#It's so funny because Legato makes me feel SO MUCH

[revenantghost]

I can't remember who said this or where, but I remember seeing someone once try brainstorming what Legato would be like in a softer world, where he could heal or not even go through the trauma that made him who he was... And it was so impossible to even consider that the conversation went nowhere.

We see trauma explored in so many ways in Trimax, to the point that I've called it one of, if not the story's main theme. We see people not dealing with their trauma, we see people crippled by it, we see people overcoming it, we see it saving others from being abused, we see it drive people into being abusers. But the fact that this child was so deeply mistreated and scarred to such a sickening degree, and then was thrust into an environment where being useful was his only value to the point that he barely had a chance to become his own person, to the point that his entire psyche is shattered... Man, Legato fucks me up.

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

what kind of cratures do you think the trigun gang would be?

CREATURES IN GENERAL OR SEA CREATURES. BECAUSE MY FRIEND MONTY N I WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT TRIGUN FURSONAS THE OTHER DAY. but i am the sea creature guy at heart so im gonns give u those i hope that is ok 😌 there are many benefits to being a marine biologist.

Vash: he is... so very shark coded to me. everyone looks at him and sees a dangerous killing machine. frequently covered in scars. do u see the connection here. he is specifically a thresher shark to me because of the whole sharpshooter thing and also the sad sad puppydog eyes 💙

Wolfwood: i am torn between two different types of eels for him. giant morays are more aesthetically pleasing but personally i have to go with a wolf eel both for the name and because ive worked with these guys before and theyre sooooo cool so im biased

Meryl: not technically a sea creature because she is just so bird coded to me. White-Tailed Tropicbird

Milly: is it cheating to have two cephalopods on this list. because i think i really want to say giant pacific octopus for milly. either that or a whale shark 💙 yes those are two completely different animals no i will not be taking criticism at this time

bonus Knives because i love him and i feel the most strongly about this one:

BOBTAIL SQUID.

... and also a bristle worm . for what i hope are obvious reasons

[weirdcat1213]

Almost 3am trigun brianrot time! This is long so be prepared

Tldr: it's about my idea of trigun 98 being the body, stampede the mind and trimax the soul

Ok so I was thinking about how TF I'm gonna handle trimax for @vashsscoreboardofpain (follow that is gonna be funny) and then I remembered an idea for a master post I wanted to do. I still want to make it but sadly I'm not at a stable position rn to do so. Maybe one day. But I still wanted to put that idea cuz it's slowly taking more form

Now, when I mean X is Y I mean it in a "this version of trigun has everything yes, but highlights Y the most and I think that's neat." Also it applies for all the characters but tonight I'm gonna focus on vash cuz im a vash enjoyer first and a person second. Yes my favorite character is the main one sue me.

Anyway, let's go

Trigun 98 is the body and vash encapsulates this idea in an interesting way. Plant powers aren't really a thing in this version so he is more like a super human with a fucked up arm. This makes him the closes to humans he's ever gonna be. But even if he doesn't have powers on this one, it was his and knives' bodies the cause that one guy's fear (its 3am I don't remember). He's afraid of how fast they grow and how much they learn. 98 also highlights vash's body being like everyone else's. He gets hurt multiple times, he needs nurses and kind people to look after him. Not only during the eriks episode but also on the episode after he kills legato. He also shows vulnerability by getting so drunk he needs to really focus to aim. He needs food and water. 98 Vash is really the closest one to humanity than the other 2, but only because of his physical attributes. Only because of his body, which bring him trouble most of the time. His vulnerable body is the cause of his misery, but it also allowed him to get close to people

Stampede is the mind cuz yeah, they had a specific mind palace episode (which I loved I ate that shit right up) but also because it does give us an easier access to everyone's mental state. We get to see this vash speedrun so many psychological problems in 12 episodes and is not gonna slow down. We literally get to see the guilt and terrors that plague his mind and how his mental fortitude exists thanks to other people. Also if you notice it, people just diagnose him left and right on stampede. Roberto picks up the ED signs, most characters tell him he has a death wish, nai straight up tells him he's doing good things out of guilt and vash allows himself to think about his contradictions outloud in episode 12 and why does he do the things he does (something that would be a therapy exercise I wanna say). Stampede is the mind cuz everyone is getting retrospective

And finally, trimax is the soul because it has more time to dwell on the characters emotions than any other version will ever give us. Instead of straight up diagnosis, trimax will give us panels to show us how vash feels about a situation. Instead of showing vash hurt from the horrors done to his body, trimax will focus on his pain. On his eyes that refuse to look at his own terrifying body that we can see, but only he can feel. What I mean is trimax is designed to drown us with emotion. The other versions are emotional af too, but trimax has that raw emotion up its sleeve. Trimax does nor dwell on the multiple scars vash has or his many Many mental problems. It shows us how fucked up vash's thoughts are about his body and his sins and we get to say "ohhhh...oh no". Trimaxs emotion is so heavy to bear that the body nor the mind are still present, but in comparison to the soul, they aren't highlighted. People say eyes are the windows of the soul and honestly I feel like you can learn so much of vash just from looking at his eyes. Once you focus on his soul and emotions you just can't let go of the feeling that this man will be drowned by his own emotions. Both positive and negative.

I want to rewrite this one day. Fuck, I'm pretty sure I got the Google doc somewhere. But I also wanted to put that idea out there. Because this doesn't mean one version is better than the other. It means that they all highlight different parts but they all end up in the same conclusion: trigun is about connections and alienation and love and peace

And vash needing therapy. Desperately.

[nanomooselet]

Episode Seven: Wolfwood

It's a lovely evening in No Man's Land, and you are a horrible cultist.

The more I think about the idea that Legato wasn't ordered to do this, the more sense it makes to me. Let's do a count of assets this craziness puts into peril. We have the Punisher, highly chemically compatible and on an assignment already, who really doesn't need to be under more stress. We have the Doublefang, who's even better than the Punisher since he heals without the drugs, and through him Wolfwood learns that the Eye of Michael can't be trusted to keep its word.

We have the Plant aboard the steamer, as Zazie points out, and I'm not sure Legato is as concerned about it as he claims to be. We have the steamer itself, a relic of the spacefaring age with plenty of still-functional technology on board even if the humans can't do much with it. (And isn't that interesting? They seem to have just stuck a steam engine in there and closed off the rest. Cool worldbuilding details.) It travels to and from July - I suspect it carries at least some cargo and personnel for the cult. Speaking of, we have Hopeland Orphanage and its stock of potential subjects, which we know for a fact the Eye has its stamp on.

Finally we have Vash, who's one of the cult's figures of worship. He's the only living thing that Legato's "beautiful angel" truly cares about. Even if Legato's plan is a success, is achieving Wolfwood's perfect loyalty worth losing any one of the rest, let alone Vash? I really have to wonder how Legato planned to explain any of this.

Of course, he does explain, doesn't he? You must give up on your little brother and face reality. I must take everything you love from you so that you can fulfil your noble purpose as a weapon. What we're seeing is Legato's first demonstration of his character to come, building sadistic traps to force painful choices upon his target, but also a glimpse of what awaits Vash at the end of his journey. Where could Legato have learned his definition of love? And let's not forget that he refers to his feelings as love in the first place.

He's such a drama queen. Can't wait to see him ruining everything next season.

So much in this two-parter is amazing, but I think a somewhat underrated moment is Vash preventing Wolfwood from killing Livio with that insane trick shot. My boy frees Wolfwood from a horrific mental trap because no one should have to choose between the things that they love, the things that keep them alive. Best of boys. Precious darling. He wants so, so badly for there to be a way out for him.

I'm hesitant to discuss Livio that much, because we, uh, really don't learn that much about him? We see the sad little boy in Nick's memories - which I have reason to suspect are not entirely the objective truth - and we have the stumbling puppet who boards the steamer. He isn't in a position to make his thoughts known, except once, and, well… it’s a decisive demonstration. But one that precludes any further participation. I have read the manga, yes, and I know what he's like there, but my feeling is that's more what he'll become than what he is now. There seems to be one fairly significant change, however: Razlo, and Livio's attitude toward him.

Razlo's there. I'm sure he's there. But is he always there in the same way? Is Livio so out of it because he's under the mask's control, or is it Razlo the mask keeps supressed? And when it becomes damaged, why does what Livio see in the mirror so horrify him? Does Livio even know who else is in his mind?

