#linssen hxh

[hunterexamcheatsheet]

Mafia in HxH explained, Part 3: Kurapika’s Businesses

The images are in PNG but they might be blurred. To have a better resolution of the image, tap the images for the full view and it will be clearer.

Please see Part 1: Mafia in York New City and Part 2: Kurapika’s Rise to Power before reading Part 3. 

See Also:

Part 1: Mafia Community in York New City

Part 2: Kurapika’s Rise to Power

Why the other “Nostrade is dead” theories don’t make sense from the mafia perspective 

Sources: 

Why is gambling associated with crimes

How to start a bodyguard business 

Protection Racket

Gambling and Sports Betting with the Mafia 

How the mafia controls betting and rigs slot machines

How does money laundering work 

The Rise and Fall of Organized Crime in the United States

Al Capone Downfall 

Why Organized Crime Bosses Get Arrested for Tax Evasion

PERSONAL SECURITY SERVICES: WHAT THEY DO AND WHY YOU NEED THEM

10 Businesses Supposedly Controlled by the Mafia

How the mafia controls betting and rigs slot machines

How the Mob robbed Las vegas 

Prohibition period, Oversimplified 

Hunterpedia pages that are related to the Mafia Community and Kurapika

[senritsu]

I always find it kinda funny when I find an hxh artist who devotes all their time to shipping kurapika with this guy

[halt-kun]

Hunter x Hunter Chapter 109 - September 4th (8)

I’m gonna say it again

Fuck I love the rain

And Killua is just cute in that get up

I feel robbed to have so rarely seen anime characters caring about rain and wearing actual coats

2000s boyfriend realness

Look at them they are so cute

I could definitely see them at a mall holding hands. I love when I see gay kids around

It brings me joy

Back to KURAPIKA GENDER ENVY

Now it’s Kite cosplay

YEP, it’s Korutopi’s work, it’s crazy

I love ice powers so I wonder if a conjurer could conjure the equivalent of several buildings of ice if skilled enough

But regular ice would be annoying and I guess special ice would require more aura

ANYWAY, it’s impressive 

I am still a bit upset Kurapika didn’t think about disguising himself as a girl to approach his target in the latest arc. It would have worked

MELODY TIME

Neon is so rich it’s really infuriating

Do you need this many clothes ???? We haven’t seen you change except when it was to disguise yourself

Your carbon footprint must be hella high Neon

3 of those bodyguards are dead

There is only Squalla and Linssen that are alive

Two more with one already dead

Light is also a bad father, I wonder if we’ll ever get a good dad in HxH

Chrollo finally clicks

Yep he’s here for the eyes too

Thanks for the conversation that passes the Bechdel

BINGOOOOOO

he’s pretty AND smart

Chrollo is soooo smart

and yep Shal, don’t worry, who would control someone for the whole auction 

Everytime i see Kurta eyeballs I feel so bad

No matter how goofy they look

Korutopi’s En function is so useful

PRETTY

and kind

Even Nobu looks good here

Seriousness looks good on him

DOGOOOOOO

I love the fluffy one on the chair

oh my god the little one on the table

They are all perfect

I’d love to pet all of them

They are good dogos

I wish the best for you, just find a nice job and hang out with the dogs

Best team up of the arc

MELODYYYYYYY tiiime

Wear a fucking COAT guys

the dramatic posing in the rain is cool but please

END of chapter

It was a nice one

[icharchivist]

How can you not love everybody's favorite character Lissen? He has such a great...Personality? He has one of those right?

God I know right? Horrible of me. I admit I like his way to..... hold a door? And his power to-.... He has a power right?

Guess, y’know, he’s just on screen too much,  can be really overwhelming. 

[pa-cha-ran]

Written for @hxhbb17 (aka, Leopika 5)

Rating: Teen[s be swearing] Genre: humor, romance, drama WARNING: Vices like smoking and drinking, ageism and implied homophobia from an old dude, slight body horror from flesh collecting, so many feelings and some of them really sad, and bits of totally fabricated Leorio backstory because the man has nothing but a dead friend, poverty, and drinking since he was twelve going for him in canon apparently

Summary (improved): In order to attend a flesh collector’s exclusive ball and learn more about their hidden world, Kurapika has agreed to pretend to date Neon Nostrade. However, his lack of experience frustrates Neon and threatens the stability of their charade. On Senritsu’s advice, Kurapika ropes Leorio into teaching him how to date. But, as Leorio’s lessons progress, he and Kurapika learn more about their feelings for each other than the rules of fake relationships.

