slot machine. Both those men (Kinda) LIVE in the casino

[eversoularts]

[anticanonhearts]

Do you like what you see, Theta?

[flagpeace]

This is a flag I made for the Kakin Empire from Hunter x Hunter.

[moretheta]

Ok this was probably not an invitation to go crazy on this post but unfortunately I am me so let's talk TUBEPPA!!!

The basic take I have on Tubeppa's beast is that it's chameleon-like appearence is reflective of her overcautious nature. Like how chameleons and hide from predators by blending in! Rihan (you know, the Predator) has been assigned to her, and we know from him that her nen beast is almost always hiding itself:

(Terrible news for Rihan, considering he needs to familiarize himself with said nen beast before he can create the Predator and take her out. She's definitely a harder target than Salé-Salé, which I personally am happy about. I like her a hell of a lot better than I did the fratboy.)

Tubeppa is a really curious character because she is one of the only higher-tiered princes (as in, not one of the kids, and not Halkenburg) who isn't like. actively thirsting for the blood of babies. I think the middling princes (again, besides Halkenburg) are all in this weird limbo where they're trying to ignore all the shit going on around them with distractions: for Salé-Salé that was sex, Luzurus it's smoking weed, and Tyson has her strange self-help cult. All pretty straightfoward. Then there are the higher princes; of which you have the reasonable :Zhang Lei, Tubeppa, and the ... unreasonable : Benjamin, Camilla, and of course, Tserriednich. The latter of which are hell-bent on murdering the shit out of their siblings and won't take no for an answer.

We know from that very illuminating phone call and Shimano's testimony(thank you Shimano) that Zhang Lei is a prince "both kind and cruel."

He can be reasoned with, he is open to finding a less bloody way to end the succession war, but he is nonetheless proud and arrogant. He's in this for himself, rather than any kind of greater cause. I think if you gave him a gun and told him he'd win the war automatically by shooting Woble... he'd do it. Like, he could pardon the youngins if it was convient, but he has no real conviction to.

Tubeppa is weird though. We know (again, thank you Shimano) that she intends to pardon the younger princes...

......after she takes out her older siblings. This is something she is VERY DETERMINED TO DO. CONVICTION!!

But interestingly enough (and she shares this ...quirk with her full! sibling Halkenburg) she decides to ally with Tserriednich of all people to accomplish her goals.

It's no secret to the reader or the general populace what Tserriednich does in his free time. He is just as arrogrant, greedy, indulgent, and vain as his elder siblings. One might even say he is the worst of them (I will say that. I think he's the worst. I'm no Bejamin fan but nothing we've seen from him has gotten him to Terror Sandwich levels of evil in my book). So the question is: does Tubeppa somehow not know? Or has she deemed him the lesser of two evils, for now? She didn't exactly seem fond of the guy, but they were oddly comfortable around each other.

This panel actually does a pretty great job at spelling out what I was trying to articulate earlier. Younger Princes= Easy targets, just trying to survive. Middle Princes? No ambition. Halkenburg? Halkenburg. This is a fight between the Eldest Princes and they know it.

And that does bring me back to Halkenburg once more, who infamously said Tserriednich was the only one of his brothers who understood him. For someone like Halkenburg, with such a strong sense of Justice, you would think there would be some conflict between him and his serial killer human trafficker rapist monster of a brother? No? Ok this is going into a Tserriednich tangent and I wont be having that. What I mean to point out is that among all the siblings, Tubeppa and Halkenburg both seem to be motivated by their own sense of personal justice. Not unambitious like the middling princes, not just barely trying to survive like the younger princes, or bloodthirsty like the eldest princes. And regarding Zhang Lei- who was indeed established to be more reasonable- he sits apart because doesn't show any interest in reform or justice. He seems to be in it for himself.

So. Two princes with a strong sense of justice want to reform the system by taking down the elder princes and pardoning their younger siblings- and both somehow aligned themselves with the biggest monster in the bunch. Where do they differ? Well, we know Halkenburg is more the straightforward type. Everything about his nen beast and its ability is designed to be used in conjunction with his very loyal retainers- he is, to put it simply, a people person. He trusts others. Tubeppa is the opposite. She trusts no one. She's overcautious. She hides and waits and stragetizes. Is it possible that she is also hiding her true nature? Is the contradiction of her truce with Tserriednich an indication that she isn't who she says she is? It's strange, because she certainly looks very sincere in the panel above. Even Tserriednich is like uh 😦 uhhhuh

"yeah, see you next sunday, sis. good luck on the whole murdering our elder siblings thing!"

and so we come to the infamous first full shot of both their nen beasts.

