#✧ headcanons — illusionary spider

[lesser-mook]

GARO: The Animation (anime recommendation) - Action, Dark Fantasy (Shonen Elements done right)

(light spoilers)

I saw this once a few years ago, didn't leave much impression at the time.

After a re-watch (Autumn 2023); Surprisingly character driven, character development was well paced (so well paced for some, It left room for a lot of remaining exploration for others)

The show technically has more than one mc, and it works because instead of NPC's hijacking the story from the mains, the mc's are given focus, thus time isn't wasted or robbed from the characters that should have priority. And the extras serve to world-build, & some filler I found myself enjoying.

Well executed action. (Not a fan of some of the CGI)

Music production is from Monaca, Keiichi Okabe's studio (NIER Game series).

Story isn't deep, it's simple.

The setting fits the tone well. (Dark fantasy, Medieval)

Sub is better, Dub is satisfactory. Both good.

Likable core cast, Ema is the Goat. Alfonso the Legend, Leon the beast. Germán the OG Playa.

Again, the side characters fit appropriately to give some world building, everyone isn't contrived to have the same level of importance despite being NPC's.

No, when it's the extras time to shine, they shine, then they bow down as they should. And the main characters are the main characters.

The fanservice didn't overstay it's welcome, didn't annoy me:

(Translation: Not a lot of stock jailbait/schoolgirls getting bent over, ya know, for the "kids"*), majorly it's played casual, it's just women that look sexy for the most part.

Not like a *Camera ZOOMS in on cleavage with bounce animation, sparkle filter, with Anime "WOW" sfx** (holds shot for 5 seconds+)

[Look look! Breasts! You like those right?! Give us a 10/10 please!] Shonen schtick.

As for GARO:

It has gags, comedy, but overall it's executed where it works, and when it's go time, it's go time. I was waiting for Ema's turn for the obligatory lingering, 5-8sec crotch shot while she's talking mid-sentence, followed by goofy sfx.

Just a 2 frame closeup you could miss if you blinked, Fanservice that flows with what's going on organically... Imagine my disappointment.

The situation doesn’t STOP________ To make sure you fully absorb the artistic significance of her crotch in the camera.

There was an occasion where the crew would've been stuck in an illusionary world if it weren't for Ema and her skills, so how she played into the events was unexpectedly not typical.

I didn't expect her to pop off the way she did at times. Heavy Femme Fatale energy. A professional. The only one in the show that can do what she does.

(I prefer her over Gina *Garo: Vanishing Line*)

Her (Spider-Woman) wire swinging scenes is some of the best content in the series.

So this anime is one of those weird series that for the most part treats their characters seriously while having sexy, but not oversexualized characters. (Again: Imagine my disappointment)

The characters read like characters with a stake & purpose, a story; Not caricatures with lines and a weekly scheduled cliche.

The movie, is decent, the plot wasn't the best but it was also well paced, doesn't drag or waste time, served as nice sendoff.

Recommended, I didn't get to see it the first time around, so watching it after the series served the anime to be more of a full package story.

Similar to (Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider Drive & Gaim: Movie Wars Full Throttle) technically being the sequel, true ending to Gaim.

My gripes would be the CGI look of the Knights themselves, that aesthetic is almost exclusive to them, almost. Clunky at first but they actually look surreal with how flexible and masterful they fight.

A lot of the monsters are 2D, but the Knights themselves are almost if not always CGI, this is my headcanon but I see it as an artistic choice to maintain the illusion of them being an interdimensional force. So they stand out the most in a sense.

It grows on you, eventually.

The villain, for me, was not interesting at all. I did like his stake in everything, the man was a menace, he just wasn't interesting (to me).

German's decision to not save Anna, when he had to power to do so? (In one scene it's shown she's alive when he retrieves the baby, so unless she was technically dead & her looking at him was just an aesthetic decision, I don't see why he doesn't try to take her too). Never understood that. Not a lore breaking gripe, obviously she was as good as dead but still, smells off to me.

Grandpa and those goddamn seeds (If you know, you know), the needless outcome of that situation drove me nuts the most.

---------------------------------

Overall, well produced, decent writing, no masterpiece, naturally; Better than I remember. Underrated.

Medieval Kamen Rider-esque but with Wolf Armor, my favorite of the GARO series trilogy.

The other 2 were OK (Vanishing Line could've been so much more if they focused on the better characters instead of Sophie) but the first, "The Animation" had a better execution about it.

#garo the animation #garo #anime #anime recommendation #recommendation #lessemrook #2024 #medieval #dark fantasy #action #tokusatsu

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; one of my favorite things about tracking kortopi’s development through the adaptations of hunter x hunter is seeing how he’s portrayed whenever his character design switches hands (anime art directors, artists for spinoff games, etc). i find it really fun as an artist myself to see exactly how people choose to portray him given that he has no canon age, because age matters a lot when you’re dealing with a person’s anatomy & proportions. so let’s bundle up these mopheads and rate them one by one, shall we?

togashi kortopi:

togashi’s drawn him in detail like. Twice Total. and every other time, he’s given an almost non-human appearance. honestly looks more like a creacher than a human. also shown getting crunk with the rest of the troupe so it’s pretty hard to determine either way how old he might be.

1999 anime kortopi

this was clearly trying to stick to togashi’s portrayal while trying to afford it more detail, the trench coat & boots are super cute & i love. it somehow makes him look even more mysterious, though this time around he looks a lot more distinctly human and adult, probably aided by the fact that you can actually distinguish what kind of clothing he’s wearing as it’s fitted more accurately to his body instead of looking like a random length of cloth stolen by some kinda forest fae. 

