#I guess you could interpret their lack of interaction as just

[mellonieee]

It really does make me sad that the anti-fairy family literally don't have an actual canon in-show dynamic. Like everything about them is solely just fanon. Anti Cosmo has like, less than 20 minutes of screentime in total as far as I can tell (A New Wish included), Anti Wanda less than that, and Irep shows up so much more often than either of his parents combined, sure, but he doesnt mention either of them that much. Even in A New Wish, Anti Wanda and Anti Cosmo just show up. Irep doesn't even bring them up even though they're literally right there. I guess he wouldn't really have to considering everything else that was happening, but c'mon. Putting all my faith in ANW season 2 rn,,I will cheer if Irep is in the same frame as his parents for 1 second.

[rampant-testiculitis]

the stars aligned in my personality so that everything i convey is either a warped version of what was intended something blatantly different

[haysaca]

Argus and her recurrent toxic yuris

Finished 2.1, was a fun ride, I think I have a few thoughts in mind but rn the most prevalent one is: Damn, I did NOT expect argus and tuesday to be more toxic than valenweis. So have a compilation of my reactions I guess.

Sheesh girlie is actually just taunting her to the extreme and I didn't even include her whole jab at her candy reliance. This is legit the perfect pair for the hatesex trope.

Like for a moment, I even thought tuesday was implying she banged and stole kayla here lmao

(its canon, poor argus got ntr'd, source is me I swear I'm not just delusional)

She just insulted her outta nowhere lmao. Though a delusional mind (not me) can interpret this as tuesday wanting to break argus down to tears.

Girl was actually rendered speechless 😭😭 Sorry tuesday she does not match your freak at all!!

She cannot be tamed at all and she's so real for that ngl. I'm so glad they went all out on her lack of fear/fear is her kink because I just absolutely adore unapologetic villains and she's definitely one, or rather a pretty good psychopath since she doesn't really care much for people, only their fears (I think, I haven't seen her story yet). Anyways argus made the right decision to dip, she CANNOT handle her freak.

That's about it for this toxic pair but I wanna talk about kayla too since I feel like she ain't a much better option for argus considering yknow, her identity and affiliations 😭

I know this is just an illusion by the motel but it'd be so fucked up if their relationship was actually this toxic, like the motel digs up stuff from their memories so this insecurity or perception of kayla had to come somewhere from deep inside argus' mind.

What's worse is, she could be right, considering kayla is a top tier of manus fucking vindictae 😭. Poor girl has insecurities of being wielded like a mindless tool, tries to assure herself that the woman shes pining and looking for is not that, only for said woman to be avoiding her because shes already served her purpose for her (I think, we'll see in argus' story I guess).

Though it could be a more mutual angsty case if we interpret kayla's smile as a sign she considers argus as more than that, maybe a pet instead :P (have high doubts she actually reciprocates her feelings the same way).

Poor argus cannot escape scummy women, hope she'll find happiness in vertin's suitcase because let's be fr she's joining us.

Also I absolutely love this particular quote because it's not just a jab at argus' trust issues but also an indirect one at her insecurity in her own image, her fear of hesitating, failing and being seen as incompetent (I think she has them? otherwise i don't really know what the townspeople in her hallucination are meant to signify).

Ok one last thought: I think argus' best shot for a happy yuri out of the entire 2.1 cast is legit with Ms. Karen Kimberly over here.

Because as hostile as their interactions are, their dynamic was pretty funny and nice compared to tuesday's harassment.

They radiate big bully x dumb bimbo energy, a pretty classic and tame rivalry dynamic. Kimberly's also the one with the least malicious/mean intentions towards argus, she doesn't want to harm or even use her, she just wants to eat!

So long as they take the time to talk it out and not point lethal weapons at each other, I'm sure they could get along in some way (looking at you argus, put that gun down and listen to your heart more, you big softie).

Alright that's about it for my ramble on argus and her misfortune with women, shoutout to @jeremy_exe on twitter for cooking up the only anjoargus art I've seen so far.

[applestorms]

trying to break down beyond more so here's some random thoughts:

he's very particular about the ways in which he's unhinged/insane, and oddly conscious about every weird thing he does. everything is meant to one-up L: excess sugar (jam + coffee sludge), uncomfortable body movements, presenting as a Genius Detective to hide his own crimes, etc. his weirdness is unnatural and, at least in the ways he specifically tries to replicate L, not innate to him specifically. there's a version of beyond, perhaps pre-L, who is weird in his own unique way.

for a serial killer, he has very little interest in the killings themselves. despite executing all these violent murders, even one of a 13 year old girl, every one of his victims is killed only after they're drugged to unconscious and the mutilation of their bodies is all post-death, for the sake of his puzzles alone. seemingly the only reason why he bothers with murder is because that is what L focuses on, and because his eyes make him so intimate w/ death.

his motives are clearly focused around L, perhaps both as a reaction to L and as an attempt at initiating some kind of interaction? iirc mello claims near the end of the story that his sole purpose is to give L some kind of unsolvable case, but clearly some of his behaviors must be done to antagonize L specifically, since almost nobody else (other than the meta audience) knows who he's presenting himself as/clowning on.

ultimately, it's his ego that gets him. he underestimates naomi's abilities often throughout the story, feeding her clues to ensure that his own puzzles get solved-- perhaps out of a lack of respect for her intelligence, but also to present himself as even more capable? to brag as much as he can?

the congenital shinigami eyes is honestly one of the most fascinating ideas any death note side story has ever presented. there are so so so many questions you can ask here-- is beyond genetically part shinigami? is he or his birth family somehow connected to a death note? how can he read the lifespans? mello describes beyond's shinigami eyes as follows:

Killing people was, for him, normal. Killing people who were fated to die anyway was no effort at all. Mmm, I guess I should explain the idea of the eyes of a shinigami. The phrase is only too familiar to me, but if I don't explain it, some of you will cry foul. The eyes of a shinigami. These eyes could be given out by any shinigami in return for half the recipient's remaining life. Normally contact with a shinigami was a prerequisite for acquisition, but Beyond Birthday had traded nothing--he had seen the world through those eyes since before he could remember. He knew your name before you said it. He knew the time of death of every person he met. ...I hardly need to explain just what effect this would have one his personality. You might think they would hardly be useful without a Death Note, but that is simply not the case. The ability to see someone's remaining life is the ability to see death. Death, death, death. Beyond Birthday lived his life unceasingly reminded that all humans would eventually die. From the time he was born he knew the day his father would be attacked by a thug and die, knew the day his mother would die in a train crash. He had these eyes before he was born, which is why he called himself Beyond Birthday. Which is why a child as strange as him was taking in by our home, sweet home--Wammy's House. (pg. 94-95)

it's unclear exactly how much of this story mello heard from L and how much is him interpreting/theorizing w/ his own ideas. the potentially biased narration is a fantastic layer in this story.

he is the second known wammy's kid to overtly attempt suicide, though his attempt is of course incomplete. we have no idea about the circumstances surrounding A's suicide, though i find it notable that A is mentioned at all as their presence makes this a pattern. this also seems important in conjunction w/ mello's infamous opening line: "I am your narrator, your navigator, your storyteller. For anyone else but [Near and Kira], my identity may be of no interest, but I am the old world's runner-up, the best dresser that died like a dog, Mihael Keehl. I once called myself Mello and was addressed by that name, but that was a long time ago. Good memories and nightmares." (pg. 12)

sidenote: love his use of "the old world," in that quote, i wonder what the original japanese is... fits well w/ the whole idea of L as the god of the old world. anyway,

his relationship with naomi is also Fascinating to me, particularly since it really doesn't seem like either of them have a speck of respect for the other. lmfao. i should really fic write for those two sometime... i really just need to do a proper character study on both of those bitches. lol.

edit: almost immediately upon posting this i open back the damn book back up to this quote:

If he attacked her with intent to kill, he would absolutely fail. He knew that he would. Ensuring his path of escape was far more critical. Naomi Misora was nothing more than L's servant, and if she died there would be dozens of replacements-- from the FBI, the CIA, and the NSA-- even Secret Service. So he had only been testing her. Seeing if Naomi Misora was capable of being L's substitute. "Hmmm...mmmm...hmmm...Huh huh huh huh...no, hee hee hee? I could go with ho ho ho ho, but that's a little too jolly...anyway. Oh, Naomi Misora-- you are pretty good. A shame to waste someone like you in the FBI." She had passed the test, so far. (pg. 95-96)

so. shit, idk. i guess he does still have some respect for her, albeit tempered by that classic death note sexism. shrug.

the beyond vs. KIRA comparison has a lot to consider, particularly when it comes to their egos and how they choose to cover up their crimes. L's reaction to either of them is also intriguing-- as much as i like to point out L's lack of respect for beyond he does admittedly take on the case even when it doesn't quite fit his usual standards (10+ deaths and/or 1 million dollars). he's at least somewhat aware of what his legacy is setting up, though how much he actually gives a shit about any of those kids is somewhat debatable...

