#LEGATO’S KINDA COLD

[b0tsbby]

Anyways on Twitter I made a thread of Black hairstyles x each Trigun character, and asked who the crowd wanted me to draw for black history month. So here’s four req I picked at random!

Happy Belated BHM!😭

(Source thread under cut)

If you want the original thread that includes, almost everyone it’s here and admittedly it’s kinda bomb! (TriMax Knives was my favourite hc, I will draw him of my own accord soon)

https://x.com/b0tsbby/status/1757469800375136535?s=46&t=B4reFP0FnOly1tkmPhVHew

[imustbenuts]

nuts reading in jp 9 - introduction scenes of legato, rem.

disclaimer: im about to finish a bottle of soju.

so im probably not the best or most articulate when it comes to interpreting characters. but here goes. things that caught my eye etc etc.

legato

for legato, the jp version seems to use words that really hones in on how vindictive/creepy he is. also he speaks like an evil demon lord's henchman in some JRPG game.

OH and DH's en version appropriately takes all of that and does a pretty good job overall imo. he just speaks like that in tone.

except for 1 specific phrase.

this phrase that carries a degree of his projection from his character. or even some implications about knives's train of thought. in the left most bubble here, he actually says

あの方の10分の1でも地獄を味わうがいい (may you) Taste even a tenth of the hell you've put him through.

him in this case being knives. he refers to him with a very respectful, elevating He by using "あの方 ano kata". we know that knives ate the angel gun blast which must have been owie, but also that vash's defiance causes knives a lot of irritation.

this then paints knives as this sociopath if we believe that he told legato about their history, bc hes telling it and slamming vash's opinions/feelings/autonomy into the trash. (and also overriding his sisters autonomy later in trimax)

alternatively, this also paints legato as this guy who might be projecting his own hell onto knives in hindsight and also kinda tossing his god-king's feelings into the trash.

they're both terrible for each other in their current state. smh if they played Plate Up they'd game over on the very first day.

rem's isolation

in OH and DH's en version, rem talks about the life on the ship with vash.

he asks here why are the people asleep and that the ship is too quiet. and then:

she uses "We" and refers to her job being shared with others. which is correct in the overall world building side of things.

however, the jp version sounds a lot lonelier (as if it wasnt enough). left most bubble again:

さしずめ私はその"種"の管理人という所ね You could call me the caretaker of these seeds.

she uses the singular 私 I. not 私たち we.

so she is saying that shes very much alone. incredibly, dreadfully alone.

there's an added layer of her using the singular I in this scene. that she doesnt consider vash and knives to be sharing her job. there's no "We" when it comes to that, she's shouldering the important job and not sharing the burden with... well, kids.

while responsible of her, that there is in fact a degree of distance between vash and rem, whether vash realizes it or not.

theres this super compounded mass of depression and isolation in this scene, it feels like.

i think this aspect of her was taken to heart by vash and inherited. when he later stands in another cold sleep chamber surrounded by people, he doesnt share this burden of watching with any of them

not with milly, meryl or wolfwood. even though they are right there.

[tomboyyyaoi]

SOOOOO many more thoughts than last week ok

how much time has passed since ww's experimentation? i like the idea of him not ageing faster but just ageing to a certain point and continuing from there? or ageing to a certain point then being stuck like that? but bc the time is indeterminate and we dont know how old he was when he was sent off (kinda like the manga) im gnna keep assuming hes an adult and not caring♡ not my problem♡ also of we take the fact rollos whole thing was 20 years ago and the doctor still looked the same in both wolfwoods and rollos flashbacks then??? idk, im not jumping to anything yet, the time is still uncertain just like it was in the manga and honestly? thats fine by me im absolutely smelling an age discourse revival and i will be killing myself im abt to be so brutal with blocking new fans i can tell

nick been smoking that zaza since he was fresh out the womb

livio and nicks relationship. im bawling. they r brothers. im on the floor...

legato giving me mean twink vibes for this version im actually loving it hes such a petty insecure bitch "dont talk about my hair" *breaks nicks spine* LMAO i love him, he made me giggle, i love a petty gay villain whos genuinely a threat

meryl REFUSING to let the investigation go. her boss is like "its getting a little too dangerous for us we better scoot back 2 office" n shes NOT having it, her reckless driving and complete dismissal of whatever rob says, i love u queen

THE BACKSTORY SEQUENCES and wolfwoods hallucinations were animated so beautifully... omg.

not enough of livio yet to get a read on his characterisation but. please be a little similar to the manga at least. please.