2011 kortopi

this is just... a whole baby. it’s kinda obvious that someone intended him to be portrayed as a child somewhere in the production notes or art direction discretions, because he’s drawn with very toddler-like proportions, and his hands lack the level of articulation that both togashi and ‘99 had ( most notably, if i may nerd out about anatomy for a second, the lack of visible knuckles due to the epiphysis of the bones not being fully grown yet and thus not protruding as much or at all. )

interestingly enough, a number of subsequent spinoffs of the 2011 anime don’t seem to fully be on board with drawing him with child-like proportions. i dunno if those are up to the discretion of the artist or not, since most mobile games tend to be staffed by freelancers rather than a dedicated studio/team, but speaking from experience, it’s kinda REALLY difficult to give kortopi adult proportions at the size he’s at in the 2011 anime, so you see a lot of artists going “fuck it, he’s a man now” and both giving him extra height and extra detail to his shoulders, collar & hands, which i find interesting and cool from an art theory perspective. 

which one is YOUR favorite mop? ( •⌄• ू )✧

#kortopi #hxh #; this is probably spam af to people's tls i am sorry #; this is why i only post late at night so no one sees #; anyways i had roughly two hours to knock out some anatomy study during work technical outage #; so i did a bunch of art studies on all of kortopi's portrayals and noticed how he's drawn differently in the games than in the 2011 anime #; this post is the result #; enjoy! #✧ headcanons — illusionary spider

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ALRIGHT U ASKED FOR IT!!

（‐＾▽＾‐）( ﾟдﾟ) キタ━━━(゜∀゜)━━━!!!!! (　ﾟДﾟ）(´；ω；`) ♪┏(・o･)┛ ♪ ⊂二二二（　＾ω＾）二⊃

-hes my fav+im obsessed ok?ok!

*cracks knuckles* you bet i did, my friend B)

Send me a face for a headcanon about my muse! ⮑ （‐＾▽＾‐）: What does your muse’s laugh sound like?

He doesn’t laugh too often, but when it does, it tends to be just an amused huff or two. If something causes him to actually laugh for more than a second or two, it sounds low and scratchy like his regular voice with the occasional crack. 11/10 extremely cute.

⮑ (ﾟдﾟ): When your muse didn’t expect something, what do they do?

Something unexpected usually causes him to pause for however long he possibly can, according to the situation. On the fly, he needs a couple of seconds to quickly think of an improvisation, but if he’s given enough time to, he will go through each sensible method in his mind from start to finish until he finds the most fitting solution.

⮑ キタ━━━(゜∀゜)━━━!!!!! : What does your muse do when very excited?

Well, his emotions are quite tempered, so extreme excitement is rare, but when something interests or excites him in general it’s easy to tell, because he starts talking more and also slightly faster than normal—his voice tends to go up a pitch or two as well, especially when it has to do with objects of rare or historical value. He’ll catch himself eventually, though, and restore his tone and composure back to normal.

⮑（　ﾟДﾟ） : What does your muse do when surprised?

  It’s already hard to catch a Nen user off-guard—add tenfold difficulty on account of Koru being a Phantom Troupe member and about a hundred more on account of his basically impenetrable composure. You’re not gonna shock him in any meaningful way, and if you’re trying, best of luck to you.

⮑ (´；ω；`): What brings your muse into a state of depression?

Koru basically lives inside his own head, and, as an unfortunate side-effect of that, can get a little too much in there to where it becomes detrimental. He’s not the best at talking about his feelings in a non-deflecting way, so when something serious happens that greatly upsets him, he tends to just isolate until the feelings pass, which can do more harm than good. Sometimes it becomes necessary for his Troupemates to prod at him until he vents so he doesn’t bottle it up and feel worse.

⮑ ♪┏(・o･)┛♪ : Can your muse dance well?

No, not really. 😂  And he would never do something like that on his own anyways. The most you’ll get out of him is taking his hands and moving his arms for him for the few seconds until he breaks away to awkward turtle in the corner. Pls don’t make him dance, especially not in front of people, he might die of embarassment.

⮑ ⊂二二二（　＾ω＾）二⊃ : Does your muse like to cuddle?

Very much so, yes. All his loved ones are taller and bigger than him, which is ideal for maximum warmth and snuggles. He might not ever initiate out of shyness, but he never argues against physical affection unless it’s completely overbearing, like Uvo squeezing the life out of him. Even then he might die happily, tho. 😂

#hiraeth-kittyboo #✧ headcanons — illusionary spider #; it actually gives me life when people care about this muse so thank you #; it gives me Superpowers of motivation

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ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ And （´-`）.｡oO( … )

Send me a face for a headcanon about my muse! ⮑ ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ : What irritates your muse the most?

  It’s hard to actually irritate him in a way he can’t easily hide, due to his passive nature and lack of having strong feelings for many things outside of his very specific interests. Excessive hyperactivity in his space can put him off-kilter, but he’d rather just leave the room and resume his own activities instead of trying to actively put a stop to someone’s actions if they bothered him. The telltale impulsiveness of most Enhancers also annoys him in a silent ‘why are you like this?’ kind of way, due to his own Conjurer-esque meticulousness and planning. His irritation only turns into silent anger when that person is actively impeding his or the Spider’s actions or safety, i.e. when Phinks and Feitan stood in his and Machi’s way while they attempted to follow the Chain User’s demands.

  ⮑（´-`）.｡oO( … ) : What does your muse think about a lot?

  He thinks about... a lot, a lot. He was a treasure hunter and hobbyist historian long before he joined the Troupe, so at any given moment, it’s fair game to assume he’s lost in thought about whatever his studies and various thefts had lead him to that particular day. He’s often found with his nose in a book or staring completely off into space for this reason, sometimes for hours at a time unblinking. Head full. Thoughts many.

#grimagician #✧ headcanons — illusionary spider #; *thumps a giant tome down* let me tell you about my boy

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answering every question from muse things - !

❄ — all striked answers are things that do not apply to him, and even if they do, he has no opinion/doesn’t find it relevant. three of the sections have been omitted entirely due to their lack of relevance to his thought process.