Note#1: This fic is mega long so I’m posting it at the rate of a chapter every two days so as not to overwhelm anyone. Note#2: I encourage you to confront me on all my pet headcanons, my lame dating advice, my fast&loose interpretation of How the Hell Nen Works, and just how extremely out of hand the length of this actual leopika novel I just wrote got.

Thanks: @fish-tetris (for going above and beyond in beta-reading by not just fixing my errors, but also gamely putting up with how much I abuse the comment feature on google docs to endlessly vent and drag my own writing, offering me thoughtful advice whenever I decided to take risks in my plot choices, and also just being overall supportive throughout the entire process of writing this thing that took over my life for three months), @shalnarkonice & @gonfreacss (for organizing and moderating this whole Big Bang), and my artists @venusvangard, @rattyscarf, & @warwiener (that there were three people volunteering to draw this is more than I deserve, and just let me apologize for the millionth time that you got sent the roughest draft ever, but thank you so much for choosing this ridiculous little premise of mine).

[briznade]

why don’t more people draw linsen, he seems like a Cool Guy?

[hunterexamcheatsheet]

Thank you @anotherworldash for the timeline. This is very clear.

Once again, I understand the theory of Hisoka killing Neon is appealing because it implies Hisoka's strategic planning. But in no way there are any evidence which suggests that he's killing people off on Chrollo's book.

The other four theories on Neon also don't make sense from a mafia structure perspective. I had already made a post about.

And time and time again, I had already pointed out evidences that suggests that Kurapika did help the Nostrade family. It doesn't matter if you feel/think he shouldn't help them because of her hobby or assuming he doesn't like/care for them to help them. At the end of the day, HE DID HELP THEM.

He did help them get over the financial slump and there is multiple evidences of it:

The Hunterpedia has stated that the Nostrade Family has recovered financially

The official HxH databook foreshadowed this in 2004 by stating that the Nostrade family now has to rely on Kurapika's political skills

Based on the yakuza terminology and Kurapika's title as mentioned before

The manga panel of Kurapika offering to help Light Nostrade during Greed Island

Linssen stating that the Nostrade organisation/family is now doing gambling and personal security businesses + people calling Kurapika boss

Kurapika stated that he did some tactics to gain the Scarlet Eyes from 13 owners, including it was paying them off. One set of Scarlet Eyes costs millions. He also has the money to hire others for the Kakin bodyguarding thing. Where does he get the money? From the Nostrade mafia business.

If Kurapika truly let them die off, why does he hold onto the association with their family name and leading the mafia family?

They are clearly not broke. He is still associated with the Nostrade mafia family and saved the family financially.

I understand that the reasoning behind it takes a bit of understanding of mafia businesses and functionality. However looking into them will be easier for people to see why it's clear Kurapika helped them.

Whether or not you think he shouldn't help them because you inferred he dislikes them is a very weak argument when the sources say otherwise. Besides, it's clear he benefitted from it due to the fact that he owns a lot of Scarlet Eyes now.

Neon’s Power Disapearance Theory

Many thanks to @anotherworldash and @thelegitnumbkid for this theory.

Without them I would’ve actually thought that Neon might’ve been done for.

https://anotherworldash.tumblr.com/post/636856878111096832

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

This is a Neon Nostrade Theory.

The theory in question focuses on her Nen disappearance.

So here we go!

In chapter 377, Chrollo opens his book and finds out that Neon’s nen ability disappeared. Upon this surprising discovery, he simply assumed that she must’ve died since any holder’s ability that perishes from his book would signify that they are no longer alive.

This event in itself was a really strange one since her ‘probable death’ just came out of nowhere.

Almost like it didn’t mean anything.

She wasn’t mentioned after that ever again.

Many people have tried searching and digging for some answers or clues as to find out what happened to Neon.

And they came with five conclusions:

Hisoka killed Neon

Kurapika killed Neon

Neon killed herself

The Nostrade Family became an easy target to be disposed of now that they have no reason to be relevant in the mafia world.

Light Nostrade killed Neon

So let’s debunk them one by one

1. Hisoka killed Neon

Some fans believe Neon might have been killed by Hisoka which is why her Nen ability disappeared from Chrollo’s book.

Reasons for believing this theory

Because Hisoka wishes to win against Chrollo (kill him), he would want to eliminate Neon since her ability is more of a cheat paper to Chrollo. So if the fortune showed that one of his troupe members died he won’t risk fighting Hisoka.

But there’s just one problem with this theory.

Hisoka doesn’t really care about the fortune at all.

He manipulated his fortune-telling result with his nen. We never once saw him being interested in killing Neon and we never saw him thinking about it either.

When the spiders learned that there was a traitor in the group thanks to Neon’s fortune-telling, Hisoka simply didn’t care.