lil nick n livio r so cute. they r so little. putting them in the blender.

rob couldve entirely been like "no meryl we need to go back" but the fact he still let her drive and still let her pursue the steamer with his only protests being stern warnings tells me hes a little curious to know what the fuck vashs deal is

wolfwood and vash absolutely fucking screaming at eachother. couples quarrel♡

i am SO excited for BDN next week

seems that the gung ho guns are basically blended with the eye of michael at this point, it did click they havent been calling them the gung ho guns so i assume they just. merged them together. pretty cool, not a bad choice

vash being quite cold toward meryl n rob, his honestly really mean response to wolfwood calling them his buddies stabbed me in the heart a bit, but is that a coping mechanism for him to not get attatched or is it an actual effect of him forcing himself to detatch from people so its easier to leave them. ouu. it hurted me a little. it did. EVEN WOLFWOOD CALLED HIM COLD FOR IT AND HE JUST KILLED A MAN LIKE. YESTERDAY

ok thats all i can think of rn gnna go watch the ep again see u all next week

[deludedfantasy]

Trimax Vol 8 Ch 1-3

I'm losing my mind over this volume, I swear to god. It makes me feel like I'm chewing on glass. Anyway, here are some unhinged thoughts about the first half of volume 8.

Ch 1

The fact that the broken posts of the bridge look like crosses reads as very ominous to me…

Ok, this page. This page has lived rent free in my head for two months since the first time I read this. At first, I didn’t notice that Vash was balancing on the stump of his arm, it just kinda looked like he was doing one of his insane workouts but then. Oh but then. I looked closer and I Realized and the cold dread set in. 

You know what else gets me? Knives stripped him of his clothes. He left Vash in only his pants. But worst of all, he took away his arm. You could argue it was because it has a gun in it, but all he’d really have to do is take the bullets out and it wouldn’t be useful anymore. Taking away his arm is just adding insult to injury and in particular shows his just blatant disregard for Vash’s bodily autonomy. Just because it’s not flesh and bone, doesn’t mean it’s not a part of his body! It’s his arm, goddammit! And Knives said, I’ll take this away from you, this isn’t part of you and I just don’t think you need it. It’s pointlessly cruel and punitive. I think he’s doing it just because he can, to show how powerful he is, and how Vash is his.

Knives really said, “I was going to use Legato’s powers for my evil plans, but actually, it’s better for just torturing you.”

Vash is right! Knives is going on and on about how humans abuse and misuse Plants, but Knives was the one who crashed humanity on a desert planet. These people are trying to survive with the only resources they have. Vash knows it’s horrible and unfair, but what choice do they have? They’ve been forced into a trolley problem of epic proportions and somebody has to die, either a lot of humans or a single Plant. What kind of choice is that?

Oh, Wolfwood. What are you thinking about? His mission is over, he’s led Vash to his doom, and now, he’s just smoking another cigarette. Is that a face of regret? Or despair, that he couldn’t do anything to stop what was coming?

So Knives’s ship is something of an anomaly. It seems like humanity doesn’t have the capability to make anything that flies anymore, so it’s a shock when it appears over the city. No wonder that one kid is asking their mom where their camera is. 

Wolfwood isn’t shooting to kill! How interesting, I say with tears in my eyes. He’s always listened to Vash and now, he’s started to take it in. That he doesn’t have to be a killer, even if that’s what his mentor made him to be and is still trying to make him be.

Another instance of Wolfwood’s magically appearing handgun. 

But man, Chapel is fucking evil. He sends Double Fang to slaughter those soldiers to teach Wolfwood a lesson, to make him hurt, for not doing it himself. Because Double Fang doesn’t give them a quick death like Wolfwood would. His is hard and bloody and revels in the carnage and you just know it makes Wolfwood sick. 

Vash asks Knives, “Do you really believe people cannot change?” He’s not just asking him about humanity, Vash is asking Knives if he doesn’t believe he can choose a different path too. That even though he’s started all this and is intent on destroying humanity, he can’t find another way. Vash still sees something of his sweet brother in Knives and he’s begging him to stop.

OMG TESLA. The mention of her makes Vash so angry, he actually manages to fight against Legato’s control of him! This was what I was talking about in my meta, the hypocrisy of Knives using Tesla for his crusade, and Vash directly calls him out for it!!! He’s using her to fuel his rage and hatred rather than looking at the fear inside himself. 