[hulloitsdani]

What do u think Kiran is

How do u think the order sees kiran

*slowly sits up in my chair*

I think Kiran is a very normal person. This is someone you and I have met before. Be that from the other side of grocery store cashier, waiting in the same elevator, or walking by on a crosswalk. Kiran is a civilian from our world trying to roll with the punches of being warped somewhere completely alien. And you can see it in how they conduct themselves.

I always have a lot of fun writing Kiran’s dialogue because their casual modern speech almost feels like a dialect in comparison to the more formal fantasy tone everyone else speaks with. An “ain’t” will never exit Alfonse’s mouth, you know? And there’s a difference in “Do you have gold?” vs “You got gold?” To me, this gives Kiran an air of unfamiliarity to anyone they interact with. Let’s use Grima as an example, because it doesn’t sound like this grammatical change would make much of difference until Kiran has the audacity to hit Grima with a bro mid sentence. But that’s just how they talk. And as sweet and friendly as they are, there’s always moments like that to remind that no one has the cultural context to fully understand Kiran. Except for the audience, who can realize that Kiran let the customer service voice drop to talk to Grima like he’s an actual person.

And that’s just about how they talk! This view is only emphasized by every other thing about them! They’re a lovable goof, which is normal chill person behavior in the audience’s eyes but feels REALLY ODD to the characters of FE’s medieval fantasy war setting. There is this air of unknown about them that the more socially perceptive will pick up on and will try to come to a conclusion about. Example, I imagine Soren would interpret a lot of this as a dangerous and deeply annoying lack of intelligence from someone he has the displeasure of sharing a tactics table with. Or looping back to the Grima example, he would totally think Kiran has greedy ulterior motives behind that pleasant facade. It takes a lot of work for those types to realize that the discrepancy present isn’t really any of those things. But I also wouldn’t be too surprised if Kiran doesn’t try to directly prove any of those assumptions wrong unless they have to.

Why? Well now it’s time for the implications! Oh how we love the implications.

Because the Summoner is a different story. No one has any fucking clue what that is.

I can tell you what Kiran has pieced together so far. Summoning people from across time and space is apparently not easy. It’s not some school of magical study that some mage could pull off with enough time and research. Trust, Eitri tried. It’s a lot of complex moving parts. For example, the contracts. The contracts Kiran automatically binds their summoned to don’t even compare to the ones Veronica used in book 1. They are far more intense and infinitely harder to break. The only way out of them is if Kiran wills it so. Not even death is an option, because Kiran can come in for the revive. If they had to guess, it’s an older, more completed version of the art. Something lost to time. But no matter the case, Kiran has the ability to take full control of whoever they manage to summon. From a lowly farmer to the divine. And their power only grows.

In a similar vein, if there was any character to canonically see the hud, I think it would be Kiran. It’s genuinely part of their power set. I have previously described Kiran as the party mage until Veronica shows up to be the actual mage, but it would be way more accurate to call them a mystic/seer. They see the map, everyone’s stats, and is doing a fast amount of math to give the combat forecast. Then, upon processing all this information their enemies couldn’t dream of having at their disposal, Kiran can telepathically communicate any change in plans to anyone under contract. Kiran is not inherently some great tactician the moment they touch ground in Askr; they simply can do things no one else can. They’re learning the actual tactics part on the fly. This makes them simultaneously the largest ace up the Order’s sleeve and potentially its biggest liability. If they fall, it could cause a whole system cascade. By that same token, some of the biggest threats the Order has faced are the ones who do their research and rightfully target Kiran.

Now. Thinking critically about all that. That’s downright terrifying. A ridiculous amount of power has been dropped callously into Kiran’s lap and they have to work extremely hard to be moral with it. It’s terrifyingly easy not to be. It would actively take less effort to ‘take the reins’ as it were. But in order to be able to sleep at night ever again, they go the extra mile to not invalidate the will of their summoned. To take over like that. To make a colony of worker bees out of people. Because oh dear god they just summoned a child and the fact that they could easily force them to fight and die for them, only to be revived and do it all over again, is HAUNTING. No. No the Order has an in house orphanage now. This kid is getting adopted and cared for god damnit or Kiran might just pop a blood vessel. And sure that child is going to be a child and there will never be a world where they get along with everyone else, but that’s just going to need be a problem they address when they get there and not an excuse to use Hubris; the power set. Now replace the word child with everyone they ever summoned and you have the wider philosophy they apply to the entire Order.

They’re hyper aware of the power imbalance. They hate it with every bone in their body. They work really hard to correct it in whatever way they can.

So Kiran might not jump on the opportunity to correct those who think lesser of them. It’s… oddly comforting to know someone is keeping a critical eye on them. Holding them accountable. Especially since so much of the order just thinks of them as this quirky yet well meaning host. And, really, what can they even do about that? They have gone over the contract with every hero they summon and despite that they still choose to stay. So, what, do they try to inspire more mistrust? The problem with that they would have to actually do acts that intentionally inspire mistrust. And even if that was successful they can’t just waste the extra man power because every other month there’s some new divine asshole who wants them all dead. And if they fail that means they have to start their life from square one and god they can’t do that again so—

Just breathe Kiran.

It’s fine. You’re fine. Just breathe.

You have work to do.

[beyondthebackup]

Did B Meet L?

I can only speak for the English translation of Death Note: Another Note: The LABB Murder Cases, but here is what L actually had to say about knowing B.

L does not explicitly state that he never met B. Instead, he says that he does not 'know' B and is simply aware of him, which could be interpreted to mean any number of things. You can meet someone and interact with them and still reasonably claim that you do not 'know them', in the sense that you do not know them well.

In this scene, L insists to Misora that his relationship with B (or lack thereof) will not affect the case; I don't see why he wouldn't be absolutely clear about never having met B if this is the point he's trying to make. Especially if L feels that B's actions reflect on him, which Mello considers here:

Mello also speculates that B may have committed The LABB Murder Cases in an attempt to meet L. However, he admits several times over the course of the novel that his interpretations of B's motives are just that, speculation. This guess is made further unlikely by B's intention to die at the conclusion of the case and the fact that he expected L to send a pawn in his place. Mello assumes they never met, but he has no way of knowing.

Beyond Birthday's disguise, Rue Ryuzaki, is an accurate enough imitation of L for Misora to think of him immediately when she meets L in person at the end of the book. How B learned about L's appearance and mannerisms in the first place, however, is not clear.

So what's the conclusion? Well, it's vague. I do think the book implies that L and B never met, but unless the Japanese translation is markedly different, you can still argue that they may have met without contradicting the text.

A very short uncomplicated analysis, but I do think it's worth talking about!

[drawinglin]

Hello. Regarding Hellraiser III, I seem to recall you making a comment about how you believed Elliott and Unbound!Pinhead to be physical manifestations of Freud's model of the psyche - super-ego and id respectively. I am in total agreement with you there, and I have believed this same thing for a long time now. This would also make normal 'Bound' Pinhead that we meet in the first two films, and the films following Bloodline, to be the actual Ego itself. I think this makes the third film, and the characterisations so much more interesting, rather than doing what the early 90s HR comics did, which was to have Pinhead be an Aztec 'demon' who possesses Elliott, making them separate people altogether. That's boring and predictable, and just goes against everything that the movies established in the earlier films for Pinhead. By having Unbound and Elliott be one and the same, just different aspects of the same man, which is basically what HR is about - our deepest, darkest desires explored and enhanced, it builds on the HR mythology. This is why I've always loved HR3, and why I don't think it's a bad film, and why I just adore Unbound as a character. This is Pinhead off the leash. I still believe that Unbound would still be very fond of Kirsty, and still would be driven to protect her in some way. Even without his human side. But for the most part, he would be super eager to have her join him. Though he'd treat her much differently than he did the club patrons. I don't think the love/lust for Kirsty comes from just his human side. It comes from all of him.