SELF + HEALTH

how do they see themselves? — as a part of the spider, nothing more or less. without it, he’d be just another person living uselessly until death.

how do they want to be seen by others? — he hopes he can be useful & that he can bring even the most fleeting, temporary meaning to his loved ones’ existences. he also, secretly, wishes to be loved, and to have it expressed to him in any of its forms.

what is their life motto?

would they rather lead or follow? —follow.

what motivates them? — working as part of a group, & discovering hidden or sealed away knowledge.

are they most likely to fight with their fists or their tongue? — his tongue, as he dislikes physical fighting as anything other than a means to an end. he only fights to kill and doesn’t like to spar. 

do they have any pet peeves? — acts of pure emotion that have no thought or planning put behind them, that end up deconstructing something that could’ve been handled more sensibly. so basically... most things done by enhancers, in general. looking at you, phinks & uvo.

what do they most regret? —not many things, in general. when things get screwed up despite him having thought he had made the best judgement at the time, it will keep him up for a few nights, but he’ll eventually forgive himself and move past it. paku’s death, for example.

what achievement are they most proud of? — being the troupe’s only #12, yet to have been killed and replaced. 

what would they like to improve on? —nen is a very versatile pool of energy to work with, he will always be tweaking with his abilities one way or the other. see: his ice transmutation.

do they have any scars? —several very tiny blips on the expanse of his skin that tell of countless IV insertions and things strapped to him when he was younger. a fair amount of battle scars, mostly centered around his hands and arms. #justconjurerthings 

do they have a disability? — anxiety disorder & ptsd, both which he quietly shoves down and rarely ever discusses their symptoms - as both are essentially a given, considering their line of work.

do they have any allergies or food intolerances? —mildly allergic to pollen, VERY allergic to latex. the latter is the reason he doesn’t ever wear disposable gloves even though he prefers to keep his hands clean.

do they have any long-term illnesses or injuries? —being a clearly very premature infant having inhaled the toxins of meteor city’s trash, he spent his infanthood all the way up to his early double digits extremely ill and practically on the verge of death. his body went into sepsis several times due to a weak immune system, and complications with his blood vessels left him with acrocyanosis well into adulthood after being on and off a (cheap) ventilator for years at a time. nowadays he’s mostly fine, though, just very small and very purple in the hands. 

PERSONALITY

describe their personality in one word. — cryptic. 

their predominant emotion? —contemplative. 

someone wrongs them. do they respond with revenge or forgiveness? — calculative neutrality, then, depending on which conclusion he draws, either forgiveness or cautious distrust, but never revenge. 

do they make snap judgments or take time to consider? — almost always takes time to consider, except in rare cases where his emotions run high and cloud his reason. 

are they a glass half-full or a glass half-empty kind of person? — depends on the situation, he will assess it accordingly.

do they express themselves through words or deeds? — a combination of both, most likely a deed followed by a bit of helpful explanation.

how often do they lie? — not often, unless it’s to conceal his own weakness or to deceive someone on orders from chrollo. 

do they listen to their head or their heart while making a decision? — his head, but sometimes his head and his heart war with eachother, and his heart wins in tense split-second decisions. 

HABITS

how organized/disorganized are they? — quite organized. organizing is a small hobby of his, and he’ll often do it without even thinking as he busies himself in thought. 

do they have any routines? — his life is a bit too hectic for that, but he does have a specific way of washing + caring for his hair out of a shower and right before bed, to avoid tangles. 

talk about their mannerisms. — gesturing with his hands. making small noises to himself. flicking his head to either side to adjust his hair-to-vision ratio.

is there an item they take with them wherever they go? — his cellphone, for obvious reasons, and often a small weapon he can clone for traceless murders, such as a knife or a handgun.

good habits and bad habits. — good habits: cleanliness and organization. bad habits: repressing his feelings and keeping himself up at night with anxious scenarios and telling no one. 

THOUGHTS

their views on formal education vs self-education?

what are their thoughts on animals? — sees them as no different than humans, selfish survivalists staying alive by whims and instinct. this is not a good thing. he kills them as effortlessly as he kills humans, if needed. 

how much do they care what people think about them? — when it comes to the troupe: he cares a lot more than he lets on. anyone else? strictly 0. 

do they enjoy being the center of attention? why or why not? — he typically doesn’t, he gives himself performance anxiety by holding himself to a high standard, even though he typically accomplishes whatever he sets out to do with a high success rate. 

how do they feel about learning? — one of his favorite hobbies, and the easiest way to bond with him. 

which do they value more: creativity or practicality? — they go hand-in-hand, he’d say. they are both tools to be utilized at their proper times. 

thoughts on material possessions? — he doesn’t keep many himself, but somewhat understands the need to have them and assign them value. under no circumstances should anyone be deluded into thinking anything can be owned, though. even objects. 

would they rather win an argument or avoid conflict? — avoid conflict, though purely intellectual arguments thrill him and he actively seeks them out on occasion.

views on people in general? — food for the spider’s web. 

what qualities do they admire in other people? — confidence in one’s actions, clear sets of boundaries that they follow, and the sense that someone knows what they’re doing beyond a shadow of a doubt.

how do they feel about fun?

what do they want written on their tombstone? — nothing. he’d much prefer to have no trace of himself left behind.

what would an ideal day, in their mind, be like? — discovering something new to revel in for a while, and then ending his day in the warm presence of someone he loves. 

thoughts on privacy? (are they private or are they “tmi”?) — most people assume him to be very secretive and locked away, but he’s actually rather honest about things when asked directly - he just doesn’t divulge them on a whim. like with most things, he never speaks first, but this doesn’t mean he never speaks at all. 

thoughts on superstitions or the occult? (do they believe, not believe, etc.) 

what are their religious views? — none. as far as he’s concerned, everything is put into motion by someone’s individual will. if some god doesn’t exist, he’s not particularly concerned about it.

