![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Yuletide Summary, very, very long babbling about Hunter x Hunter
I knew it! ![[personal profile]](https://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
darkicedragon was my writer. XD I kind of figured it out from our conversations, and then when fics went live, the writing (and the fandoms) convinced me even more. (Thank you once again for writing me so many fics. I adored all of them! The Double Arts one and the NG Life one were both so beautiful ♥ and the others so much fun.) Heh, I think we'll always have a huge chance of matching each other, though I did match with someone else for my recipient, which was very cool! I love having different recipients and writers each year, as well as matching on fandoms I've never written before. For me, Yuletide is always the time I branch out to fandoms I might not have written on my own either because I hadn't read the series closely enough, or I just don't have plotbunnies for fics for the series. I rely heavily on the optional details provided by my recipient because usually I don't have too many plotbunnies for the series myself... which made this year very hard because the optional details I received were broad and gave me too much free reign! (It led to me considering very strange ideas...I'm so sorry about this!)
I matched on Hunter x Hunter with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
justwolf. I was mostly offering fandoms I was currently into (like Legend of Sun Knight, Noblesse, 1/2 Prince, everything I had nominated) as well as fandoms with short canon I thought I could easily review again (like movies or short manga series). With HxH, I thought, "Hey, Hunter x Hunter, I'm getting into that again now that the hiatus is over and the new anime is showing!" So I added that in my list of offers. And matched on it. And went, "oh dear, there's 30 volumes of the manga out..." I don't feel I could characterize Gon or Killua very well without rereading the manga because it's been a long time since I've read the manga, and then it was on and off with all the hiatuses. I spent quite some time rereading. (and loved it)
Hunter x Hunter reread
The new Hunter x Hunter anime got me rereading HxH, though I stopped early on (I then continued with my reread when I matched on HxH for Yuletide). I was already following the new chapters, but my memory of all the details from previous arcs is really fuzzy. The reread made me appreciate the Chimera Ant arc a whole lot more. It was pretty meh to me during the first read, but...I cried during this second read. Anyway, before that, I'm going to blab a bit about HxH chronologically.
Togashi's writing. Gosh, I love it. So psychological. (Though I also dislike how many characters die just like that throughout the series. ;_____; )
During the pre-Hunter exam part where that old lady asks Gon and the others who they would choose to save (answer 1 for your sister, 2 for your brother, something along those lines, the people might've been switched) and were supposed to answer with silence but Gon kept trying to think of an answer even after the old woman let them through, I wondered if this would ever be brought back to the story. What if Gon or one of the others had to face such a choice one day? How would they respond? I entertained writing something that involved such a choice, but I don't entirely know how Gon or Killua would respond. I sort of touched upon this in The Shape of His Devotion, but not really. I'm still pondering how they would respond.
Gon's ability to distinguish the Kiriko couple during the pre-exam part really stood out to me. I felt it's one of his strengths, so I included that tidbit in Sleeping Beauty, or the Unconscious Man on the Bed. (Also, I continue to marvel at Togashi's writing because I loved how this test played out).
My next favorite part goes to Trick Tower where Gon and the others had to play by the majority's rule. Very, very psychological! I wanted to write some kind of adventure with Gon and Killua (kind of like how they went off to challenge the Heavens Arena together) that would feature them having to pass challenges together...but eh, my plotting skills aren't very great, so I quickly tossed that idea.
Zoldyck estate arc - Killua, Killua, Killua! Or well, I also fangirled over the butlers and servants because Canary and Gotou are pretty awesome. (Gotou... D: ) I love how fleshed out the Zoldyck family is, and I love the naming of the kids, with how the ending sound of the previous child's name starts off the name of the next child. Illumi - Milluki - Killua - Alluka - Kalluto. I borrowed this naming in Sleeping Beauty, or the Unconscious Man on the Bed, which... would make the OC a sibling instead, but I decided to go the offspring route despite the naming. I find the Zoldyck family very, very interesting, which means the latest chapters (in the 300+ part) interest me a lot with how much of the spotlight the family has.
Heavens Arena arc - I reread this arc many times in case I wanted to feature nen in my stories, as Gon and Killua (and the readers) are introduced to nen during this arc. I can't say I understand nen all that well. I'd definitely still need a chart to figure things out! I do love how nen types often reflect on the personality of the person, like Gon with his enhancement type = simple-minded. I thought that would be pretty cool to explore in fic too. I thought Killua's devotion showed a lot during this arc, with how he thought he'd scare off the guys who were threatening Zushi without letting Gon know (and Gon also dealt with the guys without letting Killua know). I kind of love how they do these things for each other, and how they're also childish at the same time and keep their secret techniques from each other so that they can impress or surprise each other later.
