#I'm really tired and wanted to talk about Legato so here we are

[whom-to-kill-whom-to-let-live]

I said I was going to write a proper post analyisng the different Legatos but the brain squiggles won't leave me alone for long enough to do it so I am going to make a silly post about it instead.

*Disclaimer: I made this while extremely sleep deprived so if some things feel wildly inaccurate that's because I did not use my brain at any point while making this.

**Apologies for how this looks, graphic design is unfortunately not my passion

First up is '98 anime Legato

I'm convinced the reason he only took big Ws in this anime is because Knives paid attention to him

He has a plant arm attached to him and knows enough about Rem to accurately insult her ideals in front of Vash

I'm just saying this is the most well adjusted Legato

This boy is so enriched I mean look how happy he is most of the time he's on screen committing his crimes

Living his best life and went out the exact way he wanted 10/10

Next is Trimax Legato

We could have had it aaaaalllllllll

That lack of acknowledgement from Knives really did a number on our boy

I'm just saying if Knives had like 10% higher emotional intelligence the manga would have gone very differently ok

Legato still caused problems and committed so many crimes

He managed to force Vash into killing him and I'll call that a win so 10/10

Lastly is Tristamp Legato

I'm sorry but that's a baby

He has basically no screen time in S1 so we just don't know a lot about his *waves hand* everything

He seems to be more into... proselytizing(?) here than straight up ending humanity? Maybe???

He does manage to torment Vash through bullying Wolfwood so I tentatively put in that check mark

Same with the freakishness, I feel like there was a least a hint of it

Someone please give him a hot dog he's so skinny he's not going to survive the winter

Overall we're going to have to wait and see what they're cooking with this boy so ??/10

[hikennosabo]

trimax vol 11 random thoughts

we're back to 6 chapters in this volume, huh!

i dont know if i'm ready for this, i still feel emotionally caught up in volume 10. but as always, i must press onward.

chapter 1:

CHAPEL JUMPSCARE?!?! WHY DOES THIS VOLUME OPEN WITH A SCENE OF CHAPEL. I THOUGHT WE WERE DONE WITH YOU!!!! GO AWAY!!!!

and we're back to legato!! yay!!! i feel like i haven't seen him in forever!! he's looking a little worse for wear...

HELPPPP HSDKLJFDKLSFJS SHE'S SO MEAN TO HIMMMM

"there's no reason why i shouldn't just kill you" SHE'S SO MEAN!!!!!

it's really such a funny dynamic and i agree that legato is very bullyable but where does this hostility come from, actually? does she view legato as a rival for knives's attention? does she just think he has rancid vibes? it seems kinda one-sided too, legato hasn't expressed the same degree of annoyance regarding elendira... or we haven't really seen what he thinks of her at all, iirc? he just kind of ignores her goading... which honestly makes this dynamic funnier LMAO

and now we cut to--wait, LIVIO CAN DRIVE?! ...actually, now that i think about it, he probably drove chapel around, right? chapel probably couldn't drive in the condition he was in...

WHAT'S WITH THE SWANKY-ASS CAR, THOUGH???

i am happy to see brad again. i am always happy to see brad

^ me when i see brad

vash is clearly so so so tired. he decided to trust livio because he trusts wolfwood who trusted livio, but he's also mad about it. he's still very raw and very angry with livio i think. and also just fed up with this conversation in general lol. he's low on patience.

"at least let me punch him," says brad, after he already did it! livio would take the punch either way, he thinks he deserves to get punched... (ourgh...) but if you're going to ask for permission, do it beforehand!

i've been physically holding myself back from making more ff7 comparisons than i have already, but this is not making it easy. also y'all are literally in a narrative i know this shit is NOT going to work.

knives using his sisters as a shield... again... well, maybe "using" isn't the right word in this case. i actually expected him to destroy the cannon, but his expression... he knew it wouldn't fire.

i'm wondering about the plants' will now... how much self-awareness do they have? is it like, collective? are they more of a hivemind compared to the independents? ummm... hmmm... uuuummmm... i still feel like i don't know enough about plants!!

also does this mean they could have refused to fuse with knives if they didn't want to? not like knives is a stranger to using force, but in the scene where he fused with that first plant, he did ask... ummm... gaahhhh... my soupy brain...

i don't remember who in stampede said non-independent plants don't have free will... but it's an assumption everyone in this world seems to have been operating on...