It's funny. If you're looking at their positioning, Tubeppa is waving goodbye over her shoulder while walking away. Her nen beast is facing Tserriednich, and thus has its back to her. Meanwhile Tserriednich is watching her go, and we have this side-by-side of Tserri and his Beast mirroring each other- both turning their heads in the same way, angled similarly, bending one knee asymmetrically to shift their weight. Basically, they're in tune. I might be reading into this wayyyy too much, but I think it would be interesting to imagine Tubeppa's nen beast to be a protector and observer, but one that won't work in tandem with her. That is why its never around- it's doing its own thing. We know nen beasts are able to work against their hosts' interests- see Halkenburg and the Bullet- so is this is a case of Tubeppa fighting her own paranoia?

We know the beast has a parasitic-type ability, i.e. the host is unable to control it

It requires a "research partner" to transmute it's poisons (which makes sense if we're expounding on the reptiliean theme) but it's interesting that the idea of partnership is built into its nature, yet it remains hidden. Could Tubeppa herself fill the role of the partner? Or would she have to trust someone else to do it? And if she did, would she put her faith in someone like fucking Tserriednich again?

TLDR; If we are building on this idea that nen beasts reveal, my thesis-statement would be that Tubeppa's spirit-beast reveals her unwillingness to trust in others, despite really needing to do so. She has to find allies, but is too damn paranoid to do it. Her judgement is so screwy that either she has a completely warped view of people like Tserriednich, or that was all a play and she isn't putting an ounce of trust in him either. In which case she is, once again, in a place of isolation.

FROG CAR!!!!

Wow. that was originally supposed to be a little four sentence paragraph. Sorry to go crazy on your post OP

WHAT I'm saying, what the larger theory is, is that the nen beasts Reveal. In line with togashi's theory on power, such a grand display of power and desire could take no other form than something deeply, nakedly revealing.

WHAT I am saying is that this metaphor shit Kicks Ass.

Benjamin's nen beast is a humaniod angel of sharp jagged features and ever beared teeth. He is agressive, militaristic and has a need for dominence. At the same time, the beast stands on his shoulders and grins. It is his ego and idealized self, as a lightweight, combat ready creature of vanity. As far as I remember, he's one of the only princes who ask what his beast looks like.

Camilla's nen beast is an abstraction, strange and surreal while overtly sexual and almost comedic. It's disconnected with reality, her alien mindset and vanity given form as as beautiful memory of an anemone.

Zhang lei's beast is a flat circle, with a crude rendition of his face at its center. The beast is wheels within wheels, with a flare like the sun, suggesting days, months and years on a crude calender, with Zhang Lei resting at the center. It's his narcisism, his scheming, and his spanning ambition, all on display.

Lets talk about penis head.

Ok: so penis head isn't technically a nen guardian beast. Technically I already talked about his nen beast, boob horse in another post. Shush.

Tsrriednich's beast is a mix flesh and fauna, virile and dessicated in turns. It's bulging muscle interpearsed with bear bones and ingraining roots. It is his fixation on death and rebirth, his sexism and reverence for the "natural" order where trash is burned. It's otherworldly wings and demented veggie head tell us his ideas of "natural" is similarly distorted.

Tubeppa's beast is a weird frog car.

Fuck if I know.

[cryinggirlnamedhelen]

some Chrollo things i found/realized on my rewatch + reread of hxh

- he has REALLY bad posture. in the PT base during yorknew, when Chrollo is reading a book, he is literally hunched over and his back is at like a 45 degree angle🥺

- he’s very smug and cocky. after his fight against Zeno and Silva, he asks with a smirk to Zeno “if we were in a fight, who would win, you or me?” and chuckles knowingly when Zeno replies. during Chrollo vs Hisoka, Chrollo says that he is “100% sure that i am going to win”

- his personality switches depending on who he’s with. with the troupe, he’s logical and stoic—never losing his temper. when he’s with Hisoka, he’s much more relaxed and friendly + smiles much more often. when he’s with someone older, he’s respectful.

- he doesn’t seem to mind celebrations/parties. he’s seen drinking with the troupe in a manga panel after the auction.

- he seems very self aware of his handsome appearance, as he lured Neon in + most of the abilities in his book are from women.

- in terms of physical strength, Chrollo is 7th in the Troupe —above Bonolenov, Nobunaga, Shalnark, Pakunoda, Shizuku, and Kortopi, making him MUCH MUCH MUCH stronger than even superhumans such as Gon and Killua. (I love this fact for some reason)

- he had many similarities to Gon and Kurapika as a kid. (read Ch. 395-397, which is the Troupe backstory. it has a lot of cute baby Troupe member scenes🥺)

- he has a habit of covering his mouth with his hand whenever he is thinking deeply about something or connecting the lines.