Anyway, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the matter with you. I found this online regarding id, ego, super-ego, and it reminded me of the boys even more so. Maybe you could draw something out of this? It's an idea. I love your art. Keep up the good work! :)

Your analysis of Unbound and Elliot is exactly what I was thinking. It almost makes me cry. I’ve always found it hard to dislike HR3 for this reason. After watching the HR1 and HR2, I felt that human desires and darkness are what truly terrify us. So when I discovered that HR3 split the Hell Priest into two characters, I was super excited.

The human version of Elliot is relatively mature; after all, he carries the memories and burdens from his time as a human, as well as the PTSD of being a survivor of World War I. He is also someone who adheres strictly to rules. I guess this leadership quality and personality is what attracted Leviathan to him, eventually leading him to become the priest managing hell. In the moment of their separation, the repressed desires, dark sides, and nature of the human were individually extracted, like a newly born child without constraints. They both possess things that the other lacks. I’m really looking forward to their journey of hatred and self-destruction gradually turning into understanding, culminating in a new interpretation of a single person. It’s amazing! But unfortunately, HR3 didn’t delve into their complex psychological relationship in detail. This regret has made me want to doodle their story.

I was shocked to learn that the comic had mentioned the demon's setting before; I had no idea about that. Thank you for sharing! Like you, I’m more inclined towards the idea of the id and superego!

I agree that Elliot and Unbound have an obsession with Kirsty and surely hope that she would join their ranks as a Cenobite.

But to me,I tend to see their relationship as a complex ambiguity; I imagine it as a sense of distance rather than a romantic interaction. Their conflicts would actually bring them closer together.

For Kirsty, the Hell Priest undoubtedly intervened in her life and indirectly destroyed her family. Even if it started because of someone else’s involvement, he still cast a huge shadow over Kirsty. In their contract relationship, the Hell Priest has let her go multiple times, and Elliot himself has said that Kirsty is his friend. Therefore, I believe they share a relationship that is both contradictory and beautiful!

The existence of their relationship is so enchanting, which is probably why so many people like it!

And thank you for the pictures you provided. I love your thoughts every time you share them; they truly inspire me!🥰❤️ ❤️

[sufferu]

In your rbd reveal stories I can understand why no major characters are injured or die in your story as you call it a “cop out”, and would prefer to keep all the characters alive for there interactions( which I’m also a fan of)but wouldn’t the real cop out being that Subaru not being present has not one major consequence on the main cast. Beyond rbd Subaru is constantly the one making split second decisions where an important persons life lies in the balance. Furthermore there are situations like surprise attacks which we have seen can only be predicted by rbd Like during the great disaster where no one can predict every one of sphinx’s surprise attacks. So to have there be no genuinely significant ramifications for this decision makes all arguments for the use of rbd null. There are conversations such as knowing that Subaru rbds to save the lives of loved ones is it fair to put yourself in a dangerous situation die and expect Subaru to just live with that knowing he could change it. Beyond just the guilt what about the genuine grief of the loss of a loved one. Like ram constantly fights with a broken horn yet is never punished due to Subaru using rbd or cor Leonis but what now. Does she never enter combat again. What about Emilia who although is strong seems to also lack the ability to sense danger as seen against Elsa or petelguise, or sphinx’s surprise attack.In my opinion by excluding any permanent consequence of no Subaru, a genuine two sided conversation can no longer be had about rbd, and it’s purely just optimistic “we don’t need rbd we are strong independent people” when we know that the people around Subaru are constantly dying, by acting incredibly irresponsibly.Even Anastasia and julius going to Vollachia mid great disaster, is massively risky and we know that at the minimum if not for rbd julius would be dead. As much as Subaru is careless with his life, so is the cast, so to have there carelessness never be punished seems like a cop out to villainise rbd as much as possible. As much as I agree with your take that other fics dreamify rbd to the cast, imo your interpretation seems to swing just a bit too far in the opposite direction, by having Subaru never able to put up a genuinely reasonable argument, like is it fair to leave him behind with many of his loved ones prematurely dead, while he has to live on knowing he could of changed it and still had all of them yet due to his own choice he now grieves without his loved ones. I say all of this, but your fics are genuinely a breath of fresh are when it comes to rbd reveal fics, with a very different approach. The only reason I really nitpick at your fic is because there is no glaring mischaracterisation (exuding jumilia imo) is stupefying of reason to create your plot, which just goes to show what a high level of writing the fics you right genuinely are. Of all rbd reveal fics my favourite ones are probably dogshow and if you haven’t read it I recommend you go read Stockholm syndrome from a guy named Tom. I think you would genuinely like his fic. Sorry for the wall of text this was supposed to be a paragraph not a whole as letter to parliament😭😭😭. Sorry bro/sis😂

When did I say there wouldn’t be consequences?

I assumed that there being consequences to their decision was just kinda natural, lol, so I guess I never brought it up — but yeah, there are gonna be consequences. That Omelas ficlet isn’t where the story ends, for one. It’s not gonna be Major Character Death, because I think that’s both too easy and too restrictive from a writing standpoint, but there are plenty of consequences that I can inflict that don’t go that route. If the question is whether Subaru sacrificing himself is worth saving other people or not, then that means the characters are going to have to make a decision and then see if they can stick by it. I see that as…kinda the point, lol. It’s so much the point that it’s gonna be a major part of Back to Zero, even if I haven’t talked about it yet (and probably won’t until the actual chapters come out tbh lol).

But also, like — these characters aren’t complete slouches, you know? They all survived for years before Subaru showed up, and there was a full year between all the bullshit specifically caused by Roswaal’s machinations and the five-pronged Witch Cult Attack in which Subaru didn’t have to die at all. And all four of the other camps have gone against real trials and tribulations without him even being in the same area code. Subaru’s contributions are important, but he’s not the only competent person in the cast, lol

[dungeonmeshi-confessions]

Personality for me I see a lot of people interpret mithrun as aroace and I never really got it?

Like to me someone who's had near crippling depression he reads more as that to me. To me it's more like he hasn't felt like he deserved anything more than to be finished off in well near thirty years. He forgot how feelings worked more tha he stop desiring. Honestly I feel as if the whole experience of being a dungeon lord and having your desires being consumed is a allegory for depression.

You give and you give and you give until what you've been working for has eaten you whole and you can not physically give anymore despite how much you want to.

The other thing about mithrun being misinterpreted to me is less of 'aw crusty old grandpa' and more like 'a person who has been so lost in boughts of crippling lack of emotions to be able to properly interact with people by himself anymore isn't worth my care' which I kind of hate. He needs time.

He hasn't been updated on the world for more than 30 years he's out of date and just starting to recover he needs time. We know he is capable for learning things and that he liked knowing everything so he could gloat.

For me I feel like people forget that post canon development can happen? Like even if a story has ended that doesn't mean it has ended. There still might be thing the author wants to develop but didn't get a chance. The act of story making is inherently one were the story is never truly complete.

Idk I guess media literacy is dead.

.