(We get our first glimpse of Chapel, too.)

(Somehow I feel like I'm not going to be a fan of this guy.)

They didn't save Livio, but he got to make a choice. Even if it was a choice they wish he hadn't made.

Speaking of choices!

Meryl and Roberto continue to be the show's main source of comedy - the dub work for the Bad Lads Gang is so funny. Poor Meryl's teary little face when they bring up the Worms. Them being all excited about getting on the cover of an outlaw magazine, whatever that is. Roberto just being all welp, this might as well happen when he learns the faltering steamer has a space age cannon stuck to the top and that still works.

Not enough booze in the world.

And then Meryl makes a choice. Roberto's right, on some level - they're not soldiers. They're not fighters. By any sane standard this is not their fucking job. But there is no one else who can do it. Regardless of ability, there's simply no one else who's been given the choice between standing there, taking the risk, or fleeing with the knowledge you could have done something and didn't. So Meryl makes her stand... and I realised that Roberto does too, because he faces the same choice. They all do! There's something they all want to protect more than anything else. Such different people with such vastly different skills and life experiences all have something in common, and they work together to realise their purpose. It's the second time in the series this has happened and disaster's been averted with their efforts. I just!

Of course then things get even crazier and we move into what might be among my favourite action sequences in the entire series? It's admittedly hard to narrow it down. This has been extensively dissected elsewhere, but it really might have the most beautiful cinematography (especially in the Plant room - ethereal, and then the hard cut comparison to the steel and scorching flesh of Wolfwood's efforts and I'm reduced to helpless arm-waving). But I think there's one detail I want to emphasise?

Cool watery blue and burning fiery orange-red, yes. Gorgeous contrast. But both also have just a dash of the opposing colours. The two aren't so far apart, each holding part of the other - fundamentally connected, in spite of all the ways they're different.

[yuhi-san]

Finally onto vol two of trimax, now that dokomi is over

First of all, what a messed up start to the volume. Legato really is all kinds of fucked up.

The… table manners going on here. We just let that stand as it is

Very intrigued by midvaley, more on that later

“We will cause him ultimat suffering at the hands of you humans.” Yeah hats the thing, isn’t it? Sure humans can be nasty but it always comes back to the fact that knives needs to make sure vash sees that. Always meddle in a way to make sure humans want to hurt vash or have a reason. I guess someone is afraid humans aren’t as horrible as he makes them out to be if he doesn’t manipulate the situation, huh

You can see the rage on vash face when da-rei mentions his secluded home. We know vash won’t kill, no matter what but moments like this make me wonder, do you guys REALLY wanna figure out what would happen to you if vash were to stop playing nice? Then again they seem to all have a death wish to some degree so there is that

The gun on the wire thing is soo cool tho

for all the talk Wolfwood does, it seems to itch under the nails to help vash, especially since da-rei mentioned home.

So, the whole Wolfwood shoots da-rei situation and the after…. For one I think with everything else going on in that moment we don’t focus enough on how shocked vash was that Wolfwood shot him. Yes he’s angry, the look he gives Wolfwood is seething but the expression at first makes it clear vash didn’t see that coming at all.

Which is even more interesting considering he was aware da-rei might shoot him. At first he says that the blades position suggest he wasn’t going to do it but then he admits that, yeah there was a chance but insists he would have just dodged. Vash knows there is always the chance someone wants to harm him (but decides to take the chance anyway) but he did not expect ww to kill da-rei at all.

“you talk about saving everyone but you don’t wanna dirty your own hands” we’ll be back on that later, as well as “no matter what you do, you give up so easily”. Just waiting fpr the hospital yuri for that

See, I knew almost all the key moments of trimax already but without the full context. So its super interesting to see in what order or time they play out. Wolfwoods infamous ‘shoot’? yeah I did not think they were having this conversation so soon. Mostly because that’s intense. Yeah emotions are running high and all but jesus Wolfwood, don’t you think this reaction and speech are a little extreme? This early on? Offering up his live like that, challenging Vash to shoot him? Sure, it was evident vash wasn’t going to do it but considering how afraid Wolfwood actually is of dying, gee…

At that point its clear ww doesn’t just disagree with vashs ways but also cannot fathom why would make the choices he does. At the same time vash can clearly see that Wolfwood so desperately wants to be good and kind but feels forced to play devils advocate and all. But at this time, vash is too caught up in his own worldview and codex that he cannot quite understand that for Wolfwood this is not simply a ‘deciding to give up so easily situation’

Wolfwoods dream oh man.. its another scene I knew but not the context. I didn’t realize he was dreaming this. previously I though this was actually happening, way later when they are at the orphenage. God his smile looks so sad and pained. Its so much like vash when the people throw stones at him and he’s like, I don’t know what to look like.

On a lighter note, dried up vash is so funny. What a disaster he is. Especially when they drop the lighter oh man

The line about how not everyone can just gamble their life is very important and I think it applies a lot to vash. yes he doesn’t make use of his plant powers. He tries, at least at that point, to be as human as possible. But the truth is that most humans could never survive the things he does. Vash can take gambles others cannot, including Wolfwood. Which he even says to vash’s face but again, I don’t think vash truly understands that at this moment.

Home, oof. Vash is so tense and worried what he will find and then its just… people being happy and okay. They are ecstatic to see him! Is vash! it’s a big deal! They were worried, they hope he stays a little, they are excited to introduce him to their children! It makes vash cry to be greeted like that. And yeah, its an illusion by leonof but judging by  vash reaction and his absolute shock after, this was a very accurate one. that’s how people just are with him when he comes home so that it was an illusion, ouch.

Wolfwood is mad. Like, it always seems to itch him to help even if he doesn’t give in to the urge but there wasn’t even a question on whether  or not leonof deserves his ass kicked for that sick stunt

Ww may take issues with what he perceives as vashs naivety but seeing him go through all these emotions because of leonof tormenting him has ww go, yeah no, fuck that und fuck you.

[goldenteaset]

Trigun 1998 Appreciation Week #2: "Lady-Killers Miss Each Other By Five Minutes, Narrowly Avoid Stopping Traffic"

(I spent so long trying to narrow down my favorite episode the week is almost over! D: Here's a combo of "Favorite Fight/Favorite Episode", because they wound up being too connected to split.)

After (too) much consideration, I think Demon's Eye is my favorite episode, with my favorite fight. It's got everything, really: great jokes, great atmosphere, Legato being humanized enough to be more terrifying, Vash being a scoundrel (and also multilayered), and Dominique the Cyclops. There's also a growing sense of paranoia and dread throughout, utilizing ambiguity to eerie effect.

I've talked about this episode before, so I'll try not to repeat myself but make no promises.

...All of which is to say, I actually like every fight in this episode, even the ones that aren't a fight in the traditional sense at all. I could go on and on about the bar scene with Legato, and how he makes a point of not killing any civilians despite all the bullets flying around. I could talk at length about the later scene that heralds the Gung-Ho Guns' introduction, and how he actually sounds happy throughout it. And how he and Dominique have something going on. Only one man can get Dominique to wear a dress and it's not Vash...

^"Oh, you~ <3"

And then there's Vash VS Dominique the Cyclops, and how it both feels genuinely tense while also making me laugh. (As usual, your mileage my vary.)

There comes a point in Trigun's plot where the fun banter between fighters begins to understandably fade, and this fight is one of the last that really feels like both sides are enjoying riling each other up. Even when Vash is getting more desperate, that sense of fun remains. There's even a "theme" at play, Poker, and it sticks around until "game's over".

Here's where the YMMV comes in: I find Vash's chauvinistic remarks here really funny. (Except for "I should slap you", because that line's delivery is deathly serious.) Mainly because Dominique doesn't even bat an eye at them, even when her buttons come off, and when she does blush it's when he has her at gunpoint. We love characters with warped concepts of romance in this house! :D

That aside, though, I love how Dominique's Demon's Eye is depicted, from the jaw-clenching crunching/clicking sound that heralds its activation to how Vash overcomes it and only escapes due to her moment of fair play. Dominique just...makes a great showing here. She's so cool.