- he knows a shocking amount about the Kakin Empire (in the manga), even more so than some of the Princes of the Kakin Empire.

- he seems to have a habit of smirking whenever something is going according to plan or when something went according to plan. he also just seems to enjoy smirking in general.

- his favorite color seems to be purple due to much of his outfits being some sort of variation of purple.

- in official arts + mobage cards, he seems to have dark circles under his eyes. in the yorknew city arc, he is also the only troupe member who didn’t sleep during the entire arc, meaning that he seems to have some sort of insomnia.

- in mobage cards, Chrollo seems to have a habit of fidgeting with his clothes. (pulling off his tie during the Christmas mobage card, playing with his hat, etc,.)

- he is very athletic, considering how at the end of yorknew city when he was left nen-less on those plateaus, he managed to climb down and find shelter all by himself.

- he is also very rich, since on average, every Zoldyck assassination costs around 1 billion—Chrollo managed to afford to assassinate the 10 Dons, meaning 10 billion Jenny.

- Chrollo doesn’t seem to care whenever someone is being disrespectful towards him or the troupe.

- Chrollo seems to have a particular fondness for suits, as he is often seen wearing a suit in official arts

- Chrollo often wears clothing that covers much of his body

- Chrollo seems to have the traditional values of a chivalrous man, meaning that he respects women quite a lot and makes sures to keep them safe. Chrollo made sure to catch Neon in the most respectful way when she “fell” (he literally could have just grabbed her by the arm and it would have been fine), he made sure to keep Pakunoda + Machi + Shizuku in the same team during yorknew (there were no men in their team), and during the Chrollo vs Hisoka battle, none of the female spectators (or even the commentator) were harmed.

———

AUGHHHHHH CHROLLO ILYSM PLEASE LIVE UNTIL THE END OF THE SERIES😭🥺😫❤️CHROLLOOOO UR MY BBY AND ILYSMMMMM😭😭😭🥺🥺🥺🥹🥹🥹❤️❤️❤️😫😫😫💕💕💕

[monosanimegenericzone]

Hunter x Hunter: Conspiracy theory

this is a big leap and a reach and feeds my narrative satisfaction.

and it involves HEAVY troupe copium and apologist things of that nature.

you've been warned. proceed with a grain of salt.

(also gonna. put it under a break bcs this got long as hell XD)

I think the troupe was not solely responsible for the kurtan massacre and are on the Black Whale 1 to show the one responsible that they aren't going to continue to protect his clean record.

allow me to explain, starting with yorknew.

so i have had this theory knocking around in my head that the yorknew auction was meant to be a sort of finale or huge thing. because that was a big deal right, that's the world mafia they're pissing off.

AND it was weird bcs chrollo wanted everything at the auction. the troupe calls him out on that. and since we all know chrollo is a theatrical bastard, there is a meaning behind everything so this is no different.

so why does he want to declare war on the world mafia.

here's what we know.

meteor city was selling their own people to the mafia for a guarantee of safety from the black market. we don't know if these people went willingly or not but it was why the mafia didn't want to continue to pursue the troupe. the connection between meteor city and the world mafia was very important.

we know a few things changed between the troupe flashback and present day.

a) the troupe gained a reputation. until yorknew, apparently no one knew they were from meteor city.

b) the elders learned how to use nen. at the very least, we know of one counteractive nen ability that was used to protect the city's citizens from unfair indictment. there were probably more but we dont know for sure.

c) the mafia had gotten really comfortable with their connection with meteor city, now relying more on the city than the city relied on it.

chrollo was the one who most likely set up this relationship. it was his promise to set up the city as a hub for criminals so that he could personally witness and sift through the absolute scum of the earth to find sarasa's killers.

so based on all of this:

Yorknew City was meant to be the start of chrollo's grand finale to tear down the criminal infrastructure in meteor city.

but, things happened. and he got his ass beat.

POINT IS: Chrollo organizes his attacks with purpose.

.... SO WHY THE FUCK IS THIS DUMBASS TRYING TO ATTACK THE KAKIN FUCKING EMPIRE.