"it's possible that the plants could rebel against humans. if that's the case, then there's no way humanity could survive." <- yeah no kidding! so you gotta be niceys to them!

chapter 2:

i'm apprehensive about the earth humans arriving, they're gonna make this situation even more complicated...

YOU'D BEST START BELIEVING IN SCIENCE FICTION, NAMELESS RANDO, YOU'RE IN ONE

UUAAAGH MERYL AND MILLY :( one of them (i can't tell who's talking) mentions her family... ARE their families okay?? hmmm... if they were, they'd probably be in this city, right? so i guess not... or maybe the situation is just too chaotic to find them even if they are in the city.

we never learned that much about meryl and milly's families, but i liked what we did get. that bit all those chapters ago, which touched on meryl's feelings about her own family (jeez that was FOREVER ago?!)... i thought it gave an interesting dimension to her.

THE REUNION.. CAN I GET A HUG?? CAN I PLEEEAAAASE GET A HUG??

oh holy shit he is giving MAAAAJOR sephiroth vibes here and i love it. he is beautiful and terrifying. and he's losing his shape... a physical representation of him losing himself...

and the ark itself is giving... something... i don't really know what to make of this grotesque display. it's... a lot.

chapter 3:

actually, what are the earth humans planning on doing exactly. are they gonna gather everyone up and ferry them back to earth? provide resources and technology so they can continue living on noman's land? i mean obviously we have to deal with knives first but what about after that?

OH?! BRAD TO THE RESCUE?! UNEXPECTED BRAD & LIVIO FRIENDSHIP?!

girl me too.

of course she immediately picked up on what really happened, not like brad's lie was any good to begin with...

OH, CUTE!!! what's in vash's coat! a lil figurine... what else does he have. the communicator pen, a swiss army knife, a key, the coin case... and some miscellaneous things...

"to tell you the truth, it wasn't a priority of mine" about the coins... it wasn't a priority of the author either dw

BRAD LIVIO FRIENDSHIP CUTE CUTE CUTE CUTE CUTE!!!! i love this, brad is trying so hard...!! he's so sweet... this is not a friendship i expected but i'm loving it so much!!!

:( vash crying over marlon's words to him is making me feel a type of way. it's something he needs to hear, but...!! "i don't know what else to do..." asking for help is easier said than done... he doesn't know how. i can relate...

and now we get... a big explosion and...!!!!

YES.... YES!!!!! LEGATO!!!!! MY SWEET (not an adjective that describes him in the slightest) LITTLE (also not an adjective that describes him) BAGWORM HAS FINALLY EMERGED FROM HIS COCOON!!!! i missed you so much honey i can't wait to see what fucked up shit you do next <3

oh also zazie's been cut in half. ehhh they'll be fine.

chapter 4:

oh fuck. this concept has been knocking around in my head for a while, and now it's been confirmed canon... it's never quiet for him anymore...

baby knives!!!!!! :(

someone: "you're nonbinary? but what's in your pants though?" zazie:

okay but jokes aside 1. GROSS!!!, 2. would this have even worked? legato and elendira recognize the danger so maybe it would have, 3. zazie says "we will use your powers for our purposes" which is... what? eliminating the humans, i suppose, and then... what?

huh... wait... is this how his powers worked all along or is this a new thing?? it's a new thing, right??

carve strings?? out of iron?? with what, his bare hands??? and he's moving by... puppeteering... himself?? that's... insane. i'm impressed.

i actually love seeing him up and moving around again, but i guess this means i can't call him a bagworm anymore... initially i called him a jolly rancher (because of his hair color in stampede and also because my friend called him "chewable"), then he changed to bagworm... which i guess was an upgrade since at least bagworms are alive?! i need another weird pet name for him. maybe i should just call him a moth now...

he's sitting like a frog :)

and he's imbuing the bullets with his power...! i see, that's how he defeated that big guy 2 chapters ago! ...and then livio startles him so much he leaves a hole. i'm sobbing.