THE PAST

where did they grow up? — meteor city. 

how would they describe their family? — the spider. 

what was their childhood like? —plagued by illness. 

what did they want to be when they grew up? — alive to see it. 

as a child, what were they most likely to be found doing? — struggling to breathe in a medical cot somewhere in meteor city.

the worst thing that has ever happened to them. — first running away from the city by himself and experiencing withdrawal from being taken out of intensive care for his weak body.

the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to them. — whenever he’s called out for his emotional weakness for the troupe. he just loves them, okay. 

the best thing that has ever happened to them. — a little bit after being recruited, the first time he felt truly acclimated with them. like he had a family for the first time. 

which memory stands out most clearly? — meeting chrollo, and getting close to shal and fei. those memories still visit his pleasant dreams once in a while. 

TOUGH STUFF

do they have any phobias? — medical rooms or establishments such as hospitals. they make him instantly claustrophobic and if he absolutely HAS to be inside of one, he will make an effort to complete his task there as quickly as possible while still doing exactly what he needs to do.

do they get nightmares? — sometimes, but they’re never violent, mainly just sad and vaguely hollow and empty. from these, he wakes up feeling like he didn’t even sleep at all. 

what kind of person are they? — one you would likely be much worse off for meeting, if you’re not a spider. 

would they let someone take the blame for something they did? — sure. it was their choice to do so, after all. 

what are they insecure about? — his own emotional weaknesses. they’re a nuisance to his thoughts and strategies and no one should be bothered with them. 

what is one way to earn their trust? — simply make plans and follow through with them. display confidence and the skill with which to back it up. 

what is one way to lose their trust? — be an enhancer. *COUGH* i mean, be primarily emotionally driven and cause destruction as a result. such a bringer of chaos would no doubt be a headache to have around regularly. 

one thing they would hate anyone to know about them. — that he’s very soft and with simple desires. he’ll verbally deny being slightly clingy and affection-starved, but his actions will say otherwise. 

they have to pick one: to be loved, to be feared, or to be admired. — to be loved. no question.

have they ever been bullied or teased? — due to his size, typically, but he doesn’t really care. there’s no impact to his life if people think he looks weird due to his appearance, or his voice or his powers. they’ll simply have to live with it. 

FUN STUFF

what is their character archetype? — the quiet but deadly one. 

what are they confident about? — he is confident in his efficiency and ability to carry out tasks and speak truthfully. 

talk about their moral alignment.  — true neutral. pretty self-explanatory. 

describe them in three words. — helpful. devoted. curious. 

describe their aesthetic. — ancient libraries covered in dust. a snowstorm in the night. an iced-over lake reflecting an overcast sky. 

what will make them laugh? — seeing his loved ones happily goofing off and being relaxed, as well as any number of empathetic reactions shared by the happiness of ones close to him.

what makes them feel safe? — simply being near the others, or being somewhere very far-off and secluded from largely populated areas.

favorite color and the reason for it. — blue, simply because his hair and eyes all fall in line with its palettes and it looks good on him. 

favorite book genre? — informational textbooks of a certain field of expertise, or, in the case of fiction, mystery &/or crime solving. 

favorite movie genre? — psychological thriller. also may or may not have a thing for hallmark movies with cheesy happy endings. 

favorite type of muse?

if they could have a superpower, what would they choose?

do they have a role model? — definitely chrollo, and also, to a certain extent, feitan. 

what is their personal kryptonite? — choosing things/planning for things that involve the life or death of someone in the spider. in that moment, his emotions cloud his judgement and he can only find himself reaching the conclusion most likely to keep them alive. he can hardly bear to lose any of them. 

how do they entertain themselves? — organizing things, studying a particular topic, or playing a boardgame/doing puzzles.

#✧ headcanons — illusionary spider #; stealing an entire ask meme to fill it out completely again? yes that's me and i will do it again

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; timeline stuff, for my own reference, because i have a post drafted planning to go into depth on when the spiders all joined / were killed, & i also need to remember dates bc it’s relevant for finding out when kortopi joined.

10 years prior to canon: troupe is founded.

5 years prior to canon: kurta massacre takes place. in the official art of all the troupe members directly before the event, kortopi is not present, implying that he had not joined yet. 

yorknew is the first troupe meetup in 3 years, and mentions #4 (omokage) and #8 (unknown) have changed since then. this implies that kortopi had been at this meeting 3 years ago, since he was not mentioned as one of the numbers who had changed, and he was present for the yorknew meetup. 

therefore, kortopi canonically joined the troupe 4-5 years before the events of the show, and was the troupe’s only #12, making him an original member of the troupe. he had not been a founding member, but he was the first and only #12 and has not been replaced since then.  

#✧ headcanons — illusionary spider #; well #; not exactly but tis the tag that fits this sort of analysis the most #; also trying to figure out if the specific number of spider you are means anything #; because i really wanna know if kortopi was the last original member to join (since he's the last number in the 12 legged spider) #; or if bonolenov & the first number 8 joined before him and the number is assigned specifically by chrollo for an unknown symbolic reason

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BIG OL’ KORTOPI INFO & HEADCANON DUMP ! ;

( aka the cliffnotes version of all the headcanon legwork i’ve done for this chara in the span of roleplaying him for five years )

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BACKSTORY / PRE-CANON : 

Kortopi originates from Meteor City, like the original members. The residents discovered him as a very small, clearly premature and sickly infant amidst the piles of garbage they regularly sifted through, not at all an uncommon occurrence, and took him immediately to the caretakers to try and save his life.

While he was able to be saved, it would be years before he would ever reach a “stable” level of health -- he was incredibly sickly and required nearly constant care all throughout his childhood, resulting in his care shifting hands a multitude of times due to the immense time and resources sink that it required. Because of this, Kortopi learned at a very young age to not grow attached to anyone, and that certain people - such as himself - were viewed as disposable by everyone. By the time his health had stabilized in his early teens, he had grown fed up with such suffocating conditions of being under constant care by people who - he thought - didn’t actually care about his life, and would simply pass him over again, and ran away to the fringes of the city to fend for himself. 

His life, from that point on, had become purely survival-based, even as his developing brain sought to accrue more knowledge about the world and the people in it. He hid in the shadows, using his small size & adjacent speed and dexterity to rob people blind before they had even realized what was happening, and using his remaining time to people-watch from an assortment of hiding spots, learning about the nature of human interaction, pursuing subjects that interested, and even learning about Nen this way.