"attack" being an exaggeration but cmon. stealing from is the same thing as coming over and spitting in their food.

here's where the conspiracy theory comes in.

what if the kurta massacre wasn't exclusively done the troupe.

yes this is the part with the troupe apologist bullshit but hear me out. i have something interesting to share.

so at this point we know the troupe doesn't do petty theft anymore. this isn't just a "hey the kakin empire is rich. lets rob them :D" job. chrollo on a mission.

i saw this on twitter and a single post led down this downward spiral. (images are linked to the post)

so these pages stood out to me. the troupe never starts fights? that sounds stupid. sound goofy even.

but it's true.

or, phrased correctly, the troupe doesn't start fights they don't know how to finish. since chrollo is the head, they all function as his limbs, meaning they share his mentality when approaching combat: he will not take fights he can't guarantee he will win.

that being said, as shown in the pages above, they will ALWAYS pick up the gauntlet. if someone picks a fight with THEM, the entire gang will spin the block. aint no one surviving.

in the succession war arc, they were framed for the murder of a char-r member because luini was a toxic fan.

so here's the hypothetical: what if the troupe was framed for the kurta massacre?

we know their hands aren't clean. uvo, chrollo, phinks and pakunoda all recall the killing, so that's evidence they were there for it.

here's some things I don't understand about the event though.

a) the kurta were supposedly super well hidden, to the point that when kurapika was shown in vol 0/the phantom rouge, there were tribe traditions that forbade anyone that couldn't hide their eyes properly from going outside of the village. this was like. i think 1 year or so before the massacre.

b) when exactly did the eyes become relevant to body part collection? if it is believed that the troupe attacked the clan for the money that the eyes sell for, that means there must have been some already on the market. we dont get confirmation of this

c) how was a process for preserving magic eyes conceived at this time? im flabbergasted.

leaning mostly on point b, the kurta clan must have had previous victims of their scarlet eyed members getting got. which leads to point a, heightened protection of the kurtans with scarlet eyes.

but, as is anything in the hxh world, if there is something rare, there will always be a market for it.

now keep in mind what i said before: the troupe never picks up fights unless they know they can win and unless there's an ulterior motive. money doesn't matter to them, neither does infamy. at this point they're grade A bounties so yeah, neither of those things mean jack shit.

so i raise the idea that was in that twitter post: what if someone framed the spiders for the massacre and they took it in stride. that's free street cred, of course they claim ownership.

but let's go back and analyze, because who in their right mind would pick these randoms.

the kakin empire would. or someone associated with a high seat of power that can't afford to be tainted with something like genocide.

let's look at fourth prince tserreidnich.

im not saying he specifically pointed the finger at the spiders, but he was most likely the benefactor that wanted the scarlet eyes in the first place. he would stop at no means and he lets his people handle the dirty work.

he even has a damn head that is probably also kurtan.

so let's go out on a limb and say that tserreidnich ordered a party of mercenaries to track down the kurta clan so he could expand his collection. but, obviously, the group can't take the blame, so they pin it on the troupe or claim to be the troupe.

and because the troupe was wronged all of those years ago, chrollo is now aiming a full frontal assault against the kakin empire. hisoka is just a side quest. chrollo *remembers* how he was wronged.

so to recap. here's how the theory says the story goes.

the phantom troupe is in lukso province for whatever reason. probably to target the large movement of body part collectors to the region or something completely unrelated.

the 4th prince's team moves into the kurta village and starts taking the eyes. the kurtans successfully fight back and demand to know who they are. they answer, "we're the spiders"

and the kurtans, now hell bent on revenge for their fallen, seek out the troupe and pick a fight. and the troupe being the troupe, pick up the gauntlet no questions asked.

(alt. the kurtans seek out a powerful ally in the troupe to fight back against what we assume are trained human hunters and when they fail, beg to be killed as well)

chrollo at the time doesn't question the interaction. it was a gang of violent vagabonds trying to right a wrong that the troupe didn't even participate in.

it bothers him, just a little bit, that someone would try to frame the troupe for an atrocity that they didn't do. sure, it fit their narrative and added to their reputation, but it bothers him that someone out there had used their name.

but come yorknew, he's confronted with a surviving kurta. and the problem resurfaces.

he has his hands full trying to reroute the course of the yorknew heist and has to cut a lot of his plans short. he still completed his goal and started the process of severing ties between the mafia and meteor city.

but now the kurta are a problem in his life again and once he gets that damn chain out of his chest, he has two things to focus on:

a) getting away from hisoka to gather abilities

b) figuring out how to deal with kurapika

he remembers the kurta and is totally okay with shouldering the blame for their elimination. but that means that he's clearing the name of someone else for free.

and he doesn't do shit for free.

since he doesn't have to worry about meteor city immediately (the 10 dons are dead and the world mafia is in shambles), he can move onto bigger fish.

right now, his goal is to figure out the truth behind the kurtan massacre. and his search leads him to 4th prince tserriednich. a man in possession of eyes that the troupe didn't sell and way more than the 36 total that *should* be on the market.

