#look!!! at him!!! oughhghgh he's so happy

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

There's a small moment in the Hunter x Hunter 2011 anime that I thought was pretty cute. It's close to the beginning, during the Hunter Exam, when they're looking for pigs in the forest. Gon slides down a hill, and Killua follows him, only for him to crash because Gon had stopped at the bottom of the hill. This scene!

It's one of those rare little bits added by an adaptation that really add to the characters - because yeah, this was not in the manga.

I find this anime is really good at adding little moments that either

are just cute or endearing

are fun extra interactions that show off the character dynamics more

actually highlight something about the characters in question

This one, I feel, does all three. First of all, I just love seeing Killua a bit more involved in their group before the eventual reveal of "he just wanted to be friends". It's really sweet.

But mostly, I think it's interesting that Killua assumed Gon was just messing around, when Gon was actually focusing his efforts on beating the challenge. Because, sure, Killua finds Gon somewhat intriguing, and he really wants to stick around him due to his desire for a friend - but Killua still sees himself as a class above pretty much everyone else there, and also as an assassin in a category so firmly removed from "regular kid".

So, Killua totally misreads Gon here. He assumes Gon is just doing a regular kid thing and attempts to mimic it so he can join in. It doesn't actually occur to him that Gon was tracking the pigs, or focusing on the task at hand.

It's a far cry from later on, where Killua and Gon are primarily a team effort - in sync, aware of the others' strengths, and taking each other quite seriously.

And part of it, of course, is that they just don't know each other very well at this point. But I think another thing is that Killua, during most of the Hunter Exam, is more invested in what Gon represents than who he is, necessarily.

His first friend represents rebellion against his family, childish enjoyment, and the desire for connection and understanding that he is not receiving. And even though, as time goes on, he grows more and more impressed with Gon, I really don't think it fully clicked that he wanted that friend he wished for to be specifically Gon until he was confronted by Illumi.

I also think Killua takes Gon a lot more seriously after the fight with Hanzo, and especially after Gon went all the way to the Zoldyck estate to save him. Before the Hanzo fight, Killua was outright irritated by Gon being ranked higher than him overall, and was even a little bitter at the beginning of the fight ("I could've dodged that easily" comes to mind).

By Heavens Arena, I feel they both have a much firmer grasp on, and appreciation for, who the other is as a person. Killua is more consciously aware of his investment in Gon as an individual rather than an abstract, and Gon is aware of Killua's crappy upbringing and is quick to be very supportive of him as he figures things out for himself.

During the Hunter Exam though, a lot of the interactions between them feel a lot like Killua is either mimicking or acting out "regular kid" behaviours, either because that's what he thinks Gon is already doing, or he wants to see if Gon will respond in kind.

Aaaaand... he does. :)

So, while they do not have what I feel is a true depth of bond here yet, the foundation is already being laid down for their powerful friendship - Gon and Killua both show an immediate willingness and enjoyment to go along with what the other wants to do and to try out what the other is good at, and they wind up having a whole lot of fun together right off the bat.

[spamtoon]

DCRC week 4.. in week 5. paperinik

i am behind. you know this by now. let's read paperinik

love the cross hatching in these first few panels something's gonna happen for sure!

JFEAJFOIEAJFIEAJ ill be so real the walt disney logo and OMBRE SU VENERE caught me off guard so hard. the way its in the corner and yellow and Not Fitting At All. the word art ahh look of the text (though i understand why they couldnt replace it in a way that looks good) im so. what a beautiful panel

donald is so sad.... the way that theres so many screens and they're all donald. duckblr user (not that angus fangus would be allowed on duckblr. he doesnt even deserve to call lyla luv)

great to learn that this donald is computer generated. he doesnt have five hands though so this clearly isnt the ai art issue. also ever since last issue learning that lyla is a robot whos become so acclimated to her environment she loves playing the part of the reporter and is still passionate despite technically being made to literally call the time police whenever things go wrong she ough. ohohoh. i appreciate her so much more

i think uno deserves to spy on people. as a treat

one's face... he's so silly....... he's so insanely silly....

the evronians should get angus fangus i think. destroy him agron of evron. i know they're trying to team up to make duck avenger look bad or something but please

the action panels in this comic are also lovely but maybe thats because i havent read a superhero comic before. that isnt darkwing duck

JOIFEAOIFJ THE WAY DONALD LOOKS UP LIKE Xadhoom! (: haha glad to see you here! and then she just. comes down in a firey rage its beautiful.

excellent wisdom donald. im so glad he smokes weed (I AM JOKING I EDITED THIS AS A JOKE)

okay hello for context i am writing this almost a full week later. my ahh did not wanna do this but cog it. we ball. i think i need to just like. stop treating this as an obligation because like it's literally fine spam. you dont have school rn you deserve to chill.

ughhghghg donald loves uno so much already. he's so glad for uno dude... dudeeeeee... artificial or not you're a genius

oguhghh. donald's determination to save angus despite everything because nobody deserves to have Them sucked out of them. ough

this whole page is so cool but i love how they visualize the search okay. sorry i'm just appreciating the Comic-ness. of this comic. you know? when the comic play with panels...

he's so tired.... you're so right uno. i should go to bed after this. oughhghgh he's so silly when he's tired.

i think uno deserves to be done with people's crap more often

oughoghgnghng seeing uno happy again and laughing at donald im so. uno... hi uno... little uno...

im so happy we're four issues in and already donald and xadhoom are going to space to take down aliens. its beautiful... sorry if my commentary gets worse i may just be tired but i know if i dont do it now i'll never do it

hi camera 9... i do not care one bit about this red hair character so far but hello camera 9 you're just little (unaware of the camera 9 lore)

the way that all three of them are slouching here. nobody is stnaidng their ahh up straight when they got incomprehensible angus to worry about

good for him he got on megavolt's good side. bribed him with a lightbulb (SORRY i like making darkwing duck references. i know its not) UFOEAIJFOIEAJ lyla being in the shadow i'm so. she's so silly here ough

the fight scenes in this comic are so.. maybe thats just because i havent read a non-darkwing comic before but like. i dont know im admiring the art and the art style and the time period and the medium and such you know

i dont know what they wanna do with angus fangus other than just like. set him up against the duck avenger and make the earth go against him but like. i suppose he knows he cant kill paperinik here which alright. fair

xadhoom... gnngngnng she's so distressed in these panels

HELP IM SO MAD he really is just a hateful guy. okay they're candace flynning him i see

luckily for us, the universe sucks so much lots of people hate life

xadhoom............................... she deserves so much

glad even angus fangus hates this guy. like great. i wanted that crime to happen and you just. messed it up.

uno with party hat... they really decided y'know what? he's aiing us? let's just ai him back. okay thats the end of the comic maybe next time i'll be more coherent but i hope this satisfies puffy i'm tired man. i was procrastinating on this so hard but this comic... good...