And then, of course, there's the end, where Legato does his paranoia-inducing visit to Vash in the distance and smiles at Vash's growing resolve to hunt him down. It's arguably the final "fight" of the episode, and one that Legato wins. Vash forces Meryl and Milly to leave, cutting himself off from humanity just like Knives wants.

@trigunsource

[hikennosabo]

trimax vol 9 random thoughts

sorry if you saw this post disappear and reappear in the tag multiple times, i was fighting for my life much like wolfwood using trial and error trying to get it to even show up in the tag because tumblr is a functional website and not fucky in the slightest. </3

i wrote this post extremely sleep deprived 2 days ago let's GOOOOO

also heads up for potential spoilers for tristamp since i talk about it a little. even though i spoiled 98 untagged in my last post. sorry about that

chapter 1:

someone in the book club tag (don't remember who it was, sorry) said something about sharing food being a love language for wolfwood... :') wah...

^_^

why is this thing even on the building in the first place. and for that matter how did the dog even GET up there...... whatever

hi razlo. i don't know where to say this in the post so i'll just say now i unintentionally spoiled myself on razlo's identity because i was googling when i shouldn't have been. all totally my fault LOL [anime girl bleh gif]

the boy didn't even have the decency to wash the blood off his hands. kid, please, you're not doing livio any favors here.

livio manspreading on the couch... chapel, have you considered there's another reason why livio's breathing might be "irregular" as he helps you take his former home hostage? hmmm?

^ FUNNIEST PIECE OF DIALOGUE IN THE WHOLE VOLUME

thank god for livio, this guy was doing a speedrun on being the most annoying one-off minor villain--WAIT is he kicking him with his hands in his pockets? that's SO funny. i'm liking livio more and more.

chapter 2:

"he shouldn't be that old" <- the kids would be expecting wolfwood to be, hmmm, in his early 20s, thereabouts? ww looks around a decade older than that...

he's giving... something here. it's the combo of the glasses and all-white outfit i think. the y2k fashion vibe.

who is saying this? livio? razlo? both? chapel, since he was the one just talking? also, nice visual metaphor!

this is obviously NOT the reason wolfwood spared these guys, but this is reminding me of when oda said that luffy doesn't kill his opponents because shattering their dreams is worse than death. LOL

also i am convinced nightow drew this chapter for the sole purpose of making wolfwood do cool shit on his motorcycle.

that being said, all the cool shit wolfwood does is immediately overshadowed by livio CATCHING A BOMB IN MIDAIR AND THROWING IT BACK AT THE GUY WHO SHOT IT. stampede livio could never do this, he's too skinny

chapter 3:

people have already said stuff about this page, but I Also Want To Say Stuff. the wispiness of the smoke, livio's hair blowing in the wind... it feels very much like the calm before the storm, simultaneously serene and tense. and i LOVE how wolfwood is shaded in grey, while livio is the one shaded in black. fantastic contrast and composition, i adore it.

why is this razlo's first note to livio. "!" like...?! you're letting livio know you exist, but giving literally no other information like at all? okay. razlo's a bit of an oddball, to put it mildly.

the rest of his letters are... well they're not "normal," i guess, and not any less cryptic, but they are kinda sweet in their own way.

knowing who razlo is i love the way his introduction scene is presented. livio is keeping information from ww and from the reader, so it's both literal and not. also razlo is appropriately unsettling, i wish he would stop... unhinging his jaw like that.

...also who tf told him about EoM?! this is a difference with stampede... stamp!livio joined EoM because he wanted to follow wolfwood. no razlo involved in the decision-making, as far as we know. compared to here in the manga, livio left the orphanage on his own, so there isn't really a clear timeline on when ww joined EoM vs when livio did. we don't even know if he knew ww was in EoM at all.

also upon rewatching this scene for this post i got distracted by legato's lack of ass and had to pause because i was laughing too much

the guy is literally flat as a board help

*cough* anyway. razlo is only alluded to and never named or even really shown, except for a very brief very blurry reflection, so his level of involvement in... literally everything is unknown.

speaking of characters who are weirdly absent, chapel isn't around either...? i thought maybe they combined his character with conrad, but he DOES speak in livio's memory, i even checked the credits for his seiyuu. (hiroshi naka - he voices a lot of old men but most notably garp from one piece!) i don't really know how his role in all this has changed, if at all, since conrad seems to be the one in charge of the experiments...? and i really... do not like what they did with conrad in stampede, he went from being shitty but having nuance to just being extra shitty... okay, tangent over.

oh, this fight is so WEIGHTY!! i love it!! they gave a lot of weight and physicality to the livio vs ww fight in stampede too, (and all the fights, for that matter), despite stamp!livio's loss of bulk... it's a really fun fight to watch!

chapter 4:

OHHH..... okay.... soooooo.... this means he's coming back in stampede season 2 i assume?

not to go off on another tangent but this is the second time this has happened to me... i went into stampede more or less blind (oh how things change) and so when knives died at the end of the season I HAD NO REASON TO BELIEVE HE WASN'T DEAD... but then i saw people talking like he would come back in season 2 and i was like, "how?? he DIED" and then i read the manga and i was like oh. and now with livio too. i thought he served his narrative purpose and then died. and he shot himself through the head, which is notable because that's how ww killed monev who was ALSO a subject of EoM's experiments in the tristamp universe!! so i had no reason to believe he wasn't dead!!

i dont have that much to say about this chapter because it mostly consists of the fight, but OH what a fight it is...!! i know i should be rooting for wolfwood, and i am, but livio is just so COOL in this fight. they're both cool...!!!

also, how many little glass vials(tm) does wolfwood have?! honestly, it's amazing that he still has any at all left to drink, it's a wonder they haven't all shattered already with how much he's been thrown around. especially because the one he drinks from CRACKS when it hits the ground... these vials aren't exactly bulletproof, lol.

THE HUG...?! UUUEEEEAAHGHGHHGH

MESSAGE TO ALL BITCHES ughhh ww looks so pained here. when he told vash that his blood runs cold when he points his gun at livio... he's feeling that through this whole volume. man.

something about brothers fighting each other... vash and knives, wolfwood and livio... uagh.

chapter 5:

HEY CAN WE KILL CHAPEL ALREADY??

oh, the punisher is taller than him... i was trying to get an approximation of relative character heights recently, and i saw somewhere that the punisher is 5'7, the same height as me...

also, 10 punishers, huh... wolfwood's is one, razlo has three... does chapel's count even though it has a different design...? do livio's handguns count? will we see the others? is there even a significance to the number...?

oh great, is this another wolfwood death flag?! we haven't seen him drink THAT many of them so far but still. hope chapel keels over already. i know ww's making an effort not to kill people but can he please just shoot chapel in the head. also wolfwood's pose in that panel... he's kinda serving cunt

OH, THIS SPREAD FUCKS!!!! once again the CONTRAST... THE STARK BLACK AND WHITE... SO COOL!!!

so these guys work for razlo specifically, i assume? not livio? also... just who are they? random EoM goons?? why are they so loyal to razzy???

and he has a mechanical third arm. somehow. sure okay

^ um... trigun lol [roll credits]

oh, it's tri-p as in tri-punisher. i thought it was the word "trip" and didn't question it. ...although "trip" could still work.

--also, wait, hold on, upon rereading i noticed razlo's left ear is covered up (by... something) and it's making his head shape look uncanny (more like a skull?!) and now i have to scroll back through the previous chapters to see if livio has ears. [several minutes of scrolling later] okay, he DOES have a right ear. okay. another pointless diversion for this post

chapter 6:

razlo was a real one for killing livio's shitty parents!

also another thing i'm noticing! razlo opens his mouth pretty wide, while livio doesn't open his mouth much at all... i mean okay there are a ton of differences in physicality between the two of them, but that one in particular stands out to me because last volume i complained that i couldn't tell when livio was talking because he never opens his mouth LOL

spraying wolfwood with blood and guts is a fucking wild battle tactic bro. also i'm convinced that nightow gave razlo three punishers for the cool factor first and foremost. three crosses also brings the scene of jesus's crucifixion to mind... but nahhhh it's definitely the cool factor. unless...?