Whale Island - Gon and Killua's time at Whale Island would've been perfect for a cute, fluffy fic, and for an introspective piece about them learning more about each other's daily lives (except I didn't go for that route because I was in the frame of mind of sad depressing fic because somehow the series just inspires that in me, as I feel the overall tone of the series is fairly intense and dark, which leads to similar fic from me.) What I love most about their time here is when Killua pondered about what he'd do in his life. Gon has a goal. What about him?
Yorknew City arc - This was when Kurapika took over the story! XD; As well as the Phantom Troupe/ Genei Ryodan. I didn't feel very close with any of the brigade members before, but this time I read a bit more closely (and once again felt deeply for Pakunoda). I'm also pretty fond of Nobunaga for how highly he thinks of Gon and how much he cares about Uvogin. Leorio didn't do all that much in this arc, but I loved seeing him again and it was awesome seeing him bargain. I loved this arc for seeing the four of them come together again after going their separate ways. I also loved Senritsu and hope she'll be appearing more. The way this arc was set up was pretty fascinating too, with POVs from lots of different groups (between Gon & Killua, Kurapika and the bodyguards, the Genei Ryodan...). I suppose this is also the first time we're shown just how many different uses nen can have! I have to say, Kurapika's chains are badass. Seriously. (And also, haha, Leorio, he doesn't get much fighting in at all for a main character!) From this arc, I also liked Zepile a lot (omg, he ended up borrowing money because he couldn't make all that he claimed for Gon! *flails*). I was amused when he really did show up for the next Hunter exam after thinking to himself that he might give it a try, but bad luck for him that Killua was there... XD; (though maybe that helped him save his life. he doesn't seem like a fighter). His talks about counterfeits was very, very interesting.
Greed Island arc - or the arc where Kurapika and Leorio vanish (forever). XD;; I didn't mind too much since I'm a huge fan of Killua... I adored this arc. I found it a lot of fun, even though it was largely a training arc disguised in the form of a game, with tidbits dropped here and there about Gon's father. The RPG elements were a lot of fun (and very similar to Level E with that part of the story). I really liked all the explanations about card collecting and how they should go about it to win the game, and how there were conspiracies and underhandedness going about. Loved the team battle against the pirates (Hisoka helping out) Gon vs. Bomber in the end was very intense. Killua busting out yo-yos was pretty awesome too. As well as deciding on electricity (that part always makes me sad, just what kind of childhood did he have...?).
Chimera Ant arc - This was the arc that lost me with both the content and all the hiatuses. I was somewhat disappointed when the card led Gon and Killua to Kaito instead of Ging (come on Ging, you don't want to see your son if he's bringing along a friend?? He wants you to meet that friend!!), but I did love Gon and Killua competing with each other over discovering the most new species. I considered maybe Gon and Killua might decide on becoming such a hunter (one that hunts for new species), but I decided not to write that idea either... because I can't think of any new species for them to discover, heh.
Randomly, but Kaito's pretty cool. I like his crazy nen ability too.
But even though I didn't like this arc before, I have to say, this arc was intense. Rereading made me cry. A lot of new characters were introduced. A lot of old characters got killed off (this saddens me and I also find it appalling, way to go for the shock factor, Togashi). This arc completely put Gon and Killua's friendship through... I don't even know what to call it, but Gon, turn around! Pay attention to Killua already! I found it so sad watching Killua watch Gon destroy himself while Killua's going through self doubt and all this other stuff, wondering if he's not fit to stay by Gon's side and all that. Oh gosh. My heart. And then, of course, there was what happened to Gon. How is the series ever going to address this when the protagonist went and killed all his potential...? Innocence destroyed, just like that? My mind got so fixated on this that both fics I wrote ended up addressing this part of the story.
This arc was deep. Yeah. With beautiful friendships. Because. Togashi had me sniffling over an octopus. (Ikalgo is so much love. I wanted to write about him too...). And now I cannot stop wondering about the chimera ants that have survived after everything. How are they going to adapt? Will they adapt? Will they ever remember their human lives? Do they want to remember? The chimera ants gaining humanity, Killua realizing something's wrong, that it's not all black and white... Knov completely shaken up just from the aura given off by Pouf... Knuckle and Shoot were also great. I loved their friendship (and how much Knuckle cared). I also have a soft spot for Meleoron and am very curious about his past life.
The royal guards devotion towards the king was so, so strong. I thought it was something Killua and the others might have some feelings about...
I cried over the king and Komugi. The last scene, even though it was like, eight pages of black panels, was very powerful.