Oh, I love this conversation so much. Vash is right, they do have a duty to Tesla, but not in the crusade Knives created. “Only the victims of violence can truly describe its essence.” Because they know what can be done to them and have seen the results of it, they’re the only ones who can stop it. They’re the only ones who can change the story because they know the ending and the pain it causes. They’re the ones that can stop the cycle. Instead, Knives is just continuing it. 

Also!! Vash calls out Knives for bottling up his feelings and letting them morph into something big and ugly and toxic, enough to motivate him to do these terrible things, to turn Tesla’s death into a crusade of hate. When he asks, “Is that who you really are?” it hits really hard, because we know what Knives used to be like, that sweet curious child. By never letting any of that fear out, it turned that cute little kid into a hateful, murderous man, and despite all the terrible things Knives has done to him, Vash still sees that little boy. He wants Knives to see it too. But he won’t, because he’s gone too far to stop now.

Ch 2

Ugh, Chapel is really twisting the knife here. Wolfwood already feels like he doesn’t recognize himself, that he can’t go back to the very place he gave everything up to protect. To then hear it from the man that twisted him into this shape only makes it sting more. 

Look, I already hated Chapel from my first read of the manga, but now I hate him even more. He’s so cold and cruel. He’s telling Wolfwood all these things to hurt him, and he does it with such glee. He looks down on Wolfwood’s love and care for the orphanage. It’s straight up fucking evil to tell Wolfwood that the place he gets most of his assassins from is the orphanage, that Wolfwood didn’t manage to protect those children. 

These moments, as the soldiers are trying to figure out what happened across the bridge and we see the carnage Knives left behind, were particularly chilling on my first read. I was kind of in denial about where this was all going and really didn’t think we were going into what’s essentially an Apocalypse scenario. The way it’s revealed is so fucking brutal and it still makes me so tense.

And then it just keeps getting worse and worse. Knives accused humans of only being able to cause death and destruction, endless suffering, but look at what he’s doing. The empty cities, the riots, the kid crying over his dead parents—he isn’t doing anything that humans haven’t done before. Another instance of his hypocrisy. 

NOT VASH IN THE OUBLIETTE. 

And Wolfwood…poor Wolfwood. He’s just sitting there and looking so angry that he can’t do anything. I personally think that he’s also feeling guilty so his part in it and that’s only making the anger at himself and the world worse.

In one chapter, the world is completely decimated…but at the end a ray of light. The girls are back! They’re still alive and they’re working with Luida! I love how every time we leave them, we’re reintroduced to them in a similar way. But this one is so very silent, with two lone, cloaked figures riding across a barren landscape. When they enter the building, rather than the usual jokes and talking, they’re greeted warmly as equals and we get the feeling that someone is still fighting for humanity when Vash can’t.

Ch 3

Really hoping that a chapter called “Counter Attack!!” will give me a little hope after all that despair. 

This chapter, and the reveal that Meryl and Milly have spent seven months traveling around the planet trying to bring aid to people, leaves me with a great hunger to see some of their growth and adventures during this time. It would be such an interesting spin-off series.

Especially because Meryl looks so different. She’s always been serious, but somehow she seems even more serious and determined. There’s a darkness behind her eyes that didn’t used to be there before. How did she deal with all her trauma surrounding Vash and the subsequent breakdown of society, not even knowing if he was alive, if she’d ever see him again and be able to work through what happened between them?

I’m sure many people have pointed out this panel, but man, Meryl’s face here. The circles under her eyes, the grimness. She knows everything, she’s seen so many horrible things, but there’s still a spark of determination. 

Luida and everyone from Home knows exactly what kind of enemy they’re up against. They understand how powerful Knives is and that they stand little chance against him. But they’re going to fight anyway. For Vash and everything he stands for and everything he did for them. 

I love Luida so much. Everyone else in the hangar gets really worried after Meryl tells them what happened in July and what Vash is capable of. But Luida, as usual, sticks up for Vash and reminds them of all the good things he has done for them, how he’s always fought against Knives. And how they owe him, not just to fight, but to help him out and rescue him. He’s not just the destroyer of July, he’s also, above all, always been a protector. And now he deserves someone to save him. 

Oh and Luida’s moment of doubt, her wondering if she’s a coward. Meryl comes forward and admits she’s had the same thoughts. She’s worried about the same things. They both have such a sense of duty and responsibility, but it comes with the burden of never knowing if you’re doing the right thing. 

It’s interesting to think about much, much earlier, when Meryl had her doubts about herself way back during her early days with Vash, when she wondered if she was too cold and calculating. Luida is having a similar moment. There’s something so human about it, their fear that they aren’t doing enough or the right thing. I just love the female characters in this story and their complexity so much. 