Once he had adequately self-trained in Nen and developed his Divine Left Hand, Demonic Right Hand technique accordingly, this newfound ability caused an upset in Meteor City that eventually even reached the elders. Suddenly, people’s possessions were disappearing left and right, as if from thin air, and nobody knew why -- completely unaware that it was Kortopi’s doing, or even that the young boy existed.

Enter the Phantom Troupe. Skilled Nen users themselves, they managed to set up a trap to catch the culprit in the act of using this strange ability, and Kortopi took the bait. While the legs discussed amongst themselves on the matter of killing him or just leaving him be, Chrollo noted that Kortopi was appearing to keep the original objects he stole, and saw in him a thief, just like them, and decided to try and recruit him.

Kortopi was then cornered by the various legs of the Spider, and then approached by the Head. Though he was distrustful at first, Kortopi sensed a level of genuine compassion from Chrollo that he had never seen before in anyone, finding himself trusting in the words he spoke without question, surprising himself. Lulled in by this newfound sense of security and potential ‘belonging’, Kortopi accepted Chrollo’s offer, becoming leg #12 of the Spider.

❄❄❄

GENERAL INFO / PERSONALITY :

Kortopi doesn’t know his last name ( or at least, what it would’ve been had he ever reunited with his parents ) or how old he is. As of the events of the Yorknew Arc, he is 19, and when asked, he usually defaults to saying ‘same age as Shizuku’, since he’s aware that their timeline of entering child & adulthood seem to match up almost identically. He’s actually older than her by several months, a fact he’d find amusing if he were to ever find out his exact date of birth. 

Due to the troubled nature of his upbringing and the kindness that Chrollo showed him in allowing him into the group, he is fiercely protective of Chrollo and everyone within the Spider, and values their individual lives over the preservation of the group as a whole. This puts him directly in opposition of the group’s main principles and, as a result, of some of the founding members’ beliefs, as can be seen when he sides with Machi and is prepared to fight against Feitan and Phinks during the Chain User hostage dilemma. 

The Troupe is the first group of people he’s ever cared for and desires validation and acceptance from, and as a result, he often finds himself at a crossroads -- wanting to be by their sides at all times, yet too shy and afraid of making them upset to ever meaningfully reach out to them himself. Often times, he harbors his affection for them quietly, choosing to watch their group activities from a high perch or sit nearby, observing them. He never outright asks to be included, but very much enjoys when he is, and loves both giving and receiving physical affection.

Outside of the Troupe, Kortopi has a very nihilistic view of people and life as a whole. As was demonstrated to him when he was young and seemingly chronically ill, he believes that people will always seek to cast out the ‘other’ or anyone who causes too much trouble, and therefore feels justified in taking the lives of normal people, knowing they’ll eventually try and do the same to him. People outside of the Troupe are meaningless to him, and he will generally take their acts of kindness towards him as superficial no matter how good their intentions. 

Kortopi, like most members of the Troupe and most akin to Chrollo, does not fear death whatsoever. Having been on the edge of death countless times from both illness and the harshness of lone survival, he has an acute awareness that his time is limited, especially in the context of the Spider’s rule of new members being inducted by the killing of a current member. Because of this, he has no qualms doing things that may end in his death, or taking risks that may seem unwise. The future doesn’t exist to him - there is only the ‘now’.

His Spider tattoo is located between his shoulderblades, obscured by his long hair. He keeps his hair long both to obscure his tattoo and his face, keeping his identity hidden through both of these avenues. However, he’s not particularly self-conscious about his face ( as people often assume ) and he will often keep his hair behind his ears while he’s alone, eating, or around the Troupe in a private location. The appearance of his face isn’t a secret amongst anyone who knows him -- it’s rather average-looking, only made minorly off-putting by how large his eyes are, but otherwise nothing special. 

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INTER-TROUPE RELATIONSHIPS :

Chrollo is the first true figure of authority that Kortopi’s ever had in his life, and he regards him with immense respect and devotion, unable to be swayed from this by anything. He feels honored to be a part of his plans, and is always eager to show off his abilities and prowess to the leader, hoping to be praised. 10/10, would love headpats from Danchou at all times. 

Shizuku, Bonolenov and Shalnark are who he would consider his closest friends within the Troupe. These are the three he is most consistently able to overcome his shyness towards, and he can often be seen by their sides, a friendly presence that is always willing to listen to them and assist them in any way he can.

Machi and Pakunoda are both very calming presences to Kortopi, and he’ll often sit watching them read, sew or do other mundane activities, basking in their innate kindness and acceptance of him.

He desires to grow closer to Feitan, who he sees as someone similar to himself, but concedes to respectfully give him the space that he needs. He takes particular interest in observing his actions and attempting to analyze him past his cold and emotionless demeanor, and will jump at the chance to accompany him places or spend time with him in any capacity, hoping to see him open up with any luck and patient persistence.

Phinks, Nobunaga, Uvogin, and Franklin are all members with prickly outer demeanors and hair-trigger tempers, he’s found, but he’s witnessed them all to show care and affection to those they care about, and he finds them interesting to watch, often making a fun activity out of trying to predict their actions amongst Shal, Bono and Fei. He also feels gratitude whenever they show kindness to him, often reciprocating the gesture himself and taking amusement from their embarrassed reactions. 

Hisoka and Omokage give him a strong sense of unpredictability, contrasting with the rest of the Troupe’s firm resolves. He trusts them, as an extension of his trust in Chrollo, but finds their actions and demeanors mysterious, often interrogating them with curious questions to quell his own interest. 

Kalluto also gives him a sense that he may have hidden intentions, but this feeling is passed over in favor of feeling sympathetic to the young Zoldyck’s plight, as the only child in a group of highly skilled adults. Kortopi often tries to give him tips for navigating the Troupe, acting as a friendly big brother-type. 