Election arc - this now brings me up to date! Gon's unconscious and possibly dying, Ging's suddenly showing up again as the part of the Zodiac Twelve, Leorio finally shows up again and punches Ging, Killua's last sibling suddenly becomes a major part of the story, and the entire Zoldyk family's in the spotlight once again. I had no idea where HxH was heading after the Chimera Ant arc, but I've been finding this arc pretty fascinating (even though the main character's unconscious). I thought it a letdown for Ging to show up just like that for the elections... what was the point of searching for him then? (Also, is it just me, or does he look younger now...?)
I'm quite happy that Killua has such a big role at the moment though, and Alluka has been fascinating to read about.
And so ends my super long babbling about HxH for the moment, haha...
Fic commentary for my Yuletide fics
This year, all three of my fics kind of contain a twist. Some sort of reveal near the end of the fics, so the below commentary is spoilerish. ;)
The Shape of His Devotion (for justwolf, Hunter x Hunter)
This fic took on many different shapes. The end result is vastly different from what I had in mind. One ofjustwolf's other requested fandoms was Gay Pirates, a song. I listened to that song, watched the video, and thought I could possibly write a story for that fandom instead of HxH as I didn't have very developed ideas for HxH. I then thought I could possibly write a crossover between Gay Pirates and HxH, with parallels drawn between the relationship the narrator and Sebastian have in Gay Pirates, and the relationship Killua and Gon have. (With Gay Pirates conveniently providing the setting, as I couldn't decide where to set the story) I do so love outsider POVs, so the narrator of Gay Pirates was going to help me provide some commentary on what Killua and Gon look to others. At one point, the narrator and Killua were going to have a talk where they both come to some realizations, one where Killua realizes he's lying to himself. (Killua sneaks Gon on the ship to steal him away, and together the four of them head to the Starlian Continent, far away to somewhere the captain can't see. The Starlian Continent is named along the lines of how the other continents in HxH are named. The Yorbian continent seems to be named after Europe, so I thought I'd name a continent after Australia).
...this crossover plan of mine failed so hard. I researched pirates (I so cannot write pirates). I listened to the song over and over. I tried to name the narrator, and then got led to reading about the Twelfth Night (possibly what the song is inspired by, as there's a Sebastian in there too), and then got sidetracked and watched She's the Man (which is based off of Twelfth Night, yay for crossdressing).
My plan failed. I could not write pirates. I could not write the issues the narrator and Sebastian faced (even though the song has a merry tune, the lyrics are not merry at all). All that was completely thrown away, but the pirate ship part stayed... Killua still steals Gon away, escaping by a pirate ship, though none of the pirates even show up (because I can't write pirates).
I opted for a fairly cryptic style. Not my usual style! (though it's not like people can even guess that I wrote HxH...since I haven't really written HxH before...just two short drabbles) When I got to around 900 words, I wanted to toss the entire story as it wasn't exactly coming together, but I managed to find a focus for the story, filling in things here and there so that it was actually a story, cryptic as it is. (And I can't bear to toss stories when they're already so close to completion...) . I wanted Killua to reflect on Pouf's dedication to the king (he did, but only a little) because I thought those scenes were powerful, and Killua seemed to have been thinking a lot about the ants during the arc, seeing much more than Gon saw.
A lot happens in this fic that is glossed over with a few words. I'd say this fic is very...minimalist, and most like He Never Knew out of my writing. I tend to enjoy reading and writing stories that are on the opposite end... but this style fit the story I wanted to write... and, what I thought, was a broken relationship between Gon and Killua that both of them are desperately trying to keep together. I don't know how much sense the fic makes, but it sounds like I didn't lose people with the style, so phew.
(Also, more spoilerish for the ending of the fic, but I've been wondering ever since Killua took Alluka from the estate - what's going to happen to her? She was locked away, yes, but now her life's in danger. I can't help but think things won't turn out well, and I also can't help but think that Killua has completely ignored her until now that he needs her powers to save Gon, though this could possibly be due to Togashi not needing her in the story before this, but well.)
Sleeping Beauty, or the Unconscious Man on the Bed (for justwolf, Hunter x Hunter)
Another Hunter x Hunter fic from me. After writing the Shape of His Devotion, I was completely unsure about how the fic would be received because it's very cryptic and it contains character death. Not exactly what I'd have wanted myself! So I thought I'd also write my second idea for HxH. This was inspired by the 15th Detective Conan movie. Yeah. XD; I watched the movie in December. There's one character in the movie who sleeps for many, many years, only to wake up to find that all his friends are now older than him yet he still feels seven. I immediately got to thinking, "What if Gon doesn't wake up for a long time from his current state? And then he wakes up to find that he's missed out on so much because of his actions? How would he react? How would he cope?" So I wanted to write that out.