Oh my god, this Plant memory. It has lived rent free in my head for months. For all Knives’s talk that humans abuse Plants and don’t care about them, look at this little girl and how joyful she is about it. How the humans thank her for her work. It’s a drop in the bucket compared to Knives’s rage, but it’s wiggling its way in. It’s making him doubt everything he’s ever believed about humanity’s cruelty. 

Vash in that cage/coffin thing fucks me up so badly. You know Knives locked him up like that to “protect” him, so he wouldn’t get in the way of Knives’s work and not kill himself quicker trying to stop him. But it’s so, so cruel to shove him into that small space and isolate him like that. 

Is Knives getting overwhelmed by all of the Plants’ memories? He did absorb so many of them. That’s a lot of minds for any one person to handle, even if he’s a hyper-intelligent Independent. 

YES YES YES. WOLFWOOD TO THE RESCUE. The ambush of the fighter planes was just a distraction for him to get in and get Vash out!!!

Still wonder exactly how he managed to get on the Ark during all this. Was he hiding out on it from earlier? Or did he somehow jump from one of the fighter planes?

[feekins]

oh. I'm beginning to experience Hoppered Feelings 🥲 all that and more here in my thoughts and things and whatever translation weirdness I find as I re-read ch 5 of Trigun Maximum vol 4!

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

okay. oh man. Hoppered is hitting different this read-through. with the Overhaul's translation, I feel like I'm getting a greater sense of just...the depth of Hoppered's grief and how that's crystallized into such immense, vengeful rage. how fitting, then, is the Overhaul's title for this chapter: Wild Crying Bullet.

Dark Horse's title? it's "Crying Wild Breed" I'm not even joking 😆

both translations are roughly the same for this first page (Dark Horse's being "The remaining Gung-Ho's -- Zazie... Midvalley... Hoppered... Who's there?! Someone's coming...?!" - so, again, the Overhaul's translation is more explicit/nuanced). what I find interesting is that in neither of them does Wolfwood count Legato among the "remaining" GHGs. so I looked back and in ch 1 of Trigun vol 2, Legato does specifically say (paraphrasing here - both translations have basically the same thing) "Soon, twelve assassins will come to hunt you down." I tallied up the GHGs in both the anime and the manga, and in doing so, I realized the numbers track with what Legato knows of the GHGs. I guess, for some reason, I've always mentally categorized Legato with the rest of the GHGs, hence my initial confusion.

that brings up another interesting point: Wolfwood does not seem to be aware that 12 is the GHG magic number, so to speak. He's only counting Monev, E. G. Mine, Dominique, Leonof, Hoppered, Midvalley, Gray, Rai-Dei, and Zazie (but what about Wolfwood himself? lol idkkkkkk). so. yeah. THAT'S interesting. 🤭

(Dark Horse on left, Overhaul on right)

here's where Hoppered's story starts hitting harder for me this time around - "Since that day...I ceased to be human." that line alone is so compelling to me - there's this crushing amount of grief and rage to it.

Midvalley's cold professionalism rly comes through in the Overhaul's translation here!

this bit has always confused me. looking at the context, I get what Nightow/Dark Horse/the Overhaul is putting down...but I feel like I'd get it better if I could understand the onomatopoeias in that top panel 😅

(Dark Horse on top, Overhaul on bottom)

two things I wanna note here:

① to me, "been improved" reads as more passive - like things were done to him - while "made many improvements to become" implies a more active transformation for Hoppered - like he consciously and willingly did these things to himself.

② while I prefer the Overhaul's translation...I do like how poetic Dark Horse's choice of "inside of my head"/"my body" is =u=

...interesting discrepancy, coin VS coins...

...and with the second panel, again, the Overhaul's translation is more straightforward. both basically say the same thing, but...idk. the Overhaul's feels more clear and intuitive to me =u=

Dark Horse's translation kinda has Milly connecting Wolfwood with Hoppered (and Midvalley? and Zazie?) in terms of like...having the same drive. but in the Overhaul, we see this bit is more about Milly having this epiphany about just Wolfwood, and I like that - feels like that tracks rly well with how perceptive of other ppl we've seen Milly be.

ooooh Vash is. SO done. gets straight to the point in both translations.

both translations make sense in context here imo - but the Overhaul's gives you this sense that Hoppered is well aware of how Vash prefers not engage in armed combat if he doesn't absolutely have to, which I think adds more dimension to Hoppered seeking revenge, picking up on these bits of info over the years!

in Zazie's opinion, Knives isn't the kind of person to fight for anyone but himself.

as someone who very much enjoys all iterations of Knives, I must say THANK YOU!!! SO MUCH!!! FOR INCLUDING THIS DETAIL, OVERHAUL!!!!!!!! 🤩🤩🤩

[nomanslandismoving]

(( Sharing some more takes for my Swapped!AU below the cut. Buckle up, kiddos. ))

This was sparked through some exploration with Swapped Nai meeting another alternate Knives and their respective Wolfwood, and some discussions on the topic with friends in discord.