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SKILLS AND ABILITIES ;

GENERAL COMBAT & TACTICAL SKILLS: [ found here ! ]

NEN ABILITIES: [ found here ! ]

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MISC. INFO :

He enjoys intellectual board games and is quite good at them, only being bested within the Troupe a small handful of times, usually by Chrollo. He is humble about this, and has no problem with stopping to explain any rules or mechanisms about the game should his opponent need such a thing.

In terms of sexuality, Kortopi is gay, but very, VERY demi and equally as shy. Even if he catches feelings, it takes a small eternity for him to be brave enough to distinguish them as such, and another one to actually act on them. Also, his chances of catching feelings outside the Troupe are pretty close to zero. Like, probably about %0.0001. Don’t count on him looking your way at all if you’re an outsider. 

His vocal chords are damaged, resulting in a deep, scratchy voice that tends to give people a fright when they first hear it. As a result, he can’t raise his voice very much, and avoids doing so unless absolutely necessary. It doesn’t hurt, but it results in a small fit of dry coughing that he finds unpleasant. 

The skin of his hands and feet are permanently colored a more pink-purple hue due to poor blood circulation throughout his entire body -- the rest of his skin is otherwise normal.

#; man i've written a lot for this guy in the past few years #; a lot has changed since i first started writing him but there's definitely some stuff that's persisted #; neon ami jamie & req yall might recognize some stuff from my old blog hehehe #; but yeah when i say this is the cliffnotes version... #; i left a whole bunch of stuff out because this was approaching 2k words already WHOOPS #✧ headcanons — illusionary spider #📒 independent writing — a well worn journal

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in depth headcanon prompts;

from this post !

are there any recent/daily thoughts they have about death or dying?

he does not think about it, nor does he worry about it — the only times it comes into his thought process is when his survival instincts kick in for whatever reason, and he needs to remind himself that he must suppress the urge for flight and focus on the fight, even if he perishes in the process. he goes into dangerous situation with the acceptance that he may not survive it, and is relatively at peace with that.

do they believe for every darkness there is a lightness? if not, why?

nope. the belief of “light” and “dark” isn’t factual enough for him and he doesn’t care for or understand such comparisons. all he knows is loyalty to his loved ones and complete apathy for everyone else. food for the spider’s web.

name one thing about the way their emotions work that they despise.

haha, oh yes — his emotions completely get away from him when his troupemates are in danger, and he’s more prone to acting irrationally than he ever is ; see the conflict over whether or not to let paku go alone to see kurapika. the fact that he’d gladly comply with a captor’s demands just to see paku and chrollo unharmed speaks VOLUMES. 

would they ever wish upon a falling star? if so, what would they wish?

nah, he wouldn’t. he’s more likely to quietly be reminded of a fact about meteorites he read about in a book once, and relay it to whoever he’s with if they bring it up.

describe how they would spend a stormy, overcast/rainy day.

inside, watching out the window. he doesn’t have much of a problem regulating his body temperature ever since he started developing his transmutation skills and it ended up expressing as ice — in simpler words, he’s not bothered by the cold anymore. he likes to watch the weather as it fluctuates and ponder each raindrop as it falls, it’s pretty easy for him to get lost in thought about pretty much anything. troupe’s #1 space cadet, challenged in ranking only by shizuku.

storms or clear skies?

storms, for the reasons mentioned directly above.

what about nature do they find calming? what about nature do they find disagreeable?

he’s fairly neutral on pretty much everything relating to it, aside from sating his natural curiosity of the world around him by gathering information about it in his spare time ; he can certainly tell you a few things about a particular biome or species of animal if he’s happened to read up on it. the only thing he actual hates is strong windstorms — he clocks in at about sixty-five pounds and is susceptible to being yanked around by gusts of wind, plus it makes his hair an absolute NIGHTMARE to untangle later. 

list three or more people they would call out for during an emergency.

he wouldn’t. he blames himself & his own lack of fortitude for any unfortunate situation he finds himself in and doesn’t expect anyone to help him. he is surprised and very grateful anytime someone helps him out of an emergency ; it’s one sure-fire way to get in his good favor.

what is their typical response to being given orders?

from chrollo? absolute compliance, no questions asked. from literally ANYONE else? he will argue with you if he deems the order invalid in any way, and whether or not he ends up following anyways depends completely on his own whims.

describe a thought or dream that would cause them to have a mental meltdown.

he’s never been the type to have very emotionally intense dreams, so when he does have them, they throw him completely off his game and he may act very unlike himself until he gets back into his groove. ( gestures to this thread for an example of that. )

are there any reasons why they would ever think of self-harm? if so, what are they?

( content warning for suicide and self-harm below. ) ah, yes. pre-troupe, when he was still under the care of medical caretakers with questionable credentials in meteor city, he would attempt to end his own life with any nearby tools to escape from the utter hopelessness of medical confinement with no end in sight. after he escaped and went to live on the outskirts on his own, he was in a lot of pain for several months due to his body re-adjusting to the harshness of his conditions and would paradoxically slash at his own arms and neck in an attempt to feel some sense of control over the pain by causing it himself. it is only by a SHEER series of miracles that he’s managed to survive this long — although, after having unlocked his full potential with nen, he is much more hardy nowadays.

describe a physical action that shows complete trust.

hand-holding. as a conjurer and a transmuter channeling an element of the weather, his hands are the sole conductors of his power. anyone outside the troupe who even tries to capture his hands will swiftly find themselves with a limb twisted off or some similar wound of instinctual self-defense.

describe a verbal way they would express complete trust.

haha, he speaks pretty bluntly, so i would imagine he’d just say “i trust you”. he doesn’t say anything he doesn’t mean, so having it spoken aloud would be proof enough to anyone that knows him that he means it. 

explain how they portray feelings of hostility or dislike.

honestly, it’s pretty hard for him to feel such a thing, because he’s more prone to being curious why someone is Like That rather than disliking it right off the bat. in the case of him finally getting outright tired of someone’s shit, he just avoids them like the plague. when even kortopi gets up and leaves to avoid being in the same room with you, it’s probably time to think about your life and life choices. 😂

what is something that causes them to question themself?