THAT is why chrollo is picking a fight with the kakin empire. THAT is why he is on the black whale one. he's here to settle a 7 year old score, and if he can take hisoka down at the same time? good for him.

anyway thats my crazy conspiracy theory. there are some wrinkles in here that may be defied by canon reveals later in the story.

but damn would this make sense for why chrollo is on that damn boat. bcs i know he isn't stupid enough to send the ENTIRE TROUPE on a suicide mission just for hisoka.

so unless we get a reveal of something else substantial, this is what i'm working with.

[misscherrys-world]

Welcome back to:

Random things I think about.

Starring: The fourth prince of Kakin empire, Tserriednich Hui Guo Rou.

Warnings : Tserriednich.

Yes that’s it he’s the warning.

Okay just kidding… but he’s a warning himself.

Warnings: nsfw, spoilers from the manga obviously, abusing behavior, spitting, rape mentioning. If there’s something I missed inform me about it plz.

This one took longer than I thought to have the courage to say my random thoughts about that man. Turned out he’s complicated.

First let’s talk about his amazing muscular body. He’d crash me with just one hand effortlessly.

Sometimes I hope Togashi would let Hisoka and Tserried meet and fight. I’d die from excitement.

Poor Theta, I’m genuinely worried about her fate. I think she’ll help Kurapika get closer to the Prince so they can kill him.

Also poor Pika, I’m worried what will happen to him when he sees Pairo’s head..

That man is worse than the five threats. I hope he’ll stay alive until they reach the dark continent so they let him die alone and painfully there.

By surprise he has friends? Like how did they tolerate his ass talk about male philosophers? Boring hypocrites.

So I ended my trash talk about him. Let’s start my random things I think about.

I think he does have skin care and hair care routine like Patrick Bateman from American Psycho.

They look too much alike. The hair, the face, the body, the bloodlust.

I think he takes interest in music too. Not any genre of music. Classical music to be precise, his favorite musician is Mozart. Typical

He doesn’t like dogs. He thinks they are too clingy, useless and stinky. I bet a dog bit him when he was a kid.

Doesn’t like kids. Annoying, useless and stupid. Yeah Unma dropped you on your head for sure.

He gets grossed out when someone talks about women’s menstrual cycle.

He gets the ick when he smells certain feminine perfumes like “La vie est belle and Scandal” so typical every damn woman smells like these two.

His favorite perfume is Versace Eros eau de parfum.

His favorite feminine perfume is YSL Libre eau de parfum Intense.

He owns a big collection of hand watches.

Despite his “hobby” he wouldn’t practice it on someone related to him. Friend, family, mistress..

Speaking of his mistress. It would be very difficult to satisfy him. His lover should have certain qualifications that go along with the image he painted himself to deceive people, and of course his lover herself.

He’s homophobic. But he secretly takes liking in men more than women. I don’t make the rules.

Doesn’t mean he’s not into women.

His s/o must be a woman. Royal reasons obv.

When it comes to sex he is selfish.

Fucks you like an animal in heat, and insults your entire family line while fucking you.

He’s abusive. If you did or say something that isn’t acceptable to his taste expect a slap on your face when you’re alone with him. He would spit on you too.

You can’t get away from him, you’re trapped.

He will remind you how lucky you are, nobody gets the privileges you have or the insane amount of spending you spend everyday, all thanks to him.

He’s generous enough to let you do shopping and get all these clothes and makeup without asking what do you spend all these money on.

But he will not tolerate ignorance and misbehaved brats like you.

Of course you finally knew exactly who you are in a relationship with.

He doesn’t mind raping you, he sees you as one of his belongings he has the right to do anything he wants with you. Your opinion doesn’t matter.

Sometimes he gets a soft spot for you, after a “silly argument” and another abusive episode he will catch you crying where no one can see you, he will hug you and pat your head while saying he’s sorry.

After you’re finished crying he’ll give you a soft kiss on your lips, and says he won’t hit you again.

Of course he’ll do it again. Sometimes he’ll threaten you with a gun or a knife. It gets worse by time.

Tell me what do you think and send me your headcanons too. 🤍🎀

[zobae]

Halkenburg and Morena Parallels

Identity

Both Halkenburg and Morena are living under false identities. They are both aware of this fact and their assumed identities put them in a more advantageous position for what they are trying to achieve. Halkenburg was record as Second Queen Duazul's son, instead of First Queen Unma. The in-story rumour being that this was done to prevent assassination attempts from his older siblings (Benjamin, Tserrireidnich). Morena took on the name and postion of the real Morena Prud0. This allowed her to move from an orphan classified as 'meat' to becoming a royal bastard, setting her up for taking over the Heil-ly.