[pestorik]

can you please expand on deuce/riddle ??? im rlly curious abt them tgt in your AU,,,,

(if you have the time i would also love to read abt azurid & mallerid :D ! no pressure though! im mostly interested in deurid ^^)

the riddle ship trifecta...

i enjoy them bc i think riddle really needs a calm presence in his life that makes him feel like he can act in ways he never had the freedom to do before, without feeling judged or made fun of. whether that is acting childish and silly or just expressing emotion freely. he's obviously really sensitive to being teased so he needs someone who is ok with that and just finds joy in his joy.

i relate to this a lot bc i myself am a very sensitive person, and get emotional really easy but im also very cynical and dry, so i think ppl see that contrast and find it funny. which is fine, but i get hurt or annoyed really easily by teasing bc i think what i really want is for someone to see how easily i get emotional (like crying at almost every movie i watch) and rather than seeing it as smth weird and funny, they recognize my empathy as something good. i want someone to see the value and worth in my emotions, no matter how trivial they seem.

and i think riddle needs that too. deuce isnt super smart but i think he's really earnest and riddle would appreciate that about him. he shows a lot of self awareness in recognizing how his past actions hurt his mom, and realizing he needs to be proactive if he wants to be a better person. very few ppl are willing to admit when they are the problem. he's just a very soft guy, but like, passionately soft. he wants so bad to be good. and i think he would want so badly for riddle to be happy, it would become really important to him just like his mom's happiness.

malleus is super honest about his intentions, which i think riddle needs bc his lack of social skills leave him anxious. he probably would get too frustrated having to play games and guess feelings. malleus just has a super calming presence and riddle needs that so bad. i think they are both pretty awkward bc of their upbringing so maybe they could find comfort in each other, knowing there's no judgement.

azul is none of these things lol 😂 i do NOT think these 2 would be a perfect healthy couple but i enjoy their dynamic. riddle is sensitive ofc but hes also super smart which is why i like the thought of them together. the two top students, not really in a competitive way, more like they recognize each other's weaknesses but also highly respect each other. to the point that they wouldnt ever make a move against the other. i could see them having a more loving relationship but in my mind they are more like a power couple lmao. like two powerhouses joining forces. i do think seeing riddle trying to overcome his own trauma and be a nicer person could inspire azul to do smth similar, realizing that if he likes and respects riddle, there must be some value in kindness without reward.

none of these would be canon in the AT au unfortunately, at least not in my mind (you can do whatever you like with it tho, it also doesnt mean i wont still talk/draw about it). there would definitely still be interactions among them with plenty of room for interpretation. obviously the most between deuce and riddle bc they are both HL.

i could see an episode where riddle recruits deuce to help him repair one of the elephant guardians (since deuce is good at repairing stuff) and they become closer. bc deuce used to get up to a lot of trouble he also has a lot knowledge of some of the rougher parts of the kingdom (im referring to deuces former crew as the spoiled fruit gang) and probably accompanies riddle when he needs to go there. riddle might sometimes go to deuce for advice on his relationship w his mother, since deuce is close w his mom. it would be cute if deuces mom came to really adore riddle and gave him a lot of the experiences he didnt get w his own mother.

[justsomeno1s]

I know this probably exists already/better, but enjoy this list of Fear & Hunger Souls, Complete with personal (flawed) interpretation; Both types confirmed and not!

Endless: Adventuring or theiving, Tresspassing or Vigilantising- The rogue's soul. Held by Cahara, Nilvan, and Karin. Seems to be a soul of freedom- No rules apply above their own, moral or not.

Enlightened: Knowledge and the Pursuit of it, enstrengthening one's mind and becoming closer to the Gods- The Scholar's soul. Held by Enki, Valteil, and O'saa. Seems to connect with knowledge and learning, Notably in regards to Magic/the Old Gods.

The question is, would an enlightened soul be inclined to pursue non-godly knowledges? Like, science or something?

Tormented: Suffering, Loss, Endurance, Overcoming one's phyiscal limits- The Prisoner's Soul. Held by Ragnavidr, Ronn Chambara, and August. Seems to be a double edged sword- You will suffer, but you will endure it.

Dominating/Domination: Charisma, Leadership, Interpersonal Skill, and a Lack of Reflection- The Leader's Soul. Held by D'arce and Francois. While not always in positions of power, it seems that Dominating Souls are inclinded towards interaction, whether human or not- When unable or unwilling to remain human, Francois instead breeds and raises his hounds. Stubborness and a lack of introspection may also connected, as both characters that have this soul type are displayed with this trait.

Notably, none of the Main Termina Cast have this soul type.

For the others, there are only one known holder each soul type to my knowledge. Therefore, we can only look at the individuals for information.

Solitary: Independence, Survival, Introversion, Withdrawal- The very concept of being alone. The Hermit's Soul. Held by Levi.

Is there a notable difference between "forcibly excluded" and "personally chosen" solitudes for the individual?

Caressing: Care and concern- Caretaking. Held by Abella. Most clearly shown in her backstory, where she picks up working against the war.

Shadowed: Overlooked, capable- Assumedly hardworking/passionate. Held by Olivia.

Tainted: Defined by contradictory actions and thoughts- Bad things, good reasons. Held by Marcoh.

It could very well be a variance from "Petty theif feeding family" to "Robin Hood" to "Mercenary w/o empathy for victims". Its hard to narrow down.

Changeling: Adaptiblity and resilience- When others would break, changeling souls bend. Held by Marina.

Could it represent variance? idk brain's fuzzy.

Latent: Untapped potential, inability to give all. Held by Tanaka.

Could it attract death? Or is Tanaka just super unlucky?

Radiating: Burns bright, then burns out. Short but exceptional life. Held by Samarie

I dont like Samarie, but her life was certainly beyond normality- even in universe.

Blank: A subdued nature- Quiet, a background character. Held by Da'an.

Da'an doesn't get moonscorched, instead getting possesed by Pocketcat- Could it that his soul allowed him to be overwritten by pocketcat?

Chaotic: Goal oriented, but two-faced- Willing to do anything to get what they want. Cares little for alliances. Held by Pav.

Decrepit: Self absorbed and uncaring- Cares only about self and own pleasure. Held by Caligura.

I don't have a complete grasp on some of them- Changeling, Blank, Chaotic and Decrepit are all some level of unsatisfying to me, but I dont know how to improve them.

And then there's Henryk' Suffocated soul- I have no fucking clue. Is it repression based? Want based? The opposite? I don't understand Henryk very well, and that means I can't break him down into his "base components" so to speak. He's a catcaller, a master chef who feeds the entire group for free, and potentially the first moonscorched. He's skilled with melee weapons, a massive flirt, and poisons a vulnerable group if given the chance. All of that is great, but tells me NOTHING about his soul.

Guess that's what happens when your main claim to fame is "mysterious backstory", lol!

Anyway. Enjoy this blurb of my thought process! Please feel free to let me know what I got wrong/missed!

[foosybit]

maaaaaybe we don't idolize pedophile relationships. Like, I understand mayoi is a complex character but he's absolutely Witten to be struggling with having attraction towards boys or men who look very young. He's canonly jerked off to aira sleeping, fantasized about Kohaku (who is 15, mayoi is almost 19) in a sexualized outfit, same for Hiiro, and is attracted to Shinobu because he is small and cute. YES, they are the same age but the REASON he likes him is the issue. I also understand he tries to 'control' it and beats himself up over it but it also doesn't change hes pretty actively just letting himself get off to a fantasy of a guy who looks young. Just something to think about. I guess.

hmmm considering the way this is worded, i think ur just here to get your point across to me, not to actually have an open conversation about this. But I'll at least treat it as good-faith and interact anyway.

I think we just fundamentally interpret the doting part of mayoi in a different way.

Now let's get the first thing out of the way… maybe this has shown up in a story i haven't read but… I don't think mayoi jerking off to aira is canon…? maybe you consider it to have been implied in one of mayoi's "im so sorry i totally didn't do anything suspicious last night!!!" lines, but considering mayoi's mental state, i think he's just kinda… prone to blurting out apologies/assurances for things he hasn't done just cuz he thinks everyone hates him or is at least ready to start hating him at the drop of a hat. But this is just a nitpick and whether or not it's true doesn't significantly affect what I'm about to say.

Other than that, I do think it's worth noting that mayoi is still pretty immature at this point, especially when it comes to feelings that occur within interpersonal relationships considering the fact that he's been isolated until main story. I think you can just as easily argue that he's still trying to sort out how to approach his feelings towards others without having it be a pedophile thing. There can be so many reasons for this. like sexual repression making him not know how to express that side of him appropriately, or making him feel the need to be sexual about things when hes not even horny (yes that happens when ur sexually repressed. trust me. im deep in christian circles irl and in deconstruction spaces online. sexual repression and lack of proper sex ed can fuck you up in the most unexpected ways but also doesnt necessarily have to make u a pedophile…). Or being so used to having other people tell you what you should be feeling that you start melding "what i should think if i find someone cute" and "what i actually think when i find someone cute" together, and could mistake cuteness aggression with having a crush and then enter this "i should feel/think xyz" mindset (i literally logically decided who i 'should' have a crush on based on who i respected the most, and then enacted romantic and sexual fantasies about these people who i genuinely wasn't in love with until maybe highschool. shoutout to the compulsory crushes that come with being queer and also just learning about yourself and your emotions in a highly amatonormative world).

