The fact that Val Kilmer literally had to go out of his way to design a proper story for Iceman because he was written with absolutely nothing really going for him, and pretty much half of the fanbase STILL decides to disregard all of that just to dilute his character into a mean gay boy is so crazy btw
Edit; This post definitely poked a few nerves for people LMFAOOO I don't really care if you disagree with what I have to say lowk
The whole point of the post was that yes, he CAN be those things and still actually have a personality besides that, as shocking as it may seem !!
If that post genuinely upset you, you really need to find better things to do with your time I fear
maybe hot take? but killua is not upset with or harbouring an emotional wound about gon when they separate, and gons behaviour in the chimera ant arc is not the main cause of their separation.
the reason i say this is because the actual reason for their separation is alluka. she’s definitely not the only factor, and it’s not in a negative context, but she is the ultimate reason they have to part.
basically: an analysis of gon and killuas seperation, why they did it and what it means for their futures… together (?)
narrative reasons
narratively, killua and gon have to part for two main reasons. the first is that with gons dream of seeing his father fulfilled (or about to be fulfilled) gon no longer has a goal to work toward, therefore killua is no longer able to piggy back off of gons ambitions until he figures out what he wants to do. keeping them together after this, even if alluka wasnt there, would render them uninteresting to the audience because they wouldnt be doing a whole lot of anything. just hanging out- shooting the shit, etc.
the second reason is gons character development. a lot of people think the seperation is more about killuas development, allowing him to grow and learn what he wants in life, apart from just gon. but their seperation is actually designed to kickstart gons own rapid development and growth. ill explain how here:
gon at the end of the CAA has lost his nen and is effectively starting from the ground up. many people see this as a punishment and a setback, consequences for his actions in the CAA, but i think it’ll end up being the best thing that could have happened to gon, especially for his nen. why?
gons nen technique: jajanken vs killua’s electric nen.
gons jajanken, or his rock-paper-scissors, is extremely ineffective, full of weak points and is more often than not, more detrimental to gon than it is to his enemies.
we’re constantly being told through side characters like knuckle and even kite’s observations about gons nen that it is sloppy, unrefined, too slow, too obvious. this is contrasted by killua, who so far has been on the same nen level as gon and offered the same criticism and training, yet in the CAA his nen technique is only ever complimented— a sharp contrast where previously there was none.
gon also loses a majority of his fights in the CAA. not that he has many, but his losses are very heavily focused on. this is unlike killua, who also loses against shoot, but the reason (illumis needle) is quickly discovered, overcame and killua proceeds to then *mostly* win his fights, only losing one for the narrative purpose of starting his friendship with ikalgo. gon however doesnt manage to overcome his fatal flaw, or even work towards doing so. this flaw is his techniques rigid nature, but its also worsened by gons lack of strategic skill, adaptability, logical reasoning, and emotional regulation when in battle.
all of these issues come to a head in his fight against pitou, he loses himself in his anguish, doesnt accept any help— behaving illogically and being led by his need to satisfy his conscience before his common sense, but also his lack of adaptability— often complimented as his determination and source of strength— this comes back to bite him as his stubbornness. gons technique is a physical manifestation of this stubbornness— it’s extremely rigid, only having three options to use against someone, only one of which is very strong, and is shown to be completely ineffective against a stronger opponent, because it refuses to adapt. it also is wasteful, consuming wild amounts of his aura leading him to constantly collapse, this again is a reflection of what gon’s mindset is doing to him, working himself to exhaustion and constantly needing to be saved.
killuas technique is far more adaptable and we see it develop into something that many characters openly admire and praise it’s effectiveness. it has room to grow to crazy power levels and suits killua extremely well.
jajanken however, despite having the same screentime as killuas electricity, doesnt have any such development, we barely see scissors or paper, and whenever we do see it, its often accompanied by a character critiquing it.
jajanken is a manifestation of gons strong but often unstable and even unpredictable personality. it’s what ends up putting him in hospital. and its the reason killua wanted an apology from him.
gons apology
killua wants an apology from gon because the level that gon hurt himself against pitou upset killua, because gon had refused his help and destroyed himself as a result.
killua at the end of the day wants to help gon, so his issue was gon had pushed him away, refusing his help, yet couldnt even back up his words without destroying himself beyond repair. he still needs killuas help. so when gon apologises, he is apologising for his dismissive words, but more than that, he’s apologising for pushing him away, and for not being strong enough to admit he needed to accept killuas help in the first place.