Both are seen as different from their contemporaries (siblings and mafia bosses) and stand out from the others as being different and not following the established social rules for the role they occupy.

Aims and Goals

Both aim to destory the Kakin Empire, though for different reasons. Halkenburg originally aimed to drop out of the Succession War completely. After experiencing his 'awakening,' he now competes in the Succession War to become King so that afterwards, he can dismantle the Succesion War system.

Morena wants to destroy the Kakin Empire with the end goal of the destruction of humanity. To do so, she has become the leader of the Heil-ly family. This is the same mafia family that facilitated the 'carnival orphan' system and the human trafficking that Morena experienced.

To achieve their goals, both have to fully assimilate to the system they seek to destory.

Nen

Both have nen abilities that are group-based and work with having 'followers.' Halkenburg nen allows him to power up when surrounded by his loyal followers. Followers who receive his GSB's mark are also half-awakened to nen - able to produce large amounts of aura though no conscious control over aura.

Halkenburg also similarily taking on the role of a monarch. Only he has power to make decisions (in regards to who her shoots), like that of a monarch. The power he receives from the GSB is also centralised when all loyal followers are gathered with the more followers the more powerful he is like how the monarchy is most powerful when all subjects of the monarchy are behind it.

Morena's Contagion allows her to grant ability and power to those she kisses. Contagion allows non-nen users to become nen users and, upon reaching level 20, get a hatsu.

Morena's power actualises the power dynamics that she's experienced and suffered from. Her being an orphan created from the Carnival is the reason for the horrors she's suffered. Her nen ability quite literally takes on the dynamic of 'parent' and 'child' that already exist but instead put herself as the dominant one.

Followers

Both have loyal followers that are willing to take on the risk of death upon themselvers to fulfuill their leader's goals. Halkenburg followers take on the risk of losing their body, and die for him, to show loyalty to his goals. None of his loyal followers

Morena's followers explicity are stated to be willing to kill others for her goals. While they may have their own personal reasons to support her, they ultimately do believe in her goal of destorying humanity.

Conclusion

Both are seeking to destory the system by actively partaking in it*. Halkenburg seeks to now win in the Succesion War, Morena takes part in the mafia system that abused her. Any critique of the system is ultimatelly subsumed by it. In order to gain any power or influence, they must first betray their own identities (Morena literally shedding her past identity) and morals and take part in the system. The system itself is self-sustaining and to try to destroy it, you have to play by its rules.

I also feel the mystery coffin room is going to reveal that killing the Royal Family doesn't destory the Kakin Empire. There's going to be some sort of nen contract/curse that prevents the Kakin Empire from being destroyed, such as a potential resurrection ability. This is similar to how even after democritisation two years ago, the Kakin Empire still exists and as Morena says, 'hasn't changed.' It will continually evolve and reinvent itself to stay in power, if necessary.

Ultimately, I think both will fail at their goals. Not only does it work better thematically (Morena obviously won't achieve her goal of exterminating humanity), it's going to parallel Chrollo and Kurapika. Chrollo's going to succeed in stopping the Succesion war by stealing the relics and Kurapika will put some new benevolent King of Kakin (potentially Oito or the Hunter Association) in place at the end of the arc that will introduce parliamentary democracy for realsies this time. Do I have anything to back this up? Not really but invest stocks now into this theory! It can't possible fail!

*this post by beatle-07 combined with the new chapter (CH 408) was what inspired these random thoughts!

[e-102]

Grimal Les Dissonances - the Boy Shoots a Cruel Bow

Halkenburg has a very metaphorical ability that reflects his extremely strong and controversial convictions. His ability has been translated as “grimmel the dissonance” and “the boy who shoots the arrow” both of which I’ll break down in a bit, but first I just need to say the english translations do not get the message across very well.

Grimmel the dissonance, or grimal les dissonances, is named after a classical music orchestra - Les Dissonances, created by its violinist David Grimal. The noteworthy thing about this orchestra is that it doesn’t have a conductor. It’s described as being lead by a violinist who is simultaneously playing, but if you watch and listen to one of the performances, David Grimal himself seems to blend right into the orchestra and none of them are leading. Their goal is to “play together naturally and [enjoy] music as a shared experience.” (x) This is the same way Halkenburg uses his ability, no king, no conductor, he is the violinist playing together with the people who share his conviction.