What I'm saying through all of this is that mayoi's doting doesn't have to be inherently pedophilic and something that he needs to get rid of entirely. he can continue to be a lover of cute boys and have that at its core not be pedophilic. he can find shinobu attractive and its core reasons don't have to be because he "looks young," it can just be cuz he's cute and mayoi's still sorting out how he deals with his affection for cuteness and is still in the process of divorcing cuteness from youngness in his mind and vocabulary. Again, considering mayoi's implied culty and isolated background, it's not a stretch to think that a lot of his thoughts and feelings have not quite had the chance to mature yet. Especially with something as complicated to detangle as your sexual identity, doubly so if you're queer.

We already know mayoi needs therapy badly, so i don't think the only answer to his strangeness has to be pedophilia that he must overcome. And he also might not have sexual repression be the first thing he tries to address when he currently has literal disabling anxiety and other more pressing issues to address. Part of accepting a complicated character is also accepting them in an imperfect state and not just depriving them of living life and being happy just cuz they have stuff they need to work on. But! You can also decide that the way mayoi acts around younger guys is unforgivable to you personally, and decide that it's too much for you to handle emotionally to hold space for anything that comes close to pedophilia. You might want absolutely nothing to do with anything that resembles pedophilia at all. That's ok too, but will not be the way everyone approaches this side of him. And mayoshino has more going for it apart from just unresolved sexual repression, so i still do think it can stand up past it (more on that after the next paragraph). So, just cuz the writers might be making him an average counterpart to highlight shotabait and might be 'written to be' attracted to young boys doesn't mean we can't bring our own experiences into our interpretations.

Recognizing that writers have their own biases when writing, and recognizing that these characters are partially other people's biased depictions of the real people they perceive in their lives, and then choosing how you interpret a character appropriately is super important to do imo. especially when approaching sort of stereotyped characters in a franchise that'll go out of its way to make queerness as non-canon and only implied as possible in order to reach the largest audience. you've gotta know that 'mentally ill gay pedo' is a bad faith depiction even when it's on a modern-day handsome fictional man like mayoi (always always be wary of how mentally ill people get depicted and the specific traits/flaws they get given. you will often find biases against minorities). humoring bad faith aspects of characters on a surface level can only take you so far before you start saying weird/unempathetic things about minority characters without realizing it, you know? It's always good to take canon with a grain of salt and feel free to divorce them from certain aspects they're written to have, especially from larger franchises that don't have minority rep as their top priority. and you know what, it's also fine to subscribe to a bad-faith interpretation of a character, i do it all the time too cuz sometimes it's cathartic to be annoyed by a character and/or their actions (more on that after the next paragraph).

Another thing that's strange is the implication that the only reason mayoi loves shinobu is because he's small and cute? Or at least is the primary reason for the attraction. Sure that may have been what initially brought him to try and get close to shinobu, but i don't think that's the only factor in why he's still so attached or why i like them together. Shinobu truly cares for and respects him, always assumes the best of him even when mayoi truly thinks he shouldn't, goes out of his way to try and make mayoi feel more included with others, constantly suggesting mayoi for roles, etc. Not to mention that mayoi isn't always just doting the entire time when around shinobu. Yeah he's in a neutral state of doting when around shinobu (not inherently a bad thing), but they chat about the occult stuff mayoi's into, mayoi can vent his frustrations of himself to him and in return mayoi does actively comfort shinobu when he's down too, and mayoi supports shinobu's ideas and still does actively engage in ninja training and helps shinobu master his techniques. To assume that all of this doesn't play a significant role in mayoi's continuous active devotion to shinobu is just a bad-faith reading of mayoi's relationship with shinobu. And maybe you'd consider that assuming this is a significant part of mayoi's attraction is an overly good-faith reading of mayoi and giving one-off lines that go against his general characterization too much credit.

The fun part is that we can both have different readings/interpretations of the same character and one of us doesn't have to be unequivocally wrong. Viewing mayoi as someone who's tryna overcome pedophilia isn't bad if that's the reading you like the most or makes the most sense to you or helps you process your life better or whatever the reason may be, just respect the fact assumptions were made to get to that point, and other people will fill in the blanks in different ways.

[liminal-lesbian]

In regards to marcy finding her niche…well forgive me for being cynical, but I don’t think she has one. Both Anne and Sasha found their niches in Amphibia, but Marcy couldn’t. And it wasn’t a lack of trying either, as seen with new wartwood and the journal. If she couldn’t make friends in Amphibia, I don’t think could on earth.

You're also gonna have to forgive me for being an obnoxious optimist (it's a result of hitting rock bottom multiple times and somehow still gettin thru things), but I like to imagine things get better for Marcy after Amphibia!

I know her story wasn't well executed in the show, but I really do feel the idea of Amphibia's end being the true start of her journey makes sense to me. Marcy's biggest struggle was finding security in her identity outside of other people, hence her deep fear of being alone (if I have no one, who am I?) and her need to gain approval (if I'm useful people will stay).

The problem with this is by doing this she created a structure of self-identification that relied on her eschewing her sense of self in favour of, in essence, making herself lesser for others. She flattened herself to be the smart one, the mediator, Master Marcy of Newtopia, etc. All are identities inherently created to be someone for someone else. Needless to say the loss of these relationships, perceived or in reality, is a world shattering event because she loses not just the relationship but herself.

In Marcy's mind, for good reason mind you, people don't want her for HER. They want her for what she gives them, thus she moulds and contorts herself to be who THEY want, losing herself in the process, becoming less a person and more thing for them to use.

I think this is the message her experiences in the Core were MEANT to convey; Marcy's feelings toward Anne and Sasha were absolutely founded in reality—they neglected her when she tried to express her true self—but she also needed to learn that people will love her for her, as the holistic, flawed, true Marcy that she is. In the end Marcy needed to value herself as much in order for that relationship to ever succeed.

Obviously this could've been executed MUCH better, maybe with more emphasis on people expressing that they loved Marcy for who she was rather than what she did, but I guess that's what fanfics for, eh?

With all this in mind though, this is why I think post-Amphibia Marcy would've found a niche for herself. She's learned that she's loved beyond her acts of service for others. She doesn't need to earn people's love, she is valued and loved because she's Marcy Wu, plain and simple, proven by Anne and Sasha coming back for her (altho this could've been done better as well, ie an earlier attempt to rescue Marcy, but I do think the overall intention was there story wise). Taking this to heart I think she'd find people who share her interests and be able to interact with them in a healthy manner, meeting them as equals and not as a tool to be used. This self-respect, understanding her value and viewing herself as an equal in her relationships, is the door to finding and thriving in new friend groups outside of Anne and Sasha.

I think this is where her guarded nature would develop. She understands her self-worth, and therefore would protect herself from people who might want to exploit her again (ANDRI-ASS looking at u), but I do think she'd get to a point where she'd know when to open up.

I understand a more cynical take for sure! Looking at how she was treated in the show that's absolutely an interpretation that could come from it. Personally, as a big sap at heart, I like to imagine a future where she's happy.

Source: I spent 23+ years viewing myself in a very similar manner and project onto Marcy perhaps a bit more than is healthy

[rolotouto]

More translations (June)

Translations and opinions, too.