Except, I never did get around to exploring much of Gon or Killua's feelings directly, because my mind somehow wanted me to go with using the POV of an original character, pfffft. And I went with skirting around the fact that we're no longer in the present anymore but rather in the faaaaar future, with a lot of time having passed already, so the fic ended up focused on having the reader figure out how much time had passed (instead of being focused on how Gon and Killua react to this...). I mentioned how Leorio's already a doctor (Gon once said that the next time he sees Leorio, he expects him to be a doctor already) to hint at the fact that a lot of time has already passed.
...giving an original character such a huge focus... what was I thinking? Haha...
Tollue shares a lot of traits with Killua. I was afraid I perhaps made them too similar, but I hoped his fairly nonchalant attitude about Gon would clue people in.
The ending's quite...sappy. I kind of wanted Killua to knock Gon over the head. They have so much to talk about, but that's another story. I already touched upon a few things that are broken between them in the Shape of His Devotion and didn't want to be repetitive here. Even though...the fics have nothing to do with each other and are two different takes on the aftermath of the Chimera Ant arc.
I also have a third idea for HxH that I entertained writing for justwolf... that would have focused on Gon and Killua raising Kaito (chimera!Kaito) together... hahaha... I'm not sure if that would have been crack or super serious.
The Names of His Comrades (for Dark Ice Dragon, Noblesse)
This I wrote hours before the Yuletide collection closed and opened to the public. I could have written for any three of Dark Ice Dragon's requests, gosh, that Dear Yuletide Letter gave me so many plotbunnies (and I pretty much had a good idea about who I was getting giftfic from =p ), but I had an idea for M-21! A very awesome idea that filled me with glee! (except my dad shot me down, haha... I still wrote it anyway). I hadn't actually written a full length Noblesse fic before. I'm happy I finally got around to it. :)
So yeah. (Spoilers for the fic below, as the entire fic centers around this, haha...)
The idea was... what if M-21 starts regaining his memories, but they're not his memories but rather memories from his werewolf heart? I was explaining the story to my parents, but my dad was all like, "that's bull! Memories are from the mind, not the heart!" I was then going, "But this is fictional! Who knows, stuff like this can happen!" I decided to write the fic anyway. =P This was partly inspired by Area no Kishi (I am unoriginal and very affected by what I consume), where a large part of the plot (in the beginning at least, I'm very behind with the manga) deals with the repercussions of an implanted heart.
I thought maybe I would have M-21 reacting physically, with his body sometimes out of his control... but that didn't lead to what I wanted to write about, which was M-21 deciding he wanted to embrace whatever this new thing was so that he could find the names of his comrades. So, memory it was.
The name of the fic... heh. It is in exactly the same format as my first HxH fic (The Shape of His Devotion). What's with me and (The [noun] of his [noun]?) These two fics don't even remotely have anything to do with each other! Don't share the same naming scheme!! I thought it was a fitting name though, so I stuck with it as I couldn't come up with anything else. I tried to be descriptive in the summary without giving the story away. The title fit the summary. XD;
Dr. Crombell. (heh, sometimes I spell it Crombel, sometimes I spell it Crombell... I went with Crombell for some unknown reason...) I needed some sort of enemy, but I didn't want to go with the KSA as that plot is still ongoing and can easily contradict what I write... while Crombell is probably going to play an important part in Noblesse later on... that's probably still "later on". So congrats, Crombell, you got to play the antagonist in this fic that's totally not about defeating the enemy!
I had a lot of fun with this fic, as it's a blend of seriousness and lightheartedness (much like the series). Tao completely wanted to take over the fic. Poor Takeo... I had to try hard to give him lines. I wanted M-21 and Regis to have a heart-to-heart among snarking, with Regis chipping in about a lifetime of memories (because he's been alive much longer than M-21), but that only some years truly matter... I think it might have gotten sappy and OOC, haha. XD; In any case, I couldn't fit the conversation anywhere, and the fic was already long enough. XD;
I wasn't entirely sure what M-21 would be seeing in his memories (what exactly are the werewolves in Noblesse like?) and I didn't want to give the game away so soon, so I was very, very vague about the memories he saw. XD
The ending could have been better. I again fell into the "omg this fic won't end I need to write the ending already" so I was doing more telling than showing by the end, I felt. =/ But overall, I'm pleased with the fic (and pleased that I managed to get a lot of fun scenes in, a nod to the series, like M-21 getting his shirt torn, and Tao claiming that they're gaining a new housemate, but maybe not because he's kinda brawny... because seriously, it really seems like only the good-looking characters end up at Frakenstein's house. XD;;; )
And that concludes my Yuletide writing experience! Pft, this is 4,000 words long. Damn am I wordy with these.