"killing and violence! killing and violence! :D"

ALSO CAN CHAPEL DIE ALREADYYYY PLEASE

VASH MENTIONED!!! i'm so caught up in wolfwood's story rn that i haven't even really thought about the fact that vash isn't present in this volume at all... and then it evolves into a fucking. memory montage. stop with the montage please that's another death flag

and... oh man... wolfwood getting back up to fight because he's thinking of vash... and last volume vash said wolfwood is his reason to fight... both of them staring death in the face and thinking of each other... oh my god. ohhhh my fucking god. oh my fuckign god you guys. VASHWOOD.

oh, looks like i lied when i said vash isn't in this volume, he's right here

...and that ends that volume. i said more than i thought i would... sorry for the rambles and tangents, i wrote this post running on about 3 hours of sleep lol. time for something lighter as i await next week's volume, let me continue to rewatch the 98 anime... what episode was i up to... ahh... 22, huh...

[deludedfantasy]

Trimax Vol 11 Ch 1-3

I'm a little behind this week because my brain hasn't been cooperative. But here are some thoughts on the first half of volume 11.

It’s been really hard for me to start reading this volume. I’m still grieving from volume 10. Everything past this point from my first read is a blur and I don’t remember much of it. I was reading in a frenzy because I was very in denial about Wolfwood being dead and was hoping he’d come back somehow. This feels all new to me and while I know the broad strokes, I’m a little scared of what’s to come. 

Really hope this is the last I have to see of Chapel. Why are we opening on this old scene?

Zazie saying “Chapel and the old man” confused me for a moment. Did—did no one tell Zazie that Wolfwood isn’t Chapel? Who did she think that random old guy was? Did Knives even know Wolfwood wasn’t really Chapel? Honestly, who knows at this point. 

Damn, I didn’t realize Wolfwood shot Legato in the spine. At this point, you gotta wonder if the only thing keeping Legato alive is his insane devotion to Knives because I don’t know how else he’s pushed through all the shit that’s happened to him. 

Elendira “jokingly” threatening to kill Legato is everything to me. It shouldn’t be so funny and yet there’s such a morbid humor to it. 

Where in the world did Vash and Livio get a car from?

Other people have pointed this out, but the fact that after everything that happened, despite Vash’s own anger at Livio, he still trusts him. That means a lot. Vash hasn’t abandoned his beliefs and importantly, he’s not giving up on the person Wolfwood sacrificed everything for. This is the first time we see the blank ticket in action! 

No one else has taken Vash up on the chance to change, to become something better. But Livio has, because of Wolfwood’s belief in him, so Vash is going to take him at his word, because then what in the world has he been fighting for all this time? At the same time though, someone else had to die for that to happen, and I think that’s going to create some cracks in Vash’s convictions, though how still remains to be seen. 

Vash’s anger isn’t gone though. Not at all. “You are the one he believed in,” Vash says. So start acting like it is the subtext. You want to be trusted? Then don’t act surprised or like you don’t deserve it when I do, because Wolfwood gave up everything for you to have that chance. Vash has this problem where he places a lot of meaning and emphasis on other people’s sacrifice’s and this isn’t something he’s going to let go of. 

Brad really cares about Wolfwood. I wonder when they got to know each other so well that Brad would be so mad at Livio for what happened. But I also think Brad is there to remind us that the way he’s trusting Livio is out of the ordinary because we’ve become so used to seeing everything from Vash’s point of view, it’s easy to forget why trusting Livio is such a big deal. 

An ion cannon…this isn’t gonna end badly or anything. 

Oh an ion cannon powered by Plants. That’s very bad. 

The first time we see Dependent Plants have their own autonomy! They keep the military from firing the ion cannon at Knives. Which suggests they’ve been able to control their energy output this whole time. For some reason, they’ve been (apparently) helping humans willingly all these years. That’s certainly an interesting revelation.

Ch 2

I don’t know why but the wording of this page makes it sound like the vast majority of the human population has gathered in Octovern. I remember thinking that on my first read too and later wondering if I’d misinterpreted something. But this really does have the feel of, “This is humanity’s last stand, and they’re all huddled together in fear.”

Which really does beg the question: how big is the population of No Man’s Land? And how much of it has Knives destroyed over the past seven months?

Luida!!! She’s trying to give all these bigwigs the knowledge they need to successfully resist Knives, but she’s coming in at a disadvantage. She’s been hiding for years and now she’s telling them that dependent Plants have a will of their own, which is news to everyone. Now she’s telling them they shouldn’t attack when the situation is truly dire. It’s frustrating, but it makes so much sense why people are unwilling to listen to her. 

And Meryl!!! Always happy to see Meryl again, being her little gremlin self and flipping people off behind their backs. 

Oh…Meryl and Milly’s conversation really drives home how much things have changed and how much they have changed. Things were simpler, once upon a time, when they first met Vash and started following him. They were more peaceful and Meryl and Milly hadn’t seen as many horrible things. Now, the world is on the brink of destruction, they’ve witnessed the worst of humanity, and as Milly says, there’s no going back. They can reminisce all they want, but they’ll never be the same. The subtext being that even if they win, the world won’t be the same one they knew when they were younger. 

It’s important that Milly delivers this message too. Because coming from someone else, it could sound hopeless. From her, it doesn’t feel quite so horrible. It’s sad, but to me, it feels like she’s saying it’s not the end. Those memories will still be there for them even if they can’t be those people anymore, and that’s not a bad thing. It’s good to remember, it’s good to feel all of that and be able to live with it. 

Vash makes a wonderful entrance! Just as they’re contemplating how their lives have changed because of him, Vash drops in again and does things the way he always does. With precision and a little bit of silliness. 

Their reunion makes me so happy!! Look at them, they’re so overwhelmed seeing him again! They mean so much to each other and they hadn’t even known he was alive for the longest time. And Vash’s surprised little, “Oh!” After all these months, he likely didn’t know if they’d survived the destruction and had probably shoved all of that to the back of his mind so he could function. But there they are!! They’re his friends and he’s just as excited to see them!

The Earth fleet’s arrival feels like it should be a moment of hope, but then we transition to Knives. He’s become more and more inhuman. He’s fused so deeply with the Plants that he’s started resembling them. The Ark is even starting to fall apart. It’s overtaken by much more biological matter as Knives’s powers spiral out of control a little and the Plants grow and grow. It makes you wonder: can the fleet actually stand up to him?

Ch 3

Luida: Hey, Vash what happened to your hair?

Vash: Haha, how about this final battle though?

Vash continues being incapable of letting anyone in on his problems and it drives me bananas! Let someone help you carry your burdens!!! It’ll make your life just a little bit easier!!!

The way Livio starts turning here. He was about to admit that he killed him or was responsible for his death. But Brad stops him! Brad, who was so angry at him before! Whether it’s to keep the girls from being so hurt or because he’s come to believe (just a little) that Vash is right about Livio, it’s not easy to say. But it still speaks volumes about Brad that he does this to lessen the blow for so many people. 

Is it bad that what Brad said reminded me of someone saying, “Oh, your dog went to live a happy life on a farm upstate”? 

But they know. Meryl and Milly still know what he really means. The hard truth is they don’t have the time to properly grieve him or break down about it. They have to stay focused on their current goals. So while they go along with it, the way Milly cries just hurts me. It’s a loss they can’t even speak about yet. 

And now Knives has made an enemy of Zazie, who isn’t thrilled about their planet being destroyed. This was not what they signed up for! 

I love that Meryl and Milly kept everything from Vash’s old coat as evidence for Bernadelli. The fact that they took it when they went back to HQ during those seven months is actually so sweet and sad too. It was the only thing they had to remember him by, even if it was just the random crap he carried in his pockets. I know this is just Nightow’s way of bringing the coins back into play, but in this instance, it actually shows a bit about the girls’ relationship to him. 

“That’s scary.” I mean, yeah fighting Legato is scary, I do get it, but also…Vash, WHAT? You’ve been through some terrifying things and that’s your reaction to this? He really does forget who and what he is sometimes, because he forgets that he’s pretty dangerous too. Then again, he doesn’t want to be, so he never thinks of himself that way. 

Brad has no idea how much it means to Livio that he’s showing him this kind of trust and respect. This is exactly what he needed to hear. That he is capable of change and people believe in him, people outside Vash and Wolfwood. Brad says he didn’t do what he did earlier for Livio but I don’t know. The way he’s acting now seems to say that maybe he did, just a little. He understands what Wolfwood gave up for him and that Wolfwood wouldn’t want Livio blamed for his death, so while Brad might give all kinds of other reasons, I think it all comes down to that. 