・Rolo: I will (protect) Brother! Kallen: The one from that time at Babel Tower? ・V.V.: You were a failed product, you know? Rolo: I'm not a tool! I really like seeing Rolo defending himself before V.V.. For a 63 year old, V.V. sure doesn't have many intelligent things to say other than throwing the same insult over and over:

V.V.: Rolo was a failed product. For his life to be shortened whenever he uses his Geass... "defective" is putting it mildly. Well, guess he can be used for assassinations at least. Is it that Rolo's life was shortened each time he used his Geass, or that each time he used his Geass for too long he could die? Because, if it's the latter, then provided that he was careful, arguably using his Geass didn't affect his health long term, but if it's the former, Lelouch sure didn't mind making Rolo have to sacrifice his life span for trivial things like protecting him from girls during Turn 12... Opinion time: Even though I want to believe that Lelouch wouldn't actually knowingly allow Rolo to shorten his life span, as I'm convinced that he cared about Rolo during all that time he told himself that he hated him, I wish Rolo acknowledged that it was very cruel of Lelouch to manipulate his emotions, and that Rolo's only reference to how Lelouch hurt him wasn't just a vague 'Brother used me' (which is always quickly followed by 'but he made me human' so that the audience doesn't have to think much about how Lelouch did wrong). His Home or Trust lines in Lost Stories would have been the perfect place for Rolo to show us more of his point of view, but instead, as I complained last time, he sounds a little too repetitive with the 'Brother made me human' and 'I will protect Brother' lines. In the anime, because there's no time for more, proportionately Rolo gets much more focus, as in a few minutes he: -Rescues Lelouch against Lelouch's demands -Monologues out loud despite having no listeners -When Lelouch wants to know 'Why did you save me?', he makes Lelouch have to change that lamenting tone and join him in pretending that everything is okay by giving Lelouch an answer that Lelouch didn't expect Rolo is the one in control during those scenes, while Lelouch temporarily becomes a "secondary" (passive) character. And because we don't see what he was thinking between Lelouch yelling at him and him deciding to save Lelouch, it's possible to interpret that Rolo *was* in fact hurt and resentful that Lelouch never even attempted to give him (<-a child who had only known abuse throughout his life) that future he promised, and that Rolo giving up his life to save him was, partially, his own way of forcing Lelouch to always remember him (plus he also called Lelouch a liar, which, even though at first glance he only does to protect Lelouch from feeling guilt, could also be an accusation Rolo wanted to make and get off his chest). Lost Stories even depicted Rolo still asking Lelouch to keep his promise around Turn 16, but then we see Turn19!Rolo's thoughts and there's no hint of shock or anger after Lelouch reveals he was manipulating Rolo from the start? I think that is too selfless to the point where it becomes lack of self-respect... Well, back to the video: ・Rolo: I won't let them kill (Brother)! No matter what! Lelouch: Please stop! Do you want to die? Battle interaction between Turn5!Shirley and regular!Rolo (not Turn19!Rolo): ・Shirley: Hey, do you know where Lulu is? Rolo: You are going around wearing that...? ?! Why would someone like Rolo care what she wears... How does he even have a concept of what kind of clothing is appropriate or not?! Love his formal Japanese though. A different login bonus line: ・Rolo: Excuse me, did you see Brother? He left without me realizing it... And teacher Villetta was looking for him. Yet another Home line that I'd never seen before, but that he started using around a couple weeks ago (used by any of the 3 Rolos): ・Rolo: There are still things I don't understand (lit. "can't read") about you. I wonder if I'll end up understanding them if more time goes by. June line (any of the 3 Rolos): ・Rolo: Come to think of it, I have not ridden the motorcycle lately. It's probably the same for you, right? You know, seeing as it won't stop raining...

Yes!! Thank you for remembering Rolo's life contains more activities than just thinking about niisan!! I did not translate that as "my" motorcycle because I think he only ever drives Rivalz's and doesn't own one... Home line that isn't part of the in-game archive (Turn19!Rolo only): ・Rolo: This locket... It's okay if I keep it until the end, right...?

😢

[irvingcoded]

I hate book irving and silna but I feel robbed we never see show silna and irving interact

man right?? especially given how the show still maintains irving's narrative connection and relative sympathies toward the surrounding netsilik people it's honestly such a waste! I would have loved to see them interact even just one scene, since it'd be decidedly Not Like The Book! like, even if irving wasn't deep repressed gay denial he's still just Big Repressed in general he isn't going to suddenly start acting inappropriate and horny just because there's a woman in proximity...... anyway, while I do mostly very much like how (and why) they adapted that arc for goodsir in the show instead of irving, it would have still been nice to hold onto a couple more things with irving I think. not the horny fuckboy shit obviously but the more meaningful moments of connection I guess.

irving in the show kind of suffers in general from a lack of introspection I think, in that we do get deeper and more internal insights to a lot of the main / supporting cast, quiet and intentionally revealing moments for us the viewers, but with him we're kind of denied a similar glimpse behind the curtain, aside from how the character is portrayed and interpreted by ronan raftery and the literal context of his scenes. which isnt to say there's not TONS of subtext because there definitely is, it's almost entirely nothing that was actually written into the scripts so I imagine it came later, maybe mainly via ronan's portrayal and how the actor chemistry unfolded which led to dave k's validation of that subtext that (unlike with most other characters!) was again very absent / lacking any significant detail in the transcripts.

and honestly I do think this actually mostly works for his character in particular, because even he is denying himself further insight into who he really is, BUT it definitely also backfires in the sense that so many ppl get blindsided by his actions in ep7, despite there definitely being scenes before that which do inform them, because we never get much access to his logic and process, whereas others you can almost see beat by beat as their opinions/feelings are evolving or changing. ALL THIS TO SAY even just one actual interaction with silna could have maybe helped somewhat bridge the narrative gap for all the people who are not obsessed with microanalysing every tiny crumb of irving content and details, perhaps... 🤪

and honestly irving aside, there is a lot a LOT of book silna content that imo would have been nice to keep or adapt at least. the book undoubtedly has its flaws and weaknesses and given the era of perspectives its being told through its hard to avoid that huge lens of bigotry but, the show could have still incorporated more of her scenes and character insight and even the deeper background of inuit lore but just ofc handled it more appropriately and accurately.

(that's also another thing for me how goodsir and irving never interact [onscreen] EITHER except ofc after irvings dead yet the character /narrative parallels are all over the place between both book AND show & not even limited to just the storyline transference!!!! arrrrrggghh... not that they interact much in the book either, I mean, but SINCE the show goes through so much trouble to have adapted and paralled the characters this way we could have gotten more from the show there too... all I'm sayin...)

[chibivesicle]

Trigun Stampede - Episode 9 Millions Knives - ‘Cause Knives needs awkward backstory as well

This week’s episode decides to compress things even further by making part of the flashback a shared one for both Vash and Knives.  Stampede is leaning in hard to the hyper intelligent virtuoso trope for Knives with him playing a large piano that has inverted key colors.

His hairstyle and clothing indicate that this is the continuation of the flashback that Vash started in episode eight but we are getting it from his point of view. As he plays he thinks back to his childhood where Vash joins him at the piano.  Vash seems to be really enjoying it, but young Nai is not thrilled.

Honestly, could he have been even more grumpy when he was a kid?  I get that they are different individuals and have different temperaments but this version from Studio Orange makes the contrast even greater than in the manga. They do play together, but since we don’t get to see Nai’s expression with the camera angle from behind can we tell if he actually is enjoying it as much as Vash?  In all of their interactions, it seems like Nai simply tolerates Vash’s existence - like he’d be fine without a twin brother.

The flashback in a flashback returns to the first one and a much younger version of Conrad enters telling Knives that he got something for him.

This is a completely new version of Conrad as his original design was always older and bald in the manga.  An alarm sounds and they end up moving to the large bay with rows and rows and rows of plants.  Knives is visibly angry as he asks what is going on.  Conrad calmly replies that they’ve hit their production limit.

As was the case in Trigun Maximum, they force the plants through their ‘last run’ where they overdrive them to death.  However, unlike the manga, there has been no discussion on the physiological changes that indicate plant aging with their hair turning black yet.  Knives is not happy and a weird black ash floats through the air as Conrad apologizes to Knives on the behalf of all humanity.

And it is perfect timing as the plant whisperer, Vash has appeared.  Knives takes this as his opportunity to prove to Vash that he’s right in regard to everything (I guess based on his immediate need to boss Vash around).

More humans show up and try to get Knives to leave which is just a weird set up.  They said he wasn’t supposed to be there, Vash somehow just strolled into their crashed ship.  You aren’t doing a good job of controlling access copy paste humans who see plants as tools.  Conrad just awkwardly stands there telling them to not take Knives away.