Hisoka writing over his fortune shows that he can write over his future. There was also a panel where he acknowledges to Pakunoda that the future changed, and it was slightly different from the fortune. So he doesn’t really believe in it since he knows he has the power to change his future.

2. Kurapika killed Neon

Reasons for believing this theory

Neon must’ve been so annoying to Kurapika that he killed her when her family was in her weakest state (I’m not making this up). He must’ve also killed her since she had one of his comrade’s eyes (even though they were fake ones made by Kortopi)

This theory doesn’t work.

For many reasons.

Kurapika has stated that he never killed anyone other than Uvogin.

When he retrieved more eyes from his dead comrades we can see this confirmation.

So no he couldn’t have killed her since he never did it. He only coaxed and bribed collectors who were in the possession of kurta eyes.

Also, it wouldn’t be Kurapika’s way of doing things.

He doesn’t kill people because they’re annoying. He kills when he needs to especially when it comes to self-defence.

3. Neon killed herself

Reasons for believing this theory

After learning that her power was gone, Neon fell into a major depression that caused her to…. well not be in this world anymore.

This theory clearly doesn’t work and will never happen.

Neon was upset yes but she was more confused than anything else.

She just kept twirling her pencil over and over again to try and awaken it but nothing happened.

4. The Nostrade Family became an easy target to be disposed of now that they have no reason to be relevant in the mafia world.

Reasons for believing this theory

This theory may just work since the Nostrade family was mainly known thanks to Neon’s ability.

Not to mention that it was said that the Ten Dons took a liking to her so the family must’ve had many good ways of guarding themselves.

But now that her power disappeared, the mafia gangs might’ve learned the news and quickly killed them.

This theory was a great one but it doesn’t work either.

Right when we get reintroduced to Kurapika, we get a small panel underneath him explaining his current status.

In Japanese however, it translates to “Nostrade’s Young Family Boss”.

He is NOT the leader of the Nostrade organization.

The panel is being very explicit about his status.

He is the head of the Nostrade family there is a huge difference between these two.

In Asian counterparts of the criminal organizations (such as the mafia), all work like family organizations.

This means they need a male heir to continue on the family business (much like how the Zoldycks work even if they’re professional assassins they still use that same technique)

This could as well be the criminal sub-culture of how the mafia in general functions.

And since the Nostrade family only has a daughter and not a son, they would need a male to continue on the family business.

So Kurapika married Neon.

Which means that the Nostrade family isn’t gone. It is perfectly alive and well.

So that theory couldn’t be true.

5. Light Nostrade killed Neon

Reasons for believing this theory:

When Light Nostrade (Neon’s father) learned that he got bankrupt, he might’ve gone crazy and blamed it all on Neon for having gone out with the Leader of the Spiders.

Because of Chrollo, he stole the one thing that the Nostrade family was known for: Neon’s incredible fortune-telling.

So Light must’ve murdered her out of rage because he blamed their bankruptcy on her.

This theory is seriously flawed.

For one, it was true that Light did freak out when they had no money but Kurapika reassured him that he’ll handle it.

Remember his status that I mentioned in number 4?

Kurapika became Nostrade’s young family boss which means he literally handled their financial slump. Kurapika also re-directed their business model to gambling and bodyguarding so there is absolutely no need for Light to go crazy since Kurapika took care of the financial issue for them already.

Also I’m pretty sure Kurapika would have noticed if Light went completely ballistic and killed his own daughter.

Kurapika was still her bodyguard back then so he would’ve confronted Light if something was wrong.

“Okay u-named just because the family still exists, doesn’t mean that Neon is. So what makes you think that she is alive?”

Great question.

Do you remember Kurapika’s new conjuration ability?

It’s called the Steal Chain.

In short, this is what it’s used for:

”Shaped like a syringe, upon piercing the body of the target this chain drains their aura and steals one of their Nen abilities. While their aura is being drained, the target is forced into a state similar to Zetsu.”

Keep in mind that we have never seen this ability of his in the previous chapters and yet, suddenly, we just see him using it on one of the bodyguards of Queen Oito.

But was it really the first time that we witnessed its power?

No.

The first appearance that we truly see it must’ve been when Chrollo opened his book to find that Neon’s ability was missing.

The Steal Chain comes from the Dolphin ability (the one that drains Kurapika’s life source).

Let’s take Shalnark as an example.

Shalnark’s ability disappeared from the book since he got killed by Hisoka. His aura was also related to his ability in Chrollo’s book.

So if Kurapika injects the syringe in Neon, which is meant to drain a person’s aura, her aura in her body will be halted as well as her ability in Chrollo’s book.

This means Chrollo’s Bandit Secret book will dictate Neon is dead since her aura halted.

