we made you a song / it was about your funeral

ok long rant about characters:

the idea for this came from my fascination with the zoldyck family, and how their arcs tend to run somewhat parallel. growing up they were all pitted against each other in an environment that encouraged abuse. yet slowly, one by one, each of the siblings was offered an out— a person who came along and showed them a different way of living. for Killua, that was Gon--- then, later on, Killua himself came back to help Alluka. Meanwhile, Illumi has started to go against his family's wishes post-Zodiac arc (we see him defying direct orders from his father to leave Alluka alone, seeking her power for himself), and I personally believe this is due to influence from his person—Hisoka. here we see the split: Killua and Alluka were rescued by someone who loved them, who wanted more than anything to see them happy and safe. Illumi (already a maniac) was influenced by an even worse maniac to selfishly seek power. but that's interesting to! it's still a departure from the constraints of his family. and then we have Kalluto, who, for reasons largely unknown, has aligned themself with the Phantom Troupe. they are-- at least physically-- no longer under the thumb of their parents. now, the only child remaining is Milluki... who, unfortunately, is too much of a shut-in to make any outside connections. maybe he'll get there one day, maybe not. in the meantime, i can bask in the tragedy of this anime assassin family by co-opting a song about the french revolution.

even longer rant about personal feelings: