#and caught up with stampede

[lesbienbys]

so I recently just read all of the trigun manga in like 2 days bc I'm mentally ill (which I don't recommend bc my head hurt from crying all day) and it's literally changed my life. The characters, the themes, the story, everything was literally perfect and tailored for Me.

Spoilers for the whole manga series from here!

One of the first things that left me stunned about this series was the first two scenes in trigun of vash in his angel form. The panels are just so stunning and had me devouring the beautiful yet kind of fucked up concept. I love how the angel form isn't just *insert pretty angel wings* but is kind of all over the place and weird, but still really cool looking (for me anyways). Also the whole being a plant is SO dope and vash's hair getting darker as he uses his form more is just *grips table* I love.

What stood out to me and was the positive light in this series when shit got really heavy, was vash's connections with humans. You realize that he's been alone for 150+ years and many people who he connected with either died from non-natural causes or grew too old. And he's always left surviving on his own. And even if he has people who he connects with in the present (his home with his sensei or lina and her grandma) he doesn't stay for very long. With the exception of meryl, milly, and wolfwood who we see with him throughout the story. I personally would have liked to see a bit more from the girls, especially milly, but let me say I adore them so much. They are so swag.

Now let me get into wolfwood. This fuckin' guy has literally jumped to being my favorite fictional character of all time. 90% of the time when I cried it was because of this dude. I'm not good at explaining why I like certain characters, but his dynamic with vash just hit a certain way. The fact that he was able to click with someone like vash, who he both admires and dislikes because of his persistence with his ideals, is such a good way to show the difference in their characters. In the beginning wolfwood didn't care about shooting people if it meant he survived, and then near his death you can see him not taking the kill shots on his enemies. And one of my favorite things in media ever is seeing someone change because of another person. Also speaking of change, when wolfwood in the beginning is like "I don't think I'll ever change" when talking about murdering people and then later on vash is like "you can change" HDKFJSHD I'm in pain. How are they so good.

More on wolfwood, I think his death scene is one of the most beautiful death scenes ever. Like of course I didn't want him to die (tbh he had so many death flags that I was pretty prepared for it) but if I had to make him go out?? That's exactly how I would've done it. The confetti raining down, knowing that he saved his family, getting to finally treat vash to a drink even though the whole knives thing wasn't over yet.... like he got what he wanted! And I can't really complain about that because he deserved that (and so much more). But also wdym he died I just saw him in starbucks yesterday.

So yeah I think the connections that vash has with others is my favorite part of the series. The fact that he's more human than many actual humans. The way he loves humans with all his heart and believes in their existence. There's so much hope wrapped up in this funky little piece of media.

[evenlyevi]

Plants 🌿

Prints available

[vamp-bites]

Scott pilgrim takes off screenshot redraws that i forgot to post

[hiraeix]

i was too lazy to paint over this

[ruporas]

☀️

[ID: Digital illustration in color of Vash and Wolfwood from Trigun Maximum. It’s two 3 panel comics that illustrates the same sequence. The first focuses on Vash. In the first panel, he’s in a hurried motion with a worried expression. In the second, he’s stopped, huffing a breath out as he’s scanning for Wolfwood (not pictured). In the final panel, he breaks out into a relieved smile, eyes lighting up with warm cheeks.

The second comic focuses on Wolfwood. In the first panel, he’s looking downwards to the right with a cigarette in his mouth, wearing a neutral expression. On his face are notable scratch marks to indicate him being in a fight prior. In the second panel, he turns towards the viewer, lifting his head as he notices Vash (as from the previous sequence). In the final panel, he smiles warmly with teeth and holds up a peace sign. END ID]

[ID: Sketchy black and white drawings of Vash and Wolfwood, continuing off the comic. Wolfwood’s back is to the viewer while Vash’s profile can be seen, now by Wolfwood’s side. He has a bright smile as he says to Wolfwood, “You’re safe!” Wolfwood responses, bearing a grin too, “Who do ya think yer talking to? ‘Course I am. Look, I got them alive.” He points to two figures who are tied up and have comically large head bumps. Vash looks to them with an uncertain expression as he says, “Oh! You did, huh… Are you sure they’re alive?” Wolfwood, with a more irritated expression, responds “What, didn’t think I could do it?” Vash says, “No, no! I knew you could!” and pats Wolfwood on the cheek and his head comfortingly. END ID]

[ohitslen]

They would be so insufferable once they got together I’m telling you right now

Request by @molten-rainbows!💖✨✨

Uni-fying the requests because.