Chrollo’s book only steals auras that have turned into abilities. He’ll base their deaths by only examining if their abilities are still in it.

And only in it.

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

Neon is truly one of my favourite characters in Hunter x Hunter so as soon as I read her theory, I became hopeful and finally found a good theory that didn’t consist her getting bashed by herself or by someone else (like number 2, 3 and 5 of the theories I discussed about.)

This theory deserves to be spread around and be known as the fifth possibility for this mystery.

[hunterexamcheatsheet]

Explaining how the Mafia functions, Kurapika in the mafia community and why the other “Neon died” theories don’t work from the Mafia Structure perspective

Please read this if you’re interested in how Kurapika in the mafia functions in the HxH world. 

I went to roam around the Chinese forums using Kurapika and Neon's name (酷拉皮卡和妮翁; pronounced as Kù Lā Pí Kǎ and Nī Wēng) to try and find some KuraNeon content in the Chinese fandom. 

I found a Chinese blog that also talks about the dolphin theory that @anotherworldash​ has thought of. You may use Google translate for the link above to read it. You may also view what @u-named​ had summarised here regarding the dolphin theory. I had reblogged it before but I got very excited when I saw that another fan had thought of it. 

I’m so glad that other people from non-English fandoms had also thought of it (and not just the usual theories of Neon dying, but exploring other explanations why it’s possible for her to be still alive). I might be slightly biased, but I disliked how everyone just jumped into the assumption that she’s dead because her name disappeared from Chrollo’s book. From what I see, HxH deaths are often shown or at least heavily implied. We also got false narratives like the one with Kite in CA arc. 

We do not see her dead body. Or any major hints of what happened to her. 

What’s more, Kurapika implied that the previous owners where he had acquired the Scarlet Eyes from did not need to be killed. While this only means that Kurapika did not kill Neon, and it’s possible that other people might have killed her or she had died by accident/natural cause, it’s still something to think about.

The flaw in some of the “Neon’s dead” theories

I think u-named already discussed this a bit, but I’m going to elaborate it a little further. I am actually thinking of posting regarding the mafia theme, but that will take a while. I had been researching the functions of mafia in both reality and media, in order to understand what goes on in mafia families in HxH. 

The theories regarding “Neon was killed by the mafia community”, “Light Nostrade killed her” and “she committed suicide” are possible, but I’m going to need to nitpick on the reasoning. I suspect people who formed these theories don’t know how the mafia works or at least, attempt to understand how it works (not that I’m an expert, I’m still trying to understand it from mafia movies, videos, a book and journal papers). 

Of course there is a discrepancy between the actual mafia and what is depicted in media, but given that Togashi had mafia themes in his previous works like in Ten de Showaru Cupid and in Yu Yu Hakusho, and until now, he is using mafia families in his current arc. 

“Oh, but what if Togashi doesn’t do his research?”

I genuinely think he does. York New City and the Ten Dons could be a parallel to the actual Five Powerful Mafia Families in New York City back then, formed in 1931. The Five Families is also what inspired the five mafia families in The Godfather. (I don’t know, maybe Togashi was a fan of The Godfather or any mafia movies; that trilogy was very influential in the media). Even the family name Nostrade is both a reference to Nostradamus (a French fortune teller) and La Cosa Nostra (a nickname for the Italian mafia). The coincidence is too uncanny. 

From what I gather from resources, the mafia functions like an organisation/corporation, but their services are largely illegal. Their main aim is to acquire money (and also power, but power comes with money). 

Neon’s fortune-telling ability is highly sought after because accurate information in many places (which includes being in businesses) are crucial. If you guys are familiar with The Godfather, information and strategy is important when trying to win over people or crushing your enemies. The concept of knowing your enemy is also a huge main idea in Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. 

And it’s even more valuable when these information is from the future.  You will always be one step ahead of the enemy if you have accurate information in regards to the future. 

Now, there are people envious of Light’s climb to power because he exploited his daughter’s fortune-telling ability and they gained influence as she has fans among the Dons. They see Light’s acquiring of power as a threat, which is why Light protects his daughter. 

Another reason (not really stated, I just thought of it) is that information from the future is a disadvantage when your enemy has it and you don’t. You already lose when the other side has information that you do not have. 

By the end of the YorkNew City arc, we see that the Ten Dons are assassinated by Illumi. Therefore, there seems to be empty seats when it comes to the leadership of the mafia community. Not stated, but without leadership, a corporation/business will either crumble or someone else will assume leadership. Be it brutally or by succession of an heir, we’ll never know. 