A lot of other people have commented on this scene and I totally agree with everyone’s takes! Vash is so overwhelmed hearing this from Marlon right now. This is something Vash has struggled with the whole story: letting people in and asking for help. He never does this. He always tries to go it alone and keeps his cards close to his chest, even with his closest friends. Wolfwood, Meryl, and Milly wormed their way into his heart through sheer stubbornness because Vash wouldn’t let them otherwise. And it’s hitting him now, just how much it means to ask for help, that he could have it and he’s always had it. He probably wishes Wolfwood had asked him for help and hearing now that he should do the same hurts. It’s a spin of regrets and should’ve-beens in his head right now and it’s not something he needs to focus on the coming battle. 

The thing is, he really does need to hear this now! He can’t survive this battle on his own. He isn’t the only person fighting. Even if he is the most powerful Independent Plant, he can’t win by himself. This isn’t just a fight between him and his brother. This is a fight for humanity’s survival. His friends have a stake in it and they want to help him. They can! Vash has been martyring himself for so long, letting people in is a foreign concept, but it’s the only way to survive. If Vash had to learn anything from humanity, it’s that survival isn’t a one person game. Society lives and thrives on human interaction, on people helping each other, and if his greatest want is to be close to humans, to live with them and be like them, then he needs to let people in and accept help. 

[dangopango00]

When You’re Upset HCS

Legato x gn reader

A/N: Yes i am so upset shhhh but it gave me sm inspo ok enjoy can u tell im obsessed with him idk i think its pretty subtle.

CW: I put a lil comedic remarks bc i stopped being upset halfway through (distractions make me feel better)

(Breaking it down into three parts: Does he know [sorry it was funny], what does he do, when ur back to normal)

Does he know?

- IMMEDIATELY. I mean if its just a minor annoyance and nothing serious then it would be hard for him to catch on bc hes not very attuned to others feelings nor is he used to noticing subtle changes

- He does try his best to be attuned to ur feelings though and if ur seriously upset then hed definitely notice

- What tips him off most is ur attitude

- Whether ur an introvert extrovert ambivert whateverrrrs you always have this kind of positivity about you (which is necessary to be around him healthily)

- However, ofc, this quality is lost when ur upset

- Youre around him and or talking to him much less and keeping to yourself more even if u arent upset with him specifically which hed immediately notice (hes a little clingy when it comes to spending time with you. That shit gets serious for him 🤞🤞)

What does he do?

- I think it depends on what you do tbh Id say hes pretty reactive

- If you were to rant to him abt whatever is upsetting you (even if its him) he’d just sit and listen

- He doesnt really know what to do so the best he can do is lend an ear and will only really chime in if he thought of a solution for the issue or to apologize if u told him he did sth wrong and he has no dispute abt it

- Might add in a few “Mmm”s or “Ah”s just so u know hes listening but dont be surprised when most of the time he just sits silently and stares right at u, ofc hes listening

- If you seem to get really upset during ur rant (like panic attack or super angry) hed do something simple to make you feel better like awkwardly patting ur head/back and tell you to stop. Talking (hes doing his best ok he just means to say take a break from ur rant and calm down a bit)

- Will also get u water or generally a drink during the above situation

- If you were to hide that you’re upset and try to be normal I think it would puzzle him as to why you’re acting like this when he can clearly tell you’re upset

- He’d first observe u for a while and wonder if maybe its a small matter so/or you didn’t want to get him involved

- Even if it IS small hed still be worried during the time you’re upset so hed just do subtle things for you to make your days smoother and avoid stressing you out further like getting food for you or running errands for you (does this anytime you’re upset no matter the circumstance but it increases like 10x in this specific scenario)

- If your condition doesn’t improve or if it suddenly improves without warning he’ll do his best to convey to you that u can rant if u need to

- “What is troubling you” or “What is your problem” something short like that is the best he can do for now but you can hear how worried he is in his slightly wavering voice as his curious gaze scans over you

- If you were to just shut down; go catatonic he would be worried most in this scenario because of the stark contrast in your usual personality

- Like the last scenario, hed observe u first but hed act quicker with this

- Hed almost immediately ask whats troubling you like millions thoughts are running through his mind:

What if someone had threatened you?

What if he did something and didn’t even notice it?

What if someone was already hurting you?

What if you hate him?

What if—

- Considering you were already catatonic you likely don’t tell him what’s upset you so much which he takes as a sign to stick by your side even closer so he can observe the situation himself

- Hed sit next to you while you lie motionless, rest his hand on your head and if you aren’t opposed he’d mess with your hair and massage your scalp a bit

- If he knows you’re touch averse like him he wouldn’t even get the idea to do this and would instead just sit beside you, hoping you answer his previous question

- If you aren’t, he gets this idea BECAUSE you seem to like touch and this is what he can offer without being overwhelmed or anything (idk how to explain it but like he often thinks about how you deserve someone who can fulfill your needs and in his mind touch is one of those but its just something he cant do currently and its a bit of a sore spot)

- General

- No matter what the scenario he is asking WHO upset you; he just wants to talk to them 😊 #loveandpee

- Will alwayssss engage in acts of service hoping it makes you feel even a little better. Hes peeling the orange just gws, please.

- Spends as much time as he can by your side; hes very worried and really wants to know whats up but he doesnt want to prod so much that it makes u clam up even more

- Overthinks wnv ur upset even if outwardly he hardly says or expresses anything at all

- Acts like ur personal spokesman guard dog butler bf when ur upset even if hes none of those (will speak for you and defend you if ur upset and someones trying to pick at u)

When you’re back to normal?

- Hes so normal (lie) Hed be so happy 😭😭

- All this time hes been worried sick about why you were upset and if it was so bad that youd been upset more than a day? Whewww he was sooo worried you might never go back to how you were because what if it was something that completely changed your worldview?

- If you didnt ever go back to normal then itd be like seeing the last of a campfire burn out on a cold unforgiving night. It would be such a shame bc ur positivity has been keeping him a bit more positive and just. You get him through the day although he never really noticed it himself— that is until you were the one who was upset and pessimistic

- Hes so sweetie pie he follows u around like a lost dog; its as if hes clinging to sunshine after dealing with the harsh winds of winter. He just needs to make sure that you’re completely okay and wants to soak up some of ur usual energy for himself in the meantime

- All this is going on in his head but lol outwardly hes just smirking and being weird again (affectionate)

A/N: it was extremely hard not to name the sections

Does he know?

What the Legato Doin?

WE ARE SO BACK

whew i have an atmosphere to keep

Edit: proofread and edited 😙✌️

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Trimax Thoughts Vol. 11 Pt. 1

Well, we're back after last week's suffering. Stream of consciousness ahead!

First off I find this a clever way to hide the hair! Dynamic posing! The poor unsuspecting fools who haven't read volume 10 would look at this and have no idea why we're sad.

Live Zazie reaction:

Augh, Livio driving the car... Vash asleep in the back... this does something to me.

He's so cute. He's not suffering or anything look at him.

Both Brad and Livio reaming him out for being too trusting that's so funny to me

To be quite honest, I feel like Livio was very much a victim in all this... that doesn't make him blameless in the situation but it was very much Chapel who grievously injured Wolfwood enough that he chose to take the double vials, and it was him who manipulated Razlo to be dependent on him and Livio to think serving was his only purpose. That said, there's something very heartwarming about Brad being so upset over Wolfwood's death considering his usual untrusting nature and the fact that he really didn't know him that well.

Livio apologizes for his body stopping the bleeding so soon after getting punched. Buddy. No. 😂😭

I feel so bad for the Plants in all this. However, much as it sucks for humanity, I'm very glad to know they can exert enough influence in order to resist killing their sisters and brother and are able to express their free will in some way... could they have refused commands before this point then? If so, that begs the question of why they didn't.

Someone arriving from space???

Oh, so the Plants feel an affinity with Knives. Is that because they agree with him and his methods? Is it because he's absorbed so many of their sisters already? Do they feel his pain and loneliness? I'm so curious.

Meryl!!! I missed yoouuuuu (and she immediately sticks out her tongue and flips a double bird at authority. love her.)