darkicedragon was my writer. XD I kind of figured it out from our conversations, and then when fics went live, the writing (and the fandoms) convinced me even more. (Thank you once again for writing me so many fics. I adored all of them! The Double Arts one and the NG Life one were both so beautiful ♥ and the others so much fun.) Heh, I think we'll always have a huge chance of matching each other, though I did match with someone else for my recipient, which was very cool! I love having different recipients and writers each year, as well as matching on fandoms I've never written before. For me, Yuletide is always the time I branch out to fandoms I might not have written on my own either because I hadn't read the series closely enough, or I just don't have plotbunnies for fics for the series. I rely heavily on the optional details provided by my recipient because usually I don't have too many plotbunnies for the series myself... which made this year very hard because the optional details I received were broad and gave me too much free reign! (It led to me considering very strange ideas...I'm so sorry about this!)I matched on Hunter x Hunter with
justwolf. I was mostly offering fandoms I was currently into (like Legend of Sun Knight, Noblesse, 1/2 Prince, everything I had nominated) as well as fandoms with short canon I thought I could easily review again (like movies or short manga series). With HxH, I thought, "Hey, Hunter x Hunter, I'm getting into that again now that the hiatus is over and the new anime is showing!" So I added that in my list of offers. And matched on it. And went, "oh dear, there's 30 volumes of the manga out..." I don't feel I could characterize Gon or Killua very well without rereading the manga because it's been a long time since I've read the manga, and then it was on and off with all the hiatuses. I spent quite some time rereading. (and loved it)Hunter x Hunter reread
The new Hunter x Hunter anime got me rereading HxH, though I stopped early on (I then continued with my reread when I matched on HxH for Yuletide). I was already following the new chapters, but my memory of all the details from previous arcs is really fuzzy. The reread made me appreciate the Chimera Ant arc a whole lot more. It was pretty meh to me during the first read, but...I cried during this second read. Anyway, before that, I'm going to blab a bit about HxH chronologically.
Togashi's writing. Gosh, I love it. So psychological. (Though I also dislike how many characters die just like that throughout the series. ;_____; )
During the pre-Hunter exam part where that old lady asks Gon and the others who they would choose to save (answer 1 for your sister, 2 for your brother, something along those lines, the people might've been switched) and were supposed to answer with silence but Gon kept trying to think of an answer even after the old woman let them through, I wondered if this would ever be brought back to the story. What if Gon or one of the others had to face such a choice one day? How would they respond? I entertained writing something that involved such a choice, but I don't entirely know how Gon or Killua would respond. I sort of touched upon this in The Shape of His Devotion, but not really. I'm still pondering how they would respond.
Gon's ability to distinguish the Kiriko couple during the pre-exam part really stood out to me. I felt it's one of his strengths, so I included that tidbit in Sleeping Beauty, or the Unconscious Man on the Bed. (Also, I continue to marvel at Togashi's writing because I loved how this test played out).
My next favorite part goes to Trick Tower where Gon and the others had to play by the majority's rule. Very, very psychological! I wanted to write some kind of adventure with Gon and Killua (kind of like how they went off to challenge the Heavens Arena together) that would feature them having to pass challenges together...but eh, my plotting skills aren't very great, so I quickly tossed that idea.
Zoldyck estate arc - Killua, Killua, Killua! Or well, I also fangirled over the butlers and servants because Canary and Gotou are pretty awesome. (Gotou... D: ) I love how fleshed out the Zoldyck family is, and I love the naming of the kids, with how the ending sound of the previous child's name starts off the name of the next child. Illumi - Milluki - Killua - Alluka - Kalluto. I borrowed this naming in Sleeping Beauty, or the Unconscious Man on the Bed, which... would make the OC a sibling instead, but I decided to go the offspring route despite the naming. I find the Zoldyck family very, very interesting, which means the latest chapters (in the 300+ part) interest me a lot with how much of the spotlight the family has.
Heavens Arena arc - I reread this arc many times in case I wanted to feature nen in my stories, as Gon and Killua (and the readers) are introduced to nen during this arc. I can't say I understand nen all that well. I'd definitely still need a chart to figure things out! I do love how nen types often reflect on the personality of the person, like Gon with his enhancement type = simple-minded. I thought that would be pretty cool to explore in fic too. I thought Killua's devotion showed a lot during this arc, with how he thought he'd scare off the guys who were threatening Zushi without letting Gon know (and Gon also dealt with the guys without letting Killua know). I kind of love how they do these things for each other, and how they're also childish at the same time and keep their secret techniques from each other so that they can impress or surprise each other later.