but we also see gon learn what an apology means- that he cant do it again and must promise to do different. and so his apology to killua cant be completed with just words, it requires a full mindset overhaul, starting with the overhaul of his nen technique- his mindsets physical manifestation.
this is why he loses his nen. he needs to start from the ground up. needs to purge himself of his poor habits, including an often overlooked fault of gons, his total lack of strategy to the point of being dangerous- to him and to others. killua has to knock him out to remove him from kite because gon cant understand or just doesnt have space to care that they cant win right now. hes too emotionally reactive.
gons future
gons nen, at least in my opinion, definitely wont stay gone— theres no point and its extremely unsatisfying imo— but i think, instead it will grow and most likely even change types (im assuming manipulator because the other five have been covered by the main cast and we have no experience of seeing a GOOD manipulator)(despite someone from the troupe probably being a manipulator dont pull me for that), gon might also be a specialist because its definitely the most interesting type and despite chrollo and kurapika being specialists theres definitely still room for gon to have a very unique ability. however i firmly believe he wont remain an enhancer because its by FAR the most boring type) we also know how your nen type often correlates with your personality, and i think gons nen type change will reflect his mindset shift but also his growth from innocent headstrong child (enhancer) into someone cool calm and collected (manipulator) who can harness his emotions responsibly to use to power his nen ability— something as versatile and with as much room for growth as killuas technique. despite seeming goalless, gon is definitely working toward reuniting with killua based off what ging said to him— that the detours are often more valuable. finding killua ended up being more valuable to gon than finding ging. so gon will definitely seek killua out after he gets strong enough (fulfilling his apology promise to both killua and kite) this would also make an interesting switch in dynamics, where gon is chasing killua— maybe even joining him against his family toward the end. would definitely be exciting to see them reunite in battle. yearnerboy gon i await ur arrival.
killuas future
its only after gon perfects his new nen technique that he can then, narratively, reunite with killua, because nothing is technically stopping them from doing it whenever they feel like it, and they’re definitely not upset with eachother as often is reflected in fanworks (not that im complaining, yearning killugon solos everytime) i actually believe they split on great terms. killua isnt mad at gon because he knows that that is just who gon is and gon did apologise. killua is not a grudge holder, especially not toward gon. and even without losing his nen, i think gon couldve easily made up for his errs in judgement by simply training in mindfulness etc— though again its way more boring and doesnt change gons terrible nen ability.
but that brings us to alluka, who masquerades as a genuine reason for killua to leave gon, because narratively she is a fantastic way to develop killuas character— he can start living for someone OTHER than gon, but also living for someone who he doesnt feel he has to earn the affections of (not that he had to do that with gon, but killua often felt morally inferior to gon and unworthy of his friendship- see “you are light”). he doesnt have to worry about losing this relationship because its his sister, not his friend. this also allows an amazing opportunity for a zoldyck centered plotline later on where we can really dive deep and intimately explore the extremely interesting dynamics of their family. it also gives killua an oppurtunity to discover his own strengths, passions and goals to work toward.
their future
i believe that killua and gons reunion will involve them finally working toward a shared goal, or working side by side to achieve seperate goals. their reunion will be a show of how they have balanced their opposing strengths and come together again to be equals, both fully (or mostly) realised. always has to be room for improvement.
lastly, i also think their seperation allows them the opportunity to yearn and miss eachother. far from just loving eachothers company they also have to mourn eachothers absences.
my silly silly boys. togashi please let me see my kids its been decades.
if anyone does get to the end of this and has any thoughts or disagreements they want to debate or discuss please do i would be so delighted to talk more about this
At what point does it go from hyperfixation to special interest? Genuinely, coz I’m a little frightened
I haven’t stopped thinking about She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power for over a year now, every day, every hour, it’s on my mind in some way, shape or form.
I wear a bracelet about the “dygi?ily,spjto,s!” Scene and I cried when it broke and then super glued it back together.
Half of my sketchbook is She-Ra fanart
I’m fighting the urge to get a She-Ra tattoo bc I know that’s impulsive
Like it feels EMBARRASSING how much I’m obsessed with this, I get so exited every time something vaguely similar to it is mentioned and I know it’s a relatively dead fandom now so I feel even more autistic 😭 someone pls psycho analyze this and say I’m so normal for all of these things, thank you.