What is this entire situation?  I’m not confused but it seems so forced.  So forced because we need to create tension between passive Vash and aggressive Knives.

With the literal interpretation of his name, he creates claws to kill a bunch of the copy paste men while Conrad and Vash watch.  Vash asks Nai to stop and he replies no one has called him that in a long time.  Is five years really that long of a time though?

Why is Vash standing there?  Murder happened and he’s politely asking Nai to stop.  This allows for the underwhelming reveal that Nai has rebranded himself as Millions Knives.  He is the self appointed leader and only independently associated plant.  Wow, that’s some interesting thought there Knives but how do we know if you are honestly the envoy for all the plants or you are simply stating this without support.

We have heard no input from the plants at this point and lacking that information, I’m going to state that this younger version of Knives decided he’s the plants autocratic leader acting on ‘behalf’ of them.

Vash innocently asks why Knives had to kill people and finally gets more emotional when he reminds Knives that Rem sacrificed herself to save them.

Knives then reveals that Rem messed up his original plans - he’d intended to destroy all of the ships with humans and only save the ships that had plants . . . however, I’m sure he told himself the sacrifices of the plants on the human ships was a necessary sacrifice for the greater good of plantdom.

So Knives solution is to create a paradise for Vash and himself and the rest of the plants stuck in their containers?

Vash sort of argues back with a fact that Rem told them that plants can’t live outside of the plants and without a place to move their energy to without self-destructing.  Knives counters that Vash bought into ‘that’ so he thinks otherwise as a free ranging independent plant.  We don’t know enough about these plants in Stampede to know if that is a lie that Rem told them or the truth.  In the manga it is a fact that the regular plants can’t survive without being connected to something as shown through the awkward interaction with the plants that fell out of Knives’ ark and needed human assistance to ‘plug’ back into the grid to prevent them from dying outright.

Either way, Vash continues to passively stand there as Knives explains his agenda to free their brethren and use his power as a free plant.  Before proceeding to kill a bunch more copy paste guys with his very Wolverine inspired claws.  He wants nothing more for Vash to be his partner in human murder and plant liberation, but Knives really needs to work on his power of persuasion.  Seriously dude, you can’t just tell someone what to do when they are your equal.

He takes a small gun from one of the men he killed and prefaces it in a rather religious tone stating that it is the weapon of a Sinner and it is evil.  Certainly, loaded Christian-ish language but again simple external dressing as far as wel can tell at the moment in this version of Trigun.

We can all see where this is going . . . since Vash won’t kill humans up close and personal like Knives, he’s going to give the gun to him because even someone as weak and docile as Vash can fire a gun.  And to add to it, he has to insult Vash calling him a human-lover.  And with our perfect timing, Luida shows up to tell Vash that she’s here to take him home.

Confirmed, in this version she is not a middle-aged leader of the humans who haven’t fallen and could put all of the men on the surface in their place.  She’s Rem 2.0!  There is no need for strong female characters here.  Knives immediately decides that what Vash needs to do is to kill her.  He looks down at the firearm in horror.

We know that Vash can’t shoot her.  Knives you need to work harder at winning the hearts of others.  He takes the gun for Vash, gaslights him to the core stating he has to do everything for his brother and approaches Luida to kill her.  Vash finally snaps and tackles him.  We finally get some honest Vash emotions and guilt.  He confesses that he always stood behind Rem and she was the one who always protected him, but he lost her in the end.  He decides that Nai isn’t going to take anyone else away from him, but gets tossed off to the side either way.

Knives then calls Luida as witch before declaring his question of how many times you will steal him from me?  Wow - got a weird mother complex much Knives?

Any woman who cares for Vash is the same person and you have to fight her influence? Does this imply there were more ladies besides Rem and Luida?  What is going on with this characterization of Knives? 

Anyhoo, as Knives tries to choke Luida, Vash becomes upset yelling for him to start before he activates his angel arm power - which is a black hole?

And soon as this happened, everyone knew what would happen next.  Knives is gonna have to cut off that left arm. . . .

Knives calls him a fool, Conrad hesitantly asks if it is a gate and it starts to suck in everything around it.  As totally expected, Knives quickly cuts off the arm which gets sucked into the black hole before it eats itself eliminating the danger.

Luida tries to help him as Knives approaches not wanting to have him touched by her.  But shockingly, it is Vash who pulls the gun on Knives. And we get our first serious look from Vash!

 Knives has no choice but to back off and he leaves with Conrad declaring that in a century or so, he’ll create his world for the plants.  Luida screams over his passed out body as the flashback fades to the present where Vash is looking at his prosthetic arm.  Brad comes in and gives him grief about always having to repair the arm.

Of course Vash can’t help but note that Brad has never changed all these years, well other than his obvious aging.  Luida welcomes him back home as he asks about his friends who are all ‘thrilled’ to see him.  Though Wolfwood tries to pretend like they aren’t friends. While chewing on a cigarette.

Vash is relieved and excited as it reveals that of course the ship was hiding in the sandstorm as Zazie’s insects zero in on their location! Confirmed - no puppet master arc with rampant civilian deaths to be replaced by puppets that fall apart in Vash’s arms. 

I’m also disappointed that this avoids the division between those on the uncrashed ship and those on the surface.  The anime and manga tackled it differently but both highlighted the fact that those on the surface were seen as brutish, unrefined, less civilized than those on the ship - by those on the ship.  This entire power dynamic/bias is gone for the moment.

Meryl asks if plants are powering the ship and Luida takes her and Roberto to the large internal garden.  The visual looks very nice and they are excited to see such greenery. But the part that then kills me is the fact that Meryl - doesn’t know what plants are - as in the photosynthetic kind!!!

Why does a straight A student who graduated university not know about plants?  Many other aspects of technology and human knowledge are known by people on the planet but humanity has collectively forgotten about - plants?

Whaaaatttt??? Okay, this is the point where my day job really makes me wonder what on earth Studio Orange’s writers were (or weren’t) thinking.  In the original manga, there are plants on the planet that have been cultivated by very hard working humans.  It is difficult, but the entire Little Arcadia arc was about how a part of a geoplant = part of a plant that helped to terraform, had ‘leaked’ out into the environment and was being carefully cultivated for farming and a green space.  Therefore, this entire aspect of things is no longer a part of the science.  This causes a huge problem in the sci fi aspect of Stampede.  We know that plants help to capture potable water.  They produce electricity.  They create nutrients for agriculture. 

A common item found in all versions of Trigun is alcohol.  You need grains to brew beer, distill spirits and the like.  Stampede is telling us that all of that booze we saw in the beginning is produced by something other than grains?  On a large enough scale that you can bottle it, and consume it?  I could see that the production of it would have been difficult in the original series, but we have pancakes, pizza, donuts, coffee, tea and all of these common food items implying that there is some version of the agricultural industrial complex in the Trigun world but in Stampede - we don’t have agriculture?  This is about as bad as the ship that crashed, didn’t have a plant, had windmills and NO solar panels to use on less windy days!  The science in this sci fi series is killing me.  As soon as you think about it for more than five seconds your brain goes -ack- at this poor writing.  I know the mechanics of many things in Trigun Maximum are hand wavy at best but at least it kept it consistent.

Luida is there to tell Roberto that they are using plants to power the garden but by having regular plants there, they are able to lessen the burden on the plants - not sure how that works since if anyone has ever worked with plants in a growth chamber or greenhouse the amount of energy that goes into it is massive.

You need your swamp coolers, shade cloth, LED or high powered lights, temperature controller, pest control and what about the pollinators for those plants?  Are they all self-compatible? I’m falling down my own rabbit hole of my own making over this aspect of the episode.  Where is the greenhouse staff?  Who is taking care of them?

Okay, I’m taking a step back from my legitimate day job concerns with this and moving onto the scene I predicted from either my episode one or two review.  The famous ‘sempai noticed me!’

Roberto tries to smoke and Luida tells him not to which results in his request of Meryl.

That’s right, he’s no longer calling her newbie, she’s now Meryl, but she still needs to do something for him as the junior colleague.  She first replies before realizing it, excitedly runs up to him and asks if he indeed called her by her name.  Entire plot trope status - achieved.