I've seen lots of people swap Nai and Vash--which, duh, perfection--but y'all know what I haven't seen much of, if any?

Swapping Wolfwood and Livio/Razlo.

Nick working directly under Vash, *almost* in a sort of role that Legato plays in canon? But he's less of a pitiful soul saved by the plant with a God complex and more of a born-again devotee of this ethereal being.

Goes by the moniker "The Hand of God" or "Church Grim"

Cold, malicious, and sadistic in the most smooth-talking and southern kinda way.

"Just doin' the lord's work."

Goth cowboy priest vibes, because I said so

And then there's Livio and Razlo;

Ordered by Vash to keep an eye on his brother

The two of them are in a more cooperative state, being able to switch back and forth freely and communicate with each other

Undecided if they'd still go by "Double Fang", "Tri-Punisher" or something different. I've been changing everyone else's titles so it would be weird to leave theirs the same, but I'll brainstorm some more.

Livio is still rather "silly" and optimistic, while Razlo takes on a more bitter and realistic view on things (closer to Canon Wolfwood vibes)

They don't have a third arm. They lost third arm privileges. No I'm not giving it to Nick.

[heteroflexiblecastiel]

so i thought the alt michael storyline and most of s14 in general was deadly boring and uninspired but i Do really like jensen ankleses portrayal of michaeldean tbh. like michael honestly seems so much more at home in deans body than dean is? deans a jumpy fidgety kinda dude hes got this all over the place energy, but michaels movements are always so smooth and precise and purposeful. he wears dean more self-assuredly and effortlessly than dean wears dean. and yet! his eyeballs are like a little porcelain doll's eyes. big and shiny and direct and not even dead so much as Unalive. abiotic. he really pulls off creeper michael with the smooth legato kinda movements and the cold marble eyes like yeah. that's the kinda guy who kidnaps and tortures ppl for his Science Experimence

[unidentified-moe-object]

I rewatched Trigun recently, for the first time in nearly a decade. It was one of the very first anime I ever watched, and absolutely still holds up. A few points -

This show starts very strong - Episode 1 is very, very good. Unfortunately it then kinda blows the momentum it set up with the next three or so episodes. Episode 3 is alright, episodes 2 and 4 aren’t great. Fortunately the show gets back on track with episodes 5 and 6, then stays strong throughout.

Except for episode 11, which kinda collapses when you think about it for more than two seconds. Alright, done complaining now, on to the good stuff.

Yasuhiro Nightow has a fantastic sense for character names. They’re all so cool.

The entire Vash and Wolfwood dynamic is fantastic, and the biggest demonstration of Trigun’s thematic strength.. Vash is the ideal we need to live up to, and Wolfwood is the reality we need to deal with. Vash pays a dear price for his pacifism - He’s covered in scars from the injuries he sustained to avoid breaking his code. If he was a regular human being, he would have just died. Wolfwood is a regular human being, and so really can’t afford to keep to that pacifist code. The moment he comes around to Vash’s way of thinking, he died. Even Vash himself breaks his own code in episode 24, to save Milly and Meryl’s lives. Vash spend episode 25 in a depressive funk because of it, but he eventually forgives himself for what he did. We need to try to live up to our ideals and morals, but if we have to stray from the path we must forgive ourselves for it. I think that’s a good message.

Legato is one of the most genuinely terrifying villains in anime. His cold misanthropy combined with his sheer ruthless effectiveness sends shivers down the spine.

Episode 23 is one of the most perfect single episodes of anime ever produced. Episodes 12 and 24 are also both fantastic.

If Milly actually has been removed from Trigun Stampede, I will be mad.

[fisheoctrashdump]

Well then,,,,,,....... I challenge Y O U to do Alora 1-20 with Zerx, Galatea, and Adrien ewe

Holiday

Alora isn't a big fan of the more popular holidays. I can see her kinda liking Halloween, but she never really does anything for it.