paku’s death was a BIG one that caused him to silently marinate in doubt and self-hate for weeks afterwards. in general, being told that his stance on something is wrong, or even worse, being proven on this is something that disturbs him and will bother him for weeks, prompting him to scramble for the source of the inconsistency within himself so he can correct it. with things that have to do with emotions or his gut reactions, he has no idea how to deal with it and will likely become distant for a while, spacing out into thought on level that even surpasses shizuku.

on a sleepless night, what would they be found doing?

reading a physical book or something on his phone, or shalnark’s laptop, if he’s truly unable to sleep. if he’s just having trouble falling asleep, he’ll just space out in thought, following his train of thought wherever it happens to take him until unconsciousness finally overtakes him. 

name at least two people who can trust them with their life.

tagging the boyfriend @painxpacker and the bff @kyousei . fei & shal are without a doubt his most important people on an emotional level, his loyalty to chrollo residing in a different part of his brain altogether. he would die for chrollo if ordered ; he would do anything for feitan and shalnark, for any reason.

describe a way that will earn affection (whether platonic or romantic) from them.

he very much enjoys being infodumped to, as it piques his natural curiosity about everything and deviates from the norm of him just being given the basics of an order to be carried out ; carry on a conversation with him about something you’re interested in and let him ask a bunch of questions about it, and you may find him hanging around you more often.

describe a way to make them uneasy or apprehensive.

he has trouble understanding some of the more emotionally-driven members such as nobunaga and phinks, and finds their manner of thinking to be more or less unpredictable. he doesn’t avoid them persay, but he is more aware when talking to them that they may suddenly blow up or act irrationally. this doesn’t change the way he speaks to them whatsoever, it just adds an extra element of caution to his demeanor. 

are they prone to violent outbursts or thoughts?

to say that he would never have an outburst would be a lie, but, i mean. the chance of it happening is like.... 0.001%. he is so utterly desensitized to violence that he can hardly even recognize it as such when it happens anymore, especially if there’s only a single target being maimed and there’s no one around to scream about it the horror of it all. 

what are their creative outlets?

his transmutation nen is the main source — while conjuration is rather straightforward, there is a lot of variation to be had in manifesting ice crystals or frigid winds with his nen, and he messes around with it whenever the thought occurs to him to try something out in a particular set of circumstances. 

do they tend to rely on words or actions more?

words and actions are one in the same to him. if he speaks something, he wouldn’t hesitate to act on it as well. if he acts on something, he would have no trouble relaying it in words. there is nothing ambiguous about the way he goes about things and that is his greatest strength as a member of the troupe. 

#cw: self harm #cw: suicide #✧ headcanons — illusionary spider #; jolt at it again with the headcanon posts clocking in at fic-length wordcounts

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; looking back, i find it super hilarious that even pre-kortopi’s face reveal, i was roleplaying kortopi not giving AF about revealing his face because i had assumed that the shadowing of his face was purely to shield his identity from non-members & to make it difficult for security cameras to facially detect him. and then his face reveal happened and totally validated me because there is literally NOTHING wrong with his face and thus it can be assumed he keeps his hair like that just because of personal preference, not because he’s afraid of showing it for any reason. Let Kortopi Show His Face Often 2k20.

#✧ headcanons — illusionary spider #; like. from a design standpoint it was prolly just because of togashi's own view of kortopi as a Funney Creature #; & it's fun to draw dynamic characters with different levels of anonymity & hairstyles #; but like. from a standpoint of writing the character as if he has his own agency. it appears to be solely due to personal preference #; i just think that's Neat. and also that he isn't particularly reserved about showing his face to troupe members. so they've all seen it

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; the inception of me giving kortopi ice powers (transmutation in the form of turning his aura into freezing wind/ice) was mainly based on me wanting to give him a power that he could use for offensive or tactical purposes, since it seems that his conjuration is so tangled up in conditions and limitations that he can only use gallery fake and nothing else

but sometimes my thoughts go the more whimsical route and i end up blasting some snow miku tunes while i think of cute things

kortopi manifesting a cute lil snowman out of thin air

creating miniature cyclones at his fingertips that sparkle with ice crystals like the night sky

the ability to have his ice cream not go all melty when he holds it

just ice fairy things

#; the second i got off work i went on mitchie m's page and said Father Give Me The Snow Miku #✧ headcanons — illusionary spider

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; thinking of kortopi, fresh into the troupe, being very quiet and shy and one of the members jokes that they basically got another feitan ( since they’re both quiet ) ... which is how ‘topi learns that the hunter language isn’t feitan’s first, and starts stealing books on language to help fei overcome the language barrier, if even only a little bit.

#✧ headcanons — illusionary spider #; i think the entire troupe has helped him as well of course in little bits and pieces #; but 'topi would take it just a little clever step further by finding out what his native lanugage is all on his own #; without asking anyone #; and then learn enough of the basics himself to communicate some actual grammar lessons & stuff to him in a way he can understand #; you can take the hc that kortopi knows & can speak fei's native language at a simple/conversational level from my cold dead hands

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; kortopi when someone in the troupe says they feel protective of him and think he’s small and cute: 

; kortopi when literally anyone else calls him cute and tries to baby him:

#✧ headcanons — illusionary spider #; any and all affection is happily accepted by him if it's from his troupe fam #; everyone else gets one 'i'm not a child. leave me alone.' and then gets murdered if they persist

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Kortopi’s Nen Abilities

Kortopi is a highly skilled Nen user whose capabilities far surpass non-users and those who are beginners or low-intermediates. Being a member of the Troupe, even a lower-ranking one, is a testament to his abilities and a sign that he should not be underestimated.

His natural Nen affinity is Conjuration. He also possess an abnormally high capacity for Nen itself, having a seemingly inexhaustible supply that he can use without tiring himself out. As of joining the Troupe, he has also started training in Transmutation.