Neon’s ability is no longer on hers. Who is affected negatively? Light Nostrade because he just lost his way of influence and attaining money/power. His enemies, who are envious of his climbing up the ranks, will see it as an advantage. A blessing perhaps. Because the threat (which is Neon’s powers) are gone. 

While murder among mafia members are not uncommon, killing one’s family member (especially one’s direct children) is irreversible and poses serious consequences. An all out war could evoke and it can be costly. Going back to my point about the mafia community’s main aim and how it functions as a business, negotiations are actually another way to deal with possible disputes.  They do not need to do the killing because her powers are simply GONE. Without her powers, she’s just an ordinary “citizen” who is a family member of a father whose in the mafia community. 

Therefore, “mafia community killed Neon” theory is flawed if you look at how the mafia community functions as businesses and negotiations. The reason why they decided to be brutal and aggressive in York New City is because they were up against the Phantom Troupe. Additionally, the lack of manpower and leadership that follows after their fiasco with the Phantom Troupe is another concern. A girl who no longer poses a threat is the least of their worries. 

Now, onto the “Kurapika let them die off”, “Light killed Neon” and “she committed suicide” theories. 

The reason why I have a problem with these is because it’s based on the big assumption that they became broke. Either Light Nostrade went crazy and he killed her; or they became broke and Neon couldn’t handle the stresses of being poor so she committed suicide. But the thing is, they aren’t broke. 

Even on the Hunterpedia states:

The Nostrade Family survived the loss of Neon's ability and is now led by Kurapika. The organization is exclusively involved in legal activities such as personal security details and gambling.

This is backed by what Linssen has said to Mizaistom in the Dark Continent Expedition arc. 

The reason why they survived the financial slump? Kurapika. 

During the Greed Island arc, Kurapika reassured him that he’ll “take care of it”. And during the Dark Continent Expedition arc, we see that Kurapika’s title is “Nostrade Family Waka-gashira”. Waka-gashira means “Young Boss”. There are many mistranslations to this text where they state that he’s the mafia organisation leader, but in the hardcopy (which I have), the title is “Nostrade Family Boss”. 

In the context of the Japanese yakuza, the Waka-gashira is the second in command, just below the Oyabun. 

The second in the chain of command is the wakagashira, who governs several gangs in a region with the help of a fuku-honbucho who is himself responsible for several gangs.

While it seems that the inspiration of mafia is from the Italian-American mafia families in York New City, the terminologies they used is that of the Japanese yakuza. I think that this is because the original language is in Japanese. 

In Italian-American mafia, the term “mafia organisation” is synonymous with “mafia family”. Therefore, if you say that a man is the mafia organisation leader, he is also by default the head of the mafia family. 

In the context of Kurapika, it does make sense that he is the second-in-command and Light is the oyabun (if you go by the yakuza terminology), or Kurapika is the head of the Nostrade family (if you go by the Italian-American way). 

Now, I’m just going to backtrack a bit because I want to address that theory that “Kurapika let Neon and/or Light die and overtook the Nostrade mafia organisation”. 

If you go by the Yakuza terminology, it already doesn’t make sense because it implies that Light is still in charge, and Kurapika is the second-in-command (wakagashira). The Yakuza also assimilate members into the mafia organisation and “making your own family” (via trust). 

If you go by the Italian-American way, it also doesn’t make sense if you look at the way they appoint the head of the mafia organisation. From what I read and seen in mafia movies, aside from mafia organisations functioning like a corporation, it functions like a family business, where typically, the head of the family is a male. This isn’t just exclusive to mafia families, but pretty much family businesses in [East] Asia. Togashi also depicts this male heir and family business dynamic within the Zoldyck Family. 

While there are actual records of women leading mafia organisations, what is depicted in media is that the mafia community are often populated with men. This is also evident in the York New City arc, where the mafia community is filled with armed men. 

Even among the Yakuza, it is like this: 

The Yakuza is populated almost entirely by men and the very few women who are acknowledged are the wives of bosses

Light Nostrade only have one child, a daughter to be exact. While Morena Prudo is the boss of the Heil-Ly Mafia Family, this isn’t the actual case for Neon. Neon is a young girl who likes to shop and collects dead body parts. She enjoys luxury and materialism. She doesn’t have an interest in the mafia business or where the money comes from. Besides, as mentioned before, a male heir is often depicted. 

In Japanese family businesses, when there is no male heir available, they will have to resort to mukoyoshi practice. Taken from Wikipedia:

When a family, especially one with a well established business, has no male heir but has an unwed daughter of a suitable age, she will marry the mukoyōshi, a man chosen especially for his ability to run the family business. 

This is done to preserve the business and name of the family when there is no suitable male heir, since traditionally businesses are inherited by the oldest male heir. Mukoyōshi is also practiced if there is no capable male heir to run the family business.