I imagine she makes up little fake holidays at her convenience

Alora: dad!!! I can't believe you made plans to do something today!

Adrien: why? what's today?

Alora: it's "drink tea and make kandi with Alora" day :(

Adrien: of course, I can't believe I forgot about that. I'll stay home with you, Ali :)

Alora: :)

Additionally, I imagine she comes up with ridiculous holidays just for fun (and to mess with Arvid)

Cooking

So, she actually learned to cook from Jase :) Alora is pretty good at cooking, but she does cut corners and uses convenient foods to save time (like using canned foods and such)

But also, she cans her own food sometimes! She even convinced Jase to try a dish she made with her own canned food, and he didn't like it, but he also didn't hate it ewe

She cooks for her friends and family, especially for Adrien (since he's not able to). She's the only reason Adrien Jr gets to eat actual meals when he's staying with them lol.

She cooks for Clara a lot, too. With all the work Clara gets wrapped up in, it's easy for her to just grab whatever is convenient or easiest to eat at the moment, so she sometimes makes food for Clara and stops her to eat a meal without multitasking

Despite her skill and frequency with cooking, Alora doesn't normally eat the things she makes.

Sleeping

Alora just sleeps whenever she feels tired. Sometimes she gets into one of those modes where she can sleep 4 hours and be fine, then other times she will sleep for 12+ hours and still be tired.

She gets really cold during the night, so she wears warm pjs and has a lot of blankets.

Driving

Alora doesn't really like driving that much, but she loves being able to just go wherever she wants when she feels like it. That makes it worth the effort put into driving, she thinks. She won't drive for very long, though, unless there's an important reason to

Bathing/showering

She normally showers, and baths are saved for special occasions. Alora doesn't wash her hair often because of the texture (and it's pretty dry), but she cleans her body daily.

Hugging

She hugs her family a lot. This of course excludes Amber, who Alora wouldn't even think about touching at the moment. I think she hugs Adrien Jr the most bc he babey. She wants to hug Galatea a lot, but she tries to avoid it around the rest of the family because she is worried they might somehow Know

Kissing

She's not had her first kiss yet lol ;w;

She want kiss, but I feel like it's just something she gets nervous about. She might be feeling brave enough to go for it one moment, and then right before it happens she jumps away and pretends like she didn't almost kiss that person.

Sex

She hasn't had sex before.

I feel like she is sexually attracted to Galatea, but it's something she feels uncomfortable with currently, especially with the fact they are already hiding their relationship. I don't see her being sexually attracted to Zerx or Clara, but maybe that will change later on for Clara? Idk

Also, Alora technically is aspec with being demi, so

General physical contact

She really likes physical contact with others. I feel like she is probably constantly finding little ways to be physically affectionate with Zerx (and Galatea when they're alone) whenever they're spending time with each other. She also stays pretty close to her family. She is not against lying on top of Clara, or hugging Arvid super tight so that he can't get away, or poking Amanda's arm a few (several) times before she starts talking lol

She also wants Adrien to hold her when she's had a bad day or something. She sits next to him and he puts his arm around her, and they just stay like that while Alora rants about whatever is bothering her.

Physical appearance

Alora is 5'5, and unhealthily underweight

She has a few scars on her arms and back as result of the abuse she suffered while her mother was keeping her from her family

She has wavy hair, but I'm actually in the process of figuring out the exact style right now, because I think I want it to be different from her original design

She has yellow eyes, which was like some kind of recessive thing (even though Adrien's eyes are orange, stecella had yellow eyes). She likes to joke that means Amanda was actually her mom, because it comforts her, in a way.

Wardrobe

Pastel goth,,,,,,,,,,

I've reblogged a lot of clothing in her style before now, and I've made a collage of stuff I imagine her wearing, that's how obsessed I am with her style lol

She wears a lot of baggy sweaters, usually. She is pretty much always wearing skirts and dresses. Her colors are usually pink, white, and black, but she will occasionally wear other colors as long as they're pastel

Jewelry

She wears a lot of jewelry. She has a lot chokers, pink heart ones being her favorite

She has a septum piercing, too.

She will wear other jewelry as long as it is heart, raven, or satanic/wiccan themed.

She also wears kandi, but she's very specific about which ones.