When they walk together they form an orchestra. Les dissonance was named paying homage to Mozarts ‘Dissonance’ Quartet K465 and “the signal of a constructive divergence from conventional thinking.” The established political norm of the Kakin empire is monarchy, conventional thought has led them to the succession war that Halkenburg was willing to literally kill himself in protest of.

To say that Halkenburg is dedicated to his cause is almost an understatement. He despises the monarchy, he despises his place as a prince in the monarchy, and what he desires most in the world is to tear it down in the name of equality. He is so dedicated to eradicating the royal power structure that he later does discard his princely body, leaving it to die, and assumes the position of another person. Halkenburg is not all talk, not in the slightest, and his ability reflects just how deep his desire to become equal with his followers is. He can not only switch the souls of his followers out into other bodies, he can switch himself. This is the dissonant orchestra, a political ideal that is completely spitting in the face of the monarchy.

Now we need to talk about Kevin. lol. This translation is a little funny, you probably read ‘the boy who shoots the arrow’ but it’s closer to ‘the boy shoots a cruel bow’ which is the Japanese title for a movie/book called ‘we need to talk about Kevin’. The book ‘we need to talk about Kevin’ is told through the perspective of Kevin’s mother Eva, who recounts Kevin’s entire life through letters up until he commits a mass school shooting with a bow and arrow at the age of 15. In the book Kevin shows his mother his real face, openly hating her, while he pretends to be a devoted son to his father. I don’t think the plot of the book has too much to do with Halkenburg just yet, although I could see it coming into play later. I do think it’s interesting that the secret of Halkenburg’s birth is that he is actually the son of first queen Unma, rather than second queen Duazul. (shoulda known, the nose is so obvious)

But we’ve never actually seen Halkenburg interact with his mother, we just have this panel of her reaction to him, that tells us that he knows the truth of his birth and she seems to favor him. We do know that Halkenburg despises the monarchy and dislikes his father enough to immediately try and kill him to end the succession war. I have to wonder if he is showing his true face here and his ability is going to end up being one of mass murder.

I also think there is great significance in calling his ability a cruel bow, the nature of Halkenburg’s ability is insanely cruel. The first thing he does is force one of Benjamin’s trusted and close knit military officers to shoot himself in front of another princes room. He does this to test the boundaries of his ability, he does it not knowing if his follower inside the body of that officer would also die. Halkenburg’s ability takes control of a person in a situation where the factions they belong too need to trust each other, their bonds are often as close or closer than family. Benjamin specifically is an extension of his faction, he cannot make sound decisions without them. The more of his people die, the more he will spin out of control.

Halkenburg takes advantage of that closeness, he has likely placed many of his people’s conscious in the bodies of other princes trusted allies. I cannot overstate how emotionally and physically devastating this will be as it comes to fruition.

Other less related things under the cut.

fun coincidence! In the book specifically, Kevin murders 9 students from his school, 1 cafeteria worker, and 1 teacher in his shooting. That number is equal to the amount of princes currently left in the succession war at the time Halkenburg’s ability was revealed: 11!

(Kevin actually killed two more people before the school shooting in a different location so if you want to count those it doesn’t match up anymore lol)

David Grimal does sometimes take a leading position by physically standing in front of the orchestra while they play, and the orchestra looks to him to start. This matches up pretty well with Halkenburg as he cannot use his ability alone but his followers also cannot use it without him.

Benjamin and Halkenburg’s nen beasts are the only two that sit perched on their users shoulders. They’re also both “group” abilities, Benjamin inheriting his followers abilities after they die and Halkenburg sharing his ability across multiple people. Benjamin is a strict traditionalist and staunch patriot, Halkenburg is an anti monarchy extremist who exiled himself from the royal family before being dragged back into the succession war.

It’s worth noting how Halkenburg’s nen beast eclipses him in size, hunched over him with claws that cover his entire shoulders. Benjamin’s nen beast sits upright and gives the illusion of weightlessness. It’s clear that the succession battle and their place within the Kakin empire weighs on Halkenburg while it uplifts Benjamin.

[envy-of-the-apple]

Hi! I have a request, could you write meruem x reader (female). Fluff and he being overprotective over his lover, a oneshot or ongoing fic. Perhaps pregnant reader if you are ok with it ofc.

I don't do pregnancy sorry:( how about we compromise with a forced wedding trope:))))))

oh wow, you said fluff? does-does killing loved ones and forcing the love of your life to swear their life to you count as fluff? Istg I cant read I'm so sorry

(Dark content, forced marriage, implied murder, implied stalking)

You've heard what was happening in the Kakin Empire.

Just rumors. Murmurs whispered here and there. People were disappearing in droves, but no one knew what was really happening. Some people speculated of aliens finally touching the Earth, taking humanity into the stars. Others thought it was a government failure, a leaked chemical plant that was causing people to die and the Empire was just covering it up.