The entire interaction plays out where he denies it, she presses him and Luida just smiles like “Oh what a genuine interaction.”

While they are in the garden dome, we see Wolfwood sulking in a corner asking Vash what he’s going to do about Knives.  Noting that he likely, can’t just make up with him.  Vash insists he’ll save anyone and Wolfwood parries back that he can’t do that and he will have to make a choice. 

Vash is more intent to not kill - adding he’ll never do it again.  This implies that there was an incident where he did end up killing.  Our non-July-July incident of the past 150 years?  What else happened - since so far we don’t have anything to go on for Vash’s own past mistakes. Interestingly, since Brad is now older and wiser, he’s able to shut Wolfwood down immediately, but not after trying to connect with him stating that he was similar in his own youth.  Wolfwood tries to argue that the old man is wrong, but Brad simply states that Vash is tough if Wolfwood would simply watch him over time.

Luida meekly stumbles into the room to inform them that Worms busted in and kidnapped Meryl and Roberto.  Her emotions are so off in this entire scene, I get that she’s older but she didn’t run to them or use a phone to call them. Instead, she leads them back to the dome and Wolfwood is able to state that Zazie the Beast is the one who took them.

They way up in another generic looking room as Zazie welcomes them to July, which is the crashed plant carrying ship.  Meryl asks if they’d met before and Zazie replies not in the current form.

Roberto asks if Zazie is there on behalf of Knives but instead states they are trying to determine which side to work with.

Roberto then shoots Zazie, who disperses into individual worms before reforming their body on the other side explaining it is a conduit.  Therefore, unlike the original where Zazie used a worm to control an individual human body, which could be shot and killed and then move their consciousness to another human body, it seems that Zazie is just a worm-llusion of sorts.   This entire interaction is Zazie the Beast as our new info dump character.  It this version it is Zazie who tells Roberto and Meryl how humans destroyed the Earth and therefore left it in search of new places to live.  The worms are not happy since they see this as their own planet.  Meryl doubts Zazie but I’m now concerned about her basic education . . . previous versions of Trigun had much more well educated people despite all of the challenges that they had to overcome.

While Zazie info dumps, Vash and Wolfwood are making their way to July via blue ostrich.  Hopefully, the assistance from ship three made it easy for them to reach that point?

Meryl asks what the collected red plants are for, Conrad says they don’t need to know while Zazie asks who the planet is for?  And ends.

The map showed them in the ship located over the sand ocean so they are getting closer to July.  We can assume that they are back on more normal land, and heading to July.

This does sort of guarantee that all road lead to July, which Vash may blow up with - his still remaining right arm?

Basic thoughts on this episode.

1.) Everything continues to be completely generic and predictable.  I know, I can’t be satisfied with this series.  We can follow the plot beats, predict what will happen and then watch it limply be delivered.  This series is failing to pull at my heartstrings.  There is no weight to actions, there is no payoff.  Everything is expose. 2.) Characters and their situations

Vash - was completely passive in the flashback until he unlocked his gate potential in his angel arm which was a black hole that sucked stuff in and had to be cut off by Knives.  No angelic body horror aspects, black hole only.  He pulled the gun on Knives, who simply gave up.  I missed the whole Vash shooting Knives and then running off screaming like a madman in the ‘98 anime or how Knives cut off his arm and then left him to die in the desert tied to a rock bit.  We do learn that he apparently has killed in the past though - which is in line with the manga - but that was the July incident.

Knives - is the self-proclaimed autocratic leader of the plants with a 150 year plan for plant domination of the planet.  All women are evil and can seduce - or - mother Vash which is dangerous and they are all the same and must be stopped to save Vash.  That is so many tropes rolled into one that I don’t even want to parse them all out.  Knives - chill dude.  Unless we get more background for his anger in Stampede, he rings hollow in his motivations.

Luida and Brad - look pretty good for adults 150 years ago.  I’m going to read between the lines that the crew of ship three have been rotating on and off over the years with a skeleton crew and they are one of those shifts.  It is just my opinion on the internet; I preferred their manga characters 1000x more than these old & wise individuals.  This also feeds into the previous observations from others that what Stampede lacks are the general population.  Guess the animation budget wasn’t meant for frontier towns of people going about their day to day lives.

Meryl and Roberto - had their predicted noticed by sempai moment.

Wolfwood - has entered the friend zone by him denying it.  Yep, he’s now friends with Vash despite them still having zero chemistry as characters. Zazie - continues to be crazy and isn’t the same as before which disappointed me more.  The idea that a human body was a disposable host for the worm collective mind was clever and darker than being a collective of worms that appears human to interact with humans and plants.

Conrad - was stripped of his sexy balding man past and instead given hipster hair.  He was already going bald when Rem talked to him about the twins.

3.) It was forced and awkward the entire episode.  This entire series of events felt so stiff and unnatural.  People stood around while very traumatic events happened like it was a normal day.  The copy paste men ran in to be killed by Knives Wolverine X-men style.  Conrad stood around.  Vash stood around.  Luida stood around.  Where was the sense of motion and of overpowering emotions.  Everything fell flat. 4.) Vash’s gate was activated by strong emotions.  And then cut off by Knives.  No putative angel arm in sight.  This also has me wondering if we will even get the Tessla backstory or not.  Episode eight had Luida trying to look up classified information about past independent plants but she couldn’t get it - yet knew that they existed . . . will there even be a flashback where Knives and Vash learn about Tessla or is that also gone? We really need a Tessla backstory for the Vash-Knives conflict and personal motivation. Vash is willing to forgive all humans in their wrongs while Knives uses their wrongs as his driving motivating factor in trying to destroy them and create his utopia for plants under his dictatorship.

5.) There are no Gung-ho Guns.  Period.  The concept is gone.  This is not a western remember?  This is sci fi.  The lack of a general population of civilians also makes for the stakes to seem rather low - how many humans are actually living in the seven cities?  How many are there to protect anyways?  Why is their education system to bad?  What do they eat without agriculture?  There has been no explanation for any of this.  Do the plants produce alcohol for bottling?  Instant meal blocks?  Cotton for clothing that the normal people are wearing?  They can manufacture weapons for sure.

I will be controversial and state what this episode has me thinking about.  Studio Orange has failed at world building.  Too many basic concepts don’t make sense to superficially serve what are poorly written plot points in an episode. Yet when strung together don’t make any logical sense.  You could argue the other versions of Trigun didn’t lean hard into the science aspect of things but everything made sense.  People had animals for transport, the Thomases.  They were able to farm if they worked hard.  Not all towns required a plant to operate, they’d become more off the grid with other means.  It was the fact that any larger place required plants.  There was a functioning economic system of trade and currency to facilitate the production of goods and items.  These things weren’t impossible in the anime and manga, but in Stampede they are impossible.  Life was hard on the planet but the quality of living was indeed higher and those who kept themselves isolated on the uncrashed ship also had attitude to match.

I know it is an anime based on a manga, so we could say I’m being overly critical of these elements.  But compared to the original anime and Trigun Maximum there was enough stuff in between that life wasn’t as bleak as in Stampede.  The day to day logic held up and the world building was consistent with rules that applied to many of the basics.  I can be totally fine with a bonkers set up - as long as you do a good job building that world and keeping your rules consistent throughout. 

Lastly, Stampede has failed all of its female characters to date.  At this point, we still have no idea what Rem taught Vash that he is hellbent on upholding her impossible ideals.  Rem saved them.  That’s it.  Meryl is too young and inexperienced like her past version.  Milly is absent.  Luida has been destroyed from her previous leader position to Rem 2.0.  Elendira hasn’t even done anything yet.  Rosa was the only mother who didn’t get killed by Knives. What’s worse is that we still have a predicted three more episodes to go with this version of Trigun with its paradoxical pacing!  July go boom and then time skip? Three episodes left for that to happen . . . 

I can already feel the siren song to go back to the source material for a better meta or even more so - slide on over to more Kekkai Sensen/Blood Blockade Battlefront which is much more my vibe.  I’m itching to write up my spin on how Trigun influenced B3, a series with a sitcom style format.  I need to write  a meta about Meryl and Milly as Leonardo Watch and Klaus V Reinheirz.