Nickname

Her nickname is Ali, but she only lets Adrien call her that. He's called her that pretty much since she was born lol

I'm not sure if she would have any other nicknames

Dancing

She likes dancing. She's actually pretty good at it, but she wouldn't care if she wasn't. She dances at home mostly, but she will dance in public if the situation is appropriate (or just if the music hits the right way)

Singing

She's always singing. She will sing when there's a song in her head, or when someone plays a song she really likes, or if she is coming up with potential lyrics to go along with a song Clara's writing, or if she's practicing for a piece they're doing for her choir.

Alora is a soprano, so she feels more comfortable singing higher notes and soprano parts. Sometimes when she's listening to music with her friends and she knows there's a high note coming up she will go all out and put her heart and soul into singing that note. Singing brings her a lot of joy, and she refuses to let anything stop her from singing if she decides she wants to do it.

Anger

Alora gets angry really easily. She gets unpredictable when she's mad, and can sometimes lash out at those undeserving of her anger. Normally, though, she's able to keep it directed at the source. Amber and Erika have seen her anger more than anyone has, except for maybe Galatea and Adrien. (Not that Alora was mad at them, just that they are her go to when she can't eliminate the problem of what's angering her.)

She has gotten violent before with people when she was mad. Alora physically fought Erika twice, and nearly did the same with Amber (but was stopped by Adrien).

Soft spot

Galatea, Clara, and Zerx. She is the softest around them than she is with anyone else.

Porcelain stuff, mostly like tea sets. She looks at a lot of them and wants so many, but she only has two tea sets right now

Flowers and succulents. She loves plants in general, but those are her favorites. She gets really attached to her plants

Legato. She loves birds in general, too, but she love her birb the most :3c

Really complicated choir pieces, stuff that she has to practice forever on. Once it all comes together, the end result makes her feel so calm and joyful.

Pretty skirts, dresses, and accessories uwu

Adrien Jr and Sebastian, though I imagine her and Sebastian being closer to each other in comparison to her and Adrien Jr.

Adrien.

Favorite possession

One of her tea sets, though I'm not sure yet which.

One of Galatea's pokemon thing (maybe plushie?) she stole from her :3c

The knife she got from Sebastian for a semi recent birthday gift (this is headcanon so, lol)

Favorite photograph

A picture of her and Zerx when they first started hanging out (and before they started dating)

Relationship with ___

Zerx

Alora and Zerx's friendship came out of nowhere. They'd known each other pretty much their whole lives, and they definitely had talked to each other before, but they didn't really feel a connection until some point in middle school. They started spending all their time with each other after that point.

I feel like them dating is something that happened pretty recently, but I'm not sure how it happened or when exactly. I think Alora would have been the one to confess first, though.

Alora feels very calm around Zerx. She isn't quite as open with him as she is with Galatea, though. I feel like Alora believes she needs to conceal certain things from him so that he won't stop liking her.

Galatea

I've felt like Alora and Galatea have always been close. She has leaned on Galatea a lot through her whole life. I feel like they understand each other better than anyone else. They talk about anything and everything, and neither of them feel like they have to hide anything from the other. Well, except for one thing.

Alora is probably more protective over Galatea than she is of anyone else, even Clara.

When Alora is getting worked up because something isn't to her standards, or when she makes a mistake and is super hard on herself, Galatea is the one that helps her out of that. Most of the time, Alora is able to overlook her mistakes when she's with Galatea.

Adrien

She is,,,,, so close to Adrien. Alora spends a lot of time with Adrien. She knows she can always go to him for advice when facing an issue, but certain things she's afraid of telling him, the situation with her mother being one. She's afraid that if she brings it up, it will upset Adrien.

Still, Adrien's presence always makes her feel safe and comfortable.

[umbraastaff]

I Saw Seven Bounties, chapter 4

Kravitz has a bad day.

[first] [prev] [next] [recent]

[Ao3]

Kravitz starts taking other bounties to keep himself busy until Barry reappears, and thank goodness he does, because it's almost two months before there's any sign of him. The reaper is slicing through the soul of a less skilled evildoer when he feels it: a pulse of energy. It almost startles him out of porting the current bounty into the Astral Plane, but he manages.

To be perfectly clear, it isn't just some notification ping from the Queen or a coworker telling him they've felt something-- the power is physically close enough that it hits him personally.

There's another pulse. This solidifies his conviction: it's Barry Bluejeans’ soul emitting this. And liches only send out energy this far, unhidden, for one reason: he's having a breakdown.

Normally Kravitz hates dealing with liches in the middle of emotional explosions. They're stronger and more erratic. But in this case, it might actually improve his chances. After all, Barry Bluejeans is usually so witty; being out of his mind will reduce his control over what he does.