It was a tragedy, but you lived two countries away from the Kakin Empire. It wasn't supposed to effect you.

This was supposed to be the happiest day of your life. You were supposed to marry the man of your dreams. Live the rest of your life in marital bliss.

Now, the man you were about to swear your life to was dead, and someone else sat at your side.

You've never seen anyone like him. He was peculiar looking. Handsome, but his skin was an inhuman green color. You've never seen someone with a tail before. He was oddly beautiful, in a tragic sort of way.

But you could barely care about appearances, not with how effortlessly he started to massacre.

He called himself the King when he entered the venue. You thought him rude, at first, when he interrupted the ritual with his sudden presence. Your fiance looked annoyed at the appearance. You could see him turn, about to curse out the stranger.

In retrospect, you should be grateful his death was quick. Painless.

You don't notice his subordinates until they demand attention as well. Three, just as peculiar as their leader. One demands that everyone bow for their so-called King. When the crowd doesn't listen, still amassed in hysteria, you have a perfect view as his men begin to pick off the crowd one by one. The only ones left are the few that were smart enough to reel in their horror, slinking down to their knees.

And then there's you.

He's slow when he makes his ascension. You wonder if he was the personification of death itself, coming to claim you for his own. You wished he would, but instead, he stops, right by your side. Instead of killing you, he starts to speak.

He has a nice voice.

He says he's been watching you for a while. He says that in order to respect your tumultuous human customs, he will finish this ceremony with you so you two can be wed. Then, he sits down right next to you, urging the shaking priest to continue.

You don't acknowledge him, not at first. You're not smiling anymore. You don't stare into the remaining crowd, too scared to see who you also lost. Instead, you look down at your hands, draped in jewelry and henna. You continue to stare, reminiscing how just ten minutes ago, you were so so happy.

You wince when a hand reaches over to roughly grab your arm. It doesn't hurt, but it easily could have.

"You don't seem happy," He hisses, "I expect you to behave gratefully. It is an honor to marry a King."

You nod because you're a coward. You value your life more than your dignity.

"Yes, your Majesty," You respond quietly.

"You must not use titles when referring to me," He declares, "From now on, you will call me by my name or husband."

"I don't know your name." You respond.

Of course, you didn't know his name. The monster of the man who entered your life so suddenly. He's silent, and you wonder if that's the last graciousness he'll give you. If he's decided to slay you here, leave you for another more obedient one.

"Meruem," He finally responds, "My name is Meruem."

He doesn't speak another word, intently focusing on the priest. You both sit in silence, hearing the priest shakily recite the mantras, hearing your remaining family quietly sob on the floor.

He acknowledges you once more when he ties the mangal sutra around your neck. It's thin, discrete, and easily hides under your gaudy dress. Still, it feels like a chain that suddenly snaps in place, bogging you down.

You don't remember much after that. It's only after Meruem pulls you up, effectively pulling you back into reality. There are still many rituals to be done. He doesn't seem to care. You don't either.

He leads you away from the altar. Your bare feet hit the smooth tile as you are dragged outside. The anklets create small jingles, bells that ring your perceived fate. The men who came in with him, silently trail behind. The doors close behind you with a sickening thud, locking you away from your dream forever.

You wouldn't be able to bury him.

Meruem suddenly stops, turning back to you. He reaches up to your face as though he is fascinated. You can feel him wipe a tear off your cheek.

You hadn't even realized you'd begun to cry.

"I can make you happy," He promises, his voice small, so much different compared to how he spoke less than ten minutes ago.

You search his face. His eyes show a glimmer of loneliness. Desperation.

It's gone within a moment. The King takes a breath, removing his hand.

"Come," He says, the usual cruelty back in his voice, "We should return to the palace. Your new home."

[hurtinghabits]

Tserriednich #1 (Sonnet)

The empire of Kakin’s fourth prince has long  Been screening candidates to be his wives,  The mothers of his children, fourteen strong;  His judgment’s as serrated as his knives.  His Zetsu state allows him to discern  A future parallel to what transpires  So any plots against him soon shall burn  Alongside corpses crisping on their pyres.  Awaking aura nodes incurs a risk  Of witnessing his beast with gangly neck.  She’ll slither closer like a basilisk,  Her bulging eyes reducing all to dreck. 

          If one speaks falsehood, one shall speak no more,            For any lying lass is but a whore. 

(Check out my HxH poetry collection on AO3! This one is for the Greedy Poetry event on @greedislandchallenge.)

[eversoularts]