I love this... such a sweet and quiet moment with these two amidst the chaos. Milly putting her perceptiveness to good use to try and support Meryl as best she can. It makes me wonder about that 7-8 month gap and how these two survived not just what is basically the apocalypse, but also the struggle of Meryl's trauma from having Vash's memories dumped on her. I bet Milly was pretty instrumental during that period.

"It's too bad it will never be the same again." IN COMES VASH THE STAMPEDE SWINGING IN ON A LADDER

AUGHHHHHHH. This is so sweet aaaaaaa. Oh my god I just realized this is the first time they've actually seen each other since that town chased Vash out and Meryl had a breakdown. Where he thought she was scared of him. But she wasn't!!! He started to realize it after Marlon, but now he sees it!!! They are. so precious to me... :')

The Earth fleet is close!!! ...that's kind of bad actually.

Luida: "What happened to your hair?" Vash, very loudly: "ANYWAYS TIME FOR THE LAST STAND HUH?"

Oh Milly... I'm intrigued by the way she just plays along with it... she really is a lot like Vash. I wonder why Brad even did that though. I kind of feel like it was to keep people from acting aggressively towards Livio, as saying he died would lead to questions that would probably reveal Livio was at the center of it. Not for Livio's sake of course (I don't think Brad really cares about him) but Vash trusts him, Wolfwood sacrificed himself for him, and they really can't afford infighting at this point. ...never mind that Milly wouldn't have reacted that way anyways.

Ok lol I'd just been thinking "what happened to Zazie's arm and then..

hdjfhbvdjfvh

Oh, the coins are back. Interesting. Legato faceoff soon?

The hurt is palpable with poor Livio here...

Oh! I was right about Brad's reasoning! Cool! Also I think that's the friendliest we've ever seen Brad-

HJDHBJDHCBS???

BRANDON I'VE SAID IT BEFORE BUT EVERY INTERACTION YOU RISE FURTHER UP MY LIST OF FAVOURITE SIDE CHARACTERS

"Ya need to learn to let people help ya out" <-YES.

And of course Vash deflecting by playing up and overdramatizing what is probably a genuine reaction... I really think he knows this already but he's walled himself off so long. He appreciates everyone, he really does, but... them getting hurt is always going to be far worse than them being disappointed in him or himself getting hurt. It's not just because he cares about them... it's also just as much because he cares very little for himself. I also think he just... can't, right now. "Don't tell me something like that now" <- yeah because he's a gaping wound at this point. All he's done is put a stopper on his fresh grief, and he cannot afford to open it else he'll probably shatter and he can't right now.

??? Did Legato just kill Zazie? (Or I guess Zazie's body...) Also, he can walk again??? Huh???

Wow Zazie just took out Elendira and Knives... that's impressive actually.

AND THEY HAD A WORM IN THEIR VAGINA???

Oof, I don't actually want that to happen to Knives... that's pretty horrifying.

Ok. Ok Legato. I will readily admit you are one of the coolest people in this manga. That's incredibly badass. The amount of mental coordination he'd need to puppet himself around is incredible. And the reveal that he is literally puppeteering is fascinating. GIVE ME THE FORBIDDEN LEGATO LORE

So Vash is... making bullets with his powers? Ok... interesting. Wonder what they do? ...also he's using more of his powers. Hm. :/

Whjdfhsdfhb Livio jumpscare

Look at my dorky little guy

I'm so happy for him and his new haircut/outlook. (I bet Vash would know a little something about that huh? *cough cough* Eriks)

??????????? Hi Zazie. This was random...?

Oh, so this is Chronica! She's introduced pretty late in the manga. She's also an Independent it seems! And much more knowledgeable than either Vash or Knives. There's an entire generation of Independents from Earth! They have implanted neural blockers to prevent fusing??? Implications that fusing like what Knives is doing has happened before??? Hello??? Need to chew on this.

Vash WHAT are you doing freaking out like that hdfjhbsdfvh. Livio trying to calm him down like :|

Hjhsbjdfhbvs now they're all screaming at the bug... which. which is drawn like this.

...I wonder if Nightow-sensei was also upset by volume 10 and the rampant comedy right now is him coping...

Hjhdbfjhbfv they're so stupid

"...i'm gonna touch it" energy. HHDBSHCBHJBEJ VASH NO

...you know I do think there is something to be said about Vash acting like the irresponsible and foolish brother to... Wolfwood's brother. There's just. Yeah.

I love them both so much they are so stupid

Vash calling Elendira a bitch is so funny to me, especially because before the Ark he didn't seem to really know her at all. How much do you want to bet she dropped by just to annoy and vaguely threaten Vash and Legato while they were locked in that 7 month stalemate. Vash hears her walking into the room and is just like "GDI NOT AGAIN LEAVE ME ALONE".

Livio beloved... finally he's found purpose for himself... (please be careful against Elendira... I love you.......)

"Sometimes it's not easy to explain the power of someone's presence. Especially when it's someone so greatly and deeply connected to you. Some people can't even say it. But this helped Vash the Stampede realize... that he was feeling the same thing in his heart." <-he continues to haunt the narrative... but gosh what a thing to communicate to the reader here. what a thing, to realize how much you cared too late... but what a thing, also, to realize you had at all :') they both miss him so much… but he’s also their resolve

FINALLY we get to know how the Plants feel about all this!!! I feels so bad for them man. I feel they're similar to Vash in that they don't want anyone hurt really... but they're not able to fight their own fight. Pretty heartbreaking stuff.

Meryl... :'(

YES MILLY. CALL HIM OUT! Meryl is worried. Let her be worried.

AUGHHHHHHHHHHHH THIS IS SO CUTE!!! He's going to come back it means he's going to come back it means don't worry I'll find you again I'll come and find you this time I ahsjdcbhasjdvhbsjfhbv Vash you can be so sweet when you are not actively avoiding any and all emotional situations with people who care about you!!!

Chronica's going to turn off her limiter :O

Elendira: Hi :) *stabs you*

"I don't like nice men. They die so easily. He was like that too." <- Oh you did not just go there.

Elendira I think just has no faith in people. She looks actually a bit upset when she says "they die so easily" about "nice men". Then there's the "no matter what Vash the Stampede does, there will always be humans who ruin it." She's decided that while she wants Knives to succeed... if he doesn't, she'll just end the world regardless. Hm. Elendira you are so interesting to me.

Ohh... protecting the kids... Livio... :')

It's JASMINE???

YES! Livio has found his resolve! The cloak from Jasmine, the hat from the little kid! You can do it buddy!

[kindaoptimisticsquirrel]

Trigun Bookclub Trimax Vol5

Vol01: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3  | Vol02: Part 1 | Part 2

Trimax: Vol01 Part 1 Vol01 Part 2 | Vol02 Part 1 Vol02 Part 2 |

Vol 03 Part 1 | Vol03 Part2 | Vol04 Part1 | Vol04 Part2 | Vol05

Here's my Trimax vol5 review! Gonna keep it short because I'm a bit behind and all the good stuff has already been said! :) I'll just be reiterating the stuff I enjoyed and general thoughts! (Also vaguely not spoiler free for around up to vol8.)

Chapter 1:

Oh yeah the July flashback of Vash. God this is so so intense, emotionally. Notonly Vash's faces, but also how the story is told...it really is the mix between incredibly well drawn emotions AND knowing how to build up tension, how to convey the feelings of the characters and everything that makes Trigun so so good.

Look at that beautiful panel sequence of Vash not having a good time #742.

I just love this page as it is so aesthetically pleasing. The qietness. The foot holding in place after Vash nearly stumbling...the self control emitted by the pose only betrayed by the silent tears streaming down his half-hidden face...

Aaaand Zazie left the stage. Man those sand worms are really huge.

And I love how even though Meryl is definitely going through one or possibly THE worst days of her life...she's making this face at the end looking like she goes internally "UGH this CAN'T be happening to me" or "fuck this shit I'm far too cute for this stuff" (my interpretation because she is really cute).

Chapter 2:

Ah the chapter were Wolfwood is creeping up on Midvalley (as far as I understand...since he can't see atm is Wolfwood sensing Midvalley in a way? Like feeling he's here around somewhere.