Whale Island - Gon and Killua's time at Whale Island would've been perfect for a cute, fluffy fic, and for an introspective piece about them learning more about each other's daily lives (except I didn't go for that route because I was in the frame of mind of sad depressing fic because somehow the series just inspires that in me, as I feel the overall tone of the series is fairly intense and dark, which leads to similar fic from me.) What I love most about their time here is when Killua pondered about what he'd do in his life. Gon has a goal. What about him?
Yorknew City arc - This was when Kurapika took over the story! XD; As well as the Phantom Troupe/ Genei Ryodan. I didn't feel very close with any of the brigade members before, but this time I read a bit more closely (and once again felt deeply for Pakunoda). I'm also pretty fond of Nobunaga for how highly he thinks of Gon and how much he cares about Uvogin. Leorio didn't do all that much in this arc, but I loved seeing him again and it was awesome seeing him bargain. I loved this arc for seeing the four of them come together again after going their separate ways. I also loved Senritsu and hope she'll be appearing more. The way this arc was set up was pretty fascinating too, with POVs from lots of different groups (between Gon & Killua, Kurapika and the bodyguards, the Genei Ryodan...). I suppose this is also the first time we're shown just how many different uses nen can have! I have to say, Kurapika's chains are badass. Seriously. (And also, haha, Leorio, he doesn't get much fighting in at all for a main character!) From this arc, I also liked Zepile a lot (omg, he ended up borrowing money because he couldn't make all that he claimed for Gon! *flails*). I was amused when he really did show up for the next Hunter exam after thinking to himself that he might give it a try, but bad luck for him that Killua was there... XD; (though maybe that helped him save his life. he doesn't seem like a fighter). His talks about counterfeits was very, very interesting.
Greed Island arc - or the arc where Kurapika and Leorio vanish (forever). XD;; I didn't mind too much since I'm a huge fan of Killua... I adored this arc. I found it a lot of fun, even though it was largely a training arc disguised in the form of a game, with tidbits dropped here and there about Gon's father. The RPG elements were a lot of fun (and very similar to Level E with that part of the story). I really liked all the explanations about card collecting and how they should go about it to win the game, and how there were conspiracies and underhandedness going about. Loved the team battle against the pirates (Hisoka helping out) Gon vs. Bomber in the end was very intense. Killua busting out yo-yos was pretty awesome too. As well as deciding on electricity (that part always makes me sad, just what kind of childhood did he have...?).
Chimera Ant arc - This was the arc that lost me with both the content and all the hiatuses. I was somewhat disappointed when the card led Gon and Killua to Kaito instead of Ging (come on Ging, you don't want to see your son if he's bringing along a friend?? He wants you to meet that friend!!), but I did love Gon and Killua competing with each other over discovering the most new species. I considered maybe Gon and Killua might decide on becoming such a hunter (one that hunts for new species), but I decided not to write that idea either... because I can't think of any new species for them to discover, heh.
Randomly, but Kaito's pretty cool. I like his crazy nen ability too.
But even though I didn't like this arc before, I have to say, this arc was intense. Rereading made me cry. A lot of new characters were introduced. A lot of old characters got killed off (this saddens me and I also find it appalling, way to go for the shock factor, Togashi). This arc completely put Gon and Killua's friendship through... I don't even know what to call it, but Gon, turn around! Pay attention to Killua already! I found it so sad watching Killua watch Gon destroy himself while Killua's going through self doubt and all this other stuff, wondering if he's not fit to stay by Gon's side and all that. Oh gosh. My heart. And then, of course, there was what happened to Gon. How is the series ever going to address this when the protagonist went and killed all his potential...? Innocence destroyed, just like that? My mind got so fixated on this that both fics I wrote ended up addressing this part of the story.
This arc was deep. Yeah. With beautiful friendships. Because. Togashi had me sniffling over an octopus. (Ikalgo is so much love. I wanted to write about him too...). And now I cannot stop wondering about the chimera ants that have survived after everything. How are they going to adapt? Will they adapt? Will they ever remember their human lives? Do they want to remember? The chimera ants gaining humanity, Killua realizing something's wrong, that it's not all black and white... Knov completely shaken up just from the aura given off by Pouf... Knuckle and Shoot were also great. I loved their friendship (and how much Knuckle cared). I also have a soft spot for Meleoron and am very curious about his past life.
The royal guards devotion towards the king was so, so strong. I thought it was something Killua and the others might have some feelings about...
I cried over the king and Komugi. The last scene, even though it was like, eight pages of black panels, was very powerful.