handsome!!!! also "new hair, new outlook" hits different when it comes from vash, huh?

i am not gonna lie, the coin case has been such a nonentity in this story that i was temporarily VERY confused because i forgot it had come with the other halves already in the case.

also... elendira doesn't get one? why? is it because it's legato's game? so she refused to play... because she hates him...? LOL

and then. a random guy shows up. and gives them the last coin. why. listen nightow i know your initial plan for the coins went out the window and you need to wrap up this plot point now but like. is this REALLY the best you could do? LMAO

chapter 5:

oh boy... so much information here... the sudden reveal of another independent... and what to glean from all this about the relationship between plants and humans on earth... aaahghgh i wanted more information about this but now i have to wrap my head around it!! aaaaghh... my soupy brain...

"our generation was wired with neural blocking programs"... to prevent them from fusing? or is there more to it? hmmm. this is giving like. sci-fi advanced AI vibes. with a program that blocks them from going terminator. except the plants are made of flesh. or something. i'm... not sure how to feel about it, honestly.

i love seeing vash and livio being silly together. lord knows we need what silliness we can get.

vash going to press the switch and livio freaking out about it is SOOO funny BUT meryl DID tell vash that there were no explosives in the coin case. so he could've pressed it!!!

why is he flirting.....

i'm joking but also i'm not. but i think the only way these two would actually kiss is if they were playing a game of gay chicken.

...but come on, "let's kill each other, just the two of us"?? buddy...

also his uh... companion... helper...? is here...? is this the same one that was assisting him when he was a bagworm? ????? i still have no idea what they are or what to make of them.

?!?!?!?! RUDE?????

i mean she IS a bitch but i'm saying that as a COMPLIMENT. a compliment!!! as in "my wife is a bitch and i love her so much"!!! BUT VASH IS BEING RUDE!!!!

uagh, i had to post the full page, this is so lovely. i like seeing vash and livio bond; it looks like vash is warming up and happy that his choice to trust livio is paying off. and livio is trying really hard to live up to that. they both feel the impact wolfwood had on the two of them... it's very sweet.

this exchange is SO funny. just doing some diy with explosive items :)

uhhh, something something humanity's relationship with god!

right, this happened in the final fight in 98. "he cancelled me out..."

oh my god, FINALLY a fucking HUG around here!!!!!

they're sweet. :( also we need more hugs in this manga. EVERYONE needs a hug. what we really need is a big cuddle pile.

so much buildup... i'm scared. chronica turning off her "limiter program"... is this the same thing that prevents plants from fusing or is it something else? what is she gonna try doing?? ughhh, the apprehension is killing me...

chapter 6:

she's so cute... and she's soooo... COOOOL!!!!!

i love elendira, she is really cool and strong and funny, but... we don't really know anything deeper about her. what makes her tick? why is she following knives? are we gonna get a backstory? i wanna know everything about her!! i've wanted to know since her introduction!!!

and of course livio can live through getting impaled so many times. that's NOTHING to him. and his interaction with the kids is cute. and his reunion with jasmine is sweet. not going to say aaaanything about nightow's inconsistent timeline again...

actually no, i lied just now. it would be one thing if he had just... changed his mind midway though the manga and then stuck with it. but he's ACTIVELY going BACK AND FORTH on this. "six years" was LESS THAN 10 CHAPTERS AGO but if it still holds true then jasmine should NOT be this old. these chapters were published WITHIN THE SAME YEAR. RRAAAAAGHHGHGH

*cough* anyway. livio is such a big sweetie... i never disliked him, but my impression of him has changed. in stampede i didn't really know what to think of him. he didn't have a personality, he was just brainwashed. and his manga self was stoic and cool before. which... didn't seem like it was brainwashing, necessarily? i don't know?? maybe it was just an act he was putting on. he went goober mode as soon as the fight was over. perhaps no longer being beholden to EoM allowed him to embrace his inherent silliness. i liked his cool and stoic self but i LOVE his big silly teddy bear self. he's so... uwah. he makes me smile.

now that we're getting closer to the end i'm getting impatient... i feel the urge to just read the rest of it all in one go... but i mustn't... i must show restraint...!!!