And then it's Milly who saves Wolfwood and also Vash by getting in the way of Midvalley! (that is correct right? This whole stuff still has me vaguely confused even on my third read) Both girls have such great agenda in this story!

Chapter 3:

*cries* Because he's someone who wants to protect at heart!!! AAAAH!

SUCH a BEAUTIFUL page! Of course also cruel because of the pain Vash endures, his transformation as well...but...it looks just so pretty! So etheral! I think someone else said it looks a bit like a blooming flower and I totally agree!

Little peculiarities, like occasionally closing one eye. I can't cite other moments but I'm sure we've seen the twins do this some times (at least Knives, but I think Vash, too?) Oh oh I just thought of an analysis: Knives doing this, closing one eye...now think of the moment which we'll see in vol07 I think, where he smears blood over half of his face. His duality, little innocent Knives and a tortured Knives that is scared and knows only violence to defend himself. Inner conflict represented by the unconscious tendency to close one eye.

Chapter 4:

Aah now Meryl gets to see Vash's memories. She gets to know and understand him so much better, but it's all a bit too much to take in at once...She'll need time to process all that for sure but in the end I think it was able to make her belief in Vash so much stronger, because she saw what he went through and how he STILL has resolution, and not abandoned hope.

Oh yeah and the scene between Midvalley and Vash. Lots of other readers upset about Midvalley's use of the pronoun "it" for Vash and I too, am appalled as well! You people out there wrote enough great analysis about Midvalley and Wolfwood here and that, so I won't add anything. Just the beautiful contrast of Midvalley calling Vash something so unhuman, and Wolfwood even calling Vash nicknames, which is just the total opposite, and which I find very endearing.

CAAARDGAAMES ON MOTORCYYYCLEEEES

(I hope someone gets the joke so it doesn't seem too random? it was very funny in my head)

Wolfwood sir do you perhaps recognize the look on Midvalley's face as the face of someone who's about to betray and attack their boss? Do you have anything to say on that matter, sir?

Chapter 5:

Oh hmm yummy Legato crushing Midvalley under his bike...yucky

(or as I wrote in my notes in german: JUNGE Legato beruisch disch)

They were also very generous when they worked on Legato's body with the length of the limbs. They are definitely longer than one needs their limbs to be. Or, re-looking at the next chapter, they are the limbs of his helper-underlings? Still too long!

Aaand Zazie is back in a new body!! I love that character, they are so cool!

And of course, the most awesome surprise in this stand-off: MERYL popping out of under Vash's wings and turning the tables completely!!

Chapter 6:

Pages that make me love this poor boy even more, #4522

#4523

#4524 (the storytelling!!! raaaah)

Oh yeah and these pages below:

This chapter just has so many strong pages, depicting Vash's turmoil in general (and probably in this moment where he is caught into this transformed state)

And we get Elendira in this chapter!! She's the coolest B)

Even though filled with nothing but hatred towards Vash, this guy gets it (Vash is just such a pretty boy)

Awww this hug is too sweet!

And that's it for this volume!

[chounaifu]

Okay so since I'm shifting more focus onto this muse, I want to throw out some interaction guidelines for the blog. They're going to be different from what I have on Giacomo, and my Caard will be updated accordingly once I have the opportunity.

For those of you who came over here from seginbeats, let me inform you that Giacomo is 100% the type of character I'm not used to writing, he's definitely helped me improve my range. I've been an antagonist writer primarily for about 14 years out of my almost 17 years of RP experience. Characters like Legato Bluesummers from Trigun, Lucy from Elfen Lied, Vaas Montenegro from Far Cry, Ryomen Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen and Alexia Ashford from Resident Evil, are my forte: fucked up people who do fucked up things. And Proton is a fucked up person that is going to do fucked up things.

Writing with the type of antagonists I put together can be confusing/intimidating, so, here's some guidelines to help you guys out.

Our muses do not have to get along. I am totally, 100% okay with, and excited, to write the bad guy. It's something I legitimately have fun with, and I feel that it opens up doors to a lot of character development. If you want to write with Proton, but the only thing stopping you is the worry of our muses clashing, fret not! I'd still love to write with you.

I'm not interested in writing redemption plots. I've been at the villain game for a long time, and I need to accept the fact that writing a redemption arc for my character makes me lose muse-- because I am no longer writing a villain. However, I am completely cool with writing plots where my muse atones for his actions, I think that has potential for some really unique writing.

Win or lose, I won't complain, as long as it is fair for all the characters and muns involved. Proton is not always going to win a conflict, he has several major weaknesses built into him to make it possible for him to be defeated. But, I do not want my muse to be underestimated. He is still very much a threat. I also do not plan on underestimating any muses that I'm writing with. Let's put a fun plot together! I really love when heroes lose against a villain, only to come back and defeat them-- and vice versa.

Please keep unprompted harassment and bullying of my muse to a minimum. It's genuinely exhausting for me to deal with at this point. It's funny once or twice, but, if all we're going to do is have Muse A come in and degrade/bully Muse B, it's not fun for me. It's gotten a little out of hand on Giacomo's blog, and as much as I think it's funny for people to make fun of my little DJ boy, I'd like for it to tone down there, and here.

Please let me know if you need a trigger to be tagged. This blog is going to explore some extremely dark, and sometimes disturbing topics. I don't want to cause any distress.

If you're ever in doubt on how to reply to something, don't be afraid to reach out to me. You'll never offend me if something needs to be tweaked in order for things to make sense for the interaction.

[orcelito]

You talking about 98 reminded me.

I was rereading the manga the other day and Wolfwood has a flashback to Knives giving him orders to find Vash and to “accompany my little brother once again,” despite the fact that since Wolfwood was introduced in the last couple chapters of Trigun, he didn’t have time to accompany Vash, they just hung out on the bus after they accidentally encountered him by luck, and importantly Wolfwood didn’t even have his orders from Legato about Vash yet, he just knew he had to meet someone in the city as an member of eom. So there wasn’t really any accompanying done there, unless Knives is counting that bus ride which I doubt.

I can’t recall how much Nightow worked on writing/helping with 98, but considering how much earlier Wolfwood gets introduced in it, do you think he accidentally mixed in some of what happened in that version with the manga? Bc honestly that’s pretty funny. Or possibly there was supposed to be some adventures with Wolfwood as part of the crew that got cut from the og manga because of fifth moon and the whole knives encounter getting pushed up due to the publishing stuff and all that, and Nightow forgot he never actually got to put that part in the manga

🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

I'd double check the panel ur talking about, tho I don't rly have time to comb for it rn hdkdhfj But

I mean, Nightow has shown a great amount of consistency within his own writing. The number of callbacks to earlier things within the manga consistently took me by surprise (like all the references to earlier vash & wolfwood interactions, the symbolism of things, the way Meryl acts around vash & grows, etc). My dude was probably rereading his own work Constantly to be able to do that. Plus that moment towards the end where Vash remembers Every Single Person he'd met on his travels, including very minor ones - looking thru, I couldn't see a single one Nightow missed, which meant he must have combed thru his own work to find Every Single Character of his work (unless he kept character references, which is also a possibility & also smth worthy of respect)

All that being said, I doubt Nightow would be the type to make an error like that. It's always possible it's a translation error (I'd be curious of what version you saw that in, since Dark Horse translation is known to have a lot of benign mistakes like that). So if anything, I'd blame them

If it Was Nightow tho 🤔 idk the time's skimmed by in the chapter but I feel like at Least a day passed on that bus. They stop in another town along the way, & the towns in Gunsmoke are Not close together. Take for example the fact that the sand steamer ride between April City and May City was a two week journey. By sand steamer. Then the distance between Augusta and Jeneora was... 2000 kilometers? I think. I'd have to double check it, but it's something kind of insane. Point is, things aren't close together in this world. We just don't see the transportation bc it'd be kinda boring to watch lol

All in all, I'd blame it on translation error or the weird fast paced depiction of the end of the manga b4 I'd blame Nightow of mixing up details

[captain-astors]

003 for Tsukiyama??

Creature.

How I feel about this character:

Grabs him by the collar and shakes. I need to put him in an empty aquarium and study him like an exotic turtle. No rational thoughts around this guy. The reason I read Tokyo Ghoul, I spotted him in the wild and needed to know everything. I love his pinstripe pants, I hate his early haircut, he deserves the world, kick him in the shins. We both play piano.