Election arc - this now brings me up to date! Gon's unconscious and possibly dying, Ging's suddenly showing up again as the part of the Zodiac Twelve, Leorio finally shows up again and punches Ging, Killua's last sibling suddenly becomes a major part of the story, and the entire Zoldyk family's in the spotlight once again. I had no idea where HxH was heading after the Chimera Ant arc, but I've been finding this arc pretty fascinating (even though the main character's unconscious). I thought it a letdown for Ging to show up just like that for the elections... what was the point of searching for him then? (Also, is it just me, or does he look younger now...?)
I'm quite happy that Killua has such a big role at the moment though, and Alluka has been fascinating to read about.
And so ends my super long babbling about HxH for the moment, haha...
Fic commentary for my Yuletide fics
This year, all three of my fics kind of contain a twist. Some sort of reveal near the end of the fics, so the below commentary is spoilerish. ;)
The Shape of His Devotion (for justwolf, Hunter x Hunter)
This fic took on many different shapes. The end result is vastly different from what I had in mind. One of
justwolf's other requested fandoms was Gay Pirates, a song. I listened to that song, watched the video, and thought I could possibly write a story for that fandom instead of HxH as I didn't have very developed ideas for HxH. I then thought I could possibly write a crossover between Gay Pirates and HxH, with parallels drawn between the relationship the narrator and Sebastian have in Gay Pirates, and the relationship Killua and Gon have. (With Gay Pirates conveniently providing the setting, as I couldn't decide where to set the story) I do so love outsider POVs, so the narrator of Gay Pirates was going to help me provide some commentary on what Killua and Gon look to others. At one point, the narrator and Killua were going to have a talk where they both come to some realizations, one where Killua realizes he's lying to himself. (Killua sneaks Gon on the ship to steal him away, and together the four of them head to the Starlian Continent, far away to somewhere the captain can't see. The Starlian Continent is named along the lines of how the other continents in HxH are named. The Yorbian continent seems to be named after Europe, so I thought I'd name a continent after Australia). ...this crossover plan of mine failed so hard. I researched pirates (I so cannot write pirates). I listened to the song over and over. I tried to name the narrator, and then got led to reading about the Twelfth Night (possibly what the song is inspired by, as there's a Sebastian in there too), and then got sidetracked and watched She's the Man (which is based off of Twelfth Night, yay for crossdressing).
My plan failed. I could not write pirates. I could not write the issues the narrator and Sebastian faced (even though the song has a merry tune, the lyrics are not merry at all). All that was completely thrown away, but the pirate ship part stayed... Killua still steals Gon away, escaping by a pirate ship, though none of the pirates even show up (because I can't write pirates).
I opted for a fairly cryptic style. Not my usual style! (though it's not like people can even guess that I wrote HxH...since I haven't really written HxH before...just two short drabbles) When I got to around 900 words, I wanted to toss the entire story as it wasn't exactly coming together, but I managed to find a focus for the story, filling in things here and there so that it was actually a story, cryptic as it is. (And I can't bear to toss stories when they're already so close to completion...) . I wanted Killua to reflect on Pouf's dedication to the king (he did, but only a little) because I thought those scenes were powerful, and Killua seemed to have been thinking a lot about the ants during the arc, seeing much more than Gon saw.
A lot happens in this fic that is glossed over with a few words. I'd say this fic is very...minimalist, and most like He Never Knew out of my writing. I tend to enjoy reading and writing stories that are on the opposite end... but this style fit the story I wanted to write... and, what I thought, was a broken relationship between Gon and Killua that both of them are desperately trying to keep together. I don't know how much sense the fic makes, but it sounds like I didn't lose people with the style, so phew.
(Also, more spoilerish for the ending of the fic, but I've been wondering ever since Killua took Alluka from the estate - what's going to happen to her? She was locked away, yes, but now her life's in danger. I can't help but think things won't turn out well, and I also can't help but think that Killua has completely ignored her until now that he needs her powers to save Gon, though this could possibly be due to Togashi not needing her in the story before this, but well.)
Sleeping Beauty, or the Unconscious Man on the Bed (for justwolf, Hunter x Hunter)
Another Hunter x Hunter fic from me. After writing the Shape of His Devotion, I was completely unsure about how the fic would be received because it's very cryptic and it contains character death. Not exactly what I'd have wanted myself! So I thought I'd also write my second idea for HxH. This was inspired by the 15th Detective Conan movie. Yeah. XD; I watched the movie in December. There's one character in the movie who sleeps for many, many years, only to wake up to find that all his friends are now older than him yet he still feels seven. I immediately got to thinking, "What if Gon doesn't wake up for a long time from his current state? And then he wakes up to find that he's missed out on so much because of his actions? How would he react? How would he cope?" So I wanted to write that out.