This is a centuries-old tradition and is still widely practiced today. Many Japanese companies with household names such as Nintendo, Kikkoman, and Toyota have adopted this practice.

This is why I often liked the whole “Kurapika married Neon for the title” theory because it takes into a Japanese practice when it comes to family businesses + how the mafia family business are run into account. 

We also have to note that Neon Nostrade’s character blueprint is Princess Luna from Level E. Princess Luna is betrothed to the main character, Prince Baka. Initially, Prince Baka did not want to marry her. Arranged marriages do not need to be founded by love or a relationship bond. In fact, arranged marriages are often agreed on because of practical reasons, such as a family business. 

Princess Luna is also why I take the marriage theory more into account, rather than the idea that Ligth adopted him. Kurapika is considered as an adult (or nearly) anyway. 

Side note: Whether or not you agree with this because it seems sexist or the possible sickening idea that Kurapika married a flesh collector, is irrelevant. Me being a KuraNeon shipper also does not make this theory hold any less weight. In fact, I started liking them together because of this theory. This is based on how [mafia] family businesses are depicted in the media, the mukoyoshi practice in Japan and Princess Luna being Neon’s character blueprint. Remember that theories are based on evidence, not based on how you feel. If anything, this gives more depth to Kurapika because it shows how far he’s willing to go through in order to gain power and money for his clan. 

Regardless of how Kurapika had gotten this title, it is via assimilation. Not coercion or force. 

It also doesn’t make sense if he were to function businesses under the Nostrade family name, if he disliked Light and Neon so much that he’d let them wither off. Why would he still keep their family name in honour if he had let them die off? The answer is getting the title via assimilation. Be it through trust or becoming a member of the family (literally or figuratively). 

Neon being uninterested also meant that there is no one to challenge Kurapika for the title, and Kurapika had already reassured to Light that the business during Greed Island arc. 

Therefore, the “Kurapika had let Light and Neon wither off to get the title” is flawed when you look at the way mafia organisations functions as a family business and Neon’s character. 

Why the Nostrades aren’t broke

Linssen stating the Nostrade family gains its income from gambling and personal security detail businesses that the Nostrade family runs, thanks to Kurapika being the head of the family. 

Aside from that, we also see Kurapika obtaining many sets of Scarlet Eyes, with him stating that there are various ways he had done so. 

“I’ve threatened, coaxed and paid people off” - Kurapika (based on the hardcopy Volume 33 that I have)

During the York New City arc, one set of Scarlet Eyes are already worth like what, millions? Not only money, but Kurapika needs influence and connections to gain these Scarlet Eyes. Threatening and coaxing meant that you’ll need to invoke fear or drive them into situations where they are forced to surrender the Scarlet Eyes. How to do that? Creating dilemmas. Give the person two options, both that are undesirable, with the lesser evil option being the one you want. 

Basically, giving an offer they can’t refuse (sorry, this reference was too good to pass up lmao). 

This is why being part of the mafia, and more so being a mafia leader is an attractive pathway for Kurapika because it gives him the resources, in terms of influence, finance and aggressive force. 

Another thing to note is that Kurapika has hired Izunavi, Melody, Basho and Bisky to apply for the Kakin Bodyguarding contract. It’s evident that Kurapika has the money. Therefore, the Nostrades aren’t broke. 

Hence, the idea that Neon was killed because her father could not face financial difficulties or that she committed suicide because she’s no longer rich, falls flat when you consider Kurapika’s involvement with their family. 

“But didn’t Linssen say that gambling and personal security are legal businesses and he told Mizaistom that they are not the crime syndicate? Why is it part of the mafia?” 

Yes. You see, the mafia deals with LARGELY illegal businesses, but that doesn’t mean they don’t deal with the legal ones too. Perhaps the Nostrade family has been legitimised, but it wouldn’t be the case because Kurapika’s title still states “mafia”. 

While these facts seem to contradict what Linssen claimed to Mizaistom that the Nostrade organisation is not a crime syndicate, it can be argued that Mizaistom is a Crime Hunter (aka like a detective). It makes sense for Linssen to tell a Crime Hunter that you are not a crook, and it’s easier to lie about it if your services in the mafia business is legal. 

Also, in actual mafia businesses where gambling is involved, the place of the server where online gambling may be legal, but in the place where the people use the online gambling may be illegal. 

Taken from 10 Businesses Supposedly Controlled by the Mafia: 

But mobsters have adapted to the times and taken their act online. These days, they are more likely to be busted for online sports gambling. In 2008, a Queens district attorney charged the Gambino family with illegal sports and casino-style gambling operations. Players were allowed to borrow gambling money at 200 percent interest [source: Bonner]. More recently, members of the Genovese family in New Jersey were indicted for making millions of dollars each year through illegal gambling operations [source: Ivers].