Gallery Fake : Divine Left Hand, Demonic Right Hand Ability Type: Conjuration

When touching something with his left hand, he can create a perfect copy of it with his right hand. Everything he conjures this way is inanimate, even if the original was a living being, and static, even if the original had special or magical properties. The copied objects are linked to Kortopi by his En, and as such, he can sense their exact location and feel whatever interacts with them with extreme poignance and accuracy. The copies disappear within exactly 24 hours of their creation.

About Kortopi’s Conjuration: Due to the strict conditions and limitations set on his Conjuration, Gallery Fake is the only Hatsu he is able to perform with it. It being a purely tactical skill, while in combat he utilizes Transmutation instead.

Crystalline Wind : Neptune Ability Type: Transmutation

Kortopi creates a ball of Nen in his left hand, and then activates his Ren, transmuting it into a cyclone of below-freezing wind all around him that crystallizes the ball into a gigantic sphere of solid ice, which he then shatters outwards, filling the room with a bombardment of lethal projectiles that lasts several seconds and lowers the temperature of the space significantly as the icy Nen dissipates into the air.

About Kortopi’s Transmutation: Kortopi's Transmutation affinity is to turn his aura into freezing wind and ice, and unlike with his Conjuration, he is able to wield this ability outside of just his Hatsu, due to Crystalline Wind relying on sheer Nen capacity rather than Conditions & Vows.

#; WHY DID THIS TAKE ME TWO NIGHTS TO WRITE #; the wiki page on nen is an absolute nightmare is why #; this is like the super SUPER cliffnotes version of this so people will actually Read it #; i'll post the longer version on my carrd for him probably #; but there you have it #; one icy boy #✧ headcanons — illusionary spider

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Kortopi’s Combat Abilities

* Based on my own headcanon, as he is never shown being involved in a fight in canon, though I’ve taken a lot of other abilities he’s shown into account, such as him having enough nen to copy 50 skyscraper-sized buildings and him seen repeatedly manifesting a purple-gray sphere of energy in the opening and in Battle Collection.

He keeps a small, sharp weapon hidden under his dress (a knife, most likely, though it can be any number of things he was able to find/steal on his own) that he can quickly grab with his left hand and fire a barrage of copies from his right hand as projectiles, directing his nen in the direction of his target. The copied projectiles will travel endlessly and never lose momentum until they collide with something, upon which they’ll clatter to the ground and disappear instantly, a technique that Kortopi uses to keep from exhausting himself by keeping so many nen objects corporeal at a time.

Speaking of exhausting him, though, it’s pretty much impossible. The amount of nen he channels and has grown used to handling is so incredibly massive that keeping a battle going for as long as possible will undoubtedly lead to his opponent collapsing from exhaustion while Kortopi still has plenty of energy left. However, he tends to keep fights as short and straightforward as possible, both due to his own physical weakness and due to a distaste for pointless fights that have no purpose.

He’s one of the fastest and most agile members of the Troupe, due to his size and light weight, and as a thief who typically can’t overpower the ones he steals from, he’s an expert at evasive maneuvers. If you’re trying to catch him while he’s already running, good luck, but you probably won’t.

Before the fight even begins, he can sometimes successfully dissuade attackers by flaring up the full extent of his nen, shocking and terrifying the opponent with the sheer amount of it and the illusion of power that gives. It's proven to be an effective scare tactic against weaker nen users, who experience something very similar to what Gon experienced when Hisoka barred his entry into the upper floors of Heaven’s Arena—a terrifying feeling of being unable to move from fear, overwhelmed by the immense crushing presence. In the end, it’s only a scare tactic, since Kortopi doesn’t have the offensive skill to put all of it to use in any significant, dangerous way.

He has the ability to create a grayish-purple sphere of energy in his right hand, which can be thrown and will erupt into a giant cloud of thick smoke when detonated.

He can actually create a small variety of elemental spheres in his right hand, but most of them serve only as brief amusements or party tricks—his conjuration skill lies exclusively in making solid objects, so his abilities in creating non-corporeal energy blasts that can cause significant damage are a slow work in progress.

In general, his fighting style relies heavily on projectiles and evasion, as they’re his only defense against up-close, physical damage, which he cannot take a lot of before being incapacitated. He can’t beat any of the Spiders in a fight, and they don’t expect him to; they typically keep him as far away from serious fights as possible, because he’s a valuable asset for his bandit skills and his nen ability, which provides a huge strategic advantage to many of their heist plans. That being said, he’s not an opponent that simply anyone can beat—he has enough skills to run circles around amateur nen users and hold his own against intermediates, which is just enough for him to hold his place in the Spider as a part of their intelligence division and his role as their occasional Deus Ex Machina.

#✧ headcanons — illusionary spider

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; i’m the music video model laying dramatically on the floor with an artistic curtain laid out across my body whenever i think about kortopi shyly kissing a partner of his and then being pulled into a fiercer one and all the thought just EVACUATES his head and he becomes a flustered mess. i crave it

#✧ headcanons — illusionary spider #; iM SO TENDER I WANT HIM TO BE KISSED..........

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; tag update! mostly for my own reference

general tags:

↪ ic — divine left hand

↩ ooc — demonic right hand

❄ muse aesthetic — crystalline wind

⟲ memes — gallery fake

✉ asks — flawless imitation

✧ headcanons — illusionary spider

relationship specific:

🕷 phantom troupe — bonds bound in spider silk

🕸 outsiders — food for the spider’s web

account specific:

☀ his rising sun — painxpacker

✝ head of the spider — sacrificialspider

💥 a sphinx poised to strike — pharaohspider

🐈 feline chimera — feline puppeteer

🔥 fire and ice — inferveo

✂ youngest spider — queensconquest

📱 emergency contact — kyousei

👓 little sister — the eighth spider

#↩ ooc — demonic right hand #; also if you're wanting an account specific tag & you aren't listed let me know! #; i'm doing this while i'm at work so my focus is super divided i just did all the ones off the top of my head #; i probably missed a few & i promise it isn't intentional