Except, I never did get around to exploring much of Gon or Killua's feelings directly, because my mind somehow wanted me to go with using the POV of an original character, pfffft. And I went with skirting around the fact that we're no longer in the present anymore but rather in the faaaaar future, with a lot of time having passed already, so the fic ended up focused on having the reader figure out how much time had passed (instead of being focused on how Gon and Killua react to this...). I mentioned how Leorio's already a doctor (Gon once said that the next time he sees Leorio, he expects him to be a doctor already) to hint at the fact that a lot of time has already passed.
...giving an original character such a huge focus... what was I thinking? Haha...
Tollue shares a lot of traits with Killua. I was afraid I perhaps made them too similar, but I hoped his fairly nonchalant attitude about Gon would clue people in.
The ending's quite...sappy. I kind of wanted Killua to knock Gon over the head. They have so much to talk about, but that's another story. I already touched upon a few things that are broken between them in the Shape of His Devotion and didn't want to be repetitive here. Even though...the fics have nothing to do with each other and are two different takes on the aftermath of the Chimera Ant arc.
I also have a third idea for HxH that I entertained writing for justwolf... that would have focused on Gon and Killua raising Kaito (chimera!Kaito) together... hahaha... I'm not sure if that would have been crack or super serious.
The Names of His Comrades (for Dark Ice Dragon, Noblesse)
This I wrote hours before the Yuletide collection closed and opened to the public. I could have written for any three of Dark Ice Dragon's requests, gosh, that Dear Yuletide Letter gave me so many plotbunnies (and I pretty much had a good idea about who I was getting giftfic from =p ), but I had an idea for M-21! A very awesome idea that filled me with glee! (except my dad shot me down, haha... I still wrote it anyway). I hadn't actually written a full length Noblesse fic before. I'm happy I finally got around to it. :)
So yeah. (Spoilers for the fic below, as the entire fic centers around this, haha...)
The idea was... what if M-21 starts regaining his memories, but they're not his memories but rather memories from his werewolf heart? I was explaining the story to my parents, but my dad was all like, "that's bull! Memories are from the mind, not the heart!" I was then going, "But this is fictional! Who knows, stuff like this can happen!" I decided to write the fic anyway. =P This was partly inspired by Area no Kishi (I am unoriginal and very affected by what I consume), where a large part of the plot (in the beginning at least, I'm very behind with the manga) deals with the repercussions of an implanted heart.
I thought maybe I would have M-21 reacting physically, with his body sometimes out of his control... but that didn't lead to what I wanted to write about, which was M-21 deciding he wanted to embrace whatever this new thing was so that he could find the names of his comrades. So, memory it was.
The name of the fic... heh. It is in exactly the same format as my first HxH fic (The Shape of His Devotion). What's with me and (The [noun] of his [noun]?) These two fics don't even remotely have anything to do with each other! Don't share the same naming scheme!! I thought it was a fitting name though, so I stuck with it as I couldn't come up with anything else. I tried to be descriptive in the summary without giving the story away. The title fit the summary. XD;
Dr. Crombell. (heh, sometimes I spell it Crombel, sometimes I spell it Crombell... I went with Crombell for some unknown reason...) I needed some sort of enemy, but I didn't want to go with the KSA as that plot is still ongoing and can easily contradict what I write... while Crombell is probably going to play an important part in Noblesse later on... that's probably still "later on". So congrats, Crombell, you got to play the antagonist in this fic that's totally not about defeating the enemy!
I had a lot of fun with this fic, as it's a blend of seriousness and lightheartedness (much like the series). Tao completely wanted to take over the fic. Poor Takeo... I had to try hard to give him lines. I wanted M-21 and Regis to have a heart-to-heart among snarking, with Regis chipping in about a lifetime of memories (because he's been alive much longer than M-21), but that only some years truly matter... I think it might have gotten sappy and OOC, haha. XD; In any case, I couldn't fit the conversation anywhere, and the fic was already long enough. XD;
I wasn't entirely sure what M-21 would be seeing in his memories (what exactly are the werewolves in Noblesse like?) and I didn't want to give the game away so soon, so I was very, very vague about the memories he saw. XD
The ending could have been better. I again fell into the "omg this fic won't end I need to write the ending already" so I was doing more telling than showing by the end, I felt. =/ But overall, I'm pleased with the fic (and pleased that I managed to get a lot of fun scenes in, a nod to the series, like M-21 getting his shirt torn, and Tao claiming that they're gaining a new housemate, but maybe not because he's kinda brawny... because seriously, it really seems like only the good-looking characters end up at Frakenstein's house. XD;;; )
And that concludes my Yuletide writing experience! Pft, this is 4,000 words long. Damn am I wordy with these.
no subject
no subject