I wanted to ask you about your take on 'shipping' gon and killua like romantically? your drawings are ambiguous enough (idk if thats the right word) but I was wondering whether you see them that way and what you think of the discourse of it's 'gross' or 'disgusting to ship 2 kids'. Thanks and I hope this doesn't come off the wrong way. Your art is awesome and always makes me happy (*＾v＾*)/
Hey! Ty for the question! This is like the longest running discourse huh... I'll do my best to share my perspective! Putting some of it under a cut because I accidentally wrote too much ^^;
I do see the ickiness of the phrase 'shipping two kids' when you put it like that, but I think that's because the word 'shipping' has this... umbrella connotation of like. HEAVY romance with adult and often sexual implications attached to it. Which is a huge red flag when u think abt kids that way?? and obviously you shouldn't??? and there’ll always be some nasty fans who do, but I think a lot of us see them the way we see most ships in kids' shows.
Because BECAUSE the thing is, we see romance all the time in children's media. Kids have crushes. Kids get into stupid relationships at 13 where all they do is peck each other on the lips awkwardly and pass notes to each other in class and hang out on ‘dates’ at each other's houses to watch TV. And it's totally normal! So when people say 'ew shut up gon and killua are only friends, stop thinking abt them like that, they're children' you have to wonder where that's coming from. Bc would they be saying the same thing about a boy and a girl of the same age?
To bring up specific examples: think about aang from atla (is a 12 yo with an enormous crush for a majority of the series, and gets together with her in the end) and sam and danny from danny phantom (are 14 yo), and these are shows with like. An actual on-screen KISS at the end. Nobody bats an eye at that, and not to be dramatic but the double standards are showing. It's implying that 'queerness' is what's vile and adult but like. Queer adults were once queer children, right? Gon and killua are 12 at the beginning, and nearing 14 at the end, so the discourse of 😡don’t ship 2 kids!🤬 stops being valid when you think about it in a larger perspective, in relation to similar media. Like sure, you’re welcome to see them in a strictly platonic way, but if the ONLY REASON ur not ok with a wholly harmless, innocent romance is because they’re children, and harass other fans abt it, then to me it sounds like a load of bull to cover up ur homophobia.
(also whenever I say ‘you’ i mean an abstract third person, not YOU you anon, if that’s not clear hjghfdgs 💖)
As for hxh specifically, my take is that the subtext is deliberate. Togashi would have to be pretty ignorant of his own writing if it weren’t; killua is so heavily coded as developing a very romantic, very boyfriend crush on gon and considering togashi’s history with queer rep it wouldn’t be far-fetched for anyone to call it intentional. And who are any of us to take that away from queer fans who see themselves in these characters?
And as for me, using the word ‘ship’ makes me feel weird (which is totally a silly personal thing) but I think my feelings on killugon can be summed up by this exchange—
—which is a very underrated moment imo and explains killua’s feelings perfectly. They go from talking about dates to killua thinking to himself that he’d rather just stay with gon forever, and like... to me that’s IT. He doesn’t care about dating or romance when he can just be with gon. No dating experience with anyone else will be AS MEANINGFUL TO HIM as being with gon. Tell me if that isn’t the sweetest thing you’ve ever heard.
So it’s my personal opinion that, all things considered, what gon and killua have transcends any platonic or romantic connotation; it’s more like a ‘you’re IT for me’ in whatever way you choose to see it. Do I think killua has a big fat crush on gon?? yeah. Do I think anyone seeing their friendship as ONLY a friendship is valid? also yeah.
The only thing is that justifying them being strictly bff bros because 'they can’t be more bc they’re children ew’ isn’t gonna fly. Bc if you take it to mean anything more than an innocent depiction of young love then you're the one making it weird. As long as we’re not sick in imagining gross things then what’s wrong in just wanting them to hold hands?
Don't you feel that alluka has become an obstacle to Gon's killua relationship, with he is killua he doesn't mind this makes me upset..👉👈
Hmm to be honest with you anon, it’s incredible of togashi to have written alluka in a way that she doesn't feel like an obstacle. It was quite a feat to accomplish considering how many people love g&k and he did it somehow?? He made alluka so wonderful and likable and made a point of showing us that killua’s decision to be with her HAS NOTHING TO DO with how he feels for gon; it's more about learning how to extend the love in his heart to others, and less about replacing gon with someone else.
And I think the way alluka is written is a key factor, bc as much as killua says that he'll spend the rest of his life protecting her I don't think she’d actually let him do that :0 She seems like the sort of person who’d put her foot down and not let killua go too far for her, will remind him to think of his own health and would genuinely want the best for him. Which includes spending time with gon. I really think she’d ACTIVELY TRY to help them because she seems like she’d be... how shall i say.....perceptive. to the way killua feels about him. She wouldn’t let him mope around all lovesick lmao she’d just be like ‘ok brother we’re going to see gon right now NO IFS NO BUTS >:(’
I totally see all three of them spending time together, and I love that thought sm because I think it would be really good for gon and killua to heal. Alluka as a third party not just to ease the tension (like at the world tree you could sense this... strain betw them... alluka’s presence might help take that away or at least lessen it), but also as a person the both of them learn a lot from, and grow closer because of it all. So as opposed to being an obstacle, i rather think that alluka is just the sort of person they NEED around them to grow and heal!!
There's been a crazy number of treefrogs around my house as of late and they keep huddling up in the corners in a big green gummy mass of frogs and it's very cute
Every moment is a favorite one but right now I'm thinking about the time they're headed to some village to stop the selection process, where they're about to split up and killua says 'promise me you won't move, no matter what. You have to promise me' in that desperate sort of voice and gon's taken aback at the unexpected outburst bc he's never seen killua act like this.... yeah
"i want to stay by your side always" is not romantic in the context it was being said regarding killuas character, it's a heartfelt platonic bond in which his emotional capacity has been developed from having a friend he can spend his childhood with. emotional attachment is not inherently romantic at ALL, especially if we're talking about literal children. its the story of close friends and appreciation, not lovers.
i can't believe that out of that entire post THIS is one of the takeaways 🤦♀️ jesus christ