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: 

If there is a Shuu ship I can probably get on board. As long as it’s legal, who can I ship with Shuu? The answer is Yes. Still very passive about it because like most characters I value the individual over potential ships for the most part, and some days I don’t want to ship him with anyone at all, but I just want to see him be loved alright. I read a pretty good fic where he bonded with Hide in the wake of the wedding once and that was really sweet. I don���t remember how it went or who wrote it because it was about 4 in the morning but I distinctly remember going “aw” also shuunaki is hilarious to me.

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: 

Chie, Rio, Kanae, or Hinami. Worst older brother of the year award, I’ve made several very interesting scenarios in my mind thinking up what would happen if he recognized shikorae but I’m pretty sure he never actually met Rio in canon. Alas. Also though I think they’ll never fully trust each other, or at the very least it’ll take years and years given the kimi incident (and reasonably so on the ginger’s part) Nishiki and Shuu are a very funny duo to me. 

My unpopular opinion about this character: 

Everyone should love him. If you were born in a weird upper class family and told that eating people is nice and treated like god on earth for all of your formative years you would be decently overconfident too. He is obsessive over his food, vaguely uncomfortable, probably doesn’t know how to navigate a grocery store because it’s “beneath him” but he’s not NEARLY as much of a creep as people make him out to be. 

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

 Healthy resolution to the obsession. He serves as a call to action for GOAT and admits that he genuinely wants to see Kaneki happy but then immediately takes a really fast turn into “...so I can eat him and his kid!” We were so close. I like obsessive dynamics a lot but he's been through the whole gauntlet at this point I just want to see him happy.

Favorite friendship for this character: 

Chie or Kanae. He has about three or maybe four living people (and one of the people here is not them) who genuinely see him as a valued individual and one of them is his dad so it’s not exactly a wide range of choices.

My crossover ship: 

Not romantically because Legs should not be in a relationship without literal lifetimes of therapy, and even then please don’t, but Shuu and Legato can bond over being obsessed with someone they serve to the point of allowing them to get away with literal murder despite the fact said person barely cares they exist, weirdly sharp teeth, blue hair and pronouns, unnaturally long tongues, probably hitting their tall heads on door frames, interesting fashion decisions, spikes coming out of their shoulders, eccentricity, instrument appreciation, being incredibly fond of food for one reason or another, and then Shuu mentions he had a relatively normal childhood and Legato says he’ll literally eat anything because he’s still not accustomed to having a choice and it all devolves.

I will never get him out of my head. (small edit because despite thinking of kanae throughout I somehow never wrote their name.)

[feekins]

that's right, it's that time again! and what a momentous occasion it is! here are my thoughts and [a few translation] things as I re-read ch 6 of Trigun vol 2 - in which we're finally introduced to another beloved MC!

(NOTE: I'm reading the Dark Horse [physical] and the Overhaul [online] translations side-by-side)

actually-extremely-perceptive Milly, my darling, we meet again 🥺💕

(Dark Horse on left, Overhaul on right)

some interesting translation discrepancies on this page 🧐 not sure why Dark Horse shifted the focus toward truthfulness??? it clashes with that "he wasn't bluffing" bit we see in the Overhaul. but anyway, the gist is at least similar? Dark Horse doesn't fundamentally alter the meaning here. I do like how, in the Overhaul, it's a lot more clear that this page is about ① Vash's ability to read people - ② an ability which he has confidence in - and ③ Vash's INability to get a good read on Legato ④ beyond the fact that he's Rly Fking Dangerous.

(unrelated: *HE* was angry VS *I* was angry?????)

(Dark Horse on top, Overhaul on bottom)

and here we have a translation discrepancy/speech bubble mix-up combo 🥴 Dark Horse attributes the speech bubbles on the right of the panel to Vash, while the speech bubbles on the left are attributed to Background Dude. meanwhile, in the Overhaul, it's clear that the only speech bubble that isn't Vash's is the one on the far left. it makes this scene more funny to me, Background Dude all (understandably) weirded out by this Red Coat McFries Hair talking to himself about fighting and death wishes 🤪

BUT WAIT

it is, how you say...

...le Wuwu?

:3c

then there's another (admittedly minor) translation discrepancy after Wolfwood thanks Milly and Meryl. in both, it's hard to say whether of the two this particular speech bubble belongs to? but anyway. Dark Horse has "No, no, it wasn't us. They stopped the bus because someone was makin' noise." meanwhile, the Overhaul has "No, no, it wasn't us. We just made enough of a fuss so that they stopped the bus."

BOTH translations then have Meryl (I'm pretty sure?) saying "He's the one who saw you when you were just a speck on the horizon!" ('he' being Vash, of course)

and...blegh. there are some translation discrepancies when we first revisit the slavers at Jeneora Rock, but upon review, I don't think they're significant enough to note. they've got the same gist - just little details one translation has that the other doesn't for one reason or another. idk, I feel like I'm getting carried away trying to point out all the differences;;;;;

STORY TIME: when I read this when the English translation first came out, I was...not a very happy teen. 100% thought I was ostracized by my peers for being Weird (spoiler alert: that was the RSD skewing my perception of literally everything lmao), so I found myself rly identifying with Vash. and the whole exchange with Wolfwood following this panel rly stuck with me - so much so that I remember one time, on a Bad Brain Day, we were taking a group photo on the last day of vacation, and someone I was close to whispered to me "smile like Vash!"

idk, I just felt like sharing;;;;;;

COMPLETELY UNRELATED: I think. I finally understand what's going on here. maybe. is Wolfwood's stomach growling here?

OG GHGs, LET'S GOOOOOOO 🤩

anyway, some closing thoughts: it feels so good to revisit Vash and Wolfwood's first meeting in the manga. they were my fav dynamic duo for a long time, and now, I'm remembering why. Wolfwood seeming so goofy, yet he sees right through Vash so quickly...

...yeah. these two should've been my first clue that I wasn't straight, or allosexual or alloromantic. the dynamics they have just in their first meeting make my big queer aroace heart soar 🥹

[deadlydevotion]

Razlo still thinks he can get Legato to leave before helping as much as he's able. It's funny, how much he underestimates Legato's dedication to the few people he cares about. Razlo might not be on the list exactly but Livio is and they share a body so he's stuck with the psychic now too.

Wolfwood, attacking Livio? Even a shade of him doesn't make sense... But it does actually. The Revenant killed Knives, why wouldn't a shade of Wolfwood go after his brother? The Stars are quick to bring them all to ruin after all. They aim the weapons that will hurt the most and their shots are deadly accurate.

He doesn't comment on Razlo's obvious worrying.

"I suppose I'm not surprised. Neither of them have spoken to me in a while. I'd hoped that the novelty of me calling would be enough to jarr them into responding." The fact that Stampede didn't pick up is expected but Vash? That hurts a little and Legato can't decide if he'd rather it be because he didn't want to talk to him or... No. He'd rather the younger be alright and just, not talking to him for some reason.

"At least leave a text, maybe they're just not paying attention." He pauses, focusing on his driving for a moment.

"Try Wolfwood. If there's a doppelganger of him running around either he already knows and we should find him or he needs to be informed." Keep calm and focused, act like the leader of the Guns he used to be. Razlo might not have ever followed him but focusing on the way authority used to feel helps him keep his focus.

At least Legato can't hear the hiss over the hum of the starcycle's engine or he'd be just even more upset then he is already. It's only going to compound the problem honestly once he finds out just how hurt the two are.

Legato is not a reckless driver, though he is in a hurry. The advantage of his wires is that he knows exactly where every other driver is without having to look so being in a rush and sliding between and around others on the street is child's play. And there's no bumps when the bike hovers so Razlo's wounds aren't getting jarred.

He does hand over his phone without responding to the uncooperative tone. It's Razlo, it's to be expected. And the irritation is better then him being so hesitant.

"What is it, you haven't even told me what it is. What's hunting us?" He can't reach Knives. He can't make it physically and, even if he was close enough, his wires wouldn't make it through the sandstorm well. Too much static in the air.

He was trying to be positive, trying to trust the Plant to be able to take care of himself and this was not helping his nerves any, thank you Razlo.

"Start with the Vashes, I'm here and not going anywhere so don't worry about me right now."