[pepplemint]

i’m not saying that “wolfwood is vash’s narrative foil” is WRONG but also. look.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Trigun Thoughts Vol. 1 Pt. 2

So now that I've finished with volume 1, I just wanted to write down a couple thoughts I've had and neat things to point out so far

When I was watching Stampede, I took note of a few kind of textbook avoidant behaviours Vash engages in, and lo and behold, here he is in the manga displaying even more of them. I'll list out a few here.

In order, we have:

Casually asking for a time limit on the interaction (ie. "How long do I have to keep this up before I can leave?")

Attempting to lose people in a crowd

Leaving without saying anything (and as a bonus, dreading being recognized in public)

Over-indulging or over-involving oneself in social events to create a viable excuse to leave suddenly (in this case, he uses alcohol as a reason to "pass out")

Sleeping to avoid unwanted conversation

Escaping to the bathroom to get away for a bit (and also to grumble about it haha)

Playing off sincere reactions by deliberately allowing them to be misinterpreted to avoid personal questions

It's really obvious, even this early in the manga, that Vash is intentionally avoiding prolonged interaction with people, and only involving himself in situations by necessity. He doesn't like attention on himself - the only reason he intentionally draws it is to divert it away from others.

The reason for this is a bit muddy though. It does seem that Vash doesn't particularly enjoy being caught up in drama, and it is also very likely he wishes to get in and out of places as quickly as possible to avoid them getting caught up in his drama too. It may even be that he finds prolonged socializing kind of tiring; that he needs a certain amount of time to himself.

But then there's also this bit, shortly after the celebration, where he pretends to pass out.

This brings in a bit of a guilt aspect to it. It likely has to do with July, or maybe it's due to something else (at this point, we can't say), but I think it's notable that Vash cuts things off shortly before they become intimate. He can play along to make others happy and to share in their joy for a bit, but the second things get too personal or focused on him, he will quietly slip away. Now this is specifically an instance of physical intimacy, but I think it'd probably hold for emotional intimacy as well, given the continuous avoidance and misdirection he does to prevent too many questions.

I made some commentary on Stampede Vash's self-punishing behaviours - specifically, the way he denies himself food. I don't want to get too into it because I don't know if everyone reading this has seen Stampede, but food is framed as something to be shared in the show - so, denying himself food is denying himself the right to share with others, which is denying himself belonging, which is denying himself any semblance of intimacy. (It means other things too, as food-sharing is associated with Rem, but I don't want to get too into it here.)

Vash in the manga doesn't seem to have the same issues with eating, but this is a similar premise - he's denying himself intimacy out of a sense of not being deserving of it.

So, then, there are probably many interwoven reasons for Vash's avoidance - he's sick of the chaos that follows him around, he doesn't want others getting hurt, he gets tired from having to "play it up" all the time, and he seems to also feel that he doesn't deserve that closeness. I'm intrigued to see how Vash's avoidance will be tackled going forward (I'm assuming it will?), and I suspect, more than there being one right reason for it, that all these reasons are actually true to an extent.

On a completely different note, this panel here is the biggest mood. I feel it in my bones.

[robinpixels]

so i've been really enjoying stampede these past couple months :'D

[crunchsomebones]

Twin brothers….i sure hope one of them isn’t horrifically fucked up and genocidal :D

[bold-embrace]

Vashwood Week Day 5: guns

[inkedberries]

Your knives and student Sukuna look kind of similar and I was wondering what a crossover between them would look like 😂

i can't think up a scenario where they're interacting, probably wouldnt be in the same circle, but here them assholes at!

[kineticallyanywhere]

so does Stampede Vash wear the glasses specifically to keep light from reflecting off his eyes so that people can't see the Plant pattern because if so that's so hecking clever

[mumbledramblings]

Survival Horror Vash who i met in a dream

i had a dream last night where a group of people and i were trying to escape this weird and spooky abandoned facility that kept changing around us as we moved forward and partway through vash showed up and joined us. he was kinda weird, though. he looked a little different and he kept saying morbid things and acting like he knew us well and was always part of the group, and no one seemed to think that was suspicious except me.

at one point he found a couch and kept asking this guy to sit and have drinks with him, but the guy was convinced that if he did he'd get cursed and die.

the one time i interacted with him myself near the end of my dream (i think he was avoiding me) he was taking a knife to the bottom half of his coat, cutting it lengthwise and taking apart the layers. i asked him why he was doing that and he just said that he needed it [like that] and wouldn't elaborate and i couldn't investigate further bc i somehow found myself leading the group.

suspicious and inexplicable behaviour aside, i don't think he was ~secretly a bad guy~ or anything. just kinda weird and lonely and. maybe not entirely human. i do think he was genuinely trying to help us get out and maybe get himself out, too. but god he was kinda unnerving to be around.

[boyfriendyke]

god. fucking trigun disease. instead of brain there is stampede comma vash