Without any further thought, Kravitz flies straight towards the source of the energy pulses. Detecting the power of a lich isn't quite like hearing, but if it was, he'd be getting a headache from the sheer volume by the time he reaches the center.

The central point of the energy pulses is a dense magical storm, which is overtaking thirty feet of a steep cliffside. The whole thing is a projection of a lich’s soul and magic, but he can’t exactly reap an entire crackling red tempest. He needs to get to the middle of the entire thing, where Barry Bluejeans is undoubtedly barely holding himself together. Even if this storm is a little bigger than usual, he’s a professional who’s done this before, and he knows exactly what to expect.

He takes a deep breath and steps into the storm.

He didn’t expect this.

Actually: he didn’t expect anything. He isn’t anything. No, wait; he has feet, and they are taking him forwards, and he has a heart fluttering with feelings, so he must be something. Mostly, though, he’s somewhere. And somewhere is an enormous concert hall, which is called Legato. Thousands are listening while she-- while she plays violin. And he’s supposed to be contributing, because it is a duet, because he is sitting at the piano now, but Kravitz wanted to be conductor.

He doesn’t have time to think about how the name “Kravitz” doesn’t fit in here before the scene changes.

He is on a boat in space, and space is dark and cold, but it isn’t as dark or as a cold as the fate that would await them if they stopped flying. He has felt it before: black teeth that crush universes. A hunger so insatiable that it swallows up the stars. He has felt death enough times to get tired of the idea of it. He thinks perhaps he will become undead-- no, wait, Kravitz would never--

He is being lifted off the ground in what is bragged to be the most authentic sort of bear hug, because this man was trained by one. The embrace lasts longer than most people would think reasonable, but everyone else is gone this year and they’ve been friends sixty years too long to worry about social conventions.

And then: He has been awake nearly two days now and he keeps messing up the same equation on a spell he is trying to invent. She pats him on the back and takes his hand and leads him to bed. He isn’t afraid of letting go, this time, because she’ll still be there in the morning. Even if they all live for an eternity, he will never be alone.

Finally: He’s begging to be killed just so he can remember how alone he’s about to be. The flames kill him before the impact can. And he knows what death feels like, and this-- this isn’t it. Death doesn’t feel this way to Kravitz, because he doesn’t really die the way mortals (even undead ones) do.

Yes. Kravitz. Bounty hunter, agent of the Raven Queen. None of these memories are his. None of them even make sense. He’s Kravitz. He’s Kravitz, and he’s here to reap the soul of the lich Barry Bluejeans.

His surroundings twist as he clings to his thoughts. He looks down at a bell that he just-- no, that Barry had just made. It speaks-- no, everything speaks. Even Kravitz’s mouth opens and contributes his voice to the chorus: “Oh- oh, shit. D- Dav- Krav? Kravitz?” Everything starts falling apart around him. “I- I’m so sorry, I didn’t-- did you just walk into--?”

The voice stops possessing his vocal cords as his physical body becomes tangible again. Every part of it hurts like hell. He must’ve been thrown around like a ragdoll in the storm while his brain was overwhelmed with that… illusion.

Barry the lich, who currently has his phalanges gloved with Mage Hands, is propping him against the cliff face. “I don’t-- I dunno why you did that,” he’s saying, “but, uh, thanks. That was-- I died a couple minutes ago, see-- that could’ve been real bad. ‘Cause I’m-- I had a ton of thoughts all at once that I can only think when I’m, uh, dead. And you kinda brought me back, there.”

“Mr. Bluejeans,” Kravitz whispers, without enough energy to sound angry. “You… You… You.”

“Me” Barry agrees. “Um-- this is awkward, but I’m-- I actually have a doctorate, so…” he taps his fingers together. “Just-- you know what, just call me Barry, please.”

Kravitz just stares at him, trying to will up the strength to even lift his arm, summon his scythe. It’s not going to happen, though. Of course it isn’t.

“Okay. Well, I’m gonna-- I’m leaving now. Have a good-- I mean, uh, I hope your day… improves. Sorry.” And with that, he pats Kravitz on the arm, and he’s gone once again.

This is actually not the worst part of Kravitz’s day. He’ll get over this, because he’s a grown adult who can deal with failures.

The worst part of is day is this: When Kravitz is finally able to move again, he stands up and surveys the scene. The landscape is charred, and chunks of cliff face have been ripped out. Among the wreckage, he spots a single corpse. It has to be Barry’s body, he realizes as he makes his way over to it.

He sees the face.

Oh.