In Europe, officials have raised concerns over the vast amounts of money being laundered by the Mafia through online gambling, particularly sites based in Germany, where there are no penalties for illegal gambling activities [source: Walther].

Personal security details kind of vague, but I believe it’s Protection Racket. I went to have a look at Wikipedia for a short while and found ties with the mafia: 

A protection racket is a scheme where a potentially hazardous group guarantees protection from violence, looting, raiding, piracy, and other such threats posed by them outside the sanction of the law, to polities, businesses, individuals, or other entities and groups that pay to them in cash or kind. 

Protection rackets tend to appear in markets in which the police and judiciary cannot be counted on to provide legal protection, because of incompetence (as in weak or failed states) or illegality (black markets).

Certain scholars, such as Diego Gambetta, classify criminal organizations engaged in protection racketeering as "mafia", as the racket is popular with both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia.

While this “personal security details” the Nostrade family business provides, the stuff that involves in it may be illegal. 

We don’t really know why Kurapika resorted to these two types of businesses. I have two guesses: 1) He wants to compensate and retain his moral values, therefore he opts for legal businesses, 2) He wants to have a loophole in being in the mafia yet avoiding legal troubles. Either way, it’s a smart move for Kurapika in my opinion. 

Side note: With Togashi liking mafia themes so much, I truly believe that it’s a hard opportunity for him to pass up the idea of making one of his main characters a mafia leader. We get to have our own Michael Corleone, and that’s hot. (Simping hard for mafia boss Kurapika right now). 

What about the Kakin Bodyguard thing? And the fact that Kurapika’s a Zodiac now? Does this mean he’s no longer the Nostrade Family Boss? 

He is still the Nostrade family boss. These three are not mutually exclusive.

In the manga panel where they showed his title, it was slightly after the Zodiacs meeting. Therefore, he still retains his title as the Nostrade Boss. Being part of the Zodiac is a position within the Hunters Assocation, they are the counsellors to the Chairman. Just as when Kurapika is a hunter and the Nostrade Boss at the same time, he can also be a Zodiac and the Nostrade Boss. 

The Kakin Bodyguard thing is like an employment contract. As mentioned, Kurapika hired a few people to apply for being a bodyguard because six Kakin Princes were looking for bodyguards to get close to the 4th Prince Tserriednich.  You can actually see this as a link to his “Protection Racket” mafia business. Being a Kakin bodyguard is a type of Protection Racket. Therefore, he can still be a Kakin bodyguard while holding onto the mafia title. 

Kurapika doesn’t need to be in the mainland overseeing everything in the business, in fact, it’s kind of noteworthy that Linssen was not on board - it is definitely possible that he had left the other parts of the mafia business to a second-in-command (a consigliere, shategashira, or the saiko-komon). He may also leave the businesses back to Light Nostrade. 

Okay, what if Neon committed suicide because she couldn’t take how she’s being mistreated, rather than her being broke? 

That could be possible, but we don’t really have a clear hint of that. Yes, I can see some potential daddy issues because she’s no longer of use to her father and also the possibility that Light favours Kurapika more now and maybe even sold her off to Kurapika, but I don’t find any strong evidence of that. And we don’t actually exactly know how Kurapika will act around her now that he seems to have more power than her. In fact, we don’t really have any insights as to what Kurapika thinks of her, only sweeping statements when it comes to flesh collectors which may or may not apply to her. 

(I know people assume that he hates her, because they like to infer his prejudice on flesh collectors to her, but we really have ZERO clear indication of what he thinks about her specifically. To say that he definitely hates her is inaccurate. I literally just argued with someone on Youtube comments for this. And even if he did hate her, that’s hot if she’s his wife because hate-sex is wow.)

To Conclude: 

The theories surrounding Neon Nostrade being dead falls flat when you look deeper into how the mafia functions. I have also explained more in detail at a possibility of how Kurapika might function in the mafia community and as the Nostrade family leader. 

Other sources aside from above (so that ya’all know I don’t pull this out of my ass):

 New York Mafia Families

What does the mafia even do anymore? 

How to Make an Offer they can’t refuse like Vito Corleone

The Godfather by Mario Putzo [film/fictional book - watched Part 1 and 2]

Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires By Selwyn Raab [book - only read a bit]

When culture matters: succession challenges for Asian business families

Behind the Yakuza: documenting the women of Japan’s mafia

How Japan’s family businesses use sons-in-law to bring in new blood

Pretty much the whole of Hunterpedia LMAO. 

I only wanted to post the Chinese blog but ended up a huge full-on essay about the mafia in HxH HAHHAA. (Because I’m so sick of people talking about theories without taking the mafia structure into consideration). 

[senritsu]

Im so stupid, somehow ive never seen kurapika/linssen content so i thought that post abt kurapika/linssen was u joking n pretending that all kurapika/chrollo content was linssen and it made me laugh really hard for like a good few minutes until i looked it up n realized wait shes not joking

unfortunately lmaooooo but I like that joke. here:

_________________________________

I always find it kinda funny when I find an hxh artist who devotes all their time to shipping kurapika with this guy

[icharchivist]

@cxsaltwater replied to your post“what's your opinion on linssen”

what the hell, have i started a new age of linssen followers or something

I don’t know, did you? :D

I know there’s a blog on tumblr that just posts about Linssen, and I know some artists (mostly in the Japanese community I heard?) are actually quite found of him and if you lurk on Pixiv you can actually find a lot of Linsseen art. (also axeeee on tumblr likes them a lot)

so. Somehow. He has fans I suppose. Who would have expected.

[pa-cha-ran]

@hailajoluir replied to this post where I asked what the fandom consensus was for Senritsu/Melody’s name in HxH:

In all languages ​​(except in English), it is called Senritsu

Thank you! I was pretty confident that the name was mostly translated as Melody in English (from my personal experience of the series in Italian and Spanish, and then with fanworks in Portuguese), though I certainly haven’t checked all languages and will trust you on this. My fics are written in English, though, so I wondered what the English-language fandom tends to call her. 

If anyone is curious what my conclusion was: The English fandom uses both names pretty much interchangeably, but there might be a bias to Melody from exposure. I’ll also put forth on pure conjecture that it is easier to write, since my English typing fingers definitely resisted spelling “Senritsu” at first (they hit all the right keys but in all the wrong order after the “r”). It’s just not a typical letter combination in the English language.

[pa-cha-ran]

@kaisande1 replied to this post where I wonder about if a Senritsu by any other name would smell as sweet:

In french as well --> mélodie (melody)

I don’t know French, so this is cool if they went the same direction as English and translated the name. Interesting. I’m always fascinated with the names of all the characters in HxH across its different iterations in various languages. (I watched a lot of 1999 in Castilian Spanish, then 2011 with English subtitles, and read the manga in Italian, so I have no idea what anyone is called anymore in any language, but it’s great because I like seeing how stuff is done differently.)

Now I'm curious what the Lins(s)en/Rins(s)en situation is in French?

EDIT: I don't speak French and have zero hxh experience in French, for extra clarification, so I can't confirm what is said about hxh in that language in a comment. Wiki says only “Senritsu”, but more than that I am not capable enough in French to discover.

[pa-cha-ran]

linssen/rinsen/linsen/rinssen

although on tumblr i’ll occasionally write the name linssen with two s’s, i make the stylistic choice in my fics to write only one s. 

because even though italian has assured me double letters are crucial to how you pronounce a word, i speak english natively, which means i was raised to possess an innate lack of respect for the meaningful and consistent spelling of words.

[briznade]

baby gangster kurapika gets to drink juice

doodle based on this moomin post.

leorio’s face based on my nightmares where i can’t be arsed to ever try (look i was tired and kurapika’s hair takes a lot out of me ok)

[pa-cha-ran]

okay lemme just say that

same 

but me with linssen in virtually every fanwork ever, plus italian wikipedia that doesn’t even mention him once. like what the hell kinda show are we running here italy i’m ashamed 

hxh 363

clicks through a raw of hxh chapter before heading out for day

-still no leorio yet-

sighs 

[pa-cha-ran]

@fish-tetris​ replied:

honestly don't know? I tend to use both names interchangeably, maybe leaning a little more towards Senritsu. I've never really paid that much attention to how people tag  or talk about her, but I feel like it's fairly well split.

@kitashvi replied:

so we typically use senritsu but i've seen them both used (not very helpful, i know) though i have seen melody more

got it. am currently flipping a coin.

also, uhhhhhhhh, i just realized linssen is a main character in the same scene/chapter, and i dunno his name either because in italian he’s called rinsen. 

ugh why is life so hard, all i’m trying to do is write a silly bodyguard fight scene here.

(fun fact: chrollo’s name changes in the italian manga from quoll lucilphul to quoll lucifer, and then on one cover his name is clow, so honestly can we really trust the italian manga for anything??? they commit like hell to leolio, tho)

important hxh fanfic concerns

real quick before i commit here: does english speaking fandom seem to prefer the name melody or senritsu? just drop me an ask or a message or comment here if you can